Two former Bank of China managers and their wives were handed lengthy jail terms on Wednesday for their roles in a 485-million-dollar fraud ,us justice authorities said.
The two men, Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, were convicted by a federal jury in Las Vegas last August of masterminding an elaborate plot that saw them attempt to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars.
Xu Chaofan was sentenced to 25 years in prison while Xu Guojun was handed a 22-year jail term. Both wives of the men received eight years in prison each and all four were ordered to pay 482 million dollars in restitution.
A third bank manager, Yu Zhendong, had pleaded guilty and cooperated with US government prosecutors trying the case.
During last year's trial, jurors heard how the managers laundered stolen millions through a network of accounts in Hong Kong, Canada and the United States, where they had planned to immigrate.
All five defendants were charged with a criminal conspiracy that began in 1991 and continued until October 2004 when the former bank managers and their wives were arrested.
The court heard how the former bank managers created a series of shell corporations in Hong Kong which were used to funnel the cash into personal bank and investment accounts.
Some of the money ended up on gaming tables at Las Vegas casinos, where the accused would frequently lay lavish bets of up to 80,000 dollars
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Airlines told to cite total payable fare
The asterisk on airline fare ads that could translate into many thousands payable over and above the low-sounding basic fares is set to
go.
Director general of civil aviation Nasim Zaidi has given all airlines, domestic and international, 30 days to correct their websites, systems and travel agent database so that passengers get a single all-inclusive figure of the total amount payable.
"Where the director-general is satisfied that any air transport undertaking has established excessive or predatory tariff or has indulged in oligopolistic practice, he may, by order, issue directions to such air transport undertaking," the circular says.
The new directive also states that the DGCA will keep a watch on fare levels to check overcharging and to see if certain airlines have ganged up to influence fares.
While the warning to domestic airlines for a single all-inclusive fare was issued some months back, Nasim Zaidi has now brought foreign carriers into the ambit. The timeframe of 30 days has also been communicated to all airlines.
"This rule applies to both Indian and foreign carriers. They have been given 30 days to change their systems, websites. Once this time period expires, we'll be asking them for a compliance report. Passengers must get the correct information and not be misled," Zaidi said.
The DGCA circular says airlines must clearly state the all-inclusive fares on their websites, newspapers, office and with the travel agents.
go.
Director general of civil aviation Nasim Zaidi has given all airlines, domestic and international, 30 days to correct their websites, systems and travel agent database so that passengers get a single all-inclusive figure of the total amount payable.
"Where the director-general is satisfied that any air transport undertaking has established excessive or predatory tariff or has indulged in oligopolistic practice, he may, by order, issue directions to such air transport undertaking," the circular says.
The new directive also states that the DGCA will keep a watch on fare levels to check overcharging and to see if certain airlines have ganged up to influence fares.
While the warning to domestic airlines for a single all-inclusive fare was issued some months back, Nasim Zaidi has now brought foreign carriers into the ambit. The timeframe of 30 days has also been communicated to all airlines.
"This rule applies to both Indian and foreign carriers. They have been given 30 days to change their systems, websites. Once this time period expires, we'll be asking them for a compliance report. Passengers must get the correct information and not be misled," Zaidi said.
The DGCA circular says airlines must clearly state the all-inclusive fares on their websites, newspapers, office and with the travel agents.
It's change vs change in West Bengal
and the Trinamool are both seeking change. But there's a twist. The Left wants Bengal to be the catalyst for a regime change at the Centre. And for that, the Left needs to repeat 2004 in Bengal -35 out of the 42 seats in Bengal.
"We have to bring about a change - a change in government policies," Politburo Member, CPI(M), Brinda Karat is heard saying in a public meeting.
"The slogan of the people is parivartan," says Dinesh Trivedi, Trinamool Candidate, in Barrackpore.
But the Opposition is viewing these elections as an opportunity to end the three decade-old dominance of the Left. The alliance between Trinamool and Congress is confident of securing 16 to 18 seats in these elections.
"The change is happening from the grass roots - from the Panchayat levels we have won the Nandigram bypolls, we have won Bishnupur bypolls, where they have won for 32 years," says Dinesh Trivedi.
Post-Nandigram and Singur, the Trinamool has done well at the Panchayat polls and assembly bypolls. Now, the Opposition is pitching these elections as a vote on the performance of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.
"The battle for Bengal will be in 2011 but the Trinamool and the Congress is bringing it in 2009," puts forth Brinda Karat.
But one thing is clear. Results of these elections will certainly redefine Left's role - both in national politics as well in the state
"We have to bring about a change - a change in government policies," Politburo Member, CPI(M), Brinda Karat is heard saying in a public meeting.
"The slogan of the people is parivartan," says Dinesh Trivedi, Trinamool Candidate, in Barrackpore.
But the Opposition is viewing these elections as an opportunity to end the three decade-old dominance of the Left. The alliance between Trinamool and Congress is confident of securing 16 to 18 seats in these elections.
"The change is happening from the grass roots - from the Panchayat levels we have won the Nandigram bypolls, we have won Bishnupur bypolls, where they have won for 32 years," says Dinesh Trivedi.
Post-Nandigram and Singur, the Trinamool has done well at the Panchayat polls and assembly bypolls. Now, the Opposition is pitching these elections as a vote on the performance of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.
"The battle for Bengal will be in 2011 but the Trinamool and the Congress is bringing it in 2009," puts forth Brinda Karat.
But one thing is clear. Results of these elections will certainly redefine Left's role - both in national politics as well in the state
Labourer’s daughter scripts tale of grit
Priti Maithil, 23, is living out the Indian dream. The daughter of a laid-off casual labourer at a local sugar mill in Sehore, a sleepy little town 35 km away from Bhopal, she has secured the 92nd rank in the Union Public Service Commission examinations this year and is all set to join the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
It wasn’t easy. Her father, Santosh Kumar, had lost his job in 2002 when the mill shut down. He then took to farming and ekes out a living growing wheat on seven acres he ws given by the mill management.
“We faced tough times, but my parents never let me feel deprived,” said Maithil, who likes reading, painting, debating and cooking. Relatives also chipped in — a paternal uncle supported her financially when she decided to join a coaching institute in Delhi.
A graduate in agriculture from Rafi Ahmed Kidwai College of Agriculture, Sehore, Maithil, who speaks fluent English — she studied in a local English medium school — does not subscribe to the view that the UPSC examinations are loaded in favour of those from English medium schools.
“More people from non-urban backgrounds are getting selected. That’s good, because they have a first-hand feel of the problems faced by the common man,” she said.
It wasn’t easy. Her father, Santosh Kumar, had lost his job in 2002 when the mill shut down. He then took to farming and ekes out a living growing wheat on seven acres he ws given by the mill management.
“We faced tough times, but my parents never let me feel deprived,” said Maithil, who likes reading, painting, debating and cooking. Relatives also chipped in — a paternal uncle supported her financially when she decided to join a coaching institute in Delhi.
A graduate in agriculture from Rafi Ahmed Kidwai College of Agriculture, Sehore, Maithil, who speaks fluent English — she studied in a local English medium school — does not subscribe to the view that the UPSC examinations are loaded in favour of those from English medium schools.
“More people from non-urban backgrounds are getting selected. That’s good, because they have a first-hand feel of the problems faced by the common man,” she said.
It’s a way of life
In Kadachha village like in many others in Madhya Pradesh, social discrimination has become a way of life, with Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) accepting it as a tradition to be followed.
A visit to this village in Ujjain district (adjoining Indore) — that shot into the limelight following an HT report based on the findings of NGO Jan Sahas and Unicef on caste discrimination in serving of mid-day meals and care of pregnant and postpartum Dalit women — showed how deep-rooted the malaise is.
A schoolteacher belonging to the Dalit community said on condition of anonymity fearing further victimisation, “I have experienced it all my life. We can’t mount a horse at marriage processions. We can’t celebrate in upper caste localities with drums and the like. We have to get off a cycle if an elderly person from the upper caste is close by. The list is endless.”
“But what can an individual do when the practice is accepted even by members of the reserved class. If I make a hue and cry over the issue, the elders in my own community will gag me,” he said.
Ignorant of the stigma attached to the practice, Lekha (only name mentioned), a standard V student said, “We have always been sitting in separate rows for mid-day meals. Is it bad?” When informed that it was a violation of his rights, the schoolboy said, “My father never told me this.”
The sarpanch (headman) of the village, Balaram Jaat, went to the extent of defending the discrimination. “No one tells Dalits to refrain from eating at public functions with the upper caste people or remain outside the houses of Brahmins or Rajputs. They do it on their own. They feel it is a tradition that has to be kept alive.”
Among the 900-odd people living in the village, nearly 90 per cent belong to the Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes. Some Brahmins and Rajputs also live in the village.
The localities of the upper caste and the Dalits are clearly defined.
The headman claimed that the upper caste people have been living here for generations. “How can they (upper castes) be asked to leave their traditional homes and construct houses in other localities?” He implied that as long as the upper castes live in locality, the tradition of subservience should be followed.
A visit to this village in Ujjain district (adjoining Indore) — that shot into the limelight following an HT report based on the findings of NGO Jan Sahas and Unicef on caste discrimination in serving of mid-day meals and care of pregnant and postpartum Dalit women — showed how deep-rooted the malaise is.
A schoolteacher belonging to the Dalit community said on condition of anonymity fearing further victimisation, “I have experienced it all my life. We can’t mount a horse at marriage processions. We can’t celebrate in upper caste localities with drums and the like. We have to get off a cycle if an elderly person from the upper caste is close by. The list is endless.”
“But what can an individual do when the practice is accepted even by members of the reserved class. If I make a hue and cry over the issue, the elders in my own community will gag me,” he said.
Ignorant of the stigma attached to the practice, Lekha (only name mentioned), a standard V student said, “We have always been sitting in separate rows for mid-day meals. Is it bad?” When informed that it was a violation of his rights, the schoolboy said, “My father never told me this.”
The sarpanch (headman) of the village, Balaram Jaat, went to the extent of defending the discrimination. “No one tells Dalits to refrain from eating at public functions with the upper caste people or remain outside the houses of Brahmins or Rajputs. They do it on their own. They feel it is a tradition that has to be kept alive.”
Among the 900-odd people living in the village, nearly 90 per cent belong to the Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes. Some Brahmins and Rajputs also live in the village.
The localities of the upper caste and the Dalits are clearly defined.
The headman claimed that the upper caste people have been living here for generations. “How can they (upper castes) be asked to leave their traditional homes and construct houses in other localities?” He implied that as long as the upper castes live in locality, the tradition of subservience should be followed.
Fourth phase of polling today; Congress eyeing big gains
Vote 2009 enters the penultimate round, with polling in 85 Lok Sabha seats across eight states on Thursday, in what is seen as a crucial phase for the Congress that’s eyeing big gains in Rajasthan, West Bengal and Punjab.
On its part, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be looking to cut possible losses in Rajasthan, while the Left Front battles to retain its electoral stronghold in West Bengal.
Then there is Delhi, where the Congress won six out of seven seats in 2004 and is hoping for a repeat.
In this round, Congress is defending 27 seats that it had won in 2004, followed by rival BJP that's battling to retain 25 seats, most of them in Rajasthan that's voting in one go.On the eve of polling, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she was confident that Congress would sweep Delhi. “A performing government, committed to development, is our message to the voters,” she said, referring to 1.1 crore voters in the capital city.
Across India, about 9.5 crore people are eligible to vote on Thursday, which will take the total number of seats polled to 457. The remaining 86 seats will go to the polls on May 13.
Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee (73), BJP President Rajnath Singh (57) along with regional satraps Lalu Prasad (60) of Rashriya Janata Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav (69) of Samajwadi Party and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah (72) are among the 1,315 candidates in the fray.
In this round, Congress is defending 27 seats that it had won in 2004, followed by rival BJP that's battling to retain 25 seats, most of them in Rajasthan that's voting in one go.
The BJP, pollsters say, could see some unexpected gains in western Uttar Pradesh, where 17 seats are voting.
In this region, it is also a test for Mulayam Singh whose party had won 10 seats in an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). This time the RLD has switched to BJP.
Election managers from the Congress party have high hopes from this round, which could either add a good number of seats to its total tally or offset losses elsewhere.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, Congress had only four seats from Rajasthan compared to BJP's 21. Congress' hopes to improve its tally rest on the defeat of BJP in assembly elections in the state, held in December.
There are also gains to be made in Punjab, where the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance is battling anti-incumbency.
In West Bengal — 17 out of the states' 42 seats vote on Thursday — the Left Front faces a tough fight from the Congress-Mamata Banerjee combine.
In Haryana, the Congress is on the defensive, trying to retain the nine seats out of 10 it had won last time. This time, it faces a formidable alliance of BJP and local INLD.
On its part, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be looking to cut possible losses in Rajasthan, while the Left Front battles to retain its electoral stronghold in West Bengal.
Then there is Delhi, where the Congress won six out of seven seats in 2004 and is hoping for a repeat.
In this round, Congress is defending 27 seats that it had won in 2004, followed by rival BJP that's battling to retain 25 seats, most of them in Rajasthan that's voting in one go.On the eve of polling, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she was confident that Congress would sweep Delhi. “A performing government, committed to development, is our message to the voters,” she said, referring to 1.1 crore voters in the capital city.
Across India, about 9.5 crore people are eligible to vote on Thursday, which will take the total number of seats polled to 457. The remaining 86 seats will go to the polls on May 13.
Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee (73), BJP President Rajnath Singh (57) along with regional satraps Lalu Prasad (60) of Rashriya Janata Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav (69) of Samajwadi Party and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah (72) are among the 1,315 candidates in the fray.
In this round, Congress is defending 27 seats that it had won in 2004, followed by rival BJP that's battling to retain 25 seats, most of them in Rajasthan that's voting in one go.
The BJP, pollsters say, could see some unexpected gains in western Uttar Pradesh, where 17 seats are voting.
In this region, it is also a test for Mulayam Singh whose party had won 10 seats in an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). This time the RLD has switched to BJP.
Election managers from the Congress party have high hopes from this round, which could either add a good number of seats to its total tally or offset losses elsewhere.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, Congress had only four seats from Rajasthan compared to BJP's 21. Congress' hopes to improve its tally rest on the defeat of BJP in assembly elections in the state, held in December.
There are also gains to be made in Punjab, where the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance is battling anti-incumbency.
In West Bengal — 17 out of the states' 42 seats vote on Thursday — the Left Front faces a tough fight from the Congress-Mamata Banerjee combine.
In Haryana, the Congress is on the defensive, trying to retain the nine seats out of 10 it had won last time. This time, it faces a formidable alliance of BJP and local INLD.
Ministers keep innocent on DNA database
the genetic profiles of hundreds of thousands of innocent people are to be kept on the national DNA database for up to 12 years in a decision critics claim is designed to sidestep a European human rights ruling that the "blanket" retention of suspects' data is unlawful.
The proposed new rules for the national DNA databaseto be put forward tomorrow by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, include plans to keep the DNA profiles of innocent people who are arrested but not convicted of minor offences for six years.
The proposal would also apply to children from age 10 who are arrested but never successfully prosecuted.
In cases of more serious violent and sexual crime, innocent people's genetic codes will be kept for 12 years.
It was widely expected that the DNA profiles, samples and fingerprints of 850,000 innocent people kept on the database would be destroyed in response to the ruling by the European court of human rights last December.
But the proposals fall short of those expectations and contrast sharply with the situation in Scotland, where only the DNA profiles of suspects arrested for serious violent and sexual offences are retained for a maximum of five years.
Human rights groups, and opposition politicians united tonightin expressing dismay that the Home Office had rejected that option and predicted a race to the courts to challenge the new policy.
"The government just doesn't get this," said the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling. The Liberal Democrats' Chris Huhne added: "This is an undignified rearguard action designed to give as little as possible."
Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti said: "Wholly innocent people – including children – will have their most intimate details stockpiled for years on a database that will remain massively out of step with the rest of the world."
But Home Office ministers say their proposals do comply with the landmark S and Marper judgment in Strasbourg which declared unlawful their policy of keeping all unconvicted suspects' DNA profiles indefinitely because of its "blanket and indiscriminate" nature. The police are now to be asked to spend up to two years trawling the existing 850,000 DNA profiles – the numerical digital code recording the individual's DNA – of innocent people on the database to see if any of them have a criminal record for any other offences.
The Home Office say 350,000 are known to be linked to entries on the police national computer. For the remaining 500,000 it is not yet possible to say whether their arrest led to a conviction or not and their DNA profile will be removed only once this check has been made.
The package proposed by the home secretary to meet the ruling include:
• Retaining indefinitely all DNA profiles and fingerprints of those convicted of an imprisonable offence.
• Keeping for 12 years the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of serious sexual and violent offences.
• Keeping for six years the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of minor offences.
• Removing the profiles of children when they reach 18 only if they have been arrested for only one minor offence.
• Adding the profiles of 30,000 more criminals convicted abroad or serving community sentences for serious offences.
• Destroying the genetic DNA samples held by the police once they have been converted into a DNA profile.
The home secretary said the database proposals would ensure that "the right people are on it, as well as considering where people should come off".
The Home Office estimates that even this package will mean 4,500 fewer crimes each year being detected compared with the current policy of retaining indefinitely the profiles of all those arrested.
"It is crucial that we do everything we can to protect the public by preventing crime and bringing offenders to justice. The DNA database plays a vital role in helping us do that and will help ensure that a great many criminals are behind bars where they belong," said Smith.
But Grayling said: "Ministers are just trying to get away with as little as they can instead of taking action to remove innocent people from the database." Huhne added that the number of innocent people on the database had risen to 925,000 since
excerpts from the guardian.com
The proposed new rules for the national DNA databaseto be put forward tomorrow by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, include plans to keep the DNA profiles of innocent people who are arrested but not convicted of minor offences for six years.
The proposal would also apply to children from age 10 who are arrested but never successfully prosecuted.
In cases of more serious violent and sexual crime, innocent people's genetic codes will be kept for 12 years.
It was widely expected that the DNA profiles, samples and fingerprints of 850,000 innocent people kept on the database would be destroyed in response to the ruling by the European court of human rights last December.
But the proposals fall short of those expectations and contrast sharply with the situation in Scotland, where only the DNA profiles of suspects arrested for serious violent and sexual offences are retained for a maximum of five years.
Human rights groups, and opposition politicians united tonightin expressing dismay that the Home Office had rejected that option and predicted a race to the courts to challenge the new policy.
"The government just doesn't get this," said the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling. The Liberal Democrats' Chris Huhne added: "This is an undignified rearguard action designed to give as little as possible."
Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti said: "Wholly innocent people – including children – will have their most intimate details stockpiled for years on a database that will remain massively out of step with the rest of the world."
But Home Office ministers say their proposals do comply with the landmark S and Marper judgment in Strasbourg which declared unlawful their policy of keeping all unconvicted suspects' DNA profiles indefinitely because of its "blanket and indiscriminate" nature. The police are now to be asked to spend up to two years trawling the existing 850,000 DNA profiles – the numerical digital code recording the individual's DNA – of innocent people on the database to see if any of them have a criminal record for any other offences.
The Home Office say 350,000 are known to be linked to entries on the police national computer. For the remaining 500,000 it is not yet possible to say whether their arrest led to a conviction or not and their DNA profile will be removed only once this check has been made.
The package proposed by the home secretary to meet the ruling include:
• Retaining indefinitely all DNA profiles and fingerprints of those convicted of an imprisonable offence.
• Keeping for 12 years the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of serious sexual and violent offences.
• Keeping for six years the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of minor offences.
• Removing the profiles of children when they reach 18 only if they have been arrested for only one minor offence.
• Adding the profiles of 30,000 more criminals convicted abroad or serving community sentences for serious offences.
• Destroying the genetic DNA samples held by the police once they have been converted into a DNA profile.
The home secretary said the database proposals would ensure that "the right people are on it, as well as considering where people should come off".
The Home Office estimates that even this package will mean 4,500 fewer crimes each year being detected compared with the current policy of retaining indefinitely the profiles of all those arrested.
"It is crucial that we do everything we can to protect the public by preventing crime and bringing offenders to justice. The DNA database plays a vital role in helping us do that and will help ensure that a great many criminals are behind bars where they belong," said Smith.
But Grayling said: "Ministers are just trying to get away with as little as they can instead of taking action to remove innocent people from the database." Huhne added that the number of innocent people on the database had risen to 925,000 since
excerpts from the guardian.com
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