Union cabinet approves Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018

Agencies
April 21, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 21: The Union cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal to promulgate Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018 that provides for confiscating properties and assets of economic offenders like loan defaulters who flee the country, sources said.

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 12 March but could not be passed due to logjam in Parliament over various issues. It seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders — like Nirav Modi— who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution.

The ordinance was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sources said.

It will come into effect after the assent of the President.

The provisions of the ordinance will apply for economic offenders who refuse to return, persons against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for a scheduled offence as well as wilful bank loan defaulters with outstanding of over Rs100 crore. It provides for confiscating assets even without conviction and paying off lenders by selling off the fugitive’s properties.

Such economic offenders will be tried under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ordinance defines a fugitive economic offender as a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for committing offence like counterfeiting government stamps or currency, cheque dishonour for insufficiency of funds, money laundering, and transactions defrauding creditors.

A fugitive economic offender is one who has left the country to avoid facing prosecution, or refuses to return to face prosecution.

According to the ordinance, a director or deputy director (appointed under the PMLA, 2002) may file an application before a special court (designated under the 2002 Act) to declare a person as a fugitive economic offender.

The application will contain the reasons to believe that an individual is a fugitive economic offender.

Besides, the application will have information about his whereabouts, a list of properties believed to be proceeds of a crime for which confiscation is sought, a list of benami properties or foreign properties for which confiscation is sought, and a list of persons having an interest in these properties.

Upon receiving the application, the special court will issue a notice to the individual, requiring him to appear at a specified place within six weeks. If the person appears at the specified place, the special court will terminate its proceedings under the provisions of the Bill.

Any property belonging to the fugitive economic offender may provisionally be attached without the prior permission of the special court, provided that an application is filed before the court within 30 days. Appeals against the orders of the special court will lie before the high court.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: In a bid to keep its flock together, the crisis-hit Madhya Pradesh Congress has decided to shift its 92 MLAs either to Jaipur or some other place.

The move comes after 22 Congress MLAs loyal to former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned on Tuesday, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.

"We are going to take our 92 MLAs and those supporting our Madhya Pradesh government to a hotel," a senior Congress leader said on Wednesday.

The legislators would be taken either to Jaipur or some other Congress-ruled state like Chhattisgarh, a party source said.

Apart from its own MLAs, the Congress is also keeping a close watch on four Independents who are supporting the party-led state government.

On Tuesday, 22 Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh resigned soon after Scindia quit the party.

The development reduced the Congress government in the state to minority.

The state Congress unit is now making all efforts to save the Kamal Nath-led government.

The BJP on Tuesday night shifted its MLAs to Manesar at Gurugram in Haryana, sources in the saffron party said.

The Congress, whose tally before the rebellion was 114, has a wafer-thin majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly whose current effective strength is 228.

It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP legislators and one SP MLA, but some of them are now likely to switch sides to the BJP.

The BJP has 107 seats in the state Assembly.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Kolkata, Jan 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that Kolkata Port Trust will be renamed as Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port.

Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of 150th anniversary celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust, he said: "I announce the renaming of the Kolkata Port Trust to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port. He is a living legend who was a leader for development and fought on the forefront for the idea of One Nation, One Constitution."

"This port represents industrial, spiritual and self-sufficiency aspirations of India. Today, when the port is celebrating its 150th anniversary, it is our responsibility to make it a powerful symbol of New India," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder had set the stone for industrialization in India. "Chittaranjan Locomotive Factory, Hindustan Aircraft Factory, Damodar Valley Corporation and several others saw active participation from him," he said.

The Prime Minister also felicitated the two oldest pensioners of the Kolkata Port Trust, Nagina Bhagat and Naresh Chandra Chakraborty.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wuhan, Jan 31: The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported Friday the death toll had climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections.

The UN health agency based in Geneva had initially downplayed the threat posed by the disease, but revised its risk assessment after crisis talks.

suspended or reduced service to China include British Airways, German flag carrier Lufthansa, American Airlines, KLM and United.

Chinese efforts to halt the virus have included the suspension of classes nationwide and an extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.

All football matches across the country also will be postponed, the Chinese Football Association said on Thursday, including games in the top-tier Chinese Super League.

World stock markets tumbled again Thursday on fears that trouble in the "world's factory" would upset global supply chains and dent profits.

Toyota, IKEA, Starbucks, Tesla, McDonald's and tech giant Foxconn were among the corporate giants temporarily freezing production or closing large numbers of outlets in China.

Volkswagen announced Thursday its China joint-venture plants would not start production again before February 9.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the coronavirus posed a fresh risk to the world economy.

Throughout China, signs of paranoia multiplied, with residents of some Beijing residential compounds erecting makeshift barriers to their premises.

In one of many similar photos posted online, a man wearing a surgical mask and brandishing a traditional martial arts weapon squatted on a barricade outside a Chinese village, near a sign saying: "Outsiders forbidden from entering".

The crisis has caused food prices to spike, and the central government on Thursday blamed this partly on overzealous preventive measures, issuing a directive banning any roadblocks or other hindrances to food shipments.

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