Both the accused and the victim used to study in the same engineering college in Virar. However, they lost touch after that and had recently connected via social media
Akshay Pawar
The Mumbai Crime Branch Unit 11 has arrested a 24-year-old electronics engineer, Akshay Pawar for creating a fake Instagram account of one of his women friends and posting obscene photos of her.
Police sources said Pawar hacked into the victim's Gmail account and downloaded her private pictures with her boyfriend which he uploaded on the fake account he created. He also started blackmailing her and asked for more pictures, videos, and threatened to shame her in public if she refused.
"Fearing shame and slander, the victim succumbed to Pawar's request and sent him pictures and videos. The accused later sent the videos and pictures to her brother. When her brother asked her, the woman told him the truth and they approached the cops," an officer from the Crime Branch said.
Both the accused and the victim used to study in the same engineering college in Virar. However, they lost touch after that and had recently connected via social media.
"Pawar had feelings for the woman and once they got in touch recently, he thought she too felt the same. However, when he hacked into her Gmail account and saw her private pictures with her boyfriend, Pawar became angry," he added.
"An FIR was registered in Borivli police station last week and with the help of our of technical analysis team, API Vishal Patil and other police officers arrested the accused Pawar from Kalwa," senior inspector Sunil Mane crime branch unit 11 said. The Borivli police has custody of him, he added further.
Keep scrolling to read more news
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
First Published: 16 September, 2020 07:01 IST
Sign up for all the latest news, top galleries and trending videos from Mid-day.com
Fed seeks to offer reassurance amid push for new US stimulus
The two-day event concludes amid a renewed push by a top lawmaker in Washington to agree on an additional spending bill to prop up the economy.
By Chris Stein
Armed with a new interest rate strategy, the Federal Reserve will seek to reassure the US economy rattled by the coronavirus downturn as it wraps up its policy meeting on Wednesday.
The two-day event concludes amid a renewed push by a top lawmaker in Washington to agree on an additional spending bill to prop up the economy following a historic collapse in GDP in the second quarter and data showing a worryingly high rate of new layoffs.
The United States is home to the world's worst coronavirus outbreak with more than 194,000 deaths, and in the pandemic's opening days the Fed slashed its benchmark lending rate to near-zero and rolled out trillions of dollars in liquidity lines to keep markets functioning.
But the continued fiscal support that Fed officials -- including Chair Jerome Powell -- say the world's largest economy needs to weather the downturn has yet to be approved, and with nowhere to go on interest rates, economists predict the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will rather attempt show they are doing their part.
"America's central bank is likely to emphasize a decidedly low rate outlook for years to come to help nurse the world's biggest economy back to health after a record contraction," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, referring to the second quarter when the business shutdowns caused GDP to collapse by a record 31.7 percent annualized.
As the meeting got underway on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the Democrat-led House of Representative, announced a new attempt to break weeks of deadlock with the White House and Republican-controlled Senate on passing a new spending bill.
"We are committed to staying here until we have an agreement," she said on CNBC, adding that she was "optimistic that the White House, at least, will understand that we have to do some things."
When unemployment is low, FOMC meetings can be suspenseful affairs as committee members mull over whether or not to shift their benchmark rate.
But no longer. The Fed last month rolled out a new average inflation targeting policy that will keep rates lower for longer in a bid to maximise employment for the benefit of poor workers.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell may comment further on the state of the US economy after the Federal Open Market Committee concludes its two-day meeting. Photo: AFP / Eric BARADAT
"There is little that is expected to come out of the meeting. Indeed, barring a major rebound in the virus, little is expected for the next couple of years," economist Joel Naroff said. "The members could keep phoning, or should I say videoing, it in. It would save time and money."
The unemployment rate spiked to 14.7 percent in April as the business shutdowns to stop Covid-19 exacted their toll, but has since since declined to 8.4 percent in August as states loosened lockdown restrictions, while key sectors of the economy like housing and retail sales have posted rapid recoveries.
But Labor Department data shows elevated levels of people filing new unemployment benefit claims each week, with 884,000 filed in the week ended September 5.
The meeting will see participants give economic projections and forecasts for as far ahead as 2023, which Steve Englander, managing director at Standard Chartered Bank, expects will predict "slow recovery, slow pickup in inflation."
The Fed is loathe to intervene directly in politics but Powell and others officials have repeatedly said the US economy needs more spending to make it through the downturn.
The $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March included provisions like an extra $600 in weekly payments to the unemployed and a program of loans and grants to prop up small businesses.
But those provisions expired in recent weeks and Democrats last week blocked a $500 billion proposal in the Republican-controled Senate that would have partially restored the weekly payments.
Powell is scheduled to speak after the meeting concludes at 1800 GMT, and David Wessel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said he'd be watching the chair's comments for signs of his opinion on the wobbly situation.
"With the economy showing a slightly better than expected rebound and Congress paralyzed by partisan tensions, he may be even more circumspect," Wessel said.
