Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

India home to 101 billionaires, Mukesh Ambani tops list: Forbes

by

mukesh ambani jio

New York: India is home to world’s fourth highest number of billionaires with Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani leading the club of more than 100 super rich Indians, according to a new list released by Forbes magazine.

 

The Forbes list of the ‘World’s Billionaires’ 2017 consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world who have a combined net worth of USD 7.67 trillion, a record 18-per cent increase over the past year.

The list has been topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the fourth year in a row. He has been the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years. Gates has a fortune of USD 86 billion, up from USD 75 billion last year, followed by Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffet with a new worth of USD 75.6 billion.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos added USD 27.6 billion to his fortune; now worth USD 72.8 billion, moving into the top three in the world for the first time, up from number five a year ago.

US President Donald Trump is ranked 544th on the list with his net worth of USD 3.5 billion.
India is home to 101 billionaires, the first time it has has more than 100 super rich individuals.

The US continues to have more billionaires than any other nation, with a record 565, up from 540 a year ago. China is catching up with 319, Germany has the third most with 114 and India has the fourth highest number of billionaires.

There are nearly 20 people of Indian-origin who have made fortunes in various nations across the world, led by UK-based Hinduja brothers ranked 64th with USD 15.4 billion net worth, Indian-born tycoon Pallonji Mistry, who controls the 152-year-old Mumbai-headquartered engineering giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group at the 77th spot with USD 14.3 billion net worth and petrochemicals major Indorama co-founder Sri Prakash Lohia at the 288th spot with USD 5.4 billion net worth.

Mistry’s younger son Cyrus is embroiled in a legal battle with the Tata Group after he was suddenly ousted as chairman of Tata Sons, a position he had held since 2012. Ambani, 59, leads the pack of Indian billionaires, coming in at the 33rd position with a net worth of USD 23.2 billion.

Forbes said the “oil and gas tycoon” sparked a price war in India’s hyper-competitive telecom market with the launch of 4G phone service Jio last September. His younger brother Anil is ranked 745th with a net worth of USD 2.7 billion.

The younger Ambani sibling “orchestrated the merger of his Reliance Communication’s telecom business with that of rival Aircel, controlled by Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan. The combine, which awaits regulatory approvals, will be the country’s fourth-largest mobile phone operator,” Forbes said.

Next on the list of Indian billionaires is ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal on the 56th spot with a net worth of USD 16.4 billion. Forbes said the Indian steel baron regains his status as the world’s second richest Indian on an uptick in steel prices and demand. “The world’s biggest steelmaker also got a reprieve from import tariffs on steel imposed by the US and Europe and a one-time USD 832 million saving from a new labour contract signed last year with its US workers,” it added.

The list includes only four women billionaires from India, led by Savitri Jindal and her family at the 303rd position with a net worth of USD 5.2 billion. “After declining last year, the fortune of steel and power clan, whose matriarch Savitri Jindal chairs the OP Jindal Group, rose as steel prices recovered,” Forbes said.

Smita Crishna-Godrej from the Godrej clan is ranked 814th followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (973) and Leena Tewari (1030), chair of USV India which specialises in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs.

Also making the list is Wipro chairman Azim Premji (72), Adani group founder Gautam Adani (250), Bajaj Group chair Rahul Bajaj (544), investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (939), Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy (1161), chairman emeritus of Dabur Vivek Chand Burman (1290), Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani (1290), Wockhardt chair Habil Khorakiwala (1567), Mahindra group chief Anand Mahindra (1567), property tycoons Niranjan and Surendra Hiranandani (tied at 1678) and Yes Bank head Rana Kapoor (1795).

Founder of mobile wallet Paytm Vijay Shekhar Sharma is ranked 1567 with his net worth of USD 1.3 billion. Forbes said Paytm was “one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government’s decision to demonetise 86 per cent of India’s rupees and move to a cashless economy”, notching up 200 million registered users and five million transactions daily.

Making his debut on the list at 814th spot is Acharya Balkrishna, friend of yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who holds 97 per cent stake in the fast-growing consumer goods firm Patanjali Ayurveda. His net worth is USD 2.5 billion.

Forbes said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up to number five for the first time, after his fortune rose USD 11.4 billion in 12 months. Meanwhile Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, once the world’s richest man, fell to number six, the first time he’s been out of the top five in a dozen years. There were 195 newcomers.

China had the most new ten-figure fortunes with 76. The US was second with 25. The list has 56 billionaires under age 40, down from 66 last year, after some aged out and others dropped below the USD 1-billion mark. Seventy-eight people fell off the list, including 33 from China, 7 Americans and 9 who are still super wealthy but share their wealth among extended family members and therefore are not eligible for these ranks.

(Agencies)

Pakistan PM orders reopening of Afghanistan border

by

Pakistan has decided the to reopen its crossing with Afghanistan as a ‘goodwill gesture’.

The crossings were at first closed in February following attacks in Pakistan which authorities claim have links to Afghanistan [EPA]

The crossings were at first closed in February following attacks in Pakistan which authorities claim have links to Afghanistan [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered the immediate reopening of border crossings with Afghanistan, more than a month after they were closed.

Pakistan sealed the Torkham and Chaman crossings on February 16, after a string of suicide attacks killed more than 130 people across the country, blaming the violence on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other armed groups.

The closure left hundreds of thousands of people and lorries carrying food and other goods to Afghanistan stranded at the two major crossings of Torkham and Chammans.

“We have taken this decision on humanitarian grounds,” a statement from Sharif’s office said on Monday.

The statement said that, while the government had evidence that “anti-Pakistan elements” were present on Afghan soil, keeping the border closed was against the interests of ordinary people.

“We hope that the Afghan government will take all necessary steps to prevent the reasons why we undertook these steps [of closing the border] from recurring,” it said.

Pakistan had temporarily reopened the border crossings for two days in early March to allow visitors with valid visas on both sides to return home.

Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for giving sanctuary to Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network leaders on its soil. Pakistan, though, accuses its northwestern neighbour of allowing Pakistani Taliban elements to operate in Nangarhar and other provinces.

Pakistan’s Minister of Defence Khwaja Asif said the border was being used “as a thoroughfare” by Pakistani Taliban fighters.

But Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, argued that closing it served no purpose “except to harm ordinary people and traders on both sides”.

The Torkham and Chaman crossings are major arteries for $1.5bn in trade and commerce between the two neighbours. The Torkham crossing alone is used by about 15,000 Afghans every day.

An appeal to our readers

by

Shaheen Raaj

Shaheen Raaj

This is to inform to all concerned that our Entertainment Editor Shaheen Raaj aged 65 has recently suffered 2 major tragedies.

15 days ago he had a fall from a first-floor spiral staircase and fractured his right forearm. And last Friday midnight he suffered a paralysis on the left side of his body.

Right now he is in a private hospital in Virar. He will have to undergo treatment for both at least for a month and then complete bed rest for 3 months. The total expected cost is about Rs. 1 lakh. So here is an ardent appeal to help him out in this hour of crises.

Shaheen Raaj is a senior film Journalist serving the film industry since last 40 years. He was in Bangalore for 10 years and now he is settled in Mumbai.

Those willing to donate, please send your donation to the following account:

Allahabad Bank (Virar Branch)
A/c Holder’s Name: Shaheen Raaj
A/c No: 50300412105
IFS Code: ALLA0212893

Drought Effect: Mango Output in Karnataka might fall 30 to 50% in 2017

by

Mango Output

Chitradurga: Severe drought conditions, decline in under ground water level and steep fall in humidity in the atmosphere are expected to adversely impact Mango crop in Karnataka state this year. The annual yield of Mango is very likely to fall 30% to 50% in 2017 and this will cause for steep rise in the prices of mangoes in Karnataka state reducing the purchasing power of the consumers, according to the horticulture department experts.

Mango crop is being cultivated on an area of 1,73,080 lakh hectare land annually and 16,41,165 tons of mango harvested every year in Karnataka. Kolar, Ramanagar, Tumkur, Bengaluru rural, Dharwad, Chithradurga and Chikkaballapur are the major Mango production hubs of Mangoes.

Diseases, pests, hot summer and others have destroyed huge number of mango trees in Karnataka. In some cases the growers cut down the mango trees to limit the spread of disease. Generally Mango cultivation requires less water when compared to any other type of crop in Karnataka. Being a largest Mango producer in the globe, India produces 63% of world’s total Mango output.

(Agencies)

Australia 83/4 at lunch on day 5, still trail by 69 runs

by

R Jadeja

Ranchi: Australia were 83-4 in their second innings at lunch on the fifth day of the third cricket Test against India here Monday.

Peter Handscomb (4) and Shaun Marsh (15) were at the crease at the break with Australia still trailing by 69 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Brief Score:

Australia 1st innings: 451

India 1st innings: 603/9d

Australia 2nd innings: 83/4 in 36 overs (Shaun Marsh 15 batting; R Jadeja 3/22).

(Agencies)

BJP forms first govt in Manipur as Biren Singh wins floor test

by

Nongthombam Biren Singh

Imphal: BJP’s Nongthombam Biren Singh, who on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur, won the floor test on Monday with the support of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.

Yumnam Khemchand Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected as the Speaker of Manipur Assembly ahead of the floor test.

The Congress had emerged as the largest party in the state winning 28 seats, but the party fell short of majority.

BJP had won 21 seats and made a bid for power claiming it has the support of 33 legislators in Assembly. Biren Singh was sworn in as the chief minister after Governor Najma Heptulla invited the BJP to form government in the state.

On Wednesday, eight other ministers from the BJP and its alliance partners also took oath along with the chief minister. Y Joykumar of NPP has been designated as the Deputy Chief Minister.

A national level football player-turned-journalist, Biren Singh was a key member of the Congress party when he decided to join BJP in October 2016, after falling out with then-CM Okram Ibobi Singh. Singh started his political journey with a regional Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party in 2002.

Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on Tuesday invited Singh, who was unanimously elected the leader of the 21-member BJP legislature party on Monday, to form the government.

(Agencies)

BJP-led coalition will crumble soon: Shiv Sena

by

Shiv Sena-Modi

Panaji: The BJP-led government in Goa will crumble soon, Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said on Monday, while calling the ruling alliance of the BJP, two regional parties and two Independents a “corrupt nexus”.

“Manohar Parrikar came to Goa from the Defence Ministry to stabilise the government and stay in power. But he knows he is not on firm footing and his feet will crumble soon. This is a corrupt alliance,” Raut told the media.

He said the BJP had “stolen” a mandate which was against the party and that regional parties like the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward, which had contested the elections on an anti-BJP plant but later joined the saffron party, were traitors to the Goan electorate.

“Both these parties contested the elections against the BJP but did not lose time to join the BJP after the votes were polled. This is a betrayal of the Goan people and they will never be pardoned.”

Raut also said that despite the rout the Shiv Sena faced in Goa, its work would continue in the state.

“We aren’t here for elections alone. Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena President) will be coming to Goa next month and a big meeting will be held where the future course of action for Goa will be announced.”

The BJP, which won 13 seats in the February assembly polls, formed the government with the support of the two regional parties and two Independent legislators. The Congress accused the ruling outfit of using illicit means to cobble together an alliance.

(IANS)

NIA issues another summons to Dr Zakir Naik

by

zakir naik

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday issued a second notice to internationally acclaimed thinker and orator Dr Zakir Naik asking him to appear before it on March 30 in a case filed against him under a controversial anti-terror law.

The NIA had earlier this month issued the first summons to him asking him to appear on March 14. Officials said Naik has been summoned at the NIA’s headquarters here.

The notice has been sent to the Mumbai residence of 51-year-old NRI Dr Naik, who is believed to be staying in Saudi Arabia to amidst fears of ‘unfair treatment and false cases’.

Last week the Delhi High Court had dismissed the petition of Dr Naik’s NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) against the immediate ban and freezing of bank accounts. IRF was banned by the government for five years in November last year. The ban on IRF was enforced under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and approved at a meeting of the Union Cabinet.

Zakir Naik has repeatedly condemned all acts of terrorism in his public speeches. However, Home Ministry claims that Zakir Naik made many provocative speeches and had engaged in terror propaganda.

The Maharashtra Police have also registered criminal cases against Zakir Naik accusing him of involving in radicalisation of youths and luring them into terror activities.

He came under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper ‘Daily Star’ reported that one of the perpetrators of the July 1,2016 terror attack in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook in 2015 quoting Naik. However the newspaper had taken down the report later.

Last month, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued summons to Zakir Naik and the IRF under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Zakir Naik, in a 2,000-word open letter, urged the Modi government to be “fair” in its investigation and be “truthful with facts”.

(Agencies)

Nobel laureate Derek Walcott dies at 87 in St Lucia

by

Winner of 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature dies at his house in Caribbean island of St Lucia after long illness.

The prolific and versatile poet was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1992 [Getty]

The prolific and versatile poet was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1992 [Getty]

by Al Jazeera

Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott has died at his home in the eastern Caribbean island of St Lucia at the age of 87.

A prolific and versatile poet, Walcott was widely respected as one of the greatest writers of the second half of the 20th century.

“Derek Alton Walcott, poet, playwright, and painter died peacefully today, Friday 17th March, 2017, at his home in Cap Estate, Saint Lucia,” read a statement his family released later in the morning. It said the funeral would be held in St Lucia and details would be announced shortly.

Jeff Seroy, a spokesman for publisher Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, said the cause of death was not immediately known, but added that Walcott had been ill for some time and had recently returned home from a hospital stay.

His longtime companion, Sigrid Nama, was with him at the time of his death, Seroy said.

With passions ranging from watercolour painting to teaching to theatre, Walcott’s work was widely praised for its depth and bold use of metaphor, as well as its mix of sensuousness and technical prowess.

Walcott received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992 after being shortlisted for the honour for many years. In selecting him, the Swedish academy cited “the great luminosity” of his writings, including the 1990 “Omeros”, a 64-chapter Caribbean epic it praised as “majestic”.

“In him, West Indian culture has found its great poet,” said the academy in awarding the $1.2m prize to Walcott.

A distinctly Caribbean poet

Walcott proudly celebrated his role as a Caribbean writer.

“I am primarily, absolutely a Caribbean writer,” he once said during a 1985 interview published in The Paris Review.

“The English language is nobody’s special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself. I have never felt inhibited in trying to write as well as the greatest English poets.”

Walcott said his writing reflected the “very rich and complicated experience” of life in the Caribbean. He compared his feeling for poetry to a religious avocation.

Walcott was born in St Lucia’s capital of Castries on January 23, 1930 to a Methodist schoolteacher mother and a civil servant father, an aspiring artist who died when the poet and his twin brother, Roderick, were babies.

His mother, Alix, instilled the love of language in her children, often reciting the work of William Shakespeare and reading aloud other classics of English literature.

At the age of 14, he published his first work, a 44-line poem called “1944”, in a local newspaper. About four years later, while still in his teens, he self-published a collection of 25 poems. At 20, his play “Henri Christophe” was produced by an arts guild he co-founded.

He left St Lucia to immerse himself in literature at Jamaica’s University College of the West Indies. In the 1950s, he studied in New York and founded a theatre in Trinidad’s Port-of-Spain, a Caribbean capital he mentioned with great warmth during his Nobel lecture in 1992.

Walcott’s treatment of the Caribbean was always passionate but unsentimental. In his 1979 work about Jamaica, “The Star-Apple Kingdom”, he wrote of the “groom, the cattleboy, the housemaid … the good Negroes down in the village, their mouths in the locked jaw of a silent scream”.

For much of his life, Walcott, who taught at Boston University for many years, divided his time between the United States and the Caribbean, and the exile of millions of Caribbean citizens who have left the region in search of a better life is another frequent theme in his works.

Although he was best known for his poetry, Walcott was also a prolific playwright, penning some 40 plays, including “Dream on Monkey Mountain” and “The Last Carnival”, and founding theatres such as the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

British writer Robert Graves said in 1984 that Walcott handled “English with a closer understanding of its inner magic than most – if not any – of his English-born contemporaries”.

Walcott’s reputation was weakened by sexual harassment allegations made against him at Harvard and Boston universities in the 1980s and 1990s.

He retired from teaching at Boston University in 2007 and spent more of his time in St Lucia.

Bengaluru ATM Attack Case: Victim Identifies Accused Madhukar Reddy

by

Madhukar Reddy

Bengaluru: Victim of Bengaluru ATM attack, Jyothi Uday has identified Madhukar Reddy in an identification parade held on Friday in Bengaluru. The accused Madhukar Reddy had brutally attacked Jyothi in a Corporation Bank ATM in the state capital 3 years earlier to rob money from her.

The victim of the incident has identified Reddy before the magistrate where the accused was standing with the persons who are similar to him. Initially, Jyothi was confused to identify the culprit, however later she succeeded to identify him. A second identification parade was also conducted to prove her identification. Karnataka police brought the accused from Andhra Pradesh after he was arrested by Andhra police in connection with a criminal case.

(Agencies)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives