New Delhi: The Corporate Affairs Ministry on Monday said it is examining the report of the government-appointed panel that probed Walmart's lobbying activities with US lawmakers to enter the Indian market. "We are examining the report," Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said.
The one-man committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal, had submitted the report to Pilot on May 18. The Ministry would look into the committee's report and make recommendations before sending it to Parliament, Pilot said on the sidelines of a Competition Commission of India event.
Set up in January 2012, the panel looked into "whether Walmart undertook any activities in India in contravention of any Indian law", and any other matter relevant to this issue. There was political uproar following media reports about Walmart's lobbying among the US lawmakers since 2008 for facilitating its entry into the Indian market. The government in December, 2012 had assured Parliament to get the matter probed by a retired judge.
As per US Congressional records of lobbying disclosure reports, the company spent a total amount of $6.13 million (about Rs 33 crore) on lobbying for various issues, including on "discussions related to FDI in India", during entire 2012. The tenure of the committee, which was expected to present its report by April 30, was extended. The panel, which met five times, had also interacted with Walmart representatives besides gathering responses from the public on the matter....
10:19 PM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: Investigation into whether US giant Walmart may have bribed Indian officials to gain wider access to the country's vast market has been closed due to lack of evidence, sources said on Sunday. Corporate Affairs Ministry has confirmed and said no evidence of lobbying was found. The one-man committee of Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal probing the matter had submitted a report to...
05:59 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: A committee looking into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India today submitted its report to Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot. Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal who headed the panel set up to look into lobbying activities by Walmart, submitted the report to Pilot at his residence. No details of the report were immediately available. ...
07:35 PM, May 18, 2013
Mumbai: An Air India New Delhi-Bangalore flight had to make an unscheduled landing at Bhopal after the flight commander was locked out of the cockpit, an airline spokesperson said on Tuesday. The bizarre incident occurred on Monday when the flight commander of AI-403 went to the toilet briefly and returned to find the cockpit door locked. Despite all efforts from outside and inside by the co-pilot and a trainee pilot,...
10:21 AM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: Women's self help groups in the country would be provided bank loans at an interest rate of seven per cent from now on, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Monday. The scheme would be initially started as a pilot project in 150 districts and in rest of the states, 75 per cent of the cost would be borne by the central government and 25 per cent by...
05:06 AM, May 07, 2013
Mumbai: An Air India pilot and two air hostesses were suspended after an airline probe found that the cabin crew overstayed in the cockpit on a Delhi-bound flight from Bangkok on April 12. The action came amidst reports that while the pilot took a nap in the business class, the air hostesses were left to operate the aircraft over 20 minutes, endangering the safety of 166 passengers on board. The...
06:58 PM, May 03, 2013
The Centre is investigating the West Bengal chit fund schemes with the Corporate Affairs Ministry setting up a special panel. ...
03:30 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: The Corporate Affairs Ministry has decided to order a probe into Saradha Group companies amid growing controversy over the Kolkata-based entity allegedly duping thousands of investors. Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot along with senior Ministry officials would on Thursday hold a meeting to look into the functioning of various chit funds including issues related to Saradha group companies. A senior official said the Ministry is likely to order...
12:36 PM, Apr 25, 2013
San Francisco: Amazon.com Inc's experiment with original video production took a big step forward as the company posted 14 pilot TV shows on the Internet for free viewing. Amazon, the world's largest Internet retailer, has been filming pilots in recent months for comedy and kids TV shows such as Alpha House, Betas and Teeny Tiny Dogs. The company posted them all on the Amazon Instant Video section of its website...
10:47 AM, Apr 21, 2013
New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party in the 2014 general elections but he is not running for any post, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot said on Saturday. "The Congress has not once said that Rahul Gandhi is the prime minister in waiting. He is not running for any particular post. Rahul Gandhi does not need to. He does not need any projection,"...
05:35 AM, Apr 07, 2013
Congress leader Sachin Pilot was speaking to CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose on Rahul Gandhi's address to India Inc at CII. ...
08:38 PM, Apr 04, 2013
New Delhi: After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, now Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will spell out the government's reforms roadmap in his first interaction with business leaders at the annual general meeting of industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday. This is being seen as a move to counter Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Rahul Gandhi has been trying to woo the business community as well. Rahul...
08:25 AM, Apr 04, 2013
Lauding the effectiveness of social media, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said the freedom that comes out of using it needs to be regulated. ...
02:05 PM, Mar 24, 2013
Taking cognisance of an online music video of a pilot in uniform singing a song laced with expletives, Air India management on Tuesday said it is looking into the matter and will take action only after "verifying" facts. "We have seen the video. We are verifying the facts, that whether he is a pilot with the airlines or not. And also if the video is doctored or morphed. Management will...
09:52 PM, Feb 19, 2013
An Air India pilot has uploaded a rap music video on YouTube, leaving his bosses hot under the collar. The video, called Air India Rap, has been called 'sexist' among other things because of its controversial lyrics. ...
11:58 AM, Feb 19, 2013
CNN-IBN's senior editor Jyoti Kamal joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the AgustaWestland chopper deal bribery scandal. ...
05:47 PM, Feb 18, 2013
The government on Thursday said it will set up a committee to look into the allegations that US retail giant Walmart indulged in lobbying activities in India to gain entry in the country's market. Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said the government will set up a committee to look into the matter. ...
07:12 PM, Jan 24, 2013
Mumbai-based pilots of grounded Kingfisher Airlines on Monday served it an ultimatum to clear their dues by January 31 or face another winding-up petition even as the beleagured management on Monday appealed to its Delhi-based engineers not to resort to any legal action. ...
04:42 AM, Jan 22, 2013
Former Kingfisher Airlines pilots have sent a legal notice to the management seeking compensation for mental harassment and salary dues, according to sources. The management has been given a period of 21 days to comply with the notice. ...
11:43 AM, Jan 21, 2013
Kingisher Airlines' planned investment of Rs 650 crore is not enough to restart operations at the grounded Indian carrier, a senior government source said on Friday. ...
11:42 AM, Jan 11, 2013
