India

New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that they have arrested the former Deputy Registrar of Companies, Kolkata, and three others, including founding director and territory manager of private companies during further investigation of a case related to the chit fund scam.

The CBI had registered a case immediately in compliance with the Supreme Court's orders against the then Managing Director of a private company and others and taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Baliapal police station, Balasore (Odisha).

It was alleged that the accused illegally collected public deposits throughout Odisha by alluring the people with various deposit schemes falsely promising high returns and did not refund the maturity amount and thereby cheated the investors of their due amount.

The total collection of the company was nearly Rs 565 crore.

In this case, two charge-sheets were filed in 2016 and in November 2021 before the Bhubaneswar court.

Further investigation was continuing to look into the larger conspiracy, money trail and roles of regulatory authorities.

During further investigation, it was revealed that the accused (private persons) had allegedly associated themselves with the illegal ponzi schemes accused named in the FIR and also allegedly received huge pecuniary benefits for themselves out of the illegally collected deposits by the said private company.

Subha Kumar Banerjee, the then Deputy Registrar of Companies, Kolkata, had allegedly facilitated the illegal deposit collection business of the accused.

Apart from him, the CBI has arrested Lakshman Srinivasan, the then founding director of Fimshore Management Service Ltd, Swapan Kumar De and Uttam Munshi, the then territory manager of Star Health Insurance.

--IANS
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Washington, Sep 27 (IANS) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent public rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, saying the Indian leader spoke for the rest of world that this is not the "era for war".

However, Blinken also defended the Joe Biden administration's proposal to provide Pakistan with $450 million worth of "sustainment" package for its fleet of F-16 aircraft, ignoring Indian protests that Islamabad does not use these planes only for counter-terrorism operations, as stated by the US, but also against India.

Blinken also addressed the issue of long waiting period for visas and blamed it on Covid-related disruptions. He said the US has a plan for mitigating it for India and that it will be rolled out in a few months.

Blinken spoke to reporters along with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar after their bilateral meeting, and a working dinner the night before.

The two officials had met last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, most significantly for the first such meeting with counterparts from the Quad parter countries Australia and Japan -- the first Quad meeting at the UNGA, with plans to make it an annual affair deepening the institutionalisation of the platform that is witnessing a robust second-coming.

"I really want to emphasise what Prime Minister Modi said because he captured as well as anyone I've heard fundamentally what this moment is about as he said, 'This is not an era, this is not a time for war'," Blinken said, referring to Modi's comments to Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

"We could not agree more," Blinken said, adding, "We saw the aggression, the threat of the aggression mounting from Russia against Ukraine last year. We warned the world about it, and we tried everything possible to avert it through diplomacy. Unfortunately, President Putin pursued his aggression nonetheless."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine had introduced a rare area of dissonance in the India-US relationship as New Delhi refused to condemn it as robustly as the US-led coalition of western nations wanted. India also stepped up its purchases of Russian oil, which, the west argued, mitigated the pain of western sanctions on Russia somewhat.

Modi's remarks to Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) meeting in Samarkand not only erased all of the disquiet felt with the Indian position in Washington, but earned India a position potentially in a peace process; Mexico has also suggested Modi should be on a peace committee.

Meanwhile, the top US diplomat seemed less impressed by India's objections to the proposed $450 million worth of spares for Pakistan's F-16 aircraft, something which Jaishankar hit out against soon after arriving in Washington for this visit. His criticism of the deal followed "concerns" conveyed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call earlier.

"To be very clear, and it's important, this is a sustainment programme for F-16s that Pakistan has long had. These are not new planes, new systems, new weapons. It's sustaining what they have," Blinken said, adding, "We have a responsibility and an obligation to deliver, we provide military equipment to make sure that it's maintained and sustained. That's our obligation."

He added that Pakistan's programme bolsters its capability to deal with terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan and the region.

India has dismissed this claim, which was made on the grounds provided by the administration to the US Congress as justification. Jaishankar said on Sunday that no one is fooled by these claims as Pakistan has used these aircraft for purposes other than for fighting terrorists. It was used against Indians in February 2109, he said.

The two officials were bullish about the relationship though.

"Today, the United States is very international, very much more open to engage with a country like India, which is actually thinking beyond traditional alliances, which has been very effective at finding common ground with potential or actual partners," Jaishankar said in response to a question about the trajectory of the bilateral relationship.

He added: "I think the more we work together, the more we engage each other. I think many more possibilities will emerge. So very frankly, that's a long way of saying that I'm very bullish."

Echoing these sentiments, Blinken said, "No two countries have a greater ability, and I think, opportunity and responsibility to try to shape the future of the century than the United States and India as the world's two largest democracies."

He added: "That doesn't mean that we don't have differences. We do and we will, but it also means that because of the depth and quality of the dialogues we have, we talk about everything."

Jaishankar then pointed to one area of potential irritation.

"We spoke over the last two days of our commitment to practising and furthering democracy, human rights and good governance," Jaishankar said, adding, "Each country approaches the set of issues from their history, tradition and societal context. Our yardstick for judgment are the integrity of the democratic processes, the respect and credibility to the command with the people and the non-discriminatory delivery of public goods and services.

"India does not believe that the efficacy or indeed the quality of democracy should be decided by vote banks. This is an area where we look forward to a healthy exchange of views. There will be convergence and best practices that we can both profit by and perhaps even share with third countries."

India bristles as being lectured by the US on human rights and democracy, something that Washington does through the various arms of the government and the legislature.

Jaishankar has made his mind known on this issue before -- that India will not be lectured, and if it is, it reserves the right to point out the flaws of the other side as well.

--IANS
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Noida, Sep 27 (IANS) A fresh confrontation between people from the Tyagi community and Noida Authority erupted on Tuesday after the uprooted trees were planted again outside Shrikant Tyagi's house at the Grand Omaxe Housing Society in Noida Sector-93B.

The Noida Authority officials along with the police force rushed to the housing society soon after receiving the information about plantation of uprooted trees and issued directions for uprooting the trees again within 48 hours.

Following the authority's direction to uproot the trees, scores of people from the Tyagi community gathered outside the housing society by the evening and sat on a dharna.

The people staging the sit-in are demanding that the trees which have been planted again should not be uprooted by the authority.

A heavy deployment of police force was seen outside the society following the incident.

On August 9, Shrikant Tyagi and three others were arrested from Meerut, after a video went viral on social media in which he was seen abusing a woman at the Grand Omaxe Society.

In the video, the residents of the society also accused Tyagi of encroaching the area by planting small and large plants.

Taking action against the encroachment, the Noida Authority had razed to the ground the illegally constructed permanent structure in the common area of the housing society.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The Federation of All India Medical Association on Tuesday wrote to the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, over the cancellation of INI-CET July 2022 open counselling and asked to conduct the same citing huge number of seats which will remain vacant in major clinical departments.

"This sudden decision has come as a shock to the residents of the INIs who have been eagerly waiting for new residents to join the departments to replace the residents who have passed out of the departments in the last six months. We also want to apprise you that this has led many first year junior residents to consider leaving the seat in our premier INIs and take up a seat in the ongoing NEET PG 2022 counselling so that they do not have to face the increased department workload on their own. If this happens, with the possibility of a fourth (Covid) wave in the next few months not completely ruled out, it may be catastrophic for our healthcare system," read the FAIMA letter addressed to AIIMS director.

The FAIMA said that those doctors who qualified the INICET PG entrance examination for July 2022 session were informed of the cancellation of open round of counselling for the current session through "NOTICE NO 136/2022" dated 19.09.2022 issued by AIIMS New Delhi.

It said that the decision has come as a shock to the residents of the Institute of National Importance (INI) who have been eagerly waiting for new residents to join the departments to replace the residents who have passed out in the last six months.

The FAIMA has written to the AIIMS director on behalf of residents working at various departments of INI of the country like AIIMS (New Delhi), JIPMER (Puducherry), NIMHANS (Bengaluru), PGIMER (Chandigarh), SCTIMST (Trivandrum) and 11 other AIIMS which are participating in the INI-CET 2022 counselling.

"We write to you sir, with the kind request to look into this matter urgently, as a huge number of seats are remaining vacant in major clinical departments and more than 50 per cent seats are vacant in multiple departments of various institutes. This will lead to an immense burden on the existing workforce, predominantly the junior residents who have already worked tremendously during the last three waves of the pandemic, to manage the regular clinical duties along with additional Covid duties," FAIMA said in the letter.

--IANS
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Patna, Sep 27 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that the leaders of opposition parties will soon sit together in Delhi to make a strategy against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha electionS.

"We are regularly interacting with the leaders of the opposition parties of the country. We will sit together in Delhi and make a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha election," he said after distributing appointment letters to the persons selected in Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department.

On his recent meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Nitish Kumar said that she was busy in the election in her own party. "After that election, we will set the agendas of opposition parties to defeat the BJP," he said.

To comments by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on the meeting, Nitish Kumar said: "I don't mind the statement of Sushil Kumar Modi. If he gets some post in his party by targeting me, I will be highly pleased with it. I actually enjoyed his statements."

--IANS
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Jaipur, Sep 27 (IANS) Amid the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, around 20 MLAs and ministers reached Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's residence on Tuesday afternoon for a meeting.

The meeting came as the Congress leadership issued show cause notice to state ministers Shanti Dhariwal and Mahesh Joshi and RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore.

Earlier, Congress Disciplinary Committee President A.K. Antony was called to Delhi.

Also, Sachin Pilot reached Delhi on Tuesday afternoon, and there is a possibility of him meeting the high command.

--IANS
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Pauri/Dehradun, Sep 27 (IANS) Patwari Vaibhav Pratap Singh has been suspended with immediate effect for negligence in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, Pauri Garhwal District Magistrate (DM) Vijay Kumar Jogdande said on Tuesday.

Along with this, a department inquiry has also been recommended against the Patwari.

The suspension order was issued by the DM after the preliminary investigation report by the Yamkeshwar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) was received on Monday, according to which the Patwari did not act on the missing compliant filed by Ankita's father.

The SDM's report also indicted Vaibhav Pratap Singh, against whom several complaints were received.

Vaibhav Pratap, who went on leave after handing charge to another person, has been suspended for negligence in the Ankita murder case. Along with this, the investigation into the case has been handed over to Lansdowne SDM.

After he went on leave, Vivek Kumar, the Patwari of Kandakhal outpost from the nearby area, was given charge on September 20. The role of Vaibhav Pratap was under suspicion. Not only this, Ankita's family members and all the opposition parties were also blaming the Patwari for going on sudden leave.

On September 18, Vanantra Resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari had gone missing. On September 19, the accused, Pulkit Arya, the owner of the resort, informed Vaibhav Pratap , the sub-inspector (Patwari) of revenue police posted at Kandakhal post.

Vaibhav Pratap also contacted Ankita's family members on the basis of her identity documents. Despite that, he went on a four-day leave even before registering a missing complaint. On September 20, the charge of the outpost was given to Vivek Kumar.

Vivek Kumar immediately registered a missing complaint. On September 21, the revenue police sent a recommendation to Pauri DM to transfer the matter to the police.

Taking immediate action, the DM transferred the case to Laxman Jhula Police on September 22. Within 24 hours, the police arrested Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Sep 27 (IANS) One terrorist was killed in an ongoing encounter - the second in two days - between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Tuesday, police said.

"One terrorist killed. Operation in progress," police said.

Earlier Jammu and Kashmir Police in a tweet, quoting Additional Director General Police Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar, said that two local terrorists of proscribed terror outfit JeM were trapped in the ongoing encounter in Ahwatoo area of Kulgam. Both the trapped terrorists are involved in several terror crime cases.

A Pakistani terrorist belonging to terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed was killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Batpora area in Kulgam on Monday.

Tuesday's firefight started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area, and cordoned it off. At this, terrorists hiding there started firing, and security forces retaliated.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) In a latest development in the alleged excise policy scam in Delhi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its first arrest on Tuesday by nabbing businessman Vijay Nair.

Sources told IANS that Nair was arrested from Delhi and now the CBI will seek his custodial remand.

Nair, the former CEO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment and event management firm, and one of the prime suspects in the liquor scam, had gone to London. He returned to join the probe and was placed under arrest.

The CBI has alleged that Nair was actively involved in the irregularities in framing and implementing the excise policy for the year 2021-22.

Nair was reportedly a volunteer of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and allegedly helped party leaders by organising events and also managed their social media handles.

On behalf of Nair, Sameer Mahendru, Director of Indospirits, allegedly paid around Rs 2-4 crore to Arjun Pandey, an associate of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

There are allegations that Arun Ramchandra Pillai, a resident of Kokapet in Hyderabad, used to collect undue pecuniary advantages from Mahendru for onward transmission of money to accused public servants through Nair.

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 27 (IANS) Amid the ongoing probe in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, the family of main accused Pulkit Arya has gone missing. Three accused including Pulkit Arya have been arrested so far in connection with the murder.

Ankita (19), who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, was reported missing a few days ago. On Saturday morning, her body was recovered.

People are continuously protesting against Pulkit's family in Haridwar. After this Pulkit's father, brother and other family members locked the house and left. However, the SIT of the local police has not reached his house yet.

It is said that the investigating agency can also interrogate other family members in Haridwar. Along with this, searches can also be conducted at many places. The SIT has sought the possible criminal record of Pulkit Arya from Haridwar police.

The state government maintained that there will be no laxity in the matter, and the strictest action will be taken against those guilty in the case.

--IANS
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