NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Monday arrived at the Patiala House Court which had summoned her in connection with the Enforcement Directorate case related to Rs 200 Crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and others.

Actor Jacqueline Fernandez’s lawyers have moved a bail plea in the money laundering case.

Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik sought a response from the ED on the bail plea, till then her regular bail is pending before the court. At the request of Jacqueline’s lawyer, the court granted interim bail to Jacqueline on a bail bond of Rs 50,000.

The next date of hearing is October 22 this year.

Earlier on Wednesday, the court issued a summons to the actor to appear before it physically on September 26 this year.

On August 17, this year, a supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the Rs 200 crore extortion case against conman Sukesh Chandrashekar in a Delhi Court mentioned the name of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez as an accused.

The Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh on Wednesday after taking cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet, directed the newly made accused Jacqueline Fernandez to appear before it on September 26, 2022.

The court also directed ED to supply a copy of the chargesheet to all the accused in the present case.

Meanwhile, a lawyer appeared for Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) which is also probing the same case informed the court that Jacqueline Fernandez was recently asked to appear for it on August 29, 2022, but she didn’t appear so we have issued a fresh summons to her to join the investigation. To that lawyer appeared for Jacqueline assuring that she will join the investigation and co-operate with the probe agency.

Jacqueline Fernandez has also been summoned by ED several times in the matter for the purpose of investigation.

Advocate Prashant Patil appeared for Jacquline and stated that she has always cooperated with the investigation agencies and attended all the summons to date. “She has handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED.

ED’s earlier chargesheet did not mention her name as an accused but mentioned the detail of the statement recorded by Bollywood actors Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi in the matter.

According to ED’s earlier Chargesheet, Bollywood actresses Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi examined and stated that the actresses got top models of BMW cars, the most expensive gifts from the accused Sukesh.

ED chargesheet clearly stated that “during the investigation, statements of Jacqueline Fernandez were recorded on 30.08.2021 and 20.10.2021 Jacqueline Fernandez stated she received gifts viz three designer bags from Gucci, Chanel, and two Gucci outfits for gym wear. A pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-coloured stones, two Hermes bracelets. She also received a Mini Cooper which she returned.”

“According to ED, Sukesh was confronted with Jacqueline on October 20, 2021. Jacqueline Fernandez stated that Sukash Chandrasekhar had arranged private jet trips and her hotel stay on different occasions for herself.

Statements of Nora Fatehi were recorded under section 50 of PMLA, 2002 on September 12, 2021, abd October 14, 2021, wherein she stated that she got a booking for a charity event and during the event, she was gifted a Gucci Bag and one iPhone by Leena Paulose. (Wife of Chandrashekhar)

Nora further stated that Leena Paulose had called her husband and put the phone on the speaker where he thanked her and said that they were her fans. She then announced that they would gift her a brand new BMW car as a token of love and generosity.

According to ED, during the investigation, searches were conducted at various places linked to Sukesh Chandrashekar and his associates. During the search, 16 high-end vehicles were seized under section 17 PMLA and these cars are either in the name of the firms of Leena Paulose or in the name of third parties. It is further submitted that it has emerged that Sukesh knowingly created the structure for layering and transferring proceeds of crime and thus, actively participated in the process of money laundering.

The first-ever visit of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to a mosque and a madrasa last week suggests a sincere purpose beyond reproach. In the past, he had made conciliatory remarks saying Hindutva without Muslims has no meaning. In the context of the Gyanvapi controversy, he had said, ‘you can’t go looking for a Shivling under every mosque’. But his maiden visit to Islamic institutions took the outreach to the next level. It cemented a late realisation that the entire Muslim community cannot be vilified for radical acts of a few and that national integration would be incomplete without representation of all sections of the population. He said as much at a meeting he had with five prominent Muslim intellectuals last month—former Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, former CEC S Y Quraishi, former vice chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Shervan

While politicians like Owaisi dissed it, calling the intellectuals rootless elite, the fact that they set up a talks table ought to be applauded. How else can knotty problems be addressed in a democracy? At the meeting, Bhagwat accepted their anguish at labelling all Indian Muslims as Pakistanis or jihadis. Likewise, he said calling all Hindus kafirs (interpreted by radicals as enemies of Islam) was not fair either. Bhagwat also articulated the perceived insensitivity from the other side to the cow, considered holy by Hindus. He had no patience for hotheads spitting venom like those in the controversial Dharm Sansads. Bhagwat was also emphatic that the Sangh was committed to respecting the supremacy of the Constitution. 

The Sangh began grappling with the Muslim question at least since the early 1990s, as it realised that Muslims could not be wished away because of the sheer size of their population. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch was floated to platform nationalists within the community. But instead of approaching integration the way Gandhiji did, the Sangh first worked on unlocking Hindu majoritarian power. A few months ago, at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bidding, the BJP started reaching out to the poor Pasmanda Muslims to add to its vote bank. 

Bhagwat taking the lead for rapprochement ought to be welcomed. But it will not be easy to contain firebrand VHP and BJP elements and their invectives like Babar ki aulad and abbajaan. If PFI that radicalises the youth needs to be parallelly crushed, so be it. Fostering communal amity is the only way forward for inclusive growth.

MUMBAI: Parts of Mumbai witnessed heavy rains on Saturday morning, but the public transport services in the city remained unaffected and no major waterlogging was reported, civic officials said.ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

The city and its eastern and western suburbs received heavy showers between 7 am and 8 am. But the rainfall stopped after that in most of these places.

A civic official said that during the one hour, Dadar Fire station and Ravali Camp recorded 28 mm rainfall, F-North ward office 21 mm, F-South office 18 mm, Wadala Fire station 17 mm and Britannia at Reay Road recorded 12 mm rainfall.

In eastern suburbs, M-East and L-East ward offices recorded 17 mm and 12 mm rainfall, respectively, while SWM Workshop recorded 20 mm, Cooper Hospital and H-East ward 18 mm, Andheri fire station 17 mm and Versova Pumping station recorded 14 mm rainfall, he said.

“No major waterlogging was reported anywhere in the city or Suburbs. The suburban train services running normal and bus services of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) also were not diverted,” the official said.

Mumbai city, its eastern suburbs and western suburbs recorded rainfall of 27.45 mm, 5.24 mm and 9.38 mm, respectively, in the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Saturday, the civic officials said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted partly cloudy skies in the morning and light to moderate rainfall in the city and its suburbs in the evening.

NEW DELHI: The current outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) virus, which has spread to almost 15 states and has affected 18.5 lakh bovine animals in the country, is distinct from the virus that was prevalent in India in 2019, said the latest study, adding that 47 unique variants were found in the current version of the fatal viral disease that has killed over 80,000 cattle. 

The study, conducted by scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and the State Disease Diagnostic Centre, Jaipur, has said that as genome sequencing has found that the current outbreak in India has a distinct lineage of the virus and to “characterise circulating strains,” “it is essential for early detection of the disease as well as for formulating interventions for disease control.”

Although previously confined to regions within Africa, the fatal viral disease has caused significantly large outbreaks in many areas of the world in recent years. In 2019, an episode of the disease was reported from India with low rates of morbidity and no reported mortality. 

However, the ongoing outbreak of LSDV has spread to various states and has resulted in the mortality of over 80,000 cattle, including cows, over a short period of three months.

According to Sridhar Sivasubbu, senior principal scientist, CSIR-IGIB and one of the scientists associated with the genome sequencing study, “We have found that the samples sequenced by IGIB have distinct differences when compared with the genomes globally available or those that were sequenced in 2019.” 

“There are 47 unique variants in this current version of the lumpy skin disease virus which has not been documented before,” he told this newspaper.

The scientists analysed five animals with symptoms of the contagious viral disease and compared genomes of the virus extracted from them. 

“Our sample size is small, but we have to start somewhere. Yes, there is a distinct difference in the virus, so attention should be paid to it more closely. We will need large-scale genomic surveillance,” he added.

“Due to the limited number of genome sequences available for LSDV, the source of the outbreak could not be traced, further suggesting that additional genomes for the virus could help uncover potential outbreaks and connect existing outbreaks that are unrelated,” said the authors Lenin Bhatt, Rahul C. Bhoyar, Bani Jolly, Ravi Israni, Harie Vignesh, Vinod Scaria, and Sridhar Sivasubbu in the study, which appeared in the preprint server for biology Bioarxiv. It is yet to be peer-reviewed.

“Analysis of the viral sequences suggests the genomes from the 2022 outbreak harbour many genetic variations compared to the reference genome and form a distinct lineage,” they added.

As India is the largest producer of milk in the world, the spread of LSD across the cattle population in India thus has devastating effects on the rural economy and the livelihoods of dairy farmers, the study added.

The outbreak has also caused concerns about milk production. With a production of about 210 million tonnes, India is the largest producer of milk in the world. The country is also seeing the fastest growth in production at 6 per cent, while production growth at the global level is just 2 per cent.

“Although other capripoxvirus infections, including sheep pox and goat pox, are endemic in India, LSDV infections were considered to be constrained to the Sub-Saharan African region till 1981. As the virus continues to spread and evolve, genomic characterisation of LSDV is thus useful for understanding the epidemiology and evolution of the virus,” the study said. 

What is a lumpy skin disease virus?

The fatal virus mainly affects cows, buffaloes and deer. The United States Department of Agriculture defines Lumpy skin disease (LSD) as a deadly viral disease which spreads when cattles come in direct contact with vectors like mosquitoes, lice, wasps, flies and ticks or through contaminated fodder and water. The outbreaks of LSD occur during warm, wet weather, while the disease usually diminishes in the cooler winter months. It is not a zoonotic virus, so it cannot be transmitted to humans.

How many states are impacted?

LSDV has been reported in various states, but the worst affected are Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana. The other states include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms include the appearance of nodules on the skin, general malaise, ocular and nasal discharge, fever, and a sudden decrease in milk production. The other symptoms are swelling of peripheral lymph nodes, loss of appetite, and watery eyes, and death. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the incubation period or the time between infection and symptoms is about 28 days. As the vaccine is yet to be produced, authorities in India are distributing the goat pox vaccine.

Is it safe to consume milk?

According to officials, it is safe to consume milk from infected cattle as it is a non-zoonotic disease. However, milk production gets affected in the infected animal, depending on the severity of the illness and the immunity level of the animal.

Is there a vaccine developed for lumpy skin disease?

On August 10, India launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac to protect livestock from the viral disease. The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar (Bareilly). Currently, the government is providing goat pox vaccines to prevent the disease from spreading.

NEW DELHI: With the filing of nomination papers for the Congress presidential elections beginning on Saturday, it may not be a straight fight between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor after all. Quite a few names are doing the rounds for entering the fray, including that of former Union minister Manish Tewari after the Gandhi family ruled itself out of the race. 

A senior leader, who flew down to Delhi on Thursday night, told this daily he is holding meetings with several others and weighing his options. “Everybody is exploring. It is sinking in that the Gandhi family is not interfering since Rahul Gandhi made it clear that he is not in the race,” he said.

If Tewari opts to contest, votes will get divided between him and Tharoor, said a leader who was part of the G-23 group. Both Tharoor and Tewari were part of G-23, the ginger group that sought sweeping reforms in the party two years ago. While one G-23 section sees Tharoor as a ‘compromised candidate’ as he met party chief Sonia Gandhi without consulting them, another group feels his popularity may win him some extra votes. 

As for Tharoor, sources close to him said he will collect his nomination papers on Saturday. Though senior leader Digvijaya Singh said that he wouldn’t be contesting, former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s name is also doing the rounds. “Kamal Nath wants to be relevant in the state,” said another leader.

Spokies get a gag order
The Congress asked its spokespersons to refrain from commenting on anyone in the party poll fray. The directive came a day after spokesperson Gourav Vallabh dissed Tharoor

MUMBAI:  A picture of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant sitting in the CM’s chair has gone viral, drawing Opposition barbs that Shrikant is a ‘super CM’ and that he should respect the dignity of the chair. Shrikant Shinde is a Lok Sabha MP.

“The Opposition is trying to malign my image. The place in the photo is our private residence in Thane, where my father and I have attended to people’s problems for years. It is not an official residence of the CM nor his government office,” said Shrikant. 

He said he was a two-term MP and was aware of the protocol. “Today, the CM  had a video conference, for which the ‘Maharashtra government’ board was kept behind the chair, but I did not know that. Someone has done mischief by secretly clicking photos and sharing them,” said the CM’s son.  In the picture, Shrikant Shinde, the MP from Kalyan, is seen sitting in a chair with a board with “Maharashtra Government-Chief Minister” written behind. 

In an apparent jibe at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, he also said his father works for 18 to 20 hours a day, and “unlike earlier chief ministers who sat in one place, he is always on the move.” Thackeray had faced criticism for rarely stepping out of home when he was chief minister during the coronavirus pandemic. The state NCP’s youth wing leader Ravi Varpe shared the viral picture on social media. “Best wishes to Shrikant Shinde for becoming the super CM. In the absence of the Chief Minister, his son is in charge of the CM’s post. What kind of Raj Dharma is this?’’ 

Varpe claimed that the photo that he had uploaded in his tweet was from the CM’s official residence. “The chief minister is busy at Ganapati Mandals the responsibility of seeing the work of other people in the state has been given to Srikant Shinde,” he said.  Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLC and spokesperson Manisha 
Kayande also criticised the CM over the viral picture.

‘My father always on the move, not like older CMs’

In an apparent jibe at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, he also said his father works for 18 to 20 hours a day, and “unlike earlier chief ministers who sat in one place, he is always on the move.”  Thackeray had faced criticism for rarely stepping out of home  when he was chief minister during the coronavirus pandemic

JAIPUR: With the election for the next Congress party president fast approaching, everyone is now keen on knowing who will be the new Rajasthan Chief Minister.

Current CM Ashok Gehlot had met Rahul Gandhi in Kerala on Thursday and announced his decision to file a nomination for the post of AICC president. Gehlot had also confirmed that he will resign as CM if he becomes the new party president.

Against this backdrop, one of the main contenders Sachin Pilot reached Jaipur on Friday and started lobbying with MLAs.

He also met the Speaker of the Assembly and senior Congress leader CP Joshi.

Joshi, a former Union Minister, is seen as one of the major contenders should Gehlot win and move to Delhi. It is being said that Gehlot has recommended that Joshi be crowned his successor.

Meanwhile, Gehlot himself returned to Jaipur from Kerala via Shirdi late Friday evening.

In the morning, Pilot reached the assembly and met the MLAs supporting him, including Ved Prakash Solanki, Indraj Gurjar and Rajesh Pareek. He also met Gehlot supporters Girraj Malinga and independent MLA Khushveer Jojawar. After these meetings, Pilot smiled and left with folded hands.

He then reached Speaker Joshi’s chamber after meeting a dozen MLAs in the assembly lobby. At this meeting, Gehlot’s close aide Dharmendra Rathod, cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas and Gujarat Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma were also present.

Sources said that Pilot has started talking to Congress MLAs of all factions. These include those MLAs who were once considered his staunch opponents.

The meeting between Joshi and Pilot is especially being considered very important. Right now both these leaders are seen as frontrunners to replace Gehlot. Although the conversation between the two leaders has not been disclosed, it is believed that there has been a round of consultation between them regarding the future CM of Rajasthan.

Gehlot’s statement, in which he had spoken of the need to consider the sentiments of MLAs in the choice of a new CM, is believed to be behind Pilot’s aggressive lobbying.

At the moment, 80 percent of the MLAs are with Gehlot and about 20 percent are in favor of Pilot. Pilot is trying to woo the MLAs in the Gehlot camp away in his favor.

The Pilot camp also wants Gehlot to leave the CM chair before he is crowned as the President of AICC because they fear that he may create difficulties otherwise.

When asked in Kerala about who will succeed him if the CM’s post falls vacant in Rajasthan, Gehlot had said the “decision about the next CM will be taken through a proper process. Sonia Gandhi and general secretary in-charge Ajay Maken will decide together”.