PMLA under SC Scrutiny Again

· Court Calls ED ‘Vengeful’, Tejashwi Says Agencies ‘Jamais’ Of BJP; For News Viewers, NDTV Buyout Spells Tunnel Vision Ahead

New CJI to face mountain of pending matters, banks taking buzz cuts as Pronab Sen predicts trouble, Pak rejects BrahMos case closure, unemployment biggest concern of Indians, sex ratio normalizing.

The Pegasus malware was found in 5 out of 29 devices, said the Supreme Court Constituted committee to investigate the matter but it said that the “government did not cooperate” with the enquiry. The Supreme Court bench comprising CJI N V Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli made these remarks orally while accepting the committee’s report in a sealed envelope.

The Special Court in Mumbai on 24 August, 2022 called the Enforcement Directorate a “whimsical” and “vengeful” complainant in a money laundering case. Out of court, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said the ED, IT and CBI the three “jamais” or sons-in-law of the BJP, sent after its political opponents. The central agencies went after BJP’s opponents in Bihar and Jharkhand yesterday.

Oil

India slashed crude imports from the US by 1 million metric tonnes (mt) in the June quarter of FY23 and increased imports of discounted crude from Russia. While the share of US imports was 9.2% in FY22, in the first quarter of FY23 (Apr-June), it declined to 5.4%. Russia’s share rose from 2.2% to 12.9%.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a ‘Maharatna’ (most valuable jewel) public sector undertaking. A PSU gets Maharatna status when it logs over Rs 5,000 crore in net profit for three consecutive years on an average annual turnover of Rs. 25,000 crore, or has an average annual net worth of Rs 15,000 crore for three years. ONGC is so large and so valuable that it owns another Maharatna PSU, HPCL, and two ‘miniratna’ PSUs. Astonishingly, the government, ONGC’s principal owner with a 58.9% direct stake and a further 10.7% through state-owned financial institutions, has been unable to find a full-time head to manage it in more than 17 months.

India may give incentives to exporters settling trades in rupees to boost the acceptability of the currency and increase sales to Russia, which are down because of Western sanctions. The move follows the RBI putting in place a rupee settlement mechanism last month. Indian companies are already abandoning the dollar and euro for Asian currencies to settle trades to avoid Western sanctions on Russia.

The Enforcement Directorate yesterday carried out searches at 17 locations across four states as part of the agency’s investigation into allegations of laundering of funds generated from illegal mining in Jharkhand, but the discovery of two AK-47s in an almirah of a rented house in Ranchi was the highlight of the day. Hours later, the Jharkhand Police claimed that the rifles were theirs.

Scroll reports on Delhi Police linking Jahangirpuri violence to citizenship protests, which are being criminalised. It’s politics, say families of the accused. The police initially accused one Mohammad Ansar of instigating the Hanuman Jayanti violence. But its bizarre chargesheet has shifted focus to two others.

Around 1,900 private agency guards will take over non-core security roles at over 50 Indian airports, replacing CISF personnel to reduce costs. Around 3,000 CISF posts at airports have been abolished. CISF has 29,000 personnel deployed at 65 airports.