Biz Buzz

When the government announced last week that Nandu K Singh was being shifted out of thePrime Minister's Office (PMO), a significant section of the corporates heaved a sigh ofrelief, ostensibly because of the OSD's proximity to a major Mumbai-based industrialhouse. But the funniest part of the entire story is that Singh is not exactly out of theprecincts of the PMO. And this time, he is back with renewed vigour. Why? Well, his newdesignation at the Planning Commission (PC) means he is a Minister of State(MoS)with special perks and that he will be there almost everytime a crucial decisionis taken (as a PC representative). Doesn't this remind us of the days of Jaswant Singh,who was named the Deputy Chairman, PC but spent most of his time in the PMO to deliberateon foreign policy matters? And who are waiting in the wings? There is this subtle tusslefor NK's chair between the troika of Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh, Revenue Secretary DrS Narayanan and Finance Secretary Ajit Kumar, the last named a confidant of PrincipalSecretary Brajesh Mishra. There are also others waiting. But they are not bureaucrats buta small section of Singh's staff who are wondering how to handle the countless calls oftheir boss who is mostly seen at the PMO. Some things just do not change in thebureaucracy, right?

What bothers the once redoubtable Ambanis? Many in the Indian Capital feel the oncepowerful group is slowly losing its grip in the corridors of powers. For example, when adaily reported on a secret Reliance plan to sabotage the state-owned Videsh Sanchar NigamLimited (VSNL), the mandarins of the Makers Chambers were all at sea to trace the originof the document. One section said it came from Delhi while the Delhi troubleshooters ofthe group said it was never written by them. Again, when the JPC list was announced, thegroup -- whose proximity to the controversial, scam-tainted HFCL is well known --immediately drew up a list of the members rumoured to be close. But then, the list hadvery few names whom Reliance troubleshooters in Delhi and Mumbai had networked over theyears. There's tension in the oil and gas sector where Reliance Petroleum head SBuddhiraja is under fire from the Ambanis for having done some miscalculations ininvestments in National Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and offered high bids for fields with low returns.

The forthcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu may be a pain for the state'spopulation but it has definitely come as a boon for P Subramanyam, the controversialchairman of the Unit Trust of India (UTI). Why? Because the Finance Ministry was advisedby a section of the NDA Cabinet and the Tamil Nadu IAS lobby (rumoured to be close toSubramanyam) that any decision to remove the chairman would be seen as a move to removewhat they felt "a honest Tamil". And that it could prove detrimental, more sobecause SEBI chief D.R. Mehta was still in the chair despite drawing flak from almost allquarters for allegedly mishandling what should be the watchdog's ideal role in the stockmarket.

Why are all Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs) considered nothing but a farce? Well,it's primarily because it achieves little. Consider the latest one set up by thegovernment read the Finance Ministry) to probe the stock market scam. The list includesPrem Gupta, the highly controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal member from Bihar whoseproximity to HFCL's Mahendra Nahata and his deputy Vinay Maloo is well known in thefinancial circles.Then there is the Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who openly flauntshis friendship with Ketan Parekh and Maloo of HFCL. There's also Kumar Akhilesh Singh,another highly controversial politician from Uttar Pradesh whose links with a host ofindustrial houses in the state and their alleged stock market dealings are well known. Andfinally, there is the Bharatiya Janata Party's MP Kirit Somaiya, known for being extremelyvocal about the bull cartel but, relatively low-key on the operations of the bear union.Now how far the four musketeers will help unearth the truth is a million-dollar question.

Is Shatrughan Sinha upset with the NDA government? If not, why is he playing hide andseek, especially when Assembly elections are around? His staff told the BJP high commandthat Sinha was in the United States but later he himself surfaced at the partyheadquarters and met president Jana Krishnamurthy to clear all doubts. But why is Shotgunannoyed? Insiders claim he has told the party leadership that he is ready to do somehectic campaigning but this time he will settle for nothing less than a Minister of State's position. But which ministry? Well, Sinha has demanded petroleum where such aposition is vacant. And if that eventually happens after the elections, it will be fun tosee of the two presiding over the Rs 2,50,000 crore turnover ministry which does thetalking. After all, like Sinha, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is also a media saavy personand loves all the publicity in the world.

Where is Vijay Mallya? The liquor baron and CEO of the Rs 400 crore United Breweriesgroup has cancelled all his meetings (including personal ones) and told his staff not todisturb him for sometime. Why? It's for a host of reasons. First, Mallya has some peculiarknee problems for which he is undergoing treatment. Secondly, he is performing a series ofspecial pujas for increased luck in business. And the religious ceremonies are not becausethe group had a major fall in profits but because Mallya has confided to some about his long-time ambitions to become extremely rich and be India'sanswer to Richard "Virgin Atlantic" Branson. And for that you definitely needlots and lots of funds. His ambitions include starting an extended service of his smallairline business (UB Air), more media acquisitions (this time in the Middle East),investments in infrastructure projects and funding entertainment projects in bothBollywood and Hollywood.

Who's the latest person to join the television software bandwagon? M.J. Akbar of AsianAge, that's who. He has recently picked up as many as six programmes on the Zee News andcurrent affairs channel and is currently scouting for talent. Akbar wants to anchor someof the shows on the channel which is trying hard to keep pace with newly-launched Aaj Takthat has raked in impressive TRPs. For more on television, the buzzword now in New DelhiTelevision is entertainment and the language, baap, is Hindi. NDTV has told anchors andreporters to brush up their language and match the Aaj Tak folks word by word. So, hecticrecruitment is on from the Hindi belt (read language dailies and magazines). And for thoseinterested in news about NDTV management, it's official that media baron Rupert Murdochwants a share but the Roys are still debating whether they should go ahead or not. Andeven if they go ahead, what would happen to the crucial issue of management control?

Raj Babbar is all set to launch his daughter Juhi but the Samajwadi Party leader doesnot want the hero to be a hi-profile one. So he has settled for singer Sonu Nigam forJuhi's maiden venture Kash Aap Hamare Hote. And guess where will the film be shot?Ninety per cent of the shooting will be in Scotland, Norway and UK and barely some scenesin Himachal!