he Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday announced that it has attached a factory in Thailand valued at over Rs 13 crore owned by fugitive diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi accused in the Rs 14,000 crore PNB fraud case.

The ED said it has issued a provisional order for attachment, under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA), of the factory premises owned by Abbeycrest Limited which is a group company of the Choksi-led Gitanjali group of companies.

The value of the property is Rs 13.14 crore, it added. With the attachment of this property, the value of seizures in the PNB scam works out to around Rs 4,765 crore.

The ED is probing this case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Officials said ED investigators will soon move for issuing Letters Rogatories (judicial requests) for legal formalisation of the attachment of the asset in Thailand.

Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has said that government is trying to identify sportspersons at very young age so that they can be trained and nurtured to become world class champions.

He was addressing the closing ceremony of Mission Olympics Sports Meet-2019 organised by Police Families Welfare Society of Delhi Police in New Delhi onFirday.

He said, Sports Ministry will soon conduct physical test for two crore youngsters aged between 8 and 12 years. The Minister said, out of them one thousand young talent will be selected for further training.

The Minister said, government is taking several steps to promote the sports culture in the country. He said, the government is also creating conducive environment and culture for sports.

Col Rathore informed that  the second Khelo India Games will be held in Pune this year from 9th of this month. He said, last year around three thousand 500 school children had participated in the event and this year around nine thousand 500 youth will participate.

In Germany, hundreds of politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, have fallen victim to a massive online leak of private data.

A government spokesperson said, personal data and documents belonging to several politicians and public figures have been published on the internet. A preliminary investigation indicated that no sensitive information or data from Merkel's office has been leaked.

The stolen data, which comprises personal addresses, mobile phone numbers, letters, invoices and copies of identity documents, was published online via Twitter in December last year. However, the leak only came to light this week.

The Federal Office for Information Security and the domestic intelligence service said they are investigating the leak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jharkhand and Odisha today.

In Jharkhand, Mr Modi will unveil plaque to mark the laying of foundation stone of revival of North Koel (Mandal Dam) project and Kanhar Stone Pipeline irrigation system.

Prime Minister will also inaugurate the collective e-grihapravesh of 25,000 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana through video conferencing. Mr Modi will also address a public gathering.

Prime Minister will then proceed to Odisha. At Baripada, Mr Modi will dedicate, Balasore-Haldia-Durgapur section of LPG pipeline project of IOCL and the Balasore multi modal logistic park to the nation.

Prime Minister will unveil plaque to mark the commencement of work for the development and conservation of Rasika Ray temple at ancient fort, Haripurgarh.
Mr Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the four laning of various National Highway projects and inaugurate six passport seva kendras.

Prime Minister will also flag off the second passenger train from Tatanagar to Badampahar. Mr Modi will also address a public gathering at Baripada.

The National Green Tribunal Friday imposed a fine of whopping Rs 100 crore on the Meghalaya government for its failure to curb illegal coal mining in the state. A senior advocate, who is assisting the tribunal as an amicus curiae in the matter, said a report of a high-level committee was submitted on January 2 before a bench headed by NGT chairperson A K Goel.

The report stated that the majority of the mines in the northeastern state were operating without a lease or licence. The Tribunal imposed Rs 100 crore fine on the state government as a “deterrent” and for its “inaction” to curb illegal mining in the northeastern state.

The lawyer said during the hearing, the state government admitted that a large number of mines were operating illegally.

At least 15 miners are trapped in the 370 foot-deep illegal coal mine in Lumthari village of East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya since December 13 and all efforts to pump the water out of flooded mine have been in vain. Senior advocate Raj Panjawani said the amount of the fine has to be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board within two months.

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Thursday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for funding a “library” in Afghanistan, saying it is of no use in the war-torn country, as he criticised India and others for not doing enough for the nation’s security.

Sources in Delhi said no standalone library has been built as a development project, but there is a library in Afghanistan’s Parliament building which has been built with Indian support. And there could be some libraries in schools that have been built, sources said.

Chairing his first Cabinet meeting of the year on Wednesday, Trump said: “I could give you an example where I get along very well with India and Prime Minister Modi. But he is constantly telling me, he built a library in Afghanistan. Library! That’s like five hours of what we spend (in Afghanistan).”

“And he (Modi) tells me. He is very smart. We are supposed to say, oh thank you for the library. Don’t know who’s using it (the library) in Afghanistan. But it’s one of those things. I don’t like being taken advantage of,” said Trump. “I say this, India. (I have) great relationship with Prime Minister Modi. He is a great gentleman and a great man and he’s done a fantastic job. He has brought the country together,” he said.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India  FSSAI has said food businesses need to comply with new packaging regulations that bar use of recycled plastics and newspapers to wrap food articles by July 1.

In a release yesterday FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said the new packaging regulations would raise the bar of food safety in India to the next level.

The new regulations prohibit packaging material made of recycled plastics including carry bags for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing articles of food.

Syndicate Bank and SBI Life Insurance announced that they have signed a bancassurance pact to offer a comprehensive financial planning solution to its customers.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Syndicate Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and MD and CEO of SBI Life, Sanjeev Nautiyal, a bank release said.

The two banks said they were hopeful of ensuring greater reach and penetration in the market with 3,000 branches of Syndicate Bank spread across the country offering SBI Life's diverse range of protection, wealth creation and savings insurance products to its customers.

"Increasing life insurance penetration has been a strategy focus of Syndicate bank and we are starting with a pilot project in three districts. Riding on the proven delivery and technology capabilities of our partner SBI Life Insurance, we hope to achieve this aspiration very soon," Mahapatra said.

Arunima Sinha, the Indian mountaineer who became the world’s first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest in 2013, has now become the first woman amputee to climb Mount Vinson (highest peak of Antarctica).

Congratulating Arunima, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday tweeted: “Excellent! Congratulations to Arunima Sinha for scaling new heights of success. She is the pride of India, who has distinguished herself through her hard work and perseverance. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours.”

On Thursday, Arunima took to Twitter to inform about her success. “The wait is over we are glad to share with you The World record World’s 1st woman amputee who climbed Mount Vinson (highest peak of Antarctica) has become to the name of our country India. Thank’s to all for their blessings and pray Jai Hind,” she said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister J P Nadda for their visionary leadership which helped around seven lakh people avail benefits of the healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat in the first 100 days of its launch.

"In its first 100 days, #India's ambitious #AyushmanBharat scheme has provided free care for almost 700,000 people. I applaud Prime Minister @narendramodi and Health Minister @JPNadda for their visionary leadership for #HealthForAll (sic), " Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

He had earlier also praised the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which aims to provide insurance cover of Rs five lakh per annum to 50 crore poor people by calling it a "great commitment".