Vol. 67 No. 194 | WEDNESDAY | MAY 15, 2024 | 28 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2023 EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper RANBIR KAPOOR’S RAMAYAN INDIA’S # MOST TRUSTED FINANCIAL SERVICES BRAND 2024# The film is reportedly to be made in `835 crores 1800 313 1212 THE FP BULLETIN HUGE IT SEIZURE IN NANDED RAIDS T he Income Tax (IT) Department seized unaccounted assets worth nearly Rs 170 crores, including Rs 14 crores in cash and 8 kg of gold, in raids for multiple days at Nanded-based Bhandari brothers who run unlisted chit funds, micro finance, leasing and gold loan companies. The taxmen swooped down on six locations of Bhandari Finance and its allied firms on Friday with the raids continuing till late Tuesday night. The raids were led by a joint team of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nasik Income Tax Department. They unlisted financial leasing and micro finance proprietary firm was established in September 2022 by Sanjay Bhandari. The tax sleuths also raided Bhandari Buildtech Private Limited, which was allegedly incorporated in October 2022 for cooking books of accounts. The raid party, comprising 80 taxmen, arrived in a fleet of 30 unmarked vehicles which swooped down on the upscale Kokate complex and Ali Bhai tower at Shivaji Nagar, Nanded. DHARMESH THAKKAR/NANDED NAVLAKHA GETS BAIL, ON TERMS T he Supreme Court on Tuesday provided big relief to Gautam Navlakha by granting bail to the activist accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. A bench of justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti refused to extend the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court order on the bail granted to Navlakha in the case, stating that he has undergone incarceration for four years and the charges in the case have not been framed, pointing out that it would take time for the trial to be completed. However, Navlakha’s release on bail would be subject to the payment of Rs20 lakh that the investigating agency incurred on providing security during his house arrest at BT Ranadeva Public Library in Mumbai. M AMATA READY TO COOK FOR PM: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer to "cook food" for PM Modi elicited mixed responses from different political parties, with the BJP suspecting a politicised agenda and the CPM suggesting a potential "understanding" between the TMC and BJP She . had made the remarks while taking a dig at the BJP for allegedly interfering with the food habits of the people and had said she would be happy to cook food for Prime Minister Modi but is not sure "whether the PM will be ready to savour my cooked meal".  QUOTE/UNQUOTE TEMPO FRIEND From Lucknow to Mumbai, and from Guwahati to Ahmedabad, all airports are now in the hands of Modi's 'tempo friend.' How many 'tempos' did it take to sell off the country's assets?" – Rahul Gandhi on social media PSBs TOTAL PROFIT CROSSES RS 1.4 LAKH CRORE IN FY24 NEEDLESS PAK BASHING IN ELECTIONS  The alleged owner of the hoarding that came crashing down on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar, killing14 people, who has been named the primary accused in the incident, Bhavesh Prabhudas Bhinde, 51, was declared absconding by the Pant Nagar Police on Tuesday .   According to police, two separate teams that were sent to Bhinde’s home and office addresses  both in Mulund  were greeted –  –  by locked doors. Neighbours informed the police that Bhinde, along with his family , had ‘gone out’ the day before – on Monday – when the incident occurred.   The teams also tried calling Bhinde but his phone was switched off, said an officer who is part of the investigation. Police added that his last location and movements were being tracked currently and , they are guessing that Bhinde has left the city but continues to be in Maharashtra. ,   another revelation, the AssociaIn tion of Democratic Reforms (ADR), which runs a website named myneta.info, has said Bhinde has been fined 21 times in the past by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, for illegal hoardings. CONTD. ON NATION Had 10-year nod from Railway police chief For putting up hoarding at the spot where the 120X120 billboard crashed MEGHA KUCHIK / MUMBAI Permission had been granted to Bhavesh Bhinde of Media Ego to put up a hoarding for ten years at the spot where the 120ft x120ft billboard collapsed on Monday , claiming 14 lives. The needful was done by then IPS officer Quaiser Khalid, when he was the railway police commissioner. This was confirmed by an official of the Government Railway Police (GRP), on whose land the hoarding was erected. The ill-fated Bharat Petroleum pump, in operation since October 12, 2021, is also run by the GRP and the income from it is used for police welfare activities. On being contacted, Khalid said, “I am no more connected with the GRP The . AAP leader admits to assault at CM’s house GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR NEW DELHI Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday confirmed that there indeed was a “condemnable” incident which took place at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday in which former Delhi Commission for Women chairperson and party MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted by Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar. Singh said the chief minister will take “strict action” in the matter. However, he did not elaborate on how Kejriwal could be expected to act in the matter when Maliwal had in one of the calls to the police claimed that she was assaulted at the behest of the chief minister. Speaking to the media, Singh gave the details of the incident. He said: “Yesterday a condemnable incident , took place and I want to tell you about it. CONTD. ON NATION T he ED on Tuesday submitted in the Delhi High Court that it would be naming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case. The investigating agency also stated that it would be soon filing a supplementary chargesheet in this regard. The agency has already submitted in courts that Arvind Kejriwal was the “kingpin” of the scam, reports our Delhi Bureau. Swati Maliwal reached the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the morning. She was waiting for him in the drawing room when Bibhav Kumar reached there and misbehaved with her. The CM has taken note of the incident and he will take strict action in the matter. – Sanjay Singh, AAP leader YOUNG PERISH P rime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar (East), on Wednesday to meet those injured in the billboard collapse. As per his original schedule, Modi will conduct a roadshow on Wednesday in support of the Mahayuti candidates in Ghatkopar West. The 2.5 km roadshow will begin at 4.30 PM and vend its way via M G Road and wind up very close to Rajawadi hospital; Modi is expected to drive down to the hospital. He will be escorted by Chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and city BJP chief Ashish Shelar. for the structural integrity of the display board and had to maintain it in good condition. The company would be liable for any loss or damage resulting from negligence, particularly considering the climatic conditions in the area. CONTD. ON NATION The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will take a call on the listing of a petition by two NGOs seeking direction for the constitution of a Special Investigation Team for an independent and court monitored probe into the alleged instances of quid pro Since the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation’s secondhighest source of revenue – property tax – took a heavy blow last year, owing to the exemption granted to residential properties up to 500sqft and no hike in taxes for the past five years, the civic body is once again considering the possibility of taxing commercial structures in slums. Accordingly , the 24 administrative wards have been directed to undertake a survey of commercial properties in slums.  tributes to infrastructure projects in the city So, to cover its . losses, the BMC is exploring new options and is proposing to impose a tax based on the area of a property according to , civic sources. The last time the BMC decided to collect tax quo involving the funding of ravelled only through an indepolitical parties through elec- pendent probe monitored by toral bonds by different cor- the Supreme Court. porate entities and the alleged “Don't worry the matter is , consequential gains accruing with the CJI's Secretariat, to them. they will fix a ELECTORAL BONDS The two date,” said NGOs -- Common Cause and Justice Sanjiv Khanna who the Centre for Public Interest was heading a bench before Litigation -- have argued that which advocate Prashant the alleged scam involving Bhushan mentioned the plea the electoral bonds can be un- for an early hearing. Guided by stars, Modi files nomination at high noon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, eyeing a third term in Varanasi, submitted his nomination papers on Tuesday es, corted by several NDA stalwarts and an enthusiastic crowd. PM Modi's total cash in hand is Rs 52,920, as per his poll affidavit; he has not declared any immoveable assets and owns no land, house or car. Nonetheless, his total assets amount to Rs 3.02 crore, which includes the cash in hand and fixed deposits worth Rs 2.85 crore in the State Bank of India. He also has four gold rings worth Rs 2.67 lakh. In 2014 Lok Sabha election, Modi had declared assets worth Rs 1.66 crore and in 2019 his assets increased to Rs 2.51 crore. For the academic minded, he completed his SSC in 1967 from the Gujarat SSC Board. He did his Bachelor of Arts in 1978, eleven years later, from Delhi University He obtained . his Master of Arts, half a decade later in 1983, from the Gujarat University . Before filing his nomination, Modi commenced his journey with prayers at a local temple. CONTD. ON NATION `3.02 CR ASSETS, NO CAR, NO PLOT The plea by the NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation - had sought direction to the authorities to investigate the source of funding of the shell and loss-making companies to various political parties, as has emerged from the data of the electoral bonds. CONTD. ON NATION SC REJECTS PIL SEEKING TO BAR PM FOR 6 YEARS FROM OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL), seeking to restrain Prime Minister Narendra Modi from seeking votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship and disqualify him from contesting elections for six years for allegedly making hate speeches and invoking religion during his campaign rallies. Asking the PIL petitioner Fatima to approach the concerned authorities, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed her to withdraw the plea as it (bench) was not inclined to entertain it. CONTD. ON NATION US sanction risk over deal on Chabahar PTI / WASHINGTON Any country having business dealings with Iran runs the "potential risk of sanctions", the US has warned, noting that it is aware that Tehran and New Delhi have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port. India on Monday signed a 10-year contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar that will help New Delhi expand trade with Central Asia. Located in SistanBalochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman -- which New Delhi had proposed to develop in 2003 – is expected to provide Indian goods a gateway to reach landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia using a road and rail project called International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), bypassing Pakistan. US sanctions on Iran over its suspected nuclear pro- gramme had slowed the development of the port. "We're aware of these reports on Chabahar port. I will let the government of India determine its own foreign policy goals vis-a-vis the Chabahar port as well as its bilateral relationship with Iran," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday . "I will just say as it relates , to the United States, US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we'll continue to enforce them," Patel said in response to a question on the Chabahar port deal. CONTD. ON NATION TAILPIECE BMC mulls taxing commercial properties in slums  Apart from the decline in civic property tax collection due to the above-mentioned reasons, the legal complexities of new methods of tax calculation have also badly affected revenue collection in 2023-’24. So, the initial target of property tax collection was revised from Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 4,500 crore and the bills were sent out on February 27 this year. By tracing big defaulters, the BMC has, until May 13, collected Rs 3,960 crore. Now, it has extended the deadline for payment till May 25. The revenue collected through property tax con- In a daring daylight dacoity , six persons, claiming to be from the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, barged into the house of a city hotelier on Monday and decamped with Rs 25 lakhs in cash. The victim is Naresh Nagesh Nayak (44), who runs the popular Cafe Mysore restaurant facing Maheshwari Udyan in Matunga (east) which prides itself as being the oldest Udipi restaurant of Mumbai. Around 4.30 pm, Naresh was alone in his apartment on the third floor of Alankar Building opposite Sion Hospital when someone rang the doorbell. When he opened the door, six persons in civilian clothes barged into the flat, without introducing themselves, flashed their I- cards and threatened him. They claimed that they were from the Crime Branch and had received information that Rs 17 crore in black money meant to be , used for the Lok Sabha elections, was stashed away in the flat. When Naresh denied that he had such a large amount of cash on the premises, they threatened to strip him, take him to his restaurant in a ‘police’ jeep parked below the building and raid the eatery . Naresh informed them that he had only about Rs 25 lakh in cash which were the earnings from his restaurant. He said the daily earnings from the restaurant were about Rs 1 to Rs 2 lakh; he brought the daily collection to his flat and at the end of the week deposited the amount in the bank. CONTD. ON NATION CJI TO TAKE CALL ON SIT PROBE BISWAJEET BANERJEE VARANASI AAP TO BE NAMED AS AN ACCUSED S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI KALPESH MHAMUNKAR / MUMBAI OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI DEATH TOLL 14 local officials are handling the matter.” The FPJ has obtained a copy of the consent letter given by the GRP to Media Ego Private Limited for erecting the billboard. The letter specifies that Media Ego was solely responsible Barge into the flat of owner of Café Mysore, claim to be from Crime Branch, decamp with Rs 25 lakh in cash PM roadshow in Ghatkopar today RICHEST CIVIC BODY BUT ETERNALLY CASH-STRAPPED SHEFALI PARAB-PANDIT MUMBAI The 12 Public Sector Banks together had earned a PAT of Rs 1,04,649 crore in 2022-23 BILLBOARD BHINDE GONE WITH THE WIND ‘COPS’ TURN Has been fined 21 times for illegal hoardings; not to forget charges of rape and cheque bouncing DAYLIGHT ROBBERS AISHWARYA IYER / MUMBAI # TRA’s Brand Trust Report (2024) EDIT International Day of Families from slumdwellers was in 2016’17. In 2016, the BMC decided to collect from Rs 2,400 to Rs 18,000 as tax annually based on , the area and type of huts. The then BMC commissioner, Ajoy Mehta, had also proposed in the Budget, to levy tax on slum properties. However, the civic body did not go through with either of its decisions. “Currently no tax is collected from , slums. But we are planning to impose tax on commercial properties in slum areas. Civic officials will visit the properties in their respective areas and collect information, after which we will host a proposal to levy taxes on such properties,” said a senior civic official.   Until 2006-’07, BMC collected an annual service charge of Rs100 from residential slums and Rs 250 from commercial structures therein. 3 civilians die in POK unrest FPJ NEWS SERVICE MUZAFFARABAD T hree civilians died and six were injured in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), where protests over rising costs of food, fuel, and utilities intensified on Tuesday . The fatalities took place as the Pakistani Rangers were moving out of the territory after the government announced a Rs23 billion subsidy to placate the protesters, according to a news report. The 19-vehicle convoy of the Rangers was pelted with stones near Shorran da Nakka village in Muzaffarabad, prompting security personnel to respond with teargas and firing. Vehicles of the paramilitary personnel were set ablaze on the Muzaffarabad-Brarkot road, showed one video that has gone viral on social media, while another showed “ Azadi” slogans being raised by protesters. The Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which is spearheading the protests, asked demonstrators to resume their march, saying the Pakistani government did not fulfil all their demands. The violent street protests in POK, which erupted around May 10, have left more than 90 people injured, according to Pakistani media. On Sunday , Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the release of Rs23 billion for POK for power and wheat subsidies to placate the protesters. The situation in Muzaffarabad is getting very serious, said POK activist Amjad Ayub Mirza, who also requested the Indian government to summon the Pakistani ambassador and seek an explanation. CONTD. ON NATION