A whopping Rs 62,476 crore has been "illegally" transferred by smartphone maker Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India, the Enforcement Directorate said, as it claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.

This money is almost half of Vivo's turnover of Rs 1,25,185 crore, it said without stating the time period of the transaction.

The crackdown on the leading Chinese company came after the federal probe agency found that three Chinese nationals, all of whom "left" India during 2018-21, and one other person from that country incorporated as many as 23 companies in India in which they were also helped by a Chartered Accountant, Nitin Garg.

Among the foreigners, one identified as Bin Lou was an ex-director of Vivo and, according to the ED, he left India in April 2018. Two others -- Zhengshen Ou and Zhang Jie -- left the country in 2021, it said.

The action is being seen as part of the Union government's steps to tighten checks on Chinese entities and the continued crackdown on such firms and their linked Indian operatives that are allegedly indulging in serious financial crimes like money laundering and tax evasion while operating here.

The stepped-up action against the Chinese-backed companies or entities operating in India comes in the backdrop of the military stand-off between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that has been ongoing for more than two years now.

The statement came after the ED raided 48 locations of Vivo Mobiles India Pvt. Ltd. and its associated companies across the country on July 5.

Recently, Indian intelligence agencies found that the data of domestic customers was being "illegally" transferred by Chinese companies to servers kept in that country. The ED also said that post the raids, it seized funds worth Rs 465 crore kept in 119 bank accounts by various entities involved in the case, Rs 73 lakh cash and 2 kg gold bars.

The agency filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the ED equivalent of a police FIR, on February 3 after studying a Delhi Police FIR (registered at Kalkaji police station) of December last year against an associated company of Vivo, Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), its directors, shareholders and some others professionals.

It said Vivo Mobiles Pvt Ltd was incorporated on August 1, 2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company.

The ED identified the other 22 companies as: Rui Chuang Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ahmedabad), V Dream Technology & Communication Pvt Ltd (Hyderabad), Regenvo Mobile Pvt Ltd (Lucknow), Fangs Technology Pvt Ltd (Chennai), Weiwo Communication Pvt Ltd (Bangalore), Bubugao Communication Pvt Ltd (Jaipur), Haicheng Mobile (India) Pvt Ltd (Delhi), Joinmay Mumbai Electronics Pvt. Ltd (Mumbai), Yingjia Communication Pvt Ltd (Kolkata) and Jie Lian Mobile India Pvt. Ltd. (Indore).

Private non-life insurer SBI General Insurance on July  7 said it has appointed Paritosh Tripathi as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 5.

He succeeds P C Kandpal, who has been posted as Deputy Managing Director (DMD)-(P&RE) at the Corporate Center, State Bank of India (SBI).

Tripathi has over 32 years of banking experience and has worked in various departments including MSME, mid-corporate segment, international banking and bancassurance.

Before joining SBI General Insurance, he was general manager of operations, internal banking group with SBI and was also on the board of Sterling Bank, Nigeria and SBI Canada.

From 2017 to 2020, he was head - bancassurance, firstly with SBI Mutual Fund and then with SBI General Insurance.

He was the CEO of SBI DIFC branch in Dubai.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar produced solid all-round performances as Indian women cantered to a 39-run victory over a clueless Sri Lanka in the final ODI on july 7 to complete a 3-0 rout.

Harmanpreet (75 off 88 balls and 1/21 in 5 overs) and Vastrakar (56 not out off 65 balls, and 2/32) first bailed the team out with a 97-run seventh-wicket stand that ensured a decent total of 255 for 9 for the visitors.

The bowlers then executed the plans perfectly to shot out the hosts for 216 in 47.3 overs with both Harmanpreet and Vastrakar chipping in with crucial breakthroughs.

With this series win, the Indian women clinched their fourth consecutive bilateral series victory against the island nation.

The women's side had earlier won ODI series in 2013, 2015, and 2018.

India  has announced a 215-member athlete contingent across 16 disciplines for the Commonwealth Games beginning on July 28 in Birmingham.

On the sidelines of the send off-ceremony for the CWG bound athletes, IOA acting president Anil Khanna called it a 'gender-neutral contingent' with 108 men and 107 women being part of the touring party.

The overall contingent count stands at 322 including 72 team officials, 26 extra officials, nine contingent staff, including three general managers.

Discipline-wise, the biggest contingent is of athletics and hockey (36 entries each).

India will also take part in women's cricket, which is making its CWG debut, aquatics, badminton, table tennis, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon, wrestling, weightlifting, lawn bowls, squash, judo and para sports.

India has only won 28 medals in athletics in CWG history but world championship medal-winning long jumper Anju Bobby George is expecting a rich haul of at least seven medals this time with Neeraj Chopra expected to win gold in javelin.

Chopra is also likely to be India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.

Rajesh Bhandari appointed chef de mission after Onkar Singh's withdrawal

Bibhu Kalyan Nayak has been appointed doctor.

Cash rewards announced for CWG medallists

Mehta also announced that IOA will be rewarding CWG gold medallist with Rs 20 lakh, Rs 10 lakh for silver and Rs 7.5 lakh for bronze winner.

Q1. How many Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) are currently working in the country ?

1. 33
2.  43
3. 54
4. 72
5.  None of These

Q2. India-born Gita Gopinath became the first woman and second Indian to feature on the 'wall of former chief economists' of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The first Indian to achieve the honour was

1. Montek Singh Ahluwalia
2. Manmohan Singh
3. Raghuram Rajan
4. Urjit Patel
5. None of These

Q3. Boris Johnson has  resigned as Prime Minister of Britain  and leader of

1. Labour Party
2. Conservative Party
3. Liberal Democrats
4.  Sinn Féin
5.  None of These

Q4. Name the town in Manipur where nearly 3,000 Tamils live ?

1. Jiribam
2. Kakching
3. Kamjong
4. Moreh
5. None of These

Q5. The Commonwealth Games 2022 will  begin on July 28 in

1. Birmingham
2. Victoria
3. Wellington
4. Canberra
5. None of These

Answers

1-------------------2   43

2-------------------3    Raghuram Rajan

3-------------------2    Conservative Party

4------------------4    Moreh

They and their forefathers had migrated to the town from Yangon in Myanmar in the 1960s.

5-------------------1    Birmingham

President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignations of Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh with immediate effect.

Minority Affairs Minister Naqvi and Steel Minister Singh submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on july 6 , a day before the completion of their Rajya Sabha term.

As advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Smriti Zubin Irani, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in addition to her existing portfolio.

Legendary athlete P T Usha and music maestro Ilaiyaraaja were among prominent personalties nominated to Rajya Sabha on july 6.

Philanthropist and administrator of the Dharmasthala temple Veerendra Heggade and noted screen writer V Vijayendra Prasad were also nominated to the Upper House of Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha had vacancies in the nominated category.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on july 6 nominated Rajan Vichare as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replacing MP Bhavana Gawali, party leader Sanjay Raut said.

Raut is the Leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.