Archives for March 2025

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a man from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu after fresh round of searches in a money laundering case against the SDPI, the political outfit of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), official sources said.

Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) from Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district on Thursday, the sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) made the arrest after conducting searches at the house of Jainullabudeen, who has been brought to Delhi and is expected to be produced before a special PMLA court on Friday, they said.

Freah raids were launched by the ED on Thursday in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Kerala.

The federal probe agency carried out the first round of searches in the case in the first week of March and arrested M K Faizy, the national president of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)

The ED claimed before a court while seeking Faizy’s remand that there existed an “organic” relation between the two outfits and that the PFI was carrying out its criminal activities through the political party (SDPI).

The Centre banned the PFI in September 2022, calling it an unlawful association which allegedly indulged in terrorist activities.

Multi-agency searches by the ED, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and various state police forces preceded the PFI ban.

Founded in 2009, the SDPI is registered as a political party with the Election Commission of India.

Seeking Faizy’s remand earlier this week, the ED told the court that the PFI and the SDPI were “organically” linked and the latter was nothing but the “political front” of the former, and was “funded and controlled” by it.

The agency claimed that it had evidence to state that there was a “deep-rooted” nexus between the two organisations as there was “overlapping” membership of their cadres, involvement of PFI office-bearers in the founding of the SDPI, and utilisation of each other’s assets.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said everyone feels Mughal king Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed, but it has to be done under the purview of law as the previous Congress regime put the site under ASI’s protection.

Fadnavis was speaking at an event here on Saturday night.

BJP’s Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had sought the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Asked about Bhosale’s demand, Fadnavis said, “We all also want the same thing, but you need to do it within the framework of the law, because it is a protected site. The site was put under ASI’s (Archaeological Survey of India) protection during the Congress regime some years back.”

Notably, Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra MLA Abu Asim Azmi’s remarks eulogising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb recently kicked up a row.

Azmi was last week suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly till the end of the budget session on March 26 over his remarks praising Aurangzeb.

Port Louis : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate over 20 India-funded projects, ranging from capacity building to community-linked infrastructure, during his two-day State Visit to Mauritius, officials said.

Modi will also announce new major infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening democracy in the Southeast African island nation.

Prime Minister Modi, along with his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam, will jointly inaugurate the Civil Services College building.

The construction of the building was completed at an approximate cost of USD 4.75 million. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in 2017.

Modi will also e-inaugurate the Area Health Centre and 20 community projects, which have been constructed at a cost of around INR 7 crores. These community projects also include sports-related infrastructure.

“We have something called community development projects, and these are small projects at the grassroots level, which are implemented very fast within a short span of time. Some of these projects are also in the area of sports. We have developed football fields and other such sports facilities, which can be found all over Mauritius,” Anurag Srivastava, India’s High Commissioner to Mauritius, told PTI Videos.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway at various sites in Port Louis for the prime minister’s visit.

Speaking to PTI Videos, Bedouin Site Manager Rambojun Siddharth said, “Today, we are working to complete preparations for the inauguration of the Civil Services College. The leaders will gather at the Cubical Sphere Auditorium, next to the College. The Indian Prime Minister and our Prime Minister will hold a meeting there. We are aiming to finish everything before the 12th of March.”

He expressed gratitude to India for funding the project.

“The college is fully equipped with all the necessary facilities. Many opportunities will arise,” Rambojun said.

Adjacent to the college, the India-funded National Archives and Library building is under construction. The Project Director of Varindera Construction Limited, Baljeet Sharma, who is working on-site, said India has completed most of the projects in Mauritius on time.

“Most of the India-funded projects in Mauritius have been constructed by our company, including 956 housing projects, two area health centres, and medical clinics. We are also constructing a Renal Transplant Centre at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital. India has been delivering projects on time,” Sharma told PTI Videos.

Ahead of his trip to Mauritius, Prime Minister Modi on Monday said the visit will open a “new and bright” chapter in the ties between the two nations.

Mauritian Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful, speaking to PTI Videos, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a line of credit will be signed on March 12.

“There will be the signing of a MoU on a line of credit, which is being granted by India, regarding the replacement of our water pipes,” Ramful said.

The strong ties between India and Mauritius are evident in the numerous India-supported development initiatives across the island.

In January 2022, both countries signed a MoU to implement 96 community development projects across Mauritius. Of these, 51 have already been inaugurated.

In 2016, India granted Mauritius USD 353 million as part of a Special Economic Package for five key projects, including the Metro Express Project, the Supreme Court Building, the New ENT Hospital, the Social Housing project, and digital tablets for schoolchildren.

In 2017, India also provided a USD 500 million Line of Credit to finance 10 additional projects, including Phase I and II of the Metro Project, the Social Housing Project, the supply of gas-based incinerators and firefighting vehicles, an 8 MW Solar Power Plant, a new Forensic Science Laboratory, the National Archives & Library, and the Mauritius Police Academy.

Palghar: A 38-year-old married woman allegedly abducted her three-month-old nephew in Maharashtra’s Palghar district to pose to her paramour that the baby was theirs in a bid to start a new life with him, police said on Tuesday.

The woman had taken the baby to Nalanda in Bihar from where police rescued the infant and arrested the woman on Sunday, they said.

The woman allegedly abducted the son of her sister-in-law from Mandvi in Vasai area of Palghar on February 18 afternoon under the pretext of taking him for an outing and fled, Mandvi police station’s inspector Sanjay Hazare said.

After being unable to locate them, the child’s family lodged a police complaint, based on which an FIR was registered under section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.

The Mandvi police launched an extensive investigation, using technical surveillance and intelligence inputs, to track the woman. They later came to know she was in Nalanda, Bihar, the official said.

The police from here subsequently went to Nalanda where they sought the assistance from the police’s Divisional Intelligence Unit (DIU).

The Mandvi police, in coordination with the Nalanda DIU and local police, raided some houses in a locality at Suryachak village, Mirnagar, near Bihar-Jharkhand border and found the woman with the child in a house, the official said.

The child was rescued and reunited with his family, and the woman was brought back to Mandvi on Sunday, he said.

During interrogation, the woman told the police that she was married and had three children, but wanted to start a new life with her paramour in Bihar, the official said.

The woman had not informed her paramour that she was already married and had children, the police said.

She created an impression of being single and newly pregnant, following which she abducted her sister-in-law’s son and pretended to her paramour that the child was theirs, the official said.

She also showed the baby to her paramour over video call to convince him of her story, he said.

The woman’s plan was to settle down with her paramour, using the child as proof of their supposed new beginning, the official said.

Further investigation into the case was on, the police said.

New Delhi: Thirteen of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities are in India, with Byrnihat in Assam topping the list, according to a new report published on Tuesday.

The World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir said Delhi remains the most polluted capital city globally, while India ranked as the world’s fifth most polluted country in 2024, down from third in 2023.

The report said India saw a 7 percent decline in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, averaging 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023. Yet, 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India.

Air pollution in Delhi worsened, with the annual average PM2.5 concentration rising from 102.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to 108.3 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.

The Indian cities in the world’s top 20 most polluted cities are Byrnihat, Delhi, Punjab’s Mullanpur, Faridabad, Loni, Gurugram, Ganganagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh and Noida.

Overall, 35 percent of the Indian cities reported annual PM2.5 levels exceeding 10 times the WHO limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre, the report said.

The high level of pollution in Byrnihat, a town on the border of Assam and Meghalaya, is due to emissions from local factories, including distilleries, iron and steel plants.

Delhi grapples with high air pollution year-round and the problem worsens in winter when unfavourable meteorological conditions, combined with vehicular emissions, paddy-straw burning, firecrackers and other local pollution sources, make the air quality hazardous.

Air pollution remains a serious health risk in India, reducing life expectancy by an estimated 5.2 years.

According to a Lancet Planetary Health study published last year, about 1.5 million deaths in India every year from 2009 to 2019 were potentially linked to long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution.

PM2.5 refers to tiny air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 microns, which can enter the lungs and bloodstream, leading to breathing problems, heart disease and even cancer. Sources include vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and the burning of wood or crop waste.

Former WHO chief scientist and health ministry advisor Soumya Swaminathan said India has made progress in air quality data collection but lacks sufficient action.

“We have the data; now we need action. Some solutions are easy like replacing biomass with LPG. India already has a scheme for this, but we must further subsidise additional cylinders. The first cylinder is free, but the poorest families, especially women, should receive higher subsidies. This will improve their health and reduce outdoor air pollution,” she told PTI in an interview.

In cities, expanding public transport and imposing fines on certain cars could help. “A mix of incentives and penalties is necessary,” she said.

“Finally, strict enforcement of emission laws is crucial. Industries and construction sites must comply with regulations and install equipment to cut emissions instead of taking shortcuts,” the former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research added.

Nashik : Onion auctions at Lasalgaon APMC in Maharashtra’s Nashik began on Tuesday, a day after farmers halted the process for sometime and staged a protest by climbing atop a water tank against the drop in prices of the key kitchen staple.

The protesters on Monday demanded that the 20 percent export duty on onions be removed, claiming it as the reason for the drop in prices at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Lasalgaon, which is Asia’s biggest wholesale onion market.

As many as 15 farmers climbed atop a water tank to protest the drop in prices of onion and also stalled its auctions for sometime on Monday.

“There is a drop of Rs 300-500 in the average prices of both red and summer crop of onions. The 20 percent export duty on onions must be removed,” one of the protesters said.

A source at the APMC said 11,500 quintals of onions were brought to the market for auction on Monday.

The prices were Rs 1,000 per quintal minimum, Rs 2,201 per quintal maximum and Rs 1,800 per quintal average for the summer crop of onions.

On the other hand, prices for red onions were Rs 800 per quintal minimum, Rs 2,005 per quintal maximum and Rs 1,700 per quintal average.

“These prices were Rs 2,250-2300 just five days ago. As a result, the farmers protested,” the source said.

The farmers later called off the protest after state Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate assured them that Yeola (in Nashik district) MLA Chhagan Bhujbal will raise the issue in the ongoing budget session of the legislature.

Police also arrived at the spot to pacify the protesters and maintain law and order.

On Tuesday, regular auctions were underway at the APMC.

Nearly 13,000 quintals of onions were brought in 500 vehicles at the APMC in the morning.

As the auction of the summer crop of onions began, the prices were Rs 600 per quintal minimum, Rs 1,951 per quintal maximum and Rs 1,600 per quintal average. The auction of red onions was yet to begin, the source said.