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Day: July 11, 2014
I somehow found this hilarious
Shree Nitin Gadkari with a fan. pic.twitter.com/V9FoedOaBo
— Gautam Trivedi (@Gotham3) July 11, 2014
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Petroleum=Cash?
In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation began pursuing a 1993 bribery case in which members of the Congress-led ruling alliance allegedly paid the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to help defeat a no-confidence vote and keep the government intact. In the course of that investigation, the CBI questioned Brijnath Safaya, the additional private secretary to Captain Satish Sharma, the minister of petroleum at the time the joint ventures were awarded.
In a statement recorded by inspector Harish Sharma, and reported by Outlook, Safaya claimed that in the months before the contracts were awarded he had been at Satish Sharma’s house to receive suitcases stuffed with roughly Rs 13 crore. He also said that frequent visitors to the house included Mukesh Ambani, and the heads of other private companies whose bids were eventually successful. Reliance, Safaya told the CBI, sent Sharma a total of Rs 4 crore through one S Raman in 1993—Rs 1 crore in June, Rs 1 crore in October and Rs 2 crore in December. The heads of Essar and Videocon also allegedly sent cash. At least some of this money is thought to have been routed to the JMM. (Safaya later retracted his statement.)-from Caravan
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Weekend Mega Linkfest:July 11,2014
Some off beat reads for the weekend:
Twilight of the Pizza Barrons (BusinessWeek)
Who is undermining ONGC? (Caravan)
Sri Lanka:Sinhalas Vs Muslims (Caravan)
Why Mao attacked India in 1962 (IndianDefenceReview)
Top 20 Indian investors share their philosophy (ForbesIndia)
Is Reliance turning the screws on TV18? (Outlook)
The end of Britain? (Open)
How to blow $9 Billion-The fallen Stroh family (Forbes)
What you are missing about Thai food (Smithsonian)
How Germany’s 14 Year plan destroyed Brazil (Bloomberg)
Why Crossovers conquered the American Highway (Atlantic)
Comic:Ashutosh blasts Arun Jaitley for Union Budget (UnrealTimes)
Travelogue:Benares, the eternal city (TeamBHP)
Email Alerts Services that you should use (Labnol)
Taking down California’s modern Mafia (LAWeekly)
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Wishful Thinking
The 57-year-old Vikram Pandit has not given an interview in almost two years since he was ousted as chief executive of Citi. At any large US company, where supine boards are often the order of the day, this would have been an unusual event. At a bank that used to be the biggest in the world, and whose operations span 100 countries, it was stunning. Perhaps this explains why both Citi and Pandit have maintained their separation was amicable.
With many of his new interests, Pandit says he is looking to remove “frictions”, which happen to be the way Citi and other banks make their money: for example, the middle men that sit between a big bond manager and retail investors and charge a fee. As he points out, the wealthiest individuals are not saddled with these costs to the same extent.
“If you are a large, wealthy multi-billionaire you can put that into an M&A transaction and earn 15-20 per cent. If you’re an ordinary American you earn 2 per cent on your investments. That disparity has to be democratised. It’s now possible to take those frictions out. That is an important concept because it expands the number of people who are in the financial sphere. That has a positive growth impact. At the same time it is about unmet needs.”
I ask how he finds his investments. “I have an office and it’s Grand Central Station: everyone comes through there. That shouldn’t be surprising,” Pandit adds matter-of-factly. “That’s just the nature of things.”
The bill arrives and, without thinking, I take out a Citi credit card to pay. Pandit seems pleased. He still has a lot of his wealth tied up in Citi stock, though he will look to sell if it rises a couple of dollars.
“Wishful thinking,” he muses.-from FT