India

New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi's decision on January 15 to resign as head of his family's branch and naming his son, Ruchir as successor beneficiary of the K.K. Modi family trust with immediate effect, seems to have reopened the feud within the family with its members pouring their grievances on social media.

Soon after Lalit Modi's decision to step down as head of his family branch came to light, his mother Bina Modi, when asked to comment on the development, refused to say anything but added that she will go as per legal advice regarding the ongoing court battle involving her son Lalit Modi.

Lalit Modi is involved in a family property dispute with his mother Bina Modi.

He later tagged the news report quoting his mother in a tweet and said, "Surely all can see the ridiculous nature of greed & avarice now? Giving up my inheritance rights, shows me how far-sighted my father was and how pathetic legal wrangling can derail his dying wishes."

Lalit Modi's brother Samir Modi tagged the abovementioned tweet and tweeted, "I signed the trust deed & gave up my inheritance rights because my father wanted to protect them. I never ever imagined that my mother would abuse this wish and put me on the road. It's truly broken me and my faith in her. Can't imagine what money & greed has done to her."

Samir Modi later deleted the tweet.

Lalit Modi also shared a deleted tweet of his younger brother Samir on his Instagram page where the latter had said, "I used to laugh at my own saying- blood is thicker than water and money is thicker than blood."

Reacting to Samir's post, Lalit Modi said in his Instagram post, "This is truly sad that Samir Modi has to actually live in the same place. I am really worried about his life. He is a very emotional person. And really unwell. Shocking-level people who give birth to u blackmail u. Samir Modi- from me to you- 'THIS TOO SHALL PASS'. You remember this mantra I used to say every time we went through a tough time. I still live by it."

On January 15, Lalit Modi had written a letter to his mother Bina and siblings, sister Charu and brother Samir, informing them about his decision to resign as head of his family's branch and naming his son Ruchir as his successor beneficiary of the K.K. Modi family trust.

"The present litigation with my mother and sister, is tedious, strenuous and has gone on for long, and even though there have been several rounds of discussions for settlement, there is no end in sight. It has caused and continues to cause me immense distress... I have discussed this with my daughter and she and I are of the opinion that I should hand over the control of affairs of the LKM (Lalit Kumar Modi) family and its beneficial interest in the Trust to my son Ruchir Modi," Lalit Modi had written in the letter.

In August 2022, the Supreme Court had appointed former apex court judge Justice R.V. Raveendran as a mediator to settle the family property dispute.

The apex court had observed that the counsel appearing for both sides agreed that they would go without any pre-condition and with an open mind to settle the dispute in mediation.

The decision was taken by a bench headed by the then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana.

--IANS
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Gurugram, Jan 16 (IANS) A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 1 crore from a Gurugram-based businessman by threatening to kill him and his family, police said.

The police had received a complaint from the businessman on January 11 who claimed have received an extortion letter from an unknown person.

He said that the man threatened to kill him if he did not pay the ransom amount, the police said.

An FIR was registered at the Sector-14 police station in Gurugram and police swung into action to trace the accused.

The arrested accused was identified as Sandeep Tyagi aka Jitender.

On Sunday, police received a tip-off about the accused. They laid a trap and arrested him from Iffco Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, the official said.

During questioning, it was ascertained that the accused was aformer employee of the complainant and knows about the victim's background and his family.

"The accused will be taken on police remand for further invention," Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP (crime), said.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Jan 16 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived in Karnataka's state capital to take part in the Women's convention on Monday.

She was received by State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah at the airport. The Congress workers who gathered on the airport premises accorded her a rousing welcome.

The party workers also honoured their leader with a huge apple and flower garland and cheered for her. Priyanka Gandhi will address a mega women's convention organised at the Palace Grounds.

Karnataka Congress wants to counter the BJP's blitzkrieg by roping in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the government as well as party programmes.

The Congress wants to galvanise the party workers through Priyanka's event. It wants to create a momentum like how it got during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Congress insiders explain that there will be a major announcement regarding the manifesto of the party for Karnataka by Priyanka Gandhi.

The party had erected huge and tall cutouts and banners across Bengaluru to welcome her. The leaders are hoping to get momentum with this convention for women titled "Na Nayaki (I am the leader)".

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has attacked the BJP and the Prime Minister and alleged that 115 people are taking their lives per day.

Kharge said in a tweet, "In #GujaratModel of BJP, 9 daily wagers die by suicide every day in Gujarat, 115 daily wagers commit suicide every day in India. Your 'Double Engine' has crushed the aspirations of the poor under its deadly wheels !"

Kharge had earlier attacked the government and said, "No Prime Minister, no home minister has lied, they are lying, sometimes they say they will give 2 crore jobs some time 15 lakh rupees to each one account, but all false."

"The Congress party made so many governments but the MLAs were lured and the BJP formed their own government, while they talk about protecting democracy."

He said the BJP's main aim is to create hatred and division, but the Bharat Jodo Yatra is fighting these elements and will emerge victorious.

Addressing the a rally in Haryana's Panipat recently, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the government on Agniveer Scheme, and said Haryana has become a champion in unemployment with no jobs for youth.

Gandhi said that earlier a soldier used to serve country for 15 years and proper training and retirement benefits were given but now after five years he will be unemployed.

--IANS
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Joshimath, Jan 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government have been monitoring the situation in Joshimath. After the Ministry of Home Affairs, a team from the PM's Office visited the holy city to inspect the land subsidence affected areas. The cracks have increased slightly.

The team, headed by Mangesh Ghildiyal, Deputy Secretary PMO, visited the city on Sunday and will submit its report soon, said sources.

According to sources, the purpose of the visit was to separately inspect the condition of the areas with visible cracks and deteriorating water quality.

Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha inspected the affected areas on the same day and said that there had been a slight increase in the number of cracks, but no new areas were damaged.

A team of the MHA, led by Border Management Secretary Dharmendra S. Gangwar, had visited Dehradun and Joshimath last week and had held discussions with the the state officials.

The local authorities informed the Central teams about the steps taken by the district administration.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam has termed his party's senior "manager" as old and irrelevant.

Krishnam tweeted, "After SP now BSP has also flatly refused the arrangement, seems to be that the senior 'manager' of our party, along with being old, has also become irrelevant."

It is apparent that Congress campaign for opposition unity against the BJP seems to have received a setback.

Significantly, Assembly elections are to be held in nine states before the Lok Sabha polls.

In many of these states, including in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are seemingly drifting away from the Congress.

Krishnam took a jibe at the party manager regarding the same.

Recently, SP president and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, while talking to IANS, had said that the relevance of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra and his party would be decided by the results of the Lok Sabha elections.

On the occasion of her birthday on Sunday, BSP Chief Mayawati informed that the party would not contest assembly elections in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2023 and will contest the Lok Sabha polls alone, without any alliance.

These statements indicate that the Congress might not get the support of the SP and the BSP in the Lok Sabha polls and that the BJP might win against the divided opposition.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday held that default bail granted to an accused can be cancelled on merits -- if a strong case is made out on filing of a charge sheet -- as there cannot be a premium on lethargic probe.

A bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah directed the Telangana High Court to consider on merits the CBI's plea for cancellation of bail to Erra Gangi Reddy in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019.

The bench, also comprising Justice C.T. Ravikumar, noted that mere non-filing of the charge sheet (within the deadline) will not be enough when a strong case is made out against the accused. The top court remanded that matter back to the high court to consider it afresh in accordance with law and on merits.

The top court observed that the high court judgment -- which held that default bail cannot be cancelled on merits -- would give a premium to the lethargy of investigating agencies.

The top court was considering whether bail can be cancelled after presentation of the charge sheet, when the bail was granted for not filing the charge sheet within 90 days.

The bench noted that mere filing of charge sheet will not result in cancellation unless a strong case is made out that the accused has committed a non bailable offence. The detailed judgment in the matter will be uploaded later.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday visited the office of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

While Sisodia claimed that the CBI raided his office, the central probe agency denied the claim.

A top CBI official said on condition of anonymity that it was only a search operation related to the excise policy case.

"Today again the CBI has reached my office. They are welcome. They raided my house, my office, searched my locker, even conducted an investigation in my village. Nothing has been found against me and nothing will be found, because I have not done anything wrong. I've sincerely worked for the education of the children in Delhi," Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.

In November last year, the CBI had filed a charge-sheet in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, but it did not name Sisodia in it, though he was named in the FIR filed earlier in the matter.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Jan 14 (IANS) An avalanche hit Tulail area of Gurez in J&K's Bandipora district on Saturday.

Officials said that the avalanche hit Jurniyal village but no damage has been reported.

People in Gurez and adjoining areas have been advised by the administration to remain cautious and not to venture out on slopes, hilly areas, or avalanche prone areas till the weather improves.

Two labourers were killed on Friday after an avalanche hit Sarbal area of Sonamarg in Ganderbal district.

-- IANS
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Visakhapatnam, Jan 14 (IANS) Dense fog around Visakhapatnam airport affected flight operations on Saturday morning.

Flights coming from Bangalore and Delhi were diverted to Hyderabad due to poor visibility because of heavy fog at the airport in the port city.

A few flights scheduled to take off from Visakhapatnam to other destinations were also delayed.

Akasa Air's flight from Bangalore and Air Asia flight from Delhi were diverted to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.

As the conditions improved after 10 a.m., the flights were called back. Subsequently, all flights took off and landed as scheduled.

Dense fog enveloped the port city and other parts of Visakhapatnam district. Road users also faced difficulty due to poor visibility

--IANS
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