Arrest of BoM CEO is jolt to baking industry : IBA

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The arrest of Ravindra Prabhakar Marathe, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Wednesday has come as a jolt to the banking industry, prompting the Indian Banks Association (IBA) to call a meeting on Friday to discuss the future course of action.

IBA claims such action by investigative authorities will dent the morale of the banking industry, forcing bankers to stop lending.

The Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of Pune city police arrested top officials of Bank of Maharashtra, including Marathe, on charges of illegally sanctioning a loan of ₹100 crore for a real estate project of a DSK Group company.

State Bank of India, United Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Vijaya Bank and IDBI Bank were part of the consortium of banks that had lent to the DSK group.

Citing Pune police’s statement to the local court, a report in The Indian Express said that these officials had sanctioned the loan without the approval of the other banks that were part of the consortium.

Bank of Maharashtra, however, maintained that the loans were sanctioned to the firm according to the bank’s lending norms. “The bank’s total outstanding exposure to M/S D. S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd is to the tune of ₹94.52 crore, which is fully secured by primary and collateral securities. Recovery process like SARFAESI action has already been initiated by the bank and some of the properties are due for auction. The bank has also declared M/S DSK Developers Ltd and its promoters as wilful defaulters,” the bank said.

A senior government official said it is awaiting the report from the investigation agency before deciding the future course of action.

Most bankers who know Marathe stand by him and claim that such actions will malign the reputation of bankers. “This looks like a breakdown of the law and order situation. It could be a local political issue against the developer and the Bank of Maharashtra chief got caught off-guard,” said the managing director and chief executive of a public sector bank, who did not want to be named.

“From the available information, the transaction which is in question is insignificant. To ascribe this kind of motive is reflective of ignorance or motivated action,” said a former banker who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Marathe is one of several current and former officials of public sector banks being probed by investigation agencies for allegedly lending to defaulting companies. Those booked this year include IDBI Bank executives Kishor Kharat, now CEO of Indian Bank, and Melwyn Rego, CEO of Syndicate Bank, in connection with IDBI Bank’s ₹600 crore loan to entrepreneur C. Sivasankaran’s firm. Last month the Central Bureau of Investigation named Usha Ananthasubramanian, former managing director of Allahabad Bank, in a charge sheet in the Punjab National Bank fraud.

Swiggy raised $210 million of investments

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Swiggy raised $210 million from a group of investors, catapulting India’s largest food delivery service provider into a select club of startup unicorns with a valuation of $1 billion or more. The latest funding, led by Naspers and billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, values Swiggy at roughly $1.3 billion, surpassing rival Zomato’s $1.1 billion valuation based on a February fund-raising round. China’s Meituan-Dianping has also invested in the latest funding round, along with new investor Coatue Management.

Swiggy, founded in August 2014, is one of the fastest entrants into the unicorn club. The latest fund-raising will add pressure on Zomato to raise additional funds quickly to keep pace with its Bengaluru-based rival in the online food-delivery business.  On 2 April that Zomato was in talks to raise $200-400 million.

Swiggy, which has emerged as the breakout consumer internet start-up of the past five years, has easily been the most prolific food delivery start-up in terms of its ability to continue raising funds from deep-pocketed foreign investors. It has raised about $465 million till date, according to Mint research. Barely four months ago, Swiggy raised $100 million from South African media giant Naspers.

Swiggy, which is by far India’s best-funded food delivery start-up, plans to use the funds to ramp up its supply-chain network and expand to new markets, the company said in a statement.

“With this investment, we will continue to widen Swiggy’s offerings, along with bolstering our capabilities and plugging the gaps in the on-demand delivery ecosystem,” said Sriharsha Majety, CEO and co-founder of Swiggy.

Mint had first reported on 2 April that both Swiggy and Zomato were in talks to raise more money. In early February, Zomato raised $150 million from Ant Small and Micro Financial Services Group, valuing the food-tech start-up at about $1.1 billion.

Swiggy, which operates in 15 cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata, claims to have more than 35,000 restaurant partners on its platform and a delivery fleet of over 40,000.

Founded by Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is one of the few consumer internet start-ups from 2014 that is thriving and consistently chased by large global investors. Smaller peers such as food-ordering app TinyOwl, grocery-ordering app PepperTap and real estate platform Housing.com have either been shut down or sold in distress deals. Some others, such as online grocery start-up Grofers, are struggling to attract new investors and have been unable to find a sustainable long-term business model.

Congress-JD(S) amplifying “saffron terrorism”.

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Now being hindu is Curse in Congress – JD(S) led Karnataka said Chethan Rajhans

Sanatan Sanstha has alleged that the SIT probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case is torturing the suspects and obtaining confessions from them. The Goa-based pro-Hindu organisation has come under the SIT scanner after a few arrested persons reportedly admitted that they were members of a radical Hindu outfit which h ad links with the Sanstha.

Sanstha spokesperson Chethan Rajhans on Thursday termed the arrests illegal and said it was being done by the Congress-JD(S) coalition in the state to amplify “saffron terrorism”.

The media were being fed imaginary stories about the Sanstha and other Hindu organisations, said Rajhans. “One of the accused, Sujit Kumar, was apprehended on May 6 but was shown as arrested on May 20. Three other accused were apprehended on May 14 but were shown as arrested on May 21. This shows that all these accused were under illegal detention for several days,” he added.

He also alleged that the accused were beaten by police and were not provided legal aid as they were Hindus.

Without street lights, it is scary and dangerous to walk at night in Dhkoli

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Without street lights, it is scary and dangerous to walk at night

Dark streets and hide and seek of power supply have been plaguing the residents of Guru Nanak Nagar in Dhakoli of Zirakpur for past five summers. Complaints to the electricity department also could not bring any relief to the residents till date.

With the announcement of 66 KV project at Baltana, residents had hoped to finally ward off their long-pending problem this season. However, there hopes were dashed as the situation worsened after the work of the new infrastructure started in the area.

The residents said a fire broke out in a transformer three days ago. It was installed just last year. Tthe authorities acted upon it and got it repaired, only after a complaint was placed.

Residents complained the streets of the area generally remains dark due to the defunct streetlights. The commuters do not feel safe going out for a walk after sundown. The unscheduled power cuts also irk the residents making them spend almost four to five hours without electricity daily during the sultry summer season.

When enquired, power department staffers seem clueless about when and how the power supply would be restored.

From past one year the residents of the area are struggling to get the streetlights repaired. They keep on posting complaints but all in vain. Residents alleged that a bunch of wires is spread all over the area which is not only posing threat to their lives, but is also affecting the power supply in the area.

In fact, the poles installed in the area are tilted. A transformer here is also in bad shape. It has not been repaired by the department even after a number of reminders.

N S Rangi, executive engineer, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) said the department resolved the problem of fluctuation immediately after a complaint was received. The maintenance of the transformers is also on our priority.

Chandimandir Cantonment alarmed by rise in theft cases

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The Chandimandir Cantonment, headquarters of the Western Command, is considered one of the most important Army installations in the country, but of late it has come under a threat of another kind —theft. Four burglaries have been reported at the heavily-guarded military installation abutting Panchkula since March.

The latest case was reported on Sunday evening, when Naik Rinku (29) returned home from a family outing at Chhatbir Zoo to find the locks of his house’s front door broken and all rooms ransacked. Rinku, who lives in Sector E of the cantonment, claims to have lost Rs 2,500 and gold bangles worth Rs 1.28 lakh in the theft.

While roads of all cantonments were thrown open on May 23, thefts have taken place at Chandimandir before this also. The rise in thefts is expected to raise eyebrows as such Army installations are usually considered safe when it comes to crime. In Naik Rinku’s case, the family left home around 12.30pm and the theft had been committed by the time they returned around 5pm.

The valuables had been kept in an almirah in his bedroom, and the thieves had broken its locks open to get to the valuables. Except for the gold and cash, all electronics were untouched. Before this, thieves broke into a CSD canteen at the cantonment at night. At that time, the thieves decamped with costly cosmetics and did not steal anything else.

As there are restrictions on cops investigating into crimes committed at the Army base, no accused have been identified in any of the cases.

The station house officer (SHO) of Chandimandir police station, inspector Suresh Kumar, said he had sought a meeting with the Army officer concerned to discuss the “serious matter”. “But I have not got a reply from cantonment officials so far,” he said.

Before the May 23 theft at the CSD canteen, a luxury bicycle of a Colonel-rank officer at the cantonment was stolen on April 9. The theft took place near the CSD canteen. On March 26, three houses were burgled in Sector-E and Sector-D of the cantonment.

A case under sections 454 (house-trespass to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) has been registered at Chandimandir police station in connection with theft at Naik Rinku’s house. Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Dhoom Singh, the investigation officer, said they were carrying out an investigation. However, no accused has been identified yet.

 

NSG seek permission to support forces to counter terrorism in J&K

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Some of the NSG units to be deployed in J&K would be placed at a BSF facility in Srinagar while more locations are being scouted, said Jammu and Kashmir police sources.

“As is the case when a force is brought into a new theatre, modalities will be discussed with the J&K administration, police and other security agencies,” a senior NSG officer told TOI.

A proper infrastructure is being put in place for NSG ahead of its teams moving in. The force will train CRPF and J&K police in entering and storming buildings and other anti-terror skills. “As and when terror situations demanding their special skills crop up, NSG commandos will be also be deployed for operations. The call will be taken by J&K police at whose disposal the force will be,” said an officer.

NSG commandos use sophisticated Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine guns, sniper rifles, through-the-wall radar and C-4 explosives to eliminate holed-up terrorists.

The “Ramzan ceasefire”, while providing relief to ordinary people, put counter-terror forces at a disadvantage by easing pressure that intensified operations in preceding months had built on terrorists. According to a senior J&K police officer, had the unilateral ceasefire not been in place and cordon-and-search operations continued in the normal course, around 15-20 terrorists could have been neutralised based on intelligence flow on their movements in built-up areas.

Ramzan Ceasefire

“The truce allowed terrorists freedom of movement in residential areas, let them renew supplies, recruit locals, mobilise overground workers and scout for new hideouts and bases,” said an officer. There is concern that terror groups may now strike with renewed vigour, particularly targeting the Amarnath Yatra, and hence the strategy will be focused on neutralising terrorists active in the south Kashmir areas of Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam.
Intelligence inputs warn of multiple threats to the yatra, particularly from the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was most active during the truce, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. Terror modules comprising Pakistani nationals are expectedly planning to infiltrate from across the border and LoC to stage attacks.

Police must get Limited Aadhaar Access : NCRB Director Ish Kumar

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HYDERABAD: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) director Ish Kumar on Thursday proposed that police be given “limited access” to Aadhaar data to help them trace first-time offenders + and unidentified bodies.

Kumar’s suggestion comes at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a raft of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar on the ground that it violates citizens’ right to privacy.

Speaking at the 19th All India Conference of Directors of Fingerprints Bureau here, the NCRB chief said nearly 50 lakh cases are registered across the country every year, adding that 80-85% of the offenders are first-timers without any police record. “Also, more than 40,000 unidentified bodies are found every year,” Kumar said.

“With access to Aadhaar data, these (bodies) could be identified and handed over to their relatives,” he added.

Junior minister (home) Hansraj Ahir said Kumar’s proposal would be discussed in the ministry along with amendments to the Identification of Prisoners Act.

The NCRB director also stressed on the need to float a scheme to modernise all state fingerprint bureaus, so that experts could at least visit most crime scenes.

“Though 50 lakh cases are registered across the country every year, fingerprint experts are able to visit only around 55,000 crime scenes. The reason is many states don’t have adequate fingerprint cadre strength nor do they have proper equipment and labs. Hence, there is an urgent need for the home ministry to float a scheme for modernisation of all fingerprint bureau from all states,” he said.

M Mahendar Reddy, DGP of Telangana who attended the event, said automation of the fingerprint Identification process is a tool by which criminals can be identified more quickly and efficiently and AFIS has played a key role in investigation, virtually replacing traditional manual methods of fingerprint matching and classification.

“Telangana is the first state to incorporate a palm print-based live scanner system for enrolment of criminal’s Fingerprints electronically and also deployed an Android-based single finger identification system to verify the criminal antecedents of a suspect in-the-field within seconds by the SHO himself without any manual intervention at Police station level,” he added.

Altogether 868 undetected cases were solved since installation of Papillon AFIS, of which 480 cases were old unsolved scene-of-crime cases that were not identified by the older FACTS system.

Minister of State (Home Affairs) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, said the fingerprints being the scientific evidence, it decreases crime rate and increases conviction rate and its accepted by the court and society. If the conviction rate increases, the offenders and people who intend to do crime will have fear, he added. Later the chief guest also released a book titled “Compendium of Finger Print equipment 2018”.

 

Terror funding mastermind arrested

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Anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra police on Thursday arrested a man from Pune for running a terror funding network. Identified as Ramesh Shah, the accused directly interacted with Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) handlers and arranged money for operatives spread across the country to run terror network in the country.
UP ATS officials said Shah, a resident of GorakhPur, had gone to Pune on a fake identity allegedly to hire men for his funding network. WhatsApp chats recovered from his mobile phone provided clinching evidences of his regular interactions with LeT, ATS sleuths claim. According to ATS officials, the 30-year-old Shah used to get money from Pakistan based handlers and from the middle-east. He would initially transfer that money to the accounts of some individuals, who would withdraw money and send it to his operatives, the UP ATS officials. The individuals were paid commission for using their accounts. Police said several crore of rupees were transferred by Shah to various bank accounts being operated in Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, and several other states. The probe agency came to know about Shah during interrogation of 10 people who were arrested for links with terror funding on March 24.

Among those arrested in March, Mukesh Prasad of Bihar and Musharraf Ansari of Kushinagar used to interact with Shah regularly. Some audio tapes and a diary were recovered from their possession which gave clues about Shah, the ATS sleuths said

After getting money from his handlers, Shah would transfer the money to the accounts of the innocent individuals and send a message to them through Prasad and Ansari to withdraw it deliver to the operatives at a pre-designated place,” a senior ATS official said, adding that Shah used to keep in touch with Pakistan based handlers via WhatsApp and internet calls.

UP ATS IG Asim Arun said Shah was running a racket to trap innocents for the past two years and used them for providing financial support to terror activities. He said Shah would be put through sustained interrogation to get specific information about his LeT handlers in Pakistan, the funding trail and for what purpose the money was finally being used.

According to the ATS sleuths, Shah was an expert in computer programming and hardware. He came to settle from Gopalganj in Bihar to Gorakhpur in early 2000 with his father Harishankar.

Insensitivity Of Police over Lynching Victim

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More than three days after a 45-year-old cattle trader was beaten to death, allegedly by a mob in Hapur, a photograph of him being dragged with three policemen in the frame went viral. Hours after the photograph attracted attention, the policemen — Pilkhuwa police station incharge and two constables — were sent to police lines and the state police issued an apology.

“We apologise for the insensitive manner in which the victim was handled by our policemen. All the three policemen seen in the picture have been transferred to police lines and an enquiry has been ordered in the incident. This picture seems to have been taken when the police had reached the spot to shift the injured to a police vehicle and because of non availability of an ambulance at that moment, the victim was unfortunately carried this way. Admittedly the policemen should have been more sensitive in their conduct. The humane concerns got ignored in the urgency of saving a life and maintaining law and order. As is clear from other pictures, the victim was rushed to the hospital in a UP100 PRV,” said a statement by UP DGP headquarters which was also uploaded on Twitter.

The three policemen have been identified as SHO Ashwini Kumar and constables Kanhaiya Lal and Ashok Kumar.

On Monday, Qasim was beaten to death and 65-year-old Samiuddin was severely injured in assault by a mob. Families of the victims alleged the attack was due to a “cow related matter”, while local police insisted it was the fallout of a road rage incident.

The incident took place between 12 noon and 1 pm Monday in the sugarcane fields dividing two villages in Pilakhuwa — Muslim-dominated Madapur and Thakur-dominated Baghera Khurd. Police have arrested Yudhishtir Singh and Rakesh Sisodia on charges of murder. According to the FIR filed at Pilakhuwa police station, the incident was triggered by a scuffle between unidentified bike-borne men and Qasim and Samiuddin. But the family of Samiuddin and the two men arrested have said it was related to “cattle”.

In videos of the incident, Qasim is seen pleading for water as a group of young men stand in the background. A voice asks people to calm down since they have already beaten the man and requests the mob to give him water. Soon after, another person is heard saying that cows were tied in the fields for slaughter.

In a photograph that came up on social media Wednesday night, Qasim is seen being lifted by 4-5 men. With his clothes torn and bloodstains on his arm, the man faces the ground. The image also captured three policemen — the local police station in-charge looking at his phone, another policeman holding up a hand and approaching the camera; the third policeman is on the right and at least 20 men, including children, are seen in the photograph.

The FIR, however, makes no mention of cattle and has been registered on the basis of a complaint by Samiuddin’s brother, police said. With concerns being raised on reasons behind the lynching after villagers of Baghera Khurd and the victim’s family claimed that it happened over “a cow issue”, police said Thursday that they were probing all angles. “Our aim right now is to identify the accused. The FIR mentions 25-30 unknown men as accused since the complainant cannot recognise them. Samiuddin is in hospital and is yet to identify the assailants. Today, Qasim’s brother met me and said in his statement that the incident happened when Qasim and Samiuddin were walking and a motorcycle hit them. When they protested, the men called 20-30 people from the village and they beat them up,” said Sankalp Sharma, Superintendent of Police, Hapur.

Seeking comprehensive agreement ahead of LS and VS Polls JD(U)

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The Janta Dal (United) wants a comprehensive agreement among NDA partners that would determine the seat share of each party in the Lok Sabha (2019) and Bihar Assembly (2020) polls. Sources in the JD(U) said they expected the BJP, the lead partner in the alliance, to take an initiative to seal the deal well in time. There was no proposal from the BJP yet, they added.

When asked to spell out the number of seats the party wished to contest in both elections, they said the JD(U) was not fixated on the number. “We want all sides to sit together and fix the shares of parties, which are just and fair and take current ground realities in account,” they said.

When it was pointed out that the BJP would want the results of the last Lok Sabha elections to be the basis for the agreement, the sources said this logic was flawed. “One has to remember that 2019 is not 2014,” they asserted, underlining the fact that “results of by-elections show that public mood seems to have undergone a change”.

They said the NDA had got 31 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar, winning 173 of the 243 Assembly segments. The BJP alone had bagged 22 seats. “Can the ruling combination repeat this performance?” the sources asked.
They said the JD(U) had secured only two seats. “Can they expect us to field candidates in only two constituencies now?”

The JD(U) sources said that if the latest poll performance was the yardstick, the 2015 Assembly results should also hold. The JD(U) had won 71 Assembly seats against 53 of the BJP. They said, “Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP has six members in the Lok Sabha, but only two MLAs in Bihar, while Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP had three seats in the Lok Sabha but only two members in the Assembly. Would they be content with the same number of seats?”

The sources said that an overall view and pragmatic approach would make more sense. The BJP should take steps to make the NDA more cohesive, consult its allies and address their concerns from time to time, they said. They flagged the issue of absence of representation of the JD(U) in the central government even though the BJP was well represented in the Bihar government. Special status for Bihar, according to the JD(U), would drum up coalition prospects in the state.