NEWS

A series of moves made by fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi two months before the first FIR was registered against him in February 2018 has led the CBI to conclude that he had prior knowledge about the impending criminal proceedings. “Hence, Mehul Choksi fled the country on January 4, 2018, with dishonest intent, to evade the process of law,” the CBI said in its supplementary chargesheet against Choksi and 21 others.

The investigating agency said that in December 2017, Choksi met dummy directors of his suppliers in Hong Kong and apprised them of the enquiries by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which too has registered cases against him.

With over a month after the NR Congress-BJP alliance won the assembly polls and formed government in Puducherry, it is yet to form a cabinet, largely because of a power tussle between the two allies.

According to sources, NR Congress chief N Rangasamy, who took over as chief minister on May 7, is engaged in intense deliberations over the past two weeks with the BJP leaders in the Union Territory, who have been building pressure for more representation in the Cabinet apart from other positions.

While it was widely speculated initially that the BJP wanted to have its own chief minister and sideline Rangasamy, the NR Congress chief not only managed to stand firm in his position but also appears to be dictating the terms. Sources said he turned down the BJP’s demand for three cabinet portfolios, and the posts of deputy chief minister and Speaker. The BJP has finally agreed to the posts he offered: two ministers, Speaker and a parliament secretary.

Assam Congress president Ripun Bora on Wednesday said that one of the main reasons behind the defeat of the Congress-led ‘grand alliance’ in the state elections was the division of votes with two recently-formed regional parties.

“In upper Assam, we lost 12 seats directly due to division of votes between the grand alliance and the regional alliance of Raijor Dal-Assam Jatiya Parishad. If that could have been stopped, we would have won, say, around 15 more seats,” Bora said at an online interaction with the press on Wednesday.

In order to provide relief to farmers amid the Covid crisis, the Union Cabinet Wednesday cleared the decision to increase subsidy for di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisers from Rs 500 to Rs 1,200 for a 50-kg bag, and approved nutrient-based subsidy rates for P&K (phosphate and potassic) fertilisers for 2021-22 till the present kharif season.

An official statement issued after a Union Cabinet meeting said that the “Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers”.