Month: April 2022

197 eminent citizens criticise open letter by ex-bureaucrats claiming “politics of hate”

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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197 eminent citizens have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising another letter by former bureaucrats which had sought an end to what it had claimed as politics of hate.

On April 26, 101 former bureaucrats describing themselves as a “Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG)” had written an open letter to PM Modi claiming that an escalation of hate violence against minority communities had acquired a frightening new dimension.

The fresh letter by eminent citizens; comprising of 8 retired judges, 97 retired bureaucrats, and 92 retired officers from the armed forces, has termed CCG’s letter as part of “agenda-driven biased politicised statements” and questioned its motivations.

Also Read: President Biden to meet PM Modi at Quad summit in Tokyo: White House

The letter has dubbed CCG’s letter “as a repeated effort to draw attention to themselves as citizens with a higher sense of social purpose, whereas the reality is that this is a manifest political anti-Modi government exercise which this group undertakes periodically in the belief that they can shape public opinion against the ruling dispensation.”

Retired IPS AS Dulat, who formerly served as OSD on Kashmir in the PMO and was a signatory to the letter by CCG, said, “Ours may be a minority view, but it’s still a view.”

The fresh letter calls CCG’s open letter as “anger and anguish” and a way to release their frustration that public opinion remains solidly behind PM Modi as recent state elections have shown.

Also Read: ‘If hospitals are empty, I’ll be happy’: PM Modi inaugurates seven cancer care centres

The letter, whose signatories include ex-foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and ex-IFS Lakshmi Puri, questions the “silence of this so-called CCG on unprecedented post-poll violence in West Bengal”, which was so serious that the Calcutta High Court had to ask the National Human Rights Commission to carry out an independent investigation which led to critical report against the West Bengal state government.

Observing a striking similarity between phrases of the CCG letter and utterances in the western media, the open letter rues that no similar condemnation took place when premeditated attacks took place on peaceful religious demonstrations on the occasions of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2022: Jadeja resigns from CSK captaincy, Dhoni to lead in remaining games

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday “relinquished” Chennai Super Kings captaincy which was handed back to veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the team lost six out of its eight matches in the ongoing edition of Indian Premier League. \

“Ravindra Jadeja has decided to relinquish captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game & has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK. MS Dhoni has accepted to lead CSK in the larger interest & to allow Jadeja to focus on his game,” CSK said in a statement.

Jadeja’s own game has also suffered due to the pressure that comes with leadership responsibility as he has scored only 112 runs and taken five wickets in the eight games so far.

At the start of the ongoing season, Dhoni had stepped down from the captaincy duty and Jadeja was appointed as the captain of the side.

Check IPL 2022 coverage here 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lack of communication on merger lead to fall in HDFC twin stocks, says HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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[wealthdesk shortname=”HDFC” isinid=”INE001A01036″ bseid=”500010″ nseid=”HDFC” sector=”Finance – Housing” exchange=”nse”]HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh on Saturday said the lack of communication by the management on the benefits of the merger lead to the fall in the share prices of HDFC and HDFC Bank.

Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Parekh said he couldn’t talk more about the merger as neither HDFC nor HDFC Bank results were out when we announced the merger, “After Monday, we will go on a roadshow and talk about the merger and explain the rationale to investors.”

On April 4, India’s most valuable lender HDFC Bank agreed to take over the country’s largest mortgage lender in a #40 billion deal, creating a financial services titan in the largest transaction in the nation’s corporate history.

Also Read: Here’s why the Street punished the Axis Bank stock despite better-than-expected profit

Once the deal is effective, HDFC Bank will be 100 percent owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 percent of the bank.

He said, “Until we hear from the RBI on our merger, there’s nothing more to communicate with the investors. Investors must have patience. We will have a good big bank and a successful organisation.”

Talking about merger concerns, Parekh said there is no going back on the deal, “We need the approvals and we are ready for whatever approvals come from the regulator.”

Also Read: IDFC First Bank reports net profit of Rs 342.7 crore on lower provisions, misses estimates

According to him, after the merger of HDFC and HDFC Bank, there will be more consolidation in the financial sector, “I can see more mergers in the financial sector across banking, insurance, and AMCs, and that is the way forward.”

Further, he said, “RBI is now making NBFC regulations at par with banks and there is no arbitrage left. RBI governor had said that large NBFCs will have to rethink their strategy and what they do. There is a thinking in the RBI that large NBFCs cannot survive (without change) and have to re-think their model.”

On India’s growth prospects, Parekh said the country will have a 7-7.5 percent growth rate for the next few years as growth indicators are all positive. The government’s privatization resolve is positive. The intensity of the government disinvestment programe has started and we will see more this year.”

Parekh expects a double-digit credit offtake in the next few years for the banking sector and thinks that retail non-performing assets (NPAs) are not going to be a problem.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2022, GT vs RCB Report: Miller, Tewatia star in another successful run-chase as Gujarat consolidate top spot

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gujarat Titans (GT) maintained their immaculate record when batting second this season, as they wrapped up a sixth victory when chasing, with a comfortable six-wicket win against Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB) at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai in the early game on Saturday, April 30.

The win helped the rampant GT consolidate top spot on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Points Table with their eight win from nine games. RCB meanwhile remain in fifth spot after losing their fifth game this season.

Virat Kohli (58) and Rajat Patildar (52) scored half-centuries while Glenn Maxwell (33 off 18 balls) put in an entertaining cameo as RCB posted 170/6 after opting to bat first.

However, an unbeaten 79-run partnership between David Miller (39 off 24 balls) and Rahul Tewatia (43 off 25 balls) saw the Titans chase down that total with six wickets and three balls to spare.

RCB seemed to gain a strong foothold in the contest when they reduced GT to 95/4 in the 13th over, however they failed to overcome the fifth-wicket pair of Tewatia and Miller who ensured Gujarat make it five wins on the trot.

Catch the latest updates from Tata IPL 2022 here

Gujarat’s run-chase started impressively as Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill put on a 51-run opening stand. The pair were only split in the 8th over when Wanindu Hasaranga entered the attack and sent back Saha (29 off 22 balls) who could only find the fielder after failing to read the googly.

That wicket shook Gujarat as they lost wickets in a flurry. Shahbaz Ahmed was GT’s tormentor in chief in the middle-overs as he first trapped Gill (31 off 28 balls) LBW in the 9th over.

Shahbaz (2/26) then sent back Hardik Pandya (3) cheaply in the 11th over with the GT captain failing to mark his 100th IPL outing with a big score. Sai Sudarshan (20 off 14 balls) was then outdone by another googly from Hasaranga (2/28) which the Tamil Nadu hard-hitter edged back to the keeper.

However, Miller then walked out to join forces with Tewita as together the pair ensured Gujarat consolidate their position at the top of the table with another successful run-chase.

Earlier in the game, Faf du Plessis won the Toss and opted to bat. Bangalore made one change with Mahipal Lomror coming in for Suyash Prabhudessai. Gujarat made two changes as Pradeep Sangwan and Sai Sudharsan were brought back into the Playing XI.

Sangwan made an instant impact despite playing his first game this season. The seamer struck in his first over to send back du Plessis on a duck with an excellent outswinging delivery in the 2nd over.

However, Kohli and Patildar then stitched together a steady 99-run partnership off 74 balls to steady Bangalore. Kohli finally broke his run of poor form as he even brought up his half-century off 45 balls in the 13th over.

Patildar followed him to the landmark, getting to his fifty off just 29 balls with a boundary against Ferguson in the next over. However, Patildar (52 off 32 balls) departed immediately after as Sangwan returned for his final over and got him caught at square leg in the 15th over. Sangwan meanwhile wrapped up an impressive debut for Gujarat with standout figures of 4-0-19-2.

Kohli (58 off 53 balls) then looked to up the ante but was castled by an excellent yorker from Mohammed Shami in the 17th over. Dinesh Karhtik then failed to fire for a second game running as Rashid Khan was held back to bowl the 18th over and delivered in style as he sent back Karthik (2) to finish with 1/29.

Maxwell (33 off 18 balls) hit 3 fours and 2 sixes during an entertaining cameo but he was sent back in the penultimate over as he looked to attack against Ferguson but instead saw Rashid take a stunning catch when running back towards the boundary.

Mahipal Lomror (16 off 8 balls) meanwhile made the most of his short stay before Alzarri Joseph (1/42) sent him back on the final ball of the innings as RCB posted 170/6.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Bullish real estate cycle driving Mumbai’s luxury real estate market: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Mumbai’s luxury real estate market has seen a drastic increase to Rs 20,255 crore, the highest in 2021 in four years, and may already be on its way to setting a new record in 2022, according to a joint report by India Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) and CRE Matrix.

Total volumes of sales were at 1,214 luxury residential properties (properties priced at over Rs 10 crore each) in 2021, compared to 598 units worth Rs 9,872 crore in 2018.

The luxury market has seen a ramp-up in sales as a result of low mortgage rates, discounts offered by builders and developers, waiver in stamp duty given by state governments, and growing demand for larger houses with luxury amenities, according to the report. The report added that two-thirds of sales were primary with the rest being secondary sales.

Also Read: Real estate company Omaxe raises Rs 440 cr from Värde Partners to drive growth

Worli, Lower Parel, Bandra, Tardeo, Prabhadevi, and Andheri emerged as the largest micro-markets with Worli contributing to 20 percent of Mumbai’s entire luxury residential market.

“Mumbai’s luxury housing market has performed exceedingly well during the last year. This is pretty much in line with the sales velocity for luxury homes we have witnessed across the globe, including global gateway cities like London, New York and Dubai. We believe this is just the beginning of a very positive and bullish residential real estate cycle,” said Ashwin Chadha, president of India Sotheby’s International Realty.

High net-worth individuals also used the lockdown period to make investments in the residential real estate market for wealth creation, added the report.

Also Read: Indian real estate market to rise to Rs 65,000 crore by 2024: CIRIL

“Housing prices have remained more or less stagnant for the last 5-6 years across all segments and price brackets. Well-informed HNIs have used this as an opportunity to buy right-priced assets for wealth creation. We are already witnessing prices firm up and starting to rise,” said Abhishek Kiran Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CRE Matrix.

But despite the pandemic conditions mostly retreating from the country, the bullish upcycle looks to remain in strength at least for 2022. About 306 luxury housing units worth Rs 4,877 crore have already been sold in Mumbai during the first quarter of the calendar year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ED attaches over Rs 7 crore assets of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Assets worth Rs 7.27 crore of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with a criminal probe against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and others, the Enforcement Directorate said on Saturday.

The federal agency has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching fixed deposits worth Rs 7.12 crore and Rs 15 lakh cash of the 36-year-old actor as it called these funds as “proceeds of crime”.

“Sukesh Chandrashekhar had given various gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore to Jacqueline Fernandez from the proceeds of crime generated by criminal activities including extortion.” “Chandrashekhar had put Pinky Irani, his long-time associate and co-accused in this case to deliver the said gifts to her,” the ED said in a statement.

Also Read: ED seizes Rs 5,551 crore assets from Xiaomi Technology India under FEMA

In addition to these gifts, it said, Chandrashekhar also gave “funds to the tune of $1,72,913 (about Rs 1.3 crore as per current exchange rate) and AUD 2,6740 (approx. Rs 14 lakh) to the close family members of Fernandez out of the proceeds of crime through co-accused Avtar Singh Kochhar, an established and well known international hawala operator.”

The agency said its probe found that Chandrashekhar had “delivered cash to the tune of Rs 15 lakh to a script writer on behalf of Fernandez as advance for writing a script of her web series project.” “This cash amount has also been attached,” it said.

Investigation with regards to tracing the remaining proceeds of crime is in progress, the ED added. Fernandez is a Sri Lankan national and she has been questioned in this case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) a number of times.

Also Read: Enforcement Directorate attaches Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s linked assets

She was also stopped by the ED from flying abroad and was directed to join the probe, after she was intercepted at the Mumbai airport in December last year before she could take an international flight.

The actor made her debut in the Hindi film industry in 2009 and her recent release was the Hindi movie ‘Bachchhan Paandey’. The ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar used illegal money to purchase gifts for Fernandez which he had extorted by cheating high-profile people including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.

He is alleged to have conned Aditi Singh and her sister by impersonating as the Union home secretary and also as the Law secretary over phone.

ED said its investigation found that a person “was contacting people spoofing calls to dupe them as the numbers reflecting on their phone were from government officers and he claimed to be a government officer offering to help people for a price.”

Also Read: Sleuths begin raids across three states looking for docs in India’s biggest loan fraud

“Adopting this modus operandi, the said person contacted Aditi Singh, wife of Shivinder Mohan Singh, by impersonating himself as Union home secretary, Union law secretary, officer from prime ministers office (PMO) and other junior officials and extorted more than Rs 200 crore from her over a period of 1 year on the pretext of contribution to party funds.”

“The said person was conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar who was running his illegal extortion business from central jail in Delhi (Tihar jail) in connivance with jail officials,” the ED said.

Also Read: Enforcement Directorate attaches assets of family, firms of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain

The actor told the ED, in her statement recorded in August and October last year, that she “received” gifts like three designer bags from Gucci, Chanel, two Gucci outfits for gym wear, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-coloured stones and two Hermes bracelets from Chandrashekhar.

Fernandez further said that she returned a Mini Cooper car that she had similarly received. The agency found in its probe that Chandrashekhar was in “regular contact” with Fernandez since February till he got arrested on August 7 last year (by the Delhi Police).

The ED has arrested a total of 9 people in this case till now including Chandrashekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul, Pinky Irani, and others and has also filed two chargesheets before a Delhi court.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2022, RR vs MI highlights: Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets to win the first match of the season

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage from match 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season as Rajasthan Royals gear up to face a struggling Mumbai Indians (MI) team at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

RR will be celebrating the life of their late title-winning captain Shane Warne as they return to the same venue where Warne led RR to their first and only title in the inaugural IPL season back in 2008 with a three-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Redmi 7 available at a super affordable price on Amazon

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A smartphone with a camera, decent performance and long battery life is hard to find especially if you are on a budget.

However, an all-rounder smartphone like the Redmi 7 is now available at a super affordable price on Amazon at Rs 8,999 after a Rs 1000 price cut. There are additional offers that buyers can avail to bring the price further down.

Amazon is offering a 10 percent discount of Rs 1000 on the Redmi 7 2GB RAM, 32GB Storage. This brings the price down from Rs 9,999 to Rs 8,999.

ALSO READ: Redmi 10A launched in India; check features, price, specs

Customers can also exchange their old smartphone to get an additional discount. Further, a 10 percent instant discount is available for Federal Bank Credit Card and Bank of Baroda Credit Card transactions on the minimum purchase of Rs 7,500. No cost EMI options are also available.

Redmi 7 Specifications

The Redmi 7 is equipped with a 2MP+2MP dual rear camera and an 8MP front facing camera for selfies and video calling.

It has a 6.26-inch notch display with 1520 x 720 pixels resolution and 269 ppi pixel density providing decent picture quality and brightness.

Under the hood the phone has 2GB RAM with 32GB internal storage and expandable storage of up to 512GB.

It comes with Android Pie v9.0 operating system out of the box with a 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 octa core processor that provides decent performance. The Redmi 7 houses a big 4000mAH lithium-ion battery for extended battery backup.

ALSO READ: Redmi 10A to launch in India on April 20; check specs and other details

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow