Maran quits from Union Cabinet
Chennai: Union IT and Communications Minister Dayandhi Maran resigned from Union Cabinet last night after his party, the DMK, sought his removal from the Cabinet serving him a notice asking why he should not be expelled from the primary membership of the party.

Rejecting charges of betraying the DMK, Maran said he was ready to quit the Cabinet and the party if it satisfied Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his sons.

Earlier, the party's administrative committee, which met at the DMK headquarters in the evening, passed resolutions accusing Maran of acting in violation of party discipline and tarnishing its image.

According to a statement from the party, "The approach and activities of Dayanidhi Maran, who is holding the IT and Communications portfolio on behalf of the DMK, have tended to destroy party discipline, and he has also been acting in a manner detrimental to the party's image. Therefore, this administrative committee asks President Karunanidhi and General Secretary K Anbazhagan to take immediate steps to have him removed from the Union Cabinet," the statement said.

Maran's fate seemed sealed when Chief Minister and DMK President M Karunanidhi accused the newspaper run by Maran's brother, Kalanidhi Maran, of trying to create confusion among party members by conducting dubious opinion polls on political issues, including one relating to a possible successor to Karunanidhi.

Karunanidhi supports Azhagiri and did not mention the violence indulged in by his supporters and blamed it on Dinakaran's opinion polls.
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BN Singh quits as JSW Steel MD
Mumbai: BN Singh, joint MD and CEO of JSW Steel, also known as turnaround specialist has resigned from the company. His resignation could prove to be a setback for the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW which is embarking on an expansion plan.

Though a JSW spokesperson said Singh had retired after attaining the age of superannuity, sources said that Singh did not renew his three-year contract with JSW Steel.

Singh is said to be considering possible offers from multinational steel companies including South Korean major Posco which has announced a Rs 52,000 crore 12 million tonne steel plant in Orissa.

Singh's exit from JSW comes at a time when the company has set a target to expand capacity from 3.8 million tonne to 10 million tonnes by 2010. Singh is credited with initiating a turnaround of Visakhapatnam-based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam where he was the managing director for almost five years.
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Scott McNealy to visit India
Mumbai: Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems' co-founder and chairman, will start his India visit on May 16, 2007 and is scheduled to meet high-level government officials in Delhi on the day of his arrival. He will deliver a keynote address at Sun Technovate '07, a technology and innovation event, organised by Sun India in Mumbai.

Later, on May 18, he will visit Bangalore where he will address a developer conference, Sun Technology Summit '07. McNealy will also meet key customers and partners of the company during his visit. This is McNealy's second trip to India after the company established direct operations in the country in 1998.

After serving as CEO of the company for almost 22 years (from 1984 to 2006), McNealy handed the baton to Jonathan Schwartz, who took over as CEO in April 2006.

McNealy is now seen more of an industry spokesperson, having taken up larger issues that affect not just Sun but the industry on a whole.
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