1. CBI Arrests Karti Chidambaram in INX Media Case, Congress Says Vendetta
The CBI, on Wednesday, 28 February, arrested Karti Chidambaram for allegedly helping INX Media in scuttling punitive action by the Finance Ministry during the tenure of his father P Chidambaram as Union Finance Minister.
The arrest triggered a political battle, with Congress terming it a “vendetta” and the BJP insisting that “law is taking its course.”
The 46-year-old was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand, who remanded Karti to a day’s police custody for interrogation, though the agency had asked for 15-day custody.
When he was brought to the Patiala House Court complex, Karti said: “It is absolutely a political vendetta. I will be vindicated.” In the court, too, his lawyer and senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi took the same line and said the basis for his client’s arrest were “bizarre” and “fake.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. MP Bypolls: Congress Retains Mungaoli, Kolaras as Scindia Wins Battle Against Chouhan
The Congress received a shot in the arm on Wednesday, 28 February, ahead of Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, as it managed to retain both the Mungaoli and Kolaras constituencies, which went to bypolls on 24 February. While Congress’s Brijendra Singh Yadav won by 2,124 votes in Mungaoli, Mahendra Singh Yadav defeated BJP’s Devendra Jain in Kolaras by 8,083 votes.
Both seats fall in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency that is represented by Jyotiraditya Scindia. The bypolls were necessitated due to the death of Congress’ Mungaoli MLA Mahendra Singh Kalukheda and its Kolaras MLA Ram Singh Yadav.
Scindia said the mandate in favour of Congress was a victory of truth and development. “People have taken a decision. It’s victory of truth and development. The people of MP have already taken a decision to oust the BJP from the state.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Sridevi Cremated with State Honours, Fans from Across the Country Mourn
Sridevi, 54, passed away on 24 February in Dubai. Her mortal remains were brought to the actor’s residence in Mumbai on 27 February. On 28 February, her condolence meet at Celebration Sports Club at Lokhandwala Complex was attended by fans from all across the country, and Sridevi’s colleagues from the film industry.
The Kapoor family stood by the actor’s mortal remains – husband Boney Kapoor, daughters Jahnvi and Khushi, and the members of the Kapoor clan.
Bollywood celebrities like Rekha, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Farah Khan, Vidya Balan, Sushmita Sen, Shabana Azmi, Madhur Bhandarkar, Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Farhan Akhtar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, John Abraham, Ajay Devgn, Kajol and many others were in attendance. Her co-stars from the South Indian film industry also came to pay their last respects. The condolence meet in Lokhandwala lasted for over three hours.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Pakistan Confirms FATF Will Place It in Terror Financing ‘Grey List’ in June
Pakistan on Wednesday, 28 February, confirmed that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is set to include it in a watchlist of nations not doing enough to curb terror financing and said it will come up with an action plan to tackle the problem.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a weekly news briefing in Islamabad that the financial watchdog had decided to place Pakistan on its “grey list” during a plenary meeting in Paris last week.
“Pakistan will be placed on the grey list in June, but there is currently no chance of placement on the black list,” Faisal said, adding an action plan to eradicate terror financing is being prepared and will be shared with the FATF.
The FATF has asked Pakistan to take additional steps to curb money laundering and terror financing and the country will cooperate with the watchdog in every possible way.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. PNB Fraud: Nirav Modi Gives ‘Repay’ Plan, I-T Issues Blue Corner Notice
Under-fire diamond merchant Nirav Modi has given a ‘concrete proposal’ to Punjab National Bank (PNB) offering it jewellery worth Rs 2,000 crore, current account deposits amounting to Rs 200 crore, and immoveable properties of Rs 50 crore to settle of his liabilities, even as the CBI continued its probe and arrested the bank’s chief internal auditor on Wednesday, 28 February.
Modi wrote a letter to PNB on 26 February, a source familiar with the matter said, saying the communication was in response to the bank’s letter asking to provide an implementable and concrete plan to return his dues.
Modi’s offer comes at a time when the Bureau of Immigration issued a Blue Corner Notice against him and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, on 28 February, in connection with the Rs 12,700-crore PNB fraud case.
The notice was issued on the request of the Income Tax Department.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Prasar Bharati vs I&B Again: Doordarshan Says No to Rs 2.92 Crore for Private Firm
The faceoff between the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Prasar Bharati over the latter’s autonomy on hiring and firing has now spilled into financial matters.
Doordarshan (DD), under Prasar Bharati, has rejected repeated demands of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) – which falls under I&B Ministry – to pay Rs 2.92 crore as expenses to a Mumbai-based private firm that arranged for live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2017 International Film Festival of India.
Doordarshan claims there was “no rationale nor any precedent” to outsource the job since it had been doing this all these years and had the “in-house” capability to telecast the ceremonies live.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. At 7.2 Percent, Growth Picks up Pace in Third Quarter
The Indian economy has regained its momentum, with the Central Statistical Office (CSO) reporting a GDP growth of 7.2 percent in the December quarter (Q3) of 2017-18 – the fastest in five quarters.
This recovery was sparked by a revival in investment demand, registering a growth of 12 percent.
Based on the third quarter data, the full year’s growth has been revised upwards to 6.6 percent. If this GDP growth rate is realized, the size of the Indian economy is projected to grow to $2.6 trillion at the end of March.
Not only does this signal that the Indian economy is tiding over the disruptions –triggered by demonetisation of high-value currencies and rollout of the goods and services tax – but the latest quarterly corporate earnings data suggest that consumer demand too is reviving.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Justin Trudeau Supports ‘Rogue Hand’ Theory, Angers India
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is standing by a senior national security official’s startling accusation that a convicted Khalistani terrorist’s presence in India during his recent visit was an attempt by “rogue” elements in the Indian establishment to embarrass him on the issue of Sikh separatist activity on Canadian soil.
Canadian opposition Conservatives raised the issue in the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament. Responding to the Opposition attack, Trudeau said, “When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it’s because they know it to be true.”
Hours after Trudeau’s remarks, the External Affairs Ministry said any suggestion that the Indian government had anything to do with Atwal’s presence at two official events in Mumbai and New Delhi was “baseless and unacceptable.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. State Recommended Sambhaji Bhide for Padma Shri Award in 2016
Sambhaji Bhide, a right-wing leader from Sangli accused of inciting the Bhima-Koregaon violence on 1 January 2018, had been recommended for a Padma award by the BJP government in Maharashtra in 2016.
A high-power committee, comprising 10 senior ministers, had recommended Bhide’s name for the Padma Shri. Significantly, the recommendation had been made by the committee using its discretion, even though the government had not received any application for it.
The relevant documents were obtained by Hindustan Times from the state government’s protocol department under the Right to Information Act.
Bhide, 84, was named in the FIR with another right wing leader Milind Ekbote for hate speech and stirring communal tensions. They have been accused of inciting villagers, who attacked Dalit groups paying tributes to the Mahar regiment soldiers who they believe defeated the Peshwas in the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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