ED Action : Mehul Choksi Group's 42 Properties Worth Over Rs. 1,200 cr Attached

Enforcement Directorate has attached 42 properties worth over 1,200 crore rupees belonging to Gitanjali Gems and its promoter Mehul Choksi in connection with PNB scam.
The ED has issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached assets include 15 flats and 17 office premises in Mumbai, a mall in Kolkata, a four-acre farm house in Alibaug and 231 acres of land at locations like Nasik, Nagpur, Panvel and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu.
A 170-acre park in Hyderabad's Ranga Reddy district valued at over 500 crore rupees has also been attached, the ED said on Thursday.
Four flats in Borivali (east) area of Mumbai and nine others in Khemu Towers in Santacruz (east) have been attached as part of the action.
Choksi and designer diamond jewellery businessman Nirav Modi and others are being investigated by the ED and other probe agencies after the PNB scam came to light.
The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case.
AIR Correspondent reports, the Enforcement Directorate issued a provisional order for attachment of the properties in PNB case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It had attached total 42 assets including 15 flats and 17 office premises in Mumbai, a mall in Kolkata, a four-acre farm house in Alibaug and 231 acres of land at locations like Nasik, Nagpur, Panvel and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu.
A 170-acre park in Hyderabad's Ranga Reddy district valued at over Rs 500 crore has also been attached. The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case.

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Talks with Iranian President Fruitful : PM Modi

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has termed his talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as fruitful.
India and Iran on Saturday signed nine agreements in different areas after delegation-level talks between PM Modi and President Rouhani in New Delhi. 
The fields in which the agreements were inked include extradition treaty, Chabahar port, medicine and agriculture. 
In a joint statement, Modi said, he had a fruitful discussion with Dr. Rouhani on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. He said, the Iranian President's visit will further deepen and strengthen bilateral ties. 
Modi also said, both countries would like to see a prosperous and terror-free Afghanistan. He said, India and Iran are connected by common Sufi strain and want the region to be free of terror. 
The Prime Minister also thanked Mr Rouhani for providing leadership in developing Chabahar Port which is a gateway to Central Asia.
Both leaders also released a special postal stamp. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary and discussed ways to strengthen co-operation in energy, connectivity, IT, education, culture and people-to-people contact. 
The Iranian President was accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan Saturday morning. He also visited Rajghat to pay tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
Rouhani will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu later on Saturday.
The Iranian President, who is on three-day visit to India, arrived in New Delhi last night after his stay in Hyderabad.

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Sania Mirza Comes Back Home

After two intense legs in Tokyo and Singapore, the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League lands tomorrow in Hyderabad, India, which will be the decisive leg where the final will take place. 

Home superstar Sania Mirza, one of the leaders of the local team, the Indian Aces, is ready to be the main protagonist as she hopes to guide her side to the IPTL crown. 

"I am looking forward to go to Hyderabad", said Mirza. "Actually the city has a very rich culture of sport, with amazing athletes coming from there. People follow the tennis all year round and have a deep knowledge of the sport in general. I really hope they come to support us." Mirza, women's doubles world number one and owner of six Grand Slam titles, grew up in Hyderabad, where she lives when the tour gives her time to do so. It will be the first time since April 2015 that she plays in front of her hometown crowd. 

"It is very special for me to play there. The last time was almost two years ago and before that it was actually in 2005 so it is always special to play back home because it reminds you where you come from, your beginnings, the journey you have had," said Mirza. The 30-year-old is not just the best women's doubles player in the world, she is a global icon. Her near-five million followers on Twitter make her the second most followed female tennis player right behind Serena Williams. 

Playing for the IPTL for the third time, Mirza says she loves the format. "As tennis players we play such an individual sport that it's great to be part of a team. It is a really fun format but also a very competitive one," she added. "Even if you play just one set, you are living every point with them because all the emotions you go through. Actually I think it's tougher to watch than to play, at least in my opinion. Emotionally, when you finish the match, you feel like you have played the five sets. That's what makes the format so special." 

From December 9-11, at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, the best tennis stars from past, present and future will be in Hyderabad.

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Railway Problem At Fore

At last, CM writes a letter to Railway Minister

The chief minister of Maharashtra seems to have taken at last the problem of railway passengers in the state. I have written about this problem some days ago. The CM has written a letter to the new railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who like her predecessor appears to incline more towards her native state. Barely two days after getting her portfolio, she has announced a new train for West Bengal.

In the letter sent to Banerjee, the CM has pointed out that the state government has earmarked 50 percent of amount necessary to complete four tracks in the state. These include Ahmednagar-Parali, Vardha-Nanded and Vadsad-Gadchiroli. With that, the permission for new railway route between Pune-Nashik is also sought. This route is 265 km long. At present, the only train connecting these two important cities have to pass through Klayan which adds up to more than 100 Kms of distance or two hours in terms of time.

All these routes were pending for many years. Ahmednagar-Beed-Parali route is 261.25 Kms and its survey has been completed by railway ministry. If completed, this route will lessen the travel between Pune to Nanded by more than half. At present, the trains connecting these two cities have to travel half of Maharashtra. The train connecting these two cities goes through Daund, Ahmednagar, Manmad, Aurangabad, Jalna and Parbhani. This consumes about 10 hours of travel. People from Marathwada are fighting for this route for more than 50 years. It is a welcome move if the CM has taken notice of this.

Connecting the Dots

Government seems to have at last realized the need of connecting Nanded sub-division to Central Railway. Oraganisation fighting for railway problems in Marathwada have since long expressing the need of joining the sub-division, which currently falls under South Central Railway to Central Railway.

Chavan while giving the information regarding his letter to RM, publicly said that people feel various inconveniences to approach the headquarter of SC railway in Hyderabad. Since people from the region travel to Mumbai for their official work, it is obvious that they should go to Mumbai instead of Hyderabad for work related to railway. This pronunciation itself is a corroboration of public demand to attach the sub-division to CR. If it is done, it will be of great help.

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The Problems of Railway in Marathwada

The seven districts of Maharashtra bordering Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, namely Aurangabad, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Latur, Osmanabad, Jalna, Beed are collectively known as Marathwada. It was formerly under the Nizam rule and was separeted in 1960 at the time of formation of Maharashtra. The area is known for its economic backwardness and one reason ascribed for it is the lack of communication facilities. This absence of facilities include modern uitilities like internet and mobile communication as well as traditional ways of transportation. It is difficult for anyone to imagine how the area has been marred by the problems of railway.

To begin with, whatever rail network exists in Marathwada was laid by the then Nizam administration. According to district gazettes of Nanded, “Nanded and the adjoining districts of Aurangabad and Parbhani are very rich in raw materials-. Cotton, the important staple crop, is abundantly grown. Visualising the importance of these raw materials in the prospective development of the region, the erstwhile Hyderabad State undertook the laying down of Hyderabad-Manmad railway line, which later on came to be called as the Godavari Valley railway, which was again renamed as Kacheguda-Manmad railway, so as to enable the transportation of the abovementioned raw materials as well as passenger traffic which was the necessity of the day. The work of this line was completed and it was opened for traffic in 1899.” Not a single inch of track has been added to that set up. Broad gauge railway was a dream for most of the public in the area till as late as 1992. There are still some districts like Beed (except Parali) and Osmanabad which have no presence of rail road. The district gazette of Beed district published in 2006 says,

“Beed district, along with other districts of the Marathwada region, was not supplied with a well-knit system of communications till recently. The total rail length in the district at present measures only 48.28 km. (30 miles), the main railway station in the district being Parali-Vaijnath. The rail track running north-east joins it with Parbhani and that running southeast with Hyderabad. The Parali-Parbhani meter gauge line was opened for traffic in 1929. The Parali-Vikarabad broad gauge line opened in 1933 serves the district well by connecting it with Secunderabad and Hyderabad, which are important places. Parali-Vaijnath is the largest market town of the district and is connected with many trade centres in the outgoing areas. Beed, the headquarters of the district, lies off the railway route and thus depends on roadways for trade. The railway communication is restricted to a small portion in the east only. It thus depends for the most part on road transport for passenger and goods traffic.”

The people are demanding for railway facilities since 1950s. Recurring agitations and demand to the central government have failed to garner any advantage for the people of Marathwada. The result is that even though most of the workforce of industries in Pune and Mumbai come from these districts, the travel to these cities is next to a nightmare for the people. Passengers going to Pune from Nanded have to take a circular travel of more than 200 kms which take approximately 5 hrs.
One reason why this apathy is being shown may be that the Nanded railway division is attached with South Central Railway which has been dominated by Andhraites. On the other hands, the people from the region ask to attach the division with Central Railway as is the case all over the state. According to Sudhakar Doiphode, the senior journalist and editor of Prajavani, a Marathi daily from Nanded, “The region has been locked into two sides with the same apathy. The developed regions like Western Maharashtra look at Marathwada as backward. The leaders their give a cold shoulder to the problems of the region, meting out a step brotherly treatment. On the other hand, the SC railway is more concerned with the good performance in Andhra Pradesh. The officers who are mainly from AP are absolutely no concerned with the people here.”

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Arranged Marriage Is Still In Thing

, It is official now. Almost half of the marriagable women prefer arranged marriage to the modern ways. The fact has been bought to fore by the one of the prominent matrimony portals of India BharatMatrimony.com.the portal conducted an interesting survey on ‘Woman & Marriage’ in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore and in tier II cities which include Madurai, Mysore, Pune, Trichy, Coimbatore & Jaipur.

According to a press release by the company, the company will conduct more surveys in understanding the trend among the most relevant audience. The survey was conducted among 1058 women in the age group of 20 to 30 yrs.

Some of the results of the survey are:
49% prefer arranged marriage
59% consider parents decision the most important in a marriage
27% prefer to sacrifice their career for marriage
71% opt 21-24 as the ideal age for marriage
75% of the women say that they will refer online matrimony to others
46% consider this an ideal platform that helps one access profiles at their own time of convenience

"Women are scaling great heights in every field. However, one thing, which remains unchanged, is their belief in the institution of marriage. This is evident from our survey to gauge the attitudes and sentiments of Indian women towards marriage," Uma Thenappan, Head Marketing of BharatMatrimony was quoted as saying in the release.
Press release distribution via India PRwire

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Three Indian Cities in Top Emerging IT Destinations

KPMG, the audit, advisory and tax cosultation gloabl company has released its  survey of emerging 31 Information Technology (IT)destinations across the world. Indian cities comparatively backward till now in terms of IT have featured in the list. They include Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Nagpur, three cities from three different states. 

The report is titled-'Exploring Global Frontiers- the new Emerging Destinations'. It says that as the existing favourite locations for shared services and outsourcing have started to become saturated the newer cities are emerging, offering new and improved incentive packages and talent, that are better geared for the IT and ITeS industry.

KPMG Sourcing Advisory services in India Partner-in-Charge Viral Thakker is quoted by PTI as saying, "Realising the growth potential of the IT-BPO industry, Tier II cities in India have now jumped on the sourcing bandwagon and can be projected as viable destinations." 

The report was launched at this week’s NASSCOM outsourcing event in India. KPMG claims to have identified 31 cities which are rapidly emerging as leading pretenders to the BPO crown held by the traditional powerhouses such as Bangalore, Chennai or Shanghai. The full list includes 10 locations in the Americas (Buenos Aires, Campinas, Curitiba, Calgary, Winnipeg, Santiago, Guadalajara, Queretaro, Boise, Indianapolis); 10 in Asia-Pacific (Brisbane, Changsha, Hangzhou, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Penang, Davao City, Iloilo City, Ho Chi Minh City); and 11 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Sofia, Zagreb, Cairo, Port Louis, Belfast, Gdansk, Cluj-Napoca, Rostov-on-Don, Belgrade, Tunis and Lviv). 

The report has a map showing emerging and emerged destinations in India. Pune is shown as emerged destination in the map. Besides that Bangalore, Mumbai, National Capital Region, Chennai and Hyderabad are termed as emerged destinations. It also says that many Tier II and III cities in India have potential to attract IT-BPO investment. 

The full report is available here 

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Andhra's WhYSR?

The twin city of Hyderbad has been shocked second time whithin a span of three months. The twin blasts have taken a toll of more than 45 persons with casualties including women and children. The day of the blast coincided with the 100th day of the fateful bomb blast in Mecca Masjid in the older part of Hyderabad.On the same day, prior to these blasts, Andhra Police has seized fake currency worth Two Crores and 70 Lakhs Rupees. The feat, though reported widely in local media in Andhra, got rare place in the media form North, which deemed it more important to report the misforun of Salman Khan! I could have easily lost on these news items, but for the Telugu channels which I chanced upon to see on that day. All the media organs in Andhra Pradesh have dwelt on these two aspects relating them to the latest blasts.

People in Andhra Pradesh have more enraged now with the undue comments coming from none other than the Chief Minister of the State himself. Y. S. R. Reddy has been quoted as saying, "idi aantarjaatiy ugravaadam...Pak, Afghanisthanlo man nighu network vistarinchlem kadaa?" Reddy's comments have invited flak from the largest circulating daily in Telugu "Eenadu." The newspaper has compared his statement with the statement of George W. Bush immediately after the attack on World Trade Centre on 11 Sept. 2001. The paper describes YSR's statement as "this is the counterattack launched by CM in his unique style, the way he does after each attack." His statement has rubbed salt on the already wounded public psyche, says Eenadu. "The terrorist attacks happen even in Bangalore, Malegaon, London, Baghdad...," this is how YSR defended failure of the Intelligence organs in predicting and prohibiting the incident. Eenadu while commenting on this, says "how can the CM compare Hyderabad with Baghdad of Iraq, which is engulfed in the Civil War? How dare CM speak like this even when he knows there has been no terrorist strike on US soil after 9/11.

The AP govt. has categorized these blasts as an act aroused out of the frustration on the part of the terrorists. But, in the words of the paper, the blast occured on account of the failure of the government. The Andhra Pradesh is comparatively a poor state. It was at least peaceful in the tenure of then CM Chandrababu Naidu. The Naidu govt. succeded, to an extent, in minimalising the Naxalite activities. The Reddy government has failed to achieve anything substantial in any direction. It had announced an amneity for the naxalites within few days after coming to power. That has yet to bear any fruit till now. Last month, some seven policemen were killed during a Bandh called by Naxals. Reddy government has unnecessarily induldged itself in non-issues like giving lands in Tirupati to the missionaries, announcing reservation for Muslims...

That has really turned AP in Iraq.

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