Morning Brief: ED Grills Chidambaram In INX Media Money Laundering Case; Government Trying To Bring Back 58 Economic Offenders; And More

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

ED Grills Chidambaram In INX Media Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday questioned former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram for the first time in the INX Media money laundering case. The agency has questioned his son Karti Chidambaram in the INX Media case in the past and has also attached his assets worth Rs 54 crore. Karti Chidambaram was also arrested in February this year for allegedly taking money to facilitate a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media in 2007 and was later granted bail.

The agency has questioned the 73-years-old in the Aircel-Maxis case in the past. In the this case, he is accused of receiving Rs 1.13 crore as “quid pro quo” between 2006 and 2012. Chidambaram, it says, had abused his position as the Finance Minister of India. He “dishonestly and fraudulently” granted approval to a FIPB proposal “for which he was not competent”, the agency says.

Government Trying To Bring Back 58 Economic Offenders

The government has informed the parliament that is trying to bring back 58 economic offenders, including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Nitin and Chetan Sandesara and Lalit Modi, from different parts of the world using tools like extradition requests, red corner notices and look out circulars. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence are currently working on 16 extradition requests in the UAE, UK, Belgium, Egypt, the US and Antigua and Barbuda.

The government is also working on bringing to India AgustaWestland middlemen Guido Ralph Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. These requests had failed to make headway, and the government is known to have sent fresh requests in October. The CBI had sent extradition requests for Gerosa in November 2017 and Haschke in January 2018. Earlier this month, middleman Christian Michel was extradited from the UAE.

Raids In Tamil Nadu Over Plot To Kill Hindu Leaders

The National Investigation Agency carried out raids at seven places in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tindivanam on Wednesday as part of its probe into a conspiracy to kill Hindu leaders in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Times of India has reported. The raids, which lasted for four to 10 hours, were linked to the arrest of a seven-member gang In Kerala for conspiring to kill Hindu Makkal Katchi founder-president Arjun Sampath and Sakthi Sena leader Anbu Mani.

Unaccounted cash, Islamic literature and letters written on the letter pad of a Muslim outfit were seized by the NIA during these raids. Houses of people identified as In Jaffer Shaddique Ali, Ashique and Faizal were searched in Coimbatore. These houses were in Pudu Nagar, Variety Hall Road and GM Nagar areas of the city. Raids were conducted at Otteri and Mahakavi in Chennai.

Ranking Of States, UTs On Startup Development

The government is all set to announce the ranking of States and Union Territories (UTs) on the basis of measures taken by them to promote startups. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has worked on this exercise. States and UTs will be ranked on seven areas of intervention and 38 action points including policy support, incubation centres, seed funding, angel and venture funding and easier regulations.

Over 14,560 startups in the country are recognised by DIPP. Out of this, 2,787 are from Maharashtra, 2,107 from Karnataka, 1,949 from Delhi, 1,201 from Uttar Pradesh, 765 from Haryana and 764 from Gujarat.

Modi To Flag Off Train 18 From Varanasi On 29 December

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off Train 18, the fastest train from Indian Railways’ stable, from Varanasi on 29 December. The Indian Railways is yet to chalk out a final plan for the train. However, according to the tentative plan, the train will leave the New Delhi station at 6am and will reach Modi’s parliamentary constituency at 2pm. For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 pm from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30pm.

Train 18 had crossed the 180 km per hour speed limit during a recent trial run. If the tracks and the signal systems of the Railways permit, the train can touch the speed of 200 km per hour. However, for now, the train will only be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour.

From Swarajya

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