India

Panaji, Feb 16 (IANS) Akshata Murthy, the wife of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, their two daughters and her parents - Infosys founder Narayan Murthy and author Sudha Murty - were spotted holidaying at Benaulim beach in south Goa, recently.

A local, Francisco Fernandes, known as Pele, feels himself lucky to provide water sports services to Murthy's family at Benaulim beach for two days.

Speaking to IANS, Pele said that Akshata Murthy and her family were so simple and down to earth that he was shocked to notice it.

"My doctor friend and her wife were on the beach when this family was interacting with me. She (doctor's wife) asked me 'Pele do you know whom you are talking to, she is the wife of UK's Prime Minister'. I was shocked as they were very simple and down to earth," Pele said.

"First day they enjoyed the 'Jet Ski' ride and the second day, I took them for a boat ride. I showed them dolphins in the sea. They were very much happy," Pele, who also has a water sports business, said.

"UK Prime Minister's wife asked me, is water sports safe in Goa? I told her, 'Ma'am, it is 100 per cent safe and I will keep you and your family safe if they wish to enjoy water sports," he said.

"I told her that there are many Goans living in the UK and I want her to see that they are safe too. She replied 'done'. I was so happy at that time. She was very down to earth," Pele said.

"I am very much happy on their visit to Benaulim. They are so rich, but down to earth. God bless them and give them good health to protect the people of the UK," Pele said.

--IANS
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Mumbai/Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) A team of Income Tax Department sleuths carried out a 'survey' at the global media conglomerate BBC's Mumbai studios and office in Delhi on Tuesday.

The BBC studio is situated in a commercial hub near the Bandra Kurla Complex in central Mumbai where offices of several national and multinational companies are also located.

The sleuths are understood to have seized the mobiles, laptops, tablets of the staffers present there, though exact details of the investigations by the central probe agency were not available.

A large number of media persons and photographers, besides many curious onlookers out for the lunch break, converged outside the studio building awaiting the nitty-gritties of the ITD operation inside the BBC studio.

Though no insiders were available for comments, the survey of the Mumbai studio is connected with an ongoing similar operation at the BBC offices in New Delhi, which sparked off a major political furore.

The Income Tax department officials reached the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) office in Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg, said the sources.

The sources also said that the team reached there to verify documents and some of the employees were also asked to leave the office and go home.

"Phones have also been seized," said the sources.

Though the reasons behind the ITD's survey' or what the sleuths were looking for are not clear, it is widely suspected to be a fallout of the recent documentary 'India: The Modi Question' on the 2002 Gujarat riots aired by BBC that rankled the Indian government.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Feb 14 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asserted that rich nations have no right to dictate their solutions to nations in need of support.

While participating in the Defence Ministers' Conclave in Bengaluru, Singh stated, "There are nations which are richer, scientifically or technologically and more advanced than others. But, it does not give them the right to dictate their solutions to the nations in need of support."

This top down approach towards solving the problems is not desired in the long run. Often it leads to debt-trap, reaction from the local population, conflict and so on. That is why, the focus should be on providing assistance in terms of building of institutions and capacities so that the bottom of solutions can come up originally in accord with the ethos of the nations being assisted, the Minister stated.

"We offer enhanced defence partnerships to friendly foreign nations which are accommodative of nations' priorities and capacities. We want to build, launch, create and develop with you. We wish to create a symbiotic relationship in which we can learn from each other, grow together and create a win-win situation for one and all," he stated.

Shared prosperity of the world requires greater coordination among all nations in diverse areas of which the domain of defense and security are of most importance. Today, collective security has become sine qua non for prosperity and development.

Terrorism, illegal arms, drugs smuggling, and human trafficking pose significant security threats to the whole world. Though these are not new, their scope and scale are unprecedented. Therefore, to counter these threats, there is a need to devise new strategies, he explained.

India does not believe in dealing with such security issues in old patterns or neo colonial paradigms. "We consider all nations as equal partners. That is why we do not believe in dumping external supra-national solutions to a country's internal problems. We do not believe in sermons or cut and write solutions which do not respect the national values and countries in need of assistance," the Minister insisted.

"It is our endeavour to transcend the hierarchical relationship of buyer and seller to the development and co-production model, whether we are a buyer or seller. "We are a major defence buyer as well as a significant exporter. When we are procuring defence equipment from our valued partner nations, very often they are sharing technical know-how, setting up manufacturing plants in India and working with our local farms or various sub-systems," he said.

He further stated that wherever India is exporting defence equipment, full support is offered towards the capability development.

India has never been a closed country and has always been open to new ideas or thoughts from all over the world. "Our past openness continues to shape the present and future. Untethered to any faction or alliance of one group of nations against another, we have worked ceaselessly for the upliftment of all nations, developing ones in particular, he said. India always stood for a rule based international order," he added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Minister of Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday urged coal companies to identify and remove production bottlenecks in order to further increase dry fuel production.

He said this while conducting a meeting to review dry fuel production from allocated blocks.

So far in this financial year, 92.3 million tonnes coal has been produced from 54 operational coal blocks.

The meeting was held with officials of Coal India Limited (CIL) at the company's headquarters in Kolkata, where officials of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) were also present.

"Chaired a meeting with officials of @CoalMinistry, @CoalIndiaHQ & @PRO_SCCL to review the company's performance in the Q4 of FY 2022-23," Joshi tweeted.

"Happy to note that CIL has not only achieved 100 per cent of targeted coal production up to January 2023, but also registered 15.2 per cent growth over last year," he tweeted further after the meeting.

Coal offtake by CIL has also been achieved 100 per cent of the target, with a 5.5 per cent growth over last year.

"Directed officials of SCCL to adhere to annual targets and encouraged the coal companies to further scale up coal supplies to thermal power plants," the minister tweeted further.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) BJP Kisan Morcha National has decided to take organic farming to 3 crore farmers in as many years.

On the occasion of completion of four years of Pradhan Mantri Samman Nidhi Yojana on February 24, it will organise PM Samman in all the districts of the country.

Besides, the Morcha will also organise dialogue and farmer conference programmes with the beneficiaries.

The decision was taken during the Prakritik Kheti Jagran Abhiyan National Training Programme workshop under the leadership of National President of Kisan Morcha and MP Shrajkumar Chahar on Monday.

According to BJP Kisan Morcha National President Rajkumar Chahar, the farmers reside in the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and vice versa. "Today if our farmer brothers are strong and self-reliant, it is because of the continuous schemes brought in their interest by our PM," he said.

Manoj Yadav, the national convenor of the Kisan Morcha, said that in the first phase, 5-5 kilometer pad yatras and Kisan Sammelans will be organised on both sides of the banks of the Ganga. In the second phase, a public awareness campaign and pad yatras will be organised to encourage organic farming on the banks of rivers in other parts of the country.

Thousands of workers will be trained for organic farming. Organic farming seminars training programs will also be conducted at state and district level.

Prime Minister Modi is continuously calling for adopting natural farming and in the budget also the government has set a target of reaching 1 crore farmers. In all the districts of the country, dialogue and farmers' conferences will be organised with the beneficiaries of Samman Nidhi.

Chahar gave special thanks to the Prime Minister for promoting 'anna' and recognising the importance of coarse grains.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought Arvind Kejriwal-led government to file a response on a plea seeking an "immediate" stop to putting up of job vacancies with salaries below the prescribed or fixed minimum wage on its official portal or otherwise.

A plea filed in a form of Public Interest Litigation (PIL), was dealt by a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The PIL seeking implementation of labour laws with termination of bonded labour in the city on the basis of an order issued by the city government regarding minimum wages to be paid to unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers, with effect from October 1, 2022, has been filed by a Jamia Millia Islamia University student of the law department.

Petitioner Imran Ahmad in the PIL said he has filed the case for the welfare of labourers working in the national capital.

The plea has sought court's direction to the city government to keep a tab on theA payment made to all such employees through online means and to ensure that they get the right amount.

Ahmad has contended that mentioning salaries below fixed minimum wages for job posts like office boy, cook, waiter, drlivery boy, cmputer operator, ambulance driver, kitchen helper, peon, etc., violates the order by adversely affecting the right to life (including the right to health and the right to dignity) as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Ahmad's plea stated: "It is because a person who does not have the minimum amount of money as decided by the government may not be in a position to buy and eat healthy food and avail other basic necessities such as cloths, accommodation and internet."

The bench, however, asked the counsel representing government to obtain instructions.

The matter has been listed to continue on May 23.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 14 (IANS) The Kerala unit of Congress on Tuesday took a jibe at Pinarayi Vijayan saying earlier the Chief Minister disliked black, now he can not stand white as well.

Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan made the remark as Vijayan's security has been increased fearing his safety after the government proposed a Rs 2 cess on fuel. The tightened security is making movement of ordinary people on the road difficult.

If the CM is scared to move out on the road, he should stay indoors, he stated.

"Till now Vijayan did not like black colour as all those wearing black masks, black churidars and black shirts were hounded. Now he has started hating white as well. A Congress worker (dressed in white) was taking his wife to a hospital, but while waiting at a bus stop, the police took him away. On asking, he was told that the CM is passing by and fearing a protest this was done," said Satheesan.

"If he stays indoors, at least the people can move freely. What's happening is not acceptable as the situation now reflects Stalin's Russia, but he should realise that this is Kerala and it cannot go for long," said Satheesan.

For the past few days, the police have been chasing away people who travel on the road that Vijayan is expected to take. This has led to incidents of skirmishes between the police and the innocent people, who are stopped on the road.

Incidentally, as per rules, people like the CM who fall in the Z-security category, the convoy consists of seven vehicles but Vijayan now has 16 vehicles. Not only this, hundreds of police officials take their position on the road, much before to ensure that vehicles are stopped and no vehicles are parked on the roads.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) A fire broke out at the top floor of a paying guest (PG) accommodation after two LPG cylinder blasts in south Delhi's Gautam Nagar area on Tuesday, said a fire department official.

According to Atul Garg, the Director of Delhi Fire Service (DFS), the fire department received a call regarding the incident at around 9.10 a.m. near Gurudwara, Anand Apartment, Gautam Nagar area.

"Acting on the call five, fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze is under control," said Garg.

"Two LPG cylinder blasts in the temporary structure made on the rooftop of a building comprising ground plus three floors. No casualty has been reported as of now," Garg added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Congress General Secretary In-charge communication Jairam Ramesh has accused the Centre of trying to silence the party.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Ramesh said, "JPC was constituted in Harshad Mehta case, then in Ketan Parekh case and now our demand is legitimate in the Adani-Hindenburg issue as public sector banks and LIC money is at stake.

"The Adani issue pertains to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia and Israel."

He said that the expunction of 'Parliamentary' words are unprecedented as in the past BJP had called Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh 'Mauni Baba'.

He said, "The majority members in JPC would be from the BJP, so why is it afraid of constituting the joint Parliamentary committee."

Jairam on Monday had tweeted, "Today in Supreme Court Solicitor General said Govt has no objection to a commitee to examine the Hindenburg report on Adani. Then why the stubborn refusal to a JPC which will anyway be dominated by BJP & its allies? But will the proposed committee investigate Hindenburg or Adani?" he said.

But, on Tuesday, he said that the subject of the petition is something different as it wants investigation in Hindenburg expose.

The like-minded opposition parties have been demanding a JPC to examine the whole issue as they alleged that public sector banks and LIC have lost money.

The Central government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that the existing structure, which includes the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and others agencies, are fully equipped to handle the situation which occurred after Hindenburg report on Adani group, and it would not oppose the court's suggestion to constitute a committee to strengthen the existing regime.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) A Congress leader has moved the Supreme Court seeking probe against Adani Group of companies against the backdrop of Hindenburg report, and also sought probe into the role of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the SBI for allegedly investing "huge amounts of public money" in the FPO of the enterprises.

The plea filed by Jaya Thakur through advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma urged the top court to direct probe against Adani group of companies through chairman and his associates who have swindled lakhs of the crores of public money and money of the government exchequer, by various investigating agencies, i.e. CBI, ED, DRI, CBDT, EIB, NCB, SEBI, RBI, SFIO under the supervision and monitoring of the sitting judge of the apex court.

"To direct the investigating agencies to investigate the role of Respondent No. 11 (LIC) & 12 (SBI) to invest huge amount of public money in the FPO of the Adani Enterprises @ Rs 3200/- per share whereas the prevailing market arte of shares of Adani Enterprises in the secondary market was Rs 1800/- per share approximately," said the plea.

The plea contended that subsequent to disclosure made by Hindenburg Research report on January 24, the share price of the Adani Group of companies came down drastically and reached to almost 50 per cent of the price prevailing on January 24, in various stock markets in India and abroad, due to which the millions of common men of this country lost more than Rs 10 lakh crore.

The apex court is already hearing two petitions in connection with the Hindenburg report controversy.

On Monday, the Central government informed the Supreme Court that the existing structure, which includes the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and others agencies, are fully equipped to handle the situation which occurred after Hindenburg report on Adani group, and it would not oppose the court's suggestion to constitute a committee to strengthen the existing regime.

It stressed that the court could permit it to suggest the remit of that committee with possible suggestions of names of the committee.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said: "Our instructions are that the existing structure -- Sebi and other agencies -- are fully equipped not only regime wise but otherwise also, in taking care of the situation.

"However, responding to suggestions which fell from your lordships, the government has no objection in constituting a committee."

Mehta stressed that the remit of the committee should be very relevant because any unintentional message to the international investors and domestic investors that even a regulator or statutory monitoring authority also needs a monitoring by a committee appointed by the Supreme Court may have some adverse impact on the flow of money.

--IANS
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