Budget 2018-19

  A caste verification committee has asked NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede to appear before it on December 14, according to Bhim Army leader Ashok Kamble A caste verification committee here has asked Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) zonal director  Sameer Wankhede  to appear before it on December 14, according to Bhim Army leader Ashok Kamble, who is the complainant in the matter. Kamble had filed the complaint with the Mumbai district caste verification committee against Wankhede for allegedly forging documents and presenting himself as member of the Hindu Mahar (Scheduled Caste) community to secure the government job. We presented all the documents to the committee and asked it to take up the matter further. The committee told us that Wankhede will be asked to depose before it on December 14, Kamble said on Wednesday. Notably, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had also earlier alleged that Wankhede was born a Muslim, but he forged his documents to get the government j...

  Nearly 17 years after the deadly  2004 tsunami , the Quad summit will mark a high point in a steady year-long elevation against the backdrop of China’s growing economic and military strength and Covid Nearly 17 years after the deadly 2004 tsunami, when outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister  Scott Morrison  and US president Joe Biden meet September 24 for the first ever in-person leader level summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, it will mark a high point in a steady year-long elevation against the backdrop of China’s growing economic and military strength and Covid-19. Covid-19 vaccine production and distribution, supply chain resilience in critical and emerging technologies like semiconductors and 5G telecom networks are tipped to be top of the agenda. For India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Quad meeting will be bookended by a Covid-19 summit convened by Biden and Modi’s own s...

  Morrison on Friday rejected Chinese criticism of Australia’s new nuclear submarine alliance with the United States and said he doesn’t mind that President Joe Biden might have forgotten his name. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday rejected  Chinese criticism  of Australia’s new nuclear submarine alliance with the United States and said he doesn’t mind that President Joe Biden might have forgotten his name. China reacted angrily when Biden, Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used a virtual news conference this week to announce a trilateral defense alliance that will provide Australia with a fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said it was highly irresponsible for the U.S. and Britain to export the nuclear technology. Morrison said  Australia  wanted to boost peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Everything we’ve done with the United States is consistent wit...

  The CNWG convened the second virtual meeting and exchanged views to reduce the threat of illicit drugs The US-India Counter narcotics Working Group (CNWG) on Wednesday convened the second virtual meeting and exchanged views to reduce the threat of illicit drugs. Both sides committed to a bilateral framework of policy engagements and expanded cooperation to help reduce the threat of illicit drugs in both countries, read the joint statement of CNWG. The Indian delegation was led by Director General Rakesh Asthana, Narcotics Control Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, while the US delegates included White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Assistant Director Kemp Chester, Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Jorgan Andrews, and Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Hodge. The delegations engaged in wide-ranging conversations focused on increasing collabo...

  A proposal to impose night curfew in the national capital is being considered by the Delhi government in view of rising coronavirus cases, official sources said on Monday A proposal to impose night curfew in the national capital is being considered by the Delhi government in view of rising coronavirus cases, official sources said on Monday.”A proposal for imposing night curfew is under consideration. The details are being discussed, including the time period of the curfew which could be from 10 pm to 5 am,” a senior government official said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Friday said that Delhi was undergoing the fourth wave of COVID-19 but a lockdown was not being considered yet. “As per the current situation, we are not considering imposing a lockdown. We are closely monitoring the situation and such a decision will only be taken after due public consultation,” the chief minister had said in a press briefing. As per the Delhi government health bulletin on Monday, a total...

  Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, who was on Wednesday appointed as the new police commissioner of Mumbai, had played an important role during the 26/11 attacks Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, who was on Wednesday appointed as the new police commissioner of Mumbai, had played an important role during the  26/11 attacks  as he had recovered a bag containing RDX in south Mumbai, which he had shifted to a safer place. Nagrale was on deputation as director of vigilance at the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) at that time and used to reside at the police quarters in Colaba area, which was targeted by the terrorists. “During the terror attacks, Nagrale stepped out of his residence on his own in order to help. When he reached the area of Hotel Taj, which had been attacked by the terrorists, he found a bag containing RDX lying nearby. He immediately took it to a safer place and thereby saved several lives,” a police official said. The 1987-bat...

  The jail official said that once Nirav Modi is brought to Mumbai, he will be kept in one of the three cells of barrack number 12, which is a high security barrack With a UK court ruling in favour of extradition of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail has kept a special cell ready to lodge him, an official said on Friday. The jail official said that once Nirav Modi is brought to Mumbai, he will be kept in one of the three cells of barrack number 12, which is a high security barrack. “Preparations for lodging  Nirav Modi  in the jail have been completed and the prison cell is ready for him, whenever he is extradited,” he said. In a comprehensive extradition win for the Indian authorities, a UK judge ruled on Thursday that fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi not only has a case to answer in the Indian courts but that there is no evidence to suggest ...

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to be the first person in Israel to be vaccinated against Covid-19 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to be the first person in Israel to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In a video address from quarantine, where he has been since Monday after coming in contact with a person who later tested positive for COVID-19, Netanyahu said he asked to be the first to receive the vaccine so as to demonstrate its effectiveness. “On Friday, I will leave quarantine and on Saturday evening I will go get vaccinated. I have asked to be the first person to get vaccinated in order to serve as an example and to persuade you that you can and should be vaccinated,” Netanyahu said, according to a translation posted on the Israeli government website. The Prime Minister added that millions of doses will be available to Israelis by the end of January and called on citizens not to avoid getting inoculated.  Netanyahu  explained that aft...

  Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced his resignation, after the ruling National Liberal Party he leads failed to achieve its goal of scoring the best in parliamentary election Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced his resignation, after the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) he leads failed to achieve its goal of scoring the best in Sunday’s parliamentary election. The move is generally considered to also clear the way for his party to negotiate a future ruling alliance with other political parties. “The decision I took has a very precise objective…the negotiations to follow must lead to a government formed by the center-right political formations to clearly support Romania’s Euro-Atlantic orientation,” Orban said after announcing his resignation late Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. Although the vote counting has not yet ended, the partial results have emerged and there will be no major changes. Not only did the ruling PNL fail to get first place in the...

  UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced to set aside millions of pounds to establish a world-leading Counter Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC) based in London UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced to set aside millions of pounds to establish a world-leading Counter Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC) based in London. As part of a Spending Review for the next year’s budgetary plans tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the finance minister said he would allocate an additional 400 million pound to help recruit 20,000 more police officers by 2023, with 6,000 new officers in 2021-22; 63 million pound to tackle economic crime; and 337 million pound extra funding for the criminal justice system, which will include the new CTOC — expected to be fully operational within five years. “Our police and intelligence agencies do an extraordinary job every day to protect us all from terrorist activity,  Rishi Sunak  said. “Bringing these partners together to form a world-leading operati...

  The suicide note of Ashwani Kumar revealed that he ended his life due to ‘disease and disability’, informed Sanjay Kundu, Director General of Police (DGP), Himachal Pradesh The suicide note of former Governor of Manipur and Nagaland and ex-Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Ashwani Kumar, who allegedly died by suicide at his residence in Shimla on Wednesday, revealed that he ended his life due to ‘disease and disability’, informed Sanjay Kundu, Director General of Police (DGP), Himachal Pradesh. “We found a suicide note in which he wrote that he is ending his life due to disease and disability, of his own free will. He said his soul is embarking on a new journey and everyone needed to be happy, and that there should be no rituals or ceremonies,” the DGP told media. Kundu stated that  Ashwini Kumar ‘s son and daughter-in-law were the ones who first found the ex-CBI Director hanging in the attic of their residence in Shimla around 7.00 pm. “He used to meditate in t...