India

Guwahati/Dhubri, Sep 29 (IANS) In Assam's Dhubri district, a boat capsized in Brahmaputra river on Thursday morning and several people have gone missing since, officials said.

Manash Kumar Saikia, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhubri told IANS that the accident happened at an under-construction Dhubri-Fulbari bridge on Brahmaputra river.

He informed that the boat hit a pillar of the under-construction bridge and capsized. Following the incident, at least five people could swim across the river and reach the shore. But, several others are still missing.

"There were reports of some 50 people on board the boat. But, we are still not sure about the exact number," he added.

It is learned that Dhubri Circle Officer Sanju Das, along with a land record official and an office staff were also on the boat to survey an erosion-hit area. All of them are missing after the accident.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was deployed to rescue the people. According to a police source, around 15 people have been rescued so far.

The locals claimed that many school children were also on the boat. It carried around 10 motorbikes as well.

The place of the incident known as Adabari is 3km from Dhubri town.

Notably, the Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge is a proposed bridge over the Brahmaputra river between Assam and Meghalaya.

The bridge, to be completed by 2026-27, would be India's longest bridge over water, spanning more than 19 km. This bridge, close to the Bangladesh border, will connect Assam's Dhubri with Meghalaya's Phulbari area.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has virtually 'exonerated' Republic TV and R. Bharat -- English and Hindi news channels owned by Arnab R. Goswami, but the agency has booked 16 others of various private television channels and a market research group, for alleged money-laundering charges in the sensational TRP scam that erupted two years ago.

The ED charge sheet was filed on September 26 on behalf of Assistant Director Pawan Kumar before the Special PMLA Court Mumbai, and has sought initiation of proceedings, among others, to confiscate the provisionally attached properties of all the accused as stipulated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, as they were bought from the proceeds of the crime.

The accused named are: Shirish V. Pattanshetty and Manish R. Sangh, both owners of 'Fakht Marathi' channel, their company Lotus Enterprises, Narayan N. Sharma, owner of 'Box Cinema' channel and his company Box Cinemedia Pvt. Ltd., Vishwajeet O. Sharma and Darshan B. Singh, both owners of 'Mahamovie' channel and their company Teleone Consumers Product Pvt. Ltd.

The others are: Bompally Rao Mistry of Sanch Media, Umesh C. Mishra, Vishal V. Bhandari, Dinesh P. Vishwakarma, Vikas V. Burungale, Ashwin C. Motiwale, Mahesh S. Bompalli and Rajesh K. Vishwakarma (all ex-employees of Hansa Research Group), as named in the charge sheet.

The ED has urged the Special Court to take cognisance and issue process against all the accused individuals (for arrest), order the confiscation of their movable and immovable assets, seize their passports, etc.

Presumably giving a 'clean chit' to Goswami and his news channels, the ED termed its investigations under PMLA as "at variance" with the probe initially conducted by the Mumbai Police, as "no such evidence is forthcoming" in the statements of the accused/witnesses, digital data evidence and analysis of the raw data provided by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

The ED said that the Mumbai Police -- which had first exposed the scam in 2020 -- relied on a forensic audit report of Acquisory Risk Consulting Pvt. Ltd., that contended how the TRP calculation methodology was tinkered with and controls used to favour specific channels, was superficial and based on analysis of limited aspects.

The Mumbai Police had named Republic TV, India Today and other channels as allegedly involved in the TRP scam that had shaken up the country's media industry and sparked a massive political uproar.

In view of its findings, the ED charge sheet has not mentioned Republic TV, R. Bharat channels, its Editor-in-Chief Goswami or his company ARG Outlier Media, or any BARC officials.

However, the ED probe has detected instances of TRP manipulations not only in Mumbai and Maharashtra but also Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and has called for the FIRs filed by the respective state police for investigations.

Another FIR was registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police, which has now been transferred and under probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi.

"From the investigations and evidence gathered, it is clearly established that the (16) accused committed the offence of money laundering... and are liable to be prosecuted and punished... and the provisionally attached properties involved in the money-laundering are liable to be confiscated... as per the PMLA," the ED concluded.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Around two months after the liquor sale at the domestic terminals of the airport was stopped, the liquor shops are likely to restart soon at the terminals.

As per an official, the airport authorities have offered the shops to the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) to open liquor vends at the domestic terminals. "We have been offered four to five shops to open vends at the domestic terminals of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport," the official said.

Delhi government's four corporations namely Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (DSCSC) and Delhi Consumers Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS) have been given responsibility to open the stores across the city.

The liquor sale was stopped at the domestic terminals of the airport after August 31 as the new excise policy 2021-22 was withdrawn by the Delhi government. After Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the new excise policy, Delhi government decided to go back to the old regime of retail liquor sale in the city.

However, the Excise Policy 2021-22, which was extended twice after March 31 for a period of two months each, came to an end on July 31. But, later it was given one month of extension to prepare before the old regime of Excise policy started from September 1.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Sep 29 (IANS) Ever since the poll schedule for the post of Congress president was announced, there has been an unending buzz that two leaders from Madhya Pradesh may file nominations -- Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh and state Congress chief Kamal Nath.

Kamal Nath said that he was not in the race of the Congress' top post as he wants to focus on the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, which is just 14 months away.

Digvijaya Singh on Thursday reached the party headquarters in New Delhi from Kerala where he was participating in Bharat Jodi Yatra with Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders, and collected the nomination form. With this fresh twist in the race of the Congress chief, he made it clear that he wants to be a contestant.

He has also got the support from the Congress unit of Madhya Pradesh and a delegation of party's MLAs would reach the national capital to extend their support to Singh.

Digvijaya's brother Laxman Singh, who had once joined the BJP and returned to the Congress in 2013, said, "Our parents have always taught us about struggle. Me and my brother, Digvijaya Singh, are not the ones who would step back. We will fight."

Meanwhile, leader of opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly -- Dr. Govind Singh, who is considered close to Digvijaya Singh, claimed that Kamal Nath had asked him to reach Delhi with party's MLAs. "Nearly two dozen MLAs, including Dr. Govind Singh would reach Delhi by late night or early Friday morning," sources told IANS.

"Why Digvijaya Singh would be the best candidate for AICC head, it has three reasons -- First, he is a good orator with a decades of experience of both administration and the organisation, second, he belongs to the Hindi-speaking belt where the party's condition is completely deteriorated, and third reason is that the Congress head should be a person who can take on PM Modi and, therefore Digvijaya Singh would be the best candidate for the party's to post," said a Congress leader on condition of anonymity.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Sep 29 (IANS) As the Kolkata Police intensifies its probe into mobile gaming app E-Nuggets in a fraud case, more associates of the prime accused are being arrested in connection.

Late Wednesday, the city police arrested Soma Naskar (28), who used to give her personal bank account on rent to Amir Khan, the prime accused, for depositing the proceeds of the app's transactions.

A reserve of Rs 30 crore in the account has also been confiscated by Kolkata Police.

With this, the total seizure in the E-Nuggets scam has reached a whopping Rs 74.68 crore.

The first seizure amounting to Rs 17.32 crore in cash was recovered by Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths from the residence of Amir Khan's father Naser at Shahi Astabal Lane in the city's Garden Reach area on September 10.

In the second seizure, the police on Thursday confiscated Rs 14.53 crore from a cryptocurrency wallet of Amir Khan.

The same evening, the ED sleuths seized Bitcoin worth Rs 12.73 crore, which was deposited in the cryptocurrency wallet of a local businessman who had hired it to Khan against a commission.

Besides Naskar, four other close associates have also been arrested -- Samit Mondal (37), Rahul Pal (37), Prasenjit Sarkar (32) and Pratik Bajpai (29).

Bajpai was the manager of Amir Khan's office in Salt Lake from where he used to operate the E-Nuggets fraud trade.

A couple of high-end sophisticated server machines, 1,952 mobile SIM cards, several laptops and desktops were recovered from the office.

Amir Khan, who was arrested by the Kolkata Police from Ghaziabad on September 24, is currently under custody. He will be produced before a lower court on October 8.

The accused had launched the app which was designed for the purpose of defrauding the public.

During the initial period, the users were rewarded with commission, and balance in the wallet could be withdrawn in a hassle-free manner.

This provided confidence to the users, who started investing bigger amounts for a larger 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 app's server.

--IANS
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Bhubaneswar, Sep 29 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and first chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW) Jayanti Patnaik passed away here at a private hospital on Wednesday night. She was 90.

She is survived by son Prithvi Ballav Patnaik and two daughters. Her husband, former Odisha chief minister and ex-governor of Assam J. B. Patnaik had passed away in 2015.

Jayanti was elected to Lok Sabha three times from Cuttack and Berhampur constituency and nominated to Rajya Sabha once. She was also known for her literary skills having translated K.M. Munshi's Krishnavatara in Odia.

Condoling the death of the senior Congress leader, President Droupadi Murmu, in a tweet, said, "Sad to learn about the demise of Jayanti Patnaik, wife of former Odisha CM J.B. Patnaik. She was also an ex-MP and eminent social worker who endeared herself to the people of the state through her service and dedication. My condolences to her family, friends, and well-wishers."

Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, state Congress president Sarat Pattnayak and many other leaders from Odisha condoled the demise of the Congress leader.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) A day ahead of the last date of filing nomination for the Congress presidential post, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday reached 10 Janpath to meet party interim president Sonia Gandhi, and sources said that the stalemate is likely to end soon.

Ahead of this meeting, Sonia Gandhi's emissary Mukul Wasnik met Gehlot.

The Sonia-Gehlot meeting gains significance as the loyal MLAs to Ashok Gehlot had boycotted the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on September 25.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will file nomination for the post of the party president for which election is scheduled to be held on October 17. Sources close to Singh have said the decision to contest the polls is his personal one, adding that none from the Gandhi family has asked him to do so.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister may file the nomination by September 30, the last date of filing nominations.

Congress' initial plan was to field Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for the top party post, but the high-octane drama in Rajasthan has miffed the Gandhis. Sources in the know of things said "Gehlot has not been ruled out from the race yet".

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) A day after the probe agency CBI arrested Vijay Nair in connection with the alleged corruption in Delhi's liquor policy, party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that he was a mere party worker.

"They arrested Vijay Nair yesterday. I fail to understand why they have arrested him. He is just a small party worker. He handles communication for us. Earlier, he handled the communication work in Punjab and we formed the government there. Now, he is handling the communication strategy in Gujarat. He was handling social media outreach in Gujarat", said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while addressing the media here on Wednesday.

Kejriwal alleged that Nair was forced to take the name of Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. "Over the past few days, he was being called for questioning every day. He was being pressured to name Manish Sisodia, and threatened with arrest if he did not name him. Earlier, they raided Manish Sisodia, examined the locker and found nothing. They are trying to crush the AAP", Kejriwal alleged.

The government's first duty should be to liberate the people from inflation and unemployment, but the government is not interested in solving the problems being faced by the common man, said Kejriwal.

"People from across the country are suffering because of price rise and inflation. Everything is expensive, there is joblessness and businesses are shutting down. At a time like this, it is the biggest job of any government to find solutions. But they don't care. They only want to indulge in dirty politics. They are only looking for ways to finish AAP, to crush Kejriwal and AAP," he said.

He added further that Manish Sisodia too can be arrested in the next one week. But it will not have any impact on AAP party workers. "If they can arrest a small party worker like Nair, they can arrest anyone. Today I appeal to all AAP workers across the county to be ready for arrest", the chief minister said.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 28 (IANS) This is the season of yatras. With the Congress busy with its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) having embarked on its 'Savdhan Yatra', the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also announced a padyatra from Ayodhya to Prayagraj.

The yatra will tap into the youth ahead of the upcoming local body elections.

It also has definite Hindu overtones since it begins from one pilgrim centre (Ayodhya) and culminates at another (Prayagraj).

The padyatra, to be led by AAP's UP in-charge and MP Sanjay Singh, will start on October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and conclude on November 10.

The 'Mehangai Bhagao, Rozgar Bachao' padyatra -- 'Saryu se Sangam Tak', will begin after taking blessings of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, said the party's state spokesperson Mahendra Singh.

He said that the party workers, supporters and common people will join in the padyatra, which will seek to raise awareness about the rising inflation in the country and the growing unemployment.

"AAP is in the process of strengthening its base in UP. In October, we will be focussing on selection of candidates. This yatra will start when that process will be in its final stage. Both issues being raised in it have a deep connect with people. Inflation has affected every single family while unemployment is a pressing issue for the youth," said Singh.

The 120-km-long padyatra will be covered in 10 days with frequent stoppages to interact with people.

Party sources said that campaigns such as padyatras have a lot of resonance with the youth and the party, which is working on establishing itself in Uttar Pradesh, this segment will be very crucial.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) The Centre on Wednesday banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates and affiliates for a period of five years in the wake of nationwide raids against the Islamist organisation by law enforcement agencies.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Central Government hereby declares the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an 'unlawful association'," read a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

"Whereas, the Central Government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect, and accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 3 of the said Act, the Central government hereby directs that this notification shall, subject to any order that may be made under section 4 of the said Act, have effect for a period of five years from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette," it added.

As per the notification, the PFI is involved in several criminal and terror cases and shows sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority of the country and with funds and ideological support from outside, it has become a major threat to internal security of the country.

"Investigations in various cases have revealed that the PFI and its cadres have been repeatedly engaging in violent and subversive acts. Criminal violent acts carried out by PFI include chopping off limb of a college professor, cold blooded killings of persons associated with organisations espousing other faiths, obtaining explosives to target prominent people and places and destruction of public property," it added.

The ban comes after the recent raids carried out at the premises of PFI members by the National Investigation Agency and Enforcement Directorate.

On September 22, teams led by the NI) arrested 106 leaders and activists of the PFI in nearly 15 states.

--IANS
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