1. Middleman in AgustaWestland Chopper Deal Case to Be Extradited, Orders UAE Court
A court in United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ordered the extradition of an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal to India, according to officials familiar with the development.
Michel, a British national, is wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for VVIP helicopters for the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers. He was detailed in UAE this June and granted bail the following month.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. HAL Was Dropped From Rafale Deal by UPA Govt Itself, Says Nirmala Sitharaman
Hours after Congress veteran AK Antony accused Nirmala Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the defence minister on Tuesday said the state-run entity was dropped from the Rafale deal by the UPA government itself. Sitharaman said since HAL and Dassault Aviation, the French firm that produces Rafale, could not concur on the production terms, it was dropped from the agreement by the Congress government.
“HAL and Dassault couldn’t agree on production terms. So HAL and Rafale couldn’t go together. Doesn’t that very clearly say who didn’t go together with HAL and under which government it happened,” Sitharaman said during an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC).
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. If Muslims Are Unwanted, Then There Is No Hindutva: Mohan Bhagwat at RSS Event
Recalling the words of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College which became the Aligarh Muslim University, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Tuesday nuanced the Sangh line of every Indian being a Hindu, saying “Hindu Rashtra does not mean it has no place for Muslims. The day it is said that Muslims are unwanted here, the concept of Hindutva will cease to exist”.
Speaking on the second day of a three-day RSS lecture series event in New Delhi, Bhagwat said he will “respect” the sentiments of those who wish to be called “Bharatiya” and not Hindu.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Congress Leaders Meet Goa Governor, Demand That Manohar Parrikar-Led BJP Govt Should Face Floor Test
A special session of the state assembly should be convened and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told to take a floor test, the Goa Congress told Governor Mridula Sinha at their meeting on Tuesday evening. The Congress’s move comes amidst concerns over the health of 62-year-old Parrikar, who had been flown to Delhi’s AIIMS on Saturday, for treatment.
Emerging from Raj Bhavan at Dona Paula, Leader of Opposition in the assembly Chandrakant Kavlekar told reporters that the Governor had sought four-five days to get back to them.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Girl Gangraped, Four Students Held, Dehradun Boarding School Top Brass Arrested for Cover-Up
A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by four boys, all fellow students, at a reputed boarding school in Dehradun, police and officials probing the incident said.
They said the incident was kept under wraps for over a month by school authorities who threatened to expel the victim if she spoke about it even to her own family, including her younger sister who is a student in the same school.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Quit Govt Jobs or Die, Hizb Tells Kashmiris
In a video circulated widely on WhatsApp groups in Kashmir on Tuesday, Pakistan-backed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen threatened to kill every Kashmiri working for Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian Army and all other security forces as well as the central government if they did not resign within the next four days.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. UK Red-Flagged Vijay Mallya’s £17.8-Mn Swiss Bank Transfer
In November 2015, the CBI, as reported by The Indian Express Tuesday, put on record that Vijay Mallya should not be detained when he arrived in Delhi from London; four months later his bankers reportedly didn’t act on the legal advice they got to restrain him when he flew back to London.
It was British authorities in London, a year later, who red-flagged a 17.86-million pound (Rs 170 crore) transfer Mallya made to a bank in Switzerland. Sources have told The Indian Express that it was this alert by UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU), on 28 June, 2017 that was communicated to Indian investigating agencies and triggered the move for Mallya’s 13 lending banks to form a consortium and jointly move towards freezing of his assets in the UK.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Chanda Kochhar Case: ICICI Bank Looks to Settle With SEBI
ICICI Bank is in talks with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to settle alleged regulatory lapses involving its managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar, Videocon group and NuPower Renewables, a company run by Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar, through the consent mechanism, chairman of the capital market regulator Ajay Tyagi said on Tuesday.
Under the consent settlement process, an entity facing a probe by SEBI is subjected to certain fees and restrictions without admission or denial of alleged irregularities and the regulator thereafter drops its charges and investigations with a caveat that all disclosures made to it are correct.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Chief Secy Assault Case: Court Summons Kejriwal, 12 AAP MLAs on 25 Oct
A court on Tuesday issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs as accused in an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal accepted the charge sheet and asked all 13 to appear before the court on 25 October.
The Delhi Police in August chargesheeted Kejriwal, Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan, Prakash Jarwal, Nitin Tyagi, Rituraj Govind, Sanjeev Jha, Ajay Dutt, Rajesh Rishi, Rajesh Gupta, Madan Lal, Parveen Kumar and Dinesh Mohania.
(Source: Business Standard)
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