Top Stories on 15th June in a capsule

Tollywood sex racket busted in US

Investigating agencies of the United States have busted a sex rackets involving trafficking of Tollywood and Kannada actresses to America on the pretext of attending Telugu and other Indian conferences. The international racket was run by a Telugu businessman identified as Kishan Modugumudi, 34 and his wife Chandra. The couple, both natives of Hyderabad but illegally living in the US, took Tollywood actresses and models to USA in the name of various conferences and ‘star nights’ but conducted a prostitution racket instead. According to the complaint filed, the offences took place from May 11, 2017 to January 22, 2018. The news broke on Wednesday after the Chicago media reported the police had filed a charge sheet in the case.

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Flight tickets to go up to compensate zero cancellation charges

Airlines are likely to increase ticket prices by a few hundred per flight in order to curb loses to be occured after government's reforms for ticket cancellation, as reported by the Livemint. The government had proposed refunding customers for ticket cancellations in a draft passenger rights charter last month. The proposal for full refund if a customer cancels a ticket within 24 hours of booking will upset the pricing strategy that enables the industry to provide low airfare, said an executive with a private airline. If the provision is retained in the final version that is expected to be implemented in a couple of months, airfare will have to be adjusted to recover the revenue loss caused by refunds, said the executive, who spoke to Livemint.

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Fears of terrorist attack in Amarnath Yatra; Centre increases security

The Centre has ordered security agencies to adopt a wait and watch policy and step up security for Amarnath Yatra amidst fears of terror attacks. Over three lakh pilgrims are expected to take part in the 21-day long Yatra that commenses from June 28. The security agencies are having inputs that Pakistan-based militant outfits are planning to carry out a spectacular strike to sabotage the event. The Home Ministry said on Thursday that it had discussed the security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra but there “was no discussion on the extension or otherwise of the suspension of operations” in the Kashmir Valley. On Union Home Ministry`s direction, at least 238 companies -- nearly 24,000 personnel -- of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deputed on the Amarnath Yatra route, an increase of around 17 per cent from last year, for the two-month event.
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First arrest in journalist Shujaat Bukhari’s murder case

The Special Investigation Team formed to probe the killing of veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari has made the first arrest in the case – a man who was caught on camera minutes after the shooting checking on the dead bodies and then taking the pistol of Bukhari’s personal security officer. DIG Swayam Prakash said at a news conference that the arrest was made with the help of the public after cops released his photograph and the video on social media.  Bukhari, the Editor-in-Chief of  'Rising Kashmir' newspaper was killed by three unidentified gunmen who came on a bike, as per the captured footage on a CCTV camera in the area. Mr Bukhari was given police protection after an attempt on his life 18 years ago. The father of two was also said to be on the terrorist hit list. Bukhari was laid to rest at his ancestral home in the presence of a massive crwod of villagers, friends and colleagues who followed his funeral procession through the streets despite heavy rains.

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Salman Khan & 8 other Bollywood celebrities sued for breach in US

The Vibrant Media Group, an Indian-American promoter has sued several Bollywood artists including Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha & Prabhu Deva alleging breach of contract for refusing to perform at a concert despite having taken money for it. The firm has sought damages of at least USD 1 million. According to the complaint, in 2013 the Vibrant Media Group had hired the artists to appear live and perform at a concert in the US in September 2013, however, the show was cancelled as Salman Khan was unable to leave India due to legal issues in Rajasthan. As per the complaint, the artists instead of either keeping their promise or returning the advances received for the shows agreed to perform with another promoter. Others sued by the promoter include superstar Akshay Kumar besides singers Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Usha Mangeshkar.

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Goa CM Parrikar returns from US after 3 months, resumes duty

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who recently returned from the US post his 3-month long treatment for pancreatic disease resumed his duties on Friday. Parrikar, 62, sought blessings from people of the state and said that he will continue to serve them with all efforts. Parrikar first visited the Devaki Krishna temple at Khandola village in North Goa and then drove back to Panaji, where he visited the Mahalaxmi temple. Thereafter, he went to his office in the state secretariat, where he chaired a meeting of senior bureaucrats and police officers to take stock of the law and order situation in Goa.

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Jagannath temple’s missing keys found, collector says its Lord's miracle

A set of duplicate keys to the Ratna Bhandar of Shree Jagannath Temple have been found and the Puri collector, Arvind Agarwal, has termed it "miracle of the Lord". The Puri district administration who were looking for the keys since 13^th June found an envelope containing ‘duplicate keys’ of the treasury written on it on Thursday. Meanwhile, Opposition BJP stepped up their attack on the ruling BJD government and held the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his office responsible for wrongdoings. "The CM has been misleading the public. One day the collector says keys are missing and now he says that duplicate keys are found. Where is the original key?”, a BJP leader asked. The keys were reported missing by the temple administration committee since April when it was conducting a structural inspection of the temple with the Archaeological Survey of India.

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Man who shot Malala believed to be killed in US drone strike

Pakistan Taliban leader Fazlullah, the man believed to have shot Malala Yousafzai, was targeted by a US drone strike and killed, a US military official confirmed on Friday. The US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the strike late Wednesday targeted Fazlullah - also referred to as 'Mullah Radio' - the chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This isn't the first time it has been reported that a US drone strike has killed Fazlullah. Since 2010, the terrorist has been reported killed at least four times. Mullah reportedly ordered the attempted assassination of the then 15-year-old Pakistani girl Malala in 2012. Malala who is a fierce advocate for the right of girls to have access to an education escaped the assassination attempt and went on to win a Noble Prize in 2014. The terrorist is believed to have stopped Malala's school bus, boarded it and asked, 'Who is Malala', after which he shot her in the head.

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TCS approves 16,000 crores shares buyback

Tata Consultancy services board approved buyback of shares worth Rs 16,000 crore on Friday. The company buy back up to 7.61 crore shares at Rs 2,100 apiece. The buyback price is at a steep 17.17% increase to Thursday's closing price of Rs 1,792.25. Recently, TCS also gave one for one bonus scrip to its shareholders. Last year too, TCS had undertaken a 16,000-crore rupees mega buyback offer, entailing 5.61 crore shares at a price of Rs 2,850 per share. Wipro and Infosys together with TCS returned $9.75 billion in 2017 to its shareholders to keep investors’ faith amid slowing growth in the sector. Analysts say that the share buybacks typically improve earnings per share and return surplus cash to shareholders while also keeping the stock price stable during bad market conditions.
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