Black wealth: Paradise Papers leak has 714 Indian names

News Network
November 6, 2017

New Delhi, Nov 6: A year after the Panama Papers, a new set of data taken from another offshore law firm, Appleby, could expose the hidden wealth of individuals, including Indians, and show how corporations, hedge funds and others may have skirted taxes.

Among the 180 countries represented in the data (being dubbed Paradise Papers), India ranks 19th in terms of the number of names, a report on Indian Express website said.

In all, there are 714 Indians in the tally, it reported. Interestingly, an Indian firm figures as Appleby's second-largest client globally, with at least 118 different offshore entities, it said.

The disclosure comes two days before the NDA government marks the first anniversary of the demonetization drive on November 8, which the Centre will observe as Anti-Black Money Day.

The leaked documents also show that US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, the Trump administration's point man on trade and manufacturing policy, has a stake in a firm that does business with a gas producer partly owned by the son-in-law of Russian l President Vladimir Putin.

According to records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Ross is an investor in Navigator Holdings, a shipping giant that counts Russian gas and petrochemical producer Sibur among its major customers. Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov once owned over 20% of the company, but now holds a much smaller stake.

The latest revelations come out of an investigation led by the ICIJ, which was provided data collected in an alleged hack in 2016 of Appleby Global Group Services, a Bermuda firm providing legal services for hedge fund managers and corporations.

The leak also revealed that millions of pounds from the private estate of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II have been invested in offshore tax haven funds.

Around £10 million ($13 million, EUR11.3 million) of the Queen's private money was placed in funds held in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

The investments, which were entirely legal, were made through the Duchy of Lancaster, which provides the monarch with an income and handles investments of her vast estate and remain current, the media outlets said.

There is no suggestion that the Queen's private estate acted illegally or failed to pay any taxes due. But the leaks may raise questions over whether it is appropriate for the British head of state to invest in offshore tax havens.

Reporters working with the ICIJ, which was also behind the release of the Panama Papers, are reviewing the millions of pages of documents that reveal strategies used to hide assets and avoid taxes.

Among the individuals and companies expected to be cited in the articles are Glencore Inc and Yuri Miltner, an early backer of Facebook.

Appleby has said its data was breached and that it investigated issues raised by journalists and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

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News Network
November 21,2025

Bantwal: A domestic dispute appears to have led to a violent confrontation in BC Road area, where the owner of a textile shop was allegedly attacked with a knife by his wife on Wednesday evening.

Krishna Kumar Somayaji, the owner of Somayaji Textiles, sustained serious injuries in the incident and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. He is currently receiving care in the intensive care unit and is reported to have survived the assault, according to police.

The Bantwal Town police have registered a case against Somayaji's wife, Jyothi KT, who has since been taken into custody.

Police stated that the complainant, Namita, an employee at the shop, reported the sequence of events. She stated that around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspect entered the shop, wearing a burqa and disguised as a customer, before attacking Somayaji with a knife. The employee then transported the injured owner to a local hospital via an autorickshaw.

Superintendent of Police Arun K confirmed that an ongoing domestic dispute between Somayaji and his wife reportedly preceded the attack. Police noted that Jyothi KT had previously visited the shop and issued threats.

Based on the complaint, Bantwal Town police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Arms Act-1959. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

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News Network
November 22,2025

Udupi, Nov 22: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has officially confirmed Narendra Modi’s visit to Udupi on November 28 and shared his detailed schedule with the Karnataka chief secretary.

According to the itinerary, the Prime Minister will land at Mangaluru International Airport from Delhi at 11:05 am and depart for Udupi by helicopter at 11:10 am. He is expected to arrive at the Adi Udupi helipad at 11:35 am.

The earlier plan for a roadshow has been cancelled. Instead, PM Modi will proceed directly to Sri Krishna Math at 12 pm, where he will have darshan of Sri Krishna and address participants of the Laksha Kanta Geetha Gayana event.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to depart from the Adi Udupi helipad at 1:35 pm, returning to Mangaluru Airport before leaving for Goa at 2 pm.

The state administration has been directed to make all necessary arrangements for the visit.

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News Network
November 22,2025

gaza.jpg

The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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