Daily News Mail - News of 10/04/2015

Raju gets 7 years for Rs. 7,000-cr. fraud

• Former chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. B. Ramalinga Raju and nine others, two of them family members, were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment on Thursday in the country’s largest-ever corporate fraud.
• The special court imposed a fine of Rs. 5.5 crore each on Raju and his brother Rama Raju, ex-managing director, and about Rs. 50 lakh each on their sibling Suryanarayana Raju and seven others.

Confessional statement

• A confessional statement by Raju on fudging of accounts by his company on January 7, 2009, following the aborted acquisition of Maytas Properties and Infra, shook the corporate world as his meteoric rise had made him a household name among stock market investors.
• Raju has already spent nearly 29 months in jail.

Ramalinga Raju, Former Chairman of 

Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

T.N.’s installed wind energy capacity goes up

• The State has added about 180 MW to its existing wind energy capacity during the last 12 months, taking the total installed wind energy capacity to 7,480 MW.
• K. Kasthurirangan, chairman of India Wind Power Association, told that less than 100 MW was added in the State during the previous year (2013-2014) since the Centre had withdrawn the accelerated depreciation scheme. The programme was beneficial to small-scale investors in the wind energy sector.
• The scheme was reintroduced only in October last year and since then, wind mill investors have started looking at the sector again. “I am sure that installations will go up in the current financial year (2015-2016),” he said.
• Though capacity additions had slowed down in Tamil Nadu compared to some of the other States, investors will start installing wind mills now. The scheme was reintroduced just six months ago and the investors needed time to place orders and for the projects to be implemented, he said.
• Tamil Nadu had the highest installed wind energy capacity in the country. Several industries had gone in for wind energy for captive use. The investors had faced issues related to evacuation of wind power during the peak wind season. Talks and efforts were on now to find a solution to the evacuation problem.

List of wind energy capacity  by state-wise

Govt. freezes Greenpeace accounts

• The Union Home Ministry on April 9 suspended the registration of Greenpeace India under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for six months and froze its seven accounts, prohibiting donations from abroad.
• This follows allegations about the organisation’s involvement in encouraging “anti-development” campaigns across the country. The action is being viewed as part of the government’s policy to clamp down on advocacy groups which, it says, have been indulging in acts prejudicial to national economic security.
• Greenpeace India has been served with a show-cause notice asking why its registration should not be cancelled.
• Citing various grounds for suspension of its FCRA registration, the Ministry of Home Affairs alleged that the organisation did not inform the authorities about transfer of foreign contributions received in the designated account to the FCRA utilisation account and then to five other accounts.

Bio-fences to ward off straying elephants in Assam

• In a bid to reduce man-animal conflict in Assam, bio-fences are proposed to be set up replacing electric fences, to ward off straying elephants.
• To start with four tea estates in Assam will have these “bio-fenced” with thickets of thorny bamboos. The nurseries for growing the thorny bamboo will be inside the Apeejay Tea estates in Assam’s Sonitpur district. Electric fencing is considered costly and unreliable besides being hazardous.
• This would be part of a partnership to manage man-elephant conflict under a tie-up between Apeejay Tea and the World Wildlife Fund.

Pak. court frees Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi

• A Pakistani court on April 9 set free Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and LeT operations commander, suspending the Punjab government’s detention order against him under a public security act, drawing India’s ire.
• Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq of Lahore High Court suspended the detention of Lakhvi (55) under Maintenance of Public Order after the government failed to present sensitive records against him in the court.
• The judge ordered Lakhvi to submit two surety bonds worth Rs.1 million each for his release.
• Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq on the last hearing on April 7 had directed the government’s counsel to submit record of secret documents about activities of Lakhvi on April 9. Lakhvi had challenged the March 14 order of Punjab government’s District Coordination Officer, Okara to detain him for 30 days.
• Lakhvi and six others have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attacks in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.