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Court issues non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya

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Vijay Mallya

Mumbai: The special PMLA court issued non-bailable warrant against liqour baron Vijay Mallya on Monday in connection with money-laundering case, according to reports.

Special Judge P R Bhavke passed the order in connection with the ED application seeking non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with a money laundering probe in the over Rs 900- crore IDBI loan fraud case.

Kingfisher Airlines today morning moved an application in the special PMLA court here terming as “false and incorrect” Enforcement Directorate’s charges against its owner Vijay Mallya that he had siphoned off Rs 430 crore of the IDBI loan and used this money to acquire property abroad.

“This fact may have a bearing in the mind of the court so we wanted to correct it and place it before the court. ED’s charges are false and incorrect,” said advocate Pranav Badeka of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).

The court had on Saturday reserved its order till today. It is likely to hear the arguments of KFA and may pass an order on ED’s NBW request later in the day.

ED on Saturday, during arguments, had told the court that out of the Rs 950 crore which Mallya’s company had borrowed from IDBI for using it in the Kingfisher Airlines, Rs 430 crore was diverted and spent on purchase of property abroad.

Thus, the bank’s money was used for some purpose other than the one for which the loan had been given, ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar told the court.

The 60-year-old industrialist, who is in UK, has skipped three summons issued by the agency. He had also sought time till May to depose before the officials.

On April 9, in reply to the last summons, Mallya had informed the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case here that he will be unable to depose personally as scheduled citing the ongoing legal proceedings going in the Supreme Court over settlement of loans.

The agency had issued fresh summons in the first week of April to Mallya asking him to appear on April 9 after he sought two extensions from the earlier dates of March 18 and April 2 citing official reasons.

The officials said that while seeking extension Mallya had informed the ED that cases related to bank loans were currently sub-judice in the Supreme Court and he was trying to settle these loans with the help of his legal and corporate team and, hence, would require some more time.

Mallya was first summoned by the agency to “appear in person” at its office in Mumbai on March 18 but he sought more time citing his prior engagements, following which the agency asked him to depose on April 2.

He was also directed by the Supreme Court to disclose all assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad by April 21.

The liquor baron, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged default of loans worth over Rs 9,000 crore from various banks, is reported to be in the UK after he left India on March 2. Government on Friday suspended Mallaya’s passport.

ED has registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI.

The agency is also investigating financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and looking into any payment of kickbacks to secure loans.

(Agencies)

Maha minister Pankaja Munde draws flak over ‘drought selfie’

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pankaja-selfie

Mumbai: Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde has come under fire from ruling ally Shiv Sena as well as the opposition for clicking selfies while on a visit to drought-hit Marathwada.

Munde took the selfies with the dried-up Manjara river as the backdrop while on a visit to the parched region to review desilting work on the river bed.

“Maharashtra is facing severe drought. Women and even kids are going far away from their home for getting water. Shiv Sena is doing lot of work in those drought-hit areas. And in such a serious situation, the ministers are clicking selfies,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said.

“This could have been avoided. It lessens the impact of such tours. Entire Maharashtra is reeling under serious drought. There was no need of selfie. It is mainly women who are suffering carrying water and a woman takes selfies. It is strange,” she added.

The BJP leader was also trolled on Twitter after her ‘selfies’ went viral on social media.
According to an official present at the site, Munde started clicking selfies with work going on in the background and then posted them on a social networking site.

“Selfie with trench of said barrage (in) Manjara (river).. relief to Latur,” she had tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Al-Nasser Zakaria termed the ‘selfie moment’ as a “shameful act” by a cabinet minister.

“It is shameful that she has to post such selfies on social networking sites in a bid to show people that she is indeed concerned about the welfare of people. We need the present ministers to be less media savvy and do more work at the ground level which will definitely show in future,” he said.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said taking selfies instead of conducting review meetings is like making a mockery of farmers’ woes.

“This government is not serious about drought. There was no planning to tackle drought even where there was sufficient data available months ahead. She is the Guardian minister of Beed and Latur and yet never held a review meeting in the last one year. Now making this tour looks like a junket, she is mocking the farmers,” he said.

Last week, revenue minister Eknath Khadse faced flak for deciding to take a chopper to a village in drought-hit Latur district, leading to wastage of nearly 10,000 litre water for a special helipad.

(PTI)

Bandh call by Patels for quota gets little response in Gujarat

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patels

Ahmedabad: The state-wide bandh call given by the Patel community in Gujarat over the quota issue had little impact today except in for some pockets dominated by the community members in different cities of the state.

The curfew imposed yesterday in Mehasana town was lifted this morning, where as the bandh call given by Sardar Patel Group after yesterday’s violence in Mehasana town largely remained incident free today, police said.

Police has made elaborate security arrangements in view of the bandh call but schools and colleges, public transport and trains have remained unaffected.

Also, mobile and Internet services have been banned in top towns of the state like Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Mehasana. The restriction will continue till midnight today.

The bandh call given by the Patel agitators had little impact in major cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot.

Even in Mehsana, where community members had yesterday clashed with police by giving a call of Jail Bharo stir, the bandh call evoked partial response as only areas dominated by Patel population remained closed.

“We lifted the curfew at 6 AM as the situation was under control. No reports of untoward incident have come so far during the bandh call. Mobile Internet services will remain closed in the city till midnight today,” Mehsana District Collector Lochan Sehra told PTI.

After violence at Modhera cross roads yesterday, Mehsana police lodged an FIR against Sardar Patel Group (SPG) President Lalji Patel and 36 others under various sections of IPC, including loot and rioting.

“We have lodged an FIR against Patel and 36 other agitators for rioting, loot, arson, damaging public property and defying orders of police. No arrests are made yet,” said Police Sub Inspector of Mehsana ‘B’ division police S B Jadeja.

In Ahmedabad, life remained normal expect of some Patel dominated localities of eastern side of the city where shops have not opened till afternoon. School, colleges, public transport, shops and establishment remained open in the city.

In Surat also bandh had no impact as almost all the areas remained open, while in Rajkot, some Patel dominated areas remained closed but other parts of the city were unaffected by the bandh call.

Curfew was yesterday clamped in Mehsana and mobile Internet services were banned as a massive rally of the Patel community demanding reservation and immediate release of their jailed leaders turned violent with two buildings being set ablaze and some police vehicles damaged.

(Agencies)

Siddaramaiah’s son quits firm over nepotism charge

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Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: As political pressure mounted on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over nepotism charge, his son has resigned from a firm that was given a contract to set up lab and diagnostic facility at a government-run hospital here.

Amid Opposition attack and advice from the Congress High Command, the Chief Minister’s doctor son Yathindra Siddaramaiah tendered his resignation as director of Matrix Imaging Solutions India Private Limited.

Yathindra said in a message to the media, “By the way, I am quitting Matrix (Imaging Solutions India).”

The resignation comes amid reports that the Congress high command was unhappy with the development, which was snowballing into a major controversy with the Opposition questioning the contract to the company owned by Yathindra’s friend, a pathologist, in which he is a partner.

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, had openly said yesterday that he had suggested to Siddaramaiah that his son quit the company.

Singh had, however, maintained that the entire process was “totally transparent” with the contract given to the lowest bidder.

He had denied reports that he had asked the Chief Minister to order an enquiry into the matter.

“I have only advised that he withdraws. It is not an order, but an advice. Legally, the son does not have to quit.

As a (matter of) propriety, he may,” Singh had said.

Unfazed by the controversy, both Siddaramaiah and Yathindra had been maintaining that there was no wrongdoing on their part.

Yathindra had alleged that a group of doctors at government-run Victoria Hospital, where the facility was to come up, were raking up the controversy as it would cause a loss to those who were sending the patients for outside reference to get commission in cash.

He had also maintained that his company did not put any pressure on hospital authorities to follow procedures that suited them in order to win the contract.

Siddaramaiah had said that his son was a doctor who was a director in a company owned by his friend.

“They had participated in the tender. They are the lowest bidder. It is for service to the people, there is no money involved from the government,” he had said.

(Agencies)

Snehdeep Kalsi of SIBM Bengaluru, wins Maruti Suzuki Colors of Youth Season 5

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‘6000+ participants, 11 cities, 16 finalists, Snehdeep takes home Maruti Suzuki Swift.’

Winners & Runners Up

Bengaluru: Mr. Snehdeep Singh Kalsi of SIBM Bengaluru, takes home a brand new Maruti Suzuki Swift after winning Colors of Youth Season 5. He performed Allah Hoo & Allah Hi Rahem (My Name is Khan) in the grand finale at Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon NCR Delhi on 30th March, 2016. After Acoustics – The Country Rockers from D. Y. Patil College and Divyansh Gupta from NMIMS Mumbai were the 1st runner up & 2nd runner up respectively.

Maruti Suzuki Colors of Youth Season 5 partnered by MTV, saw 6000+ students from leading business schools, across 11 cities participating in the initial phase of city rounds. These city rounds were followed by zonal rounds in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru from which, 16 extremely talented students were chosen as the finalists.

Maruti Suzuki Colors of Youth Season 5, the exciting fifth edition designed to draw out the most talented managers from India’s premier B-schools and professional colleges, with an exciting prize Maruti Suzuki Swift up for grabs. With every passing year, Maruti Suzuki Colours of Youth is becoming a rage amongst the student community. It’s a national level platform where multi-talented students get a chance to present their unique skills and an opportunity to excel beyond academics. India’s most talented and versatile youth are pitted against each other to showcase their talents across Music, Dance, Theatrics, Mimicry, Photography, Stand-up Comedy and more.

Judges included Radio and Video Jockey Nikhil Chinapa and Bollywood actress Perizaad Zorabian and a special guest judge, Hard Kaur, British Indian rapper and hip hop singer.

Mr. Kalsi, MBA Batch 2014 – 2016 was also the Vice President of Student Leadership Council 2015-16. Snehdeep, fondly called SK, often used to delight his fellow batch-mates at SIBM Bengaluru with his soulful voice during various cultural events of the college.

SK says “12th March 2015 – Season 4 Finale was happening in Delhi and despite being the finalist I couldn’t go. I was writing end semester exam paper in Bangalore. That day I promised myself – ‘Next time, Mr. Kalsi will hand over the key to Mr. Kalsi’ 30th-31st March 2016 – Season 5 Finale – Finally, Mr R. S. Kalsi, Executive Director Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd hands over the Prize to Mr. Snehdeep Singh Kalsi.

This has been a memorable journey. I will really miss it – The ‘Fidaa’ Comments of Perizaad ma’am and ‘Leave MBA, go do Music’ comments of Nikhil Sir. The oh-so supportive COY & MTV team and the fellow contestants, the 16 finalists – had a very good time with them, few became good friends, indeed inspiring talents – will miss all of this and will always cherish these moments.

And finally thanks to all my beloved friends – you know who you are – and Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Bengaluru, my college people, for always supporting me and cheering for me.”

Watch Snehdeep’s performance in the GRAND FINALE on 17th and 23rd June, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. only on MTV.

Here’s a short interview of SK with the PR & Media committee of SIBM Bengaluru, after winning the competition:

PR & Media: How do you feel after being the winner of MTV Maruti Suzuki Colors of Youth Season 5?

Snehdeep: Surreal. I am honoured and feel blessed to have won the show. The feeling hasn’t sunk in yet. The competition was very tough and winning amidst some amazing dancers and singers, makes it very special.

PR & Media: How do you think SIBM has helped you achieving this?

Snehdeep: City Zonal Round & South Zonal Round were conducted in our college at SIBM Bengaluru so the crowd support was amazing and it really helped me perform better. The management has been very supportive encouraging students to participate in such co-curricular activities. Adding to that, the music club of SIBM Bengaluru ‘Saaz’ has also helped me practise regularly.

PR & Media: What is the one quality that is required to win, in any competition?

Snehdeep: Hunger to win and the ability to handle failure is the key. It’s imperative to learn from mistakes and then practise very hard and then repeat. In management jargon, the ability to do a proper SWOT analysis is required. Assess your strengths & weaknesses; play on your strengths while work on your weaknesses. Grab right opportunities at the right time and beware of threats. One must be able to gauge the level of competition around and prepare accordingly. Passion is a must!

PR & Media: Whom do you attribute your success to?

Snehdeep: To the Almighty for giving me this talent, my parents who have always supported and encouraged me and my Gurus for the knowledge of music they gave me. When I had the option to choose either Amritsar or Chandigarh airports to take flight to Delhi, I chose Amritsar, just to visit Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) and take blessings. My friends have been very supportive, boosted my confidence and were always there when I needed them.
Also, I cannot thank the judges enough for all their suggestions. The entire team of Colors of Youth has been very supportive. And last but not the least, I thank my college Symbiosis Institute of Business Management – Bengaluru (SIBM-B) for immense support and the whole student fraternity there. We have a music club ‘Saaz’ back at SIBM Bengaluru where we used to practice. All of them have their share of contribution towards my success.

PR & Media: What message would you like to give to talented students like you?

Snehdeep: I don’t think I am qualified enough to answer this but from my experience, I would say that having talent is not enough. You need to keep working at it and find a mentor who can guide you; who can widen your horizon. It’s like going to the gym and not taking advice from the trainer and instead trying anything random. And no matter what one must never lose hope.

I’ll quote a line that sums up my philosophy of life. It’s from Samuel Beckett – ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.’

I participated in Colors of Youth last year also. Was selected for the finals but had exam on the day of grand finale and couldn’t attend. This year I again attempted and here I am. So never lose hope, never avoid taking calculative risks, never stop trying something new and never ever stop dreaming.

Handwara incident: Family says girl pressurised into giving statement

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Kashmir-firing

Srinagar: The family of the girl, whose alleged harassment led to a spate of violence in Kashmir, today claimed that she was pressurised into giving a video statement denying she was molested and has approached court seeking an independent probe into the incident.

“My girl is just 16 years old and was alone in the police station when her statement was recorded. She was pressurised by police to give that statement,” her mother claimed.

A civil society group scheduled a press conference here for the family but it was not allowed by police.

Talking to reporters, the girl’s mother alleged that police detained her daughter without informing the family and revealed her identity by recoding the video statement without covering her face.

She said, “When the girl was returning home after school on Tuesday, she went to a bathroom and was followed by an army man. When she saw the army man in the bathroom, she raised an alarm, attracting attention of the nearby shopkeepers. The policemen also came to the scene but the army man fled.”

“She was then taken to a police station without our knowledge,” the mother said.

“We have approached court and demanded an independent inquiry into the incident. We do not want police or Army, those who have done this, to inquire it,” she said.

Five persons have been killed since Tuesday after violence broke out following allegations that the girl was harassed by a soldier.

“Were not allowed to meet our girl. Her father and aunt were also detained. We do not have any information of our arrested daughter for the last five days,” she alleged and accused the police of “defaming” her daughter by revealing her identity to the media.

(PTI)

Petrol price cut by 74 paise per litre, diesel by Rs 1.30/litre

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petrol-price

New Delhi: In marginal relief to consumers, oil marketing companies have cut petrol and diesel prices by 74 paise per litre and Rs 1.30/litre respectively. The oil prices had been hiked steeply only last week.

On April 4, petrol price had been hiked by Rs 2.19 a litre and diesel by 98 paise per litre.

State-owned fuel retailers IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) revise rates of the fuel on 1st and 16th of every month based on the average oil price and the foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight. “The movement of prices in the international oil market and the rupee-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes,” IOC has said in the past.

Consumers are still to get all the benefits from the sharp drop in international oil prices to a decade low as the government on five occasions since November has raised excise duty on the two auto fuels.

The five levy hikes add up to Rs 4.02 per litre on petrol and Rs 6.97 on diesel, handing the government a neat Rs 17,000 crore as additional revenue.

In 2014 diesel prices were deregulated, giving oil marketing companies the liberty to hike or cut prices according to global price movement.

(Agencies)

 

Pistol, threat letter against Kanhaiya Kumar found on bus

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Kanhaiya Kumar. AFP

Kanhaiya Kumar. AFP

New Delhi: A country-made pistol and a threat letter against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, purportedly written by a man who had earlier threatened the student leader over Facebook, were recovered from a bus operating between an ISBT and JNU campus following which Delhi Police is mulling enhancing his security.

The weapon was recovered in a bus operating between Kashmere Gate ISBT and the JNU campus, after the driver spotted an unclaimed bag and raised an alarm.

Police is trying to ascertain identity of the bag’s owner and several persons have been questioned, a senior official said today.

With the gun, there was also a letter which said that Kanhaiya and Umar Khalid, who were arrested under sedition charge over a controversial event in JNU campus, will be decapitated.

The letter was purportedly written by the person who had threatened Kumar over Facebook earlier saying that men with weapons are already present inside the campus, ready to kill him any moment, the official said.

Kumar doesn’t get security cover inside the campus but the university authorities have clearly been instructed to inform Vasant Kunj (North) police station everytime he leaves the campus and security is provided accordingly.

After the alert, the police are likely to increase his security cover and also enhance vigil around the JNU area, the official added.

(Agencies)

511 fined in first five hours after roll out of odd-even-II

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delhi-traffic-pollution-cars

New Delhi: Over 500 persons were challaned by Delhi Traffic Police for violating the odd-even norms in the first five hours of the second phase of the road-rationing formula implemented in the national capital today.

The highest number of challans were reported from south Delhi, closely followed by the western part of the city, with 129 and 108 challans respectively issued till 1 PM today, a senior official said.

As many as 511 motorists were challaned between 8 AM and 1 PM, the official said.Delhi Traffic Police has strategically chosen over 200 intersections in the city where 2,000 officials have been deployed in teams of three to ten depending upon the volume of traffic there.

The second phase of the fortnight-long odd-even scheme today rolled out in Delhi with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealing to the people of the city to join hands and make the road-rationing plan a success.

(PTI)

Vijay Mallya’s passport suspended

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Vijay Mallya

New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crores, and has been defying Enforcement Directorate summons, today suffered a major blow when his passport was suspended by the government which has threatened to revoke it.

The diplomatic passport of the flamboyant 60-year-old industrialist, who has been in Britain for over a month and has refused to appear before the ED, was suspended by the External Affairs Ministry on the recommendation of the agency.

“On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the Passport lssuing Authority in the MEA has today suspend the validity of Vijay Mallya’s diplomatic passport with immediate effect for a period of 4 weeks, under Section 10 A of the Passports Act, 1967.

“Mallya has been asked to respond within one week as to why his passport should not be impounded or revoked under section 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967. If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the MEA will go ahead with the revocation,” MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

(Agencies)

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