Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 27 chaired the eighth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog, to deliberate on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.
The theme for this meeting, conducted at the new Convention Centre in Pragati Maidan, Delhi, is ‘Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India’.
“Eight prominent themes will be discussed during the day-long Meeting including (i) Viksit Bharat@2047, (ii) Thrust on MSMEs, (iii) Infrastructure and Investments, (iv) Minimising Compliances, (v) Women Empowerment, (vi) Health and Nutrition, (vii) Skill Development, and (viii) Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure,” the NITI Aayog stated.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh attended the meeting, among others.
Chief Ministers of Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu skipped the meeting.
The BJP, in response, said that boycotting the meeting was equal to boycotting the State’s development and a highly irresponsible act. Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the opposition parties allege that the BJP does not respect the institutions but the truth is that insulting the institutions of the country has become a habit of the Opposition. The parties which are not attending this meeting today, in the past, have opposed the CAG, Election Commission of India, CEC, and the election process of the country.
Terror module linked to Islamic State busted in joint NIA-Madhya Pradesh Police operation
The NIA has busted an Islamic State-linked terror module with the arrest of three persons following overnight raids at 13 locations in Jabalpur during an intelligence-led join operation executed in coordination with the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Madhya Pradesh Police.
The searches were carried out on the night of May 26-27. The arrested accused have been identified as Syed Mamoor Ali, Mohammad Adil Khan and Mohammad Shahid. Several sharp-edged weapons, ammunition, incriminating documents and digital devices were seized.
On May 24, the NIA registered a case as part of its investigations into the pro-ISIS activities of accused Adil Khan, who came under the agency’s scanner in August 2022. The agency found that Khan and his associates were allegedly involved in disseminating Islamic State propaganda through social media platforms.
“The module had been conducting meetings/ “dars” in local masjids and houses and hatching plans and conspiracies to spread terror in the country,” the NIA said in a statement on May 27.
According to the agency, the three accused were highly radicalised and were determined to carry out “violent jihad”.
ED attaches properties of Udhayanidhi Stalin Foundation
The ED has provisionally attached immovable properties, worth ₹36.3 crore, and a further ₹34.7 lakh available in the bank account of Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation in the case of Kallal Group and others defrauding the Lyca Group of ₹300 crore.
Investigations revealed that the foundation had received the proceeds of crime worth ₹1 crore. The ED initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Crime Branch-I, Chennai.
It alleged that the complainant (Gaurav Chachra, Director of M/s Pettigo Commercio Internacional Lda, a subsidiary of the U.K.-based Lyca Group, having significant presence in India in form of Lyca Productions, Lyca Hotels etc.,) had been defrauded of ₹114.37 crore by Kallal Group and its directors/founders — Saravanan Palaniappan, Vijaykumaran, Aravinth Raj and Vijay Ananth, along with Lakshmi Muthuraman and Preetha Vijayananth.
Investigations revealed that the fraud is actually of an amount of ₹300 crore as the Lyca Group had also made other investments/loans to the accused and its entities without any due diligence or rationale. This resulted in searches at both the accused and complainants-related entities on April 27 and May 16, which found various incriminating evidence in the form of digital evidence, documents, properties, suspicious cash and hawala transactions, still under the ED scanner.
On May 25, in order to secure part of the proceeds of crime, the ED provisionally attached various immovable properties across the State, valued at ₹36.3 crore, and further attached ₹34.7 lakh available in the bank account of the Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation as it received the proceeds of crime amounting to ₹1 crore. The trustees of the above said foundation failed to explain the rationale for the above receipt from the parties involved in the case.
Thus total proceeds of crime in the said case is around ₹300 crore, of which immovable properties valued at ₹36.3 crore and movable properties in the form of a bank account with an available balance of ₹34.7 lakh have been attached. Further investigation is in progress.
Karnataka Cabinet expansion | 24 Ministers take oath
As many as 23 MLAs and AICC secretary N.S. Boseraju took oath as Ministers in the Congress Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka on May 27. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to the legislators. The allocation of portfolios is yet to be announced.
MLAs who took oath as Ministers are: H.K. Patil, Krishna Byregowda, N. Cheluvarayaswamy, K. Venkatesh, H.C. Mahadevappa, Eshwar Khandre, K.N. Rajanna, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Shivananda Patil, Thimappur Ramappa Balappa, S.S. Mallikarjun, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Mankal Vaidya, Laxmi Hebbalkar, Rahim Khan, D. Sudhakar, Santosh S. Lad, Byrathi Suresh, Madhu Bangarappa, M.C. Sudhakar, and B. Nagendra.
N.S. Boseraju, who is not a member of either house of the Karnataka legislature, also took oath as a Minister. He is likely to become a Member of the Legislative Council soon.
Meanwhile, supporters of four-time MLA M Krishnappa and his son and three-time MLA Priyakrishna staged a protest by holding up placards near Raj Bhavan, protesting against the non-inclusion of their leaders in the Cabinet.
Senior leader and MLC B.K. Hariprasad, and senior MLA and former minister T.B. Jayachandra have openly expressed their disappointment for having been denied Cebinet berths. Similarly, former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi, who quit the BJP and joined the Congress just ahead of the polls, too did not make it into the Cabinet.
Ahead of monsoon, ICMR confirms the infection geography of dengue has grown from eight States in 2001 to across the country now
Faced with a shortage of entomologists, a trickier vector, increased travel, and less than optimal public participation to prevent its spread, the infection geography of dengue, which was restricted to eight States in 2001, currently covers all the States and Union Territories in India.
Dengue has now breached the country’s last bastion, Ladakh (with two cases in 2022), senior health officials said.
As the country gets ready to welcome the southwest monsoon, which is associated with the rise of certain diseases, including malaria, dengue and Zika, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) confirmed that dengue’s infection geography has grown.
In India, Zika grew from miniscule numbers in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and is now being reported from 11 States (Punjab Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, Telangana and Tamil Nadu).
The ICMR said that this risk due to dengue, which is now endemic in more than 100 countries, has been propelled by several factors, including climate change, increased urbanisation (where environments are temperature controlled), and increased travel.
ICMR officials said that besides the work on vaccines, they were also looking at increasing awareness and promoting prevention, people’s participation, and the use of the latest technology, including satellite imaging and drones to map vulnerable areas.
In Brief:
Army Chief in Manipur, to review situation on ground
Army Chief General Manoj Pande reached Manipur on a two-day visit where he will interact with the local formation commanders and obtain a first-hand account of the situation on the ground, according to the Army. Meanwhile, Army and Assam Rifles launched multiple search operations in Kangchuk, Motbung, Saikul, Pukhao and Sagolmang areas of Manipur in the early hours of May 27 to track down any armed insurgents operating in these areas. On May 28, Gen. Pande will meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Chief Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh to discuss and deliberate on the current situation and future trajectory, in order to restore normalcy at the earliest, the Army said in a statement.
Malaysia Masters badminton | Prannoy enters final, Sindhu loses in semifinal
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy entered the men’s singles final of the Malaysia Masters after his opponent Christian Adinata of Indonesia conceded the semifinal match following a nasty knee injury in Kuala Lumpur on May 27. World number 9 Prannoy was leading 19-17 when Adinata lost his footing while landing after a jump return and his left knee buckled, leaving the Indonesian shuttler grimacing in pain. Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, however, couldn’t make it to the women’s singles finals after suffering a 14-21 17-21 loss to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. It was a second successive loss for Sindhu following seven wins against the tricky world number 9 Indonesian.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
Published - May 27, 2023 09:01 pm IST
