NEW DELHI: After Shashi Tharoor, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is now facing the heat of IPL controversy as reports in the media indicate that Prime Minister Manmohan singh has sought details of his as well as Sharad Pawar's involvement in the IPL row.
The reports say that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met the Prime Minster with details about Praful patel and his daughter Poorna’s alleged role helping Tharoor with the IPL Kochi franchise’s evaluation two days before they were made public.
Reports also say that the PM got the details of NCP leader Sharad Pawar's son-in-law Sadanand Sule's stake in an IPL broadcaster.
However, Pawar's daughter and Sule's wife Supriya has already denied any role of her husband in the IPL other than being an avid cricket follower.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the IPL controversy will actually lead to the NCP's ties with Congress getting more strengthened.
Meanwhile, BJP is seeking to fish in troubled waters with a senior leader, who asked not to be named, saying that the party's strategy was only to target the Congress as Sharad Pawar's party has eight members in the Lok Sabha and numbers will count when opposition moves a cut motion to the Finance Bill.
New twist in IPL saga: Praful Patel connection
New Delhi:The Indian Premier League (IPL) scam took a new turn on Thursday, as details of mail sent from Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel’s office to former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor were leaked to the media.
A day after Patel claimed that he had nothing to do with the IPL, it has emerged that his personal secretary had sent a mail to Tharoor in March, with a document containing projections of new franchisee valuation in the IPL.
It was reported that, Champa Bharadwaj, personal secretary to Patel, forwarded a mail from her official ID to Tharoor’s personal ID, hours after IPL Chief Executive officer Sunder Raman sent the same document to Patel’s daughter Poorna Patel, who is IPL’s hospitality manager.
Bharadwaj, sent a mail to Tharoor on March 19, two days before the bids were opened and Tharoor supported Kochi team sprang a surprise by making the second highest bid.
Meanwhile, Patel claimed that his secretary was only forwarding information requested by Tharoor.
“Shashi andI have been friends and he did ask me whether I could help him with some information in the capacity of a friend, since he was putting together a team from Kochi. I know what information has been passed,” he said.
“If I was a bidder, why would I help out a competitor with information,” he added.
Poorna Patel admitted that she had forwarded the mail to her father’s secretary, but said she was only following Raman’s instructions.
“ Sunder had given me certain instructions and I was merely following that, Other than that, I have no idea,” Poorna said.
Raman on his part, said he sent it to Poorna, as a key member of the IPL team, but did not know why she forwarded it to Patel’s office.
I-T claims incriminating proof against Shah Rukh's KKR
Kolkata: Income Tax officials probing alleged financial irregularities in the cash-rich Indian Premier League on Thursday claimed to have found some "incriminating" documents during searches at the offices of Kolkata Knight Riders and Cricket Association of Bengal.
The searches that began last evening went on for eight hours and ended at 1 AM during when the CAB office bearers, including its joint secretary Biswarup Dey were questioned.
"We have some incriminating documents related to IPL and KKR. We will further investigate its nature and all transactions of IPL, KKR and CAB," Akhilendu Jadhav, an IT official, told reporters in the wee hours of morning in Kolkata.
KKR was among the four Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees whose offices were surveyed during a nation-wide probe by tax sleuths yesterday. The offices of Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers and Kings XI were searched in Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon respectively.
"We are satisfied with our inquiry. This is a lengthy process and if needed we will come back again," an IT official said here when asked whether they have plans to conduct a similar raid at the office of CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Dey said they had complied with all the details and documents that were asked for by the taxmen.
The IT authorities are investigating the entire IPL structure, which has become a huge revenue-earning entity for the BCCI, since its inception.
US won't persuade 'special friends' India, Pak to sign NPT
Washington: Bracketing both India and Pakistan as its ‘very special friends’, the United States has said that it would not pressurise these countries to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Interacting with media persons during a press briefing here, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher said the Obama Administration is in direct touch with both India and Pakistan over such issues and holds daily conversations with them.
“The countries that you mentioned are very special friends of the United States. We have conversations with them every day about many different things,” Tauscher said while responding to a question that whether the US would persuade New Delhi and Islamabad to sign the NPT.
She, however, added: “We would like all countries to sign onto the NPT. We have a universality commitment, yes.”
The top US official also warned that the world was facing more danger than it was during the Cold War era, as more and more countries are competing to acquire nuke know-how.
“We have terrorist groups and organised crime and other bad actors that are looking to acquire nuclear technology, nuclear know-how and nuclear material. And secondarily, we have more states looking to acquire nuclear weapons than we have had in the last 15 years,” 'The Dawn' quoted Tauscher, as saying.
When asked that if the White House feels that both India and Pakistan must cut down their nuclear arms race and reduce the stockpile of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Tauscher opted for a more diplomatic reply and said her views as a lawmaker were very different from her views as a senior US official.
CBI wants bedsheet on which Aarushi was murdered
NEW DELHI: The CBI has asked the UP Police to provide pieces of crucial evidence relating to the murder of teenaged girl Aarushi Talwar -- the bedsheet on which she was found dead and her room's doormat -- as it continues the probe into the nearly two-year old case.
Citing the importance of the bedsheet and the doormat, a senior forensic official said the bedsheet might have some seminal stain or blood stain or any other forensic evidence and, if investigated, they might give a clue of the murderer.
Earlier, the CBI had asked for the same from the parents of Aarushi after they had undergone narco test at Gandhinagar Forensic labrotary recently, they said.
Aarushi Talwar was found dead with her throat slit on May 15, 2008, at her home at Jalvayu Vihar in Noida. Their domestic help Hemraj, initially suspected of the crime, was found dead on the roof-top.
The CBI team investigating the case had charged the UP police, who had first probede the case, with having destroyed 90 per cent of the evidence at the crime scene.
The forensic scientist said the UP police did not cordon off the crime scene and "as such when we went to capture the finger prints, we found many people as the media and other people were walking up and down all over them."
Sources in the UP police claimed all the evidence collected during the probe was handed over to CBI and there was nothing more to be shared with the agency.
Business News
56 Indian cos in Forbes' Global 2000 list
As many as 56 Indian companies, including Reliance Industries and State Bank of India, have been named among the world's 2,000 most powerful listed companies, according to US magazine Forbes.
The 'Global 2000' list of the biggest and most powerful companies worldwide has been topped by US banking giant JPMorgan Chase and is followed by General Electric, Bank of America and ExxonMobil.
Among Indian high performers, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries leads the pack and has been ranked at the 126th place in the global list.
Other Indian companies named in the list include State Bank of India (130), ONGC (155), ICICI Bank (282), Indian Oil (313), NTPC (341), Tata Steel (345), Bharti Airtel (471), Steel Authority of India (502), Larsen & Toubro (548) and HDFC Bank (632).
The global rankings span 62 countries, with the US (515 members) and Japan (210 members) dominating the list as usual, although the number of companies from developing nations in the Global 2000 is fast increasing.
This year, the countries that gained the most ground are mainland China (113 members), India (56 members) and Canada (62 members), the magazine said.
Forbes' ranking of the world's biggest companies used an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets and market value to rank companies according to size and this year's list reveals the dynamism of global business.
"In total, the Global 2000 companies now account for USD 30 trillion in revenues, USD 1.4 trillion in profits, USD 124 trillion in assets and USD 31 trillion in market value. All metrics are down from last year, except for market value, which rose 61 per cent," Forbes said.
Two companies from the Anil Ambani Group, Reliance Communications (742) and Reliance Infrastructure (1,702), have also made it on the list.
Other Indian companies named on the list include state-owned Punjab National Bank (695), Tata Consultancy Services (741), HDFC (783), Infosys (807), DLF (923) and Hero Honda Motors (1,571).
Air India March salary delayed by a month; 2 Pak offices shut
New Delhi: State-owned Air India delayed payment of March's salary to its employee by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
"The salary for the month of March, 2010, was paid to the employees of Air India on April 7, 2010," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The above postponement was necessitated due to committed March year-end payments to oil companies, Airports Authority of India, foreign and Indian vendors, and because of repayment of loans, Patel said.
He said the government is continuously monitoring the financial position and restructuring plan of Air India.
Replying to another question, the minister said Air India has decided to close its offices at Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan due to the lack of operations from these cities.
"Air India has decided to close its offices at Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan as it does not have operations to/from these stations," Patel said.
Patel said no losses are likely to be incurred by the airline due to the closure but would instead help in saving cost incurred on maintenance of the offices.
"No losses are likely to be incurred by Air India due to closing of offices at Lahore and Karachi. It would, in fact, save the cost being incurred on maintenance of offices at these stations," Patel said.
PE investment in SMEs dip 68 pct in '09
New Delhi: Private equity investment in the SME sector dipped to USD 580 million in 2009, down about 68 per cent year-on-year as PE firms shied away from risking their capital in small and medium enterprises in the wake of the slowdown.
PE investment in the SME sector last calendar year stood at USD 580 million via 81 deals against USD 1,812 million through 187 deals in 2008, a study by industry body Assocham said.
"Poor returns on investments in the midst of challenging times have forced fund managers to think twice when it comes to putting too much into the (SME) sector," it added.
The global financial meltdown made PE investors wary of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as there is a great deal of risk involved when it comes to funding cash-strapped companies, the study noted.
Further, less PE investments made it difficult for these small firms to execute their growth plans, the Assocham study said.
Overall, PE deals in India during 2009 numbered 287 amounting to USD 4.43 billion against 502 in 2008 worth USD 11.9 billion.
Sports News
Too big to fail? IPL cricket in a spin
With its cocktail of celebrities and cheerleaders, the Indian Premier League's dizzy rise to become cricket's richest tournament is under threat, illustrating how politics and business don't mix.
A scandal over a government junior minister accused of influencing a bid for a team has sparked a tax investigation into the estimated $4.1 billion sport franchise, also signaling the inherent risks in the Asian giant's corporate juggernaut.
Like much of corporate India, the attitude behind IPL was with globalisation, liberalisation, we can take on the world, said Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a well-known commentator in India.
But the IPL has not been transparent. It has become big business, but a rather murky big business ... and shown the very cosy ties between very rich businessmen and politicians.
Lalit Modi, a 46-year-old businessmen known for his flashy suits and love of the high flying celebrity circuit, formed IPL in 2008, a short form of cricket that won millions of dollars in advertising and upset much of the traditional cricket world.
It was a by-product of an emerging India, when local companies like Tata bought brands like Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion to reflect the self-confidence of Indian business as it enjoyed one of the world's fasted economic growth rates.
Such was IPL's success that some team franchises were sold for more than the value of English Premier League football teams.
The tax probe has so far revealed nothing but huge newspaper headlines, and Modi says he has nothing to hide as taxmen visit offices around the country with cameras and lights in tail.
But whatever the results of the investigation, few in Indian believe that tournament will be the same freewheeling business extravaganza, and Modi is now under pressure to resign.
AT THE CUTTING EDGE
The IPL was at the cutting edge of cricket from day one when its use of cheerleaders sparked initial outcry as conservative India questioned whether it was ready for dancers with bulging breasts and gyrating bellies parading in packed stadia.
Modi himself called it all cricketainment -- with Bollywood stars watching matches in seats costing as much as $1,000 a game in a country where half the population earns less that $2 a day.
IPL can be seen as a metaphor for the new Indian middle class which thrives on excess, wrote commentator Ronojoy Sen in the Times of India.
Modi showed that Can Do attitude on which Indian business people pride themselves -- the ability to deal with the country's notorious red tape, corruption and poor infrastructure.
When security concerns and a general election threatened the second year of the tournament, Modi simply transferred the whole event to South Africa in a few weeks.
Forget Modi's brashness for a moment. There is an underlying admiration for Modi in India -- the fact that he could get through the red tape and get things done, said V. Ravichandar, managing director of Feedback consulting in Bangalore, which advises multinationals on doing business in India.
That kind of thing goes down well in the Indian street.
But any admiration may not save the IPL. After Modi tweeted questioning the role of Junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor in a team's $333 million bid, the minister was forced to resign.
India's tax department suddenly announced a probe into Modi and the IPL -- in what many saw in India as a blatant use by the the government of tax authorities to win political points.
The political ramifications widened.
Suddenly key Congress party coalition ally and farm minister Sharad Pawar was on a collision course with his own government after he infuriated Congress by initially supporting Modi.
Pawar is president elect of the International Cricket Council and former head of the Indian cricket board -- just one of many many politicians in India who also run cricket boards.
Sachin is most searched IPL player in Google
Google India on Thursday announced its 2nd IPL Zeitgeist for 2010 – an insight into the most searched teams and players during the 3rd season of the Indian Premier League. Sachin Tendulkar emerged as the most searched Indian cricketer, followed by Saurav Ganguly.
Shane Warne continued to be the most searched international player at the IPL, for the second year running. Conspicuous by their absence were popular names such as M S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and 'the Fake IPL Player', who moved off the top 10 this year. Adam Gilchrist, Ryan Harris and Praveen Kumar made their debut on the list at number 7, 8 and 9 respectively.
Among the teams, Deccan Chargers ousted the Mumbai Indians from the top slot, who emerged as a close second. Chennai Super Kings rounded up the top 3 teams, as Kolkata Knight Riders dropped to number 4 this year.
‘Super Over’ emerged as the most searched IPL related query on YouTube followed by Chennai Super Kings. Yusuf Pathan, who did not make it to the IPL Zeitgeist on Google Search, emerged as the most searched player on YouTube.
To compile the 2010 IPL Zeitgeist, Google studied the aggregation of queries pertaining to IPL that people typed into Google search during the IPL season 3. Google used data from multiple sources, including Insights for Search, Google Trends and internal data tools.
Most searched IPL player:
2010/ 2009
Sachin Tendulkar/Fake IPL Player
Sourav Ganguly/Sachin Tendulkar
Shane Warne/M.S. Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh/Yuvraj Singh
Rahul Dravid/Sourav Ganguly
Brett Lee/Rahul Dravid
Adam Gilchrist/Virender Sehwag
Ryan Harris/Shane Warne
Praveen Kumar/Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh/VVS Laxman
Top 10 IPL Teams
2010/2009
Deccan Chargers/Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians/Kolkata Knight Riders
Chennai Super Kings/Deccan Chargers
Kolkata Knight Riders/Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals/Chennai Super Kings
Delhi Daredevils/Delhi Daredevils
Kings XI Punjab/Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore/Kings XI Punjab
Top 10 Most Searched Queries on YouTube
Super Over
Chennai Super Kings
Match 22
Kolkata Knight Riders
Match 21
Yusuf Pathan
Mumbai Indians
Tharoor beats Modi on online popularity charts
New Delhi: The raging IPL controversy has made both Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi famous online. But, only Tharoor commands more sympathy.
His spat with Modi may have cost Tharoor his ministerial position, but former Minister of State for External Affairs has beaten beleaguered IPL Commissioner in terms of Internet brand value, said a survey released on Thursday.
The survey by leading global research firm the Nielsen Company found that the popularity of the two is even greater than all the cricketers currently playing in the Indian Premier League.
The analysis arrived at these results on the basis of online posts in message boards, blogs, discussion groups and micro blogs (Twitter) across all cricket following countries.
Nielsen said that Tharoor and Modi have overshadowed cricketers in the online buzz, while Mumbai Indians overtook Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as the most discussed team. Sachin Tendulkar is the most discussed player.
"In the last two week the focus of social media users has shifted from cricket, and they have discussed Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi even more than the two most discussed players online - Tendulkar and Dhoni," Nielsen said.
"The sentiments were negative for both Tharoor and Modi initially. However, in the last couple of days brand Tharoor seems to have recovered marginally, while Modi continues to be perceived negatively in social media," it added.
"... the controversy between Tharoor and Modi is so dominant that even players like Sachin and Dhoni have been overshadowed by it despite their performance," said Karthik Nagarajan, Associate Director - Nielsen Online, The Nielsen Company.
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