RIVANCH

In a breakthrough, law enforcement authorities have dismantled a major cybercrime network operating in Bengaluru. The operation has uncovered transactions worth Rs 854 crores spread across 84 bank accounts and has led to the registration of 5,013 cases nationwide. The Cyber Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru has played a pivotal role in apprehending members of this criminal syndicate. In total, 17 cases have been registered in the city, and the gang responsible for these illicit activities has been taken into custody by the CCB cybercrime police. Notably, the accused were managing the accounts from Bengaluru while residing abroad. Key members of the Bengaluru-based gang, including Navara Manoj alias Jock, Phanindra, Vasanth, Srinivasa, Chakradar alias Chakri, and Somashekhar alias Uncle, were cooperating with associates based overseas. Ainathi Asami, who was responsible for managing the bank accounts of individuals residing in the Vidyaranyapur and Yelahanka areas of Bangalore, is amo

While the country celebrated the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the Special Parliamentary Session earlier this month, a senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui stoked a controversy Saturday saying women with lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of reservation. “Those with lipsticks and bob cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of women’s reservation. The government should instead provide reservations for women belonging to backward communities,” Siddique said during an address in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. VIDEO | “Now that women’s reservation is being talked about, we demand that there should be a reservation within the reservation for the OBC and backward castes,” says RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui on women’s reservation act. pic.twitter.com/O2fBOBQ1sn — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 30, 2023 The leader also asked his supporters to avoid watching television and stay away from social med

People who failed to respond to the 12-year-old rape survivor’s cries for help in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain may be held accountable under the child sex abuse laws, the police have said. A senior Madhya Pradesh police officer told  NDTV  that those people will be charged for “failing to report or register the commission” of a crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Jayant Singh Rathore, an Additional Superintendent of Police (Ujjain) said that one such person, an autorickshaw driver named Rakesh Malviya, has been identified for knowingly not informing the police of the crime. “If more people are found, and it is clear they did not help (the girl) or did not inform the police, we will take legal action,” Rathore said. In a shocking video, the minor girl, who was seen knocking door-to-door to ask for help as she was soaked in blood, was shooed away by people. The Chief of Police, Sachin Sharma, said that the girl had Rs 120 in her hand which was given to

The state of Manipur is back in the news. Violence has erupted once again. The reason? Same as last time – a crime from the past has surfaced online. Here’s what happened this week: Manipur’s government lifted its Internet ban and the state went online after five months. Immediately pictures of two students – a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy – began to circulate. The two had gone missing on July 6. The families did approach the police and a complaint was filed two days later on July 8 but there was no progress. The cops said both students had gone into a Kuki-dominated area and after that, no one saw them. Now, the Kukis are a tribal group in Manipur and are locked in a violent faceoff with another community – the Meitis. More than 170 people have died so far and this week the two missing students joined that list. The viral pictures showed their dead bodies – the male student was reportedly beheaded, and the girl student was allegedly raped. As these pictures spread, so di

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a rally to conclude the two ‘Parivartan Yatras’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur city. This is PM Modi’s third visit to the Congress-ruled state, where assembly elections are due at the end of the year. State BJP chief Arun Sao said that the prime minister will address the ‘Parivartan Mahasankalp’ rally, the closing ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras. Meanwhile, PM Modi has a packed schedule for the next six days as he is set to attend as many as eight public meetings in the four poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Modi will also hold two rallies in each of these states, according to  News18 . On October 1 (Sunday), PM Modi will visit Mahabubnagar in Telangana to launch developmental projects worth more than Rs 13,500 crore. The very next day (October 2), PM Modi will be in Chittorgarh in Rajasthan and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. On October 3, the prime minister will be trav

Two days after Bengaluru witnessed a shutdown, the entire state of Karnataka is observing a bandh today over the Cauvery River water dispute. So far, authorities have detained over 50 members of pro-Kannada organisations across different parts of the state. Pro-Kannada organisations are holding protests against releasing Cauvery River water into Tamil Nadu amid a drought-like situation in several districts of Karnataka. The state-wide shutdown has been called by ‘Kannada Okkuta,’ a pro-Kannada group, and will stay in effect for 12 hours till 6pm. #WATCH | Karnataka: Pro-Kannada outfits hold protest on Cauvery water sharing issue in Freedom Park, Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/WrTUYt2rEX — ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023 In Bengaluru, protestors were seen holding pots and brooms in Freedom Park. #WATCH | Pro-Kannada outfits in Karnataka’s Hubballi stage protest over the Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/V8nLFNzg47 — ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023 Pro-Kannada

Not just countries, many companies are going through the same phase of helplessness. One of them is Byju’s, the Indian ed-tech company based in Bengaluru. Their story is well-documented – an impressive rise during the pandemic, a rushed expansion plan, and now – a case study on how not to run a start-up. Byju’s is in the news again, which obviously means one thing – they are cutting jobs. Reports say – up to 4,000 employees could be fired, even senior management is at risk. It’s part of their new cost-cutting measure. The mess   You see, Byju’s is facing a number of financial challenges. But the most pressing one is this – a loan worth 1.2 billion dollars and the lenders want their money back. So, what’s the company’s strategy? Well, a new CEO took over last week. He plans to shake things up at Byju’s. In the corporate world – that often means firing people. The company presently has 35,000 employees and up to 4,000 of them could be fired – that’s around 12 per cent of the workforc

Normalcy in Karnataka will be hit today as the southern state is witnessing another bandh. Pro-Kannada organisations have declared a day of shutdown in the state, opposing the release of Cauvery river water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Lives of the common man will be affected, as public transport as well as Ola and Uber drivers will stay off the roads; shops, eateries and theatres will also keep their shutters down, and schools and colleges have also declared a day off today in view of the strike. The state shutdown has been called by Kannada Okkuta, an umbrella organisation for Kannada outfits including factions of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) and various farmers’ bodies. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal(Secular) have also extended their support to the bandh. On the other hand, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar urged people not to participate in the bandh. “A bandh will not help. There could be law and order problem.” T

Canada is committed to have “stronger ties” with India, asserted PM Justin Trudeau on Friday, days after making “credible allegations” that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Speaking at a press conference in Montreal, Trudeau said while it is “extremely important” that Canada and its allies engage with India over the allegations of Nijjar’s killing, his country would also like to work with India to strengthen bilateral ties. “India is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player. And as we presented with our Indo-Pacific strategy, just last year, we’re very serious about building closer ties with India,” stated Trudeau. “At the same time, obviously, as a rule of law country, we need to emphasise that India needs to work with Canada to ensure that we get the full facts of this matter,” the Canadian prime minister said. Trudeau also claimed that the US has given its assurance that the allegations made by him

Bengaluru Police on Friday detained over 50 members of pro-Kannada organisations near Karnataka’s Attibele town as statewide bandh to protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu began in the state. The two southern states are once again at loggerheads over the Cauvery water-sharing issue following the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s directives to release water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu at a time when several taluks in the state have been declared drought hit. #WATCH | Karnataka: Bengaluru Police detain members of pro-Kannada organisations, protesting over the Cauvery Water Issue, near Attibele. pic.twitter.com/XOzVcQ9e9s — ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023 “We have made proper arrangements as a bandh has been called by several pro-Kannada organisations. More than 50 people from the organisations have been taken into custody… We have sufficient staff and we will make sure nothing goes wrong…,” said Mallikarjun Baladandi, Additional SP of Bengaluru Rural distr

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with India’s foreign minister on Thursday, amid a simmering dispute between New Delhi and Ottawa over suspicions of Indian government involvement in the death of a Sikh activist in Canada. Blinken and S Jaishankar met at the State Department on Thursday as the US attempts to manage the conflict between its northern neighbour and the South Asian country important to its Indo-Pacific plan to challenge China’s growing influence in the area. In brief remarks to reporters, neither man addressed the scandal that has strained Canada-India relations, but a US official indicated the subject was broached. According to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential meetings, Blinken pushed India to participate with the Canadian investigation. “We have consistently engaged with the Indian government on this question and have urged them to cooperate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters ahead of the meeti

Five men, including three Iranian nationals, were arrested from Okha town of Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district allegedly with a satellite phone and 10 grams of heroin, police said on Thursday. While three fishermen from Iran and an Indian named Ashok Kumar Ayappan (37) were on a boat which arrived at Okha coast near the under-construction ‘Signature Bridge’ on Wednesday night, Ashok’s younger brother Anand Kumar Ayappan (35) was on the coast to receive them, an official said. Tamil Nadu native Ashok, who used to work in Oman, took help of these three Iranian fishermen to reach Gujarat coast as his passport was seized by his sponsor firm and there was no other way to come back to India, Superintendent of Police Nitesh Pandey said. He identified the three Iranians as Mustafa Baluchi, Jashem Baluchi and Amir Hussain Baluchi, all residents of Bandar Abbas there, and said the five accused have been charged under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Th

The Indian Army has submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry to purchase 400 howitzers from Indian companies as part of a massive effort to support domestically designed and built combat systems. The 155 mm/52 calibre Towed Gun System will be lighter, more adaptable, and prepared for future technical improvements thanks to the knowledge of Indian Industry, according to the Indian Army’s Regiment of Artillery. “A proposal for buying 400 155mm 52 calibre towed gun systems (TGS) along with towing vehicles from Indian firms under the Buy Indian-IDDM category has been moved to the Defence Ministry. The government is expected to soon take a decision on the TGS at a high-level meeting,” senior military officials told the media. The Indian Army has already released a tender to locate a mounted gun system for its needs along the borders with China and Pakistan in addition to one to find 307 Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS). It would be entirely Indian in every manner if the

India will turn into a “rapidly ageing society,” a new report by UN said, stating that by 2046, the share of elderly in India’s population will be higher than the proportion of children aged between 0-14 years. “Four years before 2050, the population size of the elderly in India will be higher than the population size of children aged 0–14 years. By that time, the population share of 15–59 years will also see a dip. Undoubtedly, the relatively young India today will turn into a rapidly ageing society in the coming decades,” read the India Ageing Report 2023 released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). There are 149 million people aged 60 years and above in 2022 (as on 1 July), comprising around 10.5 per cent of the country’s population. By 2050, the share of older people will double to 20.8 per cent, with the absolute number at 347 million. “By 2050, one in every five individuals will be an elderly in India,” the report said. “Most of the states in the southern region a

In UP’s Meerut, police arrested a teacher named Ankit Tyagi on charges of illegally keeping a gun which they only had allegedly planted in the accused person’s motorbike. Their actions were exposed after the CCTV footage emerged. SP Dehat Kamlesh Bahadur’s investigation report highlighted the constables’ error, leading SSP to reprimand two constables. Furthermore, IG Meerut has summoned a report on the entire incident. Ankit Tyagi’s sister and other female family members staged a protest, and their video went viral. In UP's Meerut, a family alleged two cops from the local police station planted a gun in the house and later arrested a youth Ankit Tyagi under Arms Act. The family has produced CCTV footage as evidence to corroborate their claims. First video is of a cop allegedly planting… pic.twitter.com/UM6OzaCkPq — Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 27, 2023 The case revolves around a land dispute involving farmer Ashok Tyagi from Khandavali village in Kharkhoda. Allegedl

Despite the deteriorating diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa, the Indian government is continuing its purchases of lentils from Canada as it aims to bolster its buffer stocks to address the rising prices of pulses in the domestic market, said sources familiar with the matter. Two central government agencies, namely the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), have recently issued tenders to procure red lentils (masoor whole) from the local market and through imports in an effort to stabilise prices, as reported by Economics Times . Starting earlier this month, these two agencies have collectively been issuing tenders four times a week to procure lentils. The reduced acreage due to erratic monsoons in key growing states this year has led to an increase in prices of this protein-rich staple. Canada’s Food Exports to India Slow Down | Vantage with Palki Sharma Canada w

Delhi Police has registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code over pro-Khalistani graffiti found written on walls under the Kashmiri Gate flyover, according to ANI reports. The pro-Khalistani graffiti, however, has now been removed from the wall. Anti-India slogans and activities have been reported in the recent past in countries, especially in Canada. Tensions escalated between India and Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a serious allegation regarding the possible involvement of Indian agents in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani extremist, on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has already rejected the allegations terming it as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/Uyc1w98 FP Staff

The Manipur government is considering the implementation of a ‘one district, one force’ policy to enhance coordination and operational efficiency among security forces, as part of its efforts to restore peace in the northeastern state, which has been plagued by ethnic violence since 3 May. According to a Hindustan Times report, under this arrangement, each district will have dedicated personnel from a paramilitary force responsible for maintaining law and order. A security official in Delhi explained that this approach aims to promote accountability and minimise the potential for conflicts between different security forces. According to the report, citing an anonymous official, a unified command under the leadership of security advisor Kuldiep Singh is expected to reorganise security personnel throughout the state to implement the “one district, one force” framework. “Having one force to look after a particular district will help in coordination and also fix accountability. The fo

A heart wrenching incident has come to fore from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain where a 12-year-old girl, semi-naked and soaked in blood after being allegedly raped was refused help by people even when she went door to door seeking assistance. CCTV footage from Badnagar road, about 15 kms from Ujjain, shows people staring at the girl in pain after the alleged heinous crime, but no one coming forward to help her. A person was also caught in video shooing the minor away as she approached him for assistance. The girl, who also appeared to be injured, kept asking for help in the colonies of Sanvarakhedi Simhastha Bypass until she fainted near Dandi Ashram. A priest of the ashram suspected sexual violence. She was then covered with a towel, while the passerby dialed 100 to call the police. The cops reached the ashram and rushed the girl to the district hospital. The doctors confirmed rape and her private parts were damaged. A report by Dainik Bhaskar said the girl walked for over two-and-a-h

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit is not just a branding event but it’s an event of bonding. #WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: PM Modi addresses an event marking 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, “Vibrant Gujarat is not just a programme of branding but more than that it is a programme of bonding” pic.twitter.com/8md2Y3XuqT — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2023 Addresses an event to mark 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Science City, Ahmedabad, PM Modi said, “Vibrant Gujarat is not just a branding event, but it’s an event of bonding. For the world, this successful summit may be a brand, but for me, it is a sign of strong bond. This is the bond between me and 7 crore people of Gujarat.” Recalling his days as the chief minister of Gujarat, PM Modi said that he didn’t have much experience as the CM then but all that he had was the unbreakable trust of the people of the state. “I didn’t have much experience as a CM,

Eight workers suffered burn injuries after a blast inside a load carrier in Anantnag’s Larkipora area on Wednesday, police said. “An explosion occurred in the cement mix settling vibration machine, adjacent to portable generator and tin can of oil being carried with labourers in a load carrier at Larkipora in Anantnag. Eight labourers were injured with burn injuries and are being treated at a hospital. Their condition is stable,” said J&K Police in a statement. The police, however, ruled out any terror angle in the incident. Police said the  further investigation into the incident has started. More details awaited from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/Eafd39C FP Staff

There’s no peace for the northeastern state of Manipur. Five months after the state witnessed clashes – first in May during a tribal solidarity march – unrest has once again erupted, prompting authorities to re-impose a ban on mobile devices accessing the internet. The ban, which has been imposed until 1 October, comes just days after the state government had lifted similar orders, which had been in place after the ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki tribes had led to the killing of 175 people and injuring hundreds of others. Speaking from New York, where he had earlier addressed the United Nations General Assembly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Council on Foreign Relations that the state and the central governments were trying to find a way by which a sense of normalcy returns. “I think one part of the problem in Manipur has been the destabilising impact of migrants who have come. But there are also tensions which obviously have a long history which preced

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday began its raids on Hawala operators and logistic coordinators of gangsters linked to Khalistan Group across 51 locations in six states. According to NIA, among those being raided include associates of gangsters Lawrence Bambiha and Arsh Dalla. #WATCH | NIA raids underway in Punjab’s Bathinda National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting raids across 6 states in 3 cases in 51 locations belonging to associates of Lawrence Bambiha and Arsh Dalla gangs: NIA pic.twitter.com/0YJqkq3mEO — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2023 Sources said that the raids are on in 30 locations in Punjab, 13 in Rajasthan, 4 in Haryana, two in Uttarakhand and and each in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. #WATCH | NIA raids underway in Punjab’s Moga National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting raids across 6 states in 3 cases in 51 locations belonging to associates of Lawrence Bambiha and Arsh Dalla gangs: NIA pic.twitter.com/LFuiqdiufR — ANI (@ANI) Septembe

The issue of equitable water distribution between Haryana and Punjab was brought up by the Haryana government on Tuesday at the 31st Northern Zonal Council meeting in Amritsar. Punjab is deceiving about the Sutlej Yamuna Link’s construction, according to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was speaking at the 31st meeting of the Northern Zonal Council (NZC), which was presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “Punjab government is continuously misleading on the construction of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL). They are continuously saying that the availability of water has reduced, but the construction of the canal and the availability of water are two different issues,” the Haryana government said. Additionally, he asked that work on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) canal in the Punjab region be finished. The administration also claimed that Pakistan receives the excess unchanneled water from the Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas rivers. “In the last 10 years, an average of 1.68

Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested a man for allegedly being involved in spying for Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Shailesh Kumar Singh alias Shailendra Singh Chauhan, a resident of Patiyali in Kasganj, had worked as a temporary labourer in the Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh for about nine months, according to an official statement issued in Lucknow. It is alleged that he passed on information about the army related to the location and movement of vehicles and sent photographs to his ISI handlers. Singh was called to the ATS headquarters in Lucknow for interrogation, where he was formally arrested and will be produced before the court, Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said in the statement. It claimed the ATS team, with physical and electronic surveillance, confirmed that Singh shared information related to the Army through WhatsApp and Facebook. “Singh had worked as a temporary labourer in the army in Arunachal Pradesh for about nine mon

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation of the Indian government’s link in a Khalistani terrorist’s killing has no bearing on the ‘army to army’ relationship between both countries, Canada’s Deputy Army Chief Major General Peter Scott said Tuesday. “I am fully aware of, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement. The government’s stance and the government request for India to participate in, and cooperate in the investigation. But, really, that has no impact on us here at the Indo-Pacific conference. We’re really here to build relationships from army to army, and we’ll let our governments deal with that issue, themselves,” Major General Peter Scott said while attending the Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (IPAC), 2023. #WATCH | Delhi: Canada’s Deputy Army Chief Major General Peter Scott says, “We’re very grateful to be here as part of the Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (IPAC), 2023. Canada continues to look for opportunities where we can participate in training or exe

Pictures of the bodies of two Manipuri students, who had been missing since July, have gone viral on social media platforms. These images depict moments from before and after they were killed. One of the photographs portrays the two students with two armed men in the frame and the other one was of two bodies. The students have been identified as 17-year-old Hijam Linthoingambi and 20-year-old Phijam Hemjit. The recent images went viral days after two Kuki women in Manipur were stripped and paraded by a mob on 4 May. The video of the incident surfaced on 19 July. The police had previously said that the whereabouts of the two missing students were not known and their mobile phones were found switched off. The last location of their handsets was traced at Lamdan near the winter flower tourist spot in the Churachandpur district, they had said earlier. After the images went viral, the Manipur government asked the people to exercise restraint and allow the authorities to investigate th

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) claimed on Monday that the international credit rating firm Moody’s Investors Service has made broad allegations against Aadhaar without providing any evidence. The UIDAI offered a robust pushback to Moody’s Investors Service, which argued that the Aadhaar system frequently results in service denials and that the reliability of biometric technology, particularly for manual workers, is doubtful in hot and humid climes. “A certain investor service has, without citing any evidence or basis, made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, the most trusted digital ID in the world. Over the last decade, over a billion Indians have expressed their trust in Aadhaar by using it to authenticate themselves over 100 billion times,” the UIDAI said in a statement. The unique id Aadhaar’s custodian said that the report in question does not cite either primary or secondary data or research in support of the opinions presented in it. “The investor serv

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with top UN officials in New York to address India’s G20 presidency, regional difficulties and global challenges, sustainable development objectives, and Security Council reforms. On Monday, a day before addressing the General Debate at the present high-level United Nations General Assembly session, Jaishankar met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the 78th General Assembly Dennis Francis at the international organization’s headquarters. He also met with Achim Steiner, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Jaishankar stated that meeting with Guterres was a “pleasure” and that they addressed “how India’s G20 Presidency has contributed to strengthening” the UN’s sustainable development agenda. “We have coordinated closely in this regard over the last year,” Jaishankar said in a tweet, adding that he appreciated Guterres’ strong commitment to reforming international financial institutions. In