Sonia son-in-law now the target

October 6, 2012

sonia_sun_inlaw

New Delhi, October 6: Continuing with their attack on the ruling establishment, anti-graft campaigners Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Friday accused Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi, of increasing his wealth from a scanty Rs 50 lakh to Rs 300 crore with the help of real estate giant DLF.

“The DLF in return, received favours from the Congress ruled states of Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan,” the anti-graft activists alleged at a crowded press conference.

An agitated Congress leadership sprang into action and leaders after leaders dismissed it as a “political conspiracy”, while the BJP demanded probe.

“He (Vadra) registered five companies owned exclusively by him and his mother in 2007-2008 with just Rs 50 lakh. These companies together had no income from any legitimate business activity, but received interest free loans of over Rs 65 crore from DLF. With this money, he purchased properties of DLF worth well over Rs 300 crore at the price far below the market value during 2007-2010,” alleged Bhushan.

The activists produced audit reports of the companies submitted to the Registrar of Companies.

“Thus, seven flats in Magnolia apartments in DLF Gurgaon were purchased for a total of Rs 5.2 crore when the market price of each flat at the time of acquisition was over Rs 5 crore and today its price is between Rs 10 and 15 crore per flat. Similarly, a 10,000-sqft apartment in DLF Aralias (Gurgaon) was purchased for Rs 89 lakh. Its market price at the time of purchase in 2010 was Rs 20 crore and today is more than Rs 30 crore.

“Also, a stake of 50 per cent share in DLF-owned hotel in Saket (DLF Hilton Garden Inn) were purchased for Rs 32 crore. Its market value was over Rs 150 crore,” said Bhushan.

“Why did DLF Ltd give him interest free loans? Why did the real estate giant sell him properties at throwaway price?” asked Prashant Bhushan.

“DLF has been given 350 acres of land by Haryana govt for the development of Magnolia project in Gurgaon where Vadra was allocated 7 apartments and has been given various other properties and benefits by the Congress governments in Haryana and Delhi,” he alleged.

“Prima facie the facts show commission of offences under the prevention of corruption act as well offences under the Income Tax Act. Why are these ostensible offenses not being investigated?” asked Kejriwal.

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid termed the allegations as a “political conspiracy” against the Congress leadership and said that “we know how to give an answer to such allegations and we will give an answer”.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that such a press conference “on the eve of election in Gujarat and Himachal only proves that they are nothing else but B Team of BJP”.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad, told reporters that it is disturbing because the “recipient of benefits is son-in-law of most important family of the country”. He asked: “What is the business of Robert Vadra? How has he made phenomenal rise in three years? How many companies he owns?”

In a statement, the Delhi government said it is “not in the business of allotting land to private entities” and described the allegations as “mischievous and misleading”.


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Agencies
August 1,2020

New Delhi, Aug 1: Rajya Sabha MP and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has died in Singapore where he was undergoing treatment.

Amar Singh, 64, had undergone kidney transplant in 2011 and was not keeping well for a long time.

“Saddened to know about the death of senior leader and parliamentarian Amar Singh,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.

Earlier in the day, the former Samajwadi leader had posted messages on Twitter, paying tributes to Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 100th death anniversary and also wishing people on Eid.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what is happening is "sad" and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in India.

His comments came while speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan where he was asked about the contentious issue of CAA which grants citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys," Nadella was quoted as saying by Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of New York-based BuzzFeed News.

In a statement issued by Microsoft India, Nadella said: "Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds.

"I’m shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large".

The Centre last week issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into effect from January 10, 2020.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, at least 19 persons were killed in anti-CAA protests.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Visakhapatnam, Jun 13: A four-month-old baby who was on ventilator treatment for 18 days for COVID-19 was on Friday evening discharged from hospital after testing negative.

"A tribal woman of East Godavari named Laxmi was infected with COVID-19 in May, later the doctors confirmed that her four-month-old baby was also infected," said District Collector, Vinay Chand.

"The baby was shifted to Visakhapatnam VIMS hospital on May 25. She was treated for 18 days on a ventilator. Doctors again conducted baby's COVID-19 test recently, following which the reports came negative. After a health check-up, VIMS doctors discharged the baby on Friday evening," he added.

Meanwhile, 14 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Visakhapatnam district on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 252 including one fatality due to the virus.

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