Archives for 2024

New Delhi: A day after investors of the troubled edtech firm Byju’s voted for a leadership change, Byju Raveendran has penned a note to employees saying he continues to remain CEO and the management remains unchanged, as he dubbed Friday’s EGM as a “farce”.

The note to employees assumes significance as it comes after Byju’s shareholders (prominent investors) on Friday voted for removing Founder-CEO Raveendran and his family from the board over alleged “mismanagement and failures” at what was once India’s hottest tech startup, but the company dug in its heels, calling the voting done in absence of founders as invalid and ineffective.

In a note to employees on Saturday, Raveendran alleged that a lot of essential rules were “violated” at Friday’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

“This means that whatever was decided in that meeting does not count, because it didn’t stick to the established rules… It is crucial for everyone to understand the specific issues that make this EGM a farce,” he wrote.

PTI has seen a copy of the letter.

Raveendran said he firmly believes that the truth will inevitably prevail, despite the “relentless trial by the media”.

“I am writing this letter to you as the CEO of our company. Contrary to what you may have read in the media, I continue to remain CEO, the management remains unchanged, and the board remains the same,” he said, adding it is “business as usual” at BYJU’S.

“To reemphasise, the rumours of my firing have been greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate,” Raveendran said.

Outlining what he claimed were “key discrepancies” at the EGM, he said the meeting was convened without following the proper procedure set out by the law and the company’s Articles of Association.

“To pass any resolution the meeting needs to have a proper quorum, a set of people who are mandatory. Our articles are clear on the quorum requiring the presence of at least one founder director. Consequently, any resolutions taken at the meeting are not enforceable as per law,” he said.

He also stated, “The claims made by a small group of select minority shareholders that they have unanimously passed the resolution in the EGM is completely wrong. Only 35 out of 170 shareholders (representing around 45 per cent of shareholding) voted in favour of the resolution. That in itself shows the very limited support that this irrelevant meeting received.”

BYJU’S Founder CEO Raveendran Byju, his wife and brother — the only three members on the company board as of now — stayed away from the EGM called by a group of six investors, who collectively hold more than 32 per cent in Think & Learn (T&L), the firm that operates online tuition platform Byju’s.

At the end, more than 60 per cent of the shareholders voted in favour of all the seven resolutions, which included removing the current management, reconfiguration of the board and a third party forensic investigation into acquisitions by the company, sources close to the investors said.

However, sources close to Byju’s put the number at 47 per cent on Friday.

Prosus — one of the six investors who had called the EGM — in a statement on Friday said, “shareholders unanimously passed all resolutions put forward for vote”.

Piyush Kapasia

Kota (Rajasthan): A 17-year-old JEE aspirant who went missing from his hostel here on February 13 was traced to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, police said on Saturday.

The boy, Piyush Kapasia of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahar, left his hostel as he was depressed over his class 12 marks. He is being brought back to Kota, they said.

Kapasia was preparing for IIT-JEE at a coaching institute here for two years. He left his hostel on February 13 but did not return. He also did not respond to his parents’ calls, following which his family reported him missing, according to police.

An FIR was registered at Jawahar Nagar police station.

Later, CCTV footage showed Kapasia standing at Kota railway station with a bag in his hands, police had said earlier.

Superintendent of Police, Kota City, Amrita Duhan told reporters on Saturday that Kapasia was found in Dharamsala and he was depressed.

After the boy was reported missing, police teams were constantly working to trace him. When the teams reached Haridwar on Friday, it was found that he had left for Dharamshala, the SP said.

Kapasia reached Dharamsala via Dehradun and Haridwar. He is being brought back to Kota by police teams, Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhawani Singh said.

The boy will be provided counselling once he arrives here, police said.

According to Kapasia’s family members, he scored 98 per cent marks in class 10 and performed consistently well in regular tests at his coaching institute in class 11. However, he did not do well in class 12 and the recent JEE-Mains.

In a similar incident, a NEET aspirant, Aryan Mitra (17) of West Bengal’s Siliguri, went missing from his hostel in Landmark City in the Kunhari police station area here on February 21, according to police.

The parents of Mitra, who was scheduled to appear for a class 12 exam on February 22, called the hostel manager when he did not respond to their calls. The hostel manager lodged a police complaint in the matter on February 22, police said.

Based on the hostel manager’s complaint, a case was registered in the matter. Police teams are searching for the boy, Circle Inspector Arvind Bhardwaj said.

Haldwani: The Uttarakhand Police on Saturday arrested the February 8 Haldwani violence alleged mastermind Abdul Malik from Delhi and brought him here, officials said.

Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Prahlad Narayan Meena said six teams were formed to search for Malik and his son Abdul Moid in different states including Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

One of the teams arrested Malik, who is in his 50s, from Delhi but his son is still on the run, Meena told reporters.

“We have brought Malik to Haldwani. He is in our custody. He will be produced before a court at the earliest,” he said.

Apart from Malik, two more rioters were arrested on Saturday which takes the total number of people arrested so far in the case to 81.

Malik allegedly built an “illegal” madrasa in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani. Its demolition led to the violence in Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani in Nanital district on February 8.

Malik had vehemently opposed the administration’s action and his wife Safia had gone to the court challenging the Municipal Corporation notice for its demolition.

However, the court did not grant them immediate relief and the madrasa was demolished, triggering incidents of stone-pelting and arson in the Muslim dominated Banbhoolpura area.

A lookout notice was issued against Malik and his son on February 16 and his properties were attached.

Six people were killed and more than a hundred including police personnel and journalists injured in the Banbhoolpura violence.

Apart from the three FIRs lodged initially, a fresh case was registered by the police against six persons including Malik and his wife Safia charging them with criminal conspiracy and fraudulently using a dead man’s name for illegal plotting, construction and transfer of land.

In the fresh case, the accused have been charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy to mislead the government departments and the court on the basis of false affidavits, the SSP said.

They were booked under sections 120B(criminal conspiracy), 417 (cheating) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC, he told reporters. The accused have been charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy to mislead the government departments and the court on the basis of false affidavits, he said.

The SOG police team headed by sub-inspector Anees Ahmad and consisting of Gaurav Joshi and others has been given a cash reward of Rs 50,000 by Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar.

Former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph came down hard on media on Saturday, saying it has failed to defend democracy, the Constitution and truth.

Justice (retd) Joseph said one does not find any fearless and truthful version of the facts coming out and the greatest blow to democracy is that the fourth pillar has failed the country.

“Before the conference, we discussed quite a few things but all those things which we discussed, do we read in any media, do we see in any electronic media, except a couple of private media in the digital side,” he said, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) here.

He also made a spirited call for protecting whistle-blowers, whom he termed as the “fifth pillar”.

“We don’t find any fearless, truthful version of the facts coming out. The greatest blow to democracy is that the fourth pillar has failed the country. Forget about the first three pillars. The fourth pillar is the media and they have failed to defend democracy. They have failed to defend the Constitution. They have failed to defend the truth,” Justice Joseph said.

He said whistle-blowers are the only hope.

“Somehow they are also not able to blow, maybe post COVID lungs have been affected. The way the lungs are crushed in the country today so that nobody will blow the whistle is a very dangerous trend for the country,” he said.

“So, we need to support, we need to stand up, we need to speak out, we need to stay alert and we need to stay with at least those few of the whistle-blowers who are left in the country and who are the only hope as I see it,” Justice Joseph said.

LUCKNOW: Over a month after the commencement of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined her brother on Saturday in the brass city of Moradabad, which happens to be the native place of Priyanka’s in-laws, after a two-day halt for march’s final leg.

People raised slogans such as ‘Rahul Gandhi zindabaad’, ‘Priyanka Gandhi zindabaad’ and ‘Congress party zindabaad’ as the yatra passed through different areas of Moradabad. The Congress leaders were seen waving to people from an open jeep.

According to party sources, the AICC general secretary would accompany the Yatra from Moradabad, to Fatehpur Sikri via Amroha, Sambhal, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, and Agra from where it will enter Rajasthan.

Speaking at the Yatra in Moradabad, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at the state govt for an alleged paper leak during the police recruitment examination which was held on February 17-18.

“Twenty-eight lakh students took the exam for UP Police but the paper was leaked… As BJP’s government is formed in the centre and state, unemployment rates have increased… Until you are not employed, you don’t get facilities, paper leaks are not stopped, and there will be no development. Change will happen only when you cast your vote according to your experiences,” she said while addressing the gathering around the yatra.  

She also alleged that bulldozers are used to demolish the homes of “innocent people” while the “guilty” escape unscathed.

The Congress leader also expressed regret for being unable to join the Yatra on February 16 due to her illness.

“The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Rahul Gandhi resumed from Moradabad. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present along with Rahul Gandhi. As the yatra moved through Moradabad, people from different walks of life greeted them. Both were seated in an open jeep,” Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Manish Hindvi told PTI.

While Priyanka’s presence rejuvenated the Congress workers walking along the Yatra, SP workers were also seen taking part in it following the seat-sharing pact between the two parties in UP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.  

Moreover, the Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai extended an invitation to SP leaders for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Agra on February 25. Rai mentioned that key leaders from the Samajwadi Party would be joining the yatra, emphasizing the unity of the INDIA bloc.

“The yatra will be held in Agra on the 25th (February). We gave the invitation letter to the SP office here so that they can join the yatra and send a message of the strong unity of the INDIA alliance,” Ajay Rai said.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is set to join the Congress’ yatra in Agra on Sunday
before it enters Rajasthan.  

The Congress had said February 26 to March 1 would be break days for the yatra to allow Rahul Gandhi to fulfil his long-standing commitment to deliver two special lectures at his alma mater Cambridge University in the UK on February 27 and February 28. He will be also attending important meetings in New Delhi during this period, it had said.

The yatra will resume from Dholpur at 2 pm on March 2.

It will then move into Madhya Pradesh and cover Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Shajapur and Ujjain among other districts of the state.

On March 5, Rahul Gandhi will pay obeisance at the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain. He had offered prayers at the temple on November 29, 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Mumbai: The Election Commission of India on Thursday allotted “man blowing turha (a traditional trumpet)” as the symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, the outfit’s spokesperson Clyde Crasto said.

“Our candidates will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on this symbol,” he told PTI.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government.