Paradise Papers leak: BJP mum on its leaders’ black wealth

News Network
November 7, 2017

New Delhi, Nov 7: The BJP on Monday left its leaders Jayant Sinha and Ravindra Kishore Sinha to defend themselves on news reports that mentioned the duo in the latest leaked Paradise Papers.

The papers showed that the rich and the famous used two global companies to move their money abroad.

A news report stated that Minister of State Jayant Sinha worked as managing director (India) of Omidyar Network for 39 months from September 2009. The company had invested in US-based D Light Design having a subsidiary listed in Caymen Islands. Leaked offshore legal firm Appleby's records pointed out that Jayant had served as a director of D Light Design, too.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ravindra Kishore's private security firm SIS, said the news report quoting Malta registry records, is linked to two offshore entities. Ravindra Kishore has a minority stake in SIS's subsidiary SIS Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd (SAPHL), which is registered in Malta, it said.

His wife Rita Kishore Sinha is a director of SAPHL. The BJP parliamentarian has just one share in another concern SIS International Holdings Ltd (SIHL), which is incorporated in Virgin Islands.

Jayant and Ravindra Kishore reportedly did not declare their respective financial details to the Election Commission of India during the 2014 elections.

While Jayant disclosed his links with the private concern two years after he was elected to the Lok Sabha, Ravindra Kishore did not open up his links with SAPHL during his nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP refused to comment on the reports that have sought to drag the two party leaders into the controversy. A spokesperson dismissed the reports by saying that there is hardly anything in the story to comment.

Through multiple tweets, Jayant gave his version on the leaked Paradise Papers, which has revealed the names of 714 Indians.

"These were bonafide and legal transactions undertaken on behalf of highly reputed world-leading organisations in my fiduciary role as Partner at Omidyar Network and its designated representative on the D.Light Board. All these transactions have been fully disclosed to relevant authorities through all necessary filings as required. After leaving Omidyar Network, I was asked to continue on the D Light Board as an Independent Director," he clarified.

"It is crucial to note that these transactions were done for D Light as an Omidyar representative, and not for any personal purpose," he added.

Ravindra Kishore chose an interesting way to remain mum on the embarrassing revelations against him. When a wire agency reached out to the MP who was seated in a car, he did not utter a word and instead gestured to a reporter to give him a pen.

Ravindra wrote on a sheet of paper in Hindi," 7 din ke bhagwat yagna ke liye maun vrat hai (on a vow of silence for 7 days for the bhagwat yagna)".

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Dec 24: The Delhi Police said that a head constable was killed during clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in northeast Delhi today.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, Amit Sharma was also injured during clashes, a senior official said. Sharma suffered injuries to his head and hand. He was hospitalised and is doing fine, the official added.

Tension escalated in northeast Delhi with protesters torching at least two houses and a fire tender in the Jaffrabad and Maujpur areas, where pro and anti-CAA groups clashed for the second consecutive day on Monday and hurled stones at each other.

Violence was also reported from the Chandbagh area in Jaffrabad.

Police fired tear gas shells and also resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters.

According to officials, a fire tender was damaged by the protesters after it responded to a fire call in the area.

The Delhi Metro closed entry and exit at the Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur stations as an uneasy calm prevailed in the area.

"Entry & exit of Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur are closed. Trains will not be halting at these stations," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a tweet.

Entry and exit were closed at the Jaffrabad metro station for over 24 hours.

Clashes broke out on Sunday evening between pro and anti-CAA groups near Jaffrabad after a large number of people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) blocked a road, while similar sit-ins were launched in several other parts of the national capital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged lieutenant governor of Delhi and the Union home minister to restore order.

Nobody should be allowed to orchestrate violence, he said.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal instructed the police commissioner to maintain law and order in the national capital in the wake of violence.

"Instructed @DelhiPolice and @CPDelhi to ensure that law and order is maintained in North East Delhi. The situation is being closely monitored. I urge everyone to exercise restraint for maintenance of peace and harmony," Baijal tweeted.

Delhi minister and Babarpur MLA Gopal Rai on Monday urged the people in the area to maintain peace, saying some people were purposely trying to disturb the atmosphere.

"With folded hands, I request people in Babarpur Assembly to maintain peace. Some people are purposely trying to spoil the atmosphere. I have spoken to Delhi LG and he has assured me that more policemen will be deployed to bring the situation under control," Rai said in a tweet.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Kabul, May 11: Four back-to-back roadside bombs exploded in a northern district of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, wounding four civilians including a child, police said. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said a clearance team was at the site of the attacks.

Militants have carried out several roadside bombings and rocket attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country in recent weeks, but Monday's four consecutive explosions appeared to be the first coordinated effort for some months.

The Taliban has not carried out any large attacks in the city since they signed a landmark withdrawal deal with the US in February, meant to pave the way for peace in the country. No group has claimed the attacks. The explosions come as authorities are trying to impose a lockdown in the capital to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6; The Indian equity indices slumped on Friday morning, with the BSE Sensex falling over 1,450 points

The slump across the sectoral indices was led by the finance and banking stocks as the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday superseded the board of directors of Yes Bank and placed it under moratorium.

Persistent fears of the coronavirus outbreak severely impacting global economy also weighed on the investor sentiments, analysts said.

At 9.36 a.m., the BSE Sensex trimmed some losses and was trading at 37,376.66, lower by 1,093.95 points or 2.84 per cent from the previous close of 38,470.61

So far, the index has touched an intra-day low of 37,011.09, falling by 1,459.52 points.

It had opened at the intra-day high of 37,613.96.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 10,938.75, lower by 330.25 or 2.93 per cent from its previous close.

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