Kevin Sweeney, the chief of staff of the US Department of Defence, has announced his resignation from the post.

"After two years in the Pentagon, I've decided the time is right to return to the private sector," Sweeney said in a statement on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

His departure comes after former Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis stepped down in December.

Mattis, who worked with Sweeney when he led the US Central Command, picked Sweeney to be his chief of staff in early 2017. Sweeney retired as a Rear Admiral from the US Navy in 2014.

Sweeney's decision is the latest by a senior official to leave the Pentagon. Earlier this week, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White announced her departure.

Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan is now Acting US Secretary of Defence.

In a second major setback for erstwhile liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the special court in Mumbai today declared has declared him a ‘Fugitive Economic Offender’, making him first businessman to be charged under the new anti fugitive law. This means now the government can initiate to confiscate his properties in alleged Rs. 9,000 crore loan default case.

On Saturday, Special Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) judge M.S. Azmi in his oral order declared Mallya, a fugitive economic offender under Section 12 of the act, on a plea of Enforcement Directorate (ED).

“Section 17 of the FEO act provides from the challenge of the proclamation in the High Court within 30 days and I am very sure that Mallaya’s lawyers will want to explore the option,” said Zulfiqar Memon, managing partner of law firm MZM Legal. “More than anything, this order could mean that his properties can now be confiscated and sold by the Government, which may be most detrimental to Mallaya.”

In July 2018, the ED had filed an application before the court, seeking to declare Mallya a ‘fugitive economic offender’ under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 and had also sought to immediately confiscate his assets of over Rs. 12,500 crore.

The Lok Sabha on Friday passed Aadhaar and other laws (Amendment Bill) 2018 and Companies Amendment Bill 2018.

The Aadhaar Bill seeks to amend the Aadhaar Act, 2016, the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. 

It provides for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and opening bank accounts. 

The government move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgment. 

The Apex court in September last year struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that made seeding of the biometric ID with SIMs and bank accounts mandatory, stating that it had no legal backing.

The Companies (Amendment), Bill, 2018 replaces the Ordinance promulgated in November last year. 

The Bill amends several provisions in the Companies Act, 2013 related to penalties. It also prescribes strong action against non-compliant companies.

Replying to a debate on the bill in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said, the bill has been brought with a view to declog the Special Courts and National Company Law Tribunal, NCLT. 

He said, it will also reduce the burden on NCLT and Special Courts and improve ease of doing business in the country.

The 27th New Delhi World Book Fair will begin today at Pragati Maidan. Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar will inaugurate the 9-day annual event.

The theme of this year is 'Readers with Special Needs'. All India Radio is the radio partner for the fair.

To mark Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, there will be special book exhibition of books on and by Mahatma Gandhi. More than 600 publishers will display books at more than 1350 stalls at the fair.

Tickets will be of 30 rupees for adults and 20 rupees for children. Tickets will be available online, at selected metro stations and Pragati maidan gate no. 1 and 10.

There will be free entry for students in school uniform, senior citizens and differently abled. Over 20 countries will participate in the fair.

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.