Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba gets Union berth
Bengaluru, Jul 7: Bhagwanth Khuba, a two time Lok Sabha member, hails from the politically dominant Lingayat community which the BJP considers as its key vote base in north Karnataka.
His induction into the Union ministry on Wednesday is being seen as a move to fill up Lingayat representation in the cabinet that had fallen vacant following the death of Suresh Angadi, due to COVID-19 in September last year, who was serving as Minister of State for Railways.
An engineering graduate, Khuba (54), was involved in a family business and had never fought an election before he entered the Lok Sabha in 2014, by defeating political giant from the region, Congress veteran and former Chief Minister late N Dharam Singh in Bidar segment.
He again won the seat in 2019, by defeating another Congress heavyweight in the region Eshwar B Khandre. The fight against the two Lingayat leaders in the community's bastion was keenly watched.
Born on June 1, 1967 at Aurad in Bidar, he obtained B.E. (Mech.) from Sree Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru.
He is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways.
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Kasaragod: ED books Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust for FCRA violation
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has registered a forex violation case against a Kerala-based charitable organisation for receiving Rs 220 crore from abroad in alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The investigation pertains to Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust located in Kasargod and its chairman Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, an NRI.
Searches were conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) at two locations in Kasargod on Thursday in connection with the case, the ED said in a statement.
The Trust, according to the ED, received more than Rs 220 crore since 2021 from Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, which was reflected in the books of accounts as "unsecured" loans.
However, no loan agreement, interest rate terms, or repayment schedule were available, and no repayment had been made till date, the probe agency said.
The probe found that these funds were received by Ali from a UAE company named Universal Lubricants LLC.
In the absence of supporting documents and in view of the clarification given under a section of the FCRA, the said loan prima facie qualified as "foreign contribution" under FCRA, the statement said.
According to the ED, the Trust is "not registered" under the FCRA and does not possess the "mandatory permission" or a designated FCRA bank account to receive foreign contributions.
It was found that a part of these foreign contributions was "utilised" for the purchase of agricultural land in India, in violation of the existing regulations.
The search action found that the Trust received Rs 2.49 crore in "cash" from Ali in violation of FEMA provisions.
"During the search, incriminating documents, ledger accounts showing unsecured loans of Rs 220 crore, the cash book of the Trust, and a hard disk containing financial data were seized," the ED said.
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