Tehelka controversy: Chidambaram seeks release of his letter

Agencies
November 7, 2017

New Delhi, Nov 7: Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday suggested that the media ask the government for the release of his reply to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who had reportedly asked him to look into the allegations of harassment of private firm First Global, the financiers of Tehelka.

Tehelka magazine had "exposed" alleged corruption in defence deals during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government which later resulted in the resignation of then defence minister George Fernandes.

The then BJP president, Bangaru Laxman, who was caught on camera taking money, was convicted later.

Following the expose, a number of cases were registered against promoters of First Global, Devina Mehra, and Shankar Sharma, by various investigation agencies.

When the UPA government assumed office in 2004, Mehra and Sharma wrote a letter to Gandhi, who was the chairperson of the National Advisory Council with the rank of a Union minister, alleging that persecution by the agencies was continuing even then and sought redressal.

Appending First Global's letter, Gandhi on her official letterhead wrote to Chidambaram asking him to look into the issue on "priority" in order to ensure that "no unfair and unjust" treatment is meted out in the case.

Reacting to media reports on the matter, Chidambaram in a statement said he had been shown a copy of the letter written by Gandhi.

"My noting on the letter is correct. I am certain that, on behalf of the (Finance) ministry, I would have sent a reply based on the material put up to me. The letter of Gandhi and my reply should be read together. I suggest that the media may ask the government to release the reply to the letter," he said.

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News Network
November 25,2024

Udupi: Six junior artists from the prequel of Kannada blockbuster film ‘Kantara’ were injured, when the bus they were travelling in overturned in the district, police said on Monday.

According to police, the accident occurred near Jadkal on Sunday night when the mini-bus carrying the crew of the film overturned.

“The incident happened while they were returning to Kollur after completing the shoot at Mudoor in Jadkal. The mini-bus was carrying 20 junior artistes when it met with the accident,” a police officer said.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in Jadkal and Kundapur for treatment, they said.

The Kollur police are investigating the matter.

"The news making rounds is completely false. The Kantara: Chapter 1 team began shooting at 06:00 AM today, and everything is proceeding as normal. A minor accident occurred 20 kilometres away from the shooting location, involving a local bus carrying some members of the Kantara team. However, no injuries were reported," a source close to the production said.

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News Network
November 21,2024

adani.jpg

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

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News Network
November 19,2024

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