NDTV president Suparna Singh, 2 others step down over a month after Adani takeover
More than a month after the Adani Group’s takeover of NDTV, the channel’s group president Suparna Singh, Chief Strategy Officer Arijit Chatterjee, Chief Technology and Product Officer Kawaljit Singh Bedi have resigned from the television broadcasting network.
“They have been the pillars of strength for the group and have played important roles in getting the company back to profitability. We wish them the very best in their future endeavours. They will be here for the next few weeks to enable a smooth transition of responsibilities. Their direct reportees and all heads of departments will start reporting to me with immediate effect,” wrote Sanjay Pugalia, the network’s new director, in an email to the channel’s staff.
“In line with the thoughts I shared during the town hall, the Adani Group is committed to transitioning NDTV into a new-age, global digital media organisation. As I interact with many of you at NDTV, I am more than convinced that we have the value system, mindset, capability and credibility to make our aspirations come true soon. We shall work together and keep you updated at all stages.”
Meanwhile, announcing the resignations earlier in a regulatory filing on Friday, NDTV said the company was in the process of putting up a new leadership team which will set a fresh strategic direction and goals for the broadcaster.
Last month, the network’s founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy sold 27.26 percent of their remaining 32.26 percent shareholding to the Adani conglomerate. After an open offer, the Adani Group earlier emerged as the majority shareholder in NDTV. The open offer came after the media arm of Adani Enterprises acquired nearly 30 percent of NDTV shares through an indirect deal.
The Roys had resigned as directors of the board of NDTV promoter RRPR on November 29. Subsequently, Sudipta Bhattacharya, the chief technology officer of Adani Group; Sanjay Pugalia, senior journalist and CEO of Adani's AMG Media Network; and journalist Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan took over as directors of the board.
Last week, at the first NDTV town hall meeting after the Adani takeover, the network’s new leadership had addressed questions by the channel’s staff on editorial freedom, salaries, expansion, and BJP spokespersons on shows.
It was Suparna Singh who had invited employees to the meeting while acknowledging that she was aware that there were several questions and the management will try to share information that help the staff move into a new phase as a team. She had introduced Sanjay Pugalia, Sinniah Chengalvarayan, and others from the management.
An employee had said that a lot of people had chosen to stay with NDTV not because of the money but because of the kind of journalism that is practiced at the channel. Pugalia denied that this could change, saying that the raw material of NDTV as a product is its credibility.
In December, after his first media interaction after the takeover, Adani had told India Today that “NDTV will be a credible, independent, global network with a clear lakshman rekha between management and editorial”.
Since the announcement of the Adani group’s acquisition of NDTV stakes in August last year, the broadcast company’s share prices started soaring, enabling several top executives from the company to make a tidy profit. On September 1, Suparna Singh sold all her 53,726 shares for about Rs 2.6 crore, when the company’s shares were trading at Rs 490.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange and Rs 495.05 on the National Stock Exchange.
Courtesy: www.newslaundry.com
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Gang providing bank accounts to cyber fraudsters to launder money busted in Surat; 4 held
Surat (PTI): The Surat police have arrested four members of a gang, including one from Mumbai, for allegedly providing 623 bank accounts to cybercrooks in India and abroad for transferring crime proceeds of more than Rs 111 crore, officials said.
Three of the accused were caught transferring money, deposited by cyber fraud victims, from one bank account to another when the police raided an office in Gujarat's Surat city on Tuesday, they said.
The bank accounts provided by the accused were used by India as well as Dubai and China-based cyber criminals, who duped people through digital arrest, job, task and investment frauds, a police release on Wednesday said.
The accused used to charge a specific commission for providing access to their bank accounts, it said.
A preliminary probe suggested that the four accused, arrested on Tuesday, were part of a gang which used to work with cyber fraudsters against whom the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) has so far received 866 complaints.
These criminals face 200 FIRs across the country, the police said.
In June, the Surat police in Gujarat arrested eight persons involved in providing bank accounts (called 'mule' accounts) to cyber criminals to park defrauded money after charging commission.
Their interrogation brought to light that eight more persons, two of them based in Dubai, were also involved in providing such accounts, typically used for laundering proceeds of cyber crimes, the release said.
Based on the information gathered from them, the police raided an office in Mota Varachha area of Surat city on Tuesday and arrested three persons -- Ajay Italia, Jalpesh Nadiadara and Vishal Thumar. Another accused, Hiren Barvalia, was arrested from Mumbai international airport when he was trying to board a Dubai-bound flight, said the release.
Four others -- Milan Vaghela, Ketan Vekaria, Dashrath Dandhalia and Jagdish Ajudia -- are still at large. Vaghela and Ajudia are currently in Dubai, it said.
When the police raided the office in Mota Varachha, the three persons was busy transferring money, deposited by cyber fraud victims, from one bank account to another.
After completing fund transfer, their accomplices used to withdraw cash in Dubai using debit cards, the police said explaining the gang's modus operandi.
During the raid at the office and two other locations in Surat, the police recovered 28 mobile phones, 198 bank passbooks, 100 debit cards, 35 cheque books, 258 SIM cards and three computers.
The police learnt the gang was operating as many as 623 bank accounts, in which transactions of Rs 111 crore were detected, said the release.
A diary recovered from the office indicated the accused had acquired some of the bank accounts on a specific commission from 16 persons and they were charging fees from cyber criminals for using them, it said.
The NCRP data accessed by the Surat police indicated that of these 623 bank accounts, people from across the country had lodged 866 complaints against holders of 370 accounts on the portal as these were used by scamsters to accept money from cyber fraud victims.
The data also suggested the bank accounts were linked to 200 FIRs registered across the country for different cyber frauds, the police release added.
