Month: July 2022

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in an illegal mining case, official sources said.

Mishra was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The move comes days after the agency seized cash amounting to Rs 11.88 crore lying in 37 bank accounts belonging to Mishra in the case. The seized amount belonged to Mishra, one Dahoo Yadav and their associates.

Earlier, ED had conducted searches at 19 locations in Sahibganj, Barhet, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki and Barharwar in Jharkhand resulting in the seizure of various incriminating documents and Rs 5.34 crore unaccounted cash on July 8.

During this search operation, ED had said, it seized five stone crushers that were being illegally operated from the Site and also five illegal firearm cartridges.

“The evidences collected during the course of investigation including statements of various persons, digital evidences and documents revealed that the seized cash and bank balance is derived from illegal mining being rampantly done in the Sahibganj area including the forest area,” the ED had said.

A trail of further Rs 100 crore of proceeds of crime generated from illegal mining has also been unearthed and being worked upon, said the ED.

Earlier in the month of May, the federal agency said, searches at 36 locations connected with the MNREGA Scam were conducted under PMLA resulting in the seizure of Rs 19.76 crore in cash.

The searched premises included the premises of Pooja Singhal, IAS, and her associates.

In this case, also, the ED said, evidences collected during the course of the investigation, including those gathered after searches and statements of various persons, revealed that the major chunk of the seized cash was derived from illegal mining and was belonging to senior bureaucrats and politicians.

Pooja Singhal and Suman Kumar, a Chartered Accountant, were arrested in this case and are presently in judicial custody. A prosecution complaint has been filed in this case.

Thus, in total, cash and bank balance of Rs 36.58 crore, illegally generated from mining has been seized by the ED in the case. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection to suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma from arrest in multiple FIRs.

The SC was hearing a plea moved by her seeking a stay on her possible arrest and clubbing nine cases filed against her across India in alleged hate statements on Prophet Muhammad.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala on Tuesday issued notice to all respondents including various states where FIRs have been registered in the case and also to the Union of India. The bench said, meanwhile, as an interim measure, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner.

“In light of recent events, the concern of the court is as to how can the petitioner avail the legal remedy. In order to explore the possibility… Let notice be issued to the respondents. The matter was posted for hearing on August 10. Copies of the main writ petition shall also be supplied to the respondents,” said the bench.

Court noted that the Article 32 jurisdiction of the court was invoked to get the relief of clubbing of cases. Since the above prayed for quashing of FIRs can be exercised by HC in its power under CrPC, this court on July 1 had asked the petitioner to take the alternative remedy.

The petitioner has now filed this Modification Application pointing out that it has become impossible for her to avail of this remedy and there is an imminent necessity for intervention of this Court to protect her life and liberty. In support of her plea, the petitioner has averred that after our orders, various incidents including threats (SC notes Chisti’s remarks wherein he asked for cutting of petitioner’s throat). SC also notes the video of another person who abused her and gave life threats, the court said.

Nupur Sharma through petition has sought direction to club all the FIRs registered against her across the country. She said that after the top court’s strong criticism of her, the fringe elements have renewed their threat to her life and also given rape threats.

Sharma had requested the apex court that since the first FIR against her was registered in Delhi, all FIRs at other places be clubbed with Delhi FIR.

On July 1, the Supreme Court came down heavily on Sharma and said that she and “her loose tongue” has set the entire country on fire and she is singlehandedly responsible for what is happening in the country.

The bench had slammed Sharma for her statement made during a TV news channel debate and while referring to the Udaipur incident, where two men murdered a tailor, said her outburst is responsible for the unfortunate incident.

Rejecting Sharma’s request to transfer all the FIRs registered against her in many states for her alleged remarks on Prophet Mohammad to Delhi for investigation, the bench had observed that “She has threat or she has become security threat?”

Senior advocate Maninder Singh appearing for Sharma had then withdrawn the plea.

“The way she has ignited emotions across the country, this lady is singlehandedly responsible for what is happening in the country,” the bench had said.

The apex court then said that Sharma should have gone to the TV and apologised to the nation.

It also slammed Sharma for her arrogance and said because she is the spokesperson of a party, power has gone to her head.

It had also asked about what the Delhi Police has done after a complaint was registered against Nupur Sharma.

The bench had said on her complaint a person is arrested, but despite multiple FIRs, she has not yet been touched by Delhi police.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Sharma seeking the transfer of all the FIRs registered against her across the country to Delhi for her remarks on a TV news channel debate about Prophet Muhammad which had led to violent protests and riots in many states.

After the observation made on Sharma, both the judges were targeted on social media by users.

Later, while attending an event Justice JB Pardiwala even expressed concerns at the personal attacks on judges and said that personal attacks on judges for their judgments led to a “dangerous scenario” where the judges have to think about what the media thinks instead of what the law really thinks.

Justice Pardiwala had said that social and digital media is primarily resorted to expressing personalised opinions more against the judges, rather than a constructive critical appraisal of their judgments. (ANI)

In what could be a positive outcome of the India-China Corps Commanders’ talks, it is emerging that both sides could possibly see disengagement of troops from Patrolling Point 15 in the near future.

Sources told ANI that during the 16th round of Corps Commander-level talks held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, some positive movement has been agreed upon between the two sides on the disengagement issue.

They said that it is likely that the Indian side could move from the friction point southeast towards the Karam Singh Hill feature while the Chinese could move north towards the point 5170 hill feature located on their side of the LAC.

Since May 2020, when the Chinese military tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed opposite each other near Patrolling Point 15 which has emerged as a friction point.

India has been looking at complete disengagement of troops from the friction points and moving back troops to the pre-May, 2020 situation in the entire sector.

The last disengagement of troops on the LAC took place a year ago which led to the limited resolution of the standoff at Patrol Point 17A in Gogra. India and China also disengaged troops from both banks of Pangong Tso.

The Indian Army responded strongly to the Chinese aggression in 2020 and moved multiple formations toward the Ladakh sector to bolster its preparedness.

The Army has now allotted the Mathura-based 1 Strike Corps to the Northern borders while formations from all around the sector are holding their summer exercises there to keep a check on the People’s Liberation Army’s activities across the Line of Actual Control. (ANI)

Punjabi actor Shehnaaz Gill has been gathering headlines for a long time. Now it has been reported that the actor might be a part of producer Rhea Kapoor’s upcoming project.

As per media reports, the ’28-year-old actor has now bagged the role in Rhea Kapoor’s next women-oriented film, helmed by her husband Karan Boolani.

The film also features veteran actors Anil Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles and will showcase the ‘Honsla Rakh’ actor in a very different avatar.

Shehnaaz is well known for her bubbly nature and is among one of the most loved ‘Bigg Boss’ contestants of all time.

Earlier, it was speculated that Shehnaaz is going to mark her big Bollywood debut in Salman Khan’s multi-starrer film ‘Kabhie Eid Kabhie Diwali’. The official confirmation from the makers is still awaited.

Reportedly the film will go on the floor by the end of this month.

Rhea, previously produced ‘Veere Di Wedding’ starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar. Released in the year 2018, the film got a decent response from the netizens.

Official confirmation of the film is still awaited.

Shehnaaz made her acting debut with the Punjabi film ‘Honsla Rakh’ alongside Diljit Dosanjh in 2021. The film gathered positive feedback from the netizens.

Apart from that, she has also been a part of various reality shows like ‘Bigg Boss 13’, ‘Dance Deewane 3’ and ‘Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan’. (ANI)

Margaret Alva, the Opposition candidate for the Vice-Presidential poll, is all set to file her nomination for the vice presidential election on Tuesday.

Opposition parties on Sunday decided to field former Rajasthan Governor and former Union minister Alva as their joint candidate for the vice presidential election. Notably, today is the last date for filing nominations for the August 6 election.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced on Sunday, “We have unanimously decided to field Margaret Alva as our joint candidate for the post of Vice President.” The decision came after the opposition party leaders met in New Delhi at Sharad Pawar’s residence to select a joint VP candidate.

Alva, who is pitted against the NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankar who filed his nominations on Monday, said in a tweet: “It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint Opposition for the post of Vice President of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the opposition for the faith they’ve put in me”.

“Margaret Alva, former Governor, former Union Minister, long time MP and very distinguished representative of India’s wonderful diversity is the common Opposition candidate for Vice-President,” tweeted senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

The term of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu — who won the election comfortably in 2017 — ends on August 10.

The NDA has fielded West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar as its joint candidate for the post of Vice President. The decision to field Alva was taken at a meeting of opposition leaders of 17 parties at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

Jagdeep Dhankhar, who filed his nomination in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, said that he is grateful to the PM and his able leadership for this opportunity.

“Not even in my dreams did I think that a common man like me would be given such an opportunity. A farmer’s son has filed his nomination today…Grateful to PM Modi and the leadership for this opportunity,” said Dhankhar after filing his nomination.

He filed his nomination papers for the Vice-President’s post on the day when Presidential elections are being held.

His name was announced for the second top constitutional post by BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday.

Immediately after filing the nomination, Dhankhar said that he will strive for the democratic values of the country. “I will always strive to enhance the democratic values of the country. Never thought even in my dreams that a person with a humble background like me will get this opportunity.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and BJP chief Nadda was present when Dhankar filed his nomination.

JP Nadda said Dhankhar was a “Kisan-Putra” (son of a farmer) who has established himself as a “people’s governor”. Nadda has also urged all the parties including UPA allies to support the NDA vice presidential candidate.

Dhankhar, who is a lawyer by profession, entered into politics in 1989. He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government.

Earlier on Sunday, Jagdeep Dhankhar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who congratulated him on his nomination as NDA’s VP candidate and said his understanding of ground problems and constitutional knowledge will greatly benefit the country.

The Union Home Minister wrote in a tweet in Hindi, “Congratulations to Shri @jdhankhar1 ji on being elected as NDA’s Vice Presidential candidate. Born in a simple farmer family, Dhankhar ji’s life was dedicated to the welfare of the people and upliftment of the society.”

“I am sure that his understanding of ground problems and constitutional knowledge will be of great benefit to the country,” Shah tweeted. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred various pleas challenging the Agnipath Scheme to the Delhi High Court.

A Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud directed the Registrar General to transfer these matters to the Delhi High Court.
The Supreme Court also clarified that as other similar petitions challenging the Agnipath Scheme are pending in other various High Courts, the concerned High Courts should either give an option to the petitioners to either have their petitions transferred to the Delhi High Court or to keep their petitions pending with liberty to petitioners to intervene in the Delhi High Court.

The top court said it cannot pass the buck and deprive itself of the reasoning of the High Court. The Court also requested the Delhi High Court to take up the matter and dispose of it expeditiously.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprised the court that various petitions challenging the Agnipath Scheme have been filed before various High Courts.

The top court noted a consolidated chart of High Court cases presented by SG Tushar Mehta.

The High Courts of Delhi, Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand are hearing matters connected to these schemes.

The Court directions came after hearing advocates Kumud Lata Das and ML Sharma for petitioners and SG Tushar Mehta for respondents.

Various petitions were filed before the top court challenging the Agnipath recruitment scheme for defence forces.

The Central government has also filed a caveat application in the Supreme Court urging it to hear the government in the petitions filed before the top court challenging the Agnipath recruitment scheme for defence forces.

A Caveat application is filed by a litigant to ensure that no adverse order is passed against him or her without being heard.

Advocate Harsh Ajay Singh has filed a PIL seeking directions to the Centre to reconsider its Agnipath recruitment scheme for armed forces.

The plea said the announcement of the scheme has caused protests in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and various other states due to the short-term duration of the scheme in the Indian Army for four years coupled with future uncertainties of the trained ‘Agniveers’.

The advocate has also sought a stay in the implementation of the scheme from June 24, 2022.

Advocate ML Sharma also filed the PIL seeking quashing of the Centre’s notification for the Agnipath scheme saying the scheme is “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The Union Cabinet on June 14 approved a recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the three services of the Armed Forces called Agnipath and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers.

The Agnipath scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years. The Agnipath Scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces. (ANI)

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, on Tuesday, dropped a hilarious picture of himself in pyjama on the sets of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.

Taking to Instagram, the legendary actor gave a quirky caption. He wrote, “Pehanne ko de diya pyjama, laga sadi ko fada, aage choti jeb dedi, aur peeche laga hai nada.”

In the picture, the ‘Don’ actor was seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt that he paired with funky blue-white pyjamas. He was also seen carrying a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. The fashion sense of Big B resembles Ranveer Singh who is known for his quirky outfit choices and style. The veteran actor was all geared up for the shot.

Recently, the ‘Jhund’ actor shared a throwback picture from the sets of his film ‘Trishul’. And captioned it, “fashions repeat .. glares of the 70′ .. perhaps at the Mahurat of Trishul or Man ji film .. and I see today’s stars wearing similar”

Popularly known as Big B, Amitabh was rightly called the ‘Shahenshah’ of Bollywood. He built his on-screen image as an ‘angry young man’ by portraying aggressive roles in films like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Kaala Patthar’ to name a few.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Amitabh will be seen in Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra, which also stars Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Nagarjuna. The film will release on September 9, 2022.

He is also a part of Vikas Bahl’s ‘Goodbye’, in which he will play the role of Bhaskar Prajapati. Apart from Amitabh, the film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Neena Gupta. He is also reuniting with Deepika Padukone for ‘The Intern’ remake and ‘Project K’.

Apart from that, Big B has also wrapped up his shoot for his upcoming project ‘Uunchai’ starring Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani. The release date of the film is still awaited. (ANI)

Renowned singer Adnan Sami, who was quite active on social media, shocked netizens when he unexpectedly deleted all his Instagram posts.

The 50-year-old singer took to his Instagram handle and posted a goodbye post after deleting all of his videos and pictures on his Instagram handle.

He captioned the post and wrote, “A L V I D A…”.

As soon as Adnan dropped the post, fans got worried and filled the comment section with several comments and questions.

A fan wrote, “What happened sir? I think this is a new beginning! Your new song or something?”. Another Instagram user commented on the post, “Are you okay sir”.

“1st off, if it’s a publicity stunt for a song promotion then its really a sick Joke! … if it’s not, someone better get to his house/ apartment and check on him pls! We can’t be losing out on another fabulous singer”, a user commented.

For those who are unaware, Adnan Sami applied for and was given Indian citizenship in 2016 on humanitarian grounds after his Pakistani passport had expired and the government had not renewed it.

In 2020, he received the prestigious Padma Shri Award.

Speaking about his creative output, Adnan Sami is responsible for a variety of popular songs, such as ‘Mujhko Bhi Toh Lift Kara De’, ‘Tera Chehra’, ‘Kabhi To Nazar Milao’, etc. (ANI)

Actor turned author, Twinkle Khanna shared an unseen picture on her social media account on the 10th death anniversary of her father and late actor Rajesh Khanna.

On Monday, the ‘Mela’ actor took to her Instagram handle and wrote an emotional note along with an unseen picture of the father-daughter duo.
Sharing the picture, she wrote, “10 years. He is still here. In all our hearts.”

In the monochrome picture, ‘Anand’ actor was seen with her, who is giving a hug to him from behind. The veteran actor was seen donning a white shirt while young Twinkle wearing salwar kameez and kept her hair in a low bun.

The ‘Aradhana’actor was born in Punjab’s Amritsar on December 29, 1942, Khanna made his debut in 1966 with ‘Aakhri Khat’, which was India’s first official Oscar Entry in 1967.

Khanna achieved super-stardom with Shakti Samantha’s ‘Aradhana’ (1969) which also starred veteran actor Sharmila Tagore in the lead role.

Leaving a strong imprint on each one of his fans with his exemplary persona, he proved his acting mettle on the silver screen with three consecutive hit films like ‘Aakhri Khat’, ‘Raaz’ and ‘Aurat’.

By 2011, Khanna held the record for a maximum number of films as the solo lead hero and the least number of multi-star cast films in Hindi Cinema.

With his versatility in acting, he has wowed and entertained the audience in more than 100 films.

Khanna, who was fondly called Kaka, also made the world record of having 17 successive super-hits in three years from 1969-71 which included 15 consecutive solo super-hit films. The actor won the Filmfare Best Actor Awards on three occasions and was nominated 14 times.

The actor-turned-politician was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour.

It has been 10 years since the legendary actor passed away and the world is still mourning the loss of the icon, whose excellence, grace and charisma are unmatched. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday joined the opposition protest against inflation and 5 per cent goods and service tax (GST) price on essential items, in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament, on the second day of the Monsoon session.

Rahul Gandhi joined the Opposition protest at Parliament along with other Congress MPs inclduing Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.
Speaking on the protest, Mallikarjun Kharge said that they will fight against price rise, inflation and GST rate hike of some essential commodities.

“Today, opposition parties have come together to protest against price rise, inflation and GST rate hike of some essential commodities. We will fight against this,” he said at Parliament.

Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said, “Today, 53 years ago, banks were nationalised. It was a transformational change. Now, Modi Sarkar is on a privatisation spree. Public sector banks must be equipped to face competition, but selling them off to a chosen few will be disastrous! Congress will oppose the Bank Sale Bill.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday is discussing the government’s strategy in Parliament with his top ministers, for the ongoing Monsoon session.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva has given a suspension of business in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of “hike in the price of petroleum products leading to increase in the price of essential commodities” while CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem sought suspension of business under rule 267 to discuss the issue of price rise and imposition of 5 per cent GST on essential items.

In the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manickam Tagore filed an adjournment motion notice on imposition of 5 per cent GST on some items.

Opposition leaders said they will keep up the pressure on the government on these issues.

Both the Houses on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament was adjourned for a day amid disruptions by the opposition over the issue of price rise.

The recommendations on Goods and Services Tax rates that were made during the 47th GST Council meeting held in June came into effect from Monday.

Pre-packaged and labelled pulses, and cereals like rice, wheat, and flour (atta) will now attract 5 per cent GST when branded and packed in a unit container, whereas curd, lassi, and puffed rice would attract 5 per cent tax cent when pre-packaged and labelled.

Other items such as curd, lassi, and puffed rice too would attract GST at the rate of 5 per cent when pre-packaged and labelled. (ANI)