The Evening Wrap: ED files charge sheet against Senthilbalaji

The ED on August 12 filed a charge sheet along with documents running more than 3,000 pages in the money laundering case against Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthilbalaji on completion of the five-day custodial interrogation. Senthilbalaji is under investigation in the case booked by ED in 2021 under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act that arose from three cases filed by Central Crime Branch of Chennai City Police. It was alleged that when he was the Minister for Transport in the AIADMK government in 2014, he and others received money from job aspirants for appointments in transport corporations. The case took a turn after the Supreme Court had allowed the ED to proceed with investigation. The ED took him under custody from August 7 evening from and interrogated him at their office in Shastri Bhavan, Nungambakkam. On conclusion of custodial interrogation, Senthilbalaji was produced before the Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli on August 12 afternoon. The judge enquired how the Minister was treated by the ED officials and whether he had any complaints against the agency. He replied that he was treated well by the ED. After recording the same, the Judge extended his judicial custody till August 25. The ED also filed a trunk box of documents which include the complaint/charge sheet along with material evidence, witnesses and deposition details. Senthilbalaji was then taken to the Central Prison, Puzhal. Eastern Ladakh row | India to press for early disengagement in remaining friction points at fresh military talks with China India is set to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at a fresh round of high-level military talks with China on August 14, people familiar with the matter said on August 12. The 19th round of Corps Commander level dialogue is taking place around four months after the last edition of the military talks were held to ease tensions in the region. The Indian delegation at the talks is going to seek completion of the disengagement process in the remaining friction points at the earliest, said one of the persons cited above. In the 18th round of the military dialogue that was held on April 23, the Indian side strongly pressed for resolving the lingering issues at Depsang and Demchok. The fresh round of talks is set to take place at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side, the sources said. The Indian delegation at the dialogue is likely to be headed by Lt Gen Rashim Bali, the Commander of the Leh-headquartered 14 Corps. The Chinese team is expected to be led by the commander of the South Xinjiang Military District. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. At G20 meet, PM Modi calls for collective effort to fight corruption Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 12 said the impact of corruption is felt most by the poor and the marginalised people. He said corruption affects the allocation of resources, markets and diminishes the people’s quality of life. Addressing virtually the G-20 anti-corruption Ministerial meeting at Kolkata, Modi said, “India has a strict policy of zero tolerance against corruption.” He said Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had cautioned us against greed as it prevents us from realising the truth. “We are aggressively pursuing economic offenders. We have enacted the Economic Offenders Act and have recovered assets worth over $1.8 billion from economic offenders and fugitives,” he added. At G-20, collective efforts could significantly support the fight against corruption, Modi said. Would have never cleared NEET exemption bill, test is here to stay, says Tamil Nadu Governor Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on August 12 said that he would never clear the State’s Bill to exempt it from the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) if it were up to him and asserted that the exam was “going to stay in the country”. He was speaking at a felicitation of students from Tamil Nadu who secured high marks in this year’s NEET. A student’s father asked the Governor when he would give clearance to ban NEET and Ravi replied, “I am telling you very frankly. I will never give clearance to NEET [exemption Bill]”. He, however, added that the Bill had gone to the President since it was a subject on the Concurrent List of the Constitution. “It is a subject on which only the President is competent to give the clearance. Given to me, I shall never give it. Be sure about it,” he said. In his reply, Ravi said that the children in Tamil Nadu were victims of wrong propaganda by vested interests. He alleged that medical admissions were a ₹1,000 crore business prior to the introduction of NEET because of private colleges run by people with money and influence. He also alleged that it was this lobby of private colleges that made “all the noise, all the havoc” regarding students ending their lives. Ravi said a myth was created that coaching was a must to crack NEET. Claiming that many students were clearing without coaching, he stressed the need for teachers to be “fair” and teach properly in schools. Moreover, he said an impression had been created that the State was doing well before NEET. On the contrary, the number of government school students getting medical admission was low prior to NEET and fell even further soon after NEET came into force, he said. However, due to the 7.5% horizontal reservation introduced by the AIADMK government, more than 600 government school students were now getting admissions in a year, he said. Ravi also said NEET had reduced corruption and made it possible for poor students to get admissions. He said he did not want Tamil Nadu’s children to be “intellectually disabled”. Mobile Internet ban | Manipur HC asks state govt to find ways to restore services The Manipur High Court directed the State government to consider opening mobile internet in the State by whitelisting devices on a case-to-case basis gradually. The direction came after the Manipur government submitted that the physical trial ordered by the High Court earlier had shown “there is no data leakage to any other numbers which are not whitelisted” through this method. In the order dated August 10, the High Court also noted that the government had taken steps to implement its earlier directions of resuming Internet Lease Line (ILL) and Fibre to the home (FTTH) connections gradually on a case to case basis and with restrictions. Conditions imposed by the government for internet use include users ensuring that all social media applications and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services are deleted from the devices, changing the login ID and password for each system every day, and making Internet service providers (ISPs) take responsibility for securing undertakings from each of their users. There are also conditions in the undertakings that subject users to “physical monitoring” by concerned authorities to check for violations, if any. Moreover, while wired (broadband) connections had been allowed by the Manipur government for the time being, the specific condition that users must use a so-called ‘static’ IP address might still restrict access for many. Meanwhile, amid allegations from BJP legislators and Meitei civil society organisations that the Assam Rifles units stationed in Manipur were biased towards “one community”, the Director General of Assam Rifles, Lieutenant General P.C. Nair, on August 12 met with Chief Minister N. Biren Singh. They discussed the security situation in the State and “issues pertaining to the Assam Rifles in Manipur”. In Brief: Digital Personal Data Protection Bill now an Act; receives President’s assent The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, passed by Parliament this week, has received President’s assent, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on August 12. Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Law aims to protect the privacy of Indian citizens while proposing a penalty of up to ₹250 crore on entities for misusing or failing to protect digital data of individuals. Companies handling user data will be required to safeguard the individual’s information, and instances of personal data breach have to be reported to the Data Protection Board (DPB) and the user. The DPDP law gives the government powers to exempt state agencies from the law. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to be Pakistan’s caretaker PM Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was, on August 12, picked as Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister to oversee general elections later this year. Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz finalised his name after two rounds of deliberations. President Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Kakar.under Article 224(1A) of the Constitution. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 12 August 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( ED files charge sheet against Senthilbalaji, court sends him to judicial custody till August 25 The [ED on August 12 filed a charge sheet along with documents running more than 3,000 pages in the money laundering case against Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthilbalaji]( on completion of the five-day custodial interrogation. Senthilbalaji is under investigation in the case booked by ED in 2021 under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act that arose from three cases filed by Central Crime Branch of Chennai City Police. It was alleged that when he was the Minister for Transport in the AIADMK government in 2014, he and others received money from job aspirants for appointments in transport corporations. The case took a turn after the Supreme Court had allowed the ED to proceed with investigation. The ED took him under custody from August 7 evening from and interrogated him at their office in Shastri Bhavan, Nungambakkam. On conclusion of custodial interrogation, Senthilbalaji was produced before the Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli on August 12 afternoon. The judge enquired how the Minister was treated by the ED officials and whether he had any complaints against the agency. He replied that he was treated well by the ED. After recording the same, the Judge extended his judicial custody till August 25. The ED also filed a trunk box of documents which include the complaint/charge sheet along with material evidence, witnesses and deposition details. Senthilbalaji was then taken to the Central Prison, Puzhal. Eastern Ladakh row | India to press for early disengagement in remaining friction points at fresh military talks with China [India is set to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh]( at a fresh round of high-level military talks with China on August 14, people familiar with the matter said on August 12. The 19th round of Corps Commander level dialogue is taking place around four months after the last edition of the military talks were held to ease tensions in the region. The Indian delegation at the talks is going to seek completion of the disengagement process in the remaining friction points at the earliest, said one of the persons cited above. In the 18th round of the military dialogue that was held on April 23, the Indian side strongly pressed for resolving the lingering issues at Depsang and Demchok. The fresh round of talks is set to take place at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side, the sources said. The Indian delegation at the dialogue is likely to be headed by Lt Gen Rashim Bali, the Commander of the Leh-headquartered 14 Corps. The Chinese team is expected to be led by the commander of the South Xinjiang Military District. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. At G20 meet, PM Modi calls for collective effort to fight corruption [Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 12 said the impact of corruption is felt most by the poor and the marginalised people.]( He said corruption affects the allocation of resources, markets and diminishes the people’s quality of life. Addressing virtually the G-20 anti-corruption Ministerial meeting at Kolkata, Modi said, “India has a strict policy of zero tolerance against corruption.” He said Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had cautioned us against greed as it prevents us from realising the truth. “We are aggressively pursuing economic offenders. We have enacted the Economic Offenders Act and have recovered assets worth over $1.8 billion from economic offenders and fugitives,” he added. At G-20, collective efforts could significantly support the fight against corruption, Modi said. Would have never cleared NEET exemption bill, test is here to stay, says Tamil Nadu Governor [Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on August 12 said that he would never clear the State’s Bill to exempt it from the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test]( (NEET) if it were up to him and asserted that the exam was “going to stay in the country”. He was speaking at a felicitation of students from Tamil Nadu who secured high marks in this year’s NEET. A student’s father asked the Governor when he would give clearance to ban NEET and Ravi replied, “I am telling you very frankly. I will never give clearance to NEET [exemption Bill]”. He, however, added that the Bill had gone to the President since it was a subject on the Concurrent List of the Constitution. “It is a subject on which only the President is competent to give the clearance. Given to me, I shall never give it. Be sure about it,” he said. In his reply, Ravi said that the children in Tamil Nadu were victims of wrong propaganda by vested interests. He alleged that medical admissions were a ₹1,000 crore business prior to the introduction of NEET because of private colleges run by people with money and influence. He also alleged that it was this lobby of private colleges that made “all the noise, all the havoc” regarding students ending their lives. Ravi said a myth was created that coaching was a must to crack NEET. Claiming that many students were clearing without coaching, he stressed the need for teachers to be “fair” and teach properly in schools. Moreover, he said an impression had been created that the State was doing well before NEET. On the contrary, the number of government school students getting medical admission was low prior to NEET and fell even further soon after NEET came into force, he said. However, due to the 7.5% horizontal reservation introduced by the AIADMK government, more than 600 government school students were now getting admissions in a year, he said. Ravi also said NEET had reduced corruption and made it possible for poor students to get admissions. He said he did not want Tamil Nadu’s children to be “intellectually disabled”. Mobile Internet ban | Manipur HC asks state govt to find ways to restore services [The Manipur High Court directed the State government to consider opening mobile internet in the State by whitelisting devices on a case-to-case basis gradually.]( The direction came after the Manipur government submitted that the physical trial ordered by the High Court earlier had shown “there is no data leakage to any other numbers which are not whitelisted” through this method. In the order dated August 10, the High Court also noted that the government had taken steps to implement its earlier directions of resuming Internet Lease Line (ILL) and Fibre to the home (FTTH) connections gradually on a case to case basis and with restrictions. Conditions imposed by the government for internet use include users ensuring that all social media applications and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services are deleted from the devices, changing the login ID and password for each system every day, and making Internet service providers (ISPs) take responsibility for securing undertakings from each of their users. There are also conditions in the undertakings that subject users to “physical monitoring” by concerned authorities to check for violations, if any. Moreover, while wired (broadband) connections had been allowed by the Manipur government for the time being, the specific condition that users must use a so-called ‘static’ IP address might still restrict access for many. Meanwhile, amid allegations from BJP legislators and Meitei civil society organisations that the Assam Rifles units stationed in Manipur were biased towards “one community”, the [Director General of Assam Rifles, Lieutenant General P.C. Nair, on August 12 met with Chief Minister N. Biren Singh](. They discussed the security situation in the State and “issues pertaining to the Assam Rifles in Manipur”. In Brief: Digital Personal Data Protection Bill now an Act; receives President’s assent The [Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, passed by Parliament this week, has received President’s assent]( Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on August 12. Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Law aims to protect the privacy of Indian citizens while proposing a penalty of up to ₹250 crore on entities for misusing or failing to protect digital data of individuals. Companies handling user data will be required to safeguard the individual’s information, and instances of personal data breach have to be reported to the Data Protection Board (DPB) and the user. The DPDP law gives the government powers to exempt state agencies from the law. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to be Pakistan’s caretaker PM Senator [Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was, on August 12, picked as Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister]( to oversee general elections later this year. Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz finalised his name after two rounds of deliberations. President Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Kakar .under Article 224(1A) of the Constitution. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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