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“Refined Way Of Hawala Business”: Top Court On Trading In Bitcoin In India

“Refined Way Of Hawala Business”: Top Court On Trading In Bitcoin In India

by | May 5, 2025 | top-stories




New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday said trading in Bitcoin in India is like “dealing with a refined way of Hawala business” as it lamented that the Centre has till now not come out with a clear regime on regulating virtual currency.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while dealing with a bail application of Shailesh Babulal Bhatt who was arrested by the police for alleged illegal Bitcoin trade.

The bench said that two years back while dealing with a case related to Bitcoin trade it had asked the Centre to apprise the court about the policy regime on the trade of virtual currency but till now it has not received any response.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Bhatt, submitted that trading in Bitcoin is not illegal in India after the top court quashed a circular of the Reserve Bank of India and therefore his client was wrongly arrested.

Justice Surya Kant told Rohatgi that though he personally does not understand much about Bitcoin, but the court has been telling the Centre that if there is a regulatory regime, there will not be any problem.

“All I understand is that there are some genuine Bitcoin and some are fake Bitcoin,” Justice Surya Jant said and told Rohatgi, “You see, trading in Bitcoin in India is like dealing with a refined way of Hawala business. There are no regulations at present.” Rohatgi said that Bitcoin has enormous value and one can walk into a showroom in a foreign country with just one bitcoin and buy a car.

“I checked on Sunday, the value of one Bitcoin was Rs 82 lakh,” Rohatgi said, adding that he too does not understand much about the trade.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Gujarat government and the Enforcement Directorate, said that they would like to file a detailed counter to the bail application as it was not about the bitcoin trade alone.

The top court gave 10 days to the state and the ED to file its response and listed it for hearing on May 19.

Bhatt has claimed that he was arrested by the police on August 14, last year and since then he has been in custody. He had challenged the February 25 order of the Gujarat High Court denying him bail in the case.

In January last year, the Centre informed the top court that it was yet to take a decision on a mechanism to regulate cryptocurrencies and effectively investigate related offences.

On February 25, 2022, the top court asked the Centre to make its stand clear on whether cryptocurrency trade involving bitcoin or any other such currencies is legal in India or not.

The top court was dealing with a case related to the quashing of multiple FIRs registered against an individual for allegedly duping investors across India by inducing them to trade in Bitcoin and assuring them of high returns.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)




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Wife Of Navy Officer Killed In Pahalgam Trolled, Women's Panel Speaks Out

Wife Of Navy Officer Killed In Pahalgam Trolled, Women's Panel Speaks Out

by | May 5, 2025 | top-stories




New Delhi:

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken note of the troll storm against Himanshi Narwal, wife of Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Coming out in support of Ms Narwal, whose remarks urging people not to be hostile towards Muslims or Kashmiris have drawn troll attacks, the women’s panel has said it is condemnable and unfortunate that she was being targeted for her opinions.

“Many citizens were killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Along with other people, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal was asked about his religion and then shot dead. The whole country is hurt and enraged by this attack. After Lieutenant Vinay Narwal’s death, the way his wife, Himanshi Narwal, is being targeted on social media for a remark is extremely condemnable and unfortunate. Targeting a woman for her opinions or trolling her about her personal life is not acceptable at all,” NCW said in a post on X.

“Any agreement or disagreement must always be expressed decently and within Constitutional boundaries. The National Commission for Women is committed to protecting every woman’s respect and dignity,” the panel said.

NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar posted on X separately that some people may not have liked Ms Narwal’s remarks, but it is not right to troll her for her opinions and target her with personal remarks.

The couple, who were married days before the terror strike, were visiting Kashmir for their honeymoon when the 26-year-old Navy officer was killed along with 26 others in cold blood.

Heartbreaking visuals of Ms Narwal sitting beside the body of her husband, her wedding chooda still on her hands, had shaken the entire nation.

The terror attack triggered angry responses on social media, with a section of people targeting Kashmiris and Muslims. In her first public remarks since the attack, Ms Narwal appealed to the nation not to be hostile towards Muslims or Kashmiris. “I want the entire country to pray for him (Vinay), that wherever he is, he has found peace. That is all I ask,” she said. “There is something else I wish to say. I see hatred growing, directed at Muslims and Kashmiris. We do not want this. We only wish for peace-nothing else,” Ms Narwal said. She also demanded that those behind the attack be brought to justice.

But the appeal for peace drew a wave of abuses directed at the young woman, whose world came crashing down days after her wedding. While some made vile remarks about her personal life, others said she must not get her husband’s pension. Amid the trolling, many people supported her and urged authorities to take note.





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Pak MP From Imran Khan's Party Shares Exit Plan In Case Of War With India

Pak MP From Imran Khan's Party Shares Exit Plan In Case Of War With India

by | May 4, 2025 | top-stories




New Delhi:

A Pakistani MP from former prime minister Imran Khan’s party has revealed his exit plan in the event of an attack by India.

Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, who is also a lawyer representing Mr Khan in legal cases, was responding to a question by a journalist when he shared his exfil strategy.

The journalist asked the MP from Pakistan’s Lakki Marwat constituency whether he would pick up a gun and go to the frontline if a war with India breaks out.

“If war breaks out, I will go to England,” Mr Marwat replied.

He is also the spokesperson of Mr Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Tension is high between India and Pakistan after terrorists with cross-border linkages killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last month.

India has banned all Pakistani visas and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, among other measures, as a response to the neighbouring country’s policy of sending terrorists to attack Indian forces and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to the Pakistani leader’s comments of fleeing to England, the BJP said Pakistani leaders and citizens do not trust their army, especially at a time when tension with India is rising.

Pakistani ministers have already booked flights to fly out their families from the country if hostilities break out, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari told news agency ANI.

“Pakistan is convinced that it neither has trust in its army nor in its defence capabilities. Pakistani ministers have booked tickets for their families to England and other countries,” Mr Bhandari said.

“There is a consensus in Pakistan that it cannot fight India’s defence capabilities. The people of Pakistan and the entire world think that under the leadership of PM Modi, India is going to give a befitting reply to Pakistan,” he said, referring to buzz that India is planning a strong response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

India launched an airstrike on a terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February 2019 after a Pakistan-linked terrorist killed 40 Indian soldiers in a suicide bomb attack in Pulwama.

In 2016, Indian special forces carried out a surgical strike against targets in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) across the Line of Control in response to the killing of 19 Indian soldiers at an Indian Army camp near Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri.







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“Trade Should Not Be A Weapon”: Warren Buffett Amid Trump's Tariff War

“Trade Should Not Be A Weapon”: Warren Buffett Amid Trump's Tariff War

by | May 3, 2025 | top-stories




Washington:

Influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that “trade should not be a weapon,” in remarks clearly targeting US President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs against countries around the world.

“There is no question that trade can be an act of war,” the renowned businessman told the annual shareholder meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate in Omaha, Nebraska.

While he did not mention Mr Trump by name, his meaning was unmistakable, and his comments came as analysts in the United States and abroad have expressed growing concern that tariffs could seriously slow global growth.

Two months ago, Mr Buffett told a CBS interviewer that tariffs “are a tax on goods” — and not a relatively painless revenue-raiser, as Trump has suggested — adding, “I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em!”

Mr Buffett, who at 94 still directs his business group, urged Washington to continue trading with the rest of the world, saying, “We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best. That’s what we did originally.”

Achieving prosperity is not a zero-sum game, with one country’s successes meaning another’s losses, he said. Both can prosper.

“I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won’t be at our expense; the more prosperous we’ll become, and the safer we’ll feel,” Mr Buffett said.

He added that it can be dangerous for one country to offend the rest of the world while claiming superiority.

“It’s a big mistake, in my view, when you have seven and a half billion people that don’t like you very well, and you got 300 million that are crowing in some way about how well they’ve done,” Mr Buffett said.

Compared to that dynamic, the financial markets’ recent gyrations are “really nothing.”

Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported first-quarter profits of $9.6 billion, down 14 percent. That works out to $4.47 per share, also down sharply.

Mr Buffett managed to transform Berkshire Hathaway from a medium-sized textile company when he bought it in the 1960s into a giant conglomerate, now valued at more than $1 trillion and with liquid assets of $300 billion.

His success, coupled with his ability to explain his thinking in clear soundbites, has made him highly influential in the business and financial communities, earning him the nickname “The Oracle of Omaha.”  

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)




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“It's Much Better Equipped”: Karan Adani On Kerala's Vizhinjam Port

“It's Much Better Equipped”: Karan Adani On Kerala's Vizhinjam Port

by | May 2, 2025 | top-stories




New Delhi:

Karan Adani, the Managing Director of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ), on Friday said Kerala’s Vizhinjam Port is “much better equipped” and said it will “enable the growth” of the country.

The Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala – India’s first mega transshipment container terminal – was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday

It has been built by the APSEZ, the country’s biggest port developer and part of the Adani Group, in partnership with the government under a public-private model. The project cost around Rs 8,900 crore and received its commercial go-ahead in December last year after a successful trial phase.

Speaking to reporters after the inauguration event, Mr Adani thanked PM Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for their support.

He also said the average cost of calling a ship to Vizhinjam Port would roughly be $40 per box.

“We have to be enablers of the growth in the country, and we do believe that whatever we are building today, it’s not enough. When we built this (port), everybody was questioning whether this would be filled up or not. Today, we are clocking almost 100 thousand moves every month,” he said.

Mr Adani said the APSEZ is targeting 90 per cent utilisation of the resources.

Speaking on the impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Mr Adani said that any disruption in trade routes “definitely impacts shipping lines and the movement of cargo”.

“In that way, some of the transhipment points actually benefit from disruptions because shipping lines will have to re-route some of the cargo. That is from a transhipment perspective. I think from a trade perspective, we are seeing that a lot of manufacturing is moving into India and the export boxes increasing from India to the US,” he added.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)




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