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Under fire for Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi escape, CBI puts out its defence

Agencies
September 16, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 16: The CBI said its officers had no hand in the escape of diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in connection with the $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

Under attack from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who has accused the agency of deliberately weakening the lookout circular against fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya, allowing him to flee the country, the agency also reiterated that the decision was taken as there were not sufficient grounds to detain or arrest him.

“CBI Jt Director, A K Sharma, weakened Mallya’s ‘Look Out’ notice, allowing Mallya to escape. Mr Sharma, a Gujarat cadre officer, is the PM’s blue-eyed-boy in the CBI. The same officer was in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi’s escape plans. Ooops...investigation!” the Gandhi scion tweeted.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had received a complaint against beleaguered diamantaire Modi and his uncle Choksi from the bank almost a month after they had fled the country.

“Therefore the question of any CBI officer having any hand in their fleeing the country does not arise. Prompt action was taken by CBI in the case immediately after the complaint was received from the bank,” the agency’s spokesperson said in a statement released on Saturday.

Some media reports also named Sharma, now Additional Director, as the man who handled Mallya’s case.

Defending Sharma, its number three in command, the CBI said the decision to alter the circular was taken at the appropriate level as a part of process and not individually by the officer as alleged.

The CBI had in October 2015 issued a look out circular against Mallya asking immigration authorities to detain him upon his return from abroad. Weeks later in November, the circular was changed from seeking his detention to merely informing the agency.

Mallya whose extradition case is being battled out in a London court by India had taken refuge in the UK after fleeing on March 2, 2016 taking advantage of the diluted circular against him.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 1,2020

New Delhi, July 1: In a terrific incident with chilling echoes of the 2015 Dadri mob lynching, a Muslim man, who was carrying meat, was savagely attacked by a mob belonging to a saffron outfit in the presence of in BJP ruled Haryana on the eve of Eid al-Adha. 

The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 31 at Badshahpur village in Haryana’s Gurgaon, when Lukman was transporting meat in a pic-kup truck. 

The attack was captured on mobile phones by onlookers and the video clips of the incident are now spreading on social media. 

A group of saffronite cow vigilantes chased the truck for about 8 km managed waylay it. Lukman, who was driving the truck was pulled out and brutally assaulted on the suspicion that he was transporting cow meat.

Just like Dadri, the police were faster at sending the meat to a lab for testing than catching any one of the suspects. One of the assailants - Pradeep Yadav- has been arrested. 

After being beating to an inch of his life, Lukman was bundled into the pick-up truck and taken back to Gurgaon's Badshahpur village where the goons started thrashing him again.

This is when the police stepped in and stopped them - only to find the assailants fearless enough to even take on them.

Lukman was taken to a hospital and the police filed a case against "unidentified individuals" even though the video of the incident recorded by witnesses shows the faces of the assailants.

The owner of the vehicles said that the meat was buffalo and he has been in the business for 50 years.

The police have so far refused to give a statement on record on the incident and explain their inaction as seen on video.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29 : Notwithstanding the 21-day coronavirus lockdown, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to go ahead with the merger plan of ten state-run banks into four larger bank from April 1. The apex bank has issued four separate releases announcing that the branches of merging banks will operate as of the banks in which these have been amalgamated from next month.

RBI's statement comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's clarification on Thursday that the mega bank consolidation plan was very much on track and would take effect from April 1.

The government on March 4 had notified the amalgamation schemes for 10 state owned banks into four as part of its consolidation plan to create bigger size stronger banks in the public sector.

Bank officers' unions, however, earlier this week wrote to the prime minister seeking to defer the merger schemes of lenders due to the lockdown triggered by coronavirus outbreak.

As per the scheme, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will be merged into Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank; and Andhra and Corporation banks into Union Bank of India.

Under this, the branches of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will operate as branches of Punjab National Bank from April 1, 2020, and branches of Syndicate Bank as that of Canara Bank, the RBI said in a separate releases.

Allahabad Bank branches will operate as those of Indian Bank while the branches of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will function as the branches of Union Bank of India from the beginning of next fiscal year 2020-21, the RBI said.

"The Amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank Scheme, 2020 dated March 4, 2020, issued by the Government of India... The scheme comes into force on the 1st day of April 2020," RBI said.

Customers, including depositors of merging banks will be treated as customers of the banks in which these banks have been merged with effect from April 1, 2020, the RBI noted.

Banking services across the country are impacted due to the effect of COVID-19 as a near shut down is being observed across the country.

In a letter written to the Prime Minister on March 25, the All India Bank Officers'' Confederation (AIBOC) said, "The finance minister yesterday announced a slew of measures in view of the deleterious effect of the contagion. We are also expecting an extension of closing related activities and the revision of the closing date itself from March 31 to June 30, which is the need of the hour."

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News Network
March 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 31: Kerala reported its second COVID-19 death after a 68-year-old man being treated for the virus, died at the Government Medical College Hospital here in the early hours on Tuesday.

The victim, Abdul Aziz, a retired ASI hailing from Pothencode here, was admitted to the isolation ward on March 23 with the symptoms of the Corona infection. He was also suffering from lung and kidney diseases.

Though his first test result for COVID-19 turned negative, the second test result confirmed positive, official sources said.

However, it was not known from where he caught the virus infection. leaving chances for a secondary contract of a COVID-19 patient.

His funeral will take place as per the protocol, the sources added.

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