Month: October 2019

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar in connection with an alleged money laundering case.

The bail was granted on a condition that he cannot influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence and leave the country without prior permission of the court.

The Congress leader has also been asked to make himself available for the investigation whenever necessary.

To avail the bail, Shivakumar will have to submit a personal bond of Rs 25 lakh and two surety of like amount.

Shivakumar was arrested on September 3 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and sent to judicial custody till October 25 in the Tihar jail here.

He had moved the high court after a trial court rejected his bail application by asserting that he was not entitled to avail it at that stage of the investigation.

The court while rejected his bail plea had said that the investigation is at an initial stage and the agency must get a free and fair chance to reach a logical conclusion.

The alleged money laundering case was registered against him by the ED in September last year, based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax department, alleging tax evasion and hawala transactions amounting to crores.

The I-T Department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found unaccounted and misreported wealth linked to Shivakumar.

(ANI)

In a major decision concerning Delhi which will face assembly polls early next year, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved regulations for conferring and recognising ownership rights to residents of unauthorised colonies, which would benefit 40 lakh residents of the national capital.

The decision was announced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting here, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to bringing a bill in the next session of Parliament to implement the proposal.

Javadekar said the Cabinet has approved the regulations for conferring or recognizing ownership or mortgage or transfer rights to residents of Unauthorised Colonies (UCs) in Delhi.

He said the decision will benefit more than 40 lakh residents of unauthorised colonies spread over around 175 sq km as development and redevelopment can now take place in these colonies resulting in a clean, secure and healthy living environment.

An official release said the initiative will address major issues being faced by the residents of unauthorised colonies like lack of ownership, transfer rights, provision of basic infrastructure and civic amenities.

He said that apart from providing a legitimate claim to the property, the decision will encourage property holders to invest in safe structures.

The decision is applicable to 1,797 identified unauthorised colonies which are inhabited by lower-income group society and does not apply to 69 affluent colonies identified by DDA including Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Dairy.

The rights will be conferred on the payment of nominal charge based on carpet area or plot size.

For colonies on the government land, the charge will be 0.5 per cent (for less than 100 sq m), one per cent (for 100-250 sq m) and 2.5 per cent (for more than 250 sq m) of the circle rate of highest category of locality of the residential area surrounding the colony. .

For colonies on private land, the charge will be half of the charge on the government land.

The release said that the Central government will introduce a bill in the winter session of parliament for recognising General Power of Attorney (GPA), will, agreement to sell, purchase and possession documents which will be a one-time relaxation for this purpose for residents of the colonies.

The Bill will provide for registration charge and stamp duty on the last transaction and also address the issue of income tax liability on account of less than circle rate charges.

DDA will lay down a simplified procedure for issuing conveyance deed and registration of property. The boundaries of the unauthorised colonies and clusters of such colonies will be delineated by the DDA.

The agency will also prepare the Local Area Plan (LAP) for all unauthorised colonies. There will be no penalty and external development charges (EDC). Multiple plots and flats holders will be charged on the rate applicable to the area by clubbing all properties.

The residents will have the option to pay the charge in three equal instalments to be paid in a year.

Any person paying the full amount in one instalment will get the ownership rights immediately. Provisional rights will be given on the payment of two instalments, which will be converted to permanent rights after full and final payment.

Late payment will attract simple interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum. Conveyance deed will be executed for residential purpose, irrespective of use. (ANI)

Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly took over as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) here on Wednesday.

Ganguly was elected as the president during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is being conducted at the BCCI headquarters. Ganguly was the only candidate to file his nomination for the post and was elected unopposed.

“It’s official – @SGanguly99 formally elected as the President of BCCI,” BCCI tweeted.

Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji, during her arrival at the BCCI headquarters, told reporters: “I am very happy that a cricketer is going to be the president and I hope he takes it forward to great heights.”

Also, today is the last day of the CoA in the office. The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that the tenure of the CoA for the BCCI administration will end after the election of new office bearers.

A bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice S A Bobde, directed that no proceedings would be initiated against the CoA without prior permission from it. Once the BCCI elections get over, the CoA will be handing over the charge to the new body.

Gujarat Cricket Association’s Jay Shah, son of Home Minister Amit Shah, has filed nomination for the post of secretary, as revealed by BCCI Electoral Officer N Gopalaswami.

For the post of vice-president, Mahim Verma (Cricket Association of Uttarakhand) has put forward his name, while for the post of Joint-Secretary Jayesh George (Kerela Cricket Association) has filed nomination.

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association’s Arun Singh Dhumal, brother of central minister Anurag Thakur, has filed nomination for the post of Treasurer. (ANI)

Senior Indian Journalist from Kashmir Aarti Tikoo on Tuesday outlined the concerns of Pakistani terror victims in Kashmir and asserted that the human rights activist and press in the world have completely overlooked the 30-years of terror in Kashmir.

Speaking during the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on ‘Human Rights in South Asia’, she said, “The fundamental point that I am trying to make is the victims in Kashmir are the ones who have been killed and massacred by Pakistani sponsored terrorists. The number of Kashmiri Muslims who have been killed in Kashmir is immense and they have been victimised by the Pakistani terror state”.

“The 30 years of Islamic jihad and terror in Kashmir perpetrated by Pakistan has been completely ignored and overlooked by the world press,” she added.

Tikoo, during the hearing, stressed that most of what is being written in the western press is “a distorted reality of Kashmir” and the story is often presented without proper context and a historical understanding.

“There are no human rights activist and press in the world which feels it’s their moral obligation to talk about victims of Pakistani terror in Kashmir,” she continued further.

The journalist also said that the current situation carried “a lot of certitude and righteousness of a narrative that helps the perpetrator and not the victim of human rights abuse in Kashmir.”

“The victims of such perpetration are my Kashmiri Muslim friends, including Shujaat Bukhari, a senior journalist and a peace activist who believed in resolving Kashmir through dialogue between India and Pakistan. He went from city to city across the world trying to convince the powerful players that Kashmir needs peace. But on June 14, 2018, he was shot dead right outside his office in Srinagar by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the same terror outfit banned by the United States that also perpetrated the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks,” Tikoo added.

“Why did they kill him? Because Shujaat wanted Pakistan to end violence and human rights abuse in Kashmir. They killed him because he wanted peace.”

The journalist also talked about other victims of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, including the incident of Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir– a Kashmiri businessman, who was shot dead on August 29 by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists because he had dared to open his shop defying the orders of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the same terror group responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

“Jaish, since the last two months, has been issuing posters, warning Kashmiri Muslims not to resume their normal lives,” Tikoo told the Congressional hearing.

(ANI)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A three-judge Bench of Justice R Banumathi, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hrishikesh Roy granted bail to Chidambaram.

Chidambaram is currently in the custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED) till October 24 in the INX Media money laundering case.

Chidambaram is not a “flight risk” and in view of the conditions imposed, there is no possibility of his abscondence from the trial, said the apex court in its judgement.

“Statement of the prosecution that the appellant (Chidambaram) has influenced the witnesses and there is likelihood of his further influencing the witnesses cannot be the ground to deny bail to the appellant particularly, when there is no such whisper in the six remand applications filed by the prosecution,” the Bench noted.

Granting bail to Chidambaram, the top court noted that the charge sheet has been filed against Chidambaram and other co-accused on October 18, 2019, he is in custody from August 21, 2019 for about two months and the co-accused were already granted bail.

“The appellant is said to be aged 74 years and is also said to be suffering from age related health problems. Considering the above factors and the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the view that the appellant is entitled to be granted bail,” top court said while setting aside the order of Delhi High Court which denied bail to Chidambaram.

Chidambaram was ordered to be released on bail if not required in any other case, subject to the condition of his executing bail bonds for a sum of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties of like sum to the satisfaction of the Special Judge (PC Act).

“The passport if already not deposited, shall be deposited with the Special Court and the appellant shall not leave the country without leave of the Special Court and subject to the order that may be passed by the Special Judge from time to time. The appellant shall make himself available for interrogation as and when required,” the verdict of Supreme Court said.

“Since the High Court, in the impugned judgment, has expressed its views on the merits of the matter, the findings of the High Court in the impugned judgment shall not have any bearing either in the trial or in any other proceedings. It is made clear that the findings in this judgment be construed as expression of opinion only for the limited purpose of considering the regular bail in CBI case and shall not have any bearing in any other proceedings,” the apex court added.

Chidambaram, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail, had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the apex court days after the High Court dismissed his bail plea contending that he might influence the witnesses in the case.

This judgement of the top court will not have any bearing on the other case.

The case pertains to an FIR registered by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 by Chidambaram when he was the Finance Minister. ED is investigating the alleged offense of money laundering that arose out of the FIR.

While the CBI arrested him in August, he was booked by the ED last week. (ANI)

Nobel Laureate Prof Abhijit Banerjee on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the meeting by cracking a joke about how the media is “trying to trap me to say anti-Modi things.”

Prof Banerjee, who met Prime Minister Modi earlier in the day, told media persons, said: “The PM started by cracking a joke about how the media is trying to trap me to say anti-Modi things. He is watching TV. He is watching you guys. He knows what you are trying to do.”

Terming his meeting with Modi as a unique experience, he said that the Prime Minister spoke about governance and bureaucracy.

“It was a privilege to have this meeting with the Prime Minister. He was kind enough to give me quite a lot of time and to talk a lot about his way of thinking about India, which was quite unique,” he said.

“He (Modi) talked about the way he sees governance in particular … and how it, therefore, creates structures of elite control over the governance process,” added Prof Banerjee.

The renowned economist also revealed how the Prime Minister is taking steps to reform the bureaucracy.

“He also very nicely explained how he is trying to reform bureaucracy to making it more responsive to understand ways in which the people’s views need to be taken into account and expose them more to the reality on the ground,” said the Nobel Laureate.

“I think it is a very important point for India to have a bureaucracy that lives on the ground and get its stimulus from how life is on the ground. Without that, we get an unresponsive government,” he signed off, saying a thank you to PM Modi for the unique experience.

During the meeting earlier today, Prime Minister Modi said that Prof Banerjee’s passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible and the country is proud of his achievements.

“Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours,” the Prime Minister tweeted alongside a photo of the meeting.

Prof Banerjee, an Indian-origin economist and an academic professor, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences along with his French-American wife Esther Duflo and American economist Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”

The 58-year-old Kolkata-born economist is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.

(ANI)

Equity benchmark indices closed in the red on Tuesday amid mixed global cues while software major Infosys recorded its sharpest intra-day fall in more than six years after a whistleblower complaint accused senior company officials of indulging in unethical practices.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 335 points lower at 38,964 while the Nifty 50 was down by 72 points at 11,590. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT slipping by 4.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Infosys was the top loser at Rs 640 per share — down by 16.65 per cent — a day after an anonymous group calling itself ‘ethical employees’ alleged in a letter to the board of Infosys and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company is taking unethical steps to boost short-term revenue and profits.

Tata Motors skidded by over 4 per cent, Bajaj Finserv by more than 3 per cent, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies by 2.8 per cent each.

However, those which gained were Dr Reddy’s, ICICI Bank, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Titan, and Cipla.

In the morning trading, Yes Bank had gained over 10 per cent amid reports that it is likely to take over Rs 6,000 crore of land held by Sumer Group in Radius joint venture over non-payment of Rs 479 crore loan. But the stock shed early gains and closed 0.78 per cent higher at Rs 51.80 apiece.

Meanwhile, Asian markets saw an extension of last week’s positive momentum as equities continue to see good follow up buying. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.

South Korean Kospi rose by 1.16 per cent while Shanghai Composite index moved by 0.5 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index by 0.23 per cent.

Reports said US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Chile during mid-November where a partial trade deal could be signed.

(ANI)