Gautam Gambhir the man who helmed the 2011 Cricket World Cup will soon be playing his part in Indian politics. It is reported that he is to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 3 December 2018. Apart from him, there are many cricketers who have made a place for themselves in national politics like, Kirti Azad, Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mohammad Kaif, and Praveen Kumar.
The ace batsman said that he is joining the (BJP) party after getting influenced by PM Narendra Modi’s vision and that he is honoured to get the opportunity to join this platform. However, it is interesting to see if Gambhir plays the same role in politics as he played in the final match of the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
From one of the wealthiest persons in 2008 to a bankrupt in 2019, Anil Ambani is fighting to save his reputation from a possible jail sentence. Between all this, Mukesh Ambani stepped in to make a 453 crore payment for his younger brother who is under great debt. However, it seemed to the media analysts that Mukesh Ambani is compelled to help Anil Ambani so that he could maintain his relationship with Narendra Modi. Since the Rafale jet deal in 2016, opposition leaders alleged that Anil Ambani negotiated the Rafale deal agreement with France in which India bought 36 off the shelf Dassault Rafale twin-engine fighters for a price estimated to be Rs 58,000 crore.
While talking to Afternoon Voice BJP leader Dattatrey J Naik expressed,“Opposition lacks political issue and is only trying to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s image. If the erstwhile UPA government had purchased Rafale aircraft then it would have successfully conducted air strike. Our government is following transparency and no corporates have derived benefit from the government.”
On February 20, the Supreme Court has held Anil Ambani and two of his company directors guilty of contempt of court in the Ericsson case for not clearing the dues of Rs 550 crore that they had pledged to pay. The apex court asked him to pay Rs 453 crore within four weeks or serve three months in jail. Businessmen across the nation wonder at why and how Anil Ambani landed in such a financial mess that he finds himself in. However, almost after a decade and a half after a bitter separation, Mukesh Ambani steeped in to save younger brother Anil Ambani from prison by helping him clear the Rs 453 crore debts.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP P.L Puniya said, “Forty percent of media is controlled by Mukesh Ambani. Prices of petrol and diesel are hiked despite a fall in crude oil prices to help Reliance petrol pump to run. The Modi government is supporting and working for the interest of Ambani brothers which has been exposed due to the Rafale scam. Modi can go to any extent to shield Ambani brothers. Ambani brothers are campaigning for the Modi government.”
Since the Rafale deal came into existence Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of acting as a middleman of Anil Ambani in the Rafale jet deal by citing an e-mail to claim that the businessman was aware of the MoU even before India and France signed it. Ambani’s knowledge of defence deal was under preparation which the then Defence Minister had said that he was not aware of, is in violation of the Official Secrets Act which can put both the people in jail. Only Modi could have told Ambani about the deal in advance. However, Reliance Defence refuted the claim that industrialist Anil Ambani was not aware of the Rafale jet deal days before India and France signed the deal. But Rahul Gandhi has continued his relentless assault over the Rafale deal to corner the government in the run up to next Lok Sabha elections especially as Modi government has been often cited a corruption free administration as its achievements after several alleged scams came to light during the Congress rule.
Criminal lawyer in Bombay High Court and political analyst Pankaj Jadhav said, “Indians are aware that the Modi government has been supporting businessmen and Ambani family in the forefront. Supreme Court had asked Anil Ambani to pay dues to Ericson. Despite this the government is favouring Ambani family. The government has given Rafale aircraft contract to Anil Ambani even though his firm lacks experience. When the government machinery is favouring Ambani then how will they take action against him?”
It is also believed that Mukesh Ambani is dominating the Modi government, whereas Anil Ambani is being sheltered by the same government. However, a question that remained unanswered is that ‘who is going to be benefitted by saving Anil from going to jail’.
Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani has helped his younger brother avert a stint in jail, stepping in to make an $80 million payment for his sibling whose telecom-to-infrastructure empire was struggling with debt. Well, we all know that blood is thicker; in Mukesh Ambani’s children’s marriage, both the families were seen united and happy. Until Dhirubhai was alive, the family was under his control; after his death, the differences were spit wide open, but before they separate, Mukesh managed Petrochemicals. He also built Telecom business single-handedly. Anil was handling Finance and energy/electricity. Anil was the public face of Reliance. He also interfaced with the investors. Mukesh kept busy building the assets and mostly stayed in the background. Both brothers were married by then, and finally, they decided to separate the business. Initial idea was that allow the brothers to keep the business they were handling. Anil did not agree. On request from Kokilaben, mother of both, Kamath of ICICI became an advisor to them. It was decided that no business must be split. A business in its entirety must be transferred to one party. Mukesh was deep into Petrochemical business and he was managing it well. Anil was managing finance. So it became apparent that Mukesh would get Petrochemicals and Anil would keep Finance and Energy business. Anil wanted Telecom, though it was a Mukesh’s baby, to maintain the parity. Mukesh was reluctant because he had grand plans for telecom. After a lot of heartburn, Mukesh handed over Telecom to Anil. So after separation, Anil had large cash, new fast growing Telecom, old finance, and promising energy business. Mukesh had just one entity and that was RIL.
Initial days were great for Anil Ambani who loved to dabble with too many things. That gave him high. Mukesh loved doing one thing right. Anil looked for horizontal spread while Mukesh looked for the depth. So, Anil became darling of quick return-seeking investors and Mukesh became GOD for the project management professionals.
Anil loved flashy lifestyles, rarely managed the business at a micro level. It was said that Mukesh could conduct a meeting for hours without taking a loo break. He was always the God of details. Their businesses are easily differentiated today because of their personal characteristics, not because one business was more profitable than other or the luck factor. Years back, Mukesh chose CDMA over GSM because he believed in DATA. Anil never understood that. To him, telecom was just another business like film production. That’s why Reliance Telecom failed after Anil took over. He didn’t have a passion for the business. To Mukesh, telecom meant a different thing altogether. That’s why he is back with JIO.
After the split, Mukesh said that he would NOT waste a single minute in future. If you recollect his previous speeches, Anil publicly thanked Tina, his wife, for guiding him through the split and said, “We (together) did it. Whereas Mukesh’s approach was firmer and his wife was busy handling family and other firms.
Some also believe that Dhirubhai Ambani, hadn’t left a will. Mukesh became Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd and Anil was made Vice-Chairman. Mukesh and Anil were in a bitter feud for the control of the Ambani Empire and it became ugly when Mukesh tried to oust Anil from the Reliance board. By March 2006, with the consolidation of his telecom companies, Anil Ambani had toppled Mukesh Ambani in net worth, to be the 3rd richest Indian after Laxmi Mittal and Azim Premji. Anil was richer than Mukesh by approximately Rs 550 crores. At the time, Ambani’s had a 46.67 per cent stake in the Reliance Industries Ltd, the public 13.48 per cent, and FII’s 22.85 per cent. As of now, the difference in wealth between the brothers is $41 billion, which is about Rs 2,82,900 crores. Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is $43 billion whereas Anil Ambani’s net worth is $2 Billion.
In November 2017, Mukesh’s Reliance Industries debt had doubled to Rs 1,96,601 crore in the last five years as it invested telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. The company raised $800 million with the sale of 10-year bonds overseas at the cheapest rate for a non-financial Indian issuer.
Meanwhile, Anil’s, Reliance Infrastructure debt was at Rs 28,000 crore, Reliance Communications was Rs 45,000 crore and Reliance Power is at Rs 30,000 crore debt. However, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications defaulted on dollar bond payments. In 2002, when Dhirubhai was alive, Reliance Infocom was launched. Mukesh and Nita indirectly owned 50.5 per cent and 45 per cent of the shares were held by RIL. On the birth anniversary Dhirubhai, December 28, 2003, Reliance Infocom launched its services; it was Mukesh’s way of paying homage to his father.
The loss of the firm became a sore point for Mukesh, and in June 2008, when Anil announced that RCom would merge with South African telecom giant MTN, Mukesh opposed the merger.
The Ambani brothers were once referred to as Ram-Lakshman in corporate circles. Anil hero-worshipped his brother and he was happy to let Mukesh run the mega-corporation but resented being sidelined. After the entire saga both the brothers again got united. Anil Ambani thanked his brother Mukesh and sister-in-law after Anil’s Reliance Communications Ltd. completed the required Rs 5.5 billion ($80 million) payment to a local unit of Ericsson AB for past maintenance services provided to his group. Repeated failures to pay and Anil’s personal guarantee landed him in trouble in February, with India’s top court giving him a month’s notice to comply or face prison. The last-minute twist shows family ties appear to have won out despite the brothers’ fraught relationship over more than a decade. The scions of one of India’s richest families have feuded over control of an empire left behind by their father. After Mukesh and Anil carved up the conglomerate, the older brother’s oil and petrochemicals business flourished, while Anil’s businesses ranging from telecommunications to power and infrastructure strained under massive debt. He has fended off creditors in multiple court cases.
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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday questioned the state authorities on how could they begin work on a coastal road project without determining whether it was going to adversely affect fishing communities and breeding ground for fish along the proposed road.
A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar said while development was essential, it could not come at the cost of citizens.
The court also took strong exception to apparent “lack of coordination” among the agencies involved in the project.
It noted that while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed to have all requisite data on issues like the number of people being affected and breeding ground for fish along the proposed area, the state fisheries department and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest did not have any information on the same.
BMC counsel Anil Sakhre told the court while a survey had been conducted in the Worli area to identify people and livelihoods that would be affected by a portion of the coastal road project, a survey along the entire stretch of around
19 kilometres was yet to be conducted by the state fisheries department.
The department, however, told the bench that it was inept to identify the breeding ground for fish along the above stretch and would need help from expert agencies under the central government.
At this, the bench remarked that such a lack of coordination represented an extremely sorry state of affairs.
It said ideally, the agencies should have conducted such a survey before beginning work on the project.
The court also said the state must have a uniform policy to assist and rehabilitate any person affected by the coastal road project.
“Development should not come at the cost of the people,” the bench said.
“Your (parties in the case) submissions also reflect a very sorry state of affairs. Can’t you coordinate without the court’s intervention? Why don’t you get together, hold a meeting, take all stakeholders into confidence? Is it the court’s job to get all of you together and send you into a meeting room for discussion on your own project?” the bench said.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by members of two fishing societies, Worli Koliwada Nakhwa and Worli Machimmar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society, opposing the coastal road project that proposes to connect the Marine Drive area in the city to Kandivali.
The petitioners claimed the BMC and state authorities had not conducted any public hearing, or consultations with the fisher folk from the city before starting on the proposed project.
They said in their plea that the construction and reclamation work will destroy fish breeding grounds and that the road once constructed, will take away their livelihood.
The BMC, however, submitted that the project was not going to have any adverse impact on the fishing community in the city.
The court said the BMC will need to submit “scientific data” to prove its arguments.
The court has now directed the civic body to submit details of the fishing areas and breeding ground that fall along the proposed stretch, and the number of people likely to be affected by the project.
The Central Railway (CR) has collected fine of Rs 158.93 crore between April 2018 and February this year from passengers caught travelling without tickets and violating rules, an increase of nearly 11 per cent compared to the same period in the year before.
The average collection stood at Rs 14.44 crore per month, as per a statement issued by the CR.
The CR said the cases of ticketless/irregular travel and un-booked luggage has risen by 9.89 per cent at 32 lakh between April 2018 and February 2019, as against 29.12 lakh cases in the corresponding period last year, it said.
“Earnings realised from such ticketless or irregular travel registered Rs 158.93 crore in the period April 2018 to February 2019, as compared to earnings of Rs 143.21 crore registered during the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of 10.98 per cent,” a statement issued by CR said.
It said the CR has regularly conducted intensive campaign against ticketless and irregular travel.
“Senior Officers are closely monitoring the revenue loss due to ticketless travel and such other irregularities,” the release added.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted a stay on the April 11 bypoll for the Katol Assembly seat.
A division bench of Justices S B Shukre and Pushpa Ganediwala was hearing a petition filed by Sandeep Sarode, chairman of the Katol Panchayat Samiti through his counsel Shreerang Bhandarkar.
The bypoll was necessitated as MLA Ashish Deshmukh had resigned from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on October 3, 2018.
The petition said Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 mandates the Election Commission (EC) to fill casual vacancies in the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures through bypolls within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more.
However, the petition stated, that the six-month period since Deshmukh’s resignation ends on April 3, 2019 and the bypoll is being held after that.
Moreover, the petition contended that the MLA elected through the bypoll would have a term of just a few months since Maharashtra is scheduled to have Assembly elections later in the year.
The petition claimed holding the bypoll would entail loss of public money under “unnecessary and unwanted” circumstances.
The HC has asked the EC, Maharashtra State Election Commission and Nagpur District Collector to file replies on the petition by April 2, 2019, counsel Bhandarkar told agencies.
If you ask what’s my dream or the meaning of my life is then I say nothing, which means I am silent, this silent means silence which again means nothing and that nothingness is completely timeless and spaceless as we know it.
When there is no time and space hence there is no image, and when there is no image means there is neither yesterdays nor tomorrows but present the very moment only, when you are in a moment, there is no conflict, no conflict means no confusion, no contradiction, no distortion, and no competition. There is a very clear vision.
You are what your mind is which means the content of it; you are the content of your mind. So the moment you change the content the moment you change yourself. You understand it?
You can’t become different, totally opposite to your mind without changing the content of it, it’s not possible in any sense or way. And to change the content of your mind you have to look and observe your brain which is thought at this very moment without any planning of the future, you are just enquiring, questioning and going deeper into it, into it means into your mind, basically into your thought which is the content of your mind, you have to observe it without any social, religious, cultural and all others this sort of influences.
Then only you actually and factually can see yourself, the content of your mind for the first time. This is the time when there is no good or bad, right or wrong, he or she, me or you, yesterday or tomorrow, hell or heaven but there is only the truth, the actual truth that is truth, this is the moment when there is no confusion, no conflict, no distortion, no contradiction and no competition, and since now you know your thought which is you, means which is the content of your mind you became aware of it, when you are aware of it means you are no longer in pasts or futures but at the moment, the very moment, you are in action, acting means happening which means clarity, focus, truth and living.
Living not in the past or the future but in the moment, in the time that is you, that is where you are. This is the time when you have actually opened your eyes and now seeing things very clearly, seeing things exactly as they are, seeing things without implementing any of your memories be it of happiness or sorrows, you have got out from all these memories and attachments. You have become anew, afresh and completely innocent. A man with a blank brain, without any thought as thought is of past and future. So you are no longer in influence and you are seeing, observing, understanding and experiencing and living the time for the first time in your life.
So since you asked me for my dream or my philosophy of life then the answer comes in the form of silence. And the meaning of silence varies from person; however, for me it’s the moment, the very moment I am living.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday said the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will not join hands with the BJP and Shiv Sena post polls “in any given situation” and would, instead, sit in the opposition.
The VBA is an alliance between the BBM and Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen.
Ambedkar’s remark came against the backdrop of Congress allegations that the VBA fighting Lok Sabha polls separately would benefit the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
Interacting with a news outlet here, Ambedkar said the VBA could join forces with “secular parties” if they agreed to accommodate its agenda post polls.
“We will not go with the Shiv Sena and the BJP after the elections in any given situation. We will rather sit in the opposition,” he said.
He said VBA, however, could join the next government if “secular parties” accommodated its agenda.
“We will sit in the opposition if they do not agree to accommodate our agenda,” he added.
To a question, Ambedkar attributed the criticism of the VBA by its rivals to the threat it was posing to “dynastic politics”.
“Some people are unhappy as their dynastic politics will end due to the aghadi,” he said, without naming any party.
Ambedkar also said the decision on whether he should contest the election from Akola or Solapur is yet to be taken.
“We are still debating it. We are also debating whether I should contest the election or not in the first place (so that could dispense time for campaigning),” he added.
Ambedkar also alleged that the neither the Congress nor the NCP could take on the “RSS-controlled BJP” and the Shiv Sena.
He added the VBA would win a “good number of seats” in the general election.
Speaking during the same event before Ambedkar, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan had claimed the VBA’s decision not to align with the opposition parties will eventually prove beneficial to the NDA.
The Congress and NCP, which are contesting the election together, were wooing the VBA.
The VBA, however, is contesting the polls separately. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats.
Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Tuesday rejected reports that he had quit as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Speculation about Vikhe Patil resigning as Maharashtra LoP have been rife in political circles ever since his son, Sujay, joined the ruling BJP on March 12 and is set to be recommended by it for the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat.
Sujay’s candidature from the BJP will pit him in a straight fight with the NCP, which had refused to accede to Vikhe Patil’s request to let his son fight on a Congress ticket from there.
Vikhe Patil, who is in his hometown Loni, said, “I reject reports that I have resigned as Leader of Opposition.”
Vikhe Patil had earlier said that Sujay’s decision to join the BJP was a personal one.
He would continue to the serve the Congress and abide by its directives, the LoP had asserted.
Esplanade Court on Tuesday sent Neeraj Desai, the auditor of the CSMT Bridge which collapsed on March 14, to police custody till March 25.
This comes a day after he was arrested by the Mumbai Police.
“Initially when we visited the spot an offence of IPC under Sections 304 A, 337 and 338 was registered by seeing the incident. After an investigation, it came out that the structural audit and the negligence on the part of various officials,” said DCP Abhishek Trimukhe on Monday.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured the people that corrective measures will be taken. “There should be no blame game. If there is a fault in the structural audit then it is serious. We will take corrective measures,” said Fadnavis.
Six people were killed and over 30 injured after a portion of the overbridge near the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station collapsed on the evening of March 14.
From one of the wealthiest persons in 2008 to a bankrupt in 2019, Anil Ambani is fighting to save his reputation from a possible jail sentence. Between all this, Mukesh Ambani stepped in to make a 453 crore payment for his younger brother who is under great debt. However, it seemed to the media analysts that Mukesh Ambani is compelled to help Anil Ambani so that he could maintain his relationship with Narendra Modi. Since the Rafale jet deal in 2016, opposition leaders alleged that Anil Ambani negotiated the Rafale deal agreement with France in which India bought 36 off the shelf Dassault Rafale twin-engine fighters for a price estimated to be Rs 58,000 crore.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday questioned the state authorities on how could they begin work on a coastal road project without determining whether it was going to adversely affect fishing communities and breeding ground for fish along the proposed road.
The Central Railway (CR) has collected fine of Rs 158.93 crore between April 2018 and February this year from passengers caught travelling without tickets and violating rules, an increase of nearly 11 per cent compared to the same period in the year before.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted a stay on the April 11 bypoll for the Katol Assembly seat.
If you ask what’s my dream or the meaning of my life is then I say nothing, which means I am silent, this silent means silence which again means nothing and that nothingness is completely timeless and spaceless as we know it.
Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday said the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will not join hands with the BJP and Shiv Sena post polls “in any given situation” and would, instead, sit in the opposition.
Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Tuesday rejected reports that he had quit as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Esplanade Court on Tuesday sent Neeraj Desai, the auditor of the CSMT Bridge which collapsed on March 14, to police custody till March 25.