The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday questioned Delhi Health and Power Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with its probe into a money laundering case.

The agency had questioned Jain, an Aam Aadmi Party leader, on April 3 also for over five hours and recorded his statement in the alleged ‘proceeds of crime’ case.

The ED booked Jain and five others in the case last August after taking cognisance of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR against the AAP leader.

The CBI, in April last year, registered a Preliminary Enquiry against Jain on the basis of what it termed evidence it had collected in connection with the laundering of Rs 46.3 million in 2015-16.

Jain is accused of involvement in the crime through Kolkata-based Prayas Info Pvt Ltd, Akichand Developers and Mangalyatan Project Pvt Ltd. Jain and his wife were allegedly holding one third shares in these companies during the period.

Jain is also accused of laundering Rs 117.8 million in 2010-12 through these companies and Delhi-based Indo-Metal Index Pvt Ltd.

The Delhi Minister was accused of giving the money in cash through his employees and public associates to Kolkata-based entry operators and shell companies. Thereafter, the entry operators routed the black money in the form of investment in shares of Prayas Info Pvt Ltd, Akichand Developers, Mangalyatan Project Pvt Ltd, and Indo-Metal Index Pvt Ltd — all allegedly controlled by Jain.

“The shares were bought at a premium of 60 times the unit price,” the CBI had said.

Jain had technically resigned from the directorship of the companies in view of the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, the CBI official had said, adding that the money received back in the form of investment in shares was used by him for purchasing agricultural land valued at Rs 276.9 million in Delhi in the name of companies controlled by him.

Jain was accused of misusing his powers as Minister to get the agricultural land declared as residential land by the Delhi government to gain huge financial benefits.

The matter was referred to the CBI by the Income Tax Department under the new Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act.

The I-T Department in September 2016 summoned Jain for questioning on his alleged links with the firms under the scanner over hawala transactions of nearly Rs 170 million.

Jain had earlier said he made investments in these companies as an investor four years back but had withdrawn since 2013 and that he had done nothing wrong.

On Tuesday, several media organisations and lakhs of voters across Karnataka received a ‘candidates list’ allegedly from the Congress via WhatsApp.
The ruling Congress in Karnataka has been hit by several pieces of election-related fake news in the last few days and the Grand Old Party is pointing fingers at the BJP, accusing it of spreading fake news fearing “certain defeat” in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held on May 12.

On Tuesday, several media organisations and lakhs of voters across Karnataka received a ‘candidates list’ allegedly from the Congress via WhatsApp.

The ‘list’ had 132 names and many fell for it as the Central Election Committee of the Congress is currently discussing candidate selection in New Delhi. Some channels even aired the list. It was only after the ‘list’ was sent to the Congress office that top leaders of the party scrutinised it and dismissed it as fake.

The list even had the signature of top Congress leader Oscar Fernandes. But the creator of this fake list seemed unaware that Fernandes is seriously ill and has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi. He is no longer the authorised signatory for such lists.

The ‘list’ mentioned Congress leader in Lok Sabha M Mallikarjuna Kharge as one of the candidates. It even claimed that Kharge had replaced his son and the state’s IT and Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge in Chitapur seat.

Alarmed by the fake news, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted and asked people not to fall for it. He also asked people to not endorse the products of “fake factory”.
The AICC secretary in charge of Karnataka and former MP Madhu Yashki Goud was more vocal and directly held the BJP IT Cell responsible for it. Threatening a criminal action against the BJP, he said that the saffron party had “mastered the art of fake news to misguide the people”.

Just three days ago, the Congress was battling another fake news wherein a ‘confidential’ report was doing the rounds. It was purportedly sent by the chief of state intelligence and advised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to contest from Chamundeshwari in Mysore district. It was ‘signed’ by the intelligence chief and top IPS officer AM Prasad. But here too, the creators of the fake report did not do their homework.

AM Prasad is already a DGP-rank officer, but the ‘secret’ note mentioned his designation as ADGP. Secondly, the address of the Intelligence Office in Bengaluru it mentioned was wrong.

A senior police officer clarified that such reports are always submitted verbally or orally and never in writing.

Once again, Siddaramaiah tweeted and asked people not to fall for ‘fake news’.

The Congress has expressed fears of a flood of fake news targeting its leaders in the next one month. The BJP is yet to react to it.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that a dangerous and false binary was emerging in the country’s political discourse which could be a danger to the democratic system.

Addressing the first Prof. S.B. Rangnekar Memorial lecture at his alma mater Panjab University here, the Congress leader said that it was time to ask ourselves if we were losing patience with democracy 70 years after getting independence.

“We need to ask ourselves whether we are losing patience with democracy and turning to more authoritarian alternatives that may well yield superior short-term results but in the long term will end up destroying our country and all the achievements of the last 70 years,” he said while addressing students and faculty.

“Governance is complex. It is messy. It is slow. Its benefits are long term. It requires great patience. Above all, democracy is a system in which people without privilege have a decisive voice in governance. If this is lost, democracy becomes meaningless,” he added.

Regarding the present day scenario in the country, Manmohan Singh said: “A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected. It is that we have to choose between freedom and development. It is not a new binary.

“Dr. Ambedkar once worried that the day may come when people may prefer government for the people to government by and of the people. He saw that as a great danger.

“On this 70th anniversary, we must ensure that we do not fall into the trap of choosing government for the people over government by and of the people,” he said.

By Aroonim Bhuyan (11:36)

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes on a two-day visit to Sweden next week, cooperation in the area of innovation will form a key element of his agenda, Sweden’s ambassador to India Klas Molin has said.

Speaking to IANS here, Molin said that the summit between Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven on April 17 will see discussions on cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues.

“Of the global ones, of course, multilateral cooperation. You have environment and climate, trans-boundary issues of common concern where we have been gratified and heartened by India’s leadership in taking on important responsibility, assuming responsibility for some of these global issues in a very positive way,” he said.

“I think you will also hopefully see the leaders discussing and agreeing perhaps on continuing the work that was started two years ago in Mumbai where we had a joint statement outlining a plethora of issues and areas in which to cooperate.”

Lofven had visited Mumbai in 2016 to participate in the “Make in India Week”. Modi’s visit will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Sweden in 30 years since that of Rajiv Gandhi in 1988.

Stating that innovation is a broad but specific area of cooperation between the two countries, Molin said that this was an important part of the India-Sweden joint statement that was released during Lofven’s visit.

“How do we cooperate further, how do we get our best and the brightest people together, how do we also perhaps think about funding certain areas, how do we go into areas where we can cooperate even more and develop new technologies, create employment and sustainable solutions on a number of issues,” he said.

During Modi’s visit, an India-Sweden Innovation Partnership is also expected to be launched.

“I think it is something we are discussing with the Indian side but exactly how this will look, of course, will have to be finalised,” the ambassador said.

“But I think it is a way of focusing our attention on both sides to create a platform that, in turn, can attract investments, that can attract companies to plug in.”

Stating that Sweden has signed such innovation partnerships with France and Germany, Molin said that “we will be certainly very happy to sign this with India”.

“It will be an umbrella under which there will be a number of areas of particular interest,” he said.

Molin also said that Lofven himself is “personally extremely engaged in innovation” and chairs the Swedish Innovation Council that was set up by the government.

On bilateral economic relations, the ambassador said that trade is growing on both sides “and quite impressively so”.

Though bilateral trade dipped to $1.9 billion in 2016-17 from $2.17 billion, both countries have set a lofty total trade target of $5 billion.

“I think it will be useful also to set targets that are very lofty goals,” Molin said. “Nothing wrong with that. They are not always met, but I think the ambition is most important.”

He was of the opinion that trade in services between the two countries is growing and this might even overtake trade in goods.

“But in trading goods, we have definitely seen impressive growth in the figures, I think for Swedish exports, more than 25 per cent; and India is also growing, not perhaps dramatically but growing significantly and consistently,” the ambassador said.

“If you include services, I think this is where, of course, one of India’s amazing advantages lie with the talent pool of people. There is IT services, you have back offices, you have all kinds of support services, you have software development.”

Stating that cooperation in academics and research and development is another important area of focus, Molin said that both the countries are looking to increase student exchanges between universities.

On April 17, India and Sweden will also co-host the first ever India-Nordic Summit, where, apart from Modi and Lofven, the Prime Ministers of the other four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway will also be present.

Molin said that Nordic countries are close as neighbours and cooperate very closely in a number of issues.

“But we are not a political entity in that way,” he said. “It’s not like the EU, it’s not a regional organisation in any way. It’s a convenient forum.”

According to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry, India’s trade with the Nordic countries totaled around $5.3 billion in 2016-17, with cumulative foreign direct investment in India at $2.5 billion.

“The Nordic countries have globally recognised strengths in clean technologies, environmental solutions, port modernisation, food processing, health, agriculture infrastructure, skill development and innovation which are also the focus areas of India’s development,” a ministry statement said. These complementarities and the unique strengths of India and the Nordic countries hold the potential to further boost trade and investment from both sides.

Apart from his meeting with Lofven, Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the other four Nordic countries on the sidelines of the summit.