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LIVE! Another attack on India will be ‘extremely problematic’: US to Pak


09:50  Indian-origin bizman sentenced to prison in US for investment fraud scheme:  

An Indian-origin businessman has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for orchestrating an USD 1.3 million Ponzi scheme that caused losses to more than 40 victims.

 

According to court documents, Amrit Jaswant Singh Chahal (31) of Fairfax operated an investment fraud scheme through a company established by him. 

Chahal held out the company as a private capital investment group that sought to earn profits and investment returns on behalf of its clients by purchasing, trading, or otherwise investing in commodities for future delivery and other financial instruments, the documents stated. 

Chahal executed this fraud through falsely representing that his company had earned returns of roughly 28 to 34 per cent annually, when in fact, Chahal had suffered substantial losses in managing investors’ funds, the court documents said.

The businessman also created falsified brokerage statements to conceal the losses he had sustained and siphoned off some of his investors’ funds by transferring the money to accounts he controlled or by spending the funds on personal items, the documents added. 

When investors asked for returns on their investment, Chahal frequently used money from newer investors to pay disbursements to older investors, without disclosing this fact to his investors. 

In addition, Chahal opened an unauthorised bank account in the name of one of his investors to further divert funds to his personal use. — PTI


09:49  Kalanithi Maran’s daughter Kaviya Kalanithi joins Sun TV board:  

Kaviya Kalanith Maran, daughter of Sun TV Network promoter Kalanithi Maran has been inducted into the Board of Directors of the company, marking the entry of one more next gen entrepreneur into the industry. 

K Vijayakumar, managing director and chief executive officer of the company has resigned from the post with effect from March 31, 2019, but will continue as an executive director of the board.

The 27 year old Kaviya Kalanithi Maran is a B.Com graduate from Stella Maris College, Chennai, and had internship in various departments in Sun TV, including content and programming. 

After  a couple of years working with the company, she joined for MBA in Leonard N Stern School of Business, New York University. 

After completing the course, she returned to India and took responsibility to run the operations of Sun TV Group’s Indian Premier League team Sun Risers Hyderabad.

From 2017, she has conceptualised and led the foray of the Group into digital. She currently heads the Sun NXT, the Over-The-Top platform of Sun TV Network, which has crossed 1 million subscribers already and adding around 20,000 subscribers a day. 

The company has recently said that it would be rolling out a larger plan for the OTT business, with investment behind original content into the platform.

According to a company filing with the exchanges, the Board of Directors of the company today approved appointment of Kaviya Kalanithi Maran as an additional director and executive director of the company, a decision which will be going for shareholders’ approval through postal ballot. 

Apart from Kalanithi Maran, his wife Kavery Kalanithi is also sitting in the board as the Executive Director.

R Mahesh Kumar, who has been the president of the company, has been appointed as an Additional Direcetor as well as Managing Director of the company. It has also appointed two more members to the Board.

The postal ballot will also seek approval from the shareholders for continuation of payment of remuneration payable to Kalanithi Maran, Chairman and Kavery Kalanithi, executive director, as per the Sebi regulation.

— Business Standard 

09:02  Another attack on India will be ‘extremely problematic’: US to Pak :  

The United States has asked Pakistan to take sustained, verifiable and irreversible action against the perpetrators of terrorism, while warning the country that another terror attack on India will prove to be “extremely problematic”.

“We need to see Pakistan taking concrete and sustained action to reign in the terrorist groups, mainly the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in order to ensure that we don’t have re-escalation (of tension) in the region,” a senior administration official told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

“And, if there’s any additional terrorist attack without Pakistan having made a sustained, sincere effort against these groups, it would be extremely problematic for Pakistan and it would cause re-escalation of tensions, which is dangerous for both countries,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Asked about the steps being taken by Pakistan in the aftermath of the Balakot air strike by Indian fighter jets, the official said the US and the international community needed to see “irreversible and sustained” action against the terror groups.

“It’s early to make a full assessment,” the official said. 

In the recent days, the official said Pakistan has taken some “initial” actions. They have frozen the assets of some terrorist groups and made some arrests. They have taken administrative control of some of the JeM facilities, the official added. 

“But we clearly need to see more. We need to see irreversible action because in the past, what we’ve seen is they made some arrests and then a few months later, they released these individuals. The terrorist leaders are sometimes still allowed to travel around the country, hold rallies,” the official said.

Reiterating that the United States is looking for “irreversible action”, the official said America is working with its international partners to increase pressure on Pakistan. “Because it has been too long that these groups have been able to operate.”

Observing that Pakistan has economic concerns as well, the official said the Financial Action Tasks Force (FATF) is one area which demonstrates the need for them to take these actions against terror groups. “Otherwise, they’re at risk within the system and the FATF to be grey-listed,” the official said. — PTI


08:28  Trump says he uses Twitter to bypass ‘corrupt’ media:  

United States President Donald Trump has defended the frequent use of micro-blogging site Twitter to reach out to the public, asserting that it lets him bypass the “corrupt” and “fake” media.

“I think that Twitter is a way that I get out the word when we have a corrupt media. And it is corrupt and it’s fake. So Twitter is a way that I can get out the word,” Trump told reporters at the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday.

“On five sites, I have over 100 million people, and that includes Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and everything. And it’s a way that I can get honesty out, because there’s tremendous dishonesty with respect to the fake-news media,” the US president added. — PTI 

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08:22  New Zealand bans sale of assault, semi-automatic rifles:  

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday an immediate ban on the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatics in response to the Christchurch terror attack that killed 50 people.

 

“I am announcing that New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons. We will also ban all assault rifles,” Ardern said, while announcing interim measures that will stop a rush of purchases before legislation on the measures takes effect.

She added that high capacity magazines and devices similar to bump stocks — which make rifles fire faster — will also be banned.

“In short, every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned in this country,” she said.

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00:09  New Zealand PM Ardern urges students to reject hate:  

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited old students at Cashmere high school, which is dealing with the loss of two students, and implored the children to join her in rejecting messages of racism and hate.

This is my request, I alone cannot get rid of those things, I need help from every single one of us, she said. So yes, gather together, show those outpourings of love, but also let New Zealand be a place where there is no tolerance for racism ever. Thats something we can all do.

The crowd of 400 students performed a haka and took the opportunity to question Ardern over the attack. One student asked the prime minister how she was feeling, to which Ardern replied: I am very sad.

As she promised on Tuesday, Ardern did not say the attackers name, and at one point was spontaneously hugged by one of the pupils.

Asked if she would welcome a visit by Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to New Zealand after she criticised social media for its role in spreading footage of the attack, she said Im not interested in a PR exercise.

Source: Rediff