Mukesh Ambai richest Indian; Jeff Bezos tops global rich list

Agencies
March 7, 2018

New York, Mar 7: Mukesh Ambani's net worth has soared to $40.1 billion, making him the richest Indian for the 11th year in a row, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos toppled Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest person, says Forbes.

According to Forbes' 2018 'World's Billionaires' list, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's wealth surged a whopping 72.84% to $40.1 billion (Rs 2,60,622 crore) - highest among the 119 Indian billionaires on the list.

Ambani was ranked 19th globally, up from 33rd position in 2017.

"Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $51 billion (revenues) oil and gas giant Reliance Industries, among India's most valuable companies," Forbes said.

Bezos, referred to as the "Centi-billionaire", topped the list with a net worth of $112 billion, becoming the only person to appear in the Forbes list with a 12-figure fortune.

"Shares of his e-commerce giant Amazon rose 59% in 12 months, helping boost his fortune by $39.2 billion. It was the biggest one year gain since Forbes started tracking billionaires in 1987," it said.

The Amazon founder moved ahead of Bill Gates, who is now the second richest person globally with a fortune of $90 billion.

According to Forbes, India is home to 119 billionaires, 18 more than last year.

This year's list consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world.

The combined net worth of this elite group is a whopping $9.1 trillion, up 18% since last year. Their average net worth is a record $4.1 billion.

Azim Premji is the second richest Indian and was ranked 58th on the overall list with a net worth of $18.8 billion, followed by Lakshmi Mittal (62nd position, net worth of $18.5 billion), Shiv Nadar (98th, $14.6 billion) and Dilip Shanghvi (115th, $12.8 billion).

The 10 richest Indians include Kumar Birla, ranked 127th overall with a fortune of $11.8 billion, Uday Kotak (143, $ 10.7 billion), Radhakishan Damani (151, $10 billion), Gautam Adani (154, $ 9.7 billion) and Cyrus Poonawalla (170, $9.1 billion).

Acharya Balkrishna, the co-founder of FMCG company Patanjali Ayurved, was ranked 274th on the list with a net worth of $6.3 billion.

"Acharya Balkrishna derives his fortune from fast-growing consumer goods giant Patanjali Ayurved. Balkrishna owns 98.6% of the privately-held company, which he cofounded with politically well-connected yoga guru Baba Ramdev," Forbes said.

Meanwhile, Anil Ambani, the younger sibling of Mukesh Ambani was ranked 887th on the list with a net worth of $2.7 billion.

Indian jeweller Nirav Modi is among the drop-offs from the list, along with Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter, Christoffel Wiese of South Africa, and Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud.

Donald Trump, who became the first billionaire president in US history in January 2017, was ranked 766th on the list, down from 544, with a fortune of $3.1 billion.

Trump's fortune fell $400 million since March 2017.

There were 259 newcomers, including the first ever cryptocurrency billionaires, while 121 dropped out due to falling fortunes or political headwinds, including 10 Saudi Arabians.

Forbes further noted that the gap between the really rich and the merely rich continues to widen, as fortunes soar to new heights so much so that the 20 richest people on the planet are worth a staggering $1.2 trillion, a sum roughly equivalent to the annual economic output of Mexico.

"In aggregate, they may represent less than 1% of total billionaires but their riches amount to 13% of the total fortune of all billionaires worldwide," Forbes said.

The Forbes Worlds Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from February 9, 2018.

Comments

JP
 - 
Wednesday, 7 Mar 2018

ACHE DIN ....ATLEAST FOR AMBANI/ADANI

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mumbai, Mar 5: Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and few others have been booked by the ED in a money laundering case even as the agency is conducting searches at his premises, officials said on Thursday.

They said a criminal case against the former chairman of the airlines has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a recent Mumbai Police FIR filed against him.

The Enforcement Directorate carried out raids at Goyal's premises in Mumbai on Wednesday and also questioned him after filing the case, they said.

The action is continuing, they added.

The Mumbai Police FIR pertains to charges of alleged fraud by Goyal and others against a Mumbai-based travel company.

Goyal has earlier been grilled by the central probe agency in a case filed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in September last year.

The agency had carried out similar raids, under the FEMA, in August last year against Goyal, his family and others.

ED has alleged in the past that the businessman's empire had 19 privately-held companies, five of which were registered abroad.

The agency is probing charges that these firms allegedly carried out “doubtful” transactions under the guise of selling, distribution and operating expenses.

The ED suspects that expenses at these companies were allegedly booked at fake and high costs and as a result, they “projected” huge losses.

Alleged shady aircraft lease transactions with non-existent offshore entities are also under the ED scanner and it is suspected that Jet Airways made payments for lease rental to “ghost firms”, which purportedly routed the ill-gotten money in Goyal's companies.

A full-service carrier, Jet Airways shut its operations in April last year after running out of cash.

A month earlier, Goyal had stepped down as the chairman of Jet Airways.

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News Network
April 19,2020

New Delhi, Apr 19: With 1,334 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India has reached 15,712 including 507 deaths, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, here on Sunday.

As many as 2,231 people have recovered from the disease so far, said Aggarwal during the daily media briefing on the coronavirus. "This equals 14.1 per cent of the total cases," he added.

"A total of 15,712 confirmed cases have been reported in India including 507 deaths and 2,231 people, who were COVID-19 positive, have recovered. Out of the total deaths, 27 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," said Aggarwal.

The Joint Secretary said that no new case was reported in Mahe in Puducherry and Karnataka's Kodagu in the last 28 days.

"A total of 54 other districts beside these two in 23 States/Union Territories did not report any cases in the last 14 days," he said.

He informed that there are 755 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and 1,389 dedicated health care centres in the country, which takes the total dedicated facilities where severe or critical patients can be treated to 2,144.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Srinagar, Jun 30: On the deadly attack at Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday morning, a Kashmiri social activist and journalist warned that the incident is a stark reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad and attacked Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for ignoring development agenda in Balochistan.

Yana Mir, the editor-in-chief of The Real Kashmir News, said, "Karachi Stock Exchange attack is a reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad. Remember @imrankhan that Youth is restless and they want development agenda. These young boys of BLA are also looking for a life which is settled and peaceful. Wake up Imran Khan and you Kashmiris also. Pakistan is going to finish you. Open your eyes."
Four heavily armed terrorists attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi with grenades today, killing four security guards and a police officer before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, authorities said.

The terrorists, who arrived in a car, stormed the Karachi Stock Exchange building by firing indiscriminately and lobbed grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building situated in the city's high-security commercial hub.

Balochistan is a well-known region rich in natural resources but the Balochis have always been deprived of basic facilities. No hospitals are available in Balochistan. If there are some then medical facilities and equipment are not available in hospitals. The education system is pathetic and similar is the case with the infrastructure: the roads, water system, agriculture and almost all fields of life.

It is pertinent to mention that enforced disappearances and abductions by the Pakistani military establishment have also been carried out regularly and for innumerable times in Balochistan. Leaders, activists, and vocal members of various student organizations have been detained by the security forces and kept in confinement. While others have been shot dead.

This crime against humanity has been going on for so long and so systematically in Balochistan that it has come to be considered as a normal state of affairs in the province. Many social and human rights activists have flagged the issue of oppression by the Pakistani establishment before the United Nations and other international agencies.

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, about 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered since 2014. Most of them are still unresolved.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple interviews about the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances as well as extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible. But times have passed and only reports are available to narrate the true story.

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