India

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) A 26-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a woman inside a lift at a Delhi Metro station on April 4, a Delhi Police official said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Rajesh Kumar, is employed as a housekeeping staff at a private hospital.

According to police, Rajesh had exposed his private parts and touched the victim inappropriately inside a lift at Jasola Metro Station in south Delhi.

The incident was captured on security camera footage and local intelligence helped in identifying and locating the accused.

"Upon confrontation, Rajesh attempted to flee the scene without boarding the metro train," said the official.

A case under legal sections related to harassment has been filed by the police.

The victim is an architect by profession and had objected to the accused's actions at the time of the incident.

--IANS
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Patna, April 15 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday termed the CBI summon to his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in connection with the Delhi excise policy case as 'wrong', adding that an appropriate answer will be given in the coming days.

"You know what they (BJP leaders) are doing to the opposition leaders. Everyone is doing great work for the development of their respective states. Arvind Kejriwal has done so many good things for Delhi and people have great respect for him. Still they are targeting him. When the time comes, they will be given appropriate answers," Nitish Kumar said.

All opposition leaders are getting united in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," said Nitish Kumar on the sidelines of a conclave at a private hospital here.

--IANS
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New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) The Delhi government has called a special session of the Legislative Assembly on April 17, a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned to appear before the CBI in connection with the alleged excise policy scam case.

According to sources, the Assembly will discuss the fact that certain powers are creating an atmosphere against the developmental works being carried out by the AAP-led Delhi government.

"In this special session, a committee report on the issue of unanswered questions from MLAs Rajesh Gupta and Atishi, and the Services Department, will be presented on the floor of the House," the sources said.

In response to the CBI summon, Kejriwal has claimed that the central probe agencies were going to extreme heights to target their strongest political rivals.

Referring to the arrest of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia's, Kejriwal said on Saturday that these agencies have falsely claimed that 14 phones were destroyed, lying to the courts in affidavits, torturing suspects to extract falsified confessions and employing thuggish threats.

The agencies have not found a single penny of ill-gotten wealth that they claim was amassed from the so-called liquor scam, the Chief Minister added.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, April 8 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and UDF convenor M.M. Hassan on Saturday requested to stop the attack on the social media against veteran Congressman A.K. Antony after his elder son Anil Antony exited Congress and joined the BJP.

Hassan is a long time neighbour of Antony in the state capital city besides being a member in the cabinet of Antony during 2001-04.

Hassan said what's going on now is the huge social media attack against Antony for what his son did.

"We all saw and heard the harsh words that Antony said about what his son did. Mind you, his son is also a grown up personality and he can seek his way forward, but why blame Antony. This social media attack should stop," said Hassan.

Hassan went on to state that it was on the recommendation of Shashi Tharoor that the then State Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran decided to appoint Anil Antony as the convenor of the IT Cell of the state Congress party.

"In fact at one point of time Ramachandran wanted to appoint Anil as one of the general secretaries of the party in Kerala. When Antony heard about it, he called up Ramachandran and said if he is appointing Anil because he is his son, then he (Antony) will react very sharply. It was after Antony spoke like that Ramachandran dropped that idea," said Hassan.

As trolls slam Antony for what his son did, sources close to Antony revealed that he continues to be deeply distressed, even as many of his party colleagues are trying to pacify him.

Soon after condemning his son's action, Antony reportedly brok down. Later he said that this was his fate.

Meanwhile, reports emerged that the entry of Anil into the BJP was facilitated through the son of a top Union minister.

--IANS
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New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) Government has excluded three coal mines situated in Tamil Nadu's protected agricultural zone, from auction, after state's chief minister M.K. Stalin had urged the Centre to do so.

Stalin had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 4 to exclude three coal/lignite mining blocks located in the state's Cauvery delta region from the proposed coal block auction by the Centre.

The development, however, took a political twist after union Coal and Mines minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted on Friday that the decision was taken as the Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai had requested him to do so.

"@BJP4TamilNadu Pres. @annamalai_k rushed to call upon me in Bengaluru with request to exclude 3 Lignite mines from auctions in 7th tranche. In spirit of cooperative federalism & keeping in mind interest of people of TN, I have directed to exclude them from auction," Joshi tweeted.

The three blocks are located in Michaelpatti in Udayarpalayam taluk of Ariyalur district, East of Sethiathope in Bhuvanagiri taluk of Cuddalore district, and Vadaseri in Orathanadu taluk of Thanjavur district.

Stalin in his letter to the Prime Minister had alleged that the state government was not consulted by the Centre and demanded Modi's urgent intervention in the issue.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister's letter had come on a day when the news about the union government's decision had sparked widespread anger in the state, particularly among farmers of the delta region.

Stalin wrote that the delta region is protected under the Tamil Nadu Protected Agriculture Zone Development Act of 2020.

"This implies that even if the tender process is conducted and a successful bidder is identified, it would not be possible to take up the mining project. Had the state government been consulted before the notification was issued, these issues could have been clarified and the unnecessary disquiet caused by the auction notification could have been avoided," read the letter.

The mining project would lead to desertification and displace people, environment activists have said.

While two sites, East of Seethapuram and Vadasseri, fall within the protected agricultural zone of the Tamil Nadu Act, the Michaelpatti block is part of a major paddy-growing area of the fertile Cauvery delta. Elaborating on the provisions of the state law, Stalin said in the letter.

"Under Section 4 (1) of the Act, no person shall undertake any new project or new activity specified in the second schedule in the protected agricultural zone. The projects covered in the second schedule of the act include exploration, drilling and extraction of oil and natural gas including coal-bed methane, shale gas, and other similar hydrocarbons," he had added.

--IANS
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Kolkata, April 8 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has again summoned Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, to the agency's headquarters in New Delhi for questioning in connection to the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam in West Bengal.

This is the third time that Sukanya Mondal has been summoned to the national capital for questioning since the central agency sleuths took her father to New Delhi in connection with the ongoing probe.

However, she had dodged ED summons on both occasions.

Agency sources have said that in the third summon, Sukanya Mondal has been asked appear on April 12.

Meanwhile, Anubrata Mondal is under judicial custody at the Tihar Jail.

It however, remains unclear if Sukanya Mondal will respond to the third summon.

The last time when the ED had summoned her to New Delhi, the agency sleuths also warned her of strong legal actions in case of her absence.

She was first summoned to New Delhi on March 15. But every time she communicated to ED about her inability to be present on health grounds.

--IANS
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New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against former ICICI Bank MD and chairman Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI-Videocon loan case.

As of now, the court has not taken cognisance of the matter.

The case was first registered on 22.1.2019 against Videocon International Electronics Limited Videocon Industries Limited, Venugopal Nandlal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Virendra Kochhar, NuPower Renewables Limited, Supreme Energy Private Limited and Unknown public servants under sections 120-B read with 420 IPC and Section 7 read with section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the PC Act.

On August 26, 2009, a Sanctioning Committee headed by Chanda Kochhar, MD sanctioned Rupee Term Loan of Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL) in contravention of rules and policies of the bank in criminal conspiracies with the co-accused persons dishonestly by abusing her official position as public servant.

The loan was disbursed on September 7, 2009 and on very next date September 8, 2009, Dhoot, (MD Videocon Group) transferred Rs 64 crore to NRL managed by Deepak Kochhar from Videocon Industries Limited through his company Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd. (SEPL).

NRL was incorporated on December 24, 2008. Dhoot and his relative Saurabh Dhoot resigned from the directorship of NRL on January 15,2009. Before resigning. V N Dhoot allotted 1997500 warrants (convertible into equity) to Deepak Kochhar.

On June 5, 2009 shares of NRL held by V N Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar were transferred to Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL).

SEPL was incorporated on July 3, 2008 with its directors as V.N. Dhoot and his associate Vasant Kakade.

Dhoot resigned from the directorship of SEPL on January 15, 2009 by transferring his shares to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar.

Between June 2009 and October 2011, ICICI Bank sanctioned Rupee Term Loan of Rs 1875 crore to six companies of Videocon Group for the purpose of enabling them to repay the unsecured loan availed by these companies from Videocon Industries Limited. All these loans were sanctioned after Chanda Kochhar took over the charge of ICICI Bank as MD & CEO.

Of the six loans, Chanda Kochhar was one of the committee members in two loans i.e. RTL of Rs 300 crore to VIEL and RTL of Rs 750 crore to VIL.

The ICICI bank had also released the security available in the form of FDR of Rs 50 crore in the accounts of Sky Appliance Ltd and Techno Electronic Ltd without any justification.

On April 26, 2012, the existing outstanding of the six RTL accounts were adjusted in RTL of Rs 1730 crore, sanctioned to VIL under refinance of domestic debt. The account of VIL was declared NPA on June 30, 2017.

Present outstanding in the account is Rs 1033 crore.

"During investigation it has been found that in furtherance of criminal conspiracy with other accused persons, Chanda Kochhar sanctioned various loans to Videocon Group despite having business dealings with VN Dhoot. That investigation revealed that on September 8, 2009, an amount of Rs 64 crore was transferred out of a disbursed amount of Rs 283.45 crore, sanctioned to Videocon International Electronic Limited by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar, to the company's account of her husband. Thus Chanda Kochhar has committed criminal breach of trust punishable under Section 409 of IPC, by sanctioning RTL of Rs 300 crore and later on converted the funds of Rs 64 crore for her own use," the CBI has alleged.

The CBI said that being a public servant, she was entrusted with the bank funds for which she was liable to discharge such trust in accordance with the guidelines issued by the ICICI Bank.

The CBI has learnt that Chanda Kochhar was residing in a flat without consideration. During the period she dealt with loan proposal of Videocon Group and sanctioned for sanction as a member of the committee flat was under litigation for possession between Videocon Industries Limited and Deepak Kochhar. Subsequently, the flat (valued at Rs 5.25 crore in 1996) was transferred to Quality Advisor, a family trust of Deepak Kochhar at meagre amount of Rs 11 lakh in 2016.

--IANS
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Jaipur, April 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Rajasthan's first Vande Bharat Express train from Jaipur to New Delhi on April 12 via video conferencing.

On the inaugural day, the train will run from Jaipur to Delhi instead of Ajmer.

It would be the 14th Vande Bharat Express since the first semi-high-speed train was launched on February 15, 2019 from New Delhi to Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.

According to sources, this train will run from Jaipur on the day of inauguration, while on normal days the train will operate between Ajmer-Delhi. The final schedule of the train including the timing of the train, days in the week, stoppage and fare will be determined shortly.

The specialty of this train is that it is completely made of 100 per cent indigenous technology. This air-conditioned vehicle has many facilities like automatic doors, GPS system, WiFi, etc.

This train was trialled for three days in March. It will run between Ajmer to Delhi at a speed of about 110 kilometers per hour.

--IANS
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Mumbai, April 3 (IANS) Ayodhya's Rishi Singh, the fans of whose Arijit Singh-type voice and singing style include star cricketer Virat Kohli, was named the winner of 'Indian Idol 13' late on Sunday night.

A favourite right from the start, Rishi takes home a cheque of Rs 25 lakh and a car as well. Debasmita Roy and Chirag Kotwal are the first and second runners-up. Others who made it to the grand finale show were Sonakshi Kar, Shivam Singh, and Bidipta Chakravarty.

The popular reality show was judged by Himesh Reshammiya, Vishal Dadlani, and Neha Kakkar.

One of the highlights of the show was Rishi narrating the story of how his parents had adopted him. Otherwise, as he put, "Main kahin sadh raha hota, main kahin mar raha hota (I would have been rotting away somewhere, or maybe dying)."

Rishi said he had come to know about his past as recently as the Theatre Round of the reality show. That is when his parents shared with him his life's biggest truth. "Without them, I know I wouldn't have been here. They're like God to me," a grateful Rishi had shared with the world.

Today, out of the just 255 people whom Virat Kohli follows on social media, Rishi Singh is one. Indeed, his parents gave him the life he wouldn't have even dreamt of had he not been adopted by them.

--IANS
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New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) A total of 28 foreign nationals who were found staying in the national capital illegally have been sent back to their respective countries last month, the police said on Sunday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M. Harsha Vardhan said a police team was tasked with identifying the foreign nationals who were staying in the city illegally, and involved in drug peddling.

The team had identified at least 28 foreign nationals who were staying illegally in Delhi, following which all were apprehended.

"They were found overstaying in India without a valid visa. They were presented before the Foreigners Registration Office, which ordered their deportation. Accordingly, they were sent to the detention centre. Till now, this year, a total of 82 foreign nationals have been sent for deportation. It is also to be noted that a total of 437 foreign nationals were sent for deportation in 2022," the DCP said.

--IANS
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