1. Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren faces one-day judicial custody in a land scam case.
2. A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi made the decision.
3. The court reserved the order on a 10-day remand demand, with the next hearing set for tomorrow.
New Delhi, Feb 02: In response to a Right to Information (RTI) request, the State Bank of India (SBI) revealed that between January 2 and 11, a total of 897 electoral bonds amounting to ₹571.8 crore were sold.
Kolkata took the lead in this period, accounting for 32.17% with 415 bonds worth ₹183.95 crore, while the Hyderabad branch secured the second spot with 153 bonds sold at ₹133.2 crore, making up 23.29% of the total value.
The SBI is the sole bank authorized by the government to issue and encash electoral bonds, which are sold four times a year—January, April, July, and October—plus an additional 30 days during general elections.
These bonds provide a means for political parties to accept donations from anonymous donors.
Comparing with the preceding tranche, the 30th tranche last month witnessed a 43% decrease in sales, with a total of 1,109 electoral bonds worth ₹1,006.03 crore sold during the 29th tranche between November 6 and 20.
Also Read: Champai Soren Set to Assume Office as Jharkhand Chief Minister Today
In January, 64.77% of the electoral bonds (581 in number) were sold through digital payment instruments, while 316 were sold through physical payment instruments like cheques and demand drafts.
A significant portion, 99.69% of the total value, was encashed, with 872 bonds worth ₹570.05 crore.
Delhi witnessed the highest encashment with 336 bonds worth ₹237.9 crore, followed by Hyderabad with 158 bonds worth ₹138.2 crore (24.24% of the total) and Kolkata with 310 bonds worth ₹130.45 crore (22.88% of the total).
Notably, 25 bonds worth ₹1.7503 crore were not encashed, with 22 from the Gandhinagar branch and one each from Kolkata and Delhi.
In the 29th tranche, Hyderabad led in sales with 386 bonds worth ₹359 crore, while Mumbai and Delhi saw sales of 263 and 212 bonds, respectively, amounting to ₹259.3 crore (25.77%) and ₹182.75 crore (18.17%).
