'An article that appeared in thehoot.org in November 2013 has suddenly been attracting considerable attention. Reason: the article was about how Peter and Indrani Mukerjea sold their stake in the INX/NewsX media group of companies and how India's biggest private corporate entity, Reliance Industries Limited, headed by the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, acquired control over these firms for a period of time in a convoluted manner.
'Top industrialists and CEOs, including Adani group chairman Gautam Adani and Vishal Sikka of Infosys, will be part of a high-level business delegation that will travel to China during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Communist nation this week...'
'In what would showcase the business-friendly image of the BJP, over 100 corporate honchos joined the party yesterday in probably the first-of-its-kind en masse recruitment of private executives in a political party. They joined the party in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah and Anurag Thakur, president, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, who was instrumental in getting them on board. Shah said the corporate leaders who joined yesterday weren't joining the party but a family.
"The home ministry’s stand that Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai, who was offloaded from a London-bound flight, had violated the law by trying to travel on a ticket funded by Greenpeace UK may not hold water. The home ministry issued a look out circular (LOC) against Pillai on grounds of national security, saying Pillai’s travel violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act because she was trying to fly on a ticket funded by Greenpeace UK despite a home ministry bar on the NGO receiving foreign contribution.
'For the past four years, Greenpeace India, an arm of the global environmental group, has campaigned to stop a coal mine it says would destroy the livelihoods of about 50,000 people, mainly from indigenous tribes, in India’s Madhya Pradesh state. But since September it has also been fighting its own battle with the government after authorities barred its receipt of funds from overseas. Greenpeace has challenged the ban, with a hearing due on Tuesday in the Delhi High Court. Indian social activists are watching the case with trepidation.
"The state has ordered 148.59 hectares of forest land in Gondia district, Vidarbha to be "diverted" for the construction of a 1980 megawatt (MW) coal-based thermal power plant run by the Adani Group. The tract was identified for the project by the Ahmedabadbased conglomerate in 2008, but final permissions were granted by the Narendra Modiled National Democratic Alliance on August 28 this year. Following this decree, the state Forest Department issued an order, on October 20, mandating that the land be set aside for the power plant..."
" Mohit Kamboj, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Mumbai’s Dindoshi constituency is the richest candidate in the Maharashtra Assembly election. Mr. Kamboj has declared assets worth Rs. 353.53 crore. As per the affidavit, Mr. Kamboj has not completed his graduation and has business interests in real estate and jewellery. “Earning money is not a crime. I know how to use it for the welfare of the people,” Mr. Kamboj told The Hindu. The second richest candidate too belongs to the BJP and is also a well-known builder, Mangalprabhat Lodha.
It is three months since Narendra Modi took over the leadership of India . Never before India 's debate on secularism is as intense and frightening as it is today. Minorities are on edge. Bharat Bhusan, a senior journalist writing for news daily, Business Standard captures the mood of the nation and state of affairs minoriites in India , “S omething has changed in our society after Narendra Modi became the prime minister. Today, speaking carelessly about other religious communities has become acceptable.
'The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the state of Gujarat highlighted grave financial irregularities in the administration of the state. The report, which was tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on Friday, showed that irregularities of as much as Rs 25,000 crore were noticed which included Rs 1,500 crore worth of undue benefits to companies like Reliance Petroleum, Essar Powar and Adani Group.
"For the first time, the Gujarat government on Tuesday officially accepted that it gave a Rs 419.54 crore loan from the state budgetary resources to Tata Motors under its deal with the company... Government spokesperson Saurabh Patel, also industry & mines minister, said in the assembly that the state had given the Rs 419.54 crore soft loan at 0.1% interest to Tata Motors as an incentive for its Nano car plant in Sanand. He was replying to a question by Viramgam Congress MLA Tejashree Patel.
