Gujarat CMO official resigns after son's name crops up in 'conman' Kiran Patel case
Ahmedabad (PTI): A senior official in the Gujarat Chief Minister's Office (CMO) has resigned after his son's name cropped up in connection with a case involving alleged conman Kiran Patel, who was arrested for allegedly posing as a top official of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), government sources said.
Hitesh Pandya, additional public relations officer (PRO) in the CMO, resigned from his post on Friday over the controversy surrounding his son Amit Pandya for his connection with arrested conman Kiran Patel, they said.
Pandya, who was associated with the CMO for around two decades, tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday evening, the sources said.
Patel, a resident of the city's Ghodasar, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on March 3 from a five-star hotel in Srinagar after authorities grew suspicious about his activities.
Pandya's son and one Jay Sitapara were reportedly accompanying Patel when he was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police. The duo were initially let go and later summoned by the police for questioning.
This comes even as the Ahmedabad police registered a fresh first information report (FIR) against Patel on cheating and criminal conspiracy charges for trying to usurp a senior citizen's bungalow here with his wife Malini Patel also named as an accused.
As per the complaint, Patel contacted the owner of a bungalow in a posh locality of Ahmedabad and claimed to be a real estate agent and took Rs 35 lakh from him for its renovation and took its possession by putting up their name plate outside it. The couple left the place after the owner returned. However, the owner later learnt through a court notice that Patel had filed a civil suit claiming ownership of the property.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
