Archives for February 2018

All India Mahila Empowerment Party (MEP) held a rally in RT Nagar here in Bengaluru, where the party’s Founder and President Dr. Nowhera Shaik countered the negative rumours spread against her and the party.

Addressing both the workers and the press, Dr. Nowhera Shaik said that some mischief mongers are spreading lies against her that she is helping BJP by contesting in the elections. Dr. Shaik said that she registered her political party in February 2014 even before Narendra Modi became the PM, so there is no question of her helping anyone.

She said the party is contesting elections to create an impact in people’s lives, and promised interest-free loans for taxi drivers and farmers of the state if they come to power.

Dr. Nowhera Shaik also praised Supreme Court’s decision over Cauvery waters, and said the court’s decision should be accepted.

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Court on sent the Youth Congress leader Mohammed Haris Nalapad, who was accused of assaulting a youth in Bengaluru, to two-day police custody on Monday. Nalapad had surrendered to the Cubbonpark police on Monday after absconding for 37 hours. Nalapad who is the son of Karnataka Congress MLA NA Haris, was expelled as the Bengaluru District Youth Congress General Secretary from Sunday for a period of six years after it was reported that he allegedly assaulted a person in a restaurant in Bengaluru.

The case will be heard again on February 21 by the 8th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court. Nalapad’s five associates who were also involved in the assault were arrested on Sunday. They are also sent to two days police custody.

Meanwhile, a fight broke out between Nalapad’s supporters and media personnel at the Cubbon Park police station on Monday.

The Cubbonpark police have registered an FIR against Nalapad under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 143 and 144 (unlawful assembly), 146 and 147 (rioting), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).

(Agencies)

New Delhi: A quarter of global neonatal deaths happen in India where nearly 600,000 newborns die within 28 days of their birth every year, according to a new Unicef study.

The study, which found the number of newborn deaths in India was one of the highest in the world, says the causes of such deaths are preventable and treatable as 80 per cent of these fatalities happen for no serious reason.

On a brighter side, the study says, India has remarkably reduced the under-five mortality.

“Though infant mortality in the country has declined considerably, the number of newborns dying each year remains unacceptably high. India, with nearly 600,000 newborn deaths each year, accounts for a quarter of the global burden of neonatal deaths,” said Unicef in its global report on neonatal mortality “Every Child Alive” released on early Tuesday.

Of the 184 countries, which the report covers, India’s 31 rank with 25.4 neonatal mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) kept the world’s seventh largest economy below 153 countries who have better survival rates for their newborns.

A year earlier, India was the 28th worst country among 184 nations in terms of neonatal mortality.

The first 28 days of life – the neonatal period – are the most vulnerable time for a child’s survival. Children face the highest risk of dying in their first month of life, at a global rate of 19 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Globally, 2.6 million children died in the first month of life in 2016 most of which occurred in the first week, with about one million dying on the first day and close to one million dying within the next six days, as per the Unicef.

“Among those children, more than 80 per cent died from preventable and treatable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia,” says the UN children’s agency.

Affordable and quality healthcare solutions should be there for every mother and newborn. It includes steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, presence of a skilled health attendant during birth, disinfecting the umbilical cord, breastfeeding within the first hour after birth and skin-to-skin contact between the mother and child, it said.

“India is currently off-track to meet the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) target for neonatal mortality of 12 by 2030,” said the report. However, the country has made impressive progress in reduction of under-five mortality and with the current rate of decline “is on track to meet the SDG target for the under-five mortality of 25 per 1000 live births by 2030.”

India registered a reduction of 66 per cent in under-five deaths during 1990 to 2015, nearly meeting its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target. In comparison, the decline in under-five mortality for the world was 55 per cent.

The recent progress is even better, with 120,000 fewer deaths in 2016 as compared to 2015. The number of annual under-five deaths in India has gone below one million for the first time in 2016, said the agency.

On the policy front, introduction of conditional cash transfers, provision of free transport services – 102 and 108 – and making free healthcare an entitlement for every women and infant have led to doubling of institutional deliveries from 39 per cent in 2005 to 79 per cent in 2016.

However, the progress has been inequitable for girls, with under-five mortality rate for girls being at 41 per 1,000 as against 37 per 1000 for boys. India is the only big country in the world to have a higher mortality for girls as compared to boys, it said and added girls are biologically stronger but socially vulnerable in India.

(IANS)

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said he was ready to move a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government with the support of other parties to get “justice” for the southern state. However, he said such a move will be the “last resort”.

Earlier in the day, Naidu had dismissed the demands made by the opposition YSR Congress and Jana Sena to consider bringing a no-trust motion. TDP sources had said Naidu, who heads the TDP, was planning to convene an all-party meeting soon to discuss ways to build pressure on the Centre to secure the state’s “rightful” due.

Ties between the BJP and TDP came under severe strain after the southern party accused the Centre of making “insufficient” allocations for Andhra Pradesh in the Budget 2018-19.

“But, a no-confidence motion should be the last resort. We will continue our fight for justice to AP. If that doesn’t happen, we will muster support from other parties and move the no-trust motion,” the Telugu Desam Party president announced at meeting of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti in Vijayawada Monday night.

The TDP is a key constituent from south India in the BJP-led NDA dispensation. Naidu said protecting the interests of the state was of paramount importance for him.

“The Centre did nothing for us in the last four years. As Chief Minister, I will not tolerate if injustice is done to people. Whether they (the Centre) will help us with a special category status or a special economic package is up to them,” he said.

The main opposition YSR Congress and the Jana Sena wanted the TDP to move the no-confidence motion demanding that the Centre grant special category status to AP. While dismissing their demand, Naidu had said that the Modi government enjoys “full majority”. YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy announced that his party would move the no-trust motion if the TDP did not do so.

“Does he (Jagan) have head and tail? If you move a no-confidence motion, they (BJP) have majority. It will be defeated and you can’t talk anything for six months on the issue,” the chief minister told reporters at the Polavaram project site this afternoon.

“First there should be a debate…we have to muster support…Injustice was done (to AP) right inside Parliament..Now we are demanding justice from the same Parliament. When our Minister (Y S Chowdary) demanded in Parliament that justice be done to the state, they (YSRC) demanded his dismissal (citing rules and procedures).

Now they are talking about no-confidence,” he said. Naidu had said that provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, and the promises made by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha have not been implemented yet. “We are also part of India. When I say that, they (YSRC) say we will run away by resigning (from Parliament) or moving a no-confidence motion,” Naidu said.

He had accused Jagan of trying to gain an “upper hand” to corner the TDP on the special category status issue. “Without understanding Parliamentary procedures and traditions, he (Jagan) wants to show he took an upper hand and cornered the TDP and the government. What is that you cornered? People are watching everything,” he said.

The chief minister said his government would take the lead to secure the state’s rights from the Centre. “….Let them come with us and cooperate. But they are asking us to follow them. Who are they? What’s their history,” he questioned.

Following the protests by Andhra Pradesh MPs in Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that a formula will soon be worked out to release funds under a special package to Andhra Pradesh.

The MPs belonging to the TDP, YSR Congress and Congress had protested “non-implementation” of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, and demanded a financial package for the bifurcated state.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Rotomac Global Private Limited cheated a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 3,695 crore (including interest) by siphoning off loans sanctioned to the company for procurement of wheat and other goods for export.

No export was undertaken, though, according to officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who referred to details given in the Bank of Baroda complaint.

The central agency filed an FIR on Sunday night in the case after getting a complaint against the Rotomac Pen company’s chief Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana and son Rahul. The complaint said that the consortium of seven banks had extended credits to the Kanpur-based firm and its related companies from 2008 onwards.

Kothari is the Chairman and Managing Director of Rotomac while his wife and son are directors of the company.

Kothari had obtained Rs 2,919 crore from the consortium of seven banks — Bank of India (Rs 754.77 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 456.63 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 771.07 crore), Union Bank of India (Rs 458.95 crore), Allahabad Bank (Rs 330.68 crore), Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 49.82 crore) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (Rs 97.47 crore), the FIR by the CBI said.

CBI Spokesperson Abhishek Dayal quoting Bank of Baroda complaint said: “Rotomac cheated the consortium of banks by siphoning off bank loans.”

Interestingly, the official said Rotomac was working for interest rate differential in local and foreign currency. “Number of front and fictitious companies were formed to carry out illegal activities by Rotomac which submitted forged documents to obtain the money from the banks,” Dayal said.

The official said the credit disbursed and sanctioned to the company was utilised for the purposes other than executing export orders.

“For example, credit sanctioned for export order received from Singapore for supply of wheat was diverted to a Singapore-based firm Bargadia Brothers Pvt Ltd but the money was later remitted back to Rotomac,” he said.

“In other cases, the money disbursed by bank for procurement of goods and some other export materials was not utilised for this purpose and no export order was executed by the Rotomac.”

The official said “this misappropriation of funds” violated the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) guideline.

Bank of Baroda also alleged in its complaint that “most of the transactions of Rotomac are with limited number of buyers, sister companies and sellers and no genuine business transactions were carried out, according to other CBI official who did not want to be named.

The CBI FIR named Kothari, his wife, son, his firm Rotomac, some unidentified bank officials and private persons who have been booked on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI on Monday raided several locations in Kanpur in connection with the loan default by the Rotomac and its directors. The CBI also sealed a residential premises and an office of Rotomac in New Delhi.

Coming close on the heels of the Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank’s fraud, the Rotomac case that surfaced on Sunday had fanned speculations that Kothari too, might try and flee the country. However, the CBI could reach Kanpur and question the three accused.

(IANS)

Nirav Modi,the kingpin behind the largest banking scam in the country’s history, has virtually wrung his arms in the air saying PNB’s overzealousness has shut the doors on his ability to clear the dues, which he claimed is much lower than the bank has gone public with.

In a letter Modi wrote on February 15/16 to the PNB management, a copy of which PTI has seen, he pegged the amount his companies owes to the bank under Rs 5,000 crore.

“The erroneously cited liability resulted in a media frenzy which led to immediate search and seizure of operations, and which in turn resulted in Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International effectively ceasing to be going-concerns.

“This thereby jeopardised our ability to discharge the dues of the group to the banks,” Modi, who left the country along with his family in the first week of January, wrote in the letter.

“In the anxiety to recover your dues immediately, despite my offer (on February 13, a day before the public announcement, and on 15,) your actions have destroyed my brand and the business and have now restricted your ability to recover all the dues leaving a trail of unpaid debts,”he said.

The letter also refers to the extended discussions between him, and between his representatives and the bank officers and also his emails on February 13 and 15, 2018.

It can be noted that PNB, the second largest state-run bank, had on February 14 informed the exchanges of detecting USD 1.77 billion fraud at its Brady House branch in Horniman Circle area of south Mumbai and named the firms led by Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Group and some other diamond and jewelry merchants as suspects.

The bank has also filed criminal complaints with CBI and the ED, both of which launched nationwide searches on dozens of offices and residences of the alleged fraudsters.

The bank has named Modi’s brother, his American wife Ami, and uncle Choksi besides some others in the FIR.

On the over Rs 11,000-crore loss claimed by PNB in the FIR, Modi said, “as you are aware, this is entirely incorrect and the liability of the Nirav Modi Group is substantially less. Even after your complaint was filed, in good faith I wrote to you saying please sell/allow me to sell Firestar Group, or their valuable assets, and recover the dues not just from Firestar Group, but also from the three firms.”

Valuing his domestic business at around Rs 6,500 crore, he said “this could have helped reduce/discharge the debt to the banking system,” but quickly added that this is not possible as all his bank accounts have been frozen and assets have been sealed or seized.

He goes on to state that PNB had time and again acknowledged that “the buyers credit facility has been extended by it to the three partnership firms since several years; that there has been no default on the part of any of these firms over all these years; that money has gone through PNB over all these years for the repayments of the advances given by the overseas bank branches under the buyers credit.

“That Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International have never been in default to any bank, and the bankers are fully secured”.

He also states that PNB has over the years been earning bank charges to the tune of crores of rupees on the buyers credit facility extended by PNB to the three partnership firms and that PNB has extended the money to the firm’s buyers as well from where also it has been receiving full payments, with interest and on time all, these years.

On the valuables that CBI/ED searches yielded Rs 5,649 crore, he said “these, and other assets of the group and the three firms could have settled all the amounts due to banks. However, now that stage appears to have passed.”

He concluded by requesting the bank to “be fair, and support my efforts to make good all the amounts that are found due by my group to all banks.”

Owning up everything, he said the bank has wrongly named his brother, who is not at all concerned with the operations of the three firms or other companies.

“My wife is not connected with any business operations at all and she has been wrongly named. My uncle is also wrongly named in this complaint since he has an independent and unconnected business and none of them are aware or concerned with my dealings with your bank.”

“Whatever may be the consequences I may face for my actions, the haste was, in my humble submission, unwarranted,” Modi conludes that he has requested the bank to permit payment of salaries to 2,200 employees from the balance lying in the current accounts.

(PTI)

Photo: PTI

For the first time in Karnataka, Some areas which have more number of women voters will have a dedicated all women polling station’ for the upcoming state assembly elections. Explaining the special features this year, Karnataka chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said, “Setting up all women polling stations will be done in some selected places on pilot basis These polling stations will have women polling officers and women police personnel” he added.

The latest data available for 2018 says there are 4.96 voters, of which around 2.51 crore are men, Around 2.44 crore women and 4000 are transgender. However, the gender ratio for men and women has improved recently. In 2013, it was 1000:958 which has increased to 1000:972 now, according to the state electoral commission.

On Saturday, Sanjiv Kumar released a special logo for this year’s assembly election. The logo has special emphasis on inclusions – of women, nomads and minority voters, – making polling stations accessible to every accessible to every voter including the physically challenged and ethics – voting without fear or pressure from any party, He said as per the directives of the Election Commision, special summary revision was undertaken from November 30, 2017. During this special revision, People applied for new inclusions, deletions and modifications of names. We continue to take applications for deletion, inclusion, and modifications. The final roll will be printed on Feb 28. we will continue taking inclusions, but for deletion, it has to get approval from commission”, he said.

About the first time voters, he said this time its a record. In 2013 there were 7.18 lakh first-time voters and their age group was 18 and 19 years. This year, we have 15.42 lakh first-time voters” He added.