KNOWLEDGE SIR

Gully Boy song 'Doori': Ranveer Singh's angsty track elucidates Mumbai's class-divide KNOWLEDGE SIR  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets valued at over Rs 239 crore of a firm linked to TMC MP KD Singh in connection with a money laundering probe into an alleged ponzi scam case pegged at over Rs 1,900 crore, the agency said Monday. The ED said in a statement it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching properties "situated at various places like Chandigarh, Panchkula, Derabassi, SAS Nagar (Punjab), Shimla and also bank accounts in HDFC Bank against Ms Alchemist Infra Realty Ltd." The total value of the attached assets is Rs 239.29 crore, it added. The central probe agency had last year summoned the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, now sidelined in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), as part of these investigations. While Singh had resigned from the post of Chairman of the Alche...

Mudslide hits wedding party in Peru; leaves 15 dead, 34 injured KNOWLEDGE SIR 15 people have died after a mudslide hit a wedding party in Peru, South America, on Sunday.  Furthermore, over 30 people have sustained injuries in the tragic incident. The event occurred at the Alhambra hotel when a mass of mud and other earthy material crashed into people dancing at the wedding celebrations below. Evaristo Ramos, Abancay's mayor, told local media that around 100 guests were invited to the party, out of which "15 are dead and 34 injured," reports Al Jazeera. Rescue efforts have continued all through Sunday night as firefighters, residents and police work to pull people out from the debris. According to authorities, the hotel was built close to a hillside. The collapse of the retaining wall led to the mudslide destroying the roof, which fell on the party-goers below. Peru   South America   mudslide

CBI court convicts NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary and 14 others in 2008 Assam serial blast case which killed 88 KNOWLEDGE SIR  The chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary and 14 others were on Monday convicted by the CBI Special Court in the 2008 case of serial bomb blasts in Assam which had left 88 people dead. CBI Special Judge Aparesh Chakraborty convicted Daimary and 14 others under various sections of the IPC. The quantum of the judgement will be announced on Wednesday. Besides Daimary, the others convicted are George Bodo, B Tharai, Raju Sarkar, Nilim Daimary, Anchai Bodo, Indra Brahma, Loko Basumatary, Khargeswar Basumatary, Prabhat Bodo, Jayanta Bodo, Ajay Basumatary, Mridul Goyary, Mathuram Brahma and Rajen Goyary. The serial blasts were triggered by the NDFB on October 30, 2008, in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, and Barpeta, killing 88 people and injuring more than 500. National Democratic Front of Bodoland ...

Ahead Budget 2019, FM Piyush Goyal to discuss NPA recovery with PSU Banks chiefs KNOWLEDGE SIR Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal will meet the chiefs of PSU Banks on Monday. The finance minister will take stock of banking sector and will discuss ways to improve their financial health. Economists hold this meeting of great significance as it comes just three days ahead of the Budget 2019-20. According to Zee Media's sources, the meeting will review the credit flow to MSMEs, agriculture and retail sectors. FM Goyal will also discuss recovery of non-performing assets (NPAs) with the PSU banks bosses. Public sector banks ( PSBs ) have seen decline in bad loans by over Rs 23,000 crore from a peak of Rs 9.62 lakh crore in March 2018 due to various initiatives taken by the government. At the same time, PSBs have also made a record in recovery of Rs 60,726 crore in the first half of the current financial year, which is more than double the amount recovered in the cor...

Kohli's men end 10-year drought in New Zealand as India defeat Kiwis in 3rd ODI, seal series 3-0 KNOWLEDGE SIR India defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in the  third ODI  and sealed the five-match series 3-0 on Monday. Virat Kohli's Team India has become just the second Indian side to have won a bilateral ODI series in New Zealand after MS Dhoni-led India won in 2009.  Chasing New Zealand's target of 244, India lost three wickets - Shikhar Dhawan (28), Rohit Sharma (62) and Virat Kohli (60 - as  Ambati Rayudu  (40 off 42) and Dinesh Karthik (38 off 38) remained unbeaten and saw India home successfully with 42 balls to spare.  Earlier,  Hardik Pandya  made a significant contribution on his comeback with two wickets and a stunning catch as  India bowled out the hosts for 243 runs in 49 overs . Coming back into the side after the suspension on him for sexist remarks on a TV show was lifted, Pandya delivered figures of two...

Bulandshahr violence: Police planted slain cop's phone in our home, claims accused Prashant Natt's wife KNOWLEDGE SIR The police on Sunday said that it had recovered official mobile phone Subodh Kumar Singh, inspector killed in the December mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district, from the residence of the main accused.  However, wife of Prashant Natt, who had allegedly shot down the cop on December 3, has accused the police of planting false evidence to frame his husband in the case. Prashant's wife Sonam alleged that Singh's phone was brought by the police team which claimed to have recovered it from their home.  "Police is making false allegations against us. If it was inspector Subodh's phone then why would have we kept it with us? We would have destroyed the device. The police brought the phone. They have taken four more phones from our home. My husband is innocent," Sonam said.  On Sunday, officials said that inspe...

IRCTC scam: Delhi Court grants regular bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav and kin, next hearing on Feb 11 KNOWLEDGE SIR Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejaswi Yadav and others have been granted regular bail by Delhi's Patiala House Court in the money laundering case against them in IRCTC scam case. They have been granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 Lakh and a surety amount each. Next date of hearing is February 11. On being granted bail in the  IRCTC scam case , Tejashwi Yadav said as quoted by ANI, "We are confident of getting justice. We trust the judiciary." A Special CBI court on Saturday granted regular bail to former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad in the same case. Special CBI judge Arun Bharadwaj directed the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) supremo to furnish an amount of Rs 1 lakh as a personal bail bond and one surety of like amount. Lalu is already on an interim bail while the other accused in the case are on r...

Man United's Alexis Sanchez returns to haunt Arsenal in FA Cup win KNOWLEDGE SIR Chilean forward Alex Sanchez  returned to haunt his old club with the opening goal in Manchester United's 3-1 victory at Arsenal in a heavyweight FA Cup fourth-round clash on Friday. In his first appearance back at the Emirates Stadium since swapping north London for Old Trafford a year ago, Sanchez silenced the inevitable boos to help continue Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's remarkable start as United's interim manager. Sanchez and Jesse Lingard scored within two minutes of each other in the first half but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replied just before halftime to set up an engrossing second half. Arsenal suffered injury blows, with defenders Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny both being forced off, although they pushed hard for an equaliser in the second period. But United, who are second behind Arsenal in all-time FA Cup wins with 12, absorbed the pressure and sealed an eighth suc...

Modi government's Bharat Ratna selection: A subtle message to friends and foes KNOWLEDGE SIR The Modi government on the eve of Republic Day announced names of  Bharat Ratna recipients for 2019. This year Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh have been given Bharat Ratna posthumously, along with former President Pranab Mukherjee who also got the highest civilian honour of the country. Very few can question the choices made by the government as each of these three individuals are doyens in their field. Pranab Mukherjee, a consummate politician, has dedicated his entire life to public service finally bringing his political life to close after becoming President. He also enjoyed a rare bipartisan respect for his statesmanship, knowledge about laws and Parliament etiquettes. Bhupen Hazarika is truly an icon of Assamese music, who brought North-East to the mainstream consciousness through his mellifluent voice.  And Nanaji Deshmukh is one of the most iconic le...

ITBP jawans celebrate Republic Day at altitude of 18,000 ft in minus 30 degree Celsius temperature KNOWLEDGE SIR Celebrating the 70th Republic Day, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans on Saturday unfurled tricolour at the height of 18,000 feet in cold weather where temperature was somewhere around minus 30 degree Celsius. While a jawan held the tricolour aloft, 13 others formed a line behind him and saluted the flag. The pictures of these brave soldiers, away from civilisation, was received warmly by Twitterati who hailed the heroes securing the border.  The Twitter handle of ITBP tweeted four pictures of the jawans celebrating 69 years of Constitution in the cold weather.  The ITBP also retweeted a small 12-second video of jawans carrying a flag through knee-deep snow at the India-China border in Uttarakhand. The about 90,000 personnel strong force is primarily tasked with guarding the 3,488 km Sino-India border apart from other internal security...

Indian Navy finds second body from mine tragedy in Meghalaya KNOWLEDGE SIR Rescuers have located a second body from the site of a  "rat-hole" mining accident  in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, a spokesperson for the country's navy said on Saturday, two days after recovering the first body. Fifteen miners were trapped on Dec. 13 when their illegal mine was flooded. A court stipulated a ban on unregulated mining in the state in 2014 has not stopped such activities. Thousands of workers in  Meghalaya , including children, have been killed in so-called rat-hole mines, in which miners crawl into narrow shafts on bamboo ladders to dig for low-quality coal. "Indian Navy diving team finds second body 280 feet inside the rat-hole mine," a navy spokesperson said in a tweet. There was no immediate indication on when the body will be brought to the surface, said a rescue official, who did not want to be named. Families and relatives of t...

ISRO launches military satellite Microsat-R KNOWLEDGE SIR India successfully launched Microsat-R  In a midnight launch, ISRO trusted workhorse PSLV-C44 carrying military satellite Microsat-R and students payload Kalamsat lifts off from the first launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota, on Thursday , PTI  India successfully launched Microsat-R, a military satellite onboard its Polar rocket PSLV C44, from the spaceport here on Thursday, in the first mission for the ISRO in 2019. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) blasted off from the first launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11.37 pm at the end of a 28-hour countdown.In a textbook launch, the 44-metre tall, four-stage PSLV-C44 soared into the clear and starry night sky majestically and injected the 740-kg Microsat-R into orbit precisely 13 minutes and 30 seconds later. ISRO scientists broke into celebration at the mission control centr...