Focus

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) The air quality in Delhi improved further on Tuesday, with the AQI recorded at 221 under the "poor" category, according to official figures.

The figures by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) showed that the concentration of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels in the national capital stood at 221 (poor) and 160 (moderate), respectively,.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) between zero and 50 is considered "good"; 51 and 100 "satisfactory"; 101 and 200 "moderate"; 201 and 300 "poor"; 301 and 400 "very poor"; and 401 and 500 "severe".

AQI under the "moderate" category was also recorded in the city's Pusa area (186) and Lodhi Road (152), while Mathura Road recorded 232 under the "poor" category.

Meanwhile, Noida's AQI stood at 302 (very poor) and Gurugram recorded 162 (moderate).

--IANS
avr/ksk/

By Arul Louis
New York, Nov 15 (IANS) New York public prosecutor Alvin Bragg has returned to India and Pakistan hundreds of looted ancient statues and figurines, some as old as 5,500 years, that were brought into the US by a network allegedly masterminded by Subash Kapoor, a convicted antique smuggler.


Bragg's office in Manhattan said that 235 antiquities from India, including many sacred images from temples, had been seized during investigations into the multinational predations of Kapoor across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other countries.

The smuggled items were sold through Kapoor's Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan, the office said.

One of the pieces, a marble sculpture known as the Arch Parikara from the 12th or 13th century, was returned by Yale University Art Gallery which had received it as a donation from a family foundation that bought it from Kapoor.

Bragg said: "These antiquities were stolen by multiple complex and sophisticated trafficking rings -- the leaders of which showed no regard for the cultural or historical significance of these objects."

In recent weeks, the prosecutor has been returning stolen art to the countries that they came from, including Cambodia, Egypt, Israel and Italy.

A total of 307 items valued at about $4 million were handed over to India's Consul General Randhir Jaiswal at a ceremony last month, according to Bragg's office.

The office said that five of the Indian antiquities were seized during investigations into smugglings by Nancy Wiener and her late mother Doris Wiener.

An item seized from them and headed back to India is a statue of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi with Garuda from the 11th century looted from a temple in central India, the office said.

Bragg also returned to Cambodia a sandstone statue of Lord Vishnu that had been stolen form a temple and trafficked by Doris Wiener, according to his office.

Another of the items from India was found during investigations into Nayef Homsi and the other 66 were stolen by several smaller trafficking networks, the prosecutor's office said.

During more than a decade of investigations starting in 2011, it said that along with Homeland Security Investigations it had seized more than 2,500 items valued at over $143 million trafficked by Kapoor and his network.

"Kapoor was one of the world's most prolific antiquities traffickers, yet thanks to the work of our dedicated investigators and analysts, we have been able to recover thousands of pieces looted by his network," Bragg said.

Kapoor and five of his accomplices, including Sanjivi Asokan, were convicted by a special court in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu earlier this month on charges of stealing sacred images from temples for sale abroad.

Kapoor, who was arrested in Germany in 2011 in an operation known as Operation Hidden Idol and extradited to India, has been sentenced to 10 years.

The prosecutor's office said that warrants are out for Kapoor and five of his accomplices to face charges in New York and Bragg is seeking their extradition.

Bragg returned to Pakistan 192 statues and figurines totally valued at $3.4 million last week and of them, 187 were unearthed during investigations into Kapoor, his office said.

Among them were what are called Mehrgarh Dolls, terracotta figures of the mother goddess estimated to be from 3500-2600 BCE that were looted from the Mehrgarh archaeological site in Pakistan.

Another was a statute depicting a Maitreya form of Lord Buddha, from the Gandharan period, 1000 to 2000 BCE.

The prosecutor's office said that they had been seized from storage units belonging to the Art of the Past gallery.

The Maitreya statute had allegedly been looted and smuggled by the Butt Network of Zahid Parvez and Zeeshan Butt using their family businesses spread across Islamabad, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Dubai, the office said.

The network supplied the international art market with stolen antiquities from countries including, but not limited to, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, it added.

Bragg's office said that five co-conspirators of Kapoor -- Richar Salmon, Neil Perry, Selina Mohammed, Aaron Freedman and Sushma Sareen -- have already been convicted by courts in the US.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
al/ksk/

Bengaluru, Nov 15 (IANS) Karnataka Congress has launched a campaign against the state government's "Viveka Scheme" under which newly-built classrooms will be painted in saffron colour.

The Congress started the campaign with the hashtag "CM Uncle" and urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to first build toilets for children instead of painting the classrooms.

Through the campaign, the Congress has posed questions to Bommai on behalf of school children.

"Throughout the state there is a lack of infrastructure in schools. The children are struggling without toilets. CM Uncle, before painting school buildings in saffron, first build toilets, give us hygienic drinking water and facilities that would attract children to schools," the party tweeted.

The Congress also said that the state government is implementing the scheme in the name Swami Vivekananda who was responsible for the industrial and scientific revolution in the country, but the Chief Minister is not "forthcoming with implementing programmes which inculcate scientific temperament in students".

"There is no good teaching, no proper midday meal, what action are you going to take? The scheme to give eggs to malnourished children is not being implemented properly. Take action to distribute eggs, do not give room for corruption in purchasing eggs also," the party added.

Under the "Viveka Scheme", 8,100 classrooms will will be painted in saffron colour.

Besides this, the BJP-led Karnataka government is also set to start meditation classes for primary, high school and class 11 and 12 students.

--IANS
mka/ksk/

Ahmedabad, Nov 13 (IANS) Gujarat State Goods and Service Tax (GST) in a joint operation with the Anti-Terrorist Squad and Crime branch were on Sunday carrying out searches at more than 205 premises owned by 115 firms and were also questioning 91 people in an alleged Rs 1,200 crore credit scam.

The search has been going on since Saturday morning and some officers of the GST were also being questioned by the search teams for their alleged involvement.

According to the department's sources, searches were going on in 14 districts simultaneously. These companies were involved in scrap metal, chemicals and iron rods. These firms were creating fake bills of transactions and claiming huge credits from the state government. At least 91 people of various firms were being questioned and information was sought from them by the search teams.

Officers have seized documents, bill books, laptops, pen drives and have retrieved data from cloud facilities to track down the fake transactions and cash money movement. Primary information is that the scam was going on for the last six months in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, and search teams have apprehensions that without officers' involvement such a large-scale scam would not have lasted for so long.

--IANS
har/dpb

Chennai, Nov 13 (IANS) The whirlwind visit of Union Home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah to Chennai and the pep talk he has given to party cadres have boosted the morale of the state unit of the party.

BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai told reporters that Amit Shah had asked the party leaders to focus on strengthening the party in the state.

Amit Shah, according to BJP leaders, told them that after the demise of two towering leaders of the state and former Chief Ministers, M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa, the field was open and that BJP had a high chance of gaining ground.

A senior leader of the BJP, who was part of the meeting at party headquarters, Kamalalayam and privy to developments in the state unit, told IANS, "Amit Shah means business. He has a clear roadmap to success and has the blueprint ready. He is a leader who micromanages party affairs and has asked us to build the party from the grassroots level."

The state BJP leader adds, "Amit Shah categorically stated that both the Dravidian parties, DMK and AIADMK are not what they used to be. He had said that DMK was following dynastic politics while AIADMK was almost disintegrated following the group war and other intrinsic issues."

The national BJP will be concentrating more on the state BJP affairs after the Himachal and Gujarat election results and the party is considering Tamil Nadu as a major opportunity for it to explore.

--IANS
aal/svn/

New York, Nov 11 (IANS) An Indian national in the US faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted in an $8 million Covid-19 relief fraud scheme, according to court documents.

Abhishek Krishnan, 40, has been charged by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey, for fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Krishnan, who previously resided in Wake County, North Carolina, is charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

After returning to India, Krishnan allegedly submitted numerous fraudulent PPP loan applications to federally insured banks, including on behalf of purported companies that were not registered business entities.

The fraudulent PPP loan applications allegedly included false statements about the companiesa¿ employees and payroll expenses, as well as falsified tax filings.

As part of the fraud scheme, Krishnan allegedly used the name of another person without that person's authority.

He allegedly submitted at least 17 PPP loan applications seeking over $8.2 million and received more than $3.3 million in loan proceeds.

Following receipt of the funds, Krishnan allegedly laundered the proceeds of the fraud.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the top counts and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison on each count of aggravated identify theft.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In a separate case, Krishnan was recently charged in the Eastern District of North Carolina with theft of government property and aggravated identity theft regarding his alleged receipt of unemployment insurance benefits funded by the federal government in response to the pandemic.

--IANS
mi/ksk/

Guwahati, Nov 11 (IANS) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Assam has arrested a suspended senior police officer for allegedly trying to cover up a rape and murder case of a minor and working on the behest of the accused, an official said on Friday.

Raj Mohan Ray, the former Superintendent of Police (SP) of Darang district, was arrested on Thursday evening after the CID collected evidence that he had taken illegal gratification from the kin of the main accused as a reward for extending undue favours.

Following his arrest, Roy was produced before the Special Judge Court, Guwahati, and the police sought a remand for further interrogation.

After analysing the bank account details of the family of the accused and examining relevant witnesses, it was revealed that Ray had received an amount of Rs 2 lakh from the family through another police officer.

On June 12 this year, a case had been registered at the Dhulia Police station alleging the rape and murder of the 13-year-old girl.

When Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met the victim's family, they accused the SP and other police officers of trying to dilute the case.

Sarma immediately ordered the suspension of the SP and officer-in-Charge of the Dhulia police station.

The CID had been roped in for the investigation of this case.

The charge sheet on this case was already submitted by the Department and the main accused is in judicial custody.

Rajib Saikia, CPRO to Assam Police, said that three doctors of the Mongoldoi civil hospital, a former OC of Dhula police station, and another senior police officer were also arrested.

"The other accused Ashirvad Hazarika, the Magistrate whose role has also come on record, is absconding. Further investigation is continuing on this case," he added.

--IANS
tdr/ksk/

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court has issued a contempt notice to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Reliance Industries (RIL) plea alleging non-compliance of the court's August 5 order, which directed the market regulator to provide access to certain documents to the company.

A bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh said: "Issue notice to the respondent, making it returnable on December 2, 2022. Abhishek Singh, counsel accepts service of notice on behalf of the respondent."

Senior advocate Harish N. Salve, appearing on behalf of RIL, vehemently submitted that despite the August 5 order passed by the apex court by which the respondent (SEBI) was directed to furnish a copy of the documents, the same has not been furnished till date.

Senior advocate and former Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal, representing SEBI, submitted that the review petition preferred by the respondent is pending before this court and, therefore, no further order be passed in the present proceedings.

The bench, in its order, noted: "We have gone through the subsequent order passed by this court dated October 12, 2022 in review petition. The pendency of an appeal and/or writ petition along with stay cannot be equated with pendency of the review petition.

I"There is a final decision by this court in an appeal. Merely because the stay application is pending in review petition cannot be a ground to grant stay by the respondent on its own and not to comply with the directions issued by this court."

The bench said it is required to be noted that the State of J&K Vs. Mohd. Yaqoob Khan and others was a case where against the ex-parte order passed by the single judge, pending writ petition, the contempt proceedings were initiated.

"Therefore, this court observed that when the stay application is yet to be heard and decided and disposed of, the contempt proceedings cannot be initiated. Under the circumstances, the said decision(s) cannot be of any assistance to the respondent," said the apex court.

The bench has scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 2.

The company had sought three documents from SEBI that it had claimed would exonerate it and its promoters from criminal prosecution initiated in a case related to the alleged irregularities in acquisition of its own shares between 1994 and 2000.

On August 5, a bench led by then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, had said: "The approach of SEBI, in failing to disclose the documents, also raises concerns of transparency and fair trial. Opaqueness only propagates prejudice and partiality. Opaqueness is antithetical to transparency."

The top court had said the market regulator should show fairness and furnish documents sought by RIL, and SEBI has a duty to act fairly, while conducting proceedings or initiating any action against the parties.

RIL filed a contempt petition as SEBI has not shared three documents -- the two legal opinions by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna and former ICAI President Y.H. Malegam's report which examined the irregularities.

The company claimed that SEBI cannot continue to resist the production of these documents and it had also sent a notice to the market regulator saying if documents were not received by August 18, then it will establish that SEBI does not want to comply with the apex court's judgment.

In 2002, Chartered Accountant S. Gurumurthy filed a complaint with SEBI alleging irregularities by RIL, its associate companies and their directors/promoters, including Mukesh Ambani and his wife, Nita; Anil Ambani and his wife, Tina; and 98 others.

The complaint cited the issue of two preferential placement of non-convertible debentures in 1994.

SEBI had alleged that RIL along with Reliance Petroleum had circuitously funded the acquisition of its own shares in violation of the Sections 77 and 77A of the Companies Act, 1956.

--IANS
ss/ksk/

New York, Nov 11 (IANS) Jasmeet Kaur Bains, a family physician from Bakersfield, made history by becoming the first Indian-origin Sikh woman to be elected to the California Assembly.

In a Democrat vs Democrat race for the 35th Assembly District in Kern County, Bains took an early lead over her opponent Leticia Perez.

According to the Kern County Election Results website, Bains led the race on Wednesday with 10,827 votes, or 58.9 per cent -- while Perez trailed significantly with 7,555 votes, or 41.1 per cent.

Bains is a medical director at Bakersfield Recovery Services, a non-profit that treats adults suffering from addiction.

In her campaign pitch, she said she would prioritise healthcare, homelessness, water infrastructure and air quality.

Bains watched election returns with nearly 100 family members, friends and supporters at Tony's Firehouse Grill and Pizza, a restaurant in the northern Kern County city of Delano, where she grew up.

"It's an exciting night... I'm encouraged by the early returns and couldn't be more grateful for the support we've received across Kern County," she wrote in a text message to the Bakersfield Californian.

"I love being a doctor," Bains said, explaining why the decision to enter the Assembly contest was not an easy decision.

"If I want to be the physician that I always dreamed of being, I need to make sure that we have the correct legislation in place," she told Bakesfield Californian.

The 35th Assembly district stretches from Arvin to Delano and includes much of East Bakersfield.

The daughter of immigrant parents from India, Bains watched her father build a business, starting as an auto mechanic and ultimately owning successful car dealerships. After college, Jasmeet worked with her father before pursuing her career in medicine.

When the pandemic hit, Bains was on the frontlines, establishing field hospital sites to treat Covid patients. She has also spearheaded landmark mental health and addiction treatment programmes.

She was awarded the 2019 Hero of Family Medicine by the California Academy of Family Physicians, and the 2021 Beautiful Bakersfield Award from the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce.

--IANS
mi/khz/

Copenhagen, Nov 8 (IANS) Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe at the World Health Organization (WHO), called the current response to climate change "dangerously inconsistent and far too slow" in a statement.

"Climate change and the crises it has triggered have long been clear health emergencies. WHO and (its) partners have long sounded the alarm," Kluge said, urging participants of the current United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt to act faster and more coherently.

To avoid increasing exposure and vulnerability to heatwaves and other extreme weather events, Kluge called for drastic adaptation and mitigation measures that could tackle climate change and improve individual, societal and planetary health, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Kluge, the devastating wildfires that hit Europe last summer had caused the highest carbon emissions since 2007, "polluting our air, killing many people".

He warned that extreme temperatures caused heat stress, which had become the leading weather-related cause of death in Europe.

Based on country data, the WHO puts the number of heat-related deaths to 15,000 in 2022, Kluge said.

Last year, high-impact weather and climate events like floods and storms directly affected over half a million people, he said.

Kluge cited a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), saying that Europe was the fastest-warming region in the world, where extreme temperatures had accounted for over 148,000 lives lost in the last 50 years.

According to Kluge, his organization intends to "use the collective power of WHO member states to (...) integrate health into any climate change plan".

"We need to do it now if we are to prevent the climate crisis from turning into an irreversible climate disaster for our region and our entire planet," he said.

--IANS
int/sha