Lalit Modi
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Early life
The Times of India, Jun 20 2015
Vineet Upadhyay
When Red Rose got Lalit Modi expelled from school
The controversy around the first commissioner of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, continues. Alumni of St Joseph's College here, where Modi was a student of Class X in 1980, remember that he had played truant to watch a movie, despite stringent warnings from school authorities. Rameshwar Sah, 48, owner of a departmental store in Nainital, recalls, “Lalit said he would be watching a football match, but went off to watch the Rajesh KhannaPoonam Dhillon starrer Red Rose at Capitol Cinema.Three other boys went with him. When Brother CG Fernandez, the principal, found out, he called their parents and expelled all of them.“
Sah said the school would not allow Modi back into classes after August 1980. He was, however, allowed to take his board examinations.
Fernandez, who was principal from 1979-81, remembered the boy who played truant. “He wasn't so great with studies, but good in sports,“ he said, declining to say more.
Sah remembers that Modi was a man of many parts he could foretell what might sell, he says. “He would talk of how English films, dubbed in Hindi and other Indian languages, might find a good audience,“ he said.
In 1993, Modi set up Modi Entertainment Networks (MEN), a 10-year joint venture with Walt Disney Pictures, to broadcast Disney's content in India.
Not everyone who re membered Modi, however, was keen to speak about him.“The past is past, and I do not wish to comment I was not the head of the institution at that time. I know Modi studied here from 1976-80,“ said Peter Emanuel, present principal of St Joseph's.
Another classmate, not wishing to be named, giggled as he recalled Modi: “He was a great `manager' even as a boy. He seldom did the work assigned to him. He doled out Rs 100 to other classmates to do his work.“
Jaitley praise tied to Didi's silence?
Finance minister Arun Jaitley showcased Bengal in the US India Business Council meet held at New York on Friday while commenting on the growing consensus of fast tracking development in India. Addressing the USIBC meet, Jaitley named Bengal and complimented the state for the investment conference it held in January, 2015. He said it was good to see the positive mood and note the changes taking place even in a Left-oriented state. Jaitley's comment has strengthened speculation over the developing chemistry between Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee while the two parties cross swords in Bengal. Congress member Abdul Mannan sees Jaitley's appreciation as a quid pro quo to Trinamool's silence in the Lalit Modi-Sushma Swaraj-Vasundhara Raje controversy.However, party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member, Derek O'Brien, refused to read politics into the finance minister's statements at the USIBC meet.
Probes
The Times of India, Jun 15 2015
Ex-Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi faces several probes from several agencies, all connected to the cricket league, for the last five years but nothing concrete has been found against him since the businessman has never made himself available for formal questioning:
Enforcement Directorate is probing foreign exchange violations under FEMA to the tune of Rs 425 crore in the IPL TV rights deal awarded to World Sports Group (WSG) by Lalit Modi.First, the media rights were awarded to WSG for 10 years but it was later given to Multi Screen Media (MSM).ED's initial probe suggested that Modi might be a beneficiary of the Rs 125 crore paid by MSM to WSG Mauritius (WSGM). After attending just one interrogation session with the income tax department and ED in Mumbai, Modi fled to the UK in May 2010 ED is also probing Modi and others in connection with an alleged transaction of Rs 90 crore with International Management Group, a UK-based company
The income tax department is probing a payment of Rs 80 crore made for the purchase of a private jet, used by Modi and his family members extensively during IPL matches. The aircraft purchase was reportedly linked to the WSG contract
Chennai police registered a case against Modi and six others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and falsification of accounts in the deal related to WSG
A blue corner notice is still pending against Modi at all Indian portsairports, according to which if he is traced anywhere, he should be handed over to the ED
While running the IPL, Modi got threats from the underworld. In March 2009, Mumbai police arrested and interrogated Rashid Malabari, a hitman, who revealed that there was a plan to kill the ex-IPL chief, his wife Minal and son Ruchir. This was later confirmed by the Intelligence Bureau, which heard Chhota Shakeel and Dawood Ibrahim discussing the plan
