Maha Cong chief Nana Patole seeks removal of Governor Koshyari

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July 30, 2022

Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole has condemned Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s statement, demanding an apology from him.

“We condemn the remarks made by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. He should apologise to the public. He should be removed from his position with immediate effect,” said Nana Patole on Saturday.

Patole further said, “Koshyari even does not know the history of Maharashtra. The state has turned Dhiru Bhai Ambani into a great industrialist. Here in Maharashtra, people from every state are respected. Governor’s statement is not appropriate and therefore, the President, the Prime Minister and The Home Minister of the country should intervene in this matter.”

Earlier on Friday, during a speech at a public event in Mumbai’s Andheri, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari said, “Sometimes I tell people in Maharashtra that if Gujarati and Rajasthani people are removed from here, then you will be left with no money. You call Mumbai the financial capital, but if these people of both these states are not here, then it won’t be called financial capital.”

The statement, however, triggered a political storm with many claiming that the sentiments of Marathi people were hurt and their contribution ignored. Many political leaders took to Twitter to oppose the governor’s statement.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that Koshyari’s speech was an insult to the people of Maharashtra. He urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to condemn the statement. “The Marathi man gets insulted as soon as a BJP-sponsored Chief Minister is in power. CM Shinde should, at least, condemn the Governor. This is an insult to Marathi hard-working people,” Raut said in a tweet on Saturday.

In another tweet, Raut said, “Chief Minister Shinde, are you listening? That your Maharashtra is different. If you have self-respect, then seek the resignation of the governor.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, meanwhile, demanded an apology from the governor. “This is an insult to the hard work of the people of Maharashtra and Marathi Manoos who have toiled day in and day out to make the state the leading state of the country. The Governor should apologize immediately, failing which, we will demand to replace him,” she tweeted.

Pak court summons PM Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza on Sept 7

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

shabaz sharif — Pak court summons PM Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza on Sept 7 4

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz have been summoned by a Lahore-based special court on September 7 in connection with PKR 16 billion money laundering case against them.

The court summoned the father-son duo on Sept 7 for the framing of charges and adjourned the hearing till that date, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Pak PM and his two sons were booked by the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), in November 2020 under “sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of Anti Money Laundering Act.”

The Pakistani newspaper said Shehbaz’s lesser-known son Suleman Shehbaz is in the UK and has been declared an absconder. A total of 14 others have also been named in the FIR in an anti-corruption act.

Shehbaz and Hamza have already been granted pre-arrest bail in the case filed by the FIA. Both of them have asked for a one-time exemption on their behalf during the hearing today.

Pakistan PM’s lawyer told the court that Shehbaz Sharif had been advised not to travel as he was not well. “The weather was unpleasant yesterday which is why he did not come today.”

Back in December last year, FIA had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to a special court for their alleged involvement in the sugar scam case.

“The investigation team has detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions,” the FIA report said.

According to the report, the amount was kept in hidden accounts and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.

“Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who ‘held and possessed’ the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering. The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering,” the agency was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Gold ornaments worth Rs 40 lakh recovered from Kolkata airport

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

gold 1 2 — 539.1 grams of 24K gold and 228.5 grams of rhodium plated chain seized at Kolkata International airport

Gold ornaments worth around Rs 40 lakh were seized by Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) on Friday at Kolkata airport

“2 more seizures were done by AIU yesterday from two people at Kolkata International Airport. 539.1 gms of 24K gold and rhodium plated chain weighing 228.5 gms, collectively valued at Rs 40 lakhs approx were seized,” informed the customs department.

Kolkata Customs informed that they acted on intelligence after which two seizures were effected by AIU.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. The cases of multiple gold recovery within a few days are a matter of concern for the administration.

Earlier on Tuesday, rummaging through a Bangkok-Kolkata SpiceJet flight, Air Intelligence officers at the Kolkata airport recovered 12 cut pieces of foreign-origin gold bars, worth over Rs 30 lakh. The total weight of the gold was approximately 600 grams.

The team of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at the Kolkata airport started rummaging through the SpiceJet aircraft (SG-743). According to the Officers of the AIU team, the 12 cut pieces of gold bars were found stuck deep inside a hollow pipe of a seat located on the 20th row of the aeroplane, wrapped with black adhesive tape.

The team seized the unclaimed gold and started the further required investigation. The customs department stated that the Gold recovered on the aircraft were approximately worth Rs. 30,87,000 according to the current value of Gold in the Indian market.

Earlier on July 27, the Customs team seized gold weighing 1 Kilogram gold at the Jaipur International Airport. “The recovery was made from a passenger of a Spicejet flight arriving from Dubai. The gold is worth Rs. 52,10,000 and of 99.50 per cent purity,” said the Customs department officials.

Russian Foreign Ministry blacklists 32 NZ officials in reciprocal sanctions

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it introduced sanctions against 32 New Zealand officials and journalists in a tit-for-tat move.

“In response to New Zealand government sanctions that apply to an increasing number of Russian citizens … an additional 32 New Zealanders have been added to the national stop-list,” the ministry said in a statement.

The new names include heads of municipalities, law enforcement agencies and journalists that “create a Russophobic agenda” in New Zealand, the ministry said.

“The designated individuals are prohibited entry to Russia on an indefinite basis,” the statement read.

The list is not conclusive and may be expanded in the future, the ministry said.

CWG 2022: Indian women’sTT team registers third straight win, defeats Guyana 3-0

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

Indian women’s table tennis continued their winning ways, registering their third win in a row after defeating Guyana in their Group 2 tie on Saturday.

The Indian pair of Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison started off the match with a tie against the duo of Natalie Cummings and Chelsea Edghill. Akula-Tennison dominated the tie from the start, winning the first game by 11-5.

The Guyanese fared better in the next two games but it was still not enough to give them a win, as they went down to India by 11-7 each in these games. With this, India sealed the first tie and attained a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the next tie, star player Manika Batra took on Thuraia Thomas. Batra continued her momentum from previous outings yesterday and absolutely demolished her opponent, winning the tie by 11-1, 11-3, 11-3. With this, India had a double advantage over Guyana and a win in the next set meant them sealing the match.

In the third tie, Reeth Tennison took on Chelsea Edghill.

Tennison took the first game by 11-7. The next game was competitive, but the Indian emerged victorious by 14-12. Tennison did not start the next game on a good note, trailing 2-3.

But she fought back from there and won the match by 13-11 to seal the tie. India gained an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the match and emerged victorious.

With this win, India is at the top of Group 2 and have won all their matches. Guyana is at the second position and have registered their first loss after winning the first two matches.

Earlier, the Indian women’s table tennis team started off their Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign with a bang, with a 3-0 win over South Africa in their group match in Birmingham on Friday.

The doubles team of Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison, star player Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula in the singles competition were extremely dominant and won all their ties within three games.

The team followed it with a 3-0 win over Fiji in their next match. Team India continued their winning ways and did not let Fiji win at all and finished the match within three ties.

Retail inflation for industrial workers declines to 6.16%

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

Retail inflation for industrial workers declined to 6.16 per cent in June 2022 as compared to 6.97 per cent in the previous month and 5.57 per cent recorded during the corresponding month last year, according to government data released on Saturday.

Retail food inflation for industrial workers eased to 6.73 per cent in June as against 7.92 per cent of the previous month and 5.61 per cent during the corresponding month a year ago, according to data released by the Ministry of Labour & Employment.

The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers for June 2022 increased by 0.2 points and stood at 129.2. On 1-month percentage change, it increased by 0.16 per cent with respect to the previous month compared to an increase of 0.91 per cent recorded between corresponding months a year ago.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, compiles Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month on the basis of retail prices collected from 317 markets spread over 88 industrially important centres in the country. The index is compiled for 88 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of the succeeding month.

The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from Food & Beverages group contributing 0.20 percentage points to the total change.

At item level potato, onion, tomato, cabbage, apple, banana, coriander, chilly dry, fish fresh, poultry chicken, vada, idli, dosa, cooked meal, cooking gas, kerosene oil, electricity domestic etc. are responsible for the rise in the index, the Ministry of Labour & Employment said.

However, this increase was largely checked by petrol for vehicle, rice, mango, chilli green, lemon, lady finger, parwal, pineapple, soyabeen oil, sunflower oil etc. putting downward pressure on the index, it said.

At the centre level, Puducherry recorded a maximum increase of 2.6 points followed by Amritsar and Tripura with 2.2 and 2.0 points, respectively.

Among others, 15 centres recorded an increase between 1 to 1.9 points, 33 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points. On the contrary, Sangrur recorded a maximum decrease of 2.4 points. Among others, 5 centres recorded a decrease between 1 to 1.9 points, 25 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points. The rest of the 6 centres’ indices remained stationary, the government data showed.

ED attaches assets worth Rs 110 cr in Karvy scam

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

ed 1 1 — ED attaches assets worth Rs 110 cr in Karvy scam 10

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 110 crore in its ongoing case in the Rs 2,800 crore Karvy scam, the agency said on Saturday.

The federal agency identified additional assets and provisionally attached properties in the form of lands, buildings, shareholdings, cash, foreign currency and jewellery worth Rs 110 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the investigation against Karvy Stock Broking Ltd (KSBL) and its Chairman Comandur Parthasarathy and others.

The ED had previously attached assets worth Rs 1,984.84 crore in the same. “In order to safeguard the proceeds of crime from alienation, ED has identified and attached and seized movable assets totalling Rs 110.70 crore.

Thereby total attachment of Rs 2,095 Crore has been done in this case. Further investigation is in progress,” the ED said in a statement. C Parthasarathy and Group CFO G Hari Krishna were arrested by the ED in the case and they are presently on bail.

The ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of FIRs filed by the Hyderabad Police on the complaints of lending banks who complained that the Karvy Group had availed large amounts of loans by illegally pledging their clients’ shares worth about Rs 2,800 crore and the said loans have become Non-Performing Asset after the release of the client’s securities as per the orders of National Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Subsequently, the ED said, the loans were diverted from the stated purpose by a set of high-ranking functionaries working under the overall control of the CMD. Funds were diverted to related companies like – KDMSL, KRIL which was set up for real estate ventures, diverted loan funds were routed via multiple defunct NBFCs to KFSLNBFC to wash its bad debts and large chunks of loan proceeds were transferred into Shell Insurance companies which did massive speculative share trading with KSBL as the Stock Broker and ostensibly suffered massive losses.

“Very complex web of financial transactions, using several shell entities and NBFCs. Large amounts of proceeds of crime have been ‘invested’ by infusing in the form of investments/share capital/short-term advances/loans to group companies. This has resulted in the enhancement of the value of the subsidiary companies of KSBL. Now the accused are trying to sell these subsidiary businesses at a profit to yield indirect windfall gains to the main accused,” said the ED.

C Parthasarthy had made arrangements through his group companies to pay financial benefits to his sons Rajat Parthasarthy and Adhiraj Parthasarthy in the garb of salary and reimbursement of household expenses and thus the proceeds of crime were projected as untainted money in the hands of the family members, said the ED.

Further, ED said, the investigation revealed that V.Mahesh, MD of KDMSL, Senior official and KMP of the Karvy group is a close associate of C Parthasathy and he actively assisted and planned the execution of money laundering operations.

Indian swimmer Srihari Natraj qualifies for final of men’s 100 m backstroke

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

common welth — Srihari Natraj. (Photo- Olympic Khel)

Indian swimmer Srihari Natraj qualified for the final of the men’s 100 m backstroke event on Friday.

Natraj reached the finals by clocking 54.55s at his event. He finished at 4th in the semi-final 2 and seventh overall in semi-finals to seal his position in the final where he will be battling it out for a medal against the likes of Pieter Coetze (South Africa), Brodie Paul Williams (England), Andrew Jeffcoat (New Zealand), Bradley Woodward (Australia) among others.

“#Swimming Update @srihari3529 qualifies for the FINAL!! Srihari finishes 4th in Semifinal 2 of Men’s 100m backstroke and 7th overall with a timing of 54.55s at @birminghamcg22

The Final is scheduled for 31st July 1:35 AM IST Our best wishes #Cheer4India #IndiaTaiyaarHai,” tweeted SAI Media.

Indian para-swimmer finished at the 8th position in the finals of men’s 100 m backstroke S9 final and failed to land up a podium position. He clocked 1:18.21 in the finals.

Nataraj had qualified for the men’s 100m backstroke swimming semifinal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Friday.

Nataraj finished third in heat 4 with a timing of 54.68s. While Sajan Prakash was eliminated in the men’s 50m butterfly event as he finished eighth with a time of 25.01s.

In Men’s 400m Freestyle heats, Kushagra Rawat finished at the bottom at 14th position with a clocking of 3:57.45 and was eliminated.

Coming to Swimming action for Saturday, Srihari Natraj will compete in the final of the men’s 100 m backstroke event. Commonwealth Games 2022 started in Birmingham from July 28 and will conclude on August 8.

India will be represented by 215 athletes who will take part in 141 events across 19 sporting disciplines.

Strengthening District Judiciary is need of the hour: CJI Ramana

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ANI

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July 30, 2022

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana on Saturday said that strengthening the district judiciary is the need of the hour as these courts are the driving force behind the legal aid movement in India.

District judicial officers are the first point of contact for a majority of the population. Public opinion of the judiciary is based on their experience with the district judiciary, he added.

CJI Ramana’s remarks came while addressing the 1st All India District Legal Services Authorities meet organised by NALSA.

CJI said that the purpose behind organising the Conference was to introspect on various factors governing the administration of justice and to discover ways and means to bring qualitative improvement to the system.

“Strengthening the district judiciary is the need of the hour. Without any doubt, the District Judiciary is the driving force behind the legal aid movement in India,” the CJI said.

“Wherever I go, I always attempt to project the achievements of the Indian judiciary in winning the trust and faith of the people. But if we intend to serve the people better, we need to flag the issues which hinder our functioning.

There is no meaning in camouflaging or hiding the problems. If we don’t discuss these issues, if matters of pressing concern are not addressed, then the system will cripple. I fear, we may be unable to fulfill our constitutional mandate of social justice. I urge you, therefore, to discuss, debate and decide!,” CJI Ramana said.

“The district judiciary is the backbone of the justice delivery system in the world’s largest democracy. The district judicial officers are the first point of contact for much of the population. Public opinion about the judiciary is primarily based on their experiences with the district judiciary,”he said.

The chief justice said that every progressive policy must find its basis on a strong foundation.

“This casts a great responsibility on your shoulders. You must undertake multifaceted tasks and roles. You are best placed to understand people’s problems and social issues,” he said. addressing the gathering.

He mentioned that India stands as the 5th largest economy in terms of GDP, and the second most populous country in the world. In the 21st century, the CJI said, the true strength at this juncture lies with our youth.

“With an average age of 29 years, India has one of the youngest populations in the world. One-fifth of the world’s youth live in India. This huge human resource, if properly trained, will drive our economic progress.

With skilled workers estimated to be only 3% of our total workforce, we need to harness the full potential of the youthful demographic profile of our country,” the CJI pointed out.

“I am glad that the 27 years long and noteworthy journey of NALSA is being captured and celebrated through the commemorative stamp by the Ministry of Communications,” he added.

Maharashtra Governor says, “Without Gujratis and Rajasthanis Mumbai won’t be financial capital”

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PTI

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July 30, 2022

Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maharashtra Governor, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray — Image: Agencies

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday said there will be no money left in Mumbai and it will cease to be the financial capital of the country if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from the city.

Congress criticised the governor over his statement and demanded an apology from him.

Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Koshyari said, “I tell people here that if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Thane, you will have no money and Mumbai will not be a financial capital.” He made the statement after the naming ceremony of a chowk in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai.

A release issued by the Raj Bhavan said Koshyari praised the contribution of Rajasthani-Marwari and Gujarati communities in making Mumbai the financial capital of the country.

The governor said the Rajasthani-Marwari community is living in different parts of the country and also in countries like Nepal and Mauritius.

“Wherever members of this community go, they not only do business but also do acts of philanthropy by creating schools, hospitals,” he said.

State Congress spokesman Atul Londhe slammed the governor over his remarks, saying that they smack of his hatred for the state.

He also demanded an apology from the governor.

MNS party chief Raj Thackeray also tweeted, “Don’t dare to say anything if you don’t know the history of Maharashtra.”

"मराठी माणसाला डिवचू नका!" pic.twitter.com/0to6ByNyPk
— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) July 30, 2022