Archives for 2022

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday held the Union government responsible for the “unemployment emergency” in the country and alleged that suicides have risen due to it.

He cited a media report which claimed that over 25,000 people have committed suicide between 2018 and 2020 due to debt and unemployment.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also targeted the BJP government alleging that instead of “Amrit Kaal” as claimed by the government, India was going through “Andh Kaal” (dark age) under a “blind king”.

The Congress has been attacking the government over unemployment and has belied the BJP’s claims of India going through ‘Amrit Kaal’, a reference to the best and most auspicious times.

In a tweet in Hindi with the hashtag ‘KiskeAccheDin’, Gandhi said, “Suicides rose due to unemployment. And what led to the rise in unemployment? The Central government is responsible for this unemployment emergency.”

Kharge also tweeted, “Twenty-four per cent increase in suicides due to unemployment. Eighty-four per cent of families saw a decline in income. Yet, Modi and his ministers call these difficult times as ‘Amrit Kaal’. This is India’s ‘Andh Kaal’ with an ‘Andha Raja’ as PM.”

“For the sake and welfare of ‘Double A’, 27 crore Indians have been pushed into poverty by ‘Hum Do’. This is the reality of ‘Amrit Kaal’,” the senior Congress leader said.

Udayagiri Police on Saturday arrested President of New Indian Congress Party, Ayyub Khan for making derogatory remarks against lord Gomateshwara.

According to the reports he has been booked under section 153(A) and others for his remarks that he made during a press conference recently.

The Jain community had protested against Khan and had submitted a memorandum to Mysuru Police Commissioner seeking action against him.

New Delhi: In its biggest bank fraud case, the CBI has booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India of over Rs 22,842 crore, officials said on Saturday.

Besides Agarwal, the agency has also named the then executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia and another company ABG International Pvt Ltd for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and abuse of official position under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

“Searches were conducted on Saturday at 13 locations in the premises of accused including private company, directors at Surat, Bharuch, Mumbai, Pune etc which led to recovery of incriminating documents,” CBI said in a statement.

The bank had first filed a complaint on November 8, 2019 on which the CBI had sought some clarifications on March 12, 2020.

The bank filed a fresh complaint in August that year. After “scrutinising” for over one and a half years, the CBI acted on the complaint filing an FIR on February 7.

The company was sanctioned credit facilities from 28 banks and financial institutions led by ICICI Bank with the SBI having exposure of Rs 2468.51 crore, the officials said.

The Forensic Audit by Ernst and Young has shown that between 2012-17, the accused colluded together and committed illegal activities including diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, they said.

It is the biggest bank fraud case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Funds were used for purposes other than for which they were released by banks, it said.

The loan account was declared as non-performing asset (NPA) in July 2016 and fraud in 2019.

In its complaint, the State Bank of India said ABG Shipyard Ltd (ABGSL) is the flagship company of the ABG Group which engaged in the business of ship building and ship-repair.

The ABGSL being a major player in Indian ship building industry operates from shipvards are located at Dahej and Surat in Gujarat with capacity to build vessels up to 18,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) at Surat Shipyard and 1,20,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) at Dahej Shipyard.

The company has constructed over 165 vessels (including 46 for export market) in the last 16 vears including specialized vessels like the newsprint carriers. self-discharging and loading bulk cement carriers, floating cranes etc with class approval of all international classification societies like Lloyds, American Bureau of Shipping. Bureau Veritas, IRS, DNV, the complaint said.

“Global crisis has impacted the shipping industry due to fall in commodity demand and prices and subsequent fall in cargo demand. The cancellation of contracts for few ships and vessels resulted in piling up of inventory. This has resulted in paucity of working capital and caused significant increase in the operating cycle. thereby aggravating the liquidity problem and financial problem,” the complaint said.

The SBI said there was no demand of commercial vessels as the industry was going through downturn even in 2015 which was further aggravated due to lack of defence orders making it difficult for the company to maintain repayment schedule, it said.

“The company has been referred to NCLT, Ahmedabad, by ICICI Bank for CIRP,” it said.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged remarks on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing a public meeting at Raigiri about 55 Km from here, Rao referred to the raging Hijab row in Karnataka and said Bengaluru, which is popularly known as the Indian silicon valley, is being turned into ‘Kashmir valley’ due to the ongoing tussle.

Modiji! Is this our Indian culture? Is this what has been taught in Vedas, Mahabharat, Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita? I am asking BJP National President Naddaji. Is it our culture?” he asked, referring to Sarma’s comments.

Seeking the dismissal of Assam CM Sarma, Rao said,”… Can a Chief Minister talk like this? There are limits. Are you egoistic? Doing tamasha? You think people will remain silent?.

KCR’s attack comes a day after Sarma had slammed Gandhi for demanding proof of the September 2016 surgical strike launched by the Indian Army against terrorist camps in PoK, and questioning the efficacy of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines, during a rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand.

The Assam CM had sought to know whether the BJP had ever demanded proof of him being the son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi .

The remarks drew sharp criticism from the Congress party.

Targetting the BJP over Sarma’s comments, Rao asked, Is it BJP’s culture? Is it Hindu Dharm and Indian culture?

“As an Indian, I am demanding an answer. I feel ashamed. This does not bring glory to our country. Do you think we will keep quiet with folded hands?

On the Hijab row in Karnataka, he said if the peaceful atmosphere of the country is disturbed, no investments will come nor will employment opportunities be created.

What is happening in Karnataka? …. Bengaluru, the Indian Silicon valley is being turned into Kashmir valley with religious fanaticism… If the eco and peace fabric of the country is ruined, who will come forward to invest and create employment opportunities, he said.

He categorically stated that Telangana will not implement power reforms proposed by the central government as the cost of free power to farmers is borne by the state government.

Without naming any company, the Telangana CM alleged that a friend of Modi is coming up with a 30,000 MW solar Power project in the country and the states are forced to buy it.

Describing the repealed Agriculture laws as a crazy idea of Modi, Rao said they were withdrawn keeping in mind the Assembly polls in five states.

Citing reports, he said India is in the 101th position in the Global Hunger Index below Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Referring to the alleged hardships faced by the migrant labourers during the first COVID-19 wave, Rao claimed that it was due to unthoughtful lockdown announced by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Though he wanted to confine to Telangana for its development, some forces are ‘provoking’ him to take a plunge into national politics, he said as justification to play a role at the Centre.

Munawar Faruqui

Indore: A local court on Friday adjourned the hearing in the case of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was accused of passing indecent remarks against Hindu deities during a stand-up act, citing that the police had failed to present a chargesheet against him even after more than a year.

The Tukogang police station has registered a case against Faruqui under section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and other provisions of IPC in January last year.

The police were supposed to present the chargesheet on Friday, but they couldn’t do so, as the state government’s nod was awaited, an official said.

The state government is yet to give its approval on the chargesheet, inspector Kamlesh Sharma of Tukogang police station said.

The court has now posted the hearing for March 10, it was stated.

The Indore police had on January 29, 2021 written to the state government seeking its permission to file a chargesheet in the matter, the official said.

The state government’s nod was mandatory to put up a challan under section 295 (a) citing the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The comedian and four others were booked based on a complaint lodged by Eklavya Singh Gaur (36), son of local BJP legislator Malini Laxman Singh Gaur.

Faruqui, a resident of Gujarat, was arrested along with four others for allegedly making indecent remarks against Hindu deities and Union home minister Amit Shah during a show at a cafe in 56 Dukan area of Indore on January 1.

The comedian, who was in custody for 35 days, walked out of the Indore Jail on late February 6 night last year after the Supreme Court granted him bail.

Ahmedabad: Rohit Sharma’s tenure as India ODI captain began with a 3-0 demolition of the West Indies after the impressive hosts put up an all-round performance to win the third game by 96 runs here on Friday.

Shreyas Iyer’s responsible 80 coupled with Rishabh Pant’s aggressive 56 powered India to a challenging 265 in the inconsequential fixture.

The hosts then shot out their opponents for 169 in 37.1 overs as the visitors continued their dismal batting show.

With one eye on the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Indian team management gained plenty positives from their experiments in the third-match series including the emergence of pacer Prasidh Krishna as the strike bowler. He ended with nine wickets in the series.

Deepak Hooda, who did not play the third ODI, showed promise as a middle-order batter while Suryakumar Yadav showed that he could curb his natural aggressive intent if such a situation arises.

The wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who made a return as a pairing, did not bowl together but did well individually. An ordinary batting performance the West Indies batters also made the Indian bowlers’ task easier throughout the series.

The away team was never in the chase and was blown away by another stellar show of fast bowling.

Pacer Deepak Chahar, playing his first game of the series, struck twice in the fifth over. First he sent back Brandon King (14), who edged to Suryakumar Yadav in the slip cordon and then on the last ball of the over, removed Shamarh Brooks (0), leaving the visitors at 25/3. West Indies could not recover from there on.

The ODI series will be followed by three T20 in Kolkata beginning February 16.

Earlier, Shreyas and the flamboyant Pant resurrected the India innings with their 110-run stand after India suffered a top-order collapse to be reeling at 42/3.

The duo toyed with the opposition attack even as the southpaw displayed his hard-hitting prowess, striking six fours and a six.

The Mumbaikar, who was playing his first game after COVID recovery, looked in his elements, as he mixed caution and aggression. He completed his ninth ODI fifty with a single to deep extra cover.

After his fifty, Shreyas upped the ante as he and Pant completed their 100-run stand in 112 balls.

Pant too notched up his fifth ODI 50 with a single. But in the 30th over, he perished, giving leggie Hayden Walsh (2/59) his first wicket and Suryakumar Yadav (6) followed suit, as India lost half their side for 164.

But a determined Shreyas played his shots at will before giving a sitter to Darren Bravo at long-off in the 38th over. In his 111-ball knock, he hit nine boundaries.

However, Chahar (38; 4×4; 2×6) and Washington Sundar (33, 2×4; 1×6) played their parts to perfection and forged 53 runs for seventh wicket. Their knocks propelled India past the 260-run mark.

After opting to bat, India lost opener Rohit Sharma (13) cheaply. Pacer Alzarri Joseph (2/54) pegged the hosts back, by first cleaning up Rohit on the third ball of the fourth over and then dismissed Virat Kohli (0) on the fifth ball to leave the hosts teetering at 16/2.

Kohli tried to flick a delivery that was going down the leg, but edged to Shai Hope in what was a soft dismissal, extending the wait for his 71st hundred in international cricket.

Shikhar Dhawan (10) and Shreyas tried to rally the innings but were able to add only 26 runs for the third wicket.

Dhawan, who too played his first game of the series after recovering from COVD, became pacer Odean Smith’s (1/36) first victim as he was caught by Jason Holder in the slip cordon.