Police said they have registered a case of unnatural death. Ratna claimed that his son was apparently frustrated for not being able to play PUBG.

KALYANI: A 21-year-old student allegedly took his life in West Bengal’s Nadia district for not being able to play PUBG, police said on Sunday.

Pritam Halder, an ITI student, was found hanging in his house in Purba Lalpur in Chakdaha police station area, they said.

After having breakfast on Friday morning, Pritam went to his room, his mother Ratna said.

“When I went to call him for lunch, his room was locked from inside. After repeated bangings when he did not open the door, I called the neighbours. They broke into the room and found him hanging from the ceiling fan,” she said.

Police said they have registered a case of unnatural death. Ratna claimed that his son was apparently frustrated for not being able to play PUBG.

“He would play it at night. I think he died by suicide as he was not being able to play PUBG,” she said.

Police said that after talking to the family members they believe that Pritam killed himself for not being able to play the mobile game, which was blocked by the government on Wednesday.

Pritam’s father Biswajit Halder is a retired Army Man and the mother is a homemaker. They also have a daughter.

She was questioned for about six hours by the agency for the first time in this case on Sunday. The 28-year-old arrived at the agency’s office in the Ballard Estate area around 9:30 am.

MUMBAI: Actress Rhea Chakraborty on Monday appeared before the NCB for questioning for the second straight day in the drugs case linked to the death of her live-in partner and actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

She was questioned for about six hours by the agency for the first time in this case on Sunday.

The 28-year-old arrived at the agency’s office in the Ballard Estate area around 9:30 am.

She was escorted by police personnel and was seen carrying a bag.

The agency has said that it wants to question Rhea and confront her with her younger brother Showik Chakraborty (24), Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda (33) and his house staffer Dipesh Sawant to ascertain their roles in this alleged drug racket after it obtained mobile phone chat records and other electronic data that suggested some banned drugs were allegedly procured by these people.

The NCB, over the last few days, has arrested these three men in this case.

Officials said the actor was questioned on these lines on Sunday.

She was earlier questioned by the ED and the CBI.

Rhea, in interviews given to multiple TV news channels, has said that she has never consumed drugs herself.

She had, however, claimed that the late actor used to consume marijuana.

It is claimed that Miranda told NCB investigators that he used to procure bud or curated marijuana for the late actor’s household.

A total of eight people have been arrested till now by the NCB with six being directly linked to this probe while two were arrested by it when the investigation was launched under criminal sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

When the probe in the case began, the agency had arrested two men, Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora, for alleged drug peddling and officials have claimed that through them they reached Zaid Vilatra and Abdel Basit Parihar who are allegedly linked to this drugs case as they were in touch with Miranda.

Miranda, they had said, used to allegedly procure drugs from them on the purported instructions of Showik, agency officials said.

Both Lakhani and Arora have been granted bail.

The NCB had said it recovered 59 grams of cannabis from them.

The NCB, while seeking remand of one of the accused in this case last week, had told a local court that it was looking into “the drug citadel in Mumbai, and especially Bollywood” in this probe.

This case has given the NCB an “inkling” into the narcotics network and its penetration in Bollywood or Hindi movie industry, NCB Deputy Director General Mutha Ashok Jain had told reporters last week.

Various angles surrounding the death of the 34-year-old actor are being probed by three federal agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The NCB initiated a drug angle probe in this case after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.

Rajput was found dead at his flat in the suburban Bandra area on June 14.

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh for the third time in a row has topped in the ease of doing annual business ranking of states and Union Territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The ranking is based on the implementation of the business reform action plan 2019 by states and UTs, according to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.

The exercise is aimed at promoting competition among states with a view to improving the business climate to attract domestic as well as foreign investments.

Registering a jump of 10 places in the rankings, Uttar Pradesh occupied the second position in 2019 as against 12th in 2018.

Telangana slipped to the third position from second in 2018. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh (4th), Jharkhand (5th), Chhattisgarh (6th), Himachal Pradesh (7th), Rajasthan (8th), West Bengal (9th) and Gujarat (10th).

Delhi’s position improved to 12th from 23rd in the last edition, while Gujarat slipped from 5th place in 2018.

Among the laggard states and UTs in the ranking, Assam was at 20th, J&K at 21st, Goa at 24th, Bihar at 26th and Kerala 28th place. Tripura was ranked at the bottom 36th.

Releasing the report, Sitharaman said that states have taken the exercise in its true sense and it would help states and UTs to become better place to do business.

“Some states have shown extraordinary energy in putting together action plans and making sure that reforms happen. States have embraced the true spirit behind the State Business Reforms Action Plan,” she said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said these rankings reflect the efforts that states and UTs are doing to better their systems and processes.

It is also a wake-up call for those states which have slipped in the ranking, he said. Goyal said that the ministry is working on steps like creating a single-window system for approvals and clearances.

In 2015 Index, Gujarat featured at the top, with Andhra Pradesh grabbing the second position and Telangana 13th. In 2016, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana jointly topped the chart. In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana (3rd).

Haryana slid to 16th position in the latest ranking.

This was the fourth edition of the report, which was first released in 2015. The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 181 reform points covering 45 business regulatory areas such as access to information, single window system, labour, and environment.

The DPIIT in collaboration with the World Bank conducts an annual reform exercise for all States/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP).

In the World Bank’s latest ‘Doing Business’ report, India has jumped 14 places to the 63rd position.

Goyal said that it is a competitive ranking and India has made a significant improvement in its ease of doing business ranking worldwide.

He added that India is amongst very few nations which carry out this exercise.

Talking about ‘one product one district programme’, he said, “We will soon be unveiling a programme where every district in the country will be focusing all its energies to expand the outreach of their production of their special products not only to the length and breadth of India but to the entire world”.

He added that the ministry has identified 24 products jointly with the private sector to push manufacturing.

“In these sectors, we are confident that we can add at least Rs 20 lakh crore worth of manufacturing output in India in the next five years. This Rs 20 lakh crore manufacturing output will provide scores of job opportunities and expand economic activity in the country,” he added.

The larger objective of attracting investments and increasing ease of doing business in each state was sought to be achieved by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of ranking states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan, according to the report.

Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra said that the ranking this time gives full weightage to the feedback from more than 30,000 respondents at the ground level, who gave their opinion about the effectiveness of the reforms.

State rankings will help attract investments, foster healthy competition and improve business climate, he stated.

Mumbai: Two separate complaints have been filed with the police here against actor Kangana Ranaut over her remark where she compared Mumbai to Pakistan- occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

While one of the complaints was submitted by Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, a lawyer, at Andheri police station on Friday, another was submitted at Azad Maidan police station by a city Congress functionary.

Both applications sought registration of an FIR against the actor for `defaming’ the Mumbai police and `spreading enmity between two groups’ under the relevant IPC sections.

However, no FIR has been registered yet as police officials said they were examining the applications.

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday arrested Dipesh Sawant, a member of Sushant Singh Rajput’s personal staff, in connection with a drugs probe linked to the actor’s death, officials said.

The NCB said with the latest action, the total number of arrested in this “ongoing investigation” has risen to seven.

They said Sawant, who was being interrogated since 10 PM last night, has been arrested under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act around 8 PM on Saturday.

“He was subjected to interrogation and confrontation with Showik Chakraborty, Samuel Miranda, Zaid Vilatra and Kaizan Ibrahim.

“His statement was recorded under section 67 of the NDPS Act and on the basis of enough corroborative evidence, he (Sawant) has been placed under arrest,” a senior NCB officer said.

He will be produced before the local Esplanade court at 11 AM on Sunday, he said.

A senior NCB officer had earlier said Sawant’s role was that of a “witness” in the case.

The federal anti-narcotics agency had on Friday arrested Showik Chakraborty (24), the brother of main accused in this case Rhea Chakraborty, and Samuel Miranda, Rajput’s house manager.

Three of the seven arrested, Showik, Miranda and Vilatra (21), are in NCB custody, the agency said.

When the probe in the case began, the agency had arrested two men, Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora, for alleged drug peddling and officials have claimed that through them they reached Vilatra and Abdel Basit Parihar who are allegedly directly linked to this drugs case as they were in touch with Miranda.

Miranda, they had said, used to allegedly procure drugs from them on the purported instructions of Showik, agency officials said.

Officials have said Rhea (28), Rajput’s live-in partner, is expected to be summoned for questioning soon.

This case has given the NCB an “inkling” into the narcotics network and its penetration in Bollywood or Hindi movie industry, NCB Deputy Director General Mutha Ashok Jain told reporters outside the agency’s office on Saturday.

Various angles surrounding the death of the 34-year-old actor are being probed by three federal agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The NCB is probing the drug angle in this case under criminal sections of the NDPS Act after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.

Rajput was found dead at his flat in suburban Bandra area on June 14.

The ruling BJD is yet to formally start the process for selection of candidates for the seat though several names are doing the rounds.

BHUBANESWAR:  With the Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing that the by-polls to Assembly constituencies in different states will be completed by November end, activities have picked up in political parties in Odisha for selection of candidates for Balasore Sadar and Tirtol, where by-polls are due.

While the contest is likely to be between the BJD and BJP, the Congress has started preparations for the by-polls early by setting up committees for selection of candidates. The Balasore seat was held by BJP while BJD had won from Tirtol in 2019 Assembly elections.  

Sources said Manas Dutt, son of deceased BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutt, has emerged as a strong contender for a BJP ticket for Balasore seat though senior leaders including former MP Kharavela Swain may also get the green signal from the party to contest the by-poll. 

The Congress ticket for Balasore is most likely go to Navajyoti Patnaik, son of president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik.

The ruling BJD is yet to formally start the process for selection of candidates for the seat though several names are doing the rounds.

While former MP Rabindra Jena is a strong contender for a ticket, chances of his wife Subhasini Jena getting the BJD’s nod cannot be ruled out. Besides, Jiban Pradip Das who had lost to Madan Mohan Dutt of BJP in 2019 is also in the race for BJD ticket. Das had won from the Balasore seat in 2009 and 2014 elections. 

Congress whip in the Assembly Tara Prasad Bahinipati, who heads the committee for selection of candidate for Balasore seat, said the candidate has almost been finalised and it will be announced after the ECI declared the dates. 

However, the Tirtol seat is considered to be safe for BJD. Several aspirants including Minati Behera, president of the Biju Mahila Janata Dal, former MLA Rajashree Mallik and Bijay Shankar Das, son of late BJD leader Bishnu Das, are in the race for ticket from the BJD. The Assembly seat had fallen vacant following the death of Bishnu Das.

MUMBAI: Actress Kangana Ranaut has reacted to an abusive comment that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut reportedly made about her in a recent interview.

The actress took to her verified Twitter account on Saturday and wrote: “In 2008 Movie Mafia declared me a Psycho, in 2016 they called me a Witch and Stalker in 2020 Maharashtra Minister publicity gave me the title of H****khor Ladki, because I said after a murder I feel unsafe in Mumbai, where are INTOLERANCE debate warriors?”

Kangana’s tweet came in response to a tweet by political observer Madhav Sharma, who wrote: “Sanjay Raut is saying that @KanganaTeam said things against Shiva Ji Maharaj. It’s a lie. She has never said anything against the great Shiva Ji. A woman is being abused publicly by people in power and the so called “freedom of speech warriors” will not even say a word. SHAME!!”