Hanuman flag row in Karnataka: Panchayat Development Officer suspended
Mandya (Karnataka) (PTI): Amid simmering tension in Mandya over the removal of Hanuman flag from a 108 feet tall flagpost, the Keragodu village Panchayat Development Officer has been suspended.
The order issued by Mandya Zila Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Tanveer Asif on Monday said the permission was granted only to hoist the Indian tricolour at Keragodu village.
However, the PDO not only gave an opportunity to the people to hoist the Hanuman flag, but also did not take steps to remove it, the order said.
It was only on January 28, that the Panchayat Sub-divisional Officer along with Tehsildar and police officers removed the flag, which created a law and order problem for which the PDO was held accountable.
As the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) staged a massive protest in Mandya against the removal of the Hanuman flag and its restoration, security was beefed up on Monday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the opposition BJP and JD(S) of trying to instigate the people over the issue, with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Police on Sunday had resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd at Keragodu village, and subsequently hoisted the national flag replacing Hanuman flag in the presence of officials of the administration.
On Monday, the protestors marched from Keragodu to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the district headquarters of Mandya, covering a distance of about 14 km, holding saffron flags amid chants of “Jai Sri Ram”. They also raised slogans against the Congress government.
BJP leaders C T Ravi and Preetham Gowda and JD(S) leaders Suresh Gowda and K Annadani joined the demonstrators.
As the march reached Mandya city, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd as some of the activists allegedly tried to bring down a flex board featuring the image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders, according to official sources.
Later, scores of protestors gathered near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where police were deployed in large numbers and barricades were erected.
Ravi and the JD(S) leaders along with former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy addressed the crowd.
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New application filed in SC against Adani group over US indictment
New Delhi: A fresh application has been submitted to the Supreme Court of India, seeking the inclusion of key documents related to the recent US indictment of the Adani Group. Filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, the petition aims to introduce two critical pieces of evidence into an ongoing case related to the Adani Group's financial practices.
The first document is a formal US court indictment accusing Gautam Adani, his relative Sagar Adani, and other company executives of orchestrating a massive bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars in India. The indictment alleges that over $250 million in bribes were paid to Indian government officials to obtain these lucrative contracts.
The second document is a complaint from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accuses the Adani Group of securities fraud. The SEC alleges that Adani executives misled investors to raise funds for these solar projects, despite knowing that part of the capital was linked to corrupt activities.
This development follows the US Attorney's Office's recent charges against the Adani executives, who are accused of masterminding a bribery scheme to secure power supply contracts with state-run utilities in India. The contracts were expected to yield up to $2 billion in profits over two decades.
These charges come amid an ongoing investigation by India's Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) into the Adani Group, after allegations of stock manipulation and market irregularities surfaced, particularly following the release of the Hindenburg Report in early 2023. The new US legal documents could play a crucial role in strengthening the investigation into the Adani Group's business operations.
