CBI today questioned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in connection with its probe into allegations of disproportionate assets amassed by him during his tenure as Union Minister.

CBI sources said the 81-year-old Chief Minister appeared for questioning at the agency headquarters here.

The agency had initiated an inquiry which had allegedly showed that as Union Minister during 2009-2012 (UPA rule), Singh had allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore (approx) in his name and in the name of his family members which were found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income, CBI has said.

The FIR filed with a designated court in Delhi under the Prevention of Corruption Act, named Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and Chunni Lal Chauhan.

The allegations have been refuted by Singh.

In a statement, CBI spokesperson had said it was further alleged that Singh had invested his unaccounted income in LIC policies in his name and in the name of his wife and other family members through a private person by showing the same as agricultural income.

“This was done by creation of a MoU purportedly dated June 15, 2008 for maintenance of an apple orchard, with the said private person (Chauhan) for a period of three years. The private person had allegedly deposited Rs five crore cash (approx) in his own bank account and debited the same through cheques for purchasing various LIC policies in their names,” CBI had said.

It had said Singh allegedly attempted to legitimize the same as agricultural income by filing revised Income Tax Returns in 2012.

“The agricultural income as claimed by him in his revised ITRs was not found to be tenable. The then Union Minister had allegedly accumulated other assets disproportionate to known sources of income,” CBI has alleged.PTI

The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded a court-monitored investigation into the allegations against former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse, who stepped down after a host of allegations including irregularities in a land deal.

“We are not happy with Khadse’s resignation. It appears that BJP wants to protect him. That is why when he addressed the press conference, he was flanked by two senior BJP leaders,” AAP leader Ashish Khetan said here.

“Why are they not registering FIRs in three cases against him. In all three cases there should be FIRs and there should be court-monitored investigation which is not happening,” he said.

“Everybody has a feeling that they are trying to protect him. They should put him behind bars and they should register cases and investigate thoroughly,” he said.

Responding to a question, Khetan said, in Maharashtra, if the second most powerful minister after CM, is so corrupt you can imagine what is happening in the government.

The senior BJP leader resigned on Saturday in wake of a series of allegations including irregularities in a land deal in Pune, getting calls allegedly from fugitive Dawood Ibrahim’s residence in Karachi on his phone besides the alleged bribe sought by his personal aide.

Following this, CM Devendra Fadnavis announced an inquiry by a retired high court judge into the allegations against Khadse, as sought by the senior leader himself.PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the Muslim community on the beginning of Ramzan and hoped the holy month deepens the bond of brotherhood and the spirit of harmony in society

“As the holy month of Ramzan commences, I convey my greetings to the Muslim community,” he said in an official statement.

“May Ramzan deepen the bond of brotherhood and the spirit of harmony in our society”, he said.

The Prime Minister is currently in the US as part of his five-nation tour…PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that there is “complete jungle raj” in the national capital, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung of “failing to control deteriorating law and order”.

Referring to the case of murder of a 50-year-old woman and her two daughters at their residence in North-East Delhi’s Brahmapuri area yesterday, he urged both the PM and the LG to do “something (to control crime)”, saying that “(see) what is happening in Delhi”.

“Complete jungle raj in Del. LG/Modi ji failed miserably.

What hv they done to control deteriorating law n order? (sic),” Kejriwal said in a series of tweets.

“This is 2 years of Modi raj,” he said, referring to the murder case.

In another tweet, he said, “LG sahib/ Modi ji, pl do something. Ye delhi mein kya ho raha hai (what is happening in Delhi).”

AAP has been demanding that the control over Delhi Police which directly reports to the Union Home Ministry, be handed over to the Delhi government.

Last month, the Delhi government had released a draft bill on full statehood to Delhi, seeking to bring police, land, municipal corporations and bureaucracy under its control, and invited suggestions from the public.

Kejriwal had slammed Delhi Police following the murder of 19-year-old Meenakshi who was stabbed to death in Central Delhi’s Anand Prabat area in July last year.

“The law and order situation is deteriorating in Delhi every day. Delhi Police comes under the Prime Minister. Either he should do something or Delhi Police should be handed over to the Delhi government,” he had said after meeting Meenakshi’s family members.

He had also said, “If the police is not answerable to the Delhi government then how will it be held accountable? Right now, Delhi Police is a law unto itself.

Mumbai, June 05, 2016: Reliance Energy, as an environment conscious company, is celebrating World Environment Day 2016 by increasing mass awareness on the importance of preserving our environment by staging Wildlife Preservation Awareness Skit at Sanjay Gandhi Nation Park on 4th June and 5th June, 2016.
Reliance Energy, Mumbai Distribution an arm of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., distributes power to two third of Mumbai, keeps on carrying out activities to promote conservation of environment.
The skit appeals to visitors to do their bit for preserving all species and make individual effort to safeguard them for our future generations.
Our unique planet has been created for all species alike and they have together adorned this earth. Annihilation of these species is because of human beings’ actions, and hence it is our responsibility to preserve them.

On the occasion, a Reliance Energy spokesperson said, “Reliance Energy is an environment conscious company and we have been taking several initiatives to preserve our environment. This unique initiative of imparting learning through skit will encourage viewers to take care of their environment by not littering garbage. We have also been taking several business measures like net metering as an environmentally conscious company.”

Reliance Energy’s sustainable initiatives towards Environment.
As a part of commitment towards the environment in the areas of business operations, Reliance Energy employees regularly visits Mumbai’s iconic Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivali and have cleaned it by removing and collecting the plastic and solid waste from various sites.
Till date, more than 340 Company employees have collected over 700 Kgs. of solid waste and plastic from various sites within the park and handed over the same to the SGNP Authorities for its scientific disposals.
The drive is part of Company’s one of the several activities under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of the Govt. of India.
The drive has been planned in phased manners and at regular intervals.
Company will continue with the drive in coming days too, with the objective of making the iconic place of tourists’ interest plastic free zone.
To make it a people’s movement, Reliance Energy has also engaged with a theatre group, which is performing a street play to create awareness on preserving greenery and wild life in the SGNP as well as at other locations.

Key highlights of the drive till date:
 Till date, Reliance Energy officials voluntarily and actively participated in the drive for cleaning the Sanjay Gandhi National Park Area contributing more than 800 man-hours.
 More than 700 Kgs plastic and solid waste was collected and the areas were cleaned.
 Company employees identified the prime areas of tourists’ interests within the National Park, where the waste accumulation is on higher side and focused the cleaning activities on such areas.
 These areas include Tiger Safari Point, Dahisar River Bed, Kanheri Caves, Krishnagiri Train Station, Boating Point, Yeoor Hills and community area like Nava Pada, Kombda Pada.
 Reliance Energy employees also visited various local communities within park area to conduct training sessions to spread awareness among them as well as the visiting tourists.
 Reliance Energy employees also weeded out the unwarranted grass on the path leading towards the Mahatma Gandhi Smarak (Memorial).
 In another parallel activity with NGO Hariyali, more than 200 employees have planted over 5,000 saplings at the NGO managed plantation site at Bhavale Hills, Bhiwandi and in nurseries at Thane, Mulund and Rabale.
 Earlier on the occasion of 2nd October 2015, Gandhi Jayanti, the day that coincides with the first anniversary of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Reliance Energy family joined hands to participate in the cleanliness drive across their respective office locations. Over 1,600 people comprising employees, contract workers and housekeeping staff across 32 key office locations spread across 400 sq. km of its licensed area in the suburbs of Mumbai participated in the drive cleaning their office premises and the surrounding areas including nearby roads, societies, bus stops, public parks, play grounds etc.
 Company initiative has been greatly acknowledged by Sanjay Gandhi National Park and NGO Hariyali authorities.
 Reliance Energy, as a responsible Corporate Citizen, has always been supportive and participative in the cause of National interest, such as World Environment Day, Energy Conservation Week, World Water Day, Earth Hour; Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, etc.

Selfies of Assamese youths, led by Manas Deka, accused by JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar of trying to “strangle” him on board of an aircraft in April, have been posted on a social networking site greeting BJP chief Amit Shah.

The brief encounter took place before Shah was to address a convention — ‘Pramod Mahajan Skill and Entrepreneurship Mission’, a Maharashtra government initiative on the lines of the Centre’s ‘Skill India’, at an auditorium here yesterday.

However, the delegation did not attend the function and left.

Deka later posted the selfies with Shah on his social media account.

On April 24, Kumar had alleged that Deka, working with a city-based software firm, had tried to strangle him on board a Pune-bound Jet Airways flight.

Mumbai Police had registered a non-cognisable offence on Kumar’s complaint. However, the allegations were reportedly described by the police as “untrue”.

Kumar had described Deka as a “strong BJP supporter” in a tweet after the incident.PTI

Reacting to the resignation of Eknath Khadse from the state Cabinet today, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and NCP leader, Dhananjay Munde, said action was also expected against other “tainted ministers”.

“It is important to see whether the government takes similar action against other tainted ministers,” said Munde, who was with the BJP before joining NCP.

“The MIDC land scam is a serious matter and a fair and thorough investigation should be done,” he said.

Meanwhile, local builder Hemant Gavande, who first flagged the questionable land deal in Bhosari involving Khadse’s family, said he would keep pursuing the case.

It was Gavande who had first alleged that Khadse’s wife and his son-in-law purchased a three-acre piece of land belonging to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Bhosari near here at a throwaway price of Rs 3.75 crore from its original owner.

“Since he has resigned, I demand free and transparent probe in this matter…I will take the case to its logical conclusion,” Gavande said.

The senior BJP leader should “introspect about his misdeeds”, he said, welcoming Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s decision to appoint a retired High Court judge to probe the charges against Khadse.PTI