Athawale was discharged from a private hospital in Mumbai last month, 10 days after testing coronavirus positive.

PUNE:  Union minister Ramdas Athawale, whose ‘go corona, go’ chant became a national sensation, on Sunday came out with a new slogan, ‘No Corona’, saying it was in response to the new strain of the novel coronavirus.

“I gave the ‘Go Corona Go’ slogan and the virus is now going. But it also came near me, leading to my hospitalisation (after testing COVID-19 positive). I thought coronavirus would not reach me but it can reach anywhere,” Athawale said.

“For the new coronavirus strain, I would say ‘No Corona, No Corona’ as we don’t want either the old coronavirus or the new strain to infect us,” he told reporters in Pune.

Athawale was discharged from a private hospital in Mumbai last month, 10 days after testing coronavirus positive.

In February, a video of Athawale, along with a Chinese diplomat and Buddhist monks chanting “Go corona, go corona” at a prayer meeting went viral on social media.

The video was reportedly shot at the Gateway of India here on February 20 during a prayer session to stop the spread of coronavirus in China.

Athawale (60) is a member of the Rajya Sabha and minister of state for social justice in the Narendra Modi-led government.

“I will be meeting BJP president J P Nadda to discuss a possible alliance for West Bengal Assembly elections,” he said.

“We expect (BJP to set aside for us) around 10 seats,” he added.

The leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly was speaking at a programme organised in Bisuali village.

BALLIA: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary on Sunday called on farmers in his constituency Bansdih here not to allow political leaders who are supporting the Centre’s agricultural reforms to enter their villages.

The leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly was speaking at a programme organised in Bisuali village.

Thousands of farmers from different states, including Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for a month now to demand the repeal of the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

The Samajwadi Party has come out in support of agitating farmers.

It held demonstrations in various parts of Uttar Pradesh earlier this month to back the farmers’ demand.

Chaudhary said political leaders who are supporting the new farm laws should not be greeted with ‘Ram-Ram’, ‘pranaam’ and ‘dua-salaam’.

“Giving them water and hookah should also be stopped. They should be stopped from entering the villages,” he told the gathering.

Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

However, protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of minimum support price (MSP) and do away with mandis that ensure income, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the BJP of giving importance to its “capitalist friends” and said the farmers’ protest against the new agri laws is an example of the “failure” of the government.

The BJP government at the Centre is making offers to farmers for talks, but on the other hand, it is levelling “baseless allegations” on the protesting farmers, he said in a statement issued here.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, however, did not elaborate on the issue of allegations on farmers.

“This is an insult to farmers, who are staging a sit-in for their rights. The BJP, while supporting its favourite capitalist friends, is walking a path which is against farmers, labourers and those from the lower-middle income group. The government is giving Kisan Samman, but the new farm laws will cause losses worth thousands and lakhs to farmers,” Yadav said.

The former chief minister also said that after the BJP came to power, bad times started for farmers.

“The current farmers’ agitation is a living example of the failure of the BJP government. The SP is standing with the farmers,” he said.

SP’s national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said that on the direction of the party chief, on the third day of the ‘samajwadi kisan ghrea abhiyan’, MPs, MLAs and other public representatives took part, and listened to the grievances of farmers.

The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state improved to an all-time high of 96.14 per cent as 23 people were cured of the disease, he said.

KOHIMA: Nagaland did not register any fresh COVID-19 case on Sunday for the first time since the state reported its first coronavirus cases on May 25, a health official said.

The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state improved to an all-time high of 96.14 per cent as 23 people were cured of the disease, he said.

The state’s caseload stands at 11,897, of which 251 cases are active while 11,438 people have recovered, 78 patients have succumbed to the infection and 130 migrated to other states, Health Department Director Dr Denis Hangsing said in a COVID-19 bulletin.

Nagaland reported its first three COVID-19 cases among Chennai returnees on May 25.

Dimapur has the highest number of active cases at 100, followed by Kohima (85) and Mokokchung (47), he said.

The state has so far conducted over 1.19 lakh COVID-19 tests, including 72,328 RT-PCR, 36,652 TrueNat and 10,733 rapid antigen tests, Hangsing added.

As he had developed mild fever, he was taken for a check-up on Sunday evening to the GDMC where doctors decided to admit him, the official at the Chief Minister’s Office said.

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who had tested positive for COVID-19 recently, was shifted to the Government Doon Medical College here after developing fever, an official said on Monday.

As he had developed mild fever, he was taken for a check-up on Sunday evening to the GDMC where doctors decided to admit him, the official at the Chief Minister’s Office said.

Rawat is under the observation of a team of doctors, the official said.

The chief minister had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 18 after which he had isolated himself at home.

His wife and daughter had also tested positive.

The term “love jihad” is used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.

PATNA: At a time when BJP ruled states are making legislation against conversion for marriage, the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the saffron party in Bihar, on Sunday asserted that such laws will create social hatred and division in the society which it does not approve of.

“An atmosphere of hatred and division is being created in the society in the name of Love Jihad,” Tyagi told reporters after the party’s national executive meeting here.

The term “love jihad” is used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.

“Provisions of the Constitution and CrPC give freedom to two adults to choose life partners of their choice irrespective of one’s religion, caste or region,” Tyagi said.

Socialists have upheld the right of adults to marry irrespective of caste and creed since the days of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, he said.

Lohia was a socialist ideologue.

The Cabinet in BJP governed Madhya Pradesh on Saturday passed a Bill which provides for prison term of up to 10 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh for conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means.

The bill in some ways is similar to an Ordinance notified by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh last month.

In UP, a PIL has been filed in the Allahabad High Court challenging the ordiance, contending that it impinges upon the fundamental right to choice and right to change of faith.

The PM said he was surprised that those who ruled Bengal for 30 years before the incumbent TMC government were not agitating for the farmers there.

NEW DELHI:  On a day the government unveiled a massive counter-offensive on the farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sought to use the issue of central agri schemes to hit out at Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal in line with the BJP’s build-up of its poll campaign.

Accusing the Mamata government of denying over 70 lakh farmers in West Bengal money transfer under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, the PM said in his speech, “This is central government’s fund. Still, the state government, due to political reason, is not allowing over 70 lakh farmers to get the benefits.”

Earlier, setting up the tone, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar lamented that the Bengal government hasn’t yet submitted the list of beneficiaries for the scheme under which the Centre transfers `6,000 annually in three equal installments into the bank accounts of the farmers. “Bengal is the only state in the country which hasn’t allowed the farmers to avail the benefits,” said Tomar.

Responding to the attacks, Mamata charged Modi with misleading people with half-truths and distorted facts over non-implementation of the scheme in the state. She alleged that instead of proactively working to resolve the issues of the farmers, the PM chose to show his apparent concern for them through a televised address.

Maintaining that she had written two letters to Tomar and had even spoken to him two days ago, the Bengal CM said, “They are refusing to cooperate and are instead indulging in malicious propaganda for political gains.”

Modi also targeted the Left parties, accusing them of instigating the farmers of Punjab. The PM said he was surprised that those who ruled Bengal for 30 years before the incumbent TMC government were not agitating for the farmers there. “They have gone from  West Bengal to Punjab. But they will not stand in solidarity with the farmers of West Bengal,” he said.  

2nd Delhi-Jaipur lane blocked

Farmers camping on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway at Jaisinghpur Khera to protest against the new farm laws on Friday blocked the second carriageway of the national highway after the Haryana Police prevented them from crossing the border.

The farmers have been protesting on the highway at the Shahjahanpur border since December 12. Till now, only one lane of the Jaipur-Delhi highway had remained closed. On Friday, the vehicles were diverted towards Bawal. Protesting farmers had earlier announced that they would start proceeding towards Delhi on Friday, signalling their intent to further escalate the ongoing agitation.

Pramesh Jain

A major online financial fraud theft of personal data of applicants by a few micro finance companies said to be front-end firms of investors in some neighbouring countries has been busted in Karnataka, by CID cyber crime police said on Thursday.

Acting on complaints from some victims, including a woman who took loan using Paisa Loan app, the Criminal Investigation Department raided four companies, arrested the chief finance officer and human resource manager of one of them and seized laptops, mobile handsets and documents.

The cyber crime Sleuths of CID busted online loan app racket and raided several firms offering instant loan to mobile users and collecting exhorbitant interest rates.

The CID officials suspects that many such firms operating are being linked to people from neighbouring countries.

The racket came to light on Monday following a complainant filed by a woman stating that she had availed loan from one of the app and later harassed despite repaying the loan amount.

She came to know of a micro finance mobile
applications lending small amount of loans,and installed an app called “Paisa Loan”from play store.She availed loan from the said app and then repaid it on time.

Later she availed loans from several other apps. But from November’2020,even though she re-paid the loan the agents of the said apps started harassing her to pay extra interest amount, abusing her and her family members in filthy and obscene language,hacked her mobile data, created whatsapp group of the her contact list and started circulating defaming contents along
with her photographs,and also inducing her to avail loans from other apps and to repay the amount .

A similar complaint was also filed by another complainant on tuesday and both the cases are under investigation.

Based on the said complaints,raid was conducted by Cyber Crime Division,CID on four companies simultaneously in Bangalore team  Led by,CID SP,Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat,under the supervision of CID SP,Sharath Kumar, DYSPs,as,Kasim,Geetha Kulkarni,Nagaraj,and staff,on the following companies including Mad
Elephant Technologies Pvt Ltd,Borayanxy Technologies Pvt Ltd,Profitise Technologies Pvt Ltd.and Wizppro Solution Pvt Ltd were raided.

The equipment used to commit the offence including Laptops,Mobile Handsets and
documents were seized and as of now CFO and HR Manager of a company have been detained.

During the investigation,it was revealed that each companies possess several microloan apps of their own.On installation of such apps,users are
prompted with some basic questions when installing the app,that is,PAN Number,Aadhar Number,Bank account number,two individual reference mobile numbers etc.

Once this information is fed into the application, the app was installed into her phone.During the installation of the application,all kinds
of permissions (contacts,SMSs,call logs,camera, storage etc.,)is sought from the customer, a senior Police officer said.

Out of the loan approved by the app,(generally between Rs.3,000 to Rs.9,000),approximately 60-65 percent of the loan amount is disbursed to the customer’s account,after deducting interest, processing fee,tax.

If loan amount was Rs 3000 is approved,the user may get around Rs1800 to his account,after deducting all the charges.

A detailed investigation by the team has revealed that the Customers is charged interest rate of 36 per cent per annum on the loan amount.The loan repayment period is generally 7 days to 15 days and within the given period,the customer has to repay complete approved loan amount.

The customer receives alert SMS message or call from recovery team of the app,a day or two prior to due date.

The accused would not only harass and threaten the customers but also hack their mobile phone data (within a day or two after deadline),specially contacts and pictures of the customer.

Using these data,a whatsapp group consisting the contacts of customer is created and messages against the customer is circulated in the group with the photograph of the customer, with all kinds of abuse,sexual overtones,using customer’s photographs in the app with a tag of “CHOR”,“FRAUD”, “420”,“DEFAULTER”.

There are instances (in our own case)where a voice message is sent threatening physical and sexual assault on the female victims by the company recovery agents.This harassment will continue till the loan is repaid.

The second part of the problem is that,the customer is induced by these recovery agents to repay the loan by taking other loan thorough a different mobile application,which she has to install in her mobile phone.

As such the complainant is caught up in the loop of taking and repaying the loansthe officials said.

Preliminary investigation found that the owners of these apps are some front-end companies,for citizens of neighbouring countries are the
investors/directors and CEOs for every such company.

On identifying the agreements delivered to the complainant,it is observed that some NBFCs (Non Banking Financial Companies)are having agreement with these companies for disbursing loans.

Further investigation and raids on
these companies has revealed that,every company has at least 10 to 15 such applications developed and monitored, by them.

These applications are directly
installed,accessed,used and monitored from cloud systems based in neighbouring countries.

All the data is also hacked from this country and used against the victims.Above said companies have also used fake sim cards to call the customers.

Citizens are requested not to share the data over any kind of applications which may go against them,as a neighbouring country is using such data against the victims after hacking their mobile phones.

Meanwhile,The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned against loans being offered by unauthorised digital platforms, mobile applications promising a quick and hassle-free process. The note of caution comes amid a major instant loan app scam being surfaced in the country with its multi-city network.

There have been reports about individuals/small businesses falling prey to the growing number of unauthorised digital lending platforms/Mobile Apps on promises of getting loans in a quick and hassle-free manner.

These reports also refer to excessive rates of interest and additional hidden charges being demanded from borrowers; adoption of unacceptable and high-handed recovery methods; and misuse of agreements to access data on the mobile phones of the borrowers,” the RBI said in its notice.

“Members of the public are hereby cautioned not to fall prey to such unscrupulous activities and verify the antecedents of the company/ firm offering loans online or through mobile apps,” it said.

Urging people to never share copies of KYC documents with unidentified persons, unverified/unauthorised Apps, RBI said such fraudulent activities can be reported to law enforcement agencies or RBI’s Sachet portal (https://sachet.rbi.org.in).

“Reserve Bank has also mandated that digital lending platforms which are used on behalf of banks and NBFCs should disclose the name of the Bank(s) or NBFC(s) upfront to the customers,” the notice said.

Any victims of micro loan apps may contact Cyber Crime Division, CID said in a press release.