Surpassing American software czar Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and famous investment guru Warren Buffett, courtesy the bull run in the stock market, billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday became the richest person in the world.

Record-breaking performance by India's stock markets has put the industrialist Mukesh Ambani at the top of a list of the world's richest people. With India's most valued firm Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd, the net worth of Mukesh Ambani rose to $63.2 billion (Rs 2,49,108 crore), making Ambani's wealth total of about Rs 2,49,000 crore includes about Rs 2,10,000 crore from RIL (50.98% stake), Rs 37,500 crore from RPL (37.5%) and Rs 2,100 crore from RIIL (46.23%).

Reliance Industries, which was founded by Mr Ambani's father, Dhirubhai, spans oil, textiles and biochemicals and has annual revenues of $27bn, close to its fellow Indian conglomerate Tata Industries. Mukesh Ambani and his estranged younger brother, Anil, split the group's assets on their father's death in 2002.

The performance of companies owned by both brothers have been equally remarkable in the recent run by the Indian stock market. The Sensex has risen about 39 per cent since it became the third emerging market after China and Russia to surpass $1 trillion in May, helped by economic growth of around 9 per cent a year and a strengthening currency.

Shares in Reliance Industries, which has the heaviest index weighting on the Sensex, have risen by nearly 80 per cent this year. Indeed, Reliance Industries, operator of the world's third-largest refinery, has accounted for about a quarter of the Sensex's gain since it first crossed 10,000 points in February 2006.

In comparison, the net worth of both Gates and Slim is estimated to be slightly lower at around $62.29 billion each, with Slim leading among the two by a narrow margin and Warren Buffett, earlier the third richest in the world, also dropped one position with a net worth of about $56 billion.

The five richest people in the world with their net worth.

1. Mukesh Ambani ($63.2 billion)

2. Carlos Slim Helu ($62.2993 billion)

3. William (Bill) Gates ($62.29 billion)

4. Warren Buffett ($55.9 billion)

5. Lakshmi Mittal ($50.9 billion)


Source: (Times, Independent)

This is the moment when every Indian should feel proud off, as for the first time the indigenously build light combat aircraft Tejas was used on Thursday (October 25) at a naval weapons range off the coast of Goa, at an altitude of 7 kilometers and at 0.6 times the speed of sound, the 'Tejas' did something that took the fighter program a leap further, it fired an air to air missile, something described as a textbook launch.

The launch validated many features of the fighter -- like the ability of the missile to jump clear of the aircraft on launch, the effect of the missile on the structure and handling on the aircraft itself and the important sub-systems of the aircraft that allow it to fire missiles safely and to lethal effect. Tejas is also controlled by advanced computers and fly by wire controls that keep it stable in flight for India's fledgeling indigenous fighter industry. The missile launch has more than one facet - our homegrown fighter aircraft is now a lethal bird of prey.

With advance war fighter like Sukhoi 30 MKI, already in India's arsenal, India is still going forward with the Tejas, the indigenously developed Light combat aircraft and achiving milestones one after another and why it shouldn't as IAF is planning to fully develop Tejas and replace the notorious and ageing MiG 21s.

VIDEO:


Source: (Times Now)

This Wednesday was like any other Wednesday in Indian law of court but something dramatic happened this Wednesday, which was never witnessed earlier, It was a day of life sentences across the country on Wednesday. A total of 60 people were awarded life imprisonment in three high-profile and one lesser-known cases across India by courts for criminal acts in four separate cases.. They ranged from politician Amarmani Tripathi to policemen in Delhi, Islamic radicals in Tamil Nadu and Hindus charged with killing Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

The crimes ranged from bomb blasts in Coimbatore to target BJP leader LK Advani and murder of a pregnant poetess in Lucknow following an affair to killing of two businessmen in a fake police encounter in Delhi and burning nine persons alive during communal riots in Kanpur in the aftermath of the demolition of Babri Masjid mosque.

The judges pronounced the stunning verdicts within hours of one another, ending years of agonizing trials and eventually delivering justice to the family members of those killed in the four cases. The maximum number of 31 life terms was awarded in Tamil Nadu's bustling Coimbatore town where a special judge found 31 Islamic radicals guilty for the deaths of 58 people in a string of deadly bomb blasts in 1998.

Court in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, also gave similar sentences to Tripathi's wife Madhumani, Tripathi's cousin Rohit Chaturvedi and a contract killer. The victim was shot dead in Lucknow in May 2003.

Source: (Khabrein, Hindustan Times)

No matter what you have hear about India being the world economic power in some 20 years down the line. However,recent survey carried out by international consultancy and research firm AT Kearney has ranked India at the 71st position in its annual ranking of the world's most globalised nations, AT Kearney and Foreign Policy Globalisation Index 2007.

The list of 72 countries is topped by Singapore for the third consecutive year followed by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland.

India fell 10 places from its 61st position in 2006. The country was placed at the second bottom position last year as well in a list of 62 nations just ahead of Iran. This year, 10 countries have debuted on the index, and all of them have come at ranks higher than India.

AT Kearney said that India's low position is despite the country's services export and the total trade rising by more than a third. "India's standing as a premier off-shoring destination with a booming economy often masks the fact that 70% of its population lives in rural areas," the report said.

Despite a doubling of Internet users in 2005, only 5% of India's population had access to the Internet and less than half of its population was attached to the power grid, it said.

The Globalisation Index is an annual study which assesses the extent to which nations are becoming more or less globally connected taking into account 12 variables grouped into four categories, economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement.

Mr A. Raja, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, today informed that the telecom sector has reached 250 million subscribers three months ahead of the target date as it has been adding more than seven million subscribers every month.

The target set by the department of 15% tele-density by 2010 was achieved in September 2006 itself, four years in advance. The gross number of telephones by the end September 2007 was 248.66 million as compared to 241.02 million in August 2007. The overall tele-density reached 21.85% in September 2007 as against 21.20% in August 2007.

As for the wireless segment there was a fall in subscription and it accounted for 7.80 million subscription in September 2007 as against 8.31 million subscription in August 2007. In the wire-line segment, the subscriber base decreased to 39.58 million in September 2007 as against 39.73 million subscribers in August 2007. The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & WLL(F)) base reached 209.08 million at September end.

During April-September of 2007, 42.80 million total phone subscribers have been added as compared to 29.70 million during the corresponding period in the previous year.

Noticing this incredible rise in figures Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that with the addition of 7.64 million phone connections in September, the 500 million target by 2010 appear modest.

Here is a good news, inflation has hit 5 year low at 3.07%, as increased farm production reduced prices of fruit and vegetables which moved down to 4%.Prices of eggs as well as fish dropped down marginally by 1% whereas prices of bajra and maize dipped by 2%.

Lower food prices may not prevent inflation from accelerating in the coming months as banks increase lending in the world's second-fastest growing major economy. However, prices of furnaces shot up by 46 per cent followed by aviation turbine fuel which rose by 5 per cent. Prices of broad-gauged diesel locomotive prices also jumped by 9 per cent.

The Apex bank- RBI, stock regulator -SEBI as well as the Center have played a pivotal role in maintaining inflation at the sustainable level. They helped to curtail liquidity in the financial system by streaming in various norms such as raising ceiling on market stabilisation scheme (MSS) bonds, liberalizing rules on forex and controlling overseas capital inflow via P- Notes. RBI took prudential measures such as enhancing the provisioning requirements and risk weights for select categories of banking assets, namely consumer finance, real estate, housing and capital market exposures.

All this efforts have finally paid off. Moreover, with more than half of the $17.7 billion of the net purchases of Indian stocks this year may have been through the use of participatory notes, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts estimate and also record overseas investments have caused rupee to strengthen at 11.4% this year, the fastest gain in 33 years.

Source: (Times, MyIris, Bloomberg)

Recent attacks in INDIA, one at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and the other at Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, the only thing which was common between the two were both attacks were triggered by mobile phones. Investigations revealed that in both the cases, the SIM cards were taken in the same fictitious name — Babulal Yadav — and the picture given for the purpose of verification was that of a Noida-based yoga teacher, Tarak Nath, who protested when his photo was published as a suspect after the Hyderabad blast.

However, the service provider have tighten the procedure for securing the new connection by verifying the same in various stages, but it seem it was a cake walk for these terrorist in procuring the sim cards.

According to Times of India, its still a piece of cake when it comes to acquiring SIM in fictitious names. "It could have been under any name. We chose the names of home secretary Madhukar Gupta and Intelligence Bureau director P C Haldar. It's not that any one service provider is lax, most of them are, with the exception of state-owned BSNL and MTNL. The connection in the name of Gupta is a post-paid one from Vodafone (9873310143) and Haldar's a pre-paid Airtel connection (9958784077). The shady agent who got us the connections bragged that he could provide any connection, under any name." Times stated.

When times took the initiative to acquire two SIM'S they were delivered to them and activated within 48 hours and that too for mere Rs 200 for the post-paid connection and Rs 150 for the pre-paid connection.

"In the race for getting more customers, the mobile phone operators have appointed area agents who, in turn, have recruited boys — neither of whom have any appreciation of security needs; their aim is to simply boost numbers.As a result, not only are connections given with flimsiest of checks, there is proactive help for the necessary paperwork — identity proof and the rest are "arranged" by the boys." TOI.

After all in India we never take thing seriously, that's what this whole incidence has indicated India takes its security so casually. This is the high time after all, with more and more terror attacks it time to check all the loop hole and try to patch them before anyone else can take unfair advantage.

Source: (Times)