RIL chief Mukesh Ambani draws nil salary
New Delhi, Jun 3: Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani drew no salary from his flagship firm Reliance Industries Ltd in the fiscal year ended March 31 as he voluntarily gave up remuneration in light of the pandemic hitting the business and the economy.
In its latest annual report, Reliance said Ambani's remuneration for financial year 2020-21 was "nil."
In the previous fiscal year, he drew a Rs 15 crore salary from the company - the same as in the previous 11 years.
Ambani has kept salary, perquisites, allowances and commission together at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, forgoing over Rs 24 crore per annum.
"In light of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which has exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation, Mukesh D. Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director, has voluntarily decided to forego his salary," the company had said in June last year.
Remuneration of his cousins Nikhil and Hital Meswani remained unchanged at Rs 24 crore but this time it included Rs 17.28 crore commission.
Executive Directors P M S Prasad and Pawan Kumar Kapil saw their remuneration go up after they got performance-linked incentives for two years.
While Prasad drew Rs 11.99 crore in 2020-21, up from Rs 11.15 crore in the previous year, Kapil got Rs 4.24 crore as against Rs 4.04 crore in 2019-20.
The payment of Prasad and Kapil included "performance-linked incentives for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21," the annual report said.
Ambani's wife Nita, a non-executive director on the company's board, earned Rs 8 lakh sitting fee and another Rs 1.65 crore commission for the year.
Apart from Ambani, the RIL board has Meswani brothers, Prasad and Kapil as wholetime directors.
Besides Nita Ambani, other non-executive directors include Yogendra P Trivedi, Dipak C Jain, Raghunath A Mashelkar, Adil Zainulbhai, Raminder Singh Gujral, Shumeet Banerji, former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and former CVC K V Chowdary.
All independent directors got a Rs 1.65 crore commission for the year besides a sitting fee of up to Rs 36 lakh.
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
