Kumar Mangalam Birla

Reacting to the special CBI court's summon on Birla, the company and two of its top officials as accused in a coal scam case, the company said that it would defend its case through "legal process" after studying order of the special court.

CBI is on the wrong trail. Manmohan Singh isn't the one to chase; he may know who should be chased, but probably won't tell.

Earlier in the day, a special court here summoned Singh along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, ex-coal secretary P C Parakh and three others as accused in a case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005 and asked them to appear before it on April 8.

"Hindalco reiterates that none of its officials, including its Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, have pursued any unlawful or inappropriate means for securing the allocation of the coal block," the company said in a statement.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, Parakh and three others were on Wednesday summoned as accused by a special court in a coal scam case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005 and asked to appear before it on April 8.

It is fairly clear that the auction is crucial for some, and no so crucial for others. Of the seven players who will be bidding for 2G and 3G spectrum, the stakes are highest for Kumar Birla‘s Idea Cellular, which has nine circles coming up for renewal, followed by Vodafone (seven circles), Reliance Communications (seven) and Bharti (six).

Among the 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, published on Monday, Ambani (39th globally) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank with networth of USD 20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with USD 19.1 billion).

Birla was said to have been examined over his meetings with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also holding charge of coal portfolio, and the then Coal Secretary P C Parakh, another accused in the case.

According to informed sources, a team of CBI officials "examined" the former Prime Minister at his residence two days ago ahead of the filing of status report before a special CBI court by January 27.

The court was hearing a case in which an FIR was lodged against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary P C Parakh and others relating to the allocation of Talabira II and III coal blocks in Odissa in 2005 to Hindalco.

The CBI filed the case against Birla and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh last year in relation to a block allocated in 2005 to Hindalco Industries , part of the $40 billion Aditya Birla Group led by Kumar Mangalam Birla

The agency had reached conclusion to include names of Birla and Parakh in the FIR in connection with allocation of Talabira-II coal block after scrutinising related files during its nearly 16 month-long preliminary enquiry.

The mood is that awful cliché of 'cautiously optimistic'. Most business leaders I have spoken to thus far are hopeful 2014 will be a year of stable recovery for the global economy. No sharp upmoves but no declines either.

The investigation in other FIRs is still on and the alleged role of prominent industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla is still being probed

If 2012 was the year of 2G scam, then 2013 would be recorded in the history of the apex court for coalgate case and CBI's clamour to attain autonomy and free itself from its political masters to investigate top bureaucrats.

A high-level panel chaired by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan that will scrutinise applications for new bank licences will hold its first meeting on November 1.

The Forbes India rich list shows modest gains for India's richest due to a stumbling economy. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal also retains his No.2 position on the rich list with a wealth of USD 16 billion.

CBI sources had yesterday claimed that Parakh had failed to specify any "public good" on file notings when he reversed his earlier position of rejecting Hindaclo's application for coal block in Odisha.

Ultratech Cement would take shareholders' view till November 29 and has appointed Nilesh Trivedi, Partner KBNT & Associates as the scrutiniser for conducting the postal ballot voting process.

The PMO told the CBI that it is ready to provide any other information, if required, about the allocation of Talabira coal block made in 2005.