Government employees good news! 4th Saturdays to be government holiday in Karnataka
Bengaluru, June 6: Karnataka Cabinet Thursday decided to declare fourth Saturdays a holiday for state government employees in addition to second Saturdays.
The in principle decision was taken based on a recommendation of the state Pay Commission, Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said.
The cabinet also decided to bring down the number of casual leaves from the existing 15 days to ten for the government employees, he told reporters here.
He said that in 2011 the Pay Commission had recommended five-day week and the recent paypanel also stuck to it.
Though the Cabinet discussed about reducing festival and other holidays such as on the occasion of 'jayantis', it felt such a move might hurt sentiments of certain sections.
It was decided to reduce the number of days of casual leave, he added.
He said whether the changes will be implemented immediately or from next year will be decided after discussions with the Chief Minister.
The cabinet also decided to go for counselling through computerised system for transfer of group C and D government employees to bring in transparency. A draft Bill to this effect was approved.
Among the other decisions, it resolved to outsource the maintenance of pure drinking water units by calling for tender.
As many as 16,000 pure drinking water units out of the 18,000 approved by the Rural Development department had been installed across the state at taluk levels, Gowda said adding there was no clear policy on their maintenance.
The cabinet asked the Chief Secretary to implement an ordinance promulgated to protect the interests of gazetted officers in 1998 in a way that it does not affect the promotions of officers recruited in subsequent years.
On whether the cabinet discussed about the opposition to its last week decision on sale of 3,667 acres of land to JSW Steel, Gowda said, the issue did not come up.
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
