Kannada actress Ranya Rao's stepfather, Director General of Police Ramchandra Rao, has been sent on compulsory leave.
Kerala's voters are sophisticated, educated, and unforgiving. They have once again made it clear that no government is entitled to remain in power. The Congress would do well to remember this, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Mumbai Customs department seized narcotics, foreign currency, gold, and precious stones worth over Rs 46 crore at the Mumbai international airport in a week.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday continued its searches at places linked to Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara as part of the probe into alleged gold smuggling-linked money laundering case against Kannada actress Ranya Rao and others, official sources said.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has confirmed that Kannada actor Ranya Rao, recently arrested for gold smuggling, was allotted 12 acres of industrial land in 2023 by the previous BJP government for setting up a steel plant. The allocation was approved during a state-level meeting in January 2023, when the BJP was in power. The Congress government, which came to power after the May 2023 elections, has released documents confirming the land allotment. Ranya Rao was arrested after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her at Bengaluru airport.
Junior Civil Aviation Minister G M Siddeshwara told Parliament that disciplinary action has been taken against the employees.
While some of them were excellent, most were passable. But many were far superior to the theatrical releases.
Kannada actress Harshavardhini Ranya, accused in a gold smuggling case, has alleged that DRI officials assaulted her and forced her to sign blank and typed papers. She claims she was wrongly accused of carrying over 14 kg of gold upon her return from Dubai and was physically abused while in detention. Ranya also alleges that officials threatened to expose her father's identity if she refused to sign fabricated statements.
Total pending Customs arrears, including amounts under litigation, court stays and cases where the appeal period has not expired, stood at about Rs 1.36 trillion at the end of December 2024.
The investigation agency said during the custody, Suresh had disclosed that she had kept proceeds of the crime at the bank lockers and invested as deposits in various banks.
The episode came to light in July when certain human rights bodies alleged that UN peacekeepers stationed in Congo's North Kivu province near the Rwandan border were indulging in trafficking of gold.
Kannada actress Ranya Rao's frequent trips to Dubai have come under intense scrutiny following her arrest for allegedly smuggling gold into India.
To check rising current account deficit, the government raised import duties and the RBI imposed curbs on import of the metal and also laid down various pre-conditions for inward shipments of the precious metal.
The Kerala government on Friday decided to recommend a judicial inquiry against central probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, which are investigating the gold and dollar smuggling cases.
Customs officials in Kerala conducted raids across the state, seizing luxury vehicles illegally imported from Bhutan with forged documents. The operation, dubbed 'Operation Numkhor,' targeted multiple locations and uncovered a network involved in smuggling cars, gold, and drugs.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
Thirty people who were detained at the Lucknow airport for allegedly smuggling gold into the country escaped after one of them pretended to fall sick and created chaos, officials said.
Unnecessary victimisation may "reflect in the bilateral relations", the Bombay high court said on Thursday while ordering the authorities to issue exit permit to a Chinese woman who was acquitted in a gold smuggling case yet could not leave India.
Suresh and Sarith had moved a joint plea seeking protection from arrest in the case lodged by the police on the complaint of a ruling Left Democratic Front MLA's complaint alleging conspiracy behind her revelations against him, the chief minister and his family.
Custom authorities have been keeping strict vigil on the cargo movements from Bhutan, Taiwan, China, Afghanistan, South Korea Japan, and Dubai since January.
'Customers are coming in; if they aren't buying, they are at least visiting the stores, which was not the case before the Budget.'
Looking at the OTT releases coming up this summer.
After a marathon discussion lasting nine hours, the motion was defeated with 87 members opposing it and 40 supporting in the 140-member house with two vacancies.
Huge margins, high custom duty and increasing demand among youngsters have led to exponential increase in smuggling of foreign cigarettes.
The Kerala high court on Tuesday granted bail to Swapna Suresh in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case registered by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the sensational gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.
The government and the Reserve Bank had also imposed certain other restrictions on its shipments, including linking of imports to exports to prevent outgo of the foreign exchange.
The senior Congress leader was in New Delhi to campaign in Maharashtra Assembly polls.
The consent is akin to a blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offences specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946.
For Pinarayi, a victory in Thrikkakara would have come as public endorsement of his development initiatives, including controversial K-Rail project, which has witnessed widespread protest
With gold smuggling rising, jewellers have to be sure of the source of the gold being exchanged.
A rise in import duty could be a reason for increase in illegal consignments, say experts.
Minutes after she concluded her press conference, she told a TV channel that her colleague Sarith PS, who also worked with her at HRDS India, had been kidnapped in broad daylight from her home by 3 or 4 unknown people.
Sejal Shah's flatly-narrated timeline would probably serve better as a documentary, observes Sukanya Verma.
This "Special Eleven Team" has been equipped with a dedicated control room, a senior officer said.
One of the lawyers representing the two Youth Congress workers confirmed that the court of judicial first class magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram directed the Valiyathura police to register an FIR.
Thankam delivers an engaging drama that fans of good crime-solving tales will enjoy, recommends Mayur Sanap.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front over the gold smuggling scam, saying the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led government "betrayed" the people of the state just as Judas did to Lord Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
The demand for gold is expected to take a hit if the price of the yellow metal - which has been hovering around Rs 60,000, a level never seen before - remains elevated. Due to a sharp increase in price in a very short time and the flow of smuggled gold continuing, gold price in Mumbai is quoted at around Rs 59,000 per 10 gram. Typically, overall demand in the January-March and July-September quarters is moderate-to-dull, which is the case in the ongoing period.
Move comes after agencies unearth several cases of misuse of the 80:20 scheme.
'If Pinarayi Vijayan gets another term, Kerala will be a state where everybody has a house.'
