Top stories on 23 February in a capsule

Delhi jeweler under CBI scanner for Rs 389.85 cr fraud

The Crime Branch of India (CBI) on Saturday registered a case against Delhi's Dwarka Das Seth INternational Pvt Ltd for allegedly defrauding Rs 389.95 crore from Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC). The move comes six months after the bank had filed a complaint with the CBI, and has reportedly booked directors of the brand Sabhya Seth, Reeta Seth, Krishna Kumar Singh, Ravi Singh and another company named Dwarka Das Seth SEZ Incorporation in the complaint. As per the complaint, the company had availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007-12, which grew to the amount of Rs. 389 crore during the period.

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NCPCR registers complaint against Papon for kissing minor

Apex body for child rights, The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) are probing into the controversy involving Bollywood singer Papon kissing a minor contestant of a reality show. NCPCR took up the case after Supreme Court lawyer, Runa Bhuyan, filed the complaint under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, claiming that the singer has “committed sexual assault”. The concerned channel where the show airs, &TV has been served notice, questioning their role in it. “POSCO Act requires mandatory reporting of sexual crimes against children. We have sought to know whether the channel complied by that,” NCPCR member Priyanka Kanoongo said.

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EC announces dates for Rajya Sabha polls in 16 states

The Election Commission on Friday announced March 23 as the date for elections to be held for the 58 Rajya Sabha seats of 16 states. Fifty seven of the seats in the Upper House of the Parliament will be falling vacant, while a vacant seat in Kerala will also be up for polls at the same time after MP Veerendra Kumar had resigned in December last year though his term was to end in April, 2022. With this election, the BJP is seeking to increase its membership, which is the largest currently at 58. Maximum number of seats will be contested from Uttar Pradesh, which has 10 seats.

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Wanted Khalistani terrorist caught in Hong Kong

Source: Hindustan Times

Wanted Sikh pro-separatist, Khalistani terrorist Ramanjit Singh alias Romi, was caught in Hong Kong on Friday. Singh, who has been on the run since the last two years was wanted in the case of the 2016 Nabha jail break, which he was accused of being the master mind of. In August 2016, 3 prisoners including criminal Singh Sekhon escaped from Nabha Jail in Punjab, while being monitored by Romi through Whatsapp and internet. Gurpreet Singh, who was apprehended in February 2017 confessed the crime to the police. International criminal track organization, Interpol had alerted the Punjab police on Romi’s presence in Hong Kong, based on which he was arrested. 

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US to impose 'largest ever' sanction on North Korea, warns of Phase 2

The United States said on Friday it was imposing its largest package of sanctions to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear missile program, and President Donald Trump warned of a “phase two” that could be “very, very unfortunate for the world” if the steps did not work. In addressing the Trump administration’s biggest national security challenge, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned one person, 27 companies and 28 ships U.S. Treasury Department stated. The United States also proposed a list of entities to be blacklisted under separate United Nations sanctions, a move “aimed at shutting down North Korea’s illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal.”

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India successfully test fires ‘Dhanush’ nuclear ballistic missile

Indian defense forces on Friday successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable 'Dhanush' ballistic missile with a strike range of 350 km from a naval ship off Odisha coast. The surface-to-surface missile, a naval variant of the indigenously-developed 'Prithvi' missile, was test-fired from the ship positioned near Paradip in the Bay of Bengal at around 10.52am. 'Dhanush' missile is capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and hitting both land and sea-based targets. "The missile launch was part of training exercise by the SFC of Indian Navy," news agency PTI quoted an official.

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Delhi Police raids CM Kejriwal’s house, seizes 21 CCTV footage

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence was raided by the police on Friday in connection with the alleged assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs within the premises of the CM’s house. 21 CCTV cameras were recovered from Civil Lines Area, in the first ever search operation conducted in a Chief Minister’s residence by the Delhi Police. Meanwhile, the CM advisor’s VK Jain also resigned from his post, a day after he confessed being an eyewitness to Prakash being manhandled by AAP lawmakers. Appearing before a metropolitan magistrate, Jain said he saw Prakash’s “glasses fall off” after accused MLAs Amanatullajh Khan and Prakash Jarwal cornered him on February 19. Reacting to the raids conducted, Kejriwal questioned why are probes not being done in other cases. "When will you send cops to search BJP President Amit Shah's residence in Justice Loya case?" he said.



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Pak put on terror financing watch list, braces for effect on economy

Global money-laundering watch list, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put Pakistan in the list of countries that finance terror activities, shaming the country globally. The move is part of the larger plan by the USA government to pressurize Pakistan into cutting down their support to militants, especially to the ones operating in Afghanistan. The decision to put back Pakistan in the list was taken after ally China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gave in to the majority vote, after much dissent. With this move, the foreign investments and economy of the country are going to get hurt as the consequences will take effect by June.

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Canada PM and PM Modi join to fight extremism together

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on Friday held extensive talks on key issues of counter-terrorism and extremism. They also discussed ways to boost trade and inked six pacts including on energy cooperation. After their nearly two-hour long meeting, Modi, while addressing a joint media event with the Canadian prime minister, said they discussed of the bilateral partnership. We are committed to building the friendship with the Indian-Canadian-based community and want their active participation in India’s progress. India-Canada is a natural partnership of shared values. I have a strong partnership between the two countries and the hope of a bright future of our two countries, Narendra Modi said.

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US tightens rules on H1B visas, likely to affect Indian IT companies

The US President Donald Trump administration has announced a new policy that makes the procedure of issuing H1B visas to people employed at one or more third-party work sites. Under the new policy, the company would now have to prove that its H1B employee at a work site has specific and non-qualifying speculating assignments in specialty occupation. Indian IT companies, which are among the major beneficiaries of H1B visas, has a significant number of its employees deployed at third-party work sites. A significant number of American banking, travel and commercial services depend on on-site IT workers from India to get their job done.

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