Archives for October 2016

Jeddah: Police in Saudi Arabia have busted a major hawala racket and arrested 32 from Jeddah on charges of money laundering.

According to reliable sources, at least 20 among the arrested are Indians and many of them are South Indians.

The accused, arrested in two separate cases, allegedly handled 9 billion Saudi Riyal in illegal money transfers, the police said.

Eight of them were released on bail while the trial of the remaining accused has been proceeding in a court here.

The accused Indians deposited the money in different accounts and transferred them through hawala networks in a year.

Several Saudi businessmen and bank employees who helped them to carry out the illegal transfers were among those arrested, the police said.

It is one of the biggest case under economic offences as per the crime records of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Saudi police have arrested one more Indian for suspected links with the IS. With this, the number of Indians arrested for terror links has risen to 20.

(Agencies)

Efforts were underway to clear the rubble. The building is located on Anant Kanekar Marg, Behrampada, near National School in Bandra East.

Mumbai: A five-storey building collapsed in suburban Bandra this afternoon with two girls and two more persons feared trapped inside and four people died, fire brigade sources said.

“Four people dead and four more feared trapped inside,” they said. The building is located on Anant Kanekar Marg, Behrampada, near National School in Bandra East.

First floor to 4th floor portion of the building collapsed, thereby trapping two girls as learnt from people around, fire brigade sources said. Efforts were underway to clear the rubble, they said. Further details were awaited. Rescue efforts are underway and a woman has been spotted under the debris calling out for help. Two children were rescued from the debris and rushed to hospital.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: Karnataka signed an agreement to foster economic ties with Wielkopolska region in Poland, Industries Minister R.V. Deshpande has said.

“The agreement will catalyse in forging business opportunities and establishing flourishing business relations between our regions,” said Deshpande on Wednesday on the occasion at Poznan in Poland.

Recalling his meeting with Wielkopolska delegation in Mumbai last November, Deshpande said leading Polish firm Ekolog chose Bengaluru to set up a clean energy technology plant with INR 3,329.54-million investment under the ‘Make in India’ programme.

“I am informed that Poland is interested in ‘Make in India’ and has initiated ‘Go India’ which helps Polish firms to look towards us for investments,” noted Deshpande.

Lauding the progress Poland made in the post-war period, especially over the last two decades, the minister said Indo-Polish trade had been thriving, with India exporting commodities, textiles, drugs, machinery and auto parts and importing artificial resins, non-ferrous metals and machine tools from the Eastern European nation.

“Indian software majors like Wipro and TCS have their presence in Poland. India has signed high value arms deals with your country for supply of air defence missiles, armoured recovery vehicles and tank upgrades,” Deshpande told Poznan international trade fair deputy Chief Executive Tomasz Kobierski and Wielkopolska board member Leszek Wojtasiak on the occasion.

Noting that Poland was the second highest FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) contributor from the Central European nations to India, as evident from INR 41,286.33 million over 15 years from 2000-2015, the minister said India had, however, invested INR 199.77 billion in Poland during the same period.

“Several Indian firms, including Reliance, Ranbaxy, Videocon, Zensar Technologies and KPIT Cummins have invested in Poland, while Polish firms like Can-Pack Poland, Inglot, Geo Fysika have presence in our country,” asserted Deshpande.

Reiterating that huge opportunity was present in IT, solid waste management, clean technologies and renewable energy, the minister told Polish stakeholders to explore potential areas for collaborations and investments in the state.

“As Bengaluru is the world’s second largest IT cluster and leading start-up hub, Aour state has a good industrial and technology based ecosystem, which attracted global firms to set up their R&D and innovation centres in this tech hub.

Indian Ambassador to Poland Ajay Bisaria was also present on the occasion.

(Agencies)

Kannur: An SDPI activist was hacked to death in Kannur on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Farooq, president of SDPI Neerchal branch.

Though he was admitted at the AKG Hospital with serious injuries on his neck and stomach, his life could not be saved.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The Muslim Personal Law Board said on Thursday that a Law Commission questionnaire, to gauge public opinion on triple talaq and some other practices across religions, is a “fraud”, that it will boycott it and that a uniform civil code is not good for India.

The Muslim Law Board also said that the law commission isn’t acting independently and is instead acting at the behest of the Centre, which last week opposed the practice of triple talaq in the Supreme Court and said it can’t be regarded as an essential part of religion.

“A uniform civil code is not good for this nation. There’re so many cultures in this nation, (they) have to be respected. India can’t impose a single ideology,” said the Board’s Hazrat Maulana Wali Rahmani at a press briefing today.

The Commission in its questionnaire asks whether triple talaq – which according to Islamic law based on the Koran permits a husband to pronounce talaq three times to instantly divorce his wife – should be abolished altogether, retained only in customs without legal sanctity, or retained with suitable amendments.

The Muslim Law Board has consistently said that triple talaq is a ‘personal law’ and hence cannot be modified by the Centre.

“We are living in this country with an agreement held by the constitution. The constitution has made us live and practice our religion. In America everyone follows their personal laws and identity, how come our nation doesn’t want to follow their steps in this matter?” Rahmani said.

The Centre has countered the claim of the Muslim Law Board and said, “practices of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala cannot be regarded as essential part of religion and hence get no protection under fundamental right to religion.”

Rahmani and other Board officials today also indicated that they feel Muslims are discriminated against.

“Muslims equally participated in India’s freedom struggle, but their participation is always underestimated,” a Board official said.

The Commission, though, said its questionnaire asks for opinion on practices across religions – not just Islam – that many call anti-women, Justice BS Chauhan, chairman of the Law Commission, said earlier.

For example, while one question on the list of 16 is about triple talaq, another is asking the public what steps are needed to “ensure that Hindu women are better able to exercise their right to property, which is often bequeathed to sons under customary practices”.

Justice B S Chauhan, chairman of the Law Commission, said that formulating the questions was an elaborate affair involving several meetings of the Commission, in addition to consultations with numerous experts in the field.

“It took us two months to frame the questions keeping in mind prevailing customs and practices in different religions to elicit meaningful responses from the public,” he said.

(Agencies)