Tag: California

Jaipur to Mumbai RPF

US Shooting: 2 Shot At Gurudwara In Sacramento

By LokMarg

Two people were shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California on Sunday, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office stated the shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. (local time) at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple.
Both of the victims are in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said the shooting is not related to a hate crime and described the incident as a shootout between two men who knew each other.

Sgt. Gandhi said three people were involved in a fight that escalated into a shooting. He said “suspect 2” was down when “suspect 1” shot suspect 2’s friend. Suspect 2 then shot suspect 1 before taking off.

“All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this,” Sgt. Gandhi added.

The investigation of the incident is underway.

Notably, the United States has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with numerous fatal shootings over the last few years.

Gun violence has become common in the US. And this is the reason that President Joe Biden signed the executive order that seeks to increase the number of background checks conducted during gun sales, saying this is “common sense”.

Last week, at least two people were hospitalised in a shooting at East High School in Denver, the capital of Colorado, informed Denver police.

Taking to Twitter, Denver police posted, “ALERT: #DPD is responding to a shooting at East High School. An unknown number of victims at this time. Investigators are working to gather information, and expect a large police presence in the area. Updates will be posted to this thread as they are made available. #Denver. ” (ANI)

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US Regulators Shut Down Silicon Valley Bank

US Regulators Shut Down Silicon Valley Bank

By LokMarg

In a move that sent global banking shares into turmoil, US regulators on Friday (local time) shut down Silicon Valley Bank, as markets fretted over possible contagion from the biggest banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

California regulators closed down the tech lender and put it under the control of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The FDIC is acting as a receiver, which typically means it will liquidate the bank’s assets to pay back its customers, including depositors and creditors.

Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after a stunning 48 hours in which a bank run and a capital crisis led to the second-largest failure of a financial institution in US history.

All insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits no later than Monday morning, March 13, 2023, read FDIC statement.

The FDIC will pay uninsured depositors an advance dividend within the next week. Uninsured depositors will receive a receivership certificate for the remaining amount of their uninsured funds. As the FDIC sells the assets of Silicon Valley Bank, future dividend payments may be made to uninsured depositors.

To protect insured depositors, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB). At the time of closing, the FDIC as receiver immediately transferred to the DINB all insured deposits of Silicon Valley Bank.

Silicon Valley Bank’s decline stems partly from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes over the past year.

After years of interest rates hovering around zero, the central bank last spring began a series of historic rate hikes to make borrowing for businesses and individuals more expensive — a way to cool the economy and bring inflation in line.

Silicon Valley Bank had 17 branches in California and Massachusetts. The main office and all branches of Silicon Valley Bank will reopen on Monday, March 13, 2023.

The DINB will maintain Silicon Valley Bank’s normal business hours. Banking activities will resume no later than Monday, March 13, including on-line banking and other services. Silicon Valley Bank’s official checks will continue to clear.

As of December 31, 2022, Silicon Valley Bank had approximately USD 209.0 billion in total assets and about USD 175.4 billion in total deposits.

At the time of closing, the amount of deposits in excess of the insurance limits was undetermined. The amount of uninsured deposits will be determined once the FDIC obtains additional information from the bank and customers, read the statement.

Silicon Valley Bank is the first FDIC-insured institution to fail this year. The last FDIC-insured institution to close was Almena State Bank, Almena, Kansas, on October 23, 2020. (ANI)

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Huge Rush At Kashmiri Dry Fruit Stalls In Hyderabad 'Numaish'

Huge Rush At Kashmiri Dry Fruit Stalls In Hyderabad ‘Numaish’

By LokMarg

The annual extravaganza, ‘Numaish’, which is hosted by Hyderabad every year, recently opened for visitors at Exhibition Grounds in Nampally.

The 82nd edition of All India Industrial Exhibition Numaish 2023 was organised from January 1 to February 15.

Among the numerous stalls installed in the exhibition was the famous Kashmiri Dry Fruit stall. It has been a special attention from visitors like previous years.

Asif Ali, from Srinagar, who has been selling dry fruits in the exhibition for the last 15 years, expressed happiness over the footfall at the event this year.

“We had a great crowd for the last three days because of the festival. We are hoping for good business this year,” he said.

“Earlier, we used to sell Kashmiri shawls here. This year, we are also selling original Kashmiri walnut, pistachio, almonds, saffron, and honey. The dry fruits in Hyderabad are mostly imported from California, but we have brought ours from Kashmir. The prices depend on the quality and we have products across all price ranges,” he added.

The food stalls at the Numaish cater to a variety of cuisines, while swings and rides have also been installed at the event this year to draw more children.

Urmila, a customer said, “All products here are very good, especially walnut and almonds. I will surely return to buy dry fruits.”

Another customer, Tirumal Kumar, appreciated the quality of the dry fruits on display, saying, “We get the same varieties here that we get in Kashmir. The variety of almonds available here is hard to find.”

Departments of state and central government, along with vendors across the nation, set up stalls at the exhibition every year. (ANI)

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Drugs Smugglers

Moosewala Case: Gangster Goldy Detained In US

By LokMarg

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said Canada-based top gangsters Goldy Brar, the alleged mastermind in the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, has been detained in California, United States.

“There is a confirmed piece of news this morning. Being the head of the State I tell you that a big gangster sitting in Canada, Goldy Brar has been detained in America,” said Mann at a press conference here. The Punjab CM is in Gujarat campaigning for his Aam Aadmi Party candidate in the assembly polls in the state.
Brar is a close aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, currently lodged in Tihar Jail, and is considered to be involved in Moosewala’s murder.

Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jawaharke village of Mansa district on May 29 this year.

The incident occurred two days after Punjab Police withdrew the security cover of 424 persons including that of Moosewala.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder of a Punjabi singer in a Facebook post in May.

Goldy Brar aka Satinder Singh is involved in multiple criminal cases. A Faridpur court had earlier this month issued an open-ended non-bailable arrest warrant against Brar in connection with the killing of the district Youth Congress president, Gurlal Singh Pehalwan. (ANI)

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US Midterm Polls

US Midterm Polls: Democrats To Retain Senate

By LokMarg

Democrats will keep their narrow Senate majority for the next two years, CNN projects, after victories in close contests in Nevada and Arizona. Democrats now have 50 Senate seats to Republicans’ 49 seats.

The Democrats need to win just one more seat to retain majority control – with Nevada and Georgia the two states outstanding paving the way for Joe Biden to spend two more years filling the federal courts with his nominees and staffing his administration largely the way he sees fit.
Retaining Senate control is a huge boost to President Biden over the remaining two years of his first term in the White House.

It means Democrats will have the ability to confirm Biden’s judicial nominees — avoiding scenarios such as the one former President Barack Obama faced in 2016 when then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold a vote on his Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. It also means that Senate Democrats can reject bills passed by the House and can set their own agenda, reported CNN.

Meanwhile, Republicans appear to be inching closer to a majority in the House of Representatives – with big implications for the next two years of Joe Biden’s presidency.

Republicans appear to be slowly inching closer to the 218 seats that would deliver them a House majority, but several congressional races — including in California and Colorado — remain uncalled.

Georgia will hold a run-off election on December 6, after neither Senate candidate won an outright majority.

Georgia’s race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker is headed to a December runoff after neither candidate cleared the 50 percent threshold on Tuesday.

Even if Republicans win the Georgia runoff, though, Vice President Kamala Harris would continue to cast the tie-breaking vote in an evenly divided Senate to guarantee the Democratic majority.

Only one Senate seat has changed hands so far in the 2022 midterm elections: Pennsylvania, where Democratic Lt Gov John Fetterman, who campaigned as he recovered from a May stroke, defeated Republican Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Republicans successfully defended seats in hard-fought races in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, while Democrats retained their seats in competitive contests in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and New Hampshire.

In Nevada, CNN projects that Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a former prosecutor, and state attorney general, will defeat Republican Adam Laxalt, her successor in the attorney general’s office and the son and grandson of former senators.

In Arizona, CNN projects that Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will defeat Republican Blake Masters, a venture capitalist who was endorsed by Trump and supported by tech mogul and emerging GOP megadonor Peter Thiel. (ANI)

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Dangerous Nations: Biden’s Candid Comment On Pakistan

By LokMarg

In perhaps the most candid statement made against it, US President Joe Biden described Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous nations” in the world which holds “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”

The US President made these remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception in Los Angeles (California), during which he berated both China and Russia.
The remarks on Pakistan were made while Biden was talking about US foreign policy with regard to China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Biden concluded by saying he considered Pakistan to be the most dangerous country in the world.

“This is a guy (Xi Jinping) who understands what he wants but has an enormous, enormous array of problems. How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” said Biden, as quoted in a White House press release of his remarks at the Democratic party event.

Biden’s remarks could be seen as a setback to the Shehbaz Sharif government’s bid to improve ties with the US.

At the event, Biden said there were enormous opportunities for the US to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century.

“So, folks, there’s a lot going on. A lot going on. But there are also enormous opportunities for the United States to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century,” the US president said.

These comments come two days after the release of the US National Security Strategy. The 48-page document makes no reference to Pakistan.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration released the Congress-mandated key policy document, underlining the threat posed to the US by both China and Russia.

The National Security Strategy states that China and Russia who earlier this year announced a “no-limits partnership” are increasingly aligned with each other but the challenges they pose are distinct.

“We will prioritize maintaining an enduring competitive edge over the PRC while constraining a still profoundly dangerous Russia,” it adds.

The policy document contends that competition with China is most pronounced in the Indo-Pacific, but it is also increasingly global.

The US Security Strategy highlighted that the next ten years will be a decisive decade of competition with China.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the document says Moscow’s “imperialist foreign policy” culminated “in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to topple its government and bring it under Russian control.” (ANI)

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Indian-Origin People Abducted

Bhagwant Grieves Over Murders Of Indian-Origin Family In US

By LokMarg

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed condolences over the death of an Indian-origin family, who were found dead in California, a few days after they were abducted at gunpoint earlier this week in the US state.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Mann also made an appeal to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to conduct a high-level inquiry into the death of the family who had origins in the state of Punjab.
“There was news of kidnapping and murder of four Indians in California, in which an 8-month-old girl has also been murdered. Very sad to hear this news. I share my grief with the families of the victims… and also appeal to the Union Minister of External Affairs @DrSJaishankar to conduct a high-level inquiry into the matter,” CM Mann tweeted.

The Punjab CM’s request came shortly after Merced county police informed that the Indian-origin family, including an eight-month-old baby girl, were found dead in an orchard in California.

The bodies of four members of the family, who originally hail from Punjab in India were discovered lying close to each other by a farm worker in a remote orchard in Merced county, Sheriff Vern Warnke said on Wednesday.

“Tonight our worse fears have been confirmed,” the Sheriff said addressing a press conference. “We found four people from the kidnapping. They are in fact deceased,” Sheriff Vern Warnke said.

“The family (of the victims) have been notified. We have made arrangements through other contacts to try and get them,” he said. The police will process the scene of crime to determine the motive for the killings, he said.

The Sheriff described it as a “horribly senseless” act and said that the police did not know the “motivation yet.” “We have a whole family wiped out and for what? We don’t know yet,” he said.

36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, 27-year-old Jasleen Kaur, their eight-month-old child Aroohi Dheri, along with 39-year-old Amandeep Singh were abducted, police said.

The news of the missing family was reported on Monday after local authorities found the missing victims’ truck on fire in a rural area outside the Merced County.

A surveillance video that was released by the Twitter handle of the Merced County Sheriff’s office showed the suspect leading Jasdeep Singh who was carrying baby Aroohi in his arms into a truck and driving away. (ANI)

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Indian-Origin People Abducted

Infant, Parents Among 4 Indian-Origin People Abducted In California

By LokMarg

An 8-month-old girl and her parents were among four people abducted from Merced County in California on Monday (local time), authorities said.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office in a statement on Monday said that 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, 27-year-old Jasleen Kaur, and their eight-month-old child Aroohi Dheri, along with 39-year-old Amandeep Singh, were taken, reported ABC 10.
Police have described the suspect as being armed and dangerous.

Not much detail about the incident has been released as the investigation is still in its early stages but authorities have said that the four were taken against their will from a business in the 800 Block of South Highway 59, reported ABC 30.

The site of the alleged abduction is a roadway lined with retailers and restaurants.

NBC News reported that officials have not named a suspect or a possible motive.

“We’re asking the public not to approach the suspect or victim,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement on Monday.

Authorities asked that people not approach the suspect or victims and call 911 if they are seen.

Meanwhile, in the year 2019, an Indian-origin techie, Tushar Atre, was found dead in his girlfriend’s car hours after the owner of a digital marketing company in the US was allegedly kidnapped from his posh California home. (ANI)

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