Kolkata ATM fraud: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee blames demonetisation

A large-scale ATM fraud was busted in Kolkata after approximately Rs 2 million were siphoned off in recent weeks. A special investigation team of Kolkata Police arrested two Romanian nationals from south Delhi in connection with the alleged fraud. So far so good. In a twist to the tale, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee indicated that the demonetisation drive of 2016 might have something to do with it. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s move that wiped off 86 per cent of the currency notes in circulation created nervousness and uncertainty among people leading to such frauds, she hinted. But the only problem is that an international gang of fraudsters has been linked to the crime and taken into custody. 

Think before you sing

Next time you lend your voice to a karaoke track, think twice before uploading it on a social media platform. The Centre is seeking legal opinion on whether a person can sing a song of another singer on a karaoke track and use it on social media. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on August 6 that a complaint had been received regarding blocking a Facebook account holder for singing and recording songs on karaoke and sharing them on a social platform. “The issue is under examination, for which legal opinion will be sought,” he said.

About dreams & hallucinations

At the height of the Aam Aadmi Party’s Lok Sabha campaign in 2014, the then national leader of the party, Yogendra Yadav, had said, “BJP and Modi are the substitute to the Congress, AAP is an alternative”. A sociologist and political scientist by profession, Yadav is known for his sharp takes on political happenings. A week ago, in a gathering of social scientists and students in Pune, he said that politics is nothing but the “selling of (false) dreams”. But a recently inducted Rajya Sabha member from the Congress, naturally very sharp about his opposition to the BJP, went a step ahead. He issued an informal correction to Yadav’s statement. “For this government and the ruling party, politics is not just selling dreams but selling hallucinations,” he quipped.