CBI official nabs I-T inspector who took ₹5L bribe after chase

CBI official nabs I-T inspector who took ₹5L bribe after chase

VijayV.Singh@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:10.04.2021

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official chased an Income-Tax (I-T) investigation wing inspector Ashish Kumar around for half a km and arrested him for accepting a Rs 5 lakh bribe from the owner of a logistics company on Thursday.

CBI also arrested his colleague, inspector Dilip Kumar, that day while accepting Rs 10 lakh from the same person. CBI is investigating inspector S N Rai, who too had demanded a bribe from the complainant.

It produced the two I-T inspectors in court, which remanded them to jail custody on Friday. CBI searched their homes and recovered Rs 7 lakh along with documents, including land purchase-related. The inspectors were attached to I-T investigation wing office at Ballard Pier and were part of a team that raided the logistics company recently for tax evasion.

The three were calling the owner of the company separately, demanding bribes. The three were unaware about each others’ communication with the complainant, who approached the anti-corruption wing of CBI for help.

CBI took the complainant into confidence and laid a trap for the two inspectors who had been caught red-handed with the bribe.

Ashish Kumar had called the complainant near Oberoi Mall in Goregaon (E) on Thursday night and a CBI team laid a trap near the spot. They caught Ashish after he collected Rs 5 lakh from the complainant and kept it in his bag, but he flung the bag with money at the team and ran away. A team member chased him and nabbed him.

Earlier, another team had arrested Dilip Kumar from Andheri while accepting a Rs 10 lakh bribe. CBI sources said Rai called the complainant for bribe negotiation but had not mentioned the amount.

CBI also arrested his colleague, inspector Dilip Kumar, while accepting Rs 10 lakh from a logistics firm owner. It is probing inspector S N Rai, who had also demanded a bribe

UoH VC asks students to stay alert

UoH VC asks students to stay alert

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad  10.04.2021 

 The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has reported 12-15 Covid-19 cases among students, teaching, non-teaching staff and their family members recently. Following this, UoH vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Appa Rao Podile has asked everyone to remain on ‘high alert’.

According to officials, among the affected students, three to four are day scholars-.“Students and scholars may take an informed call to get back to their native places at the earliest possible occasion with information to all concerned in the campus if they plan to do so. University shall not structure its academic activities in a manner that requires you to stay on campus,” said Prof Podile on Thursday.

All of those who tested positive within the campus are under isolation and undergoing treatment. None of the them are residing in hostels.

Foreigners lose OCI tag when divorced from Indians, MHA tells HC

Foreigners lose OCI tag when divorced from Indians, MHA tells HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:10.04.2021

The Centre has told the Delhi HC that foreigners registered as OCI (overseas citizens of India) cardholders because of their marriage to Indian nationals cease to enjoy that status after their divorce.

Defending one such decision, the MHA informed the HC that the move of the Indian embassy in Brussels, Belgium, asking a Belgian woman to surrender her OCI card after the dissolution of her marriage with an Indian national was taken due to such a policy.

The woman has challenged in the HC the provision of the Citizenship Act — Section 7D(f) — under which a foreign spouse of an Indian national would lose OCI status on divorce. MHA said the Section under challenge makes a clear classification as it applies to foreigners who were registered as OCI cardholders on the strength of their spouse being a citizen of India or an OCI cardholder.

MHA said the woman was issued a Person of Indian Origin card by the embassy of India, Brussels, on August 21, 2006 on the basis of her marriage with an Indian national. She legally divorced her husband in October 2011, and the PIO card issued to her on the strength of the marriage should have been cancelled, but it was not done at that time.

An OCI card was inadvertently issued to her in 2017 even though she was not married to an Indian citizen or an OCI cardholder at that time, and now she has been requested to surrender the same.

Univs step up measures, AUD stops offline classes

Univs step up measures, AUD stops offline classes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:10.04.2021

With Covid-19 cases continuing to rise, universities across Delhi have stepped up safety measures.

While Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issued fresh standard operating procedure (SOP) on Friday, pointing out that there are currently 27 active cases on the campus, including 24 students, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia have also issued strict guidelines to restrict student movement on their respective campuses.

Ambedkar University has, meanwhile, gone a step further and has announced that “offline classes shall be suspended in all campuses of the university till further notice.” The varsity has also postponed its MBA entrance test which was due on April 11. Speaking to TOI, AUD registrar Nitin Malik said, “Considering the increase in number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi, to ensure safety of its students, faculty and staff, the university has suspended offline classes.”

On Friday, JNU issued a circular stating that the campus has observed 281 cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began. The varsity has also witnessed five deaths due to virus. As part of renewed security measures, JNU has asked its wardens and deans to be vigilant, take precautions and enforce mask wearing, social distancing and hygiene. It asked its NCC and NSS to “create social awareness in all common areas and campus premises.” It also asked its security staff to take pictures of anyone not wearing a mask.

Similarly, Jamia and DU has also issued guidelines limiting student presence on campus and have cancelled all future booking of seminar halls and auditoriums.

20 doctors, 6 students test positive for virus at AIIMS

20 doctors, 6 students test positive for virus at AIIMS

New Delhi:10.04.2021

At least 20 doctors and six medical students of AIIMS have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 10 days, including two who had taken both doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine, official sources said on Friday.

The 20 doctors include two faculty members. The rest are resident doctors, a source said. A majority of them have mild Covid-19. The contacts of most of them have been traced, while for some the process is still on, the source said.

The recent surge in Covid-19 cases has also hit Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, with 37 doctors testing positive for the virus. There has been a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital over the past few weeks, and the daily case count breached the 7,000-mark for the first time this year.

Around 30 nurses have also tested positive at AIIMS in last one week. There are more than 3,000 doctors, including resident doctors and faculty members, at AIIMS.

“ We have seen that those who have received the vaccination have milder illness even if they test positive,” said a senior doctor at AIIMS. TNN

3 women given rabies vaccine in UP instead of Covid shots

3 women given rabies vaccine in UP instead of Covid shots

Sandeep.Rai@timesgroup.com

Meerut:10.04.2021

Three women in Shamli’s Kandhla town walked in to get their Covid-19 shots at the community health centre on Thursday. They walked out with anti-rabies shots instead.

Saroj Devi, 70, Anarkali, 72, and Satyavati, 62, had arrived separately but grouped together at the health centre. “The first floor of the centre is where Covid-19 vaccinations were being administered. The queue on the ground floor was for anti-rabies vaccination,” Shamli chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Agarwal said. “Instead of going to the first floor, they joined the queue on the ground floor.”

It appears no questions were asked of them as they quietly, unknowingly, took the wrong vaccine and left. But before Saroj Devi could reach home, she got sick. “The pharmacist has been suspended,” Shamli DM Jasjeet Kaur said.

Can’t reveal info of customers: Banks plead to SC on RTI ruling

Can’t reveal info of customers: Banks plead to SC on RTI ruling

New Delhi:10.04.2021 

Nearly six years after the Supreme Court ruled that RBI had to reveal information about functioning of banks under the RTI Act, major banks, including SBI and HDFC, on Friday urged the court to recall its order as they cannot reveal confidential information of account holders who may sue them for putting such details in public domain, reports Amit Anand Choudhary.

The SC had in 2015 directed that RBI can’t refuse to reveal information under the transparency law on financial health of banks under the pretext of ‘fiduciary relations’ with financial institutions and had held that the regulator was supposed to “uphold public interest and not the interest of banks”. Another round of litigation was initiated after RBI didn’t comply with the SC order and the court issued contempt notice. The proceedings were wound up in 2019 with RBI being given the last opportunity to comply to disclose its Annual Financial Inspection report of banks. With RBI asking the banks to provide information to be disclosed under the RTI Act, third round of litigations has started with all major banks filing fresh applications and petitions seeking quashing or recall of earlier direction. Banks such as SBI, PNB, HDFC, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda made a pitch for re-examining the issue.