India not eyeing anyone's territory: PM
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India has no intention of exploiting any country's resources and is not eyeing anyone's territory, basing its relationships not on "profit or loss" but on humanity.
Addressing the first PIO Parliamentarians Conference here, he said India has always played a constructive role in the world arena
If any philosophy can counter extremism and radicalisation, it is Mahatma Gandhi's and India's philosophy of non-violence and 'satyagraha', he noted
"We neither have the intention of exploiting anyone's resources nor are we eyeing anyone's territory. Our focus has always been on capacity building and resource development," the prime minister said
The comments come in the wake of increasing border tensions in certain sectors of India's border with China
"India is that country which has always played a constructive role in the world arena. We have not weighed our policy towards any country on profit or loss basis, but have viewed it from the prism of human values."
India's model of development aid, he added, is not based on give and take, but depends on the needs and priorities of countries
"At a time when the world is divided by ideologies, India believes in the mantra of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'," he said
When concerns over extremism and radicalisation in the world are increasing, India's message of inclusiveness can go out to the world, he told the parliamentarians
"If there is any philosophy to counter radicalisation and extremism, it is the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and the philosophy of Indian values," he said
India, with its rich values and traditions, has the power to lead and guide the world dealing with instability, Modi said
According to the prime minister, the 21st century is known as the Asian century and India has an important role to play in it
Persons of Indian origin can take pride in the country's increasing strength worldwide, he told the gathering
Modi also called on Indian origin lawmakers from across the world to be partners in India's development and act as catalysts in the country's economic growth
Over half the total investment into the country came in only the last three years with a record USD 16 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) last year
All this has happened due to far-reaching policy changes ushered in by his government, with "reform and transform" being its guiding principle, the prime minister said
"India is changing, India is transforming. India has moved far ahead and Indian hopes are at the top and you will see the result of change in every sphere.
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Kerala: ED files money laundering case in Sabarimala gold loss case
Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed a money laundering case in the Sabarimala gold loss case in Kerala, official sources said.
The federal probe agency's Kochi zonal office has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), an ED equivalent of a police FIR, under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
The politically sensitive case is already being investigated by a state special investigation team (SIT) under the supervision of the Kerala High Court.
In December, the high court had allowed the ED to undertake an independent investigation into the case after it dismissed objections raised by the SIT against sharing the case information with the central agency.
The SIT is probing two cases related to the gold loss incident and has arrested 11 people so far. The latest to be arrested by the SIT was Kandararu Rajeevaru, the chief priest of the Lord Ayyappa temple.
The other prominent persons arrested in the case by the SIT are Bengaluru-based businessman and prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar.
The ED is expected to soon look for more evidence, question the accused, and it may also go on to attach certain assets of those involved if it finds that they generated "proceeds of crime", according to the officials.
The probe is related to a series of irregularities, including official misconduct, administrative lapses and a criminal conspiracy to misappropriate the gold from the various artefacts of the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
The investigation by the SIT, and now by the ED, is related to the loss of gold from the gold-cladded copper plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple.
The SIT has informed the High Court that its probe found "a series of serious official misconduct and administrative lapses on the part of the Devaswom officials right from the initial correspondence till the handing over of the door frame plates, connected plates, Dwarapalaka plates and pillar plates to Unnikrishnan Potty without proper authorisation".
It further said in its statement that Govardhan, Pankaj Bhandari, the CEO of Chennai-based Smart Creations, which carried out the electroplating of the artefacts from the temple, Potty and the other accused hatched a criminal conspiracy with malicious intention to misappropriate the gold cladded on the copper plates in and around the shrine.
"It is found during the investigation that all these criminal activities were part of a large conspiracy and an organised crime committed by the accused persons.
"They had a larger plan to dismantle other gold-clad items on the Sabarimala Sreekovil and to extract the gold from them for misappropriation," it said.
