Niira Radia | |
---|---|
Born |
Nira Menon 19 November 1960 Nairobi, Kenya |
Residence | New Delhi, India |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Alma mater |
Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, London University of Warwick |
Occupation | Travel agent (1988-1994) Aviation consultant (1995-2002) Corporate lobbyist (2001-2011) |
Known for | Radia tapes controversy |
Spouse(s) | Janak Radia |
Children | Akshay Radia, Karan Radia and Akash Radia |
Parent(s) | Iqbal Narain Menon (father), Sudesh Menon (mother) |
Niira Radia is a former corporate lobbyist and influence peddler whose taped telephone conversations implicated her influence in the allocation of key ministries in the Government of India in 2009. Discussion of the tapes resulted in the "Radia tapes controversy", which was a media event that led to the uncovering of the 2G spectrum scam involving former telecommunications minister A Raja. These events led to Raja's resignation and Radia's departure from corporate lobbying.
Niira Radia (née Nira Menon) was born on 19 November 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya into a Punjabi family. She is one of three daughters of Sudesh Sharma and Iqbal Narain Menon, the other being Karuna Menon and Saira Menon. In the 1970s the family moved to London where she attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls followed by the University of Warwick. In 1981 she married Janak Radia, a Gujarati businessman, with whom she had 3 sons - Akshay, Karan and Akash. By 1994, the Radias had divorced and she moved to India as a Person of Indian Origin. On the advice of a numerologist, she added an extra letter to her name to make it Niira.
Between 1988 and 1993 Niira Radia incorporated a string of travel and aviation related companies in London, in which she and her family members were shareholders and held positions such as company secretary and director. By 1995 these companies had been liquidated, many of them after filing bankruptcy.
In 1994 Radia's father, Iqbal Menon, met an advisor to Sahara Airlines at a party in London who mentioned that the airlines was looking to lease Boeing 737-400 aircraft to expand the business. Menon, who was involved in Radia's aircraft lease business, sent Radia to New Delhi, India to meet Sahara Airlines CEO, Uttam Kumar Bose. Radia helped Sahara negotiate with International Lease Finance Corporation, a Los Angeles based company, for the lease of two Boeing 737-400 aircraft and spare parts.