The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at premises of Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora, his son and some others as part of a foreign exchange violation probe linked to alleged insider trading in stock markets and round-tripping of betting funds from UAE to India, officials said.

A total of 13 residential and official premises in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurugram and Chandigarh are being covered under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

This includes the residences and offices of Arora, his real estate company Hampton Sky Realty Ltd (formerly Ritesh Properties and Industries Ltd) and that of Arora’s son Kavya Arora (MD of the said realty company) in Ludhiana, the officials said.

The premises of Hemanth Sood, who runs a financial investment and stock broker company named Findoc Finvest Private Ltd., in the same city and that of Jalandhar-based businessman and alleged bookie Chandra Shekhar Aggarwal were also covered.

The ED teams are being provided security cover by the jawans of a central paramilitary force, they said.

Arora, 62, posted a message on X, saying he will cooperate with the probe.

“Good Morning! An action by the Enforcement Directorate took place at my premises. As a responsible citizen, I will fully cooperate with the agencies and I am confident that the truth will prevail,” Arora, the minister for industry and commerce, said.

The MLA from Ludhiana West was earlier raided by the ED in 2024 in a money laundering case linked to alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects. He was then a Rajya Sabha MP.

The latest action comes two days after the ED raided AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal, his family and educational institutions run by them in Punjab and Haryana as part of a FEMA case.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemned the raids against Mittal, saying the BJP has begun its “preparations” for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

“Democracy is being murdered. We strongly condemn it,” he said, while alleging that, “Only non-BJP governments are being harassed”.

ED offiicals said Sanjeev Arora’s realty company is under their scanner for alleged irregularities such as illegal change of land use in Punjab, booking fraudulent and inflated sales to inflate share prices, insider trading scams in stock market and roundtripping of ill-gotten funds and illegal betting money from UAE to India and so on.

Sood, whose company also has operations in Gurugram and Gujarat GIFT city, is alleged to have “partnered” with Sanjeev Arora for “round-tripping” of funds from UAE and also for alleged insider trading.

As per the agency, Sood is also alleged to have assisted some other betting and hawala operators in laundering “illicit” funds into India through the FPI (foreign portfolio investment) route.

Aggarwal, officials said, started as a cricket bookie and later expanded his operations to hawala deals. He is alleged to have launched a betting platform named “Khiladi book” which reportedly cheated thousands of people.

It is alleged by the ED that funds allegedly generated by him and parked in UAE have also been brought back into India through Findoc and invested in real estate through Sanjeev Arora.

Companies linked to Sanjeev Arora are also under scanner of the ED on charges of booking “fake” export bills and registering bogus purchases from non-existing GST entities, officials said. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Harivansh on being elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman for the third time.

Harivansh, a nominated member of the House, was elected unopposed.

Congress President and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge also congratulated Harivansh.

Speaking in the Upper House, Prime Minister Modi said that being elected for the third time in a row as the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is, in itself, a profound expression of the trust that the House has in Harivansh.

Modi said the House has benefited greatly from Harivansh’s experience in the past, and the efforts he has made to take everyone along. “This is a tribute to his experience and an intuitive work style,” the prime minister said.

Modi also said that Harivansh, who has been a journalist earlier, has held high standards of journalism. He further said that Harivansh has spent his MP LAD (local area development) funds for research projects at various universities.

The prime minister also lauded the contribution of Harivansh in instilling confidence among the younger generation in achieving the goal of a developed India.

Kharge expressed hope that the Deputy Chairman will take care of the opposition and give them adequate time in the House.

The Congress leader further said he was pained by the fact that the post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha has been vacant since 2019, which is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.

Earlier, the Samajwadi Party and TMC staged a walkout when the motion to elect Harivansh was being adopted. (Agencies)

Tycoon Gautam Adani has overtaken fellow Gujarat business czar Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person, as a sustained rally in shares of his ports-to-energy conglomerate lifted his net worth.

With a net worth of USD 92.6 billion, Adani surpassed Ambani, whose fortune stands at USD 90.8 billion, to become the richest person in India and Asia, according to the latest billionaire rankings.

Adani, founder of his eponymous group, oversees India’s largest private seaport network, is the country’s biggest renewable energy producer and private airport operator, and ranks among the world’s largest coal traders.

He is currently ranked No. 19 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the world’s 500 richest individuals and is updated daily.

Adani’s wealth is largely derived from his shareholdings across the group’s 10 listed companies. A recent surge in Adani Group stocks has added billions of dollars in market value, underscoring strong investor appetite for assets linked to India’s economic expansion and energy transition.

By contrast, Ambani’s wealth, anchored by his flagship conglomerate Reliance Industries that spans energy, telecom and retail, has seen comparatively modest gains, reshuffling the region’s billionaire rankings.

Topping the billionaire ranking is Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla – the worl’d most valuable carmaker – and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. His networth of USD 656 billion is more than double of his closest rival, Larry Page. Page, cofounder of Alphabet, the holding company for Google, is worth USD 286 billion.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is ranked at No.3 with a net worth of USD 269 billion.

Adani and Ambani are the only Indians in the top 50. Ambani had consistently been India’s richest for over a decade before Adani’s eye popping gains in company stock prices catapulted him to the top spot in February 2022.

However, his group’s stock tumbled in the aftermath of a damning report by a US short seller Hindenburg that led to Adani group losing USD 100 billion in market value at lowest point. This led to Ambani making a comeback at the top.

In mid-2024, Adani again overtook Ambani. This is largely because of Adani stocks surging due to infrastucture expansion and the energy transition narrative. Ambani again overtook the top slot in mid-2025 before losing it again this month.

The Adani Group has built a diversified portfolio spanning transport and logistics, integrated energy infrastructure across generation, transmission and distribution, as well as interests in natural resources, airports, defence and aerospace, data centres, cement, media, roads, rail and metro networks, real estate, urban redevelopment, food and FMCG, digital platforms and business incubation.

According to the group, Gautam Adani is India’s first first-generation entrepreneur to lead a business empire to a market capitalisation exceeding USD 200 billion. (Agencies)

NDA leaders on Thursday defended bills to amend the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation commission, saying women have waited for years for reservation, while opposition leaders alleged the way the government was proceeding with it could undermine the country’s federal and democratic structure.

According to a bulletin issued on April 15, the ‘Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’, ‘Delimitation Bill, 2026’ and ‘Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ will be introduced and debated for passage in the Lower House on Thursday.

The three-day sitting of Parliament, during which amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, mandating 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, will be brought for passage so that it can be implemented by 2029.

BJP MP Giriraj Singh expressed confidence that the amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act for its early implementation will receive broad support in Parliament.

“I have full confidence that when they come to the House, they will develop sensitivity towards women. Women have been waiting for years, and now their patience is running out. This will be passed collectively,” Singh told reporters inside the Parliament House complex.

He rejected the opposition’s concerns on the delimitation exercise as unfounded.

“There will be no discrimination against anyone or any state. There will be no loss to the southern states and no one needs to worry,” he added.

BJP MP Sandhya Roy termed the move historic and said it would significantly boost women’s participation in governance.

“I believe everyone will support this Bill. It is a historic opportunity for women’s empowerment and a defining moment for the country. By 2029, women will have a strong share in the nation’s participation and progress,” she said.

According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.

Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women, and the seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory”, the draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.

JD(U) MP Lovely Anand criticised the opposition for raising objections.

“Why is the opposition against delimitation when nothing has happened yet? This is in favour of women — half the population is finally getting its due. The opposition is worried because it sees the ground slipping beneath its feet,” she said.

Opposition leaders expressed concerns over the proposed delimitation exercise.

Congress leader K Suresh said his party supports women’s reservation, but opposes the delimitation plan linked to it.

“We are not against the women’s reservation bill. We are totally opposing the delimitation bill,” he said.

Congress MP Hibi Eden said he has moved a procedural notice against the proposal.

“We have given notice under the relevant rules of procedure to oppose this. The delimitation bill is a direct attack on the Constitution. It takes away the rights of southern states and is an attack on the cooperative federal structure of the country,” he said.

“There is concern over the proposed increase in seats and the imbalance it may create between northern and southern states. Proper discussion and consultation with state governments are needed,” he added.

“It also affects the democratic and secular nature of the country. Southern states have performed better in population control and delimitation based on population will penalise them,” Eden said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party supports reservation for women, but is opposed to the manner in which the government is proceeding with it.

“We are not against women’s reservation, but we oppose the haste and the way it is being brought. Without a fresh census, relying on 2011 data will not ensure accurate representation,” he said.

“If a census is conducted, there will be a demand for a caste census and appropriate reservation. This is not real empowerment but symbolism,” Yadav added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant spoke in the same vein.

“We are not against women’s reservation, but we have reservations about the delimitation bill. There are concerns about how such exercises are carried out,” he said.

DMK MP T R Baalu said, “Yesterday, our leader M K Stalin burnt the draft Bill at a public rally in Salem, which shows that we have to oppose it.”

The total strength of the ruling NDA in the Lok Sabha stands at 292, while the major opposition parties have 233 MPs. For the Constitution amendment bill to be passed, it requires a two-thirds majority of those present in the House at the time of voting. (Agencies)