Latest news with #FTCs
The Hindu
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bihar government set up cell to maintain data bank of Supari killers
Learning a lesson from the murder of industrialist Gopal Khemka by giving Supari (contract) to criminal, Bihar Police's Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) decided to set up a 'cell' to maintain a data bank of the contract killers operating in the state. Talking to reporters at police headquarters in Patna, Additional Director General (ADG) (Headquarters) Kundan Krishnan said that it has been witnessed that some of the youths have been found indulging in contract killers for money. 'A new cell has been constituted to keep a tab on contract killers. A data bank of these contract killers will be maintained to check their activities in future,' Mr. Krishnan said. He added that a 'dossier' will be prepared of each contract killer and the cell will keep their physical description, photograph, along with their name, address and other details so that their movement can be tracked even after coming out of jail. Even police personnel in districts have been asked to keep a tab on such contract killers. 'Police have identified 1290 persons who have acquired proceeds of crime and their assets will be seized soon,'Mr. Krishnan said. He also informed that the state police have also sent its proposal for starting Fast Track Courts (FTCs) to ensure speedy trial to achieve conviction in heinous crime cases. Mr. Krishnan pointed out that the Narcotics Cell under STF is already functional but to strengthen it further, police are planning to set up a separate 'narcotics & prohibition division' for which a proposal will be sent to the state cabinet. He stressed that the move would help in taming the problem of opium, heroin, smack and other psychotropic substances being used by the youths of the state. Talking about murders that took place recently in the state, Krishnan said that the statistics does not suggest that the average crime graph has witnessed an increase. 'This is an election year and a narrative is being built through misinformation and disinformation. No one should try to demoralise the police department as it has always identified and taken action against 'black sheep's,'Mr. Krishnan said. Meanwhile, the Bihar Police also suspended a station house officer (SHO) for dereliction of duty in connection with the murder of Patna based industrialist Gopal Khemka. The order of suspension of Gandhi Maidan Police Station SHO Rajesh Kumar was issued by Patna Inspector General (IG) Jitendra Rana. Mr. Khemka was murdered on July 4 night outside his house under the jurisdiction of Gandhi Maidan police station which was 300 meters from the spot. Earlier relatives and family members of Mr. Khemka had alleged that the police had reached the spot after one and half hours of the incident after the shooter fled. 'When the incident took place, I had given the order to investigate the role of the local police and in the investigation the Patna SSP found that Gandhi Maidan SHO did not perform his duty. If there would be any more officers involved, action would be taken accordingly,' Mr. Rana said while speaking to the media. In the case, police have already arrested the shooter Umesh Yadav and mastermind Ashok Sao who had given the Supuri (contract) of Rs 4 lakh to kill the industrialist who was also earlier associated with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Hans India
11-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Utilise govt opportunities, Ponguru urges women
Nellore: Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ponguru Narayana has urged the women to utilize opportunities as the government is installing various welfare schemes of providing employment. The M&U minister has inaugurated free tailoring center for women arranged by Backward Classes Corporation at 52nd division Ranganayakula pet in the city here on Saturday. Speaking the occasion, the minister said that as part of initiative in providing social and economic empowerment to the women government has launched FTCs in all 175 constituencies entire the state. He said that apart from 4,967 FTCs were allocated to Nellore city. He also said that government is spending total Rs 10.80crores of which Rs 21,798 is spent on each woman during 90 days of free training. FTCis proposed to give training in two batches of which as many as 70 women in each batch and after completion of training the beneficiary would be provided Sewing Machine at free of cost. Nellore Municipal Commissioner Y. O. Nandan BC Corporation ED Nirmala Devi, Nellore Urban Development Authority Chairman Kotamreddy Srinivasulu Reddy and others were present.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump's new FTC chair is MAGA in name only
The term RINO or 'Republican In Name Only' has been deployed to great effect ever since President Trump's ride down the golden escalator. But when it comes to Trump's new Federal Trade Commission chair, perhaps 'MAGA In Name Only' is more appropriate. The new chairman of the FTC has brought the social-political wars right into the heart of the agency. What the chairman has not done, however, is change the targets of the FTC's antitrust cases, or its Javerian pursuit of Big Tech. The former might be cover for the latter. In an interview on Fox Business Network last month, the new FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson supported President Trump's request that FTC decisions be shared with the White House in advance for the president's possible input. That is a concession to presidential involvement in a supposedly independent agency that no previous FTC chair has ever allowed. In a published statement, Ferguson also announced that he viewed himself as an 'officer of the United States,' and thus bound by President Trump's order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion at the supposedly independent agency. Finding the 'cozy' relationship between the FTC and the American Bar Association to have favored left-wing policies, he also ordered all political appointees at the FTC to disassociate itself from the ABA — including resigning membership in the organization, let alone holding leadership positions or participating in ABA activities. An appearance by the FTC chair is traditionally a highlight of the annual spring meeting of the ABA Antitrust Section. Evidently, this will happen no more. These might be the easy favors to grant, however. Other statements from the interview illustrate that, on the substance, the new Trump FTC will look a lot like the old Biden FTC. Ferguson stated that the antitrust guidelines issued by the Biden FTC will not be subject to wholesale review. He recites how earlier Republican-led FTCs chose to keep merger guidelines formulated by Democratic-led FTCs that preceded them, and he intended to do the same. Curiously, he ignored all of the instances where Democratic-led FTCs took an axe to what Republicans had done. So, quite unlike the wholesale review going on at other independent agencies, like the FCC, the FTC will be supine on antitrust substance. The 'sizzle' is Trumpian revisionist, but the 'steak' isn't. Here are some examples. Ferguson was originally appointed to the FTC by President Biden and voted to approve the Biden era policies, most importantly the 2023 guidelines that signaled much greater hostility to mergers in the U.S., even when the mergers enhanced efficiency of companies' operations. Ferguson was also part of Biden's antitrust enforcers' overt hostility to Big Tech. In the interview, he said: 'I think all of Big Tech is going to remain under the microscope. I can at least speak for the Federal Trade Commission. We've got cases involving Amazon and Meta, I care deeply about these cases. They're very important. I intend to continue prosecuting them to continue holding Big Tech's feet to the fire.' Biden's FTC reached back 10 and 12 years to try to undo Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and What's App. That is the case against Meta to which Ferguson specifically referred. Not just Big Tech, but many who speak for American commerce more broadly, objected to the FTC opposing a merger more than a decade after the FTC had allowed it to go ahead. Ferguson defended his decision not to redo the Biden FTC merger guidelines because doing so would sow uncertainty in American business circles. Far greater uncertainty, however, results from the lesson that there is no time limit to the FTC's ability to undo a merger that it had previously approved. Try working out long-run plans to integrate an acquisition with the sword of a break-up perpetually hanging over your head. Consider another example of Biden's antitrust aggressiveness. The Bush II administration promulgated guidelines that govern companies in a vertical supply chain relationship like a cable company purchasing a library of television shows. The Bush II FTC held these arrangements were generally benign. The Biden FTC, however, repealed that guidance and the Justice Department sued to stop AT&T from acquiring Time Warner. The challenge was thrown out of federal court. Now, it seems, Ferguson will let stand the Biden administration's 2021 rescission of the vertical guidance and look with suspicion on vertical relationships that deliver a product more efficiently. The Amazon case Ferguson proudly referenced does precisely that. Ferguson is trying to appear loyal to President Trump in everything but substance. It seems he might be trying to buy White House patience for his contrary direction on antitrust policy. 'MINO' might not have the same ring to it as 'RINO,' but in the case of the FTC, Ferguson leans Biden more than MAGA might think. Tom Campbell was the director of the Bureau of Competition, the antitrust arm of the Federal Trade Commission, during the Reagan administration. He served five terms as a U.S. congressman from Silicon Valley and is an antitrust advisor to NetChoice, a trade association focused on promoting free expression and free enterprise, that includes Amazon and Meta. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
07-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Trump's new FTC chair is MAGA in name only
The term RINO or 'Republican In Name Only' has been deployed to great effect ever since President Trump's ride down the golden escalator. But when it comes to Trump's new Federal Trade Commission chair, perhaps 'MAGA In Name Only' is more appropriate. The new chairman of the FTC has brought the social-political wars right into the heart of the agency. What the chairman has not done, however, is change the targets of the FTC's antitrust cases, or its Javerian pursuit of Big Tech. The former might be cover for the latter. In an interview on Fox Business Network last month, the new FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson supported President Trump's request that FTC decisions be shared with the White House in advance for the president's possible input. That is a concession to presidential involvement in a supposedly independent agency that no previous FTC chair has ever allowed. In a published statement, Ferguson also announced that he viewed himself as an 'officer of the United States,' and thus bound by President Trump's order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion at the supposedly independent agency. Finding the 'cozy' relationship between the FTC and the American Bar Association to have favored left-wing policies, he also ordered all political appointees at the FTC to disassociate itself from the ABA — including resigning membership in the organization, let alone holding leadership positions or participating in ABA activities. An appearance by the FTC chair is traditionally a highlight of the annual spring meeting of the ABA Antitrust Section. Evidently, this will happen no more. These might be the easy favors to grant, however. Other statements from the interview illustrate that, on the substance, the new Trump FTC will look a lot like the old Biden FTC. Ferguson stated that the antitrust guidelines issued by the Biden FTC will not be subject to wholesale review. He recites how earlier Republican-led FTCs chose to keep merger guidelines formulated by Democratic-led FTCs that preceded them, and he intended to do the same. Curiously, he ignored all of the instances where Democratic-led FTCs took an axe to what Republicans had done. So, quite unlike the wholesale review going on at other independent agencies, like the FCC, the FTC will be supine on antitrust substance. The 'sizzle' is Trumpian revisionist, but the 'steak' isn't. Here are some examples. Ferguson was originally appointed to the FTC by President Biden and voted to approve the Biden era policies, most importantly the 2023 guidelines that signaled much greater hostility to mergers in the U.S., even when the mergers enhanced efficiency of companies' operations. Ferguson was also part of Biden's antitrust enforcers' overt hostility to Big Tech. In the interview, he said: 'I think all of Big Tech is going to remain under the microscope. I can at least speak for the Federal Trade Commission. We've got cases involving Amazon and Meta, I care deeply about these cases. They're very important. I intend to continue prosecuting them to continue holding Big Tech's feet to the fire.' Biden's FTC reached back 10 and 12 years to try to undo Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and What's App. That is the case against Meta to which Ferguson specifically referred. Not just Big Tech, but many who speak for American commerce more broadly, objected to the FTC opposing a merger more than a decade after the FTC had allowed it to go ahead. Ferguson defended his decision not to redo the Biden FTC merger guidelines because doing so would sow uncertainty in American business circles. Far greater uncertainty, however, results from the lesson that there is no time limit to the FTC's ability to undo a merger that it had previously approved. Try working out long-run plans to integrate an acquisition with the sword of a break-up perpetually hanging over your head. Consider another example of Biden's antitrust aggressiveness. The Bush II administration promulgated guidelines that govern companies in a vertical supply chain relationship like a cable company purchasing a library of television shows. The Bush II FTC held these arrangements were generally benign. The Biden FTC, however, repealed that guidance and the Justice Department sued to stop AT&T from acquiring Time Warner. The challenge was thrown out of federal court. Now, it seems, Ferguson will let stand the Biden administration's 2021 rescission of the vertical guidance and look with suspicion on vertical relationships that deliver a product more efficiently. The Amazon case Ferguson proudly referenced does precisely that. Ferguson is trying to appear loyal to President Trump in everything but substance. It seems he might be trying to buy White House patience for his contrary direction on antitrust policy. 'MINO' might not have the same ring to it as 'RINO,' but in the case of the FTC, Ferguson leans Biden more than MAGA might think. Tom Campbell was the director of the Bureau of Competition, the antitrust arm of the Federal Trade Commission, during the Reagan administration. He served five terms as a U.S. congressman from Silicon Valley and is an antitrust advisor to NetChoice, a trade association focused on promoting free expression and free enterprise, that includes Amazon and Meta.
