PMO says don't have records of PM Modi's donation to PM-CARES: RTI

News Network
February 6, 2021

New Delhi, Feb 6: The offices of the President and Vice President have provided the amount both donated to the controversial PM-CARES through the RTI Act but Prime Minister's Office has said that it has no information about Narendra Modi's contribution as it does not hold any such records.

Law student Aniket Gaurav had sought details of donations made by President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Modi separately.

In its reply on June 16 last year to the query raised six days earlier, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the President has contributed his one month salary -- Rs five lakh -- towards PM-CARES fund.

On June 9 last year, the Vice President's Secretariat responded that Naidu contributed a month's salary -- Rs 4 lakh -- to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

"In addition to the above, he (Naidu) is contributing 30% of his monthly salary towards the PM-CARES Fund until the situation in the country becomes normal. So far, Rs 1.2 lakh per month has been contributed to this fund since April 2020," the Secretariat said its reply to the query filed on May 11, 2020.

Gaurav later filed an RTI with the Prime Minister's Office in August last year seeking information. An appeal was filed in October and he received the response from the PMO on January 29 this year.

It said, "information regarding donations made by the PM from his personal savings, inter-alia, is personal in nature and therefore not part of the records held by this Office."

There were reports earlier that Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh from his own pocket as the "initial corpus" to the PM-CARES just after it was set up.

The Narendra Modi government has been stone-walling RTI queries on PM-CARES citing that it is a private entity not controlled by the government, raising questions from transparency activists and Opposition.

The Trust deed dated March 27, 2020 said that the PM-CARES was "not created by or under the Constitution of India or by any law made by the Parliament or by any state legislature". It also went on to say that the Trust is "neither intended to be or is in fact owned, controlled or substantially financed by any government or any instrumentality of the Government".

However, a latest RTI in December last year showed that the controversial fund has been provided the official gov.in domain on a request from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

It has also come to light that the letter from the PMO was sent on March 27 and the approval for use of the official domain reserved for a few government departments and agencies for the PM-CARES came on the same day.

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News Network
November 16,2024

Mangaluru: The Kavoor police in Mangaluru, Karnataka, have arrested three individuals from Kerala in connection with two separate cybercrime cases, including one involving extortion under the guise of a "digital arrest."

City Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal reported that one of the arrested individuals, Nisar, a resident of Ernakulam district, posed as a CBI officer. He allegedly threatened the complainant with arrest and extorted Rs 68 lakh. A case has been filed under sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the IT Act, and sections 308 (2) and 381 (4) of BNS.

In another case, the Kavoor police arrested two men, Sahil K P of Thiruvannur, Kozhikode, and Muhammad Nashath of Mappila Koyilandy, Kerala, in connection with a share trade fraud. The accused are alleged to have deceived the complainant by promising substantial profits from an investment in the stock market. Trusting the fraudsters, the complainant invested Rs 90 lakh, which was subsequently lost. A case has been registered under sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the IT Act, and sections 318 (4) and 3 (5) of BNS.

The accused were arrested in Koyilandi and presented before the court. The operation was carried out under the guidance of City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, led by Mangaluru North Sub-Division ACP Srikanth K, Kavoor Inspector Raghavendra Byndoor, Kavoor PSI Mallikarjuna Biradara, and staff members Ramanna Shetty, Bhuvaneshwari, Rajappa Kashibai, Praveen N, and Malatesh. 

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News Network
November 17,2024

Mangaluru: District-in-Charge Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, announced that a day-care chemotherapy centre will soon be established at District Wenlock Hospital. Speaking to mediapersons after reviewing the activities at Wenlock and Government Lady Goschen Hospital, he shared the government’s plans to enhance healthcare services in the region.

Key Initiatives Announced

•    Day-Care Chemotherapy Centre:

  • Ten beds will be reserved for cancer patients.
  • The government will collaborate with Yenepoya Hospital to provide chemotherapy treatments.
  • All required facilities for the centre are already in place, awaiting inauguration by the Chief Minister.

•    Wenlock Hospital Facelift:

  • Critical Care Block: To be built at a cost of ₹24 crore.
  • Integrated Public Health (IPH) Lab: Planned with a budget of ₹1 crore.
  • New OPD Block: As per a 2017 agreement, KMC Hospital will take up construction. Discussions with KMC management are underway.

•    Additional Requirements:

  • A new mortuary and post-mortem building.
  • Paramedical college building.
  • Modern kitchen.
  • Bridge connecting two buildings within the hospital.

•    Total facelift cost: ₹6 crore to ₹10 crore, utilizing funds from the Department of Health and Family Welfare and CSR contributions.

•    Timeline:
By December or January, priority works will be finalized. The superintendents of Wenlock and Lady Goschen Hospitals are scheduled to visit Bengaluru next week to discuss these projects.

•    MRI Fee Allegations:
The minister assured that allegations of patients being charged for MRI scans at Wenlock Hospital will be resolved at the earliest.
These measures aim to improve healthcare accessibility and infrastructure, positioning Wenlock Hospital as a state-of-the-art facility in the region.

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News Network
November 21,2024

adani.jpg

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

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