Prevention Financial News

Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Gurugram on Friday arrested Ashish Bhalla, promoter of the WTC Group, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with a massive real estate fraud. Bhalla is accused of cheating and duping thousands of investors through a well-planned conspiracy. During the investigation, it was found that investors were promised assured returns in exchange for their investments in plots and commercial spaces. However, instead of delivering on these promises, the funds were allegedly diverted to several shell companies. These companies were used to acquire land in multiple locations.

H-1B visa registration process for the fiscal year 2026 begins today, March 7, 2025, and will continue until March 24, 2025. US employers looking to hire skilled foreign workers in fields such as IT, healthcare, and engineering must complete the registration process within this period. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has introduced major changes this year, including a significant fee hike and a beneficiary-centric selection process.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 65.46 crore in connection with a money laundering case involving a former general manager-ranked officer of a Sikkim-based bank. The ED said in a statement that the attached assets include four residential properties and land parcels located in Deorali, Syari, Ranipool and Penlong — all in Sikkim. These properties were allegedly acquired using proceeds from fraudulent activities linked to siphoning of funds from the State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) by Dorjee Tshering Lepcha, its former general manager (operations). Additionally, several bank accounts with a combined deposit of approximately Rs 53.41 crore in the names of Lepcha and his family members have also been frozen, the statement said.

Tamil Nadu politicians including Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kamal Haasan have raised concerns over the upcoming delimitation exercise, scheduled for 2026. The electoral exercise has sparked significant debate, particularly among southern states. However, leaders from states like Tamil Nadu express concerns that this process could diminish their political influence in Parliament. Tamil Nadu CM Stalin urged newlywed couples to plan a family early, linking it to Tamil Nadu’s representation in Parliament.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Meta Platforms Inc and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc have raised concerns about Indian rules barring tech giants from monitoring internet browsing by children under 18 as it will make safety filters ineffective, according to three executives privy to the discussions. “The DPDP Act’s rules include an exemption that allows social media intermediaries to use the age of a user as part of the data that the platform can use to identify them.

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its top executives’ pay last year, but also approved a conditional award of US$2 million to its U.S. banking head as the lender looks to fix its anti-money laundering (AML) program after being sanctioned last year.

Railway Board has decided that all departmental promotion examinations will now be through centralised examinations. According to officials aware of the development, only Computer Based Tests (CBT) will be undertaken and all zonal railways will have to make a calendar for the examinations. The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will be empowered to conduct these exams as well. “A high-level meeting has taken the decision to switch to centralised exams for promotions,” a senior official told ET while adding that question papers will be in highly encrypted form (256-bit encryption). These steps have been taken after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unearthed a departmental examination paper leak scam under the East Central Railway (ECR) at Mughal Sarai. The agency has arrested 26 Railway officials, including 17 aspirants, in the case this week and recovered Rs. 1.17 crore in cash. These amounts were reportedly collected from candidates for leaking the question papers.

Zydus Lifesciences on Wednesday said it has launched ANVIMO, a breakthrough medication for the prevention of Cytomegalovirus infection for haematopoietic stem cell transplant and kidney transplant patients. ANVIMO (Letermovir) will be available in dosages of 240 mg and 480 mg, the drug firm said in a statement. CMV infection remains one of the most serious complications in transplant patients, often leading to graft failure, decreased survival and prolonged hospital stays. Traditional CMV treatments, such as ganciclovir and valganciclovir, have notable limitations, including toxicity and bone marrow suppression.

Reliance Jio and Airtel have urged the government to ensure a level playing field in the satellite communications sector as it prepares to decide on a licence and spectrum allocation for Elon Musk’s Starlink, ToI reported. The companies have called for “comparable” spectrum pricing for satellite operators to prevent what they term as “market distortions.” In a petition to the government, the telecom firms have accused the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) of not addressing the competitive imbalance between satellite and terrestrial spectrum allocation. “Comparable spectrum pricing to terrestrial services should be enforced for competing satellite services in urban/semi-urban/rural areas for retail/enterprise customers,” the representation said. It argues that satellite operators providing similar services must comply with the same pricing, regulatory levies, and fees as terrestrial telecom providers. The new telecom law passed in December 2023 allows satellite spectrum to be assigned administratively for a fee, unlike terrestrial spectrum, which is auctioned. However, the specifics of pricing and allocation are still being worked out by Trai.

Makkal Needhi Maiam President Kamal Haasan has strongly criticised the Union government’s plan for parliamentary constituency delimitation, warning that it could weaken India’s federal structure and diversity. Speaking at an All-Party Meeting on the issue, Haasan stated that the move could harm India’s inclusive vision by promoting a homogenised «Hindia.»

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The pursuit of rest has become an industry in itself today, with solutions ranging from meditation apps to high-tech sleep trackers. But beneath the buzz about eight-hour nights and circadian rhythms lies a quieter, transformative revolution: the reinvention of mattresses, beds, and sleep accessories.

Donald Trump's new Presidential tenure is bringing in a lot more surprises than what was in store, and latest reports say that he is now planning on dumping the anti-money laundering law altogether, which requires shell companies to disclose their owners and beneficiaries.

Public Financial Management System 2.0 to ensure efficient and transparent utilisation of funds of urban and rural local bodies, harnessing the Treasury Single Account (TSA) mechanism. The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) is working on a standard accounting process for the urban and rural local bodies and the target is to add at least all large local bodies ahead of FY27, officials said. The move is part of the next set of policy reforms that aim to make local bodies accountable for transparent usage of public money and to prevent fund diversion and delay in allocation of money.

Maxim Gorky said that when everything is easy, one quickly descends into the abyss of mediocrity. Gorky reminds of the potential dangers that accompany a life devoid of challenges and hardships. He suggests that when individuals constantly live in ease and comfort, they fail to cultivate the skills and wisdom required to navigate complexities of life.

DIAL has launched the UTAM system that will help reduce delays, improve turnaround time and also track the speed of all airside vehicles to check for any violations, among other elements. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and radar systems, the Unified Total Airside Management (UTAM) will collect data, help identify issues or delays and trigger alerts to prevent problems before they happen, according to a release. The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has established a centralised control room to monitor and manage all activities, and the UTAM will track all airside vehicles such as baggage carts, fuel trucks and maintenance vehicles, in real-time. Generally, airside operations refer to those activities related to an aircraft, including take-off, landing, parking and refuelling. Multiple stakeholders, including ground handling service providers are involved.

liver fat by 30%, according to the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL). The expert body has released its first clinical guideline for managing metabolic-dysfunction associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), emphasizing the role of exercise in improving liver health.

Pancard Clubs Limited (PCL), its former directors and others, the federal agency said in a statement. This is a case of alleged fraud through a collective investment scheme (CIS), in violation of the SEBI Act, where more than 50 lakh investors were allegedly duped of over Rs 4,500 crore, it said. The economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police had filed a case under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishment) Act, 1999, against Pancard Clubs Limited and others and the ED took its cognisance to file a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Indian mutual fund industry, one that turns the very concept of passive investing on its head. Fund houses have discovered a convenient loophole in Sebi’s regulatory framework and are enthusiastically exploiting it. Sebi sensibly limits AMCs to launching just one actively managed fund in each plain category. This prevents the proliferation of near-identical products and reduces investor confusion. One large-cap fund, one mid-cap fund, and so on. It’s a straightforward approach that benefits everyone. Except that there’s a catch. This limitation doesn’t apply to passive funds. If there’s an index, a fund based on it can be launched. Therein lies the opportunity that fund houses have pounced upon—commission custom indices and launch ‘passive’ funds tracking them. The result? An absurd multiplication of indices. The National Stock Exchange now offers at least 120 equity indices, while the Bombay Stock Exchange has at least 64. While not all are created specifically for fund houses, they are readily available for AMCs. We now have indices with names like ‘Alpha Quality Value Low Volatility 30’, ‘EV & New Age Automotive’, ‘ESG’, ‘Enhanced ESG’, and my personal favourite, ‘ESG Sector Leaders’. This isn’t innovation; it’s simply clutter masquerading as choice.

Demand for loan collection agents, or temporary manpower often deployed to chase sticky advances, has climbed more than 30% in the past six months, TeamLease data shared with ET showed, pointing to the mounting pile of doubtful unsecured retail advances at lenders that now need specialised recovery support. TeamLease, which manages more than 85,000 frontline employees in areas such as sales, customer care, and field operations, has recruited up to 7,000 new collection agents for banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), credit card firms, microfinance institutions, and fintech companies. «This is a direct result of the challenges we've seen in the unsecured loan segment, and as a result, the demand for collection agents has increased by over 30%,» said Krishnendu Chatterjee, VP and business head, TeamLease Services. «In many cases, lenders have shifted sales roles into collection roles.» The central bank increased risk weights on unsecured loans to reduce systemic risks, and to prevent a further increase in potential stress in bank balance sheets since retail segment was at vanguard of credit demand lately.

«This Bombay hotel provides bathroom slippers. But to ensure people don't flick them, they provide mismatched pairs,» the user named Thejaswi Udupa said, dropping a snapshot of a pair of slippers on top of a hotel towel. The slippers featured in the image he posted were noticeably mismatched, with each foot sporting a different color. According to the user, this was a deliberate strategy employed by the hotel to ensure that guests would only find the slippers convenient to wear within their rooms, discouraging them from taking them for personal use outside the premises.

People's Democratic Party legislator Waheed Para has submitted a private member’s bill for the upcoming assembly session in Jammu & Kashmir seeking property rights for people who have been living on state land for decades. The legislator from Pulwama in southern Kashmir has termed the proposed legislation an anti-bulldozer bill that will save homes and shelters of people living on state land, common land or any other land for several decades but for which they don't have the property rights. Para said the proposed legislation will not only secure people’s homes but also reduce the fear of eviction. He calls it an 'anti-bulldozer' bill that will save people from harrasment and forced evictions from the land they were living on for decades.