New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Niira Radia, the high profile public relations consultant who was alleged to have lobbied hard for a second stint for former Telecom Minister A. Raja’s has decided to shut down her companies Vaishnavi Com
munications and Neucom Consulting.
Vaishnavi has the public relations mandate for the entire Tata Group, while Neucom Consulting managed the account of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.
Radia, had been embroiled in the 2G controversy, after some tapes were leaked in which she was found lobbying for Raja and her close camaraderie with some important personalities in journalism, business and the government came out in the open.
Although there was no charge against her relating to the 2G scam, she was named as a witness by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In a statement on the closure of her two PR outfits Radia said: “To give precedence to my personal priorities of family and health, I have decided against renewing any client mandates and to exit the business of communications consultancy.”
Reacting to Radia’s statement, the Tata Group said it had appointed Rediffusion, led by Arun Nanda, to manage its public relations and public affairs from November 1, 2011.
The websites of Vaishnavi and Neucom Consulting were also taken down.
An employee of Vaishnavi Communications said she had no idea of the closure. Some others said that a few senior executives of the two PR agencies could get inducted into the Tata Group and Reliance Industries.
Twitter Gate: Congress will take action against Tharoor at the appropriate time: Tewari
New Delhi, Sep.18 (ANI): The Congress party on Friday said it would take appropriate action against Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor for his “cattle class” comments through the medium of Twitter at the appropriate time.
Addressing a party news conference in the capital, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: “We will take appropriate action (against Mr. Tharoor) at the appropriate time.
Tewari further said that action against Tharoor was not ruled out.
He also justified Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s statement on Thursday seeking Tharoor’s resignation for what he called “irresponsible” comments on the social networking site Twitter.
“It was unfortunate and unbecoming on his part to make such comments. In my view he should tender his resignation as Minister,” Gehlot had said.
“To make such irreverent comments is all the more despicable when one is holding a responsible position as that of the Minister of State for External Affairs,” Gehlot told journalists at his official residence here after a “Roza Iftar” party on Thursday evening.
Gehlot had termed Tharoor’s references posted on the site such as “cattle class” and “holy cows” as unacceptable in Indian politics.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan also said Tharoor had no right to continue in the Union Cabinet.
“I believe that in a democracy, people are God. To refer to them as ‘cattle’ is an insult to them. And I believe that such a person has no right to be a Union minister,” he told reporters.
Tharoor, who is on an official visit to Liberia, had earlier apologized through the Twitter medium, saying he was “sorry” for hurting any sentiments and that his words had been misunderstood.
“To those hurt by the belief that my repeating the phrase showed contempt: sorry. It’s a silly expression, but means no disrespect to economy travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstood,” Tharoor said.
The minister said that he had learned belatedly of the fuss “over my tweet and pointed out that the phrase “cattle class” was used in the query, which he just repeated. (ANI)