HYDERABAD SATURDAY JUNE 22, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION JAIL TERMS FOR FOUR MEMBERS OF UK’S HINDUJA FAMILY IN SWITZERLAND GUILTY OF EXPLOITING WORKERS AT SWISS VILLA The court said the four were guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorised employment. Indian-born tycoon Prakash Hinduja, his wife, son and daughter-in-law brought people from India to be employed at their luxurious lakeside villa in Geneva. They paid their staff a pittance and gave them little freedom to leave the house, the prosecution argued | P9 A Swiss court on Friday sentenced four members of the wealthy family to between four and 4 1/2 years in prison for exploiting their domestic workers ACCUSED OF ‘PROFITING FROM MISERY’ ■ ■ Prakash and wife Kamal Hinduja each got four years and six months, while their son Ajay and his wife Namrata received four-year terms Household staff were paid between 220 and 400 francs a month, far below what they could earn in Switzerland. “They’re profiting from the misery of the world,” Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa argued $20 billion THE CURRENT NET WORTH OF THE HINDUJA FAMILY AS PER FORBES CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI AFTER CM INVITE Pocharam is latest bigwig to desert BRS EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad IN yet another jolt to the BRS, for mer Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Friday joined the Congress immediately after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy visited his residence and invited him to join the grand old party . The five-time MLA from Banswada is the fourth pink party legislator to jump ship. The former minister is among the top BRS leaders to have joined the Congress in recent times, K Keshava Rao and Kadiyam Srihari being the others. In another development, BRS MLA Bandari Lakshma Reddy called on veteran Congress leader K Jana Reddy to offer birthday wishes. Incidentally, pictures of Laxma Reddy’s recent meeting with Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy had gone viral on social media leading to speculation that the former would soon join the grand old party . With Pocharam’s entry, the strength of the Congress has increased to 69 in the Legislative Assembly . CONTINUED ON P4 20 MORE MLAs TO JOIN CONG SOON: DANAM Hyderabad: Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, who had jumped ship earlier, claimed at an informal interaction with the media that 20 BRS MLAs, including all greater Hyderabad region legislators, will soon join the grand old party | P4 `31,000 crore crop loan waiver, HC stays trial GO to be issued soon: Revanth court’s order Cabinet sub-committee constituted to finalise guidelines for Rythu Bharosa CROP LOANS THE state Cabinet, which met here on Friday, decided to waive crop loans to the tune of `31,000 crore at one ago. The detailed orders on guidelines for the crop loan waiver will be issued shortly . Briefing to the media later, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that by waiving the crop loans, the Congress government will be implementing one of the six guarantees that was promised by the party in the Warangal Declaration. Revanth said that all loans up to `2 lakh per farmer taken between December 12, 2018 and December 9, 2023 would be waived. The chief minister noted while the BRS regime waived crop loans twice, the total amount forgone during its two terms was `28,000 crore. However, the Congress government was waiving crop loans worth `31,000 crore at one go, he pointed out. Unlike the BRS regime that failed to keep its assurances given to farmers, the Congress government was implementing its promises, Revanth added. The chief minister dismissed rumours in a section of the media that Rythu Bharosa amounts would be given to lands having hillocks and real estate lands, and to rich farmers. Revanth said that during Friday’s meeting, a Cabinet sub-committee has been constituted to discuss and finalise the guidelines for All crop loans taken between Dec 12, 2018 & Dec 9, 2023 to be waived RYTHU BHAROSA `2 lakh A GO will be issued shortly for guidelines on implementation of waiver Cabinet sub-committee on Rythu Bharosa to be constituted under chairmanship of Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy will be members of the committee Cabinet sub-committee to submit report by July 15 & present draft guidelines CM has already assured farmers that the state government would waive crop loans up to `2 lakh per farmer by Aug 15 Guidelines to be issued for Rythu Bharosa after debate in Assembly `31,000 cr Burden on exchequer for waiver Spokespersons for Cabinet Expressing displeasure over misleading news in a section of the media, the Cabinet meeting also appointed Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy as spokespersons for the Cabinet. The CM requested journalists to talk to these two ministers and file factual reports the implementation of Rythu Bharosa scheme. The Cabinet sub-committee would submit its report by July 15 and the same would be discussed WORLD SEES YOGA AS AGENT OF GOOD, SAYS PM MODI F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE world is looking at yoga as a powerful agent of global good, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the occasion of the 10th International Yoga Day Choosing the Sher-i-Kash. mir International Conference Centre on the picturesque banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar to lead the nation in celebrating, Modi said the ‘yoga economy’ has immense potential for employment generation as there is a growing global demand to learn authentic yoga from India. “Yoga helps us live in the present moment without the baggage of the past,” he noted, while observing that Jammu and Kashmir can benefit by attracting more yoga tourists. The PM took part in a yoga session, which was delayed by over an hour due to rains. The event was scheduled to be held in the open but had to be shifted indoors due to incessant showers. Unmindful of the rain, scores of students joined the S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad in the State Legislative Assembly, the chief minister said. Later, detailed guidelines would be issued for implementation of the Rythu Bharosa scheme, Revanth noted. Earlier, a laidback attitude prevailed. ... We got a free hand from the govt to go all out against corruption CV Anand, DG, ACB Recent cases just tip of iceberg: ACB chief A J AY T O M A R @ Hyderabad PM Narendra Modi performs yoga during celebration of Int’l Day of Yoga, in Srinagar | PTI PM in performing various asanas on the occasion. He expressed gratitude for being present in Jammu and Kashmir, the land of Yog and Sadhna, on International Yoga Day “The . atmosphere, energy and experience from yoga can be felt in Jammu & Kashmir today,” he said. After the event, PM Modi interacted with the yo g a practitioners. OVER the past six months, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered as many as 98 cases and arrested at least 185 people, with the vast majority of them being government officials. But the agency’s Director General (DG) CV Anand believes that this is “just the tip of the iceberg”. “Over the past several weeks, we have seen a huge number of complaints and are currently overwhelmed. But this is just the tip of the iceberg as at present, we have limited resources, including manpower,” Anand told TNIE, adding the agency has now got a free hand from the government to go all out against corruption. The ACB is receiving 25 to 30 complaints daily on average. It has a strength of about 300 personnel state-wide, half of what it CONTINUED ON P4 requires, the DG said. Law to curb cheating in exams comes into effect RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi AMID continuing uproar over the NEET-UG paper leak, the Centre on Friday brought the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 into effect. It was passed by the Lok Sabha in February this year. All offences under this Act are cognizable, nonbailable, and non-compoundable. Those found guilty of the offence can be sentenced to jail for 3-5 years. The law is aimed at curbing paper leaks and checking malpractices in recruitment exams like the Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, and entrance tests such as National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), Joint Entrance Examination and Common University Entrance Test. As for the NEET-UG paper leak’s kingpin Sanjeev Mukhiya, who is still on the run, the Bihar police has intensified raids to nab him. O n S u n d ay, a NEET-UG retest window will open for 1,563 students. Six of their total seven centres have been changed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and admit cards issued to the candidates. These students were benefici- aries of grace marks because of loss of time. After it created a national outrage, the compensatory marks were scrapped and a retest option provided with the proviso that the score in the fresh test alone will be considered for those who take it. The only centre that was not changed is in Chandigarh, where only two students will sit for the retest. Officers of the NTA and the education ministry will be present at the centres. When asked about the expected turnout for Sunday’s retest, an official responded, “Admit cards have been issued to all. We will know the turnout P2, 7 only on Sunday .” on Kejri’s bail Police detain Congress workers who were staging a protest against the NEET-UG, in Mumbai on Friday | PTI Joint CSIR-UGC-NET exam postponed The NTA on Friday announced the postponement of the Joint CSIR-UGC-NET, scheduled to be held between June 25 and June 27, citing unavoidable circumstances and logistic issues WITH the Delhi High Court on Friday staying a trial court’s order to release AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on bail, the chief minister will have to stay in Tihar jail till the judge pronounces his order. Staying the trial court’s order, a vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, reserved his judgment on the Enforcement Directorate’s appeal, adding he would pass the order in twothree days, possibly Tuesday. “Till the pronouncement of this order, the operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed,” Justice Jain said and asked the parties to file written submissions by June 24. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, for the ED, argued that the trial court’s bail order was perverse as it was contrary to the mandate of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “We are not given an opportunity to represent our case in the trial court. When I tried to submit, the trial court said I have to deliver judgment. Be brief,” he said. Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, appearing for Kejriwal, raised a preliminary objection to the listing of the matter during vacation because the trial judge had granted bail through a resend order. “What is the justification of approaching the HC,” he asked. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singvhi described the ED’s approach as deplorable. “The accused cannot be kept indefinitely in jail... It is very unfortunate that the ASG is maligning the judge merely because an adverse order was passed,” he said. NO THREAT TO SINGARENI, SAYS UNION MIN KISHAN, to discuss issues raised by Deputy CM Bhatti at launch of coal auction in Hyd on Friday | P4 POLL SEASON EC to update voter list in J-K, 3 other states M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that preparations for Jammu and Kashmir elections were underway, the Election Commission on Friday set the ball rolling for holding the electoral exercise by ordering a special summary revision (SSR) of the electoral rolls in the Union Territory . The poll panel has also ordered updation of electoral rolls in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand, where Assembly elections are due this year. SSR involves reviewing the voter list and unveiling a draft electoral roll. It is usually held prior to polls to ensure the list is as updated as possible. The process involves adding newly eligible voters and removing duplicate and deceased voters, and those who have moved out of the constituency . In identical official communications to the chief electoral officers of the three states and Jammu and Kashmir, the poll panel said the revision exercise would start from July 25 and culminate on August 20. July 1 will be the qualifying date for roll updation. Before the revision exercise, the poll panel would carry out pre-revision activities in the poll-bound states from June 25 to July 24. The draft rolls would be published on July 25, after which electors can file claims and objections till August 9. The publication of the final electoral roll will be done by August 20. The Supreme Court had in December last year directed the Election Commission of India to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
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