"Historic Step To Unite Opposition": Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar Meet

JDU president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, RJD's Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha and Congress leader Salman Khursheed were present at the meeting too.

"Historic Step To Unite Opposition": Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar Meet

New Delhi: In another attempt to stitch together a united Opposition front ahead of the 2024 general election, top leaders of the Congress, Janata Dal (United) (JDU) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) met in Delhi today to explore the possibility of putting up a united fight against the ruling BJP.

The meeting was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Bihar Chief Minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar, and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister and RJD chairperson Tejashwi Yadav. JDU president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, RJD's Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha and Congress leader Salman Khursheed were present at the meeting too.

Addressing the media, Mr Kharge said it was a "historic meeting" and that they aim to unite all opposition parties for the upcoming polls.

Mr Gandhi said a "historic step" had been taken to unite Opposition parties. "It is a process, it will develop the Opposition's vision for the country," he said.

The Bihar Chief Minister, who is visiting Delhi, said the attempt is to unite as many parties as possible and work together. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Kumar called on RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is recovering at his daughter Misa Bharti's residence.

The Congress president tweeted from his official handle that the Opposition leaders had pledged to raise the people's voice and provide new direction to the country. "We will protect the Constitution and save the country," he tweeted in Hindi. Mr Kharge has also spoken to DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier.

As the 2024 Lok Sabha election draws closer, Opposition parties have been exploring new equations to take on the incumbent BJP.

However, while some parties have cleared their stand on the question of joining a front, others have sent out mixed signals.

The Trinamool Congress, for example, had initially announced that it would contest the Lok Sabha polls alone. Party chief and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had made the remark after her party lost a by-election. The Trinamool had alleged that the defeat was a result of an understanding between the Left, the Congress and the BJP.

However, the party appeared to be changing its stand after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP following his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. Soon after, Ms Banerjee called upon Opposition parties to unite and throw the BJP out of power.

Another key Opposition force that is yet to make clear its stand on joining any front is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The party recently got national status and is in power in Delhi and Punjab. Speaking to the media earlier this month, party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said people's unity, not Opposition unity, was important. He also said that if parties say they have come together to defeat someone, people don't like that.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi, led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has made moves for the Opposition front but does not want Congress in it.

Two Indian-Origin Start-Up Executives Convicted Of $1 Billion Fraud In US

Following a 10-week-long trial, jurors on Tuesday found health technology company Outcome Health co-founder and former CEO Rishi Shah and former president Shradha Agarwal guilty.

Rishi Shah, 37, was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. (File)

New York: Two Indian-origin executives of a Chicago-based start-up have been convicted by a federal jury in the US of running a USD 1 billion corporate fraud scheme that targeted the company's clients, lenders and investors.

Following a 10-week-long trial, jurors on Tuesday found health technology company Outcome Health co-founder and former CEO Rishi Shah guilty on 19 of 22 counts, co-founder and former president Shradha Agarwal guilty on 15 of 17 counts and former chief operating officer Brad Purdy guilty on 13 of 15 counts.

Shah, 37, was convicted of five counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Agarwal, 37, was convicted of five counts of mail fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, and two counts of bank fraud, while Purdy, 33, was convicted of five counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of false statements to a financial institution.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud and 20-year imprisonment for each count of wire fraud and mail fraud.

Shah faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

A statement issued by the Justice Department said on Tuesday that the company installed television screens and tablets in doctors' offices around the US and then sold advertising space on those devices to clients, most of whom were pharmaceutical companies.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy sold advertising inventory the company did not have to Outcome's clients, then under-delivered on its advertising campaigns.

Despite these under-deliveries, the company still invoiced its clients as if it had delivered in full.

Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy lied or caused others to lie to conceal the under-deliveries from clients and make it appear as if the company was delivering advertising content to the number of screens in the clients' contracts.

Purdy and others at the company also inflated metrics that purported to show how frequently patients engaged with the company's tablets installed in doctors' offices.

According to the trial evidence, the scheme targeting the company's clients began in 2011, lasted until 2017, and resulted in at least USD 45 million of overbilled advertising services.

Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy were also convicted of defrauding the company's lenders and investors.

The under-delivery to the company's advertising clients resulted in a material overstatement of the company's revenue for the years 2015 and 2016.

Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy used inflated revenue figures in the company's 2015 and 2016 audited financial statements to raise USD 110 million in debt financing in April 2016, USD 375 million in debt financing in December 2016, and USD 487.5 million in equity financing in early 2017.

The trio lied to investors and lenders to conceal their ongoing under-delivery of advertising campaigns for clients.

The USD 110 million debt financing resulted in a USD 30.2 million dividend to Shah and a USD 7.5 million dividend to Agarwal; the USD 487.5 million in equity financing resulted in a USD 225 million dividend to Shah and Agarwal.

The verdict represented a stunning fall for the three who were once young stars of Chicago's tech scene. And it may have implications for others in the tech community, with parts of the case focusing on the line between startups' typical growing pains and fraud, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Shah said in a statement: “Today's verdict deeply saddens Mr. Shah, and he will exhaust every avenue to overturn this result”.

Theodore Poulos, an attorney for Purdy said in a statement: “We are profoundly disappointed with the jury's verdict in this complex and nuanced case, particularly given the plethora of evidence adduced at trial, which showed that certain critical information was intentionally withheld from Brad Purdy." Lawyers for Agarwal declined to comment on Tuesday, the report said.

Three other former employees of Outcome pleaded guilty prior to trial. Ashik Desai, the former chief growth officer pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Kathryn Choi, a former senior analyst, and Oliver Han, a former analyst, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Desai, Choi, and Han will be sentenced at a later date.

Will Concentrate On Women Voters: BJP Women's Wing Chief On Karnataka Polls

BJP on Tuesday released the first list of candidates for 189 seats out of 224 seats for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections with 52 new candidates getting tickets.

"In all government schemes, more than 50 per cent of beneficiaries were women".

Bengaluru: Ahead of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha president Vanathi Srinivasan today said the party will ensure that not a single woman is left behind without supporting the BJP.

"Being the Mahila Morcha, we will concentrate on women voters. A big shift has been taken in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and Gujarat and the confidence that women show to BJP is across the nation. We want to capture that support. We want to ensure that no single women supporter is left behind without extending support to BJP," Ms Srinivasan told ANI.

"In all government schemes, more than 50 per cent of beneficiaries were women. We uploaded 1 crore selfies with all the women beneficiaries and uploaded them on the NaMo app. In Karnataka, we will club the central scheme with state schemes," she added.

BJP on Tuesday released the first list of candidates for 189 seats out of 224 seats for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections with 52 new candidates getting tickets.

While addressing the press conference BJP's national general secretary Arun Singh said, "52 new faces, eight women, nine doctors, five lawyers, one retired IPS officer, three retired government employees and eight social activists have been given tickets.

He further mentioned that BY Vijendran who is the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has also been given the ticket.

The party fielded former Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao from the Chamrajpet constituency. BJP national general secretary CT Ravi will contest from the Chikmagalur constituency.

State Ministers - Shashikala Jolai, R Ashok, Prabho Chauhan, Shankar Muniyakappa, Muniratna, ST Somashekar, VC Patil, Varity Vasuraj, Murgesh Nirani, CC Patil, Sunil Kumar, Shivram Hebbar have been given tickets.

State Assembly Speaker Vishwaser Hegde has been given the ticket.

"V Somanna MLA from Govindraj Nagar has been given a ticket from Chamaraj Nagar and Varuna Assembly. It will directly challenge Congress leader Siddaramaiah," he added.

In this list, tickets have been given to Lingayat-51, Vokkalinga-41, Kurba-7, SC-30, ST-16 and 32 from the OBC community.

Nomination filing for the state assembly elections will begin on Thursday, April 13.

Meanwhile, supporters of sitting BJP MLA from Belagavi North, Anil Benake staged a protest on Tuesday evening after he was denied a ticket in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.

Further, supporters of BJP MLA Mahadevappa Yadawad protested in Ramdurg constituency in Belagavi over the ticket being denied to him. Chikka Revana who joined the BJP recently got the ticket from the constituency.

According to BJP sources, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has started showing a rebellious attitude and has been called to Delhi.

"Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has started showing a rebellious attitude. In fact, the party's high command is not in favour of fielding him, but Shettar does not agree. He has been called to Delhi. Shettar will be asked to work for the party. It is unlikely he will get a ticket for the upcoming elections," party sources said.

BJP sources also mentioned that the wife of the late union minister Ananth Kumar will not get a ticket in the upcoming elections.

"No ticket will be given to Tejaswini Ananth Kumar but she may be given a larger role in the organisation in the time to come," sources said.