07-16-2008, 12:49 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Jul 15 2008, 06:53 AM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Jul 15 2008, 06:53 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->i posted in BRF that it reminds me of the Panchatantra of the two quarreling monkeys and the cat who benefits in the end. Yuour half chapati ref shows you are thinkign on same lines.
I think the windfall profit tax, axing Deora and admonishment of Mukesh for blocking the MTN takeover all demands show its an Anil Ambani attack on his brother using Sarkar Raj. Mukesh represent the lal baccha enterprise while little brother is pattar giravu enterprise. SO that fight ofr infleunec is also going on.
Where is old money like Tata and Birla and new money like Infosys?
[right][snapback]84241[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Read the whole thing here
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/14sld02.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mr Ambani, Mr Birla, share the pain of the middle class'
July 14, 2008<b>
It is being said that your recent missives on issues like spectrum, windfall profit tax and scrapping the export-oriented unit status granted to Mukesh Ambani's petroleum refinery are due to your proximity to his estranged younger brother Anil. What do you say to that?</b>
Let me be very clear that I am only echoing the views of Ratan Tata, the telecom regulator and the editor of Business Standard. If these views are identical to the views expressed by my friend Anil Ambani, what can I do?
<b>On the question of levying a windfall profit tax, well, even the democratic presidential candidate Barak Hussain Obama favours such a tax.</b>
Not only that, the International Energy Agency has come down heavily on the Centre's decision to award export-oriented unit status to the Reliance refinery. I could hardly be using the arguments put forward by the Left, the US democrats, the IEA and even regulatory agencies, all together for Anil Ambani's benefit.
<b>Your proximity to Anil Ambani leads to a lot of talk whenever you intervene on policy matters.</b>
If I had been talking of things that would lead to wealth creation for certain individuals, I would understand the hue and cry. Here I am saying that those who have profited so much must share the pain of the common man burdened by poverty. In the good old days, my erstwhile friend Mukesh Ambani used to say, "Papa tells us we must share our gains to relieve the pain of the people." So I say: Mr Ambani, Mr Birla, you must share the pain of the middle class. If Anil Ambani falls in this bracket, I will ask him as well. Let me make it clear that Anil is no one to guide me vis-a-vis the Congress. Yes, my future holidays or our evening dinner plans can be the subject of his likes and dislikes and that is my personal affair. I will say that I will be careful because of this perception of proximity with Anil and Amitabh Bachchan in accepting assignments pertaining to their interests and profession. That is, hypothetically, if ever, I become a minister I will not accept either the telecom or information and broadcasting ministry.
I am quite self-conscious that such accusations will be levelled against me because of the great love the media harbours for me. Therefore, I was the only one who, as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee dealing with the second securities scam, gave gory details of my corporate connections to the chairman. I requested other members - Prem Gupta and Praful Patel (both ministers in the UPA) - to do the same. I don't know if they did.
<b>There are reports that you asked for Murli Deora, P Chidambaram and RBI governor Y V Reddy's heads and set it as one of the conditions to support the UPA. Is that correct?</b>
I want to make it clear that there are no conditions for removing Murli Deora, or the finance minister or RBI governor. In fact, I recently met Chidambaram at his residence and spent over an hour with him. He is a friend. Unfortunately, criticism of policy is often confused with criticism of an individual. I accepted his explanation that he gave in Parliament when I attacked him in the House on his connections to Vedanta. I have certain concerns with regard to rupee depreciation that I wanted him to act on in the absence of action from the RBI governor. There is a provision that if the RBI does not act, then the finance ministry can. So, I want the rupee rate to be allowed to strengthen to Rs 39 (against the US dollar) as it will bring down the inflation rate by at least 2-3 per cent.
<b>What about Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy?</b>
People allege that I have been after Reddy since the RBI came down on Subroto Roy's Sahara Parivar. Let me make it clear that I was on the board of the Sahara India media group and I was asked to resign. They were well within their rights. At that time Subroto Roy said financial institutions here and abroad are sceptical of politicians and the group was facing a hard time as a result. So, Jaya Bacchan and I resigned. Following that there was a function at Lucknow, which was held by Sahara to communicate that they are no longer connected with me. Shah Rukh Khan, Rajiv Shukla [a Congress MP] and the Moranis [the movie exhibitors] were there.
An announcement was made by Abhijit Sarkar, Subroto Roy's sister's son-in-law, that I was not present nor connected with them. What more is to be said? I refrain from speaking against them, since I believe in what Henry Kissinger said that in life when you grow and go up, please look after those who are left behind. I hope to meet Sahara somewhere on my way down.
<b>What about all that you have said in the past about the Congress?</b>
My past pronouncements on the Congress hurt me now. It was a mistake, committed on both sides. The Congress was more mature than us and opposed us with silence, while my opposition was loud. I have learnt a lesson from the Congress that silence is golden. And it is this golden silence that should be one's weapon.
<b>How did the entire Congress-SP alliance begin and get cemented, given that things were so bitter between the two?</b>
My personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been constant. It became public with the UPA dinner on May 14 this year [when he shared the dinner table with the PM]. Let me now reveal a little-known fact - the prime minister personally invited me to his swearing-in ceremony in 2004.
There are three reasons for this proximity with the Congress. One is our relationship with the prime minister. The second is Rahul Gandhi's gesture in writing to me when my father died. I don't know him and the gesture touched me. And lastly, Dr Kalam's view that the nuclear deal was, in fact, in national interest
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the windfall profit tax, axing Deora and admonishment of Mukesh for blocking the MTN takeover all demands show its an Anil Ambani attack on his brother using Sarkar Raj. Mukesh represent the lal baccha enterprise while little brother is pattar giravu enterprise. SO that fight ofr infleunec is also going on.
Where is old money like Tata and Birla and new money like Infosys?
[right][snapback]84241[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Read the whole thing here
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/14sld02.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mr Ambani, Mr Birla, share the pain of the middle class'
July 14, 2008<b>
It is being said that your recent missives on issues like spectrum, windfall profit tax and scrapping the export-oriented unit status granted to Mukesh Ambani's petroleum refinery are due to your proximity to his estranged younger brother Anil. What do you say to that?</b>
Let me be very clear that I am only echoing the views of Ratan Tata, the telecom regulator and the editor of Business Standard. If these views are identical to the views expressed by my friend Anil Ambani, what can I do?
<b>On the question of levying a windfall profit tax, well, even the democratic presidential candidate Barak Hussain Obama favours such a tax.</b>
Not only that, the International Energy Agency has come down heavily on the Centre's decision to award export-oriented unit status to the Reliance refinery. I could hardly be using the arguments put forward by the Left, the US democrats, the IEA and even regulatory agencies, all together for Anil Ambani's benefit.
<b>Your proximity to Anil Ambani leads to a lot of talk whenever you intervene on policy matters.</b>
If I had been talking of things that would lead to wealth creation for certain individuals, I would understand the hue and cry. Here I am saying that those who have profited so much must share the pain of the common man burdened by poverty. In the good old days, my erstwhile friend Mukesh Ambani used to say, "Papa tells us we must share our gains to relieve the pain of the people." So I say: Mr Ambani, Mr Birla, you must share the pain of the middle class. If Anil Ambani falls in this bracket, I will ask him as well. Let me make it clear that Anil is no one to guide me vis-a-vis the Congress. Yes, my future holidays or our evening dinner plans can be the subject of his likes and dislikes and that is my personal affair. I will say that I will be careful because of this perception of proximity with Anil and Amitabh Bachchan in accepting assignments pertaining to their interests and profession. That is, hypothetically, if ever, I become a minister I will not accept either the telecom or information and broadcasting ministry.
I am quite self-conscious that such accusations will be levelled against me because of the great love the media harbours for me. Therefore, I was the only one who, as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee dealing with the second securities scam, gave gory details of my corporate connections to the chairman. I requested other members - Prem Gupta and Praful Patel (both ministers in the UPA) - to do the same. I don't know if they did.
<b>There are reports that you asked for Murli Deora, P Chidambaram and RBI governor Y V Reddy's heads and set it as one of the conditions to support the UPA. Is that correct?</b>
I want to make it clear that there are no conditions for removing Murli Deora, or the finance minister or RBI governor. In fact, I recently met Chidambaram at his residence and spent over an hour with him. He is a friend. Unfortunately, criticism of policy is often confused with criticism of an individual. I accepted his explanation that he gave in Parliament when I attacked him in the House on his connections to Vedanta. I have certain concerns with regard to rupee depreciation that I wanted him to act on in the absence of action from the RBI governor. There is a provision that if the RBI does not act, then the finance ministry can. So, I want the rupee rate to be allowed to strengthen to Rs 39 (against the US dollar) as it will bring down the inflation rate by at least 2-3 per cent.
<b>What about Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy?</b>
People allege that I have been after Reddy since the RBI came down on Subroto Roy's Sahara Parivar. Let me make it clear that I was on the board of the Sahara India media group and I was asked to resign. They were well within their rights. At that time Subroto Roy said financial institutions here and abroad are sceptical of politicians and the group was facing a hard time as a result. So, Jaya Bacchan and I resigned. Following that there was a function at Lucknow, which was held by Sahara to communicate that they are no longer connected with me. Shah Rukh Khan, Rajiv Shukla [a Congress MP] and the Moranis [the movie exhibitors] were there.
An announcement was made by Abhijit Sarkar, Subroto Roy's sister's son-in-law, that I was not present nor connected with them. What more is to be said? I refrain from speaking against them, since I believe in what Henry Kissinger said that in life when you grow and go up, please look after those who are left behind. I hope to meet Sahara somewhere on my way down.
<b>What about all that you have said in the past about the Congress?</b>
My past pronouncements on the Congress hurt me now. It was a mistake, committed on both sides. The Congress was more mature than us and opposed us with silence, while my opposition was loud. I have learnt a lesson from the Congress that silence is golden. And it is this golden silence that should be one's weapon.
<b>How did the entire Congress-SP alliance begin and get cemented, given that things were so bitter between the two?</b>
My personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been constant. It became public with the UPA dinner on May 14 this year [when he shared the dinner table with the PM]. Let me now reveal a little-known fact - the prime minister personally invited me to his swearing-in ceremony in 2004.
There are three reasons for this proximity with the Congress. One is our relationship with the prime minister. The second is Rahul Gandhi's gesture in writing to me when my father died. I don't know him and the gesture touched me. And lastly, Dr Kalam's view that the nuclear deal was, in fact, in national interest
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->