by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi led a midnight protest by the party workers at India Gate here against the “slumber” of Narendra Modi government over the rape incidents in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao and to seek justice for the victims.
The candle-light protest on Thursday midnight was called at a short notice and saw people converging at the India Gate in sizeable numbers to express their support.
Congress leaders including Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ashok Gehlot, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Sushmita Dev walked from the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to the India Gate along with hundreds of party workers holding candles.
Rahul Gandhi joined the protest around midnight. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra were also present, along with their daughter.
Similar protests had been held at India Gate after the brutal gang-rape of 23-year-old paramedical student Nirbhaya in 2012. Nirbhaya’s parents were also present at the mid-night protest on Thursday night.
Congress workers tried to come near Rahul Gandhi, giving hard time to the Special Protection Group (SPG) men protecting him. Gandhi sat atop his vehicle to briefly talk to the media.
He said there were repeated incidents of violence, rape and murder of women in the country.
“We want the government to take action. Today, women are feeling insecure to move out of their houses. Somewhere a child, a woman is raped, killed and we want that the government should resolve this. The women of the country should feel safe,” he said.
Gandhi said it was a national issue and not a political issue.
“This is an issue concerning women,” he said, adding that people from all parties as well as the common man was at the India Gate.
“I only want to say that the atrocities being committed against women, the government should something about it.”
He said Modi’s slogan of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” was a correct slogan. “We are saying that Narendra Modi should begin the task of protecting women of the country,” he said.
The Congress President had tweeted on late Thursday night about his intention to go on a candle march.
“Like millions of Indians, my heart hurts tonight. India simply cannot continue to treat its women the way it does.
“Join me in a silent, peaceful, candlelight vigil at India Gate at midnight tonight to protest this violence and demand justice,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was apparently caught unawares about the protest, with Congress workers from Delhi and neighbouring areas rushing to the venue on the call of their party leader.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said they were protesting to awaken the Modi government from its “slumber”.
Surjewala said the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir failed to give justice to the minor girl raped in Kathua and the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh did not arrest a party legislator accused of rape of girl in Unnao.
The protest lasted nearly two hours. With the crowds making a rush towards Congress leaders, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra looked a bit miffed with their behaviour.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Modi government had for years lied about the fate of 39 Indians killed in Iraq and was now diverting public attention from it by alleging that his party had links with a firm accused of misusing personal data of Facebook users.
“Problem: 39 Indians dead; Government on the mat, caught lying. Solution: Invent story on Congress and data theft. Result: Media networks bite bait; 39 Indians vanish from radar. Problem solved,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
Gandhi’s remarks came a day after Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of compromising national security by roping in political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to run its 2019 election campaign.
The Minister alleged that the firm had been found involved in data manipulation and warned that any attempt to misuse social media to influence India’s electoral process would not be tolerated.
Congress Communications Incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala also attacked the government, accusing it of deceiving the families of those dead in Iraq and the nation.
“Another lie, another spin exposed as truth unravels. All 39 Indians had died years ago as the evidence and witnesses suggested and corroborated now by Martyrs Foundation. Yet Modi government lied, duped and deceived the families and the Nation,” Surjewala tweeted.
He accused the government of not paying compensation to the families of those killed.
“Families ask questions – 1. Why did Modi government and Sushmaji mislead them for 4 years? 2. Why does the government not reveal the date of death? 3. What evidence did the EAM have of them being alive for all these years? 4. Why is government not agreeable to compensating the families?” he asked.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country, feeling tired under the Modi government, was seeking change in the 2019 general election and only his party can show the path forward.
In his presidental remarks at the party’s 84th Plenary here, Gandhi said the meeting was aimed at setting the future direction not only of the Congress but of the entire country.
Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his governmnent, which will complete four years in office in May. He said the country was looking for a change in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He accused the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the society and said that only Congress can heal the divisions.
“Today anger is being spread in the country, the country is being divided and people are being made to fight each other. But our work is to bring people together.”
He said various sections, including youth and farmers, were feeling disenchanted under the BJP government.
“The crores of youth, who are feeling tired today, when they look towards Modi, they are unable to see a way forward.
“They do not know from where will they get employment, when will farmers get proper price for their crops. The country is in a way tired, is seeking a way out.
“And I say from my heart that only the Congress can show the path to the country,” Gandhi said to cheers from the gathering.
“The aim of plenary is to show the path forward to the Congress and the country. It is talking of the future, it is talking of change.”
The Congress President recalled contributions of leaders including his mother Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Kartanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram “in fighting the battle of the Congress” and “protecting its symbol”.
The Congress chief talked of the need for a balance between youth and experience in the party.
“In our tradition, there is change but we do not forget the past. There is talk of youth but I want to say from this stage that youth will take the Congress forward but cannot move ahead without the experienced leaders. My task is to connect the youth and the seniors,” he said.
Gandhi said his task was to show a new direction to the party.
“What is the difference between the Congress and our opposition. There is one big difference. They use anger. We use love, brotherhood. The country belongs to us all, is of every religion, every community and every citizen.
“And whatever the Congress does, it will do for every individual of the country and not leave any one behind,” he said.
Referring to the Congress’ symbol of hand, Gandhi said, “This is the symbol that can bring the country together, take it forward. And the power of this symbol is within you. The work of forging the unity will have to be done together by all of us and people of the country.”
The plenary, being held after eight years, has definitive stamp of Gandhi. Unlike the past, leaders are not seated on the dias. Workers and young leaders have been given more opportunity to speak on the resolutions.
The meeting is being attended by AICC members from all over the country besides office-bearers.A .
Elaborate arrangements have been made for the plenary which will conclude on Sunday.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday constituted a 46-member Drafting Committee headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party’s March 16-18 plenary here.
He also constituted an Organising Committee, four subgroups, besides a Constitution Amendment Committee.
The Organising Committee headed by party Treasurer Motilal Vora has Oscar Fernandes as Convenor and party General Secretaries and incharges of states as members.
There are nine special invitees to the Organising Committee, including Ahmed Patel, Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken and Kuldeep Bishnoi.
Party leader Mukul Wasnik is Convenor of the Drafting Committee that will finalise resolutions to be adopted at the session.
The Drafting Committee has party heavyweights like former Union Ministers A.K. Antony, P. Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge, besides Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The ‘political’ subgroup headed by Antony has former Union Minister Kumari Selja as Convenor. Members include Azad, Kharge and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The ‘economic affairs’ subgroup headed by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has Jairam Ramesh as Convenor and Antony, Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma and M. Veerapa Moily among the members.
The ‘international affairs’ subgroup headed by Anand Sharma has party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia as Convenor and its members include former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Antony, Chidambaram, Salman Khursid, Shashi Tharoor and Amarinder Singh.
The subgroup on ‘agriculture, employment and poverty alleviation’ headed by former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has former MP Meenakshi Natarajan as Convenor and members include Amarinder Singh, K.V. Thomas, Randeep Surjewala, and Jairam Ramesh.
The Constitution Amendment Committee headed by Azad has Janardan Dwivedi as Convenor.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Close on the heels of a massive Rs 11,300 crore PNB scam, three fresh financial frauds have come to light including the alleged involvement of a Delhi-based jeweller, who has been accused of defrauding the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) to the tune of about Rs 390 crore through Letters of Credit.
The fresh exposure provided Congress President Rahul Gandhi an opportunity to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, these promoters have also disappeared while the government looked the other way.
On Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Delhi’s Karol Bagh-based diamond jewellery exporting firm Dwarka Das Seth International for an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 389.85 crore involving the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
The agency on Wednesday filed a case against businessman Amit Singla and others on a complaint of the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) of criminal misappropriation of a loan he had taken through forged documents.
The same day, the agency also filed a case against Inder Chand Chundawat, the then Senior Branch Manager in the Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) Barmer office in Rajasthan, for alleged abuse of his official position by depositing various government subsidies to the tune of Rs 1.57 crore in a fictitious account. The official was suspended following an internal inquiry.
Last week, the banking sector was rocked by major financial frauds — involving Rs 11,300 crore by diamantaire Nirav Modi and Rs 3,695 crore by Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari — surfaced in which the CBI has filed cases and made several arrests.
After the PNB and the Bank of Baroda, the OBC, BoM and Barmer office of the PNB rushed to the CBI with their complaints of fraud, leading to the agency filing three separate cases.
The OBC has alleged that it was defrauded by Dwarka Das Seth International and its owner Sabhya Seth. The loans turned into non-performing assets (NPAs) way back in 2014, but the bank approached the agency on August 16 last year, after the company had folded up and Seth fled the country.
The CBI has started tracing India-based directors and partners of the company.
The OBC complaint has alleged that Dwarka Das Seth International took loans by way of letters of credit and other such credit facilities for gold jewellery export/import between 2007 and 2012 but failed to pay back.
A probe by the bank found that the company had indulged in round-tripping of funds through fictitious companies abroad and had utilised funds by discounting bills based on the letters of credit of foreign banks, which were either non-existent or had negative ratings.
Similarly, BoM has approached the CBI to lodge a loan default complaint against a Delhi businessman Amit Singla. The loan had turned into an NPA in 2013 and the bank has even sold a property kept as collateral to recover its dues, sources said.
The BoM’s FIR names Singla, the proprietor of Delhi-based Ashirwad Chain Co, loan guarantor Roshan Lal Bhalotia, property valuation firm Tech Mach International and unknown officials of the bank.
It is alleged that Singla and his company took loans of Rs 9.5 crore through cash credit facility from the bank between 2010 and 2012. The accused allegedly submitted three properties in Delhi and Haryana as collaterals. The properties, at the time of taking the loan, were valued at over Rs 18 crore by Tech Mach International.
But, after the loans turned into NPAs, the actual market value of the properties were found to be only Rs 2.5 crore. One of the properties, a double-storied house owned by Roshan Lal in Rohtak, Haryana, was valued at Rs 4.85 crore while sanctioning the loan. When the bank sold it off to recover its dues, it fetched only Rs 73 lakh.
Similarly, a commercial property owned by the accused at Chandni Chowk in Delhi was valued by Tech Mach at the time of disbursal of the loans at Rs 4.95 crore, but it was actually worth Rs 31 lakh only. Tech Mach was later removed from the panel of valuers by the bank.
In the complaint, the BoM said: “The overvalued valuations were deliberately given in connivance with the borrowers and the guarantors … to fraudulently induce the bank to finance the borrower.”
The FIR also alleged that Singla had submitted inflated stock audit reports and balance sheets, apart from diverting the loans to sister concerns.
In the light of the emergence of three fresh cases of fraud, Rahul Gandhi attacked the Prime Minister.
“Under Modiji’s ‘Jan-Dhan Loot Yojana’, another scam! 390 crore, involving a Delhi-based jeweller. Same Modus operandi as Nirav Modi. Fake LOUs,” wrote Gandhi in Twitter.
“Predictably, like Mallya and Nirav, this promoter too has disappeared while the Govt looked the other way,” he added with hashtag #ModiRobsIndia.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday the discourse needed to move on from ease of doing business to that of Indian industry’s responsibility to become ethical in the way it does business.
He said political corruption at the Centre had “reduced significantly” after the ruling NDA government ended the administration’s discretionary powers in awarding contracts and allocation of resources.
The sale of electoral bonds from next week, he added, would be a decisive step in cleaning up the system of political funding in the country.
On Friday, Modi spoke about the bank fraud for the first time at the ET Global Business Summit saying government would take “stern action” against irregularities.
—IANS
