NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Tuesday issued a heatwave warning for several states across the country, including Maharashtra, North Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and West Bengal, in its latest weather forecast.

Parts of Maharashtra, North Goa and even some parts of South Goa could experience temperature spikes during the noon hours, triggering massive heat waves that could harm human beings and animals causing them to get unwell, the spokesperson for a private weather forecaster said.

Heatwave conditions will prevail in Goa till the end of the week, the IMD said, advising people to avoid outdoor travel between noon to 5 pm, whenever possible

Additionally, the IMD issued a separate warning specifically for cities in Maharashtra such as Thane, Mumbai, and Raigad, indicating an impending heatwave expected this week.

The weatherman has instructed people to stay indoors between 12 noon and 4 pm and if not possible then to avoid direct sunlight, stay in the shade as far as possible, drink lots of water and even splash water on your face, head and body to prevent a heat stroke while outside.

In Maharashtra, Mumbai and Thane are expected to experience minimum temperatures ranging from 36 to 38 degrees Celsius.

According to the IMD notification, heatwave conditions are forecasted to persist in Odisha and West Bengal until April 19, in Andhra Pradesh until April 18, in Telangana from April 17 to 18, and in North Goa til 16.

The weather department has forecasted hot and humid weather conditions for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala until April 18, and for West Bengal, Odisha, Goa, Gujarat, and Karnataka on April 16.

Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also bracing for high temperatures, with heatwave conditions expected to prevail in both states from April 16 to 18.

MUMBAI: Former MP and Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled from the party, claimed that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North West seat and win. He is expected to join the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena either tomorrow or day after.

Nirupam was sacked from the Congress, after he used coarse language against Udhav Thackeray for announcing a candidate from the seat which he was eying.

Speaking to media persons, he had also clarified that he would not contest independently but under a party symbol, meaning the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ alliance headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Nirupam, who was interested in contesting from the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was miffed with the Congress for handing over the seat to the Shiv Sena (UBT).

In the Mahayuti (BJP group) seat-sharing deal, the Mumbai North West seat has been allocated to the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and for Nirupam to get the ticket from North West, he has to join the Shinde Sena.

The Shiv Sena, under Shinde’s leadership, is still scouting for a suitable candidate for this seat, as MVA ally Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena has already nominated Amol Kirtikar.

The Mumbai North West constituency boasts a significant Marathi voter base, while Nirupam represents a prominent North Indian face with reasonable popularity in the locality.

NEW DELHI: Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal failed to get any relief today after the Delhi High Court rejected his pleas, challenging the time of his arrest and the procedure followed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

According to a Reuters report, in its order on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court said Kejriwal’s arrest was not in contravention of the law and “cannot be termed as illegal”.

The AAP said it would appeal to the Supreme Court and reiterated its position that the high-profile leader was arrested in a “fabricated” case in an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to “finish” him.

Kejriwal, 55, was arrested by financial crime-fighting agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to Delhi’s liquor policy, sparking protests in the capital and the northern state of Punjab, also governed by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The trial court last week extended Kejriwal’s judicial custody until April 15 and moved him to Delhi’s Tihar jail, where two other senior AAP leaders are also held in the same case.

A third AAP leader detained in the case was granted bail recently, after being imprisoned for six months. In its order on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court said Kejriwal’s arrest was not in contravention of the law and “cannot be termed as illegal”.

PANAJI: Upset with the selection of candidates by the Congress for the North and South Goa constituencies, two senior Congress leaders are slated to join the BJP.

One of the leaders who spoke to this website said they are talking to BJP leaders in Goa and will take a decision soon.

The joining date will be decided by the Central leadership in Delhi, they said.

Senior BJP leaders in Goa did not comment and even feigned ignorance about the development. “We do not know. Many Congress leaders in Goa want to join the BJP,” they said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress named former Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap as its candidate for the North Goa constituency and retired Naval officer Captain Viriato Fernandes for South Goa. The announcement was made during mid-day.

There were several contenders for the Congress tickets, both in North and South Goa, including former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar, who is said to be very close to Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader K C Venugopal.

The sitting MP and former Goa CM, Francisco Sardinha was also a contender from South Goa, but was dropped due to his age. Sardinha has been elected four times as an MP and six times as an MLA. He is one of the senior most politicians in the State of Goa. He said, though he was disappointed, he was not hurt and will support the party candidate.

NEW DELHI: With the stalemate continuing over the candidate for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat, reliable sources claimed that the Congress high command has sent two observers from a neighboring state to conduct a secret survey in the constituency.

Our source said, “The observers reached Goa on Wednesday and have already started their work in South Goa. They are visiting various  areas in the constituency and have been given a very clear assignment to focus on Ponda, Shiroda, Cuncolim, Quepem, Curchorem, Sanvordem, Sanguem and Canacona which have a huge ‘silent voter’ base. While the voting patterns of Nuvem, Curtorim, Benaulim, and Navelim are more or less known and predictable, voters in Margao are likely to vote for the BJP with Digambar Kamat using all his personal contacts.

The observers are expected to submit the details of their survey to the high command by Friday. It is learnt that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is personally monitoring the latest developments in South Goa and does not want to lose the seat at any cost.

A source close to the Congress President said that the South Goa Lok Sabha seat is a traditional Congress stronghold. “We are not going to lose this seat to the BJP merely because some leaders have put personal priorities above those of the party. The party President is personally monitoring the situation. The ticket will be given to the strongest candidate and no personal favors will be entertained,” the source said.

The Congress high command is very upset over the lack of unity among Congress leaders in South Goa. “Strict action will be taken after the polls are over. Anti-party activities, both openly and secretly will not be tolerated. We are analyzing the feedback from various sources. Heads are likely to roll if party leaders do not fall in line. There will be no favoritism and winability is the most important criteria. Loyal party workers should stay loyal and support the party. If they play games, they are not loyal to the party and action will be taken against them,” the source said, hinting at 2-3 South Goa Congress leaders who have created a rift in the party and angered voters.

The candidate is likely to be announced by the 7th (Sunday) or 8th April, the source said.

NEW DELHI: According to legal experts who are privy to the submissions of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the courts, Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal may be behind bars for anywhere between 3 to 6 months at the minimum.

“The evidence is there – at least for now to deny bail. With what the ED has put forth in its submissions and remand applications, is enough to keep the Delhi CM behind bars for a few months,” a Supreme Court senior counsel told this website.

The money trail of the alleged Rs 45 crore kickbacks generated from the Delhi excise policy ”scam” and used for the 2022 Goa election campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as claimed by the Enforcement Directorate, has also been ”substantiated” by the CBI and the Income-Tax department in their separate and independent investigations, according to documents filed in court.

According to a PTI report, a wide network of Hawala operators and ‘Angadiyas’ or couriers are being investigated by the ED in this case where it recently arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and claimed he and his political outfit are liable to be prosecuted in the alleged laundering of these funds generated by fraud and deceit.

Statements of five ‘Angadiya’ firm operators have been recorded by the ED to establish the ”money trail” of the alleged Rs 45 crore bribe amount, which was channeled to the Goa AAP unit and its vendors, who provided services and goods during the 2022 polls.

‘Angadiyas’ are informal (and illegal) courier and bank services like Hawala which are especially used by diamond and jewellery sector businesses to transfer big cash amounts and other valuables by skirting the KYC-based formal banking route in order to avoid government taxes and duties.

Former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s MLC daughter K Kavitha, former Delhi deputy CM and AAP leader Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are among the 16 prominent persons arrested in this case by the agency.

The AAP and its leaders have repeatedly denied the charges of wrongdoing, with Kejriwal alleging that the case was concocted by the BJP-led Centre to create a ”smokescreen” to project AAP as a corrupt party.

The party has alleged that statements of other people involved in the case like TDP Lok Sabha candidate Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta and businessman and Aurobindo Pharma promoter Sarath Reddy were changed and manipulated to implicate Kejriwal and stop his participation in the upcoming general elections.

The amount of Rs 45 crore – ”proceeds of crime” under the anti-money laundering law – is claimed by the ED to be part of the total Rs 100 crore bribe amount given by the ‘South Group’ of politicians and liquor businessmen to AAP and its leaders for entering the Delhi liquor market in a prime position. Out of the Rs 100 crore, the ED has claimed that Rs 45 crore was pumped by the AAP for its Goa election campaign.

According to the details of the investigation shared by the ED with a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here, Aam Aadmi Party engaged an advertising company called Chariot Productions Media Pvt. Ltd. for its election campaign in Goa during 2021-22.

”On examination of the vendors of Chariot Productions engaged for outdoor campaigns, it was found that many of the vendors were made ‘part cash part bill’ payments…,” the agency claimed in its court papers. Some vendors were fully paid in cash.

As reported earlier nearly Rs 25 crore was paid to AAP volunteers and party workers in cash towards travelling and food expenses.

The ED also said that an employee of one such vendor company who worked in Goa recorded his statement with the ED claiming he was given Rs 6.29 lakh payment ”via Hawala” from an ‘Angadiya’ operator in Mumbai.

The agency recorded the statement of an employee of the said ‘Angadiya’ operator, R Kantilal, where it was found that the Income-Tax department had raided their Goa office in January 2022 and all their documents, notes, chits, and slips were seized by the taxman during these searches.

The ED approached the Income Tax department and retrieved the data of this ‘Angadiya’ firm and its analysis ”shows that about Rs 45 crore has been transferred through Hawala to Goa”.

”This Hawala trail of about Rs 45 crore was also investigated and substantiated by the predicate agency CBI and the same were duly mentioned by CBI in its second supplementary charge sheet filed before a special court on 08.07.2023,” the ED said.

The ED filed its money laundering case to probe alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy of 2021-22 on August 22, 2022, taking cognizance of a CBI FIR that was lodged on August 17, 2022.

The agency has charged the AAP, the ruling party of Delhi, of ”committing the offence of money laundering through Arvind Kejriwal”, the party’s national convener and chief minister of Delhi.

Stating that AAP being a political party, defined as an association or a body of individual citizens of India under the Representation of People Act, the ED claimed it can be categorised as a ”company” as contemplated under section 70 of the PMLA.

As Arvind Kejriwal was ”in-charge of and responsible” for the said company i.e. AAP during the time of the offence, he and his party ”shall be deemed guilty” of offences mentioned under the anti-money laundering law and liable to be prosecuted and punished, it claimed.

A money trail of cash funds of Rs 25 crore, transferred allegedly through Hawala by Raghav Magunta, son of Lok Sabha MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, to BRS leader K Kavitha and her associates in Chennai has also been tracked by the ED.

Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy is a prominent liquor businessman in south India and the sitting YSRCP MP from Ongole seat. He recently joined the TDP and got a ticket to contest the upcoming general elections from the same seat.

The Maguntas, K Kavitha and businessman Sarath Reddy are alleged to be part of the ‘South Group’.

The ED, as per official sources, may also attach assets of the AAP terming them equivalent to the proceeds of crime generated through this claimed scam.

(With inputs from PTI)

PANAJI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing a water-tight case against some Goa Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, for unaccounted cash payments during January-February 2022 and ED sources told this website that about Rs 25 crore was paid in cash to AAP workers in Goa during the 2022 State Assembly polls towards travelling, transportation and food expenses.

About Rs 10 crore in cash was distributed to voters in various constituencies during the State elections and has been shown as transportation expenses, ED sources claimed.

“There are no accounts of these cash payments. While some AAP MLA candidates also spent their own monies and maintained accounts, a huge sum of Rs 45 crore was received by the Goa AAP unit from the South Group (term used by the ED to describe some arrested accused from South India in the Delhi excise policy case) and was spent by the AAP during the 2022 state polls. Out of this Rs 45 crore, Rs 1.5 crore was paid to a Bhandari Samaj leader for supporting the AAP, another Rs 50 lakh was paid to another minority community leader and Rs 25 crore were paid to AAP workers and volunteers. Nearly Rs 5 crore (from the Rs 45 crore) was spent on printing, stationery, hoardings and banners,” the ED source informed, adding that all these payments were made in cash, which is against the rules of the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Aam Aadmi Party’s Goa unit president Amit Palekar and three others including two Bhandari Samaj leaders appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Panaji for questioning in connection with a money laundering case.

A day earlier, the ED has summoned Palekar, AAP leader Ramrao Wagh and two others — Dattaprasad Naik and Ashok Naik, both leaders of the Bhandari Samaj – a prominent and influential group in Goa for questioning.

Speaking to news persons while leaving the AAP office, Palekar said that the ED has asked them to present the statement of accounts, bank statements for the last 5 years as well as other documents, including bills of expenses on printing, banners, hoardings, etc.

IMPHAL, (PTI): The Manipur government which had declared March 31, which is Easter Sunday, as a ”working day” has retracted its order on Thursday following protests by the Christian community.

Christians worldwide celebrate the Easter festival which marks the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the third day after his Crucifixion on Good Friday.

The state government on Wednesday said in a notification that March 30 and 31 will be working days in government departments despite being Saturday and Sunday ”for smooth functioning of offices in the last few days of the financial year.” The government modified the order on Thursday.

A notification by the General Administration Department said, ”In partial modification of the government order dated March 27, the Governor of Manipur is pleased to declare that only March 30 will be a working day for all government offices including public sector undertakings/ corporations/ autonomous bodies/ societies under the state government…” The modification came after the previous order caused a stir among the Christian population in the northeastern state.

The Tangkhul Naga Baptist Convention, Mao Baptist Churches Association and Senapati District Students Association condemned the order, terming it as a ”blatant violation and infringement to the religious rights and freedom of Christians” in the state. (PTI)