It's better to be a multi-billionaire politician than displaying wealth: Vijay Mallya

October 27, 2012

Vijay_mallya

New Delhi, October 27: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Saturday said he has learnt the hard way that wealth should not be displayed in India, and that it is better to be a multi-billionaire politician in the country. "I have learnt the hard way that in India wealth should not be displayed. (It is) Better to be a multi-billionaire politician dressed in Khadi," Mallya tweeted amid a long-continuing crisis at his UB Group's Kingfisher Airlines and his exit from the league of Indian billionaires.

On Friday, Mallya had posted on Twitter that he was thankful to 'the Almighty' for losing his billionaire status, and hoped it would lead to "less jealousy, less frenzy and (less of) wrongful attacks" on him. Often referred to as 'King of Good Times', Mallya has slipped out of the billionaire league in the Forbes rich list, as "bad times" in his aviation business have dragged down his networth to below the $ 1 billion mark.

According to the business magazine's latest list of 100 richest people in India that was published yesterday, Mallya is now ranked 73rd with a fortune of $ 800 million (about Rs 4,285 crore) -- a sharp plunge from 49th place last year with a fortune of $ 1.1 billion. Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines, part of Mallya-led UB Group, is going through turbulent times for several months now and had to halt operations earlier this month.

"King of good times is having nothing but bad times lately. His (Mallya's) Kingfisher Airlines, weighed down by what is believed to be $ 2 billion in debt, had its licence suspended in mid-October..." Forbes had said. Mallya is attending Formula One race at Greater Noida near the national capital, where a team part-owned by him, Sahara Force India, is participating.

The UB Group Chairman further tweeted that the qualifying prospects of Sahara Force India is secondary and the focus of even sports journalists was on Kingfisher only. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Formula One venue, Mallya said: "We are here to enjoy Formula One, so let's enjoy it. But I have always been available and whatever settlement has been reached (between the airline management and the employees) it's because of my participation".

The employees of the airline, who were on strike since September 29, agreed to resume work on the management's promise to clear three months dues before Diwali. During the entire impasse, agitating employees had demanded his presence and even threatened to stage protest at the venue of Formula One race. "If they wanted to say something to me they could have come to my house. What is the point of coming here? There is no question of any disturbance or protest," Mallya said.

Also read: Mallya thanks 'Almighty' for losing billionaire tag, hopes it will lead to 'less jealousy'


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News Network
March 28,2020

Mar 28: A 69-year-old patient, hailing from Chullikal in Ernakulam District, passed away at Kalamasserry Medical College at 8:00am.

The patient had come from Dubai recently and was quarantined.

He arrived in Kerala on March 16 and was tested positive for Coronavirus on March 22, Medical College nodal officer A Fathahudeen said.

He was undergoing treatment for heart ailment and blood pressure. He had earlier undergone a bypass surgery.

Forty nine passengers in the flight he came are under quarantine.

A close relative and the driver who picked him up from the airport are coronavirus positive.

Since the deceased had no contact with any others in the state since his arrival, his route map was not processed.

Kerala reported 39 fresh cases of coronavirus on Friday, taking the total number of people under treatment to 164. The total number of confirmed cases from the state is 176, but, of this, 12 had recovered.

Of the 39 cases, 34 are from the worst affected northernmost district of Kasaragod, two from Kannur and one each from Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kollam.

With a positive case being reported from Kollam, all 14 districts in the state have been affected by the pandemic.

The worst affected Kasaragod has 76 positive cases, the highest and most of the affected are Non Resident Keralites from the Gulf.

A total of 1,10,299 people are under surveillence and 616 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Srinagar, May 21: Two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and their weapons snatched by militants in the Pandach area on the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday.

According to IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, the two BSF jawans, who were on road surveillance deployment, were fired upon by two of the three terrorists on a motorcycle around 5:15 pm on the 90-Ft Road at Pandach, near Soura. 

They were critically injured and later succumbed to injuries. The terrorists escaped after taking away one AK rifle and one INSAS. Efforts were underway to trace the terrorists.

He said that two jawans, Constable Rana Mandol and Constable Ziaul Haque of ‘C’ company of 37th battalion, were injured and they later succumbed.

“The terrorists managed to take away the weapons of the martyrs. Area has been cordoned off and the search for the terrorists is on”, he said.

Residents around the spot said that the two soldiers were buying chicken for Iftar from a mutton dealer, around 300 meters away from their deployment location when three militants on a motorcycle stopped and opened fire on them.

Medical Superintendent SKIMS Dr Farooq Jan said that both the jawans were brought dead to the tertiary care hospital.

Senior Police officials said it was a “clear case of security lapse” as the two jawans had left their spot of deployment on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road and gone to a shop 500 metres away on a different road.

They said that possibility of terror attacks and subsequently claims by the new outfit TRF had been flashed to all forces earlier this week.

The terror strike in the capital city has occurred a day after an encounter in downtown Srinagar, where two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including the top wanted Junaid Sehrai, had been killed on Tuesday.

In the last one month, five Army and Police personnel and two militants had got killed in an encounter in Handwara area of Kupwara, a day before three CRPF men were killed in another attack.

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Agencies
July 2,2020

Mumbai, Jul 2: The Shiv Sena on Thursday termed the ban on 59 Chinese apps by the Indian government as a "digital strike" and asked if these apps were a threat to the national security, how did they operate for so many years.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' sought to know when did the Centre realise these apps were a threat to the national security.

By banning the Chinese apps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi protected the interests of Indian internet users and his courage has be lauded, the Marathi publication said.

India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including TikTok, UC Browser, SHAREit and WeChat, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.

"If these apps were a threat to national security, how is it that these apps were functioning without any hurdles for so many years. If the opposition says the government neglected national security,then what will the Centre's stand be?" the Shiv Sena asked.

It said questions should be raised on all the previous governments for "allowing national data to go out of the country".

China has expressed displeasure over the Indian government's decision, the Marathi daily said, adding that Chinese soldiers are "still not ready to leave the Galwan Valley (in Ladakh)".

The Sena said it took the sacrifices of 20 soldiers for the government to realise Indian data was being illegally taken out of the country.

"The government took revenge by a digital strike," it stated.

There have been complaints earlier that users' data on Chinese apps was illegally sent out of the country, and apps like TikTok were "promoting vulgarity", it said.

"Many TikTok stars had reportedly joined the BJP," the Sena claimed. "What will happen to them?" it asked.

There is a need to break China economically, but that will not happen by banning its apps. The issue is about trade and investment between the two countries, it said.

"The largest Chinese investment is in Gujarat.

Chinese company Huawei has got the contract to set up 5G network in India. This company having keys to India's digital economy is akin to the Chinese Communist Party owning the Indian economy in future," it said.

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