The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the upcoming Karnataka State election on March 29. The State will go to polls on May 10, and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 13.
Elections will be held across all 224 constituencies. The tenure of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on May 24.
With the announcement of the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Model Code of Conduct came into force with immediate effect. Measures are being put in place to ensure it is not violated by political parties, candidates, bureaucrats and others, said Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena.
With money power being flagged as a major challenge in Karnataka, the CEO said that 2,040 flying squads, 2,605 static surveillance teams, 266 video viewing teams, 631 video surveillance teams and 225 accounting teams have been put in place.
Of the total 942 checkposts, 171 have been set up at inter-state borders to track the movement and distribution of goods and monetary transactions to ensure inducement-free elections.
Cumulatively articles worth nearly ₹58 crore have been seized so far by enforcement agencies in Karnataka.
While the Police Department has seized items worth ₹34.4 crore, cash worth ₹ 14 crore, 530 kgs drugs, 15 kg gold, 135 kg silver and freebies worth ₹ 11.2 crore, the overall seizure by the Excise Department has touched ₹10.9 crore.
Similarly, the Income Tax Department seized cash worth ₹1.16 crore and the Commercial Tax department recorded an overall seizure of ₹5.02 crore. The other seizures include ₹1.03 crore by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, ₹57.15 lakh by the Narcotics Control Bureau, ₹3.97 crore by the Central Board Of Indirect Taxes and Customs and ₹69.4 lakh by State Civil Aviation, the CEO said.
The Election Commission also announced by-elections to the Lok Sabha constituency of Jalandhar and four Assembly seats of Jharsuguda (Odisha), Suar (Uttar Pradesh), Chhanbey (Uttar Pradesh) and Sohiong (Meghalaya) to be held along with the Karnataka Assembly election on May 10.
The Election Commission refrained from announcing a by-election for Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, which has fallen vacant following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as a Member of Parliament. As Gandhi has 30 days to seek a judicial remedy, and the Commission has six months to schedule a bypoll, it has decided to wait before making any announcement, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.
Russia announces deal to boost oil supplies to India
Russian energy giant Rosneft announced a deal to ramp up oil sales to India, as Moscow seeks new buyers in the wake of tensions with the West over the Ukraine conflict.
The Kremlin’s decision to deploy its military to Ukraine last February saw Russia’s share of the European market collapse as Kyiv’s allies levied sanctions on the Russian oil sector.
Rosneft said in a statement that its CEO Igor Sechin had travelled to India and brokered an agreement with the head of the Indian Oil Corporation.
“Rosneft Oil Company and Indian Oil Company signed a term agreement to substantially increase oil supplies as well (as) diversify the grades to India,” Rosneft said in a statement. The company, however, did not specify the volumes stipulated in the agreement nor its value.
The announcement came a day after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow’s oil sales to India had surged more than twentyfold last year.
Rosneft said that representatives of the two oil companies also discussed the “possibilities of making payments in national currencies,” pointing to Russia’s efforts to de-dollarise its economy.
ED attaches ₹106-crore assets in ‘Chinese-controlled’ loan app case
The agency has alleged that entities were incorporated by appointing dummy directors on behalf of Chinese nationals. The identification documents of company staff were used to show them as directors and even bank accounts were opened in their name without their knowledge or prior consent.
As alleged, the lenders charged exorbitant rates of interests. Many borrowers were threatened and mentally tortured over phone, and their family members, relatives and friends were also contacted for the recovery of money.
“These Chinese nationals-controlled entities have indulged in huge money laundering activities through the merchant IDs maintained with various payment gateways, Razorpay, Cashfree, Paytm, PayU, Easebuzz and bank accounts maintained with various banks,...thereby generating proceeds of crime,” said the ED, adding that ₹106 crore lying in the merchant IDs and bank accounts had been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED probe is based on several cases registered by the Cyber Crime police station in Bengaluru against multiple entities and persons on the allegation of their involvement in extortion and harassment of the people who had taken small amounts of loans through the mobile apps.
India got G-20 back to its real business: Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India got the G-20 back to its original agenda of global growth and development a year after it was seen grappling with the Ukraine conflict.
Addressing the ‘Rising India Summit’ of the Network18 Group, Jaishankar said the G-20 was not the primary forum to debate international peace and security and India would want it to return to matters concerning roughly 200 countries of the world.
He said issues such as international peace and security do matter, but there were serious issues such as food and energy security, green financing for nations to worry about.
“We actually got something novel for the G20 to look at — Global Skills Mapping. Where are the skills in the world and where is the demand in the world. They are in two different geographies. So how do we actually put that together? I think that is a very interesting avenue which we have opened up for G20,” Jaishankar said. He said the original mandate of the G-20 was global growth and development.
He said the G-20 Finance Ministers Meeting and the Foreign Ministers Meeting saw an agreement of 95% issues.
He also praised India’s efforts to become the “voice of the Global South” and highlighted the “hard work behind achieving the G-20 presidency” and bringing something new to the organisation.
Connectivity projects should respect sovereignty and territorial integrity: NSA Doval
International connectivity projects should respect “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the nations, said National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Addressing the meeting of security representatives of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Doval focused on terror-financing and called upon all member countries to support relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
“Connectivity remains a key priority for India. We stand ready to cooperate on investing in and building connectivity in the region. While expanding connectivity, it is important to ensure that such initiatives are consultative, transparent and participatory and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” Doval said, welcoming the delegates to the day’s meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev, a key official from Kremlin.
Doval also drew attention to the issue of cross-border terrorism and said, “Any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation, is unjustifiable. It is important therefore for all countries to fulfil the obligations enshrined in relevant counter-terrorism cooperation protocols, including UNSC resolutions 1267, 1373 and successor Resolutions, for the purpose of identifying and implementing sanctions against global terrorist entities”.
Both China and Pakistan participated in the event through video link. Pakistan was represented at the event by Amir Hassan, Secretary National Security Division as the Shehbaz Sharif government does not have an NSA at the moment and China was represented by Wang Xiachong, State Councilor and Minister of Public Security.
In Brief:
A senior Russian diplomat said that Moscow will no longer inform the U.S. about its missile tests, an announcement that came as the Russian military deployed mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, in remarks carried by Russian news agencies, that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington after previously suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the U.S.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
