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An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces at Wanigam Bala area in north Kashmir`s Baramulla district on Saturday (July 30, 2022) morning. The gunfight started after a joint team of police and security forces received input about the presence of terrorists in the area.

"Encounter has started at Wanigam Bala area of Baramulla district. Police and security forces are on the job," police said.

The security forces cordoned off the area. Terrorists hiding there started firing drawing retaliation from the security forces. There are no reports of any casualties so far on either side, the official said.

In Dhar district, the Congress party managed to win only three janpad panchayats out of a total of 13 despite having five out of seven MLAs in the district. Congress won in Nalcha janpad which falls under Panchilal Meda’s Assembly constituency and the remaining two are Bagh and Gandhwani in former cabinet minister Umang Singhar’s Gandhwani constituency.

According to information, in Kukshi where Congress MLA Honey Baghel himself won by 60,000 votes, the Congress party lost all three janpad panchayat seats including Kukshi, Dahi and Nisarpur badly. BJP won all three.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, is now focusing on three companies with former minister Partha Chatterjee`s son-in-law, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya as Director.

The three companies are Improline Constructions Pvt Ltd, HRI Wealth Creation Realtors Pvt Ltd, and Acrisius Consulting Pvt Ltd. As per records of the Registrar of Companies (ROC) under the Union Ministry of Commerce, while Bhattacharya is the Managing Director in Acrisius Consulting, in the remaining two companies, he is an ordinary Director.

Escalating tensions in the House, another three members of Rajya Sabha — AAP’s Sushil Kumar Gupta and Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Assam independent member Ajit Kumar Bhuyan — were suspended Thursday for the rest of the week for alleged misconduct, taking the total number of Opposition MPs suspended from the Upper House this session to 23.

Earlier this week, four Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the current session.

The Supreme Court, by its judgment on Wednesday, approbated the wide powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sanctioned under the 2002 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Ratifying the agency’s powers to summon individuals, make arrests, conduct raids, and attach properties, the top court justified its special powers to tackle the “heinous” offence of money laundering.

A deep dive into Wednesday’s verdict will elucidate how the Supreme Court dealt with the spate of challenges and rejected most of them clause-by-clause, strengthening ED’s hand, while, at the same time, stressing on certain safeguards built into the system.

Definition of money laundering and ambit of punishable activities under PMLA