Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has retained the top position on Forbes’ 2024 list of the 100 richest Indian tycoons. According to Forbes, Mukesh Ambani was the second-biggest gainer in dollar terms, with wealth rising $27.5 billion in the past one year to $119.5 billion.

This comes as the RIL chief announced bonus shares as Diwali gift for Reliance investors. Ambani’s current net worth stands at $108.3 billion, making him the 13th richest person in the world.

The magazine’s report mentioned that the combined wealth of the top 100 individuals on Forbes rich list for 2024 reached a historic milestone of $1.1 trillion, reflecting a 40 percent increase from $799 billion in 2023.

The report highlighted that strong stock market, IPOs and mutual funds has resulted in the rich getting richer in India. The BSE Sensex has gained 30 percent since last year, Forbes said, adding, “As a result, more than 80 percent of those on the list are wealthier, with 58 adding $1 billion or more to their respective net worths.”

Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, secured the second position on the Forbes list with a combined family wealth of $116 billion. Savitri Jindal, matriarch of the steel-to-power conglomerate O.P. Jindal Group, moved up to third place for the first time, with a net worth of $43.7 billion, an increase of $19.7 billion from the previous year. She remains the richest woman in India.

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New Delhi, Oct 10: Media organisations on Thursday expressed concern over the arrest and ten-day custody of journalist Mahesh Langa by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, terming his interrogation a "procedural overreach".

In a joint statement, Press Club of India, Delhi Union of Journalists, Indian Women's Press Corps and Press Association said his questioning was "perhaps" a means to harass an individual whose name doesn't even feature in the primary FIR.

Langa, arrested for his alleged involvement in a GST evasion case, is a "well- known and fearless journalist" with a career of employment in many reputed publications.

"His reports on developments related to Gujarat have been widely appreciated," the press bodies said.

They said, according to available details, Langa is neither the director nor a promoter of the company that finds mention in the FIR filed on the complaint of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence Unit, Ahmedabad, and no transaction and signature was found in his name.

"Even as the law should be allowed to take its own course, we feel that the custodial interrogation of Mahesh Langa is a procedural overreach and perhaps a means to harass an individual whose name doesn't even feature in the primary FIR," they said.

"Whereas getting to the bottom of the issue is important, we feel that due process should not be compromised and accused persons not unduly harassed under the pretext of extended custodial interrogation," they added.

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested Langa, a senior journalist in Gujarat.

On Monday, the city Crime Branch registered an FIR against several persons and entities after getting a complaint from central GST over an alleged scam involving shell firms set up to defraud the government through bogus input tax credit and fraudulent transactions, a release by the Crime Branch said.