Indian firebrand opposition parliamentarian Mahua Moitra stormed out of the Parliament's Ethics Committee meeting, to which she had been called for questioning in a so-called bribe-for-query case on Thursday, accusing MPs of asking her "filthy questions".
Ms Moitra is accused of taking bribes from business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in the house to corner the government over its alleged links with the multi-billionaire Gautam Adani.
Ms Moitra, 49, represents the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the regional and ruling political party in the eastern state of West Bengal and a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is widely considered to be close with Mr Adani.
Nishikant Dubey, a parliamentarian from Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has accused her of taking bribes from Mr Hiranandani, a Dubai-based industrialist and chief executive of property conglomerate Hiranandani Group, for allegedly asking questions on his behalf.
She had appeared before the committee in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, but stormed out in protest over the line of questioning.
"They are asking filthy questions ... picking on anything, talking rubbish," she said.
Ms Moitra was asked the number of times she had visited Dubai and in which hotel she stayed.
Footage of her dramatic exit were shown on loop on TV.
Ms Moitra has repeatedly raised questions related to fraud allegations against Mr Adani, following a report by the US-based investment research firm Hindenburg.
Mr Adani, who was ranked the world's third richest person this year, suffered a sharp drop in fortunes after Hindenburg accused him of corporate malpractice, artificially boosting share prices, market manipulation and accounting fraud in his port-to-energy business empire.
The Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Ms Moitra's questions on Mr Adani were motivated by bribes. If Ms Moitra is found guilty, the committee could recommend her suspension from the house.
What is the 'cash-for-ethics' case?
The alleged case of bribery came to light on October 15 after BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey wrote a letter to the parliament in which he said he had received information from advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai claiming Ms Moitra had shared her parliament website login credentials with Mr Hiranandani.
Mr Dehadrai, 35, is a Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer and is believed to be Ms Moitra’s former partner.
Mr Nishikant alleges that Ms Moitra had asked 50 questions in the Lok Sabha that were focused on Mr Adani and his conglomerate, allegedly at the behest of Mr Hiranandani, in return of bribes and favours worth 20 million rupees ($240,500).
Mr Dubey claims Mr Dehadrai has shared “irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged” between Ms Moitra and Mr Hiranandani.
She has denied the allegations and has filed defamation cases at the Delhi high court against Mr Dubey, Mr Dehadrai and several news organisations .
She has also accused Mr Adani of being behind the “bogus” claims.
"The only things I have received from Darshan [Hiranandani] as a close personal friend was one scarf for my birthday present three or four years ago … there is a brand called Bobbi Brown and he bought me lipstick from the brand and eyeshadow," Ms Moitra told news channel India Today.
While she admitted to sharing her login details with Mr Hiranandanil, she insisted it was not illegal.
The Hiranandani Group refuted the allegations but Mr Hiranandani later submitted a “sworn affidavit” to the parliament’s ethics committee claiming Ms Moitra had sought expensive items as gifts from him.
He also claimed she was “ambitious and wanted to make a quick name for herself … and was advised the shortest route to fame is by personally attacking Mr Modi”.
Ms Moitra has questioned the authenticity of the affidavit and claimed Mr Modi’s office had coerced Mr Hiranandani to sign the two-page letter.
“Why would one of India's most respected/educated businessmen sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put on his head to do it?" she said?
A dog and a ‘jilted lover’
The genesis of the bribery case is a bitter custody battle over Ms Moitra and Mr Dehadrai’s jointly adopted dog, Henry.
After the couple had parted ways, they split care of the three-year-old Rottweiler between them, particularly when Ms Moitra was touring her constituency for work in West Bengal’s Krishnagar.
However, she accused him of not returning her dog and filed a number of complaints with police against him alleging criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse.
The complaints were withdrawn on October 4, shortly before the allegations of bribery emerged.
Ms Moitra has called Mr Dehadrai a “jilted lover” with an “acrimonious personal history who wanted to somehow get back at me”.
Mahua Moitra: From investment banker to political firebrand
Ms Moitra is one of India’s most prominent female politicians.
She is known for being a fiery speaker who routinely criticises Mr Modi and his policies, both within parliament and outside of it.
She studied mathematics and economics at the Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Before she joined politics, she worked as an investment banker in the US and UK.
She quit her job at JP Morgan in London and returned to India where she entered the political fray in 2008. She started off with a brief stint with the Indian National Congress, before joining the TMC, which has been ruling West Bengal for the past 12 years, in 2010.
After working with grassroots voters, she fought a parliamentary election in 2019 in Krishnanagar constituency and won by a majority of 60,000 votes.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Oppenheimer
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
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