Top stories on November 30 in a capsule

Actor Rajpal Yadav sent to jail for failing to repay loan 

Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav on Friday was sentenced to a three-month jail term after the Delhi High Court found him guilty of failing to repay a Rs 5 crore loan, that his company had taken to direct a movie. The case pertains to Yadav and his wife's Shree Naurang Godavari Entertainment who had taken a loan from a Delhi-based Murli projects to fund his directorial debut ‘Ata Pata Laapata’ in 2010. The 47-year-old actor had claimed in 2015 that he had repaid Rs 1.58 crore and promised to pay the balance within a month. Later this year, it was agreed upon that Yadav will return Rs 10.40 crores, which is the balance with interest, but he failed to do it.

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ED summons Robert Vadra after fresh land scam crops up in Bikaner

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday summoned businessman and son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra in a case related to a land deal in Bikaner, Rajasthan that happened in 2012. ED took the apparent step after English daily The Indian Express in its November 30 report said that a certain Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) had loaned money to Delhi-based Allegeny Finlease Pvt Ltd that bought 69.55 hectares of land from a company close to Robert Vadra. The said deal reported happened in two accounts to the tune of Rs 5.15 crore — at Rs 7.41 lakh per hectare, from Vadra’s company Skylight Hospitality Private Limited in January 2012. The same land wasbought by Vadra at seven times lower the purchase price in 2010 for an estimated rupees 72 lakh for a little over at 1 lakh per hectare.’ Reacting to the report, Vadra said, "It is Plan B of the BJP government to drag my name into controversies ahead of the Rajasthan elections." Meanwhile, BJP party president Amit Shah said such loans given through corrupt practices of the Congress have turned into non-performing assets. The land in question refers to the Kolayat area which is allotted for those displaced due to the Army's field firing range.

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Farmer’s mega rally in Delhi turns political as Opposition takes turn to slam PM Modi

A day after over 35,000 farmers from across India marched to Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, the protest resumed to Parliament Street on Friday. Amidst the huge gathering, Opposition leaders Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal  addressed the farmers and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and blamed him to the agricultural distress across the country. Gandhi said, “If the government can waive Rs 3.5 lakh crore loans of 15 big industrialists, why can't the loans of crores of famers be waived?” Further, Kejriwal also took a jibe on the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana saying, “It is Daaka Yojna and not a Beema Yojna.” Meanwhile, the gathering also featured leaders from over 21 political outfits such as Communist Party (Marxist) secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah among others. Scoffing at the Opposition’ united front BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Uniting won't help these individuals who have lost the people's support.”

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Kartarpur Corridor was Imran Khan’s googly to India: Pak Foreign Minister

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi triggered off a controversy by stating that Pakistan Prime Minister’s ‘googly’ bought Indian government’s presence to Pakistan for the Kartarpur corridor opening ceremony, whereas they were earlier rejecting the invite. Addressing a gathering in Islamabad, Qureshi said, “The world saw how Imran Khan bowled the Kartarpur ‘googly’, as a result of which India, which was not willing to engage with us had to come here and engage with us.” Reacting to Qureshi’s statement, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on microblogging site Twitter said, “No one was bowled over by any googly. PM Modi and ministers have only respected sentiments of Sikhs by authoring and participating in this noble initiative.”

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Former Coal secretary & four others guilty in coal scam case

The Delhi High Court on Friday convicted former coal secretary under UPA government, HC Gupta along with four others in a case related to the 2012 coal block allocation scam. The rest of the guilty included former joint secretary Coal Ministry KS Kropha, ex-director in Coal Ministry KC Samria, managing director of Vikash metals and power limited managing director Vikash Patni and one of its senior officer Anand Mallick, were charged under multiple sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The case pertains to irregular allocations in Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks of West Bengal which were given to a private company Vikash Metals and Power Limited (VMPL) in 2012. The sentence of punishment will now be pronounced on December 3.

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Supreme Court issues notice to Baba Ramdev over book ban case

The Supreme Court on Friday sent a notice to yoga guru and consumer goods brand Patanjali‘s co-founder Baba Ramdev on a plea by a New Delhi-based publishing house challenging the Delhi High Court’s verdict that put a hold on the sale of a book on the yoga guru's life. Delhi HC, in its September 29 order had withheld the sale of the book by Juggernaut Books after Ramdev approached the court saying it had derogatory contents about him that could hurt his economic interests and defame him. Hearing the plea, the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said, “We will issue a notice to Respondent 1 (Ramdev).”

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