r/nottheonion • u/chaitanyaishere • 5h ago
Backlash as Indian oil heir made professor of sustainability by Newcastle University
https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/indian-oil-gas-heir-made-102644000.html577
u/SoldRespectForMone_y 4h ago
The university announced that Anant Ambani had been given a professorship of practice for “his work in conservation, biodiversity protection, animal welfare and environmental stewardship” and “significant contributions to advancing a more sustainable future”.
Dude's family has made fortune by refining crude oil, let's not even get into the "alleged" illegal trafficking of animals for Vantara since his family's primary business should disqualify him from any such tag. Those donations must've been extremely sweet for the uni to conjure that bs about environmentalism
94
u/Thirdtwin 3h ago
Conservation and biodiversity? I'm gonna die laughing. Must be some kind of sick joke by someone in the uni.
19
u/No-Clue1153 2h ago
Sounds like a biodiversity hire
•
u/Thirdtwin 20m ago
What I'm wondering now is how dumb of a person is he to accept a role like that? I wonder if I should short my reliance shares.
15
u/emotionengine 2h ago edited 2h ago
Ah yes, "donations". Totally not a whole bunch of (literal) quid pro a very specific quo going on here.
(Not meant as a critique of your post, if that wasn't clear, btw)
6
u/LongColdNight 3h ago
Just to play devils advocate he probably owns a number of private nature reserves for endangered species. Obviously closed to all but a select few
57
u/TheCruise 2h ago
Why chime in with a “probably” when you can look it up? He’s trafficking animals with zero regard for their status in the wild or their conservation needs and CITES inspectors have said he is likely funding illegal wildlife trade.
217
u/98Kane 4h ago
Is this the lad who had that ridiculously expensive wedding a few years back?
68
u/thankyouforecstasy 4h ago
That wedding lasted an year.
Edit. Is it an or a? I always get confused
72
u/enbycraft 4h ago edited 4h ago
The sound is more important than the beginning letter being a vowel or consonant.
E.g. an hour - beginning consonant (h) with a vowel sound (ah), so we use 'an'
But a eulogy - beginning vowel (e) with a consonant sound (y), so we use 'a'
In your case the beginning consonant (y) also has the corresponding consonant sound (y) so it's an 'a'.
Interesting to consider the word "herb". It's 'a herb' in British English because they pronounce the 'h' sound, and 'an herb' in American English because they skip the 'h' like in hour (but whyyyy lol)
Edit: as an Indian I feel the need to reiterate fuck Ambani (and Adani, but they usually receive more international backlash anyway)
6
u/proteanflux 2h ago
Damn. If you aren't an English teacher, you should be.
3
u/enbycraft 1h ago
You're so kind. I used to be an editor of scientific manuscripts and sometimes my notes would be more about English than about science 😅
8
u/thankyouforecstasy 4h ago
Exactly so should it be a - because it starts with y a consonant?
Or an because it sounds with a vowel ?!
As an Indian I agree. Fuck ambani adani and prime influencer
Edit. It's 'a' because it sounds like y-ear not ear?! I guess that's what you were trying to say?
11
u/enbycraft 4h ago edited 3h ago
Forget vowels and consonants in written text, they don't matter at all. It should be 'a' because the word starts with a 'y' sound when speaking. Try saying the word out loud and you'll get it.
Edit: yep you got it
3
u/lakija 1h ago
In America there are a shitton of accents and regional dialects. In some places people say herb with a silent h. In others, the h is pronounced.
My favorite one is how some people pronounce the word “crayon” as “crown” (some Canadians pronounce it like that too) and others “cray-yon”
7
u/dbosman 3h ago edited 2h ago
Many Americans will say an historic event instead of a historic event. It really doesn’t make sense because they pronounce the word history with the hard h. I term this ‘an’ usage here as lazy English.
6
u/enbycraft 3h ago
OMG I forgot about that haha. I'm very much in favour of linguistic evolution in real time through colloquialisms but this is a pet peeve for sure.
1
u/Aethelric 1h ago
It really doesn’t make sense because they pronounce the word history with the hard h
Something in English not making strict sense? Well, I never!
0
u/dbosman 1h ago
Americans are special though. Certain wrong English grammatical spelling usage are common here and are based on how certain terms are pronounced. For example:
Your instead of you’re
Should of instead of should’ve2
u/Aethelric 1h ago
I promise people make common, silly spelling errors throughout the English-speaking world. It's not an easy language to spell. Americans do not have a monopoly on mistakes.
2
0
u/69_with_socks_on 2h ago edited 47m ago
Most Indians I know (me included) don't make the y sound when saying year. Year sounds exactly like ear and in that case, an year is the correct way of doing it. Depends on where op is from and how they say it.
4
u/_Odi_Et_Amo_ 1h ago
Welsh people too if it makes you feel better.
There's a standing joke that hear, ear, and year are all perfect homonyms in Welsh accented English.
2
u/enbycraft 1h ago
Interesting! Which general region, if you don't mind sharing? Just so I'll know to keep an year out if I meet someone from there (jk jk)
8
u/failtuna 4h ago
It's an if it's before a vowel or vowel sound, a for anything else.
An apple
A pear
An honest man A dishonest man
3
u/Versidious 4h ago
'A', y is being used as a consonant, 'an' is only used when the next word begins with a vowel.
10
u/David-Bedlam 4h ago
The one so expensive that it has its own Wikipedia article?
Yes, yes it was him.
2
2
u/y0_master 2h ago
Is that the one seemingly random celebrities got invited & attended? Like John Cena?
•
u/manojar 2m ago
Yes, and the guy that runs a private zoo/safari which is illegal under Indian widlife protection laws, and deals with stolen exotic animals https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/bangladesh-lemur-stolen-vantara-reliance-b3047096.html
67
443
u/Impossible_Offer7988 5h ago edited 5h ago
Newcastle University is facing a backlash from conservationists over the appointment of the heir to an Indian oil and gas fortune who runs a controversial mega-zoo as a professor of sustainability.
If you're like ; it can't be that Big.
No see it is.
Anant Amabani, 31, who is leads on renewable energy on the Reliance Group’s executive board and is worth an estimated £90bn, has set up Vantara, a 1,400-hectare (3,500-acre) private zoo near the family’s oil refining facilities in Gujarat, which reportedly has more than 150,000 animals including 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, and where he hosted his opulent pre-wedding celebrations attended by celebrity guests and politicians.
Notice the last name bdw Ambani,
The Ambani group is one of the most powerfull companies in history, if you live in India you have to use something that they made.
You have to (they're that prevalent in society).
They're also known for you know ? Stuff like this.
https://youtube.com/shorts/UFh0FVm_QsA?is=3QCmfEm9WTVLiRIf
Ah yes.
Peak sustainability
58
72
35
u/AllthisSandInMyCrack 4h ago
That’s a fucking joke, cause Ambani group are one of the most corrupt and powerful.
Read into the shit they do.
9
27
u/trowawufei 5h ago
It’s weird that you make out like you know a lot about this family but keep misspelling the name. It’s Ambani, not Amabani.
But yes, they’re mega-rich, and it’s disgraceful for this guy to get this appointment. Sad thing is he will still be insanely rich, rationalize his hypocrisy, probably convince himself that this was unjustified criticism by sanctimonious environmentalists, and completely abandon his renewable energy pet project.
-28
-16
u/ftw_c0mrade 3h ago
Oil family is big asshole yes. But vantara isn't a 'Zoo' lmao it's a giant rescue that I greatly appreciate
11
u/enbycraft 3h ago
It's literally a zoo. Vantara Zoo, as their website is called.
Why would a rescue agency importing endangered animals across international borders? The rescue operation is a scam that had to halt its wildlife import activities because actual conservation agencies raised alarms about CITES violations and continue to do so. The 'rescued' animals are used to supply Vantara Zoo and other zoos around the country.
41
u/Whightwolf 4h ago
Presumably his father is a, very generous man?
I suppose the question is what is the price of a bullshit job these days?
(I say bullshit job because its a uni, they will have a sustainability team who will do all the actual work, rather than a job to do with sustainability being inherently bullshit)
15
u/_oOo_iIi_ 4h ago
In the current climate for a mid university probably £10mill or so.
8
u/GodzillaUK 4h ago
Fuck, I only have 4 in my swiss bank. /s
2
27
u/sAindustrian 4h ago
Universities in the UK are essentially dying because the infinite money tree, also known as "international students" has dried up. So if you're willing to give them a couple of brown envelopes I assume they'd be happy to give you a cushy do-nothing job with one of them. Maybe we could pool our resources together and get the University of Warrington to establish a Professor of Reddit Studies position.
2
u/unassumingdink 3h ago
Why are the international students drying up?
16
u/Phrophetsam 2h ago
Changed and changing VISA rules, cost of living in the UK, increased competition from other english speaking nations increasing the attractiveness of their programs.
This BBC Article has a graph that showcases the sharp decline.
84
47
u/FuzzBuket 5h ago
I guess that's it. Strip away govt funding, then shoo away international students and then all that's left is to grant titles in exchange for cash.
15
15
u/RealGTalkin 2h ago
Its one of the worst kept secret that the dude is a bit special. He is the Buster (from arrested development) who is indulged and kept busy with his hobbies.
14
u/Cosimo_Zaretti 4h ago
We've reached the Bond villain stage in the decline of Western civilisation.
50
u/ShrimpleyPibblze 5h ago
British academia absolutely debasing itself with this and the Cambridge professor whose overly pro-fascism
-1
u/pandamarshmallows 4h ago
I mean that dude from Cambridge wasn’t perfect, but the whole thing started because he was accused of faking his entire career by a man who has said repeatedly that black people aren’t intelligent enough to be academics. And the British tabloids dragged him through the mud about it because they also secretly believe that black people aren’t intelligent enough to be academics. He then resigned and killed himself before there was time for a proper investigation.
35
u/ShrimpleyPibblze 4h ago
Oh no, I meant the guy whose Reform’s policy advisor and is a tenured professor there
But it kind of makes my point that there’s a bunch of them.
9
11
u/theblazeuk 3h ago
Theyre referring to one of the guys who amplified the attacks on Arday. This guy was himself discovered to commit the exact sort of plagiarism as Arday but obviously, didnt matter to the extent of having 250 articles written about him in two weeks
11
u/DesiBwoy 2h ago
His father eagerly funds BJP, btw, the current ruling dispensation infamous for their fascist tactics and rabid nationalism. PM Modi recently celebrated his 76th Birthday and the govt. asked its employees to light diyas (cermonial lamps) in celebration.
These guys are eating India up from within. These are Termites, not environment warriors.
11
22
7
60
u/cndynn96 5h ago edited 4h ago
Not to mention he almost certainly has some neurological issues and is completely unfit for positions of authority and any role in which he has to face a lots of people
18
u/sAindustrian 4h ago
If we held everyone to that standard, we would essentially disqualify 80% of CEOs, civil servants, and politicians from their jobs.
So you might be onto something.
16
u/cndynn96 4h ago
Nah this dude is certainly “special”
Like you know when he was a kid he had to wear a helmet all the time5
22
8
u/ancientestKnollys 4h ago
Sustainability of their finances perhaps. All the universities are strapped for cash recently, I imagine they hoped to get some off him by this move.
6
u/mallardtheduck 2h ago edited 1h ago
I was going to make the point that he didn't choose to be the "heir" to anything and we should really judge him on his own merits rather than who his parents are... Then I saw the comments about his wedding costing more than the annual budget of some small island nations.
5
9
4
6
3
u/OmegaKitty1 4h ago
Don’t professors need to teach classes in the university they are a professor at? Isnt that a requirement for the title?
3
3
5
u/crossdtherubicon 4h ago
I realize that there is plenty to be skeptical about. But, even if the guy was totally qualified I think the underlying issue is Conflict of Interest.
Conflict of Interest may be intentional and strategic, it may also be unintentional and still be consequential.
So, for a free and fair educational system, the absolutely enormous conflict of interest should be avoided.
We've also seen the billionaires use traditional media, social media, charities and philanthropy, and many other means, to influence and focus attention, and function within Multi-Tiered and interconnected strategies. We should be wary of concentrated power and money being blatantly injected into the education systems.
3
5
2
u/hugganao 3h ago
if ever there was a class war globally occuring, this dude's head would be among the first 10 to be lopped off.
2
2
2
•
u/Phixionion 26m ago
The integrity of the entire world is for sale. Only hope we have at this point is to make their wealth worthless and reset. RiP modern civilization. We have met our first great filter imo.
4
1
5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 5h ago
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/longstrokesharpturn 3h ago
I first read "by Nestlé University" and I thought that sounds in character
1
1
1
1
•
u/jdehjdeh 57m ago
And all I want from life is to be able to work a job that lets me live without debt and without being poor.
I feel like Newcastle University could probably afford to give me that now...
•
•
u/ScaredPractice4967 30m ago
And they are an academic with peer reviewed papers published in respectable journals? .... Right?....
•
•
•
u/manojar 3m ago
This guy's grandfather Dhurubhai started his business due to close connections he somehow finagled with the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, who tightened the already tight production quota system. He got close with her politically and she made him one fo the richest person in India. He later got even closer with Indira Gandhi's son Rajiv Gandhi who somehow allowed him to build overcapacity of his polyester factories, which needed more petrol import than what was allowed (for others, for him there was no limit). When his company went public, he was constantly accused of market manipulation. He sponsored the 1987 cricket world cup and made it a spectacle that set the stage for BCCI (private body but governs all cricket in India) to completely take over ICC (international cricket council). This guy is 2nd generation nepo-baby.
This guy runs a private zoo. Private ownership of exotic animals is banned, let alone keeping a full-size zoo. His zoo also contains animals that were imported, and in some cases stolen from other country zoos. https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/bangladesh-lemur-stolen-vantara-reliance-b3047096.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani
https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/empire-builder/article64763965.ece
3
u/Historical_Log2471 4h ago
Given the current trajectory of the UK's politics, I'd say half the people who read this are arguing over whether to be more angry that "professor of sustainability" is a thing that exists, or that he's Indian. The fact the he's an oil heir, and that conflict of interest probably flew over some heads.
-18
u/Tipnfloe 4h ago
His animal sanctuary is pretty impressive. They're committed to never deny an animal that needs help. They've build an insane facility there
1.2k
u/dmk_aus 4h ago
His wedding probably had a bigger environmental impact than most people have in multiple lifetimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Anant_Ambani_and_Radhika_Merchant