New Delhi, Industrialist Ratan Tata has rejected government's claim that official agencies were not responsible for the leak of personal conversations in the Radia tapes, saying the clean chit did not carry conviction, and has urged the Supreme Court to order a fresh investigation by an independent agency. He said the inquiry conducted by the income tax department, which had intercepted corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's conversations but which blamed the leak on others, lacked credibility. "The inquiry has been conducted in a manner that would hardly inspire public confidence," Tata said in an affidavit. "On this account, the department which conducted the wire tap has been under scrutiny. Since this is all done at a fairly high level within the departments, for any inquiry to be fair and transparent, it would have to be done by an outside agency skilled in making investigations - this has not been done," Tata complained. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya on Thursday asked the government to file its response within three weeks on Tata's fresh plea and posted the matter for further hearing on March 27. Tata also sought a copy of government's inquiry ...
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MUMBAI: As Ratan Tata prepares to hang up his boots at Bombay House, the chairman of the 120-company Tata Group is trying to fix one glaring chink in the conglomerate's armoury - the sheer lack of women in leadership positions and across the workforce as well. With the sprinkling of young talent across frontline group companies virtually complete - which culminated in the appointment of 43-year-old Cyrus Mistry as successor to Tata when the latter retires in December 2012 - the stage is now set for focusing on gender diversity. At various companies across the group - big and small - young women are being handpicked to be groomed for leadership roles. The Tata Group is known for many firsts and feats; gender diversity isn't one of them, what with Simone Tata, chairperson of Trent, being the only head of a significant Tata operation. Now Tata himself is leading the drive to motivate women to take up tougher operational jobs - in areas such as engineering, traditionally the sole preserve of men - to hone their leadership skills. Tata also wants more gender diversity in the group's management cadre, especially at the board level, say officials close to the initiative. The ...
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