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Archives for March 2019

Diamantaire Nirav Modi arrested in London

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London/New Delhi, March 20 (Nasheman News) Fourteen months after he fled India, fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi was on Wednesday arrested in London on charges of defrauding on a huge loan taken from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), official sources said.

Police made the arrest seven days after the London Westminster Court issued an arrest warrant against Nirav Modi who left India days before the scam came to light in January 2018. 

He will be produced before a court later in the day.

The Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against Nirav Modi in July 2018 at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

The businessman’s whereabouts were a mystery as he had been spotted in New York, Hong Kong and other cities. Along with his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Group, Nirav Modi left the country before the CBI formally started investigating the PNB scam.

The ED had on May 24 and 26 last year filed chargesheets against both men. Non-bailable warrants were also issued against them.

The development came days after the The Telegraph newspaper in Britain claimed that Modi was spotted in London.

Accused in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB fraud case, Nirav Modi was living in a three-bedroom flat, occupying half the floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block, The Telegraph reported. 

The report also claimed Nirav Modi was involved in a new diamond business, run from an office in Soho, just a few hundred yards from his apartment. The new business was incorporated in May 2018, it said.

An extradition request against him had been pending before the UK authorities since September last year.

The ED on February 26 attached Rs 147 crore worth of property of Nirav Modi and his associate companies in connection with the PNB case.

Bangalore Buzz

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By: Faizan Rizwan  
 Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) Makes An Ompact

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has completed more than a decade in India & is now establishing a stronger foothold in Indian Mutual Fund Industry. Mirae Asset Mutual Fund AUM has crossed an important threshold of INR 25,000 crores* (as on 12th Mar, 2019) & company witnessed a growth of more than 50% in 2018 calendar year. Mirae Asset is one of fastest growing AMCs in India based on rate of AUM growth & even industry participants are recognizing same. The journey over last 4 ½ years has been even more impressive with more than 50 times growth in AUM (AUM was INR 500 crores on 31st Jul, 2013). (* ~ 22,000 in Equity & 3,100 in Debt).

 The AMC has broken into Top 16 AMC’s based on AAUM & is at 12thposition based on Equity Assets (Source: ACE MF, data as on 28th Feb, 2019). Mirae Asset has witnessed a significant surge in number of investor folios with more than 12 lakh investor folios (including more than 6.7 lakh SIP investors) as on 28th Feb, 2019. The SIP flows have also grown significantly & have grown 10X from INR 29 crores in Mar, 2016 to monthly inflows of INR 290 crores in Feb, 2019.  

In addition to providing traditional equity & fixed income products, Mirae Asset increased its footprint into Alternate Product space. Mirae Asset Group ventured into Venture Capital, Real Estate, Capital Markets & Alternate Investment Products in 2018. Mirae Asset (India) also provides Advisory Services to Hong Kong office for Equity Investments & Korea offices for both Equity & Debt Investments. 

Mirae Asset India provides advisory services to 650 million USD in assets (510 million in Equity & 140 million in Debt) as on 28th Feb, 2019. 

Mirae Asset Group set up an up investment banking & broking business through Mirae Asset Capital Markets(India) Pvt. Ltd in 2018. The AMC has a branch in Chennai since 2008.

The AUM of AMC in Chennai is more than INR 1,100 crores as on 31st Jan, 2019 from 685 crores in 31stDec, 2017 & has grown by more than 50% in last calendar year. AMC has close to 39,000 investor folios through SIP route & SIP book stands at INR 17.2 crores per month.

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

Film Review : Badla

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By: Shaheen Raaj

Badla Is A Smart & An Impressive Suspense Drama With A Highly Shocking Climax

Banner: Red Chillies Entertainment & Azure Entertainment

Producers: Gauri Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Sunir Khetarpal, Akash Puri & Gaurav Verma

Director: Sujoy Ghosh

Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Tapsee Pannu, Amrita Sing, Tony Kuke, Manav Kaul, Tanveer Ghani, Denzil Smith, Antonio Akeel & Shome Makhija

Music: Clinton Cerejo, Anupam Roy & Amaal Malik  

A genre where Bollywood has lagged whereas the Western movie industry has progressed by leaps & bounds is the suspense. When it comes to Hindi Cinema, very few such films are made out of which only a handful are memorable. One of them is Kahaani of the year 2012, directed by Sujoy Ghosh. Kahaani is one of the best films, of the new millennium, in this category. As a result, the expectations are naturally high for his latest directorial venture, Badla. What has also added to the curiosity is that it reunites the actors of the much-loved courtroom drama Pink of the year 2016,  Big B & Taapsee Pannu, that it is a remake of the much loved Spanish suspense thriller, The Invisible Guest.

So the scripted scenario of Badla is the story of a murder accused trying to prove her innocence. The opening scene of the film reveals Naina Sethi (Taapsee Pannu) is a successful businesswoman in London & married with a daughter. Naina Sethi’s life turns around when she’s accused of murdering her lover, Arjun Joseph (Tony Luke). All evidences are against Naina Sethi since she was the only one in the hotel room where Arjun Joseph was killed. But Naina Sethi claims that a 3rd person was also present there who carried out the murder & even went to the extent of hurting her on the forehead. But the preliminary investigations revealed that the room was locked from inside. Witnesses outside the room confirmed that nobody came out of the room. Naina Sethi’s lawyer Jimmy Punjabi (Manav Kaul) realizes that it’s a tricky situation. Hence he hires an expert defense attorney named Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) to ensure that Naina Sethi doesn’t have to go to jail. Badal Gupta reaches the residence of Naina Sethi & he begins his own investigation. Upon talking to Naina Sethi & insisting that she tell him the truth, a lot of skeletons tumble out of her closet. Naina Sethi reveals that the murder of Arjun Joseph has something to do with the disappearance of a young man from a small town of Aviemore named Sunny Kaur. What happens next forms the rest of the crux of the film.

Oriol Paulo’s story, also the original writer of The Invisible Guest, is quite impressive & very much unlike the other murder mysteries. Sujoy Ghosh’s adapted screenplay tries it’s best to do justice to the original film & its plot. A lot of scenes are well written. However the film is complicated in the middle. For a layman, it might be difficult to ascertain what’s going on. Moreover, the Rashomon style of narrative can get a bit heavy on the viewers. Sujoy Ghosh & Raj Vasant’s dialogues are sharp & witty. A few dialogues however needlessly stretch the narrative.

However Sujoy Ghosh’s direction is exemplary & tries to keep the essence of The Invisible Guest alive. There a few loose ends, which were present in the The Invisible Guest as well. Yet Sujoy Gosh’s direction is such that one won’t mind since there’s so much happening in the film. Also with the shocking climax, Sujoy Ghosh scores a brownie point. On the flipside, Badla could have been shorter. The Invisible Guest was just 106 minutes long whereas Badla is 14 minutes longer than the original film The Invisible Guest. These extra minutes in this frame-by-frame remake are also because of a few dialogues that were not needed. Moreover, Sujoy Ghosh adds a crucial dialogue in the 1st ever half that is a give-away of the film’s climax & it’s really surprising why Sujoy Ghosh did so. Also unlike the movie Kahani, this film is slightly niche & this could affect its box office turnstiles prospects.

In fact Badla’s opening credits are quite interesting & slick. The beginning portions of the film are a bit dragging. Too much time is wasted in Badal Gupta persuading Naina Sethi to part with the truth. It’s only when Naina Sethi starts talking that the interest levels of the film starts increasing. The best part of the 1st ever half however is Arjun Joseph meeting Rani (Amrita Singh) & Nirmal and the shock he gets in their house. The intermission point too is interesting as it sets the mood for things to come. Post interval, the film remains engaging but at the same time, it also starts to drop at places. It’s only in the last 20 minutes when the tables turn is when the film arrests attention. The climax is definitely a bolt from the blue as no one could have seen it coming. But it should have been executed well for a better & more mainstream impact.

Badla is a song-less film, with only the title song, by Amaal Malik, played during the opening credits. Clinton Cerejo & Anupam Roy’s background score is engaging & it really suits the mood of the film. Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography is appropriate & the outside the country scenes are well captured. Kaushik Das, Subrata Barik & Paul Rowen’s production design is fine although it could have been a bit more realistic in the hotel room scene. Dipika Lal & Anirudh Singh’s costumes are spot on. Christian Tinsley & Dominie Till’s prosthetics is damn good as it plays a very important part in the film. Sham Kaushal & Alister Mazzotti’s action is real. Monisha R Baldawa’s editing is sans complaints except for a few chosen scenes in the 1st ever half & middle of the 2nd hour.

Big B delivers a bravura performance as always & his scenes are only with Taapsee Pannu in an enclosed room. But he does it very well & adds to the dramatic & even funny quotient. Taapsee Pannu is exceptional & the way she brings out the various shades of her character to the forefront is praiseworthy. Throughout the film, it’ll be difficult to know if she’s the victim or not & this is possible majorly through her convincing performance. Amrita Singh is natural & has a crucial part in the film. She proves yet again that she deserves to be seen more. Tony Luke has an accent but that works for his character, but performance wise, he is 1st rate. Manav Kaul is fine in a small role. Denzil Smith as a cop & the actors playing Sunny Kaur, Naina Sethi’s husband Sunil is just about okay.

Tail Piece: On the whole, Badla, a highly recommended movie, is a smart & an impressive suspense drama with the shocking climax & topped with a riveting performance of most of the actors being its USP.

At the box office turnstiles, its prospects might be limited only for the multiplex audience.

Congress alone can protect Northeast people: Rahul

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Imphal, March 20 (Nasheman News) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said it is his party alone which can protect the culture, language and history of the people of the Northeast, and claimed to have blocked the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Rajya Sabha.

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said he and his party would continue to oppose that bill as he reminded the people at the rally here in Manipur that all Modi has done for the eight states in the region is rename Manmohan Singh’s “Look East” policy as “Act East” policy.

Apart from the nomenclature there has been no progress, the Congress chief added. 

He also slammed the Prime Minister for failing “to create the two crore jobs annually” that he had promised and flayed him for “instead destroying 30,000 jobs everyday over the past five years”. 

Gandhi poked fun at Modi over his demonetisation move. “One fine morning, PM woke up and said I do not like the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies bills. These ought to be demonetised. 

“Common people had to stand in the long serpentine queues in banks”, but that did not matter to the ruling dispensation, he said. 

About the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Gandhi calls the “Gabbar Singh Tax”, he said it was introduced to benefit Modi’s “wealthy friends while the small and medium traders were hit below the belt”. 

Appealing to the people to vote for the Congress and not the “RSS-BJP” nexus which is out to destroy the country, the Congress chief said “whenever Modi says something, he has a nasty plan and he always divides the people by spreading hatred.”

Gandhi will be in Tripura later in the day.

Manipur goes to the polls in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

Actress Sumalatha files nomination from Mandya seat

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Mandya (Karnataka), March 20 (Nasheman News) Multilingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh on Wednesday filed her nomination to contest the Lok Sabha elections in April as an Independent from the Mandya seat.

Sumalatha, 55, is the widow of late Congress leader M.H. Ambareesh, who represented Mandya in the Lok Sabha.

Accompanied by her son Abhishek, the actress filed her nomination at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mandya, about 100 km from Bengaluru.

Several of Sumalatha’s supporters and Ambareesh’s fans gathered at the office to offer their support.

The actress has about 200 films in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi to her credit.

Sumalatha will be contesting against Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

While the ruling ally Congress will be supporting the JD-S candidate as part of the pre-poll alliance between the coalition partners, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was yet to announce its candidates from the southern state.

Protest shutdown hampers life in Valley

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[Nasheman news] Srinagar Life across the Kashmir Valley was adversely affected on Wednesday following a shutdown called by separatists to protest against the death of a youth in police custody on Monday.

Rizwan Asad Pandit, 28, died in police custody in Srinagar, three days after he was arrested from south Kashmir’s Awantipora town.

The custodial death of the youth, who worked as a teacher in a private school, has been condemned across the political and social divide in Kashmir.

Authorities have ordered a magisterial inquiry into it under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc).

A departmental inquiry has also been ordered by police to ascertain the circumstances that led to the youth’s death.

Shops, public transport, other businesses and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar city and other district headquarters of the Valley.

Though skeletal private transport moved in the uptown area of Srinagar city, inter-district transport remained closed.

Authorities have made sufficient deployments of police and paramilitary forces to maintain law and order in the Valley.

Mobile and internet facilities have been suspended in south Kashmir districts, while its speed has been slashed down in other parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure.

Unhappy BJD leaders pose headache for party

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[Nashman news] Bhubaneswar  Managing disgruntled leaders appears to be a big headache for Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as several leaders have quit the party while others have expressed their displeasure after being denied party ticket.

The BJD has so far declared candidates in nine Lok Sabha and 54 Assembly seats.

Outgoing BJD MP from Kandhamal, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh, on Tuesday threatened to quit the party after she was denied renomination. BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik named Achyut Samant as the candidate from Kandhamal.

Pratyusha Singh now wants to contest from Nayagarh Assembly constituency.

“My aim is to work for the people of Nayagarh. I have told the party President… If I do’t get a chance to contest from Nayagarh, I may think of joining another party or contesting as an Independent,” said Pratyusha Singh, a member of the erstwhile Nayagarh royal family.

Kalahandi MP Arka Keshari Deo has also raised his ante against the party after he was denied ticket. Deo has been replaced by Kalahandi MLA Pushpendra Singh Deo in the Kalahandi parliamentary constituency.

“I have laboured tirelessly for the last five years for strengthening BJD. I could have been notified prior to the announcement of the candidate list. I am in shock,” he said.

Deo said he had sent a letter to the BJD President expressing his displeasure.

On the other hand, three disgruntled BJD leaders on Tuesday resigned from the party.

Former Paralakhemundi MLA K. Narayan Rao, Kusum Tete from Sundargarh and Kalahandi General Secretary Pramod Patnaik quit after being denied ticket.

Earlier, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi and Nilgiri MLA Sukanta Nayak had resigned from the primary membership of the party.

Elections will be held for 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in four phases in Odisha beginning April 11.


Pant grabbed his chance, now up to selectors: Saha

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By Baidurjo Bhose (10:46) 

[Nasheman news] New Delhi An injury can change a sportspersons career graph overnight and not many would know that better than India and Sunrisers Hyderabad wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha. From being a Test regular to watching Rishabh Pant take the coveted spot after the Bengal player suffered a shoulder injury, Saha has seen it all.


Speaking to IANS, Saha not only acknowledged the fact that Pant has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, but also said that he always believes that the team is the priority and the success of the team comes before individuals.

Back in the thick of things and Saha wants to go out and showcase his talent all over again in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League.

“Injuries can happen at any time and someone will come in. The person who comes in will obviously look to give it his best and Rishabh has done just that. 

“Team is the priority and I want the team to do well and also I feel Rishabh has done well and proved himself. Now it is on the selectors to decide how they are looking at things going forward,” Saha said.

“Have been out of the game for a while and I had a good prep with the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Having played that I feel good and I know that the IPL is an opportunity to establish myself as a good IPL always makes people take note of you,” he smiled.

Asked if he was in talks with the team management post the injury and while undergoing rehab, Saha said: “I met the team after the operation when I was in England. After that when I was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) the team management kept a check through the trainers at the NCA.”

While he is making a return to top-level cricket with the IPL, another Sunrisers player, who will be in the spotlight, is Australia opener David Warner. 

The batsman is set to make a return to the IPL this year after missing the previous season due to the 12-month ban he suffered for his involvement in the Sandpaper Gate. 

Saha for one is excited to have the opener back in the squad.

“There is no doubt that Warner is a champion player. The team is definitely looking forward to having him take the field for us. A player like him doesn’t come everyday and it is an honour to be playing with him.

“While I have also played against him, getting to know him from up close and seeing how he prepares for games and his work ethics also makes you a better player,” he said.

While Warner was away, the IPL got to see the tactical acumen of Kane Williamson and the Kiwi batsman impressed all with his captaincy skills. Saha believes that the best part about Williamson is his cool and composed nature and that allows the Kiwi to make quality calls.

“He is a brilliant captain and keeps a very cool head and that is inspiring. He is an outstanding person who is always there to help you both on and off the field. He is very welcoming and you can go up and chat with him at any point in time,” he revealed.

Even as Saha looks to make a return to top flight cricket, he remembers what M.S. Dhoni once told him. 

“Personally had last spoken to MS bhai when I was part of the team with him. But I remember one thing he always told me. He said that I should focus on backing my basic strength. 

“He insisted that if the path I took from day one has got me till here, I should keep looking to follow just that and not change anything. I follow that to the hilt,” he signed off.

Crisis of candidates grips Congress, BJP in Rajasthan

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By Archana Sharma (10:52) 

[Nasheman news] Jaipur  With both the Congress and the BJP stressing on the winnability of candidates as the prime factor in distribution of tickets, the parties face a strange predicament in Rajasthan. Both fielded most of their winnable candidates in the Assembly elections and are now facing a severe dearth of faces for the Lok Sabha polls.


The Congress is loathe to field legislators with a strong support base due to its wafer-thin majority in the state assembly. 

“We reached the majority figure of 101 in the 200-member Assembly after a very tough fight. We are standing on the edge and any risk can spell doom for us in the House. So the party refused to take any chances and allow its MLAs to contest the Lok Sabha elections. 

“But the air strikes in Balakot have changed the public sentiment. We can’t take chances by fielding any Tom, Dick and Harry. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become stronger with the changed political narrative and we need to come out strong too,” a Congress minister told IANS.

In the changed circumstances, the Congress is planning to field Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi from Jaipur, ignoring other Brahmin faces from the constituency, Mahesh Sharma and Archana Sharma. 

“Jaipur has many eligible faces, but because the seat is a Brahmin stronghold we need to zero in on a Brahmin face,” the Congress leader said. 

Mahesh Sharma has won and lost each of the last two Lok Sabha elections, while Archana Sharma, a state vice president, lost the Assembly elections. So the party needs a fresh face, Congress sources said.

BJP MLA Satish Punia couldn’t resist a dig at the ruling party’s predicament. “The Congress fielded all its winnable candidates in the Assembly elections, so a crisis of of candidates looms over the party,” Punia told IANS.

But, another senior BJP leader confessed that his party’s situation is no different.
“The BJP’s strong candidates are now MLAs while the other senior leaders have lost the elections. Hence the party leadership is struggling to find fresh faces,” he explained.

The party is considering Union Cultural and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma for a ticket from Alwar, his home town. Sharma represented UP’s Gautam Budh Nagar constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha. His name came up after BJP’s dependable Sanjay Sharma won the Assembly election from Alwar.

However, a local leader said Sharma contesting from Alwar may not augur well for the party as he has not done anything in his home town. “So, how can he bring in trust among voters? There is a need for the party to think in this direction,” he added.

The other worrying trend for the parties are their internal rifts. From Bikaner for example, which is a reserved seat, BJP’s dependable seven-term MLA Devi Singh Bhati recently resigned from the party after reports that it was yet again planning to field its MP, Arjun Meghwal for the Lok Sabha elections.

Thirteen of Rajasthan’s 25 constituencies will vote in the fourth phase of the seven-phased general elections on April 29, while the remaining 12 will vote in the fifth phase on May 6.

Priyanka’s visit to Lucknow cheers Congress workers

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[Nasheman news] Lucknow  Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s arrival here on Sunday has once again enthused party workers ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Priyanka Gandhi, who held her last meeting at the Nehru Bhawan office on February 14 during her first visit after being made in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, returned to the stage capital on Sunday to meet party workers and groups who had been protesting against Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state.

Soon after her arrival at the party office, scores of Congress workers gathered to cheer her and raise slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They also played Holi with each other.

Surendra Singh, a former state Minister during Congress rule in the 1980s, told IANS that “conditions in the state have changed after the arrival of Priyanka Gandhi in active politics”.

Singh, who hails from Ballia and was to meet her along with other leaders, said, “People are excited to listen to Priyanka Gandhi as she is the daughter of the state.”

On her proposed river tour from Prayagraj to Varanasi from March 18 to 20, Congress worker Shahshi Kant Tripathi said, “During her river ride, she will connect with the people of lower castes like the fishermen community, Bind community and others residing near the banks of the Ganga.”

Tripathi also said that during her journey, Priyanka Gandhi will also dent the upper caste votes of the Bharatiya Janata Party as she will touch many Rajput and Brahmin dominated villages during her journey.

In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, another party worker, Anurag Tripathi from Rae Bareli said, “Ganga maiya ne Priyanka didi ko bulaya hai, kyuki unka ek beta jumlebaaz nikla (Mother Ganga has called sister Priyanka, because one of her sons turned out only to be champion of rhetoric).”

Priyanka Gandhi, considered the second most prominent leader in the party after her brother and party President Rahul Gandhi, is being seen as a turn-around leader for the party in the state, where it was reduced to its family boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in the 2014 elections, while BJP-led NDA alliance won 73 out of the state’s 80 seats.

Uttar Pradesh will vote in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled from April 11 to May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

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