India

New York, Oct 12 (IANS) A Purdue University student, who allegedly stabbed his Indian-origin roommate to death on October 6, told reporters he had been "blackmailed" when asked about a motive for the crime.

Ji Min Sha, a 22-year-old junior cybersecurity major from Seoul, made his first court appearance last week before Tippecanoe County Magistrate Sarah Wyatt after being arrested for allegedly killing Varun Manish Chheda, a 20 year-old studying data science at the university in West Lafayette, Indiana.

"I was blackmailed," the suspect was reported as saying in the New York Post, But he didn't elaborate much on his statement.

When asked by reporters if he had anything to say to the victim's family, Sha replied: "I am very sorry."

Wyatt granted Tippecanoe County Deputy Prosecutor Timothy Kern's motion for a 72-hour continuance.

Prosecutors have until Thursday to file the charges against Sha, who had said "I love my family" as he was hauled to jail for allegedly killing Chheda.

The Indian-American student died of "multiple sharp force traumatic injuries" and the manner of death was a homicide.

Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete called the crime "unprovoked and senseless".

The suspect allegedly admitted that the knife was his and that he had used it to kill his roommate, the New York Post said.

India, calling the incident unfortunate, said that it is keeping an eye on developments of the case.

"It's a very unfortunate incident. I think the perpetrator has been arrested. We are keeping an eye on the developments," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a press briefing.

Meanwhile, several members of the Purdue community came forward to set up GoFundMe pages to help Chheda's family cover funeral costs, but his family has asked people to contribute to Riley Children's Foundation instead.

Varun's grandfather Nemji Chheda had migrated to the US in 1964 from Kundrodi in Gujarat's Kutch district.

According to media reports, he was the third generation of a Gujarati family that had moved to the US six decades ago.

--IANS
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Mumbai/Sonipat, Oct 12 (IANS) Leading law firm, Khaitan & Co. has established an Endowment Fund worth Rs one crore at O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) for the benefit of Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) as an extraordinary act of philanthropy and corporate responsibility.

The endowment will support a Chair in corporate law, a special centre for business law and research, two medals for outstanding students' academic performances, an annual lecture series and a negotiation competition jointly organised by Jindal Global Law School and Khaitan & Co.

Khaitan & Co. is one of the oldest (over 100 years old) and largest (over 850 professionals) Limited Liability Partnership firms in India. Khaitan & Co was established as early as 1911 with the efforts of Debi Prasad Khaitan and J.N. Mazumdar when the first office was set up in Kolkata. Remarkably, Khaitan served as a distinguished member of the Drafting Committee of India's Constituent Assembly.

The firm has regularly featured in several international rankings and has been bestowed with many distinguished awards for its remarkable contribution made for the advancement of the legal profession. The Endowment aims to support JGU's educational and research activities by helping the latter fulfill its intellectual and social commitments.

The Endowment comprise of five key initiatives:

1. Khaitan & Co. Chair in Corporate Law

The Chair will promote teaching and research in international and comparative business law through publications. The Chair will become an "intellectual site" for building knowledge on corporate law and strategic inputs for corporate legal practice. It will also aim to inspire and prepare students for corporate legal careers and instill relevant institutional values and ethics while contributing to the legal profession.

2. Khaitan and Co. Centre for Business Law and Research

The Centre will work in association with Khaitan & Co. Corporate Law Chair by streamlining and optimizing the latter's activities. The Centre will also aim to produce knowledge and strategic research materials e.g., policy and position papers, publications in peer-reviewed journals, periodicals, monographs, and reports. The Centre's focus will be on the intersectional spaces of business laws, public policy, and technology.

3. Khaitan & Co. Outstanding Academic Performance Medals

Two outstanding academic performance medals will be awarded to students who secure top grades in "Corporate Law". The medals will be a recognition of the students' depth and rigour of engagement with the knowledge of corporate law and their intellectual commitment to the subject.

4. JGLS-Khaitan & Co. Annual Lecture Series on Comparative and International Business Law

This annual lecture series will aim to relay the outcomes of research on international business law. It will also focus on the comparative aspects of business law and practice so that the transnational needs of business are served and addressed. The lectures for this distinguished series will be delivered by eminent academicians, jurists and national and international practitioners.

5. JGLS-Khaitan & Co. Negotiation Competition

The competition will aim to provide a platform for young talent to test their knowledge of law and business transactions and skills in negotiating deals. It will also help in building a competitive spirit as it is experienced in the global market amongst the students and impart the essential ethics of international business.

Commenting on Khaitan's & Co.'s act of philanthropy, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University & Founding Dean, Jindal Global Law School observed, "By the act of instituting 'Khaitan & Co, Endowment Fund', the Firm has demonstrated its deep commitment to promoting excellence in legal education and the legal profession. A law firm establishing an endowment in a law school is also a congruence of shared goals and aspirations.

"I am delighted that Khaitan & Co. has found such compatibility between their professional goals and JGU's mission and have chosen us for instituting this endowment. I also see the vision of Khaitan & Co. of 'leveraging insight to script legal discourse' reflecting in the aims and objectives of the Endowment. Where else, if not in the intellectual spaces of a law school, can such a noble objective be fulfilled? I am deeply grateful to Khaitan & Co. and the inspiring leadership of Mr. Haigreve Khaitan for this initiative on behalf of, not only Jindal Global Law School, but also on behalf of the community of law schools, which I also humbly represent."

Announcing the Endowment, Haigreve Khaitan, Senior Partner, Khaitan & Co.stated, "I have witnessed the evolution of Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University as a premier institution in India and internationally. I also cherish my own association with JGU and take pride in my participation in its growth. Hence, I am delighted to announce the establishment of Khaitan & Co. Endowment Fund at O.P. Jindal Global University. This endowment is an opportunity for Khaitan & Co. to fulfill its founding objectives and to meet our responsibilities as an institution towards legal education and the legal profession. I sincerely hope that the ideas this endowment aims to implement will help in improving the professional landscape by nurturing talent through enhanced ways of teaching and research".

Professor Peter H. Schuck, Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law Emeritus, Yale Law School, USA & Chair, International Board of Advisors, JGUhas observed on this development that, "Establishment of this endowment is a meeting of minds of JGU and Khaitan & Co. Their shared vision, goals and ideas that resulted in the establishment of this endowment make it an extraordinary example of the essential interaction between legal education and the legal profession. Law schools and law firms should interact with each other not only in professional platforms for idea-sharing, but they should also share the social benefits in the mutual interest of legal education and the legal profession. I wish JGU and Khaitan & Co. all the best of success".

Professor (Dr.) Jayanth K. Krishnan, Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law, Indiana University, USA & Co-Chair, International Board of Advisors, JGU observed, "Establishment of this endowment is a case of an eminent law firm collaborating with a leading institution, both trailblazers in their respective domains of function. I am sure that this collaboration will lead to outstanding outcomes in teaching, research, and institution building, which in turn will produce an extraordinary generation of legal professionals. I applaud Khaitan & Co. for this initiative and congratulate JGU for this achievement."

--IANS
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Kolkata, Oct 12 (IANS) A fresh amount of Rs 32 crore has been seized from various bank accounts used by prime accused Amir Khan in the E-Nuggets multi-crore mobile gaming fraud scam, Kolkata Police said on Wednesday.

The fresh seizure has been made from 1,195 bank accounts that were hired by the prime accused against a commission for deposits of the scam proceeds.

City police sources said that on being tipped off by their informers, the police raided a flat at Saila Tower complex at Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata. There from a particular office they came across many bank accounts with deposits worth Rs 32 crore.

With this fresh recovery, the total recovery by the Kolkata Police and Enforcement Directorate has increased to Rs 132.87 crore, out of which the recovery by ED had been Rs 36.95 crore.

The prime accused, Amir Khan, is currently in police custody and will be produced again at a lower court in Kolkata on October 21.

Meanwhile, the ED sleuths are waiting for the court to remand Khan to judicial custody so that they can make an application to the court to take Khan into their custody to question him on the money trail and the beneficiaries of the scam.

Kolkata Police arrested Khan on September 24 from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The city police also arrested five of his close associates. Another close associate of Khan, Subhojeet Srimani is absconding and the city police have issued a look out notice against him. Srimani is believed to have taken shelter in Dubai recently.

The ED initiated the investigation in the E-Nuggets scam with a cash recovery of Rs 17.32 crore on September 10 from the residence of Amir Khan's father, Naser Khan at Shahi Astabal Lane in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata.

Amir Khan had launched a mobile gaming application named E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding the public. During the initial period, the users were rewarded with commission and the balance in the wallet could be withdrawn in a hassle-free manner. This provided initial confidence to the users, who started investing bigger amounts for greater percentage of commission and a greater number of purchase orders.

After collecting handsome amounts from the public, all of a sudden withdrawal from the said app was stopped on one pretext or the other. Thereafter, all data, including profile information, was wiped out from the said app server.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Union Budget for 2023-24 would be 'carefully structured' where the focus would be on maintaining growth momentum.

Speaking at an event organised by the Brookings Institute in Washington, during the course of her five-day US visit, the Finance Minister in a conversation with Cornell University's Eswar Prasad, said on Tuesday that the focus of the forthcoming Union Budget would be on growth priority.

She said that inflation concerns were also there and managing growth would be the main focus.

On being asked about rising public debt and fiscal deficit, Sitharaman said that in the budgets of 2021-22 and 2022-23, the government focussed on increased capital expenditure to revive the economy in the post-pandemic era.

"We understood the virtue of asset creation. We hiked infrastructure spending in the last two budgets but at the same time managed to maintain fiscal prudence," the Finance Minister said.

Speaking about the immediate risks being faced by India, the Finance Minister said that energy and fertiliser requirements were one of the most immediate challenges the country faced.

She said that there was a limit to which renewable energy infrastructure can be ramped up, but it can't meet all the energy requirements.

Due to the energy crisis, India has for the time being gone back to thermal energy.

Similarly, while India was capable of producing fertilisers and it was doing so, as well as meeting requirements with the government footing the bill, the demand was rising, she said.

Sitharaman said due to the rising international prices of fertilisers there was a crisis and this was an immediate challenge along with energy requirements.

Elaborating on managing the economy during the pandemic days, Sitharaman said that due to the digitalisation of the economy, which had started in 2014 itself, India managed to provide foodgrains to the needy during lockdowns.

Immediate relief was provided to the people due to financial inclusion infrastructure, which the government had already created, she said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Washington D.C., during which she invited the latter to visit India next month.

During their meeting on Tuesday, Sitharaman and Yellen discussed current global macroeconomic situation among other issues of mutual interest, the Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

"The two Ministers also discussed various issues of significance with a view towards India's upcoming G20 Presidency," it said.

After the meeting, Sitharaman invited Yellen to India in November to attend the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting, the Ministry added.

This will be Yellen's first visit to India as Treasury Secretary.

Also taking to Twitter, the Treasury Secretary said: "I was pleased to welcome Minister Sitharaman back to US Treasury today to discuss deepening economic bonds between the U.S. and India, avoiding costly supply chain disruptions, and addressing global shocks."

Sitharaman is currently on a five-day visit to the US.

--IANS
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Prayagraj, Oct 12 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court has observed that a Muslim man, who marries for the second time against the wishes of his first wife, cannot seek a decree from any civil court to compel the first wife to live with him.

The bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Rajendra Kumar, made this observation while dealing with an appeal filed by a Muslim man, challenging a family court's order dismissing his case for restitution of conjugal rights.

The bench, while dismissing the plea, said as per the mandate of the Holy Quran, a man can marry up to four women but if he fears that he will not be able to deal with them justly then can marry only one.

"If a Muslim man is not capable of fostering his wife and children, then as per the mandate of the Holy Quran, he cannot marry another woman," the court observed.

The court also opined that a Muslim husband has the legal right to take a second wife even while the first marriage subsists.

"But if he does so, and then seeks the assistance of a civil court to compel the first wife to live with him against her wishes, she is entitled to raise the question of whether the court, as a court of equity, ought to compel her to submit to co-habitation with such a husband," the judges said.

The bench also observed that when the appellant has contracted the second marriage suppressing this fact from his first wife, then such conduct of the plaintiff-appellant amounts to cruelty to his first wife.

"Under the circumstances, if the first wife does not wish to live with her husband, then she cannot be compelled to go with him in a suit filed by him for restitution of conjugal rights. If the contention of the husband for grant of decree of conjugal rights is accepted, then from the point of view of the wife, it would amount to breach of her fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," it added.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
United Nations, Oct 11 (IANS) Even though the International Monetary Fund has cut India's growth projection for this financial year to 6.8 per cent, it remains the fastest-growing major economy in a world facing a massive slowdown.


The IMF's World Economic Outlook report released in Washington on Tuesday cut India's growth rate by 0.6 per cent from the projection of 7.2 per cent made in July, but it kept the slower growth projection for next year at 6.1 per cent, which would still be the highest for major economies.

The report said the downgrade reflects "a weaker-than-expected outturn in the second quarter and more subdued external demand".

Coming off the Covid shock last year, India's growth rate was 8.7 per cent, the report said.

The IMF growth projection for India this year was slightly higher than the World Bank's 6.5 per cent released last week.

The IMF said the global economy would grow by only 3.2 per cent this year and slow down to 2.7 per cent next year buffeted by inflation, the fallout of the Ukraine war, and the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic.

The report warned that global inflation was projected to rise to 8.8 per cent and said that "monetary policy could miscalculate the right stance to reduce inflation" and present "unusually large and to the downside".

Among the other major economies, the US economy was projected to grow by 1.6 per cent this year, China by 3.2 per cent, Germany by 1.5 per cent, the Euro Zone by 3.1 per cent, and the UK by 3.6 per cent.

Next year, the report projected global growth to slow down to 2.7 per cent, and presenting a bleak prognosis it said advanced economies are projected to grow by only 1.1 per cent and the US by 1 per cent while Germany would contract by 0.3 per cent.

China's economy is expected to grow by 4.4 per cent next year.

In South Asia, Bangladesh had a higher growth projection than India at 7.2 per cent for this year, but with a gross domestic product of only $416 billion, it doesn't rank with major economies, while India with a GDP of 3.17 trillion is the world's fifth largest.

Bangladesh's growth is projected to be 6 per cent next year.

Pakistan's economy is projected to grow by 6 per cent this year and 4.4 per cent next year; Nepal by 4.2 per cent this year and 5 per cent next year; Bhutan by 4.9 per cent this year and 4.3 next, and the Maldives by 4.3 per cent this year and 4.4 per cent the next.

Sri Lanka's economy was projected to shrink by 8.7 per cent and by 3 per cent next year.A

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

--IANS
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Bhopal, Oct 11 (IANS) A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Madhya Pradesh to unveil the newly developed corridor "Mahakal Lok" in the premises of Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar temple, state Congress president Kamal Nath said what he did for Mahakal corridor "is on the record".

The former Chief Minister said the BJP government has finally accepted that loans of farmers were waived off during the 15-month rule of the Congress government, and "they (BJP) will also accept the initiative taken for Mahakal corridor later".

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Nath denied claiming credit on Mahakal corridor, saying: "This is a subject of faith and I am maintaining dignity on it."

However, the race of seeking credit between the ruling BJP and Congress has been doing the rounds since the day Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that PM Modi would inaugurate the corridor on October 11.

With just some hours left for inaugural of "Mahakal Lok", scheduled at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the Congress on Monday released detailed notes of decision taken on development of the Mahakal corridor by the then Kamal Nath-led Congress government in 2019.

The Congress also released the photographs of the cabinet meeting, in which Kamal Nath passed the proposal for Mahakal corridor and Rs 300 crore was allocated for the first phase of work.

"Congress government has not only allocated funds for Mahakal corridor, but a proposal to increase monthly wages of priests of all temples was also passed. The project was started by the Congress government... BJP taking credit out of it," Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Govind Singh said.

The expanded and newly constructed Mahakal Corridor in Ujjain, which has been designed on the basis of 'Shiv Leela' (108 murals and 93 statues depicting stories related to Lord Shiva), will be providing a glimpse of Shiva Leela.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) A Congress delegation on Monday met the Election Commission after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights filed a complaint against it for using children in its ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra and filed a counter-complaint against the BJP.

The delegation comprised of Jairam Ramesh, Salman Khurshid, and Supriya Shrinate.

Shrinate said: "We met the Election Commission on a very frivolous complaint that was filed by the NCPCR that is meant to protect children's rights and instead, they are actually indulging in electioneering and all sorts of bogus allegations the commission had got... of course, this was a frivolous complaint and we have actually filed a counter complaint against the BJP and its functionaries on how they are using children in a malafide way and in a rather perverse order."

The Congress said that the BJP is nervous after success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and is making the NCPCR file a bogus complaint.

Ramesh said: "There is no violation of the Representation of People's Act during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and we do not understand why Election Commission has given us a notice on the complaint of the NCPCR."

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Rajasthan government over its affidavit in connection with the payment of ex-gratia to family members of those who succumbed to Covid-19.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Krishna Murari said the state government's affidavit was unsatisfactory and it was not doing charity. It said there is a direction by this court and persons who had lost their family members to Covid-19 must be treated with sympathy, and pointed out that earlier the state government had made an assurance in the matter. "Rajasthan is not doing any charity...," said the bench.

It also directed the state government to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.

The Rajasthan government counsel informed the bench that the state is taking all the required steps. However, the top court said the state government's affidavit is not satisfactory at all and allowed counsel file a detailed affidavit and scheduled the matter for further hearing on Friday.

The top court made this observation while hearing a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal alleging Rajasthan is not adhering to the 2021 order directing state governments to pay ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the families of Covid-19 victims.

In March this year, the top court, expressing concern at fake Covid-19 claims, said nobody can be permitted to misuse Rs 50,000 ex-gratia compensation to next of kin of those who succumbed to the disease.

"This Court passed the order directing the Union of India/NDMA/concerned States to pay ex-gratia amount keeping in mind the humanity and keeping in mind the sufferings of the family members who lost one of their family members due to Covid-19. Therefore, nobody can be permitted to misuse the same and it is also against morality and is unethical, which can never be accepted," said the top court in March.

Earlier, the top court had issued various directions while monitoring various state governments in connection with distribution of Rs 50,000 fixed by the NDMA as compensation to the family members of persons who died due to Covid-19.

--IANS
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