Webinfosys's Local News : Now, Ambanis' fight makes it to Forbes list

India's top industrialists Mukesh and Anil Ambani have once again made it to a list of richest people compiled by US business magazine Forbes, but this time the billionaire brothers were recognised more for their running feud.

"Sometimes fighting has a silver lining, as has been the case for Indian brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani," the US business magazine wrote about the two siblings in a report on the latest list - 'Billionaire Family Feuds'.

In 2005, the two had a collective net worth of seven billion dollars. In the Forbes' March 2007 list of world's richest persons, Mukesh alone was ranked at the 14th place with 20.1 billion dollars and younger brother Anil followed at 18th position with a net worth of 18.2 billion dollars, it said.

"Unable to get along, the brothers began fighting publicly in the late 2004 for control of Reliance Industries, one of India's largest conglomerates. The situation became so untenable that their mother Kokilaben brokered a court- approved peace settlement that entailed divvying up the family businesses," the report noted.

"Once-inseparable brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani fought bitterly for months over control of Reliance Industries, one of India's largest companies, founded by their late father Dhirubhai."
According to Forbes, the bickering is still continuing between the two brothers despite their mother brokering a settlement to divide the family assets way back in June 2005.

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Webinfosys's Local News : India should proceed with nuclear deal: Paulson

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Sunday urged India to proceed with a civilian nuclear deal as soon as possible, but acknowledged that domestic political controversy over the deal must be resolved first.

"You all have to work through your own internal political decision. That's up to India," Paulson told reporters after an event highlighting the need to bring more of India's poor into the formal banking system.

"Again, we think this is a very important deal and I would just encourage you to move forward as quickly as possible," Paulson said.

Paulson said the nuclear deal, opposed by some leftist parties in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government, is something the United States believes is important for India's economic growth, energy security and environmental protection efforts.

As part of a four-day trip to India, Paulson will meet West Bengal's pro-investment communist chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee later on Sunday, and will travel to Mumbai and New Delhi for economic conferences and to meet Indian officials, including Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and the heads of the country's central bank and securities regulator.

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Webinfosys's Local News : Pak was preparing to use nuke missiles during Kargil war: Book

Pakistan was preparing to use nuclear missiles against India during the Kargil war, a new book has claimed, citing a conversation between US President Bill Clinton and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif eight years back.

"When President Clinton met Sharif at Blair House (in July 1999), Clinton asked Sharif if he knew how advanced the threat of nuclear war really was? Did he know, for example that his military was preparing to use nuclear missiles?" the book "Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy" says.

Answering Clinton's query, Sharif shook his head implying he was unaware of his military's moves, investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark have claimed in their 586-page book.

Warning Sharif, the President said he had a statement ready for release that would pin all the blame for Kargil on Pakistan if the Prime Minister refused to pull his forces back.

Clinton further questioned Sharif on whether the Pakistani leader could be trusted on anything.
The US President reminded Sharif that despite his promise to help bring Osama bin Laden to justice, the ISI had continued to work with bin Laden and the Taliban to foment terrorism and the Americans knew that.

The Americans were unsure as to who was really in control in Islamabad, the authors said, as confusion prevailed over whether Sharif was in reality pushed into a war by General Pervez Musharraf, or he attempted to diminish his role in the crisis.

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