NIIRA RADIA, the lobbyist at the heart of India’s audacious multi-billion telecom swindle, inaugurated a Krishna temple she funded in south Delhi on her birthday — that, interestingly, coincides with Indira Gandhi’s. Those present on the occasion said Radia prayed for long, presumably seeking divine intervention to wriggle out of the country’s biggest scandal. Before the temple visit, notices from the country’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax (IT) Department and the...
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Media ethics why we need both panic and a pinch of salt by Shoma Chaudhury
NIIRA RADIA — owner of PR company Vaishnavi Communications, among others — is not merely a fixer in the old sense of the word. She is a thermometer reading for a very ill society. In April this year, a clutch of mysterious documents had made their way to several media houses. At face value the documents seemed a synopsis of phone conversations between Niira — a powerful lobbyist for Mukesh...
More »Andhra silica mining units protest land acquisition for SEZ by Dilip Kumar Jha
Investments worth Rs 100 crore in silica sand mining and beneficiation in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh are in jeopardy due to the state government’s insistence on acquiring the mineral-bearing land for developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), protests the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi). The Institute of Indian Foundrymen wrote to the Union mining ministry early this month, urging its intervention. There is no alternative area nearby for mining...
More »Posco now looks to set up shop in Karnataka by Jayashree Nandi
If things work to plan, the Posco story may get a twist, and the Korean steel giant may come home to Karnataka. After a long-drawn battle with agencies to get environmental clearance for a Rs 50,000-crore integrated steel plant and captive port at Jagatsinghpur in Orissa, now it has set its sights on the state. "One-third of the required ore will be mined in Karnataka. Posco officials met me recently and...
More »Jairam orders review of Sindhudurg mine leases by Viju B
Union minister of environment and forest Jairam Ramesh has asked Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan to review the 49 Mining Leases given for excavation of iron ore and bauxite in Sindhudurg region. The move follows a TOI expose on the state government`s decision to approve the leases in the eco-sensitive district of Konkan Maharashtra. Ramesh`s letter to the chief minister, which attached a series of news reports that appeared in TOI...
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