New Delhi: Indian students are reported to have been restricted from around five Australian universities over fraudulent visa application cases.
According to reports emerging from sections of Australian media, it has been alleged that migrants from India used the student visa system as an easier alternative to access work rights in Australia.
Reports further said that cases of sham visas are on the rise and therefore, Australian authorities have restricted entry of Indian students.
These reports quoting investigations by leading Australian newspapers like “The Age” and “The Sydney Morning Herald”, said that mails obtained from some known universities of that country, showed the crackdown on applications from Indian students.
With Australia expecting a huge surge of Indian students this year, the reports said that cases of expected visa fraud have raised concerns within authorities.
Signing of a wide ranging agreement between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, will also allow easier travel for studying in both countries. This too is likely to pose a challenge to authorities to prevent cases of sham visas, reports said further.
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir reported 76 fresh covid-19 cases while there was no death due to the virus during the last 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.
They said that 43 cases were reported from Jammu division and 33 from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall tally to 481064. Among the cases, 174676 are from Jammu division and 306388 from Kashmir Valley.
There was no death either from Jammu division or Kashmir during the time. So far 4789 people have succumbed to the virus and among them include 2356 from Jammu division and 2433 from the Valley.
Besides, they said, 91 Covid-19 patients recovered during the last 24 hours, 43 from Jammu division and 48 from Kashmir Valley. There are now 723 active cases,345 in Jammu and 345 in Kashmir. (GNS)
New Delhi: Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, is likely to visit India on April 28, according to reports citing sources.
Quoting the sources in Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the reports said that the date of visit was proposed to Kathmandu by New Delhi.
Prachanda is likely to be in India on a three-day visit, the sources added.
An announcement regarding the visit will be made officially by the two nations in a week’s time, the reports said .
Dahal had earlier visited India after attending the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, during his first tenure as Prime Minister.
In 2016 again, he had visited New Delhi while his second tenure as the premier.
Pune: Amid intense speculation in Maharashtra’s political circles about his growing proximity with the ruling BJP, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday dismissed as false the reports that he has called a meeting of MLAs on Tuesday.
Ajit Pawar also said he had no scheduled events to attend on Monday amid reports that he had called off his engagements in Pune.
“I was present at MGM Hospital in Kharagar, Navi Mumbai, on Monday to offer condolences to the families of the deceased and to provide comfort to those affected by heat during the ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ Award ceremony on Sunday. I had no scheduled events (to attend) on Monday as I am still in Mumbai,” the opposition leader said in a statement.
The NCP leader said he will be in Mumbai on Tuesday.
“I will be present at my office in Vidhan Bhavan for regular work. Reports are being circulated in a section of the media saying I have called a meeting of MLAs on Tuesday. These are completely false reports. I have not called any such meetings of MLAs or officials,” he said.
Speculation about Ajit Pawar’s next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp. The BJP is part of the Shinde government.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday added grist to the rumour mill claiming NCP chief Sharad Pawar recently told Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with the BJP even if anyone takes an individual decision to do so.
In a write-up in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, Raut had wondered whether Maharashtra politics will witness the “second season of defections”.
Earlier this month, Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar, had credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “charisma” for the BJP’s victory in 2014 and said inflation and jobs for youth were more important issues than the PM’s academic degrees.
When Maharashtra was under President’s rule after the results of the 2019 Assembly elections as Shiv Sena had severed ties with BJP and Opposition parties couldn’t forge alliances, Ajit Pawar secretly joined hands with Devendra Fadnavis of BJP and a government was formed with Fadnavis as the CM and Ajit as his deputy. However, that government lasted for just 80 hours as Ajit resigned.
After the Shiv Sena (undivided) joined hands with NCP and Congress to form the MVA government, Ajit took oath as deputy chief minister and handled the finance portfolio.
The bill was eventually paid, according to Somerset GOP Chair Tim Howes and former Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman, who said he interceded to get it done. But the episode shows just how far the party has fallen.
As recently as 2017, Republicans completely controlled the wealthy suburban county, where they had dominated for decades. The county produced Republican Gov. Christie Whitman and even the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2021, Jack Ciattarelli. They also had one of the strongest fundraising operations in the state.
Now, Somerset County Republicans hold no county-wide offices and there isn’t a single Republican from Somerset County in the Legislature.
The party’s financial woes didn’t end with the steakhouse bill. They were months late on rent for their Somerville headquarters and, most alarming to Howes’ critics, the party hasn’t filed a legally-required campaign finance disclosure with the Election Law Enforcement Commission since January 2021, when it reported just shy of $12,000 in the bank.
The lack of disclosure risks major fines for the cash-strapped committee. And some party officials say there’s even less of an excuse for that under the leadership of Howes, an election attorney.
A group of Somerset Republicans including Bateman is now attempting to get Howes to resign and, failing that, to get a detailed accounting of the party’s finances. But Howes, who was easily reelected chair in 2022, plans to stay in office until his term is up in 2024, leaving his critics to see if there’s a way to force him out.
“My interest is just making the Republican Party relevant again in Somerset. It hasn’t been for a lot of reasons. You can’t blame the chairman for everything, but we haven’t won an election in years,” Bateman said in a phone interview with POLITICO.
On April 4, almost two dozen current and former party officials, as well as several former elected officials from the county — including Bateman and former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco — outlined their complaints in a letter to Howes calling for his immediate resignation.
“Your failure to comply with the mandatory legal requirements set forth by ELEC, as well as your utter lack of transparency and your denial surrounding this failure, are indisputable and indefensible,” reads the letter, which accuses Howes of “financial malfeasance and deception.”
The letter claims that the party’s fundraising has dropped to “historic lows,” that it’s six months behind in rent payments for its Somerville headquarters, and notes that all eight countywide Republican candidates during his tenure have lost “by record margins.”
“If you refuse [to resign], we will call a special meeting of the SCRO to remove you from office,” they wrote.
Years of decline beginning with Trump election
Howes, who took on the chairmanship in 2020, can’t be blamed for the drastic political shift in Somerset county. Republican losses there started before Howes took the reins, with the GOP going from holding every county-wide office in 2017 to none by 2021.
“I came in the sixth inning. I was the middle relief pitcher,” Howes said in a phone interview.
Howes said party officials had a “difference of opinion” with Char Steakhouse on how many people attended the holiday party and that “once we settled that, I dropped off the check.”
Howes also said that the party’s rent has since been paid and that he’s “working on perfecting” the overdue ELEC reports now that he has a new treasurer in place, but declined to say why the party has gone two years without filing them.
“As far as an explanation, I’m not there yet,” Howes said. “As far as what happened, we’ll get to that. At some point we’re going to hold a meeting so that everybody’s questions can be answered. I think the committee’s questions need to be answered before they read it on the internet.”
The effort to oust Howes was first reported by New Jersey Globe.
The Somerset County Republican Party’s downfall coincided with the presidency of Donald Trump, whose gains for Republicans in formerly competitive blue collar areas were offset by stunning losses in middle-class and wealthy suburban counties like Somerset, and whose continued presence on the political stage has allowed Democrats to cement their control.
“Can he just go away?” Bateman said. “He’s the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats, unfortunately.”
But Howes’ critics within the GOP don’t believe the party will be in position to stage a comeback under his leadership. The party’s former treasurer, Robert Damiano, resigned on March 30 over the filings with ELEC, according to a letter he sent to Howes.
“You and I have had conversations regarding the accuracy of the records that I need to file correct ELEC reports. Each time, I was told that I would get all the information that we needed. However, that never happened,” Damiano wrote.
Howes did not explicitly blame Damiano, but said “we got back control of our records from the former treasurer.”
“At this point, I took the steps within 24 hours of accepting his resignation of getting a new treasurer with a good reputation, very ethical, hard working and we’ve begun the process of going back to making sure everything was filed.”
Damiano declined to comment.
Howes isn’t up for reelection as chair until 2024, and he says there’s no mechanism to remove him. His critics acknowledge it’s not in the party bylaws, but believe that state laws provide a way to remove him.
Howes said that under his leadership Somerset County Republicans have gained 14 seats at the municipal level and noted that they have performed better in off-year elections, when federal candidates aren’t on the ballot.
“It’s not your mother’s Somerset County. In a D+10 county we still outperformed both by way of margin and by percentage the deficit,” Howes said. “I’m here to win county races. I didn’t come here to be the nice guy that runs good campaigns but we still don’t win. We came very close in 2021 — very close. We intend to win this year and we’ve been moving forward despite this distraction.”
Srinagar, April 15 (GNS): Jammu and Kashmir reported 85 fresh covid-19 cases while there was no death due to the virus during the last 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.
They said that 36 cases were reported from Jammu division and 49 from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall tally to 480831. Among the cases, 174560 are from Jammu division and 306271 from Kashmir Valley.
Providing district wise details of the cases, they told GNS, 28 cases were reported Jammu district, 13 from Anantnag, nine from Srinagar, eight each from Bandipora and Pulwama, six from Baramulla, five from Udhampur, four from Budgam, and one each from Doda, Poonch, Reasi and Kulgam.
There was no death either from Jammu division or Kashmir Valley during the time. So far 4789 people have succumbed to the virus and among them include 2356 from Jammu division and 2433 from the Valley.
Besides, they said, 55 Covid-19 patients recovered during the last 24 hours—10 from Jammu division and 45 from Kashmir Valley. There are now 716 active cases— 237 in Jammu and 389 in Kashmir. (GNS)
New Delhi: In the last 24 hours, India reported 27 Covid-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatalities in the past six months, according to official figures issued by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.
The last time India recorded 20 or more Covid deaths was on October 15, 2022.
The country’s overall death toll has now increased to 5,31,091.
According to the data, Delhi reported six deaths, followed by four in Maharashtra, three in Rajasthan, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The figure also includes six deaths that were reconciled by Kerala.
Also in the same period, there were 10,753 fresh cases, taking the number of active infections to 53,720, the Ministry figures revealed.
The daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 6.78 and 4.49, respectively.
Since the pandemic first erupted in early 2020, India has so far reported a total 4,48,08,022 Covid-19 cases.
The active caseload now comprises only 0.12 per cent of the total infections, and the national recovery rate has been recorded at 98.69.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease rose to 4,42,23,211, and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19.
“The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive has administered 220.66 crore vaccine doses so far,” the data stated.
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir reported 151 fresh covid-19 cases while there was one death due to the virus during the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday.
They said that 57 cases were reported from Jammu division and 94 from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall tally to 480746. Among the cases, 174524 are from Jammu division and 306222 from Kashmir Valley.
Providing district wise details of the cases, officials said that, 38 cases were reported Jammu, 27 from Srinagar, 15 from Budgam, 10 each from Pulwama and Anantnag, nine from Ganderbal, eight each from Baramulla, Kulgam and Kishtwar, five from Kishtwar, four each Udhampur, Doda and Kulgam, three from Bandipora, besides one each from Rajouri, Kathua and Ramban.
There was one death from Jammu division during the time. So far 4789 people have succumbed to the virus and among them include 2356 from Jammu division and 2433 from the Valley.
Besides, they said, 92 Covid-19 patients recovered during the last 24 hours—36 from Jammu division and 56 from Kashmir Valley. There are now 686 active cases— 301 in Jammu and 386 in Kashmir. (GNS)
Footballer Achraf Hakimi’s world is rocked as his wife, Hiba Abouk, filed for divorce and demanded half of his property, several media reports stated.
However, in a surprising turn of events, the court informed her that her ‘millionaire’ husband legally owns nothing, as all his assets are registered under his mother’s name.
Achraf Hakimi, the Moroccan International and PSG player, received a staggering €1 million per month, but 80% of this amount is deposited into his mother, Mrs. Fatima’s account. The 24-year-old football star appears to have no property, cars, houses, jewelry, or even clothes registered in his name.
The couple began dating in 2018 when Hakimi was only 19 years old, and Abouk was 31. As they head towards separation, Abouk, now 36, anticipated receiving an equal share of Hakimi’s €70 million fortune. However, documents reveal that all of the assets are registered under his mother’s name, leaving Abouk with no legal claim to them.
In an unusual arrangement, whenever Hakimi needed something, he requested it from his mother, who then purchases it for him. This dynamic has allowed him to avoid registering any assets in his own name.
The divorce proceedings come on the heels of an investigation launched last month into allegations that the star defender molested a woman he had invited to his matrimonial home while his wife and family were in Dubai.
As the story unfolds, questions arise about the motivation behind Hakimi’s choice to keep all his assets under his mother’s name and the potential impact on the ongoing investigation and divorce settlement.
New Delhi: India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases, highest in nearly eight months, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The number of active cases has increased to 44,998, the data updated on Thursday showed.
India had reported 7,830 coronavirus infections on Wednesday.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.42 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 4.02 per cent. The active cases now constitute 0.10 per cent of the total infections.
The nationwide COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.71 per cent,according to the health ministry website. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,42,10,127.
According to the ministry’s website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country.
