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Black money: SIT brings new intel agency on board

February 15, 2015

New Delhi, Feb 15: In order to speed up its probe into cases of illegal funds stashed abroad, the SIT on black money has roped in one more economic intelligence agency -- CEIB -- as the main "coordinating body" between all the investigative and enforcement agencies which are part of the high-powered panel.black money probe

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had wanted to name the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the chief coordinating agency for the panel -- which has close to a dozen central agencies working on it -- but chose the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) for the important role.

The SIT zeroed in on CEIB after it was found that the agency had all the resources at its disposal for handling the role while ED is already overburdened with money laundering and foreign exchange violation cases and is facing a manpower shortage as well.

"CEIB has recently been appointed as the main coordinating body for the SIT. It is the 12th agency which will work with the SIT on black money, albeit from the sidelines and not as a part of the core panel," said sources privy to the development.

Set up in 1985, CEIB is the nodal agency for coordinating financial and economic intelligence data and ensuring effective interaction among all the agencies concerned which are engaged in dealing with economic offences in the country.

"CEIB has been tasked with coordinating all cases of black money under the scanner of the SIT and it will also compile various cases being investigated by different probe agencies and bring it on the table for scrutiny by the SIT.

"It is doing an important job in view of the fact that some cases will get time-barred on March 31," they said.

The SIT on black money, headed by Justice (retired) MB Shah and with Justice (retd) Arijit Pasayat as its Vice Chairman, has as its members the heads or top officials of various departments and agencies.

Among these are the Secretary (Revenue) in the Finance Ministry, an RBI Deputy Governor, Directors of IB, ED, RAW, Financial Intelligence Unit and CBI, CBDT Chairman, DG Narcotics Control Bureau, DG DRI and the Joint Secretary (Foreign Tax and Tax Research Wing) in the Finance Ministry.

"CEIB last year provided a list of 600 Indians who were understood to possess illegal bank accounts abroad after it obtained these through its secret channels.

"The agency is now working with the SIT secretariat to bring together all the operational cases under this domain and also help the panel in formulating an opinion on policy matters in this regard," the sources said.

The high-powered SIT has recently said it has widened the scope of its investigation to include some new names that figure in the list of account holders in HSBC's Swiss arm after information in this regard was released recently by an international body of journalists.

CEIB, as part of its routine tasks, also functions as the clearing house for all economic intelligence and provides a platform for such exchange between various agencies in the country who are also the part of the SIT.

The SIT was created by Supreme Court and notified by the government last year to curb black money.

CEIB also provides intelligence to various agencies to check cases of tax evasion, money laundering, smuggling and terrorist financing, among others.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Srinagar, Mar 31: In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday declared 20 villages of Kashmir division as 'red zone'.
"20 villages including Parray Mohala Hajin, Chandergeer Hajin, Batagund Hajin in Bandipora district, Gudoora, Chandgam, Pinglena, Parigam, Abhama, Sangerwani and Khaigam in Pulwama district, Waskura in Ganderbal, Sedew, and Ramnagri in Shopian district have been declared as red zones," said Department of Information and Public Relations, J-K, in a tweet.

In Srinagar district, Mehjoor Nagar, Natipora, Lal Bazar, Eidgah and Shalteng villages have been declared as red zones.

"Chadoora in Budgam district of Kashmir division has also been declared as red zone," another tweet said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir climbed to 49 after 11 more people tested positive in the Union Territory on Monday. While three of these cases were reported from Jammu region, eight were from the Kashmir division.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Mumbai, Jan 3: The Shiv Sena on Friday targeted the Centre by questioning the "efficacy" of the 2016 surgical strike and said the perception that it would demoralise Pakistani terrorists remained an "illusion" as Indian soldiers continue to get killed in terror attacks in Kashmir.

Accusing the Modi government of boasting about how Pakistan was straightened out after the surgical strike, the Sena sought to know whether it has really happened.

It also observed that troubled borders were not good for the country's well-being.

The Sena's remarks come in the wake of the death of an Army soldier from Maharashtra, Naik Sandip Raghunath Sawant, who was killed during a counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

"The New Year did not begin on a positive note in Kashmir. Our jawan from Satara, Sandip Sawant, attained martyrdom in Kashmir along with two other soldiers. In the last one month, seven to eight jawans from Maharashtra were killed in the line of duty. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is not responsible for this," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The party also questioned whether the situation in Kashmir has improved after the surgical strike and abrogation of Article 370 provisions.

The party, however, maintained that scrapping Article 370 was a good move.

India had conducted the surgical strike on September 29, 2016, across the Line of Control (LoC) as a response to a terrorist attack on an Indian Army base in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir earlier that month.

Without naming the Centre, the Sena alleged, "Circulating news that only the Pakistanis were getting killed in Kashmir will not change the reality as tricolour-draped bodies of Indian soldiers, like Sawant, are reaching their respective villages."

"There is a bloodshed along the Kashmir border and mounting anger among the families of martyred jawans. The perception that surgical strike will demoralise Pakistani terrorists has turned out to be an illusion. In fact, the (terror) attacks have increased," it added.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party accused the ruling BJP of boasting about straightening out Pakistan after the surgical strike.

"But has Pakistan been really straightened out? Rather Pakistan has been indulging in ceasefire violations along the LoC every day," it added.

The Shiv Sena also questioned the government's claim that the situation in Kashmir was under control after the nullification of Article 370.

"It is good that Article 370 was scrapped. Before that, surgical strike was carried out in Pakistan. But has the situation in Kashmir improved? The terror attacks continue. It's only that there is a control in reporting (these incidents)," it said.

The Sena also alleged that there was no clarity as to what was transpiring in Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370 and only the media reports of soldiers sacrificing their lives have been coming out from that state

In a veiled attack on the BJP, its erstwhile ally, the Sena, also accused it of exploiting the surgical strike for political gains.

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Agencies
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he is not going to lie about Chinese transgressions in eastern Ladakh even if it costs him politically, asserting he will say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned.

Gandhi made these remarks in a tweet, along with an over-a-minute-long video, as part of a series launched by him on the India-China face-off along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Asked in the video how he would react to people who say his questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on China weakened India, the former Congress chief said, "If you want me to lie that the Chinese have not entered this country, I am not going to lie. I will simply not do it. I do not care if my whole career goes to hell. I am not going to lie."

"This disturbs me. Frankly, it makes my blood boil. How can some other nation just come into our territory?"

"Hiding the truth is anti-national. Bringing it to people's attention is patriotic," Gandhi said.

"So frankly, I do not care if it costs me politically. I do not care if I have no political career at all after that. But I am going to say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned," he added.

Gandhi has been repeatedly attacking the prime minister and the government over Chinese transgressions on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

"As an Indian, my number one priority is the nation and its people," he said on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Gandhi over his attack on the government on the Ladakh face-off, alleging he is seeking to politicise defence and foreign policy matters and "wash their past sins of 1962 and weaken India".

BJP president JP Nadda has also alleged that for years, a dynasty has been trying to destroy Modi, while adding that those who want to destroy the prime minister will only end up causing further damage to their own party.

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