From India to South Korea, crypto exchanges under regulatory lens

Seoul, (IANS): The financial regulator here said on Tuesday it will soon launch an inspection of virtual asset exchanges to check for any illegal or unfair transactions, as India cracks down on crypto platforms.The planned inspection will be the first of its kind since the country introduced tougher rules against illegal trading of virtual assets in July under the new Virtual Asset Users Protection Act, which enabled maximum punishment of life imprisonment for those who gain more than 5 billion won ($3.7 million) through illegal transactions.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will inspect two South Korean won-based cryptocurrency exchanges, considering what it called "unusual cases" detected in earlier reviews, reports Yonhap news agency.There are said to be a total of four Korean won-based exchanges in the country.In addition, three more cryptocurrency exchanges and one cryptocurrency wallet provider will come under the planned inspection, as well as any other exchanges when and if any problems or complaints are filed against them, the FSS added.The inspection will check...

Read More........ → September 19, 2024

Telegram CEO Durov released on bail, but formally put under investigation

Paris, (IANS): Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, was released after paying a five-million-euro (about $5.6 million) bail, but he is required to report to the police twice a week, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.Durov is officially placed under investigation on six charges and he was prohibited from leaving France during the investigation, Beccuau added on Wednesday night as reported by Xinhua news agency.Durov was arrested by French Police at an airport outside Paris on Saturday night.Beccuau said on Monday that the Telegram founder is accused of 12 criminal offences, including failing to act against Telegram users involved in cyberbullying, sharing pedophilic content and glorifying terrorism.He added the arrest "comes in the context of a judicial investigation opened on July 8, 2024".It also concerns "refusal to communicate, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions allowed by law," the Paris prosecutor said.In response to the arrest, the Telegram group...

Read More........ → August 30, 2024

N Korea stole $300m in crypto to fund nukes: UN report

A confidential UN report claimed that North Korea has stolen more than $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies through cyberattacks in recent months to support its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. -Reports AFPCompiled by a panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, the report said the country’s “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million”, citing a UN member state. Financial institutions and exchanges were hacked to generate revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development, said the report, which was seen by AFP. The vast majority of the proceeds came from two thefts late last year. The North is known to operate an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who have attacked firms, institutions and researchers in South Korea and elsewhere. It has also been accused of exploiting its cyber capabilities for financial gain. The North is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress...

Read More........ → February 10, 2021

Mexico`s ex-governor shot dead in restaurant’s toilet

Aristoteles Sandoval, the former governor of Mexico’s troubled western state of Jalisco was shot dead in a restaurant bathroom in the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta on Friday.State attorney general Gerardo Octavio Solis said that Sandoval was dining with four others when at around 1:40 am he got up from the table and went to the toilet, where the killer shot him in the back. Although only one gunman fired at Sandoval, he may have been accompanied by as many as nine accomplices who waited outside the restaurant, Solis said. Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Sandoval did not die immediately, but when his bodyguards tried to evacuate him from the restaurant, their escape was blocked by more gunmen in the street outside, who opened fire, seriously injuring one of the bodyguards. The former governor died soon afterwards at a local hospital. According to officials, Sandoval had 15 police bodyguards assigned to him as well as bulletproof vehicles. Two of the bodyguards were present but were outside the restaurant when the attack took place. Solis said that...

Read More........ → December 20, 2020

Gunmen attack in Naigeria school, hundreds missing

Hundreds of students feared missing after unidentified gunmen attacked a secondary school in north-western Nigeria on Friday evening.No student was injured in the attack, said authority.Witnesses said that the attackers targeted the Government Science Secondary School - where more than 800 students are said to reside - in Katsina state on Friday evening.On Saturday, the military said it had located the gunmen's hideout in a forest and exchanged gunfire with them.The outcome was unclear but officials said there were no reports of students being injured. However, witnesses said they saw a number of students being taken away by the gunmen.In a statement on Saturday, police said that during an exchange of fire, some of the gunmen were forced to retreat. Students were able to scale the fence of the school and run to safety, they said.About 200 students who had fled - and were initially deemed missing - later returned. One police officer was taken to hospital after being shot and wounded, police said. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.co...

Read More........ → December 15, 2020

NZ sex worker wins major payout in sexual harassment case

A New Zealand sex worker will receive a six-figure payout after filing a sexual harassment case against a business owner.The sum is part of a settlement to compensate the woman for "emotional harm and lost earnings", said the human rights body that represented her.The case served as a reminder that all workers have the right to freedom from sexual harassment at work, it added.New Zealand passed a law decriminalizing sex work in 2003.The details of the proceedings, including the identities of those involved, is confidential.But the settlement announced on Monday was viewed as an important milestone for sex workers' rights."It's great to see a settlement of this type has been awarded in the context of sex work to a sex worker," Dame Catherine Healy, national coordinator of the New Zealand Sex Workers Collective, told the BBC."It takes courage to stand up in the workplace, any workplace," she added, saying it was a "wake-up call" for businesses.Healy was at the forefront of a long campaign to decriminalise sex work in New Zealand, arguing that it would make the profession safer.Her collective...

Read More........ → December 15, 2020

Biden’s son Hunter under federal tax investigation

Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden who won the US presidential election, and a frequent target of Republican attacks, said Wednesday he was under federal investigation about his taxes, reports BBC.The revelation about the probe included no details, but it promises to rekindle Republican rage about the Biden family, including Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the elder Biden’s anti-corruption push in Ukraine when he was US vice president.I learned yesterday for the first time that the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs, Hunter Biden said in a statement released by his father’s presidential transition team.I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors, he added.It also presents a series of thorny issues during the president-elect’s transition into the White House in just over one month’s time, including the possibility...

Read More........ → December 10, 2020

800-page report shows how Tarrant eluded detection

New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Tuesday submitted a comprehensive report into last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers were killed.The nearly 800-page Royal Commission of Inquiry report shows that the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, kept a low profile and told nobody of his plans.It concludes that despite the shortcomings of various agencies, there were no clear signs the attack was imminent aside from the manifesto Tarrant sent out just eight minutes before he began shooting, which came too late for agencies to respond.But the report does detail failings in the police system for vetting gun licenses and says that New Zealand’s intelligence agencies were too alert on the threat posed by Islamic extremism at the expense of other threats.Among 44 recommendations, the report says the government should establish a new national intelligence agency.In 2019, 51 Muslims were killed in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch by a man named Brenton Tarrant.In August, the 30-year-old Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole...

Read More........ → December 08, 2020

Facebook chief Zuckerberg braces for civil unrest

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday warned of the potential for civil unrest as votes are tallied in a US election that will be “a test” for the social network.Zuckerberg expressed his concern while describing safeguards against misinformation and voter suppression at the leading social network that are intended to avoid the kinds of deception and abuse that played out four years ago.“I’m worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or weeks to be finalized there is a risk of civil unrest,” said Zuckerberg, who had also been grilled during a session on Capitol Hill earlier this week.“Given this, companies like ours need to go well beyond what we’ve done before.”Confusion early this week over political ads at Facebook marred the onset of what was supposed to be a cooling-off period ahead of the US presidential election on November 3.Rival parties complained Facebook was undermining campaign efforts after blunders arose around a ban on new paid political ads being published in the week before Election Day.“We’re investigating the issues of...

Read More........ → December 08, 2020

आदर्श क्रेडिट कोआपरेटिव की 1500 करोड़ की संपत्ति जब्त, जनता का पैसा रिश्तेदारों को डायवर्ट

आदर्श समूह मुकेश मोदी वीरेंद्र मोदी व उनके परिवार तथा महेंद्र टांक व सौरभ टांक के रिद्धि सिद्धी समूह व अन्य आरोपितों का है। नई दिल्ली, प्रेट्र। प्रवर्तन निदेशालय (ईडी) ने आदर्श क्रेडिट कोआपरेटिव सोसायटी लि. (Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society Limited) की 1489 करोड़ रुपये की संपत्ति सोमवार को जब्त कर ली। इसमें 1464.76 करोड़ की अचल संपत्तियां व बैंक में जमा 24.44 करोड़ रुपये शामिल हैं। जनता के जमा धन के गबन के आरोप में ईडी ने यह कदम उठाया है। मोदी व टांक का है ग्रुप आदर्श समूह मुकेश मोदी, वीरेंद्र मोदी व उनके परिवार तथा महेंद्र टांक व सौरभ टांक के रिद्धि सिद्धी समूह व अन्य आरोपितों का है। ईडी द्वारा जब्त की गई संपत्तियां राजस्थान, हरियाणा, नई दिल्ली, गुजरात, महाराष्ट्र व उप्र में हैं। मनी लांड्रिंग के अपराध से संबंधित होने के कारण मनी लांड्रिंग रोकथाम अधिनियम (पीएमएलए) 2002 के तहत इन्हें फिलहाल अस्थाई रूप से जब्त किया गया है। भारी मात्रा में फंड डायवर्ट किया गया निवेशकों का आरोप था कि आदर्श क्रेडिट कोऑपरेटिव सोसाइटी लिमिटेड में समय पूरा होने के बाद भी पैसे वापस नहीं लौटाया गया। ईडी की जांच में सामने आया कि मुकेश के परिवार और रिश्तेदारों की कंपनियों में वेतन, प्रोत्साहन और कमीशन के माध्यम...

Read More........ → December 08, 2020

Can death penalty end Bangladesh’s rape culture?

 Protests in Bangladesh erupted after a video of a group of men attacking, stripping, and sexually assaulting a woman went viral. Protesters have demanded harsher punishments, faster trials, and an end to what they see as a culture of impunity for sex crimes in Bangladesh. After the nation-wide protests in October, the country has been divided into groups of people, one group demanding death penalty for rape accused and the other demanding reform of the law in some other aspects, for example, the definition of rape and questioning the character of a rape victim during trial. Amendment to allow death penalty in rape casesFollowing the protest, the Bangladesh government has amended the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, making the death sentence the highest punishment for committing rape. A Bangladeshi court issued the death penalty for the first time to five convicts in a rape case after two days the country amended the law to include a death provision. It is not clear whether the verdict was declared under the amended law or any previous law. Experts...

Read More........ → December 07, 2020

आदर्श क्रेडिट: तोमर ने कहा सरकार निवेशकों के पैसे वापस करने के लिए प्रयास कर रही है।

.सहकारिता आदर्श क्रेडिट कोऑपरेटिव सोसाइटी के मुद्दे पर अपनी लंबी चुप्पी को तोड़ते हुए, केंद्रीय कृषि मंत्री नरेंद्र सिंह तोमर ने कहा कि केंद्र सरकार समाज के असहाय निवेशकों के पैसे वापस करने के लिए प्रयास कर रही है। Adarsh Creditतोमर ने हाल ही में वीडियो कॉन्फ्रेंसिंग के जरिए आयोजित हिंदी अखबार पत्रिका के कार्यक्रम को संबोधित करते हुए कहा।केंद्रीय कृषि मंत्री ने कहा, “Adarsh Credit सहकारी समिति परिसमापन में चली गई है। ऐसी परिस्थितियों में जब परिसमापक नियुक्त किए जाते हैं तो वे नियम और विनियमों के अनुसार काम करते हैं। सभी को आश्वस्त किया जाना चाहिए कि उनका पैसा वापस मिल जाएगा। उन्होंने कहा कि केंद्र सभी हितधारकों को पैसा लौटाने की कोशिश कर रहा है।इस सवाल का जवाब देते हुए कि सरकार आदर्श क्रेडिट कोऑपरेटिव सोसाइटी के निवेशकों को राहत क्यों नहीं दे रही है, तोमर ने कहा, “एक सरकार अपने दम पर नहीं चलती है, सरकार कानून से चलती है। जब ऐसी स्थिति उत्पन्न होती है तो एक समाज में प्रशासकों की नियुक्ति की जाती है। सरकार इस मामले पर नजर रख रही है और निवेशकों के पैसे वापस करने का प्रयास किया जाएगा।आदर्श क्रेडिट पीड़ितों ने पीएम मोदी सहित सभी को याचिका दी हैइससे पहले, भारतीय सहकारिता ने इन स्तंभों में...

Read More........ → December 01, 2020

Roshni Scam list made public sheds more light on Gupkar Alliance

The Rs25,000 crore Roshni Scam list made public by the J&K administration today includes the names of top politicians in the Gupkar Alliance, bureaucrats and businessmen who allegedly encroached upon public land.The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has already registered 3 FIRs in the murky land scam. The central probe agency has registered the fourth case in the matter which will be probing the role of senior state leaders in the multi-crore land grab case. The CBI investigation followed a Jammu and Kashmir High Court judgement declaring the controversial Roshni Act “unconstitutional” and directing that investigation into the land allotment scheme under it be transferred to the CBI.CBI took over the Rs25,000 crore J&K land scam case earlier this month.The CAG report estimated that against the targeted Rs25,000 crore, only Rs76 crore had been realised from the transfer of land into private ownership, IANS reported."While purchasing 3 Kanal of land in 1998, Farooq Abdullah encroached upon 7 Kanal land, which was forest land and state land. There was a conscious land...

Read More........ → December 01, 2020

NIA raids 5 locations in Baramulla in connection with ex-DySP Davinder Singh case

5 locations in Baramulla in connection with ex-DySP Davinder Singh case SEP 22, 2020 SRINAGAR: The NIA carried out searches at five places in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday in connection with a case related to arrested Deputy Superintendent of J&K Police Devender Singh, officials said. The agency swooped on these locations in the morning, they added. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had filed a chargesheet against Singh and others in July for alleged terror activities in the country. Copyright © Jammu Links News  Source: Jammu Links Ne...

Read More........ → September 22, 2020

Interpol issues global arrest warrant against Nirav Modi's wife in PNB fraud case

AUG 25, 2020 NEW DELHI: An Interpol global arrest warrant has been issued against Ami Modi, wife of prime accused in the over USD 2 billion PNB bank fraud case Nirav Modi, on charges of money laundering, officials said on Tuesday. They said the ''red notice'' has been issued by the global police body on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Once such a notice issued against a fugitive, the Interpol asks its 192-member countries to arrest or detain the person if spotted in their countries after which extradition or deportation proceedings can begin. Ami Modi is stated to have left country soon after the alleged bank fraud case came into light in 2018. The ED has charged Ami Modi for conspiring and money laundering with her husband and jeweller Nirav Modi apart from his uncle Mehul Choksi and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Nirav Modi (49), is currently lodged in a UK jail after being arrested in London in March, 2019 and is currently fighting extradition to India. He has been declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai court early this...

Read More........ → August 25, 2020

Pakistan confirms putting Dawood Ibrahim's name in new terror sanctions list

AUG 23, 2020 ISLAMABAD: Days after including India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim on its new sanctions list, Pakistan on Sunday tried to wriggle out of its admission on his presence in the country by claiming that its notifications about the 88 banned terror groups and their leaders were based on the details provided by the UN. Seeking to escape from getting blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, Pakistan on Friday imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Ibrahim, 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar. The Pakistan government ordered the seizure of all movable and immovable properties of these outfits and individuals, and freezing of their bank accounts. Underworld don Ibrahim, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, has emerged as India''s most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bombings. In 2003, the US declared Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global...

Read More........ → August 21, 2020

Malaysia’s ex-finance minister Lim Guan charged with bribery

Lim Guan Eng, former finance minister of Malaysia, was charged with corruption over a $1.5 billion construction project; Photo: AFP Lim Guan Eng, former finance minister of Malaysia, was charged with corruption over a $1.5 billion construction project on Friday, the latest government critic to be targeted since a scandal-plagued party returned to power, news agency AFP reported. The case centers on a 6.3 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) project to build an undersea tunnel in the northern state of Penang, which Lim led as chief minister from 2008 to 2018. Earlier, Lim Guan Eng, who is also the leader of the opposition group the Democratic Action Party (DAP), was arrested on Thursday in connection with the allegations, however, pleaded not guilty to one count of soliciting a bribe from a businessman in exchange for his company being appointed for the project. “This is a baseless allegation and it’s politically motivated to destroy and tarnish my reputation as well as, of course, my effort to execute my role as an opposition parliamentarian,” he told reporters after he...

Read More........ → August 13, 2020

Order CBI investigation in Sushant's death case, late actor's father requests Nitish Kumar

PATNA: KK Singh, father of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, on Tuesday requested Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation in the case related to the actor's death. Singh spoke to the Bihar CM today and put forth his request for the CBI to investigate the matter. His request comes as an official of the Bihar Police, Patna (Central) Superintendent of Police (SP) Vinay Tiwari was home quarantined in Mumbai, where he had gone to take part in investigations, by the Brihannmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) staff. Earlier, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan had also requested the Bihar CM to transfer the case to CBI without further delay. Paswan said that LJP leaders, related to the late actor, had informed him that on August 5 the Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking transfer of the case from Bihar to Mumbai. "They said that the opportunity to transfer the case filed in Bihar to CBI is with you today. Because today both Bihar and Maharashtra police are investigating the case, but if the probe is handed over to the Maharashtra...

Read More........ → August 05, 2020

Korea punishes TikTok for data mishandling

In this file photo illustration, the logo of social media application TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone, in Arlington, Virginia. TikTok has been caught up in the escalating dispute between the United States and China, with the Chinese-owned firm accused of acting as a surveillance tool for Beijing, an allegation it denies. AFP-Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul: The country's top telecom regulator fined Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok 186 million won ($155,000) over the app operator's mismanagement of user data, with the regulator chief Han Sang-hyuck calling it a "problematic company." The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said Wednesday the regulator's decision to impose the fine was based on its thorough internal investigation that uncovered TikTok's violation of local telecommunication laws. "The KCC can confirm TikTok didn't get parental consent when collecting personal data for users younger than 14. Plus, TikTok didn't notify its users of its overseas transfer of personal data. While TikTok had promised children under the age of 14 wouldn't be able to...

Read More........ → July 17, 2020

'My Son Should Be Killed, He Deserves Strict Punishment': Mother Of Criminal Who Killed 8 Cops In Kanpur

"He should surrender himself before the police. If he continues to remain at large, police may kill him in the encounter. I say kill him even if you (police) manage to catch him. Strict punishment should be given to him," said Sarla Devi.  The mother of notorious criminal Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case in which eight policemen including a DSP were killed, has said that police should kill her son even if they manage to arrest him. NDTV reported that while talking to ANI, she said that her son deserves strict punishment. "He should surrender himself before the police. If he continues to remain at large, police may kill him in the encounter. I say kill him even if you (police) manage to catch him. Strict punishment should be given to him," said Sarla Devi. "By killing innocent policemen, he has done a very bad thing. I saw the news of the encounter on TV. I want he should come out and surrender to police for his betterment, otherwise, police will find him anyway. I am saying nab him and then do encounter. He must be punished," she added. Advertisement...

Read More........ → July 05, 2020