Govt rolls out new rules to beat cash crunch; Oppn on warpath Madh mangroves destroyed: Police book landowner

IN HOUSE Parties demand Parliamentary probe into allegations that BJP knew of demonetisation

Opposition parties paralysed Parliament on Thursday, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence during a debate on the government’s shock decision to recall `500 and `1,000 banknotes that has caused hardship to the people.

The government, rejected the demand, citing its prerogative to decide who should reply to the debate and ruled out any rollback of the decision to scrap high-value notes. It also tweaked rules for exchange of old notes and withdrawals to help more people get cash in hand.

The political blame game took an unpleasant turn in the Rajya Sabha as it deviated from demonetisation to patriotism and Pakistan. It was triggered by a controversial remark by leader of the Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad, over the death of 40 people in long queues outside banks and ATMs, a comment expunged later.

Backed by angry ruling party MPs, information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu termed Azad’s statement “atrocious, objectionable and anti-national” and demanded an apology from him and the Congress party. “Pakistansponsored terrorism has taken the lives of thousands of people… you are comparing this (deaths of people outside banks) with Pakistani An elderly woman, whose son had been diagnosed with cancer, was handed a bag containing `1 coins against `2,000, which she went to exchange at a bank in UP’s Mohanlalganj. Box office earnings go ‘south’ after currency ban

After Hindustan Times reported that more than 500 vehicles were illegally parked at wetlands in Madh, Malad (West), on Wednesday, a first information report (FIR) was filed against the landowner of the area for alleged destruction of mangroves.

Officials also asked the officials to remove all the vehicles from the site.

Citing a violation of Bombay high court orders and Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Borivli revenue officials directed the Malwani police on Wednesday to book a case against the offender.

“After the report was published in the newspaper, we directed our circle officers to survey the area. As per their report, there was a clear violation by the landowner,” said Archana Mule, Borivali tehsildar (revenue officer). “The land belongs to the state and the owner could not provide documents to prove his stand.”

Officials from the Malwani police station confirmed that a case has been registered against the landowner on Wednesday and they were investigating the matter. “No arrests have been made but our officers have visited the site and will take necessary action,” said a senior official of Malwani police station.

A board room confrontation between Tata Sons interim chairman Ratan Tata and ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry was averted on Thursday at Bombay House.

The much-awaited board meetings at Tata Sons and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) did not yield much, with Mistry giving it a miss.

While the Tata Sons board meeting did not have anything related to Mistry on its agenda, software major TCS, where Mistry was also replaced as chairman last week, agreed to finalise December 13 as the date for the extraordinary general meeting to remove Mistry as director of the company.

Emerging out of the board meeting, director Vijay Singh called it a “routine” meeting, which included taking assessment of the businesses and the way ahead in the next six months. Two more directors apart from Mistry — Farida Khambatta (who is in the US) and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) chief Ralf Speth — did not attend the meeting, he added.

OLIVER FREDRICK/HT