ADR report reveals 36 ministers in India hold billionaire assets, Karnataka tops the list
New Delhi: A new analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says that 36 ministers across India have declared assets worth over ₹100 crore, making them billionaires. The report was released on Wednesday and it examined the financial disclosures of 643 ministers from state governments, Union Territories and the Union Council of Ministers.
According to a report published by Deccan Herald, collectively, these ministers declared assets worth ₹23,929 crore. Billionaire ministers account for nearly 6% of the total.
Party-wise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads the list with 14 billionaire ministers, making up 4% of its ministerial strength. The Congress follows with 11 out of 61 ministers (18%) falling into the billionaire category. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ranks third, with six of its 23 ministers (26%) reporting assets above the ₹100 crore mark. Ministers from the Aam Aadmi Party, Janasena Party, JD(S), NCP and Shiv Sena also feature in the list.
The richest minister in the country is Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani of the TDP from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, with his assets exceeding ₹5,705 crore. Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is second on the list, with assets worth over ₹1,413 crore. With assets valued at over ₹931 crore, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ranks third, who is also knows as the "richest Chief Minister."
Others named in the top ten include Narayana Ponguru and Nara Lokesh (Andhra Pradesh), Gaddam Vivekanand and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Telangana), Suresha B S (Karnataka), Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Maharashtra) and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Karnataka has the highest number of billionaire ministers at eight. Andhra Pradesh stands second (six). While Maharashtra has four, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Telangana all have two. The states with one billionaire minister are Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab.
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‘No state has right to use force’: Russia on US seizure of tanker in North Atlantic
Moscow: Russia on Wednesday criticised the United States over the seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, saying no country has the right to use force against vessels on the high seas, The New Indian Express reported.
Russia’s transport ministry reportedly said, "In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states," Russia's transport ministry said in a statement.
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The vessel, earlier named Bella-1 and later renamed Marinera, was granted temporary permission to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, the ministry said. It added that contact with the ship was lost after US naval forces boarded it in international waters, beyond the territorial limits of any state.
US officials said the tanker was part of a so-called shadow fleet used to transport oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
The ship had earlier evaded a boarding attempt near Venezuela last month. US forces eventually seized it in the North Atlantic under a warrant issued by a US federal court," US European Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said in a statement on X.
Following the operation, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US blockade on Venezuelan oil was in full effect "anywhere in the world."
