More than 1.23 crore people and 2.23 lakh flights have flown under the UDAN scheme – the possibility of which was NIL during the UPA regime. The UDAN scheme is also the sole reason behind the birth of many regional airlines that cater to such routes.

These developments have involved incurring of unprecedented capital investment – almost Rs 75,000 crore in the last 10 years – which is directly linked to the growth of employment in the country .

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The agency, which accuses him of money laundering in the same case, had moved two applications yesterday — to formally arrest Mr Chidambaram and seek his custody.

The court gave two options to the agency: To question Mr Chidambaram at the court premises for half an hour and then move application for custody, and sending him to Tihar jail for now and arresting him from there.

Initially, the agency wanted to arrest him as soon as possible. They even suggested that Mr Chidambaram an be interrogated at the Rouse Avenue court premises and then arrested but Judge intervened saying “dignity of the person should be considered”.

ED sleuths reached Tihar Jail on Wednesday to grill the 74-year-old Congress leader who has been in prison since September 5 after the CBI finished questioning him in the case. He was first taken into custody on August 21.

Seeking Chidambaram’s arrest, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED had told Special CBI judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar that there is a finding by the Supreme Court that custodial interrogation of Chidambaram is necessary.

Kuhar allowed the ED to go to Tihar Jail and question Chidambaram and arrest him, if required. “It’s not of the dignity of this person that you question and arrest him here in public view,” the court said.

Chidambaram was remanded to judicial custody till October 17 in the INX Media corruption case filed by the CBI. The special court on October 3 extended the judicial custody of Chidambaram till October 17 in the case filed by the CBI.

The CBI had registered a FIR for alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX media in May 2017 for receiving overseas funds to the tune of ₹305 crore in 2007, when Chidambaram was the finance minister. Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering cases against him.

Chidambaram’s bail plea against the arrest by the CBI was heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

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The gesture by two of the Congress’s top leaders signaled the party’s stand that it would back its leaders all the way against what it calls politically-driven targeting.

Mr Chidambaram appreciated the visit in his tweets. “I am honoured that Sonia Gandhi and Dr.  Manmohan Singh called on me today. As long as the party is strong and brave, I will also be strong and brave,” his family tweeted on his behalf. Mr Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, who also went with the Congress leaders, said Sonia Gandhi had given “immense support” to his father and he and Dr Singh had a “long discussion about the state of the economy”. Last week, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel had met Mr Chidambaram.

Mr Chidambaram is accused of facilitating in 2007, as the country’s finance minister, a huge infusion of foreign funds into the company INX Media. Karti Chidambaram is accused of receiving kickbacks for facilitating the process.

The Chidambarams were named by INX co-founders Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are in jail in Mumbai in connection with the murder of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora.

Mr Chidambaram, who celebrated his 74th birthday on Monday, “is in good health”. The former union minister has kept his Twitter timeline active from jail, targeting the government on various subjects including the economy.

This morning, he also tweeted on the grand “Howdy, Modi” event on Sunday at Houston, Texas, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump addressed a giant crowd of Indian Americans.

Mr Chidambaram picked on PM Modi’s comment, “If you ask me ‘Howdy, Modi‘, I’ll say – Bharat mein sab  achha hai (everything is great in India)”.”

The former Union Minister responded: “Bharat mai sab achha hai. Except for unemployment, loss of existing jobs, lower wages, mob violence, lockdown in Kashmir and throwing Opposition leaders in prison.”

Earlier Sunday, Mr Chidambaram had also directed a jibe at the CBI for arguing in court that he was a flight risk. “I am thrilled to discover that according to some people, I will grow golden wings and fly away to the moon. I hope I will have a safe landing,” his family posted on his behalf.

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As the top court extended till today the interim protection from arrest granted to Mr Chidambaram on August 23 in the alleged money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, Mr Chidambaram’s family alleged that the government’s motive was to “demonise and humiliate” him.

“We challenge the government to produce a shred of evidence in support of one undisclosed bank account, one undisclosed property or one shell company anywhere in the world,” the former Union Minister’s son Karti Chidambaram said in a statement on Twitter. Karti Chidambaram is also an accused in the INX Media case and is out on bail.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Mr Chidambaram, said the former Union Minister was not evasive during his questioning and has fully cooperated in the probe. “You (Enforcement Directorate) want to arrest me, but for what reason? The answer is – to humiliate me, to humiliate me and to humiliate me, minute by minute and hour by hour,” he said, representing his client. He said the probe agency filed the case in 2017, where the alleged offences alleged are of the period 2007-2008.

Mr Chidambaram asked the top court to tell the probe agency to show transcripts of his questioning in the alleged money laundering case

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