BJP mounts attack on Siddaramaiah, rakes up Hublot watch issue again

Agencies
May 7, 2018

Bengaluru, May 7: Stepping up the attack against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the BJP has accused him of 'aiding, abetting, protecting and promoting' the cheating of private investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme run by a company.

The BJP intends to file a complaint with the governor to sanction the prosecution of Siddaramaiah for dealing with company, "which is declared as a threat to national security by the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO)," party spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The BJP also sought to know whether Siddaramaiah received the costly Hublot watch for 'facilitating' the company, QI Group of Companies, headed by Vijay Eswaran, to operate in the state. Embroiled in a controversy over the diamond-studded Hublot watch in March 2016, Siddaramaiah had handed it over to the Assembly speaker, asking him to make it a state asset.

The chief ninister had also said he would furnish relevant documents of the watch to the Lokayukta and Income Tax.

He had said that the watch was gifted to him by his NRI friend Dr Girish Chandra Varma in July 2015.

"I know him since 1983 and whenever he visits India, he meets me," he had said. Siddaramiah also said Varma has no official dealings with the Government of Karnataka or its organisations.

Patra said the SFIO has mentioned the names of Gold Quest and Quest Net, and read out its findings. In 2009, the CB-CID Chennai had declared Vijay Eswaran an absconder and in 2010, SFIO said such companies were a national threat, he said.

Between 2013 and 2016, the Mumbai and Delhi Economic Offence Wing placed voluminous chargesheets saying that these were fraudulent companies, he added.

Releasing pictures of Siddaramaiah with Vijay Eswaran, Patra said he had met him in September 2013.

The issue of MS Gold Quest International Pvt Ltd and Gold Quest Enterprises India Pvt Ltd was discussed in March and April in 2013, when the UPA government told the Parliament that they were fraudulent companies, he alleged.

In September 2013, Siddaramaiah met the absconder Eswaran in China, which was published in the website of the Information and Public Relations department of the Karntaka government in September 11, 2013, Patra claimed.

The state government report said the chief minister met Eswaran, welcomed him to invest in Karnataka and asked him to participate in the Global Investors Meet in the state. The company expressed interest in investment in e-Retail and IT Education sector, it said.

The company's business lines include lifestyles, leisure, luxury and luxury collectable and luxury watches.

Patra further said, "They deal in luxury watches, costly watches, exquisite watches. These are one of the items they deal with."

After a promise by Siddaramaiah, certain companies and QNet started operating in Karnataka and thousands and lakhs of people were duped by them, he claimed.

Ironically, Patra said, no FIR was lodged against these companies. "Even if the complaint was lodged, there was no FIR. The company’s names were not mentioned. When these people saw that the state government was not ready to work for them, the victims approached SEBI."

Patra also said SEBI shot off a letter to the government of Karnataka on December 23, 2016 to act against them.

However, the FIR was registered only recently when the Siddaramaiah government was reduced to a caretaker government due to the Assembly polls, the BJP spokesperson said.

In a statement, QNET said it operates in India through Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Private Limited, its sub-franchisee, which is into direct selling on an e-commerce platform.

The company neither solicits investments nor seeks any deposits or registration fees for joining the business, it said.

"We are of the belief that the matter represented to the BJP spokesperson is incomplete and does not reflect the current status," a company spokesperson said.

It also said Karnataka state investigated the company and filed a detailed chargesheet, which was quashed by the high court while holding that the company was not a Ponzi scheme.

The Government of India has issued guidelines (to be adopted by states) and the company is fully compliant with the same, it added.

Comments

A Kannadiga
 - 
Monday, 7 May 2018

The BJP members has become absolutely mad, hence levelling baseless allegations against Mr.  Siddaramiah, with an intention to defame him, but they will not succeed.  On election date 15/05/2018, Mr. Yeddi will collapse.

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News Network
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: A 44-year-old man allegedly killed his daughter and son before ending his life by jumping in front of a Delhi metro train at Haiderpur Badli Mor station on Sunday, police said.

No suicide note has been recovered, but police claimed that the man, Madhur Malani, was depressed since his sandpaper-manufacturing factory was closed some six months ago due to financial crunch leaving him jobless. Madhur's parents had been supporting his family financially since then.

He used to stay with his wife Rupali, daughter Samiksha (14) and six-year-old son Shraiyans at a rented house in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, they said.

Rupali was not at home when Madhur strangled their children. He might have also smothered their daughter but the exact cause of death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem reports arrive, a police official said.

After killing his two children, he jumped in front of an approaching train at Haiderpur Badli Mor Metro station following which he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead', the official said.

Metro services on the Yellow Line were briefly delayed due to the incident.

"Delay in services from Samaypur Badli to GTB Nagar due to a passenger on track at Haiderpur Badli Mor," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted.

After about 15 minutes, it again tweeted that normal services have been restored. The Delhi Metro's Yellow Line connects Samaypur Badli in Delhi to HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon.

The suicide was reported to the police around 5.40 pm while the Shalimar Bagh Police station received a call about the killings around 6.50 pm.

On reaching the house, police found bodies of the children lying in beds in two rooms. During enquiry, it was learnt that their father has left the house, a senior police officer said.

While police were trying to trace Madhur, they learnt about a suicide at the metro station. On verifying the details, it surfaced that Madhur committed suicide after killing his children, the officer said.

Rupali told police that she had gone to a nearby market around 3 pm and on returning home she found the bodies of her children while her husband was missing.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered and investigation was underway, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said.

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News Network
May 21,2020

London, May 21: Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown - and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday.

Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers - according to the Boston Consulting Group, which questioned parents in five countries.

"Women have been doing too much household work for too long, and this crisis is pushing them to a point that's simply unsustainable," Rachel Thomas, of U.S.-based women's rights group LeanIn.Org, said in response to the data.

"We need a major culture shift in our homes and in our companies ... We should use this moment to build a better way to work and live – one that's fair for everybody."

Researchers say fallout from the pandemic weighs on women in a host of ways, be it in rising domestic violence or in lower wages, as some women cut paid work to take on the new duties.

With lockdowns shutting schools and keeping citizens at home, creating a mountain of domestic work, public campaigns from Georgia to Mexico have urged men to do their fair share.

But women, who on average already do more at home than men, are now shouldering most of the new coronavirus burden, too, said the survey of more than 3,000 working parents in the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Women's unpaid hours at home have nearly doubled to 65 hours a week, said the survey, against 50 logged by an average father.

British women are more likely to support others in the COVID-19 pandemic and are finding it harder to stay positive, according to separate analysis released this week by polling firm Ipsos MORI and feminist organisation The Fawcett Society.

It is "no surprise" to see women do more childcare and housekeeping on top of their day jobs, Jacqui Hunt of women's rights group Equality Now, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, there are "hopeful signs" that men in West Africa are sharing more childcare during the pandemic in a shift in social norms, found a small rapid analysis by humanitarian organisation CARE International released on Wednesday.

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News Network
July 23,2020

New Delhi, Jul 23: With the highest single-day spike of 45,720 cases, India's coronavirus count crossed 12 lakh mark on Thursday.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that 1,129 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The total number of coronavirus cases stand at 12,38,635 including 4,26,167 active cases, 7,82,606 cured/discharged/migrated. The cumulative toll has reached 29,861 deaths.

Maharashtra has reported 3,37,607 cases, highest in the country followed by Tamil Nadu with 1,86,492 cases. Delhi coronavirus count has reached 1,26,323 cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,50,75,369 samples were tested till July 22 out of which 3,50,823 samples were tested yesterday.

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