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The government has taken steps to curb generation of black money in the real estate sector to benefit the middle class, and will further speed up its campaign against ill-gotten wealth as part of its commitment to a ‘zero tolerance policy’ against corruption, President Ram Nath Kovind.

The initiatives of the government to check black money include cancellation of registration of 3.50 lakh suspicious companies and signing of automatic financial information exchange agreements with various countries, Kovind said in his customary address to the joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament.

“My government will make the zero tolerance policy against corruption more comprehensive and effective. The mission to eliminate corruption from public life and government services will be implemented with greater zeal….

“The campaign against black money will be taken forward at a faster pace. During the last two years, 4 lakh 25 thousand company directors have been disqualified and the registration of 3 lakh 50 thousand suspicious companies has been revoked,” he said.

Kovind stated that the world community too is supporting India’s position with regard to action to check generation of black money.

Referring to real estate sector, Kovind said the impact of Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) is “clearly visible” in curbing black money transactions in real estate sector and protecting the interests of the customers. It has provided “huge relief to the middle class families”.

The Fugitive and Economic Offenders Act, he said, has proven effective in controlling economic offenders fleeing the country.

“Now we are receiving information in this regard from 146 countries, including Switzerland. Of these, we have concluded agreements with 80 countries for automatic exchange of information. We are now receiving information about all those who have stashed black money abroad,” Kovind added.

In August last year, Parliament enacted a law to deter fugitive economic offenders to evade legal process in India by flee the country.

A fugitive economic offender is any individual against whom warrant for arrest is issued for his involvement in select economic offences involving amount of at least Rs 100 crore or more and has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution.

rime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar responded to Pakistan’s congratulatory letters a few days ago.

The response was to the letters sent to them by their Pakistani counterparts Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the occasion of the huge electoral victory and return to power of the Modi government.

While most of the congratulatory messages from world leaders were promptly responded to by India, Pakistan received its response only after a brief meeting between the prime ministers of both the countries on the sidelines of SCO Summit held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan last week where Imran Khan and Narendra Modi shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

Imran Khan also took the opportunity to congratulate PM Modi on his win n person.

Sources told India Today that there is a clear reiteration in the letter for Pakistan to create a “conducive” environment “free of terror”. While there were mentions of ridding the region of terrorism, no specific resumption of dialogue was mentioned in the letters of PM Modi and EAM Jaishankar.

In the wake of the attack on doctors and harassment of model Ushoshi Sengupta by some members of their community, a group of prominent Muslims has written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking for stringent action against the culprits to dispel the “perception” that they are being “shielded or appeased”.

“We have been deeply concerned with two events that occurred recently…The attackers in both instances were members of our community…We are grieved and embarrassed,” they wrote in the letter.

“Bring the assailants to book not just in these two instances but in every single instance where Muslims are involved. They should not be allowed to get away because they happen to be Muslims (as is the growing perception). This will send out a message that members of one community are not being shielded or appeased (as most people believe),” the 46 prominent Muslim residents of Kolkata added.

They also requested the state government to “engage or encourage engagements with Muslim youth and their families across Kolkata in gender-sensitisation, civic consciousness and law-compliance, etc.”

Mudar Patherya, a communications expert who drafted the letter to Ms Banerjee, said a government should shun vote-bank politics and address the issue considering the betterment of the next generation. “The moment they start doing that, I think things will start taking a positive turn for us,” he said.

Another signatory, nutritionist Neha Hafiz, said there is a need to change the perception that the community was “getting more privileges than others”. “This is a problem that we cannot deny. We need to address it,” she added.

On June 10, junior doctors at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital were assaulted by family members of a Muslim patient who died there.

Following the assault, the junior doctors started a week-long agitation, which had disrupted health care services at all state-run hospitals.

On Monday night, Ushoshi Sengupta, a former Miss India Universe, was chased and harassed by a gang of bikers twice when she was returning home from work in an app-based cab.

 Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is being accused of selling off state’s interests to Adani Group in his recent New Delhi sojourn.

While Bhupesh was in the national capital, Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) leader Amit Jogi addressed a press conference in Raipur and asked the media to question the chief minister upon his arrival in the state 

Since Amit Jogi had demanded Baghel to make the details of the alleged meeting with Adani Group officials public, the irked chief minister told media, “Amit Jogi’s mother had also met with me, so ask shall I also disclose the details of that meeting or not. “

A Raipur-based political analyst tells OneIndia that the way Baghel has responded to the question of his meeting with Adani Group officials shows that Amit Jogi ‘s allegation has substance.

“Instead of giving a clear answer, Baghel surprisingly involved Amit Jogi’s mother. It was a foolish and politically immature remark. Any chief minister is not supposed to involve name of a woman when he is being questioned about a closed-door meeting. Baghel’s response cements Amit Jogi’s allegations. As a chief minister, Baghel has every right to meet with anyone but keeping a meeting secret is not right. Politicians keep only those things secret that are beneficial for them and not for people,” says the analyst.

n the first day of the inaugural session of the 17th Lok Sabha on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said a vibrant Opposition, notwithstanding whatever its numbers are, is important in a parliamentary democracy.

The day was spent with members, starting from the PM and the Union Cabinet, taking oath as MPs. The Lok Sabha is set to spend the next two days with the process of all MPs taking the oath.

A Teaser

BJP members raised Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogan after oath taking by every party member, thus, teasing the Opposition. After the BJP’s Gajendra Umrao Singh Patel completed his oath with Bharat Mata Ki Jai, N K Premchandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party urged the Pro tem Speaker to maintain the prescribed format of the oath, a demand which he allowed.

Linguistic Diversity

Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, Sripad Yesso Naik, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Ashwini Choubey were among nearly dozen members who took oath in Sanskrit. Several MPs took the oath in their respective mother tongues. Congress M P K Suresh (from Mavelikkara in Kerala) took the oath in Hindi, while Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, took the oath in English. Gandhi had taken the oath in Hindi in 2014 when he was an MP from UP’s Amethi.

Echoes of Jai Shri Ram

BJP MPs greeted Union ministers Babul Supriyo and Debashree Choudhury, who are from West Bengal, with cries of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ when the two were called to take the oath. It was a dig at West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who has apparently been upset at people raising that slogan.

The Longest Applause

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, received the longest applause when she took the oath. Even the PM and Home Minister Amit Shah enthusiastically thumped the desk for a long time.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday excused herself from the scheduled meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with political party chiefs here on Wednesday, while asking the government to prepare a white paper on ‘one nation, one election’ instead of doing it “hurriedly”.
Modi has invited heads of all parties who have an MP either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha for a meeting on June 19 to discuss several issues including the “one nation, one election” idea, celebration of the 75 years of Independence in 2022 and 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary this year.

The Congress today named senior West Bengal leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury its leader in Lok Sabha, after failing to convince Rahul Gandhi to take up the post. At the long-pending strategy session this morning – where Mr Gandhi and his mother UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present – the matter was discussed. A letter has been written to Lok Sabha, saying Mr Chowdhury would be the leader of the single largest party from the opposition and represent it at all important selection committees.

The party also focused on tomorrow’s meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his “One nation one election” idea. The Congress has so far opposed it, arguing against it from practical, logistical and legal angles.

The question of a Lok Sabha leader opened up after the party’s senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge lost the election. But the Congress was soft-pedalling on the issue as it wanted Rahul Gandhi for the position.

But Mr Gandhi, since the party’s rout in the national election, has been insistent on giving up the party chief’s post. The party has refused to accept it and there has been an impasse for weeks.

With the Lok Sabha being convened yesterday, the party today opted for an alternative.

Along with Adhir Chowdhury, Kerala leader K Suresh, party spokesperson Manish Tewari and Thiruvanathapuram lawmaker Shashi Tharoor were reportedly in the running for the post.

But Mr Chowdhury – a five-time member of the Lok Sabha – was chosen in view of his long experience in the parliament and the party.

At today’s meeting, the party also discussed the selection of the Lok Sabha Speaker and decided not to oppose the NDA choice – Rajasthan lawmaker Om Birla, who is from the BJP. 

Over the last two days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to the opposition, emphasizing that it has a huge role in democracy irrespective of numbers. 

Shah took to Twitter and termed India’s victory as “another strike on Pakistan” adding that every Indian is feeling proud and celebrating the win.

“Another strike on Pakistan by team India and the result is the same. Congratulations to the entire team for this superb performance. Every Indian is feeling proud and celebrating this impressive win,” the Union Home Minister tweeted.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir padded up to begin his new innings as a parliamentarian as he took oath as the Lok Sabha MP on Monday (June 17). Gambhir, who only retired from international and domestic cricket in December last year, began his political journey by joining the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) just days before India went to polls.

The task was cut out for Gambhir when he was thrown into the deep end as the BJP candidate to represent East Delhi. A resident of Rajinder Nagar from New Delhi constituency, East Delhi was proverbial new ‘pitch’ for Gambhir, who retired with over 10,000 international runs in all three formats.

Gambhir managed to secure close to seven lakh votes to easily defeat seasoned politician Arvinder Singh ‘Lovely’ from Congress and AAP’s Atishi Marlena, who had been credited of transforming Delhi’s health and education sector. East Delhi went to polls on May 12 and recorded a polling percentage of 55.66.

The massive victory for Gambhir was a result of the hard work that he put in with road shows and ‘nukkad sabha’ in the narrow serpentine lanes of East Delhi. Colonies like Shahadra, Gondhli, Trilokpuri, Kondli and many other places in the weeks leading up to the General Elections.

His father Deepak Gambhir is an establish businessman in New Delhi but Gambhir has always been a street-fighter when it came to cricket. He was never afraid to take on politics and officials which dominate the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA).

The poll campaign got very messy for him as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate in East Delhi Atishi accused BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir of having distributed pamphlets containing ‘obscene and derogatory’ remarks against her. Gautam Gambhir denied the allegations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today underscored the constructive role of the opposition in a healthy democracy as the 17th Lok Sabha began. Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament House, PM Modi said, “Every word of the opposition is valuable… The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they speak actively and participate in the house proceedings”. The opposition has been in disarray after their shock defeat in the national elections and is yet to hold a strategy session – customary before every session of parliament. The monsoon session started today with PM Modi and other members taking oath. Over the coming days, the government will present the budget and focus on a few key bills.Here’s your 10-point cheat sheet to this big story:

1. “When we come to parliament, we should forget about paksh and vipaksh(government and opposition). We should think about issues with a nishpaksh(impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
2. The opposition has suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the ruling BJP, which scooped up more than 300 seats in the recent elections. The Congress’s tally has disqualified it yet again for the post of the Leader of the Opposition. The party, which is still contending with Rahul Gandhi’s decision to step down as the party chief, is yet to choose its leaders for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
3. The BJP has a huge majority in the Lok Sabha – the party won 303 seats in the national elections, a jump over its last time’s score of 282 – making for smooth sailing of any bill in the lower house.
4. But in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, it still has a numerical disadvantage. The NDA has 102 members in the 245-seat upper house, which might affect passing of key bills, like the bill to make triple talaq” illegal, which is likely to be introduced in this session.
5. PM Modi reached out to the opposition yesterday as well at an all-party meeting and asked the attending leaders to “introspect whether members of parliament are able to fulfill people’s aspirations as their representatives”. He also thanked the leaders for their suggestions.
6. At the meeting, the Congress had raised the issues of unemployment, farmers’ distress, drought and press freedom, while also calling for early conduct of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
7. The session started with President Ram Nath Kovind administering oath to the pro tem speaker, who, in turn, administered the oath to the members of the House. Oaths for the 542 members, election of the Speaker and the motion of thanks on the President’s address are likely to take up the first few days. The monsoon session of the Lok Sabha will continue till July 26.
8. At 11 am on July 5, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget. The day before, the Economic Survey will be presented before parliament.
9. The BJP’s lawmaker Virendra Kumar has taken oath as pro-tem speaker. Informal discussions are also likely to be held over the next few days regarding the candidate for the role of the Lok Sabha Speaker. Sumitra Mahajan, who was the Speaker for the last Lok Sabha, did not contest the Lok Sabha election.
10. On June 19, PM Modi has invited presidents of all parties who have representatives in either house. Among other things, the meeting is meant to discuss the “one nation, one election” issue. On June 20, lawmakers of both houses are expected to have a dinner meeting, during which they would exchange views with the government.