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India Post
February 17, 2017
www.indiapost.com
India to post customs SC convicts Sasikala intelligence officer in US in corruption case NEW DELHI: Customs intelligence officers will be posted by India in four countries, including the US and Singapore, to check trade-related frauds and black money transactions. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the lead agency to check customs frauds and smuggling, has decided to post officers at India's Mission in New York (US), Singapore, Brus-
The COIN units pass on intelligence gathered from overseas to assist in DRIs investigation. India has customs mutual agreements with these countries which provide the framework to seek information, official sources said here. "The COIN officers play a crucial role in checking smuggling and tax evasion by sharing intelligence with agencies concerned
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the lead agency to check customs frauds and smuggling, has decided to post officers at India's Mission in New York (US), Singapore, Brussels (Belgium) and in Nepal's Birgunj sels (Belgium) and in Nepal's Birgunj. The DRI has sought nominations from eligible officers of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) to fill up posts of Customs Overseas Intelligence Network (COIN) in the four countries, as per an official communique.
here. These officers, once posted, will keep an eye on trade transactions to avoid under or over invoicing of goods," a source said. The process to select COIN officers will involve interview by a high-level committee and the final approval will come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A sub-committee comprising Directors General of DRI, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), and others will initially evaluate the service records of the officers concerned. Another panel comprising the Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), two members of the board - Member (P&V) and Member (Customs) -and the DG, DRI, will then interview the officers based on the assessment carried out by the evaluation committee. The CBEC, after taking into account the marks secured by an officer in the interview and the marks given by the evaluation committee, will recommend a panel of three officers for each post for approval by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. As per the procedure, after obtaining the FM's approval, the panel will be forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs for their concurrence followed by reference to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister for the final approval. -PTI
Learn from my film, Gurinder tells Trump LONDON: Gurinder Chadha, one of Britain's well-known Indian-origin filmmakers, wants US President Donald Trump to watch her new film on the Partition of India to learn about the tragic events and their resonance in today's world. "We are living in a world that is quite divisive, we have politicians talking about building walls and labeling huge groups of people. The film in a way is a timely reminder of what happens when you start to create divisions," Chadha told PTI, referring to Trump's plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. "I would love Donald Trump to watch the film and maybe learn from the events of 1947 and how resonant they are today," she said. 'Viceroy's House,' is set in the
last days of the British Raj in 1947 as British India was divided into India and Pakistan, leading to widespread sectarian violence in what has been described as the largest mass migration in human history. The film has been in making for seven years for the 'Bend It Like Beckham' director and is a passion
Gurinder Chadha
project dedicated to her grandparents, who survived the Partition riots. It is set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. "Partition sits very heavily for
a lot of us. For me, it has been cathartic to be able to go back to this story and trace the geo-political events that led to Partition. And, to also say that it is time to move on," she said. Chadha worked on the film's screenplay with her writer-husband Paul Mayeda-Berges and read more than 20 books as part of an extensive research to formulate her narrative. She is categorical about not letting any of the political leaders "off the hook" and believes Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten all had their part to play. "It is very important to say that this film is made from a distinctly British Punjabi perspective. India and Pakistan have their own narratives on this chapter in history. But this is very much my viewpoint based on all the research," said the 57-year-old Londonbased filmmaker. Cont’d on page 11
NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: AIADMK chief V K Sasikala's hope of becoming chief minister of Tamil Nadu were dealt a body blow with the Supreme Court upholding her conviction in a corruption case, a verdict that bars her from contesting polls for nearly 10 years. A close aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, 60-year-old Sasikala, who is locked in a bitter struggle for power in the ruling AIADMK with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, was ordered to surrender forthwith and serve the remaining part of her four-year jail term. The AIADMK general secretary has already served almost six months in jail.
Sasikala have been housed since the past few days. Sasikala herself stayed overnight at the resort. The bench read the operative portion of the voluminous judgment saying that "according to the materials and evidence place on record, we set aside the judgment and the order of the high court and affirm in toto the judgment and order the trial court convicting the accused persons." The bench said since Jayalalithaa has expired, the proceeding against her is abated. She died on December 5. "Nevertheless, we reiterate that having regard to the facts, the charge framed against them by the trial court is restored," the bench said.
AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala along with party MLAs supporting her during the press conference at the resort in Koovathur at East Coast Road where various AIADMK MLAs are camping to decide on the further course of action in forming new government, outskirts of Chennai on February 12
In a keenly awaited verdict in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case that also involved Jayalalithaa which will have a direct bearing on the political uncertainty that has gripped the state for the last 10 days, the court restored in toto the judgment and the findings of the trial court in Bengaluru which held all the accused including Sasikala's two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi guilty. The two-judge bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy directed Sasikala and the two relatives to surrender forthwith to the trial court in Bengaluru and serve the remaining part of four-year jail term. The verdict disqualifies Sasikala from becoming a legislator and consequentially she can't be chief minister either for six years from the date of release of prison under the Representation of the People Act. Police presence was stepped up at a resort about 80 km from Chennai, where MLAs supporting
"Since the charges framed by the trial court have been restored against all of them they will surrender forthwith before the trial court and serve the remaining part of the sentence," it said. Minutes after the Supreme Court verdict, the AIADMK appeared to defend her, saying she had always carried the burden of the late Jayalalithaa. "Whenever there had been burden for Amma (Jayalalithaa) she (Sasikala) had taken it on her. She is doing the same now also. #Chinnamma," the party's official Twitter handle, @AIADMKOfficial said. The trial court had sentenced Sasikala and her two relatives to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years with a fine of Rs 100 crore. On June 7 last year, the apex court had reserved its verdict in the case after hearing detailed arguments from all the parties including the Karnataka government.-PTI