A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday convicted a former chief manager of Dena Bank’s Andheri branch in Mumbai and three others in a Rs 50 lakh cheating case.
They were found guilty under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act provisions by Special Judge AS Sayyad.
Main accused Vijay Chaudhari was sentenced to five years in jail, while former bank chief manager Praful Mishra was given four years in jail.
Two others, Rajesh Dhanukar and Ganesh Kandu, were sent to jail for three and two years respectively, while two others were let off by the court for lack of sanction to prosecute them.
As per the CBI, represented by public prosecutor Sandip Singh, Chaudhari and the bank’s then chief manager Mishra conspired and cheated the branch of Rs 50 lakh by fraudulently availing overdraft facility after submitting fake, forged government securities in the form of Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP).
Chaudhari opened his account on the basis of bogus documents, while the KVPs, purportedly issued by a post office in Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district, on which the overdraft facility was availed were fabricated.
This led to the bank being cheated to the tune of Rs 50 lakh, as per the CBI.
A SpiceJet Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating a flight from Delhi suffered a tyre burst on landing at the Mumbai airport on Monday.
However, the passengers and members of the crew disembarked normally. Flight SG-8701 departed from Delhi and landed safely on runway 27 in Mumbai.
“On August 29, 2022, SpiceJet B737-800 aircraft operated flight SG-8701 (Delhi – Mumbai). The aircraft landed safely on runway 27. On landing, after vacating the runway, one tyre was found deflated. No fumes or smoke was reported. The aircraft was parked at the designated bay as advised by air traffic control. No abnormality was felt by the Captain during the landing. Passengers disembarked normally, SpiceJet Spokesperson said.
Last month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered SpiceJet to operate a maximum of 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks after several of its planes reported technical malfunction recently.
“In view of the findings of various spot checks, inspections and the reply to the show cause notice submitted by SpiceJet, for continued sustenance of safe and reliable transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet are hereby restricted to 50 per cent of the number of departures approved under summer schedule 2022 for a period of 8 weeks,” the order reads.
Any increase in the number of departures beyond 50 per cent of the number of departures approved under Summer Schedule 2022, during this period, shall be subject to the airline demonstrating to the satisfaction of DGCA that it has sufficient technical support and financial resource to safely and efficiently undertake such enhanced capacity.
The order came after SpiceJet were involved in at least eight technical malfunction incidents in the 18-day period starting June 19.
During these eight weeks’ period, the airline shall be subjected to “Enhanced Surveillance” by DGCA Further decision in the matter shall be taken thereafter, it had added.
The rise in gun-related violence in the US is forcing singer Ozzy to move back to the UK.
The rock icon recently revealed that he is “fed up” with violence in America, and has made plans to move back to his homeland with his wife Sharon Osbourne, Page Six reported.
“Everything’s f-king ridiculous there,” Osbourne, 73, told The Observer. “I’m fed up with people getting killed every day. God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings. And there was that mass shooting in Vegas at that concert… It’s f-king crazy,” he added, referencing the tragic 2017 event where a gunman killed over 20 people during a country music festival at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
“And I don’t want to die in America. I don’t want to be buried in f-king Forest Lawn,” he asserted, as Forest Lawn is a popular cemetery in California where many celebrities have been laid to rest. “I’m English. I want to be back. But, saying that, if my wife said we’ve got to go and live in Timbuktu, I’ll go. But, no, it’s just time for me to come home.” Sharon added that Ozzy’s recent health woes did not factor into the decision, despite fans’ assumptions.
“I knew people would think that. It’s not. It’s just time. America has changed so drastically. It isn’t the United States of America at all. Nothing’s united about it. It’s a very weird place to live right now.” Reportedly, Ozzy and Sharon are set to move into their 120-year-old property, Welders House, in Buckinghamshire.
Under the month-long pan India drive titled Operation Uplabdh, in March 2022, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) seized 1,688 tickets valued at Rs 43,42,750, said RPF officials.
“Catering to a nation with a population exceeding 1.3 billion, the passenger transport of Indian Railways faces very high demand of seats and berths. The demand-supply gap has widened over the years despite capacity augmentation by Indian Railways. This demand-supply gap has led to mushrooming of many touts who use different means to corner reserved seats and then sell them to the needy on premium,” said the official.
“Use of illegal software for cornering confirmed railway reservations online had adversely affected the availability of confirmed tickets to the common man. RPF has been undertaking intensive and sustained action in a mission mode under the code name “Operation Uplabdh” against persons involved in touting (unauthorized carrying on of the business of procuring and supply of railway tickets),” the official further said.
Recently on the basis of pinpointed digital input supplemented by Human Intelligence, an RPF team succeeded in capturing Mannan Vaghela of Rajkot on May 8 who was using illegal software i.e. COVID-19 to corner railway tickets in bulk. Further, another person named Kanhaiya Giri, a super seller of illegal Software Covid-X, Anmsback, Black Tiger etc. was arrested on July 17 from Mumbai on the basis of information provided by Vaghela. During interrogation, Giri spilt the beans and revealed the names of other associates and admin/developer Abhishekh Sharma of Vapi, who was also arrested on July 20.
“Abhishekh Sharma confessed about having been the admin of all these illegal software. On the basis of leads provided by the arrested accused persons, 3 more accused persons, namely Aman Kumar Sharma, Virendra Gupta and Abhishekh Tiwari were arrested from Mumbai, Valsad (Gujarat) and Sultanpur (UP) respectively. RPF is in search of a few more suspects involved in this case,” RPF said.
RPF further said, “These accused persons were involved in the development and sale of this illegal software using social media i.e. Telegram, Whatsapp etc. along with providing fake Virtual Numbers and Fake user IDs of IRCTC. These accused had software to create fake IP addresses used to bypass the restriction imposed on customers to obtain a limited no of tickets per IP address. They sold disposable mobile numbers and disposable emails too which are used for OTP verification to create fake user IDs of IRCTC.”
In the course of legal action against all these accused persons, in this case, 1688 tickets valued at Rs. 43,42,750 where the journey could not be started have been seized and forfeited. In the past, they had procured and sold tickets worth Rs 28.14 crores earning huge commissions, RPF informed in a statement.
RPF launched a Pan India drive against the activities of touts throughout the country in March 2022.
Operation Upalabdh has been able to substantially curb the activities of touts and make railway tickets available to the common man.
Indian Railways have advised the common public not to procure tickets from unauthorized persons as it is not only likely to be forfeited once detected but may also land the buyer in legal trouble.
The Assam government on Monday demolished a Madarsa alleged to be involved in anti-national activities, after it was found to be on government land in the Barpeta area.
The Additional Deputy Commissioner said that the place is involved in anti-national activities and Jihadi outfits.
“This institution is involved in anti-national activities, Jihadi outfits. We immediately came to the spot, verified the property, and found it to be on government land and did not find the owner. So we decided to demolish it immediately,” Lachit Kumar Das, Additional Deputy Commissioner said.
While addressing the issue, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Madarsa management were not running the institution but were running a terrorist hub.
“This is the second Madrasa we evicted as they were not running as an institution but were running as a terrorist hub. I don’t want to generalise, but we investigate and take appropriate action when a complaint of fundamentalism comes,” Sarma said.
Assam Police have also arrested two more persons linked with Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in the Barpeta district on Monday morning. 37 persons have been arrested so far in connection with AQIS-ABT in Assam.
At this year’s MTV VMAs Hollywood star Johnny Depp marked his presence as the Moon Person, popping in for a few one-liners at the awards show.
According to Variety, although the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star was not at the VMAs in his physical form, his face appeared digitally in the helmet of a Moon Person floating above the stage. “And you know what? I needed the work,” Depp said during the beginning of the show. “Hey VMAs, let’s get back to the f–king music, shall we?” he said in another appearance after a commercial break, though his f-bomb was bleeped out for the broadcast.
In a pre-recorded clip posted by Depp on his Instagram, Depp said, “I just want you guys to know that I’m available for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, wakes, any old thing you need.”
Although this time Depp did not have a nomination, in the past he has taken awards for best male performance, best villain, global superstar and the generation award, reported Variety.
This appearance by Depp comes only a few months after his controversial and highly publicized defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in which the jury found that Heard defamed Depp in her 2018 Washington Post opinion piece, which alluded to being a victim of domestic violence.
However, the jury also found that Depp defamed Heard, through his attorney, while fighting back against her charges.
Depp has been attempting to restart his career in both film and music since the June verdict. He joined Jeff Black for multiple live performances in July and later the duo released their joint 13-track album titled ’18’.
Most recently, it was announced that Depp is set to direct ‘Modigliani’, a biographical drama movie about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, as per Variety.
Maharashtra has recorded 2,337 swine flu cases and 98 deaths between January 1 and August 28 this year, prompting the state health department on Monday to appeal to people to exercise caution while participating in Ganesh festivities.
These cases have been recorded in 19 districts, led by Pune with 770 cases and 33 deaths, it said.
Mumbai has seen 348 cases and three deaths, while these figures are 474 and 14 respectively for neighbouring Thane, an official said. Kolhapur recorded 159 cases and 13 fatalities during this period.
“The state has reported 2,337 swine flu cases and 98 deaths from Jan 1 to August 28 this year. In the background of rising swine flu cases, people must celebrate the festival with care,” he said.
He said people suffering from an influenza-like illness should avoid public places, while those with high-risk conditions must follow COVID-appropriate behaviour at public functions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 55 lakh on Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank Ltd for violation of directions related to asset classification.
The RBI has imposed the penalty through an order dated August 25, 2022. The penalty has been imposed for “non-adherence/violation of directions issued under (i) Income Recognition, Asset Classification, Provisioning and Other related Matters-UCBs and (ii) Finance for Housing Schemes-UCBs.”
This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) and Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (AACS), taking into account the failure of the bank to adhere to the aforesaid directions issued by RBI, the central bank said in a statement.
“This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers,” the RBI said.
The inspection report of the bank based on its financial position as on March 31, 2020, revealed inter alia, violation/non-compliance with directions issued under Income Recognition, Asset Classification, Provisioning and Other related Matters-UCBs and Finance for Housing Schemes-UCBs.
Based on the same a Notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions.
After considering the bank’s reply and oral submissions during the personal hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the aforesaid charges of non-compliance with RBI directions were substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty, the RBI said.
The trial run of the Mumbai Metro line 3, Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ line, will be conducted on Tuesday at Sariput Nagar in Aarey, an official said on Monday.
This will mark an important development in the realisation of the Metro track shrouded in controversy.
The event will be attended by Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.
The construction of Metro car shed at Aarey, a forested land adjoining the Sanjay Gandhi National Park was one of the first decisions reversed by the Shinde-Fadnavis government.
Last month, former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had fervently appealed to the new government “not to stab Mumbai in its heart” by going ahead with the construction of the car shed at Aarey.
The Metro line 3, which will be a 33.5 km underground route, will connect south Mumbai with the western suburbs.
Two persons were killed and two others injured when an iron girder fell on them during maintenance work at a sugar factory in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada on Monday.
Superintendent of Police of Kakinada, M Ravindranath Babu said a platform collapsed during maintenance work at Vakalapudi Pari sugar factory.
“The deceased are Prasad and Subramanian. Two people sustained minor injuries and are being treated at Apollo Hospital,” the SP said.
The case has been registered and is being investigated by Sarpavaram police station.
