1. Rahul Raises Stake
Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he possessed information "about personal corruption of the Prime Minister", prompting an armada of ministers to accuse him of lying and demand an apology.
“Yeh Pradhan Mantri ke personal bhrastachar ka information hai (This is about personal corruption of the Prime Minister). We have detailed information,” the Congress leader told a media conference that was attended by several Opposition leaders, including men from the Trinamul Congress.
A few days ago, Rahul had threatened to cause "an earthquake" if he was allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha.
On Wednesday, Rahul refused to elaborate and respond to questions on whether he would make the disclosure outside if not allowed to speak at all in the Parliament as the session is coming to an end in two days.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. Kiren Rijiju Scam: ‘Bhaiya ka help chahiye toh… humko boliye Sir,’ Said Cousin Subcontractor
Responding to a report in The Indian Express about a Vigilance probe that red-flagged fraud and corruption in an Arunachal Pradesh hydro project, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju tried to distance himself from his cousin Goboi Rijiju, a sub-contractor for Patel Engineering Limited, which is under a cloud for allegedly providing fake transport bills and invoices related to work on building of two dams.
The minister said that Goboi was only a member of his clan, from the same village and so a “distant cousin”. He said that the letter he wrote to the Ministry of Power to release funds to Patel Engineering were only meant to help “poor local people,” working on the project under the aegis of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO).
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Storm Makes Cash King
Cyclone Vardah has unplugged the cashless drive in Chennai, tripping most modes of digital payment for over two days and making cash king again in the city.
The cyclone not only disrupted power supply with uprooted trees flattening several transformers, but also crippled mobile phone services by sending many towers crashing from rooftops. Chennai and its two neighbouring districts went virtually powerless the whole of Monday and for several hours on Tuesday. Even in the few areas where the mobile networks were functioning, the towers died a gradual death as their battery back-up drained off. ATMs downed their shutters, crippled by power outage and lack of connectivity.
The worst hit were hungry customers who descended on restaurants as cooking at home became difficult with no power, no servant and no water. Unable to honour digital payments of any kind, the restaurants put out "Only Cash" boards.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. UP Polls: Cong Plans Second Leg of Campaign, Prashant Kishor Not on Board
The Congress is set to start the second phase of its campaign for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections immediately after conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament, but poll strategist Prashant Kishor, it is learnt, is being kept out of the exercise.
The second leg of the campaign is being launched at a time when the Congress is in talks with the ruling Samajwadi Party for a pre-poll alliance. But sources indicated that the talks have not made much headway because of differences on seat-sharing and the Congress has now decided to go ahead with its campaign.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Patanjali Fined Rs 11 Lakh for Misleading Ads
A fine of Rs 11 lakh has been imposed on Yoga guru Ramdev's company, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, by a city court on charges of misbranding and misrepresentation of its products.
In its order, the court of Lalit Narain Mishra, Haridwar's additional district magistrate, found the company, which is currently eyeing at doubling its revenues from the current Rs 5,000 crore to almost Rs 10,000 crore by the next financial year, guilty of "releasing misleading advertisements by selling certain products with its labels although they were being manufactured by some other firm."
Citing Section 52 (misbranding) and Section 53 (misleading advertisement) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as well as Section 23.1 (5) of Food Safety and Standard (Packaging and Labelling Regulations, 2011) Act, it ordered Patanjali to pay the fine within a month. It also directed the district food safety department to "take appropriate action if there is no improvement in the products in future."
(Source: Times of India)
6. Legion Hacker Claims Mail Leak of 74,000 Chartered Accountants
He is an 18-year-old somewhere in India. Or so, he says. And he is part of Legion, the hacker group that has got India's attention after several high-profile email and Twitter hacks, and some extensive data dumps.
On Wednesday evening, he shared with TOI a list of what he claims are email addresses and passwords of nearly 74,000 chartered accountants in the country.
Over an encrypted text chat, the hacker also claimed to have already compromised the accounts of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and the sansad.nic.in domain, though the data is yet to be dumped. In a veiled threat, he also said Delhi Police should strengthen their own passwords rather than try to catch them.
(Source: Times of India)
7. Treat Militants’ Kin Properly: Mehbooba
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday called for differentiating between militants and their families.
“We have to differentiate between militants and their families. We even need to differentiate between habitual stone-throwers, their families and students. Deal with the people differently,” Mufti said while addressing a passing-out parade of commandos in Lethpora, Pulwama.
Mufti’s statement assumes significance in the backdrop of a controversy sparked by slain militant Burhan Wani’s brother Khali Wani figuring in the list of compensation cases. The ruling alliance partner BJP has objected to any compensation to Wani’s family.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. New Norms Allow Cab Surge Pricing up to Four Times
The Centre's new guidelines governing taxi operators across the country will allow aggregators such as Ola and Uber to charge up to three times the minimum fare during the day and up to four times between midnight and 5 am.
The minimum fare will have to be submitted to the state transport departments for approval.
The guidelines also allow private vehicles to be used as taxis by paying the required fees and getting their permissions online.
The price regulation will cover only vehicles that are less than four metres in length, which have been categorised as "economy taxi".
(Source: Times of India)
9. MHA Cancels Foreign Funding License of 3 NGOs After Accidentally Restoring Them
The government has declared the renewal order of foreign funding licenses of three ineligible NGOs – Sabrang Trust, Citizen for Peace and Justice (CJP) and Marwar Muslim Educational and Welfare Society – ‘null and void’ after the Union Home Ministry was left red-faced following a goof-up that renewed their licenses.
In a similar goof-up, the Ministry renewed foreign funding license of Greenpeace India also, which it had cancelled in September last year. When the Ministry realised its mistake, Greenpeace was told last month that its funding license was being suspended.
But now the Ministry is looking at a protracted legal battle over the issues as Greenpeace has obtained a stay from the Madras High Court on the suspension order.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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