Bhopal: The opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday opposed the introduction of a digitalised system in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session with all legislators being provided iPads, citing various reasons.
Senior Congress leaders including the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit chief Kamal Nath and Leader of Opposition Govind Singh have returned their iPads to the Speaker Girish Gautam.
This led to an exchange of barbs between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress during the session.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said the decision to distribute iPads to MLAs was against the tradition of Madhya Pradesh Assembly, adding he would not require an iPad, while stating that “these iPads are assembled in China”.
Govind Singh has accused the ruling BJP of using a ‘China-made’ iPad.
“Several Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives in Galwan Valley. These iPads given to MLAs are China-made… and therefore, we are opposing it,” Singh said, accusing the BJP of being double-standard in the name of nationalism.
The Congress leader also said the use of a China-assembled iPad may pave the way for ‘data stealing’.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who is also the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, defended the government’s decision.
“These iPads are not China-made, and assembling means that products are assembled in many places,” he said.
In response, LoP Govind Singh demanded open voting in the Assembly, claiming that many BJP leaders would also return these iPads.
On March 1, the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government tabled its first paperless annual budget for 2023-2024, and each MLA was also provided an iPad.
The process of introducing digital systems in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly started nearly one and a half years ago, and for this purpose, a team led by Speaker Girish Gautam visited nearly six states where digital systems were already introduced.
After taking cues from different states, the Speaker had sent a recommendation to the Madhya Pradesh government for allocation of the budget to purchase iPads.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said no panel other than a joint parliamentary committee can bring out the truth in the Adani row and the industrialist’s relationship with the prime minister and asserted that it will raise the demand in Parliament when it meets again on March 13.
Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said he had stated on February 16 that any panel by the Supreme Court would only look into violations of SEBI rules and regulations and will not be able to bring out the truth in the Adani issue.
“If the prime minister and the government are to be held accountable, any committee other than the JPC will be nothing but an exercise in legitimisation and exoneration,” he told reporters here, asserting that he had stated this earlier too.
“In the Adani case, the Supreme Court committee is limited only to the investigation of violations of SEBI law and regulation. The truth of what has been the relationship between Prime Minister Modi and (Gautam) Adani will never come to the fore if JPC is not formed,” he said.
The Congress party wants that a JPC be instituted and will raise the demand in the Parliament session beginning March 13, he noted.
The Congress leader also asserted that it has been posing a set of three questions to the prime minister everyday but has not received any answers, and they will remain unanswered by the SC-appointed panel formed to look into the issue.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty, who is also head of the party’s data analytics department, urged “experts” such as Nandan Nilekani and K V Kamath on the SC-appointed panel to “not be timid” as they usually are and “be bold and diligent” in their investigation.
Ramesh said on February 16 he had stated that any committee formed by the Supreme Curt into the Adani-Hindenburg issue would be nothing but an exercise in legitimisation and exoneration.
Asked whether the Congress was not in favour of the Supreme Court setting up a panel, he said “we are not confident that the truth in Adani issue will come out” through it.
The Congress and some other opposition parties have been demanding the constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to look into the Adani issue in the wake of charges of stock manipulation and financial irregularities raised by US firm Hindenburg that led to meltdown of stocks of Adani Group companies on Indian bourses.
The party had also stalled proceedings in both houses of Parliament over the issue and it is likely to step up the heat over its demand in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre to investigate the recent Adani Group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research’s fraud allegations and other regulatory aspects related to stock markets.
The court asked the panel to submit its report in a sealed cover within two months.
The top court observed that the PILs pertained to “the loss of investors’ wealth over the past few weeks due to the steep decline of share prices of Adani Group companies, precipitated by the Hindenburg Research report which alleged manipulations and malpractices by the Adani Group companies” and also directed market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to complete its ongoing probe into the issue in two months and file a status report.
Besides former apex court judge Justice Sapre, the other members of the court-appointed panel will be O P Bhat (former Chairman of SBI), Justice J P Devadhar (retired judge of the Bombay High Court), K V Kamath, Nandan Nilekani and Somasekharan Sundaresan.
New Delhi: The Delhi unit of Congress on Wednesday staged a protest outside the office of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, alleging they were also party to the now-scrapped excise policy.
Delhi Congress President Anil Kumar said that the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain prove that the Kejriwal government was neck-deep in corruption and scams.
The Congress alleged that under the Kejriwal government, Delhi has witnessed a Rs 10,000 crore liquor scam, Rs 4,288 crore DTC scam, premium bus service scam, class room construction scam, toilet complex construction scam, ration scam, oxygen scam during the Covid-19 pandemic, DJB scam and PWD scam.
Addressing the Congress workers, Kumar said that the resignations of his ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, which were quickly accepted by Kejriwal, were clear proof that Kejriwal was “the mastermind of the liquor scam and all other corrupt deals under the Delhi government”.
“Therefore, he should also resign as CM along with Kailash Gahlot, to enable a transparent probe into the liquor scam, to expose the entire corruption behind the liquor deal,” the Congress leader said.
The Congress alleged that Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot was involved in a Rs 4,288 crore DTC bus purchase and maintenance scam, about which Delhi Congress had submitted a 1,000-page complaint to the CVC (Chief Vigilance Officer) and CBI on July 13-14, 2021, seeking a probe, adding the CBI took cognisance of the Congress’ complaint to file a case.
He said that instead of removing Gahlot from the ministry, Kejriwal entrusted him with eight important departments, as “Gahlot was also a partner in Kejriwal’s various scams”.
Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in Bhupalapally town of Telangana on Tuesday night after BRS supporters hurled eggs and tomatoes at state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy when he was addressing a public meeting.
Revanth Reddy, who was addressing the meeting as part of his ongoing “Haath Se Haath Jodo Yatra”, continued his speech, blaming ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for the attack.
Telangana Congress Chief Revanth Reddy was attacked with Eggs & Tomatoes during a rally 😂😂😂
Later, supporters of both parties pelted stones on each other. A policeman sustained head injuries in the clash.
Trouble began when BRS supporters raised slogans against Revanth Reddy when he was addressing the public meeting. They tried to surge towards the dais. Police acted swiftly to lock up the protestors in the premises of a nearby cinema theatre.
However, BRS men hurled eggs and tomatoes towards the Congress’ Telangana unit President.
Security personnel formed a ring around Revanth Reddy and tried to shield him by holding a piece of cloth. Some Congress workers retaliated by pelting stones and bottles on BRS men in the theatre. The stone pelting by both sides continued for about 10 minutes. Window panes of the theatre were damaged in the attack. A sub-inspector of police was injured in stone pelting.
Normalcy restored after the public meeting was over and Revanth Reddy left the venue.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, who has criticized Buttigieg for waiting three weeks to visit the site of the Feb. 3 accident, tweeting last week that Buttigieg should “show up, do your job and stop playing politics.”
Asked on Tuesday what Congress should do after the Ohio derailment, Scott would only say that lawmakers should “start doing our oversight and stop approving people that don’t know how to do the job.”
Other Republicans say they want to wait until the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent agency probing the accident, finishes its work. That could take up to 18 months.
“A lot of people have a lot of ideas right now,” Nehls told POLITICO. “The NTSB had their preliminary report. There’ll be more information coming.”
One of DOT’s requests for Congress is an increase in the maximum penalties to railroads for safety violations — an idea Nehls dismissed, instead praising the industry’s safety record.
“The rail industry has a very high success rate of moving hazardous material — to the point of 99-percent-plus,” Nehls said. “Let’s not have more burdensome regulations and all this other stuff.”
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), who served as top Republican on the rail panel before the House flipped control, agreed on waiting for the experts to weigh in “before we start speculating on what legislative fixes might be offered, if it’s necessary, and if so what would they be.”
“Probably a little premature at this point,” he added.
And Graves told Fox News Digital on Feb. 16 that he wants to “fully understand the facts involved” before considering legislation, noting that the NTSB is still investigating. Then, he said, “Congress can consider what steps may be necessary.”
Democrats on the whole have been much swifter to call for changes — including Buttigieg, who has pledged to tighten the way his agency regulates trains, but has also asked Congress to increase the $225,455 cap on fines his agency can level and to strengthen braking and tank car requirements.
A few Republicans are showing signs they’re willing to join Democrats sooner rather than later.
Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, for example, is working with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on a rail-safety bill expected to be out soon. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who has called for Buttigieg’s resignation over the derailment, has said he’s interested in teaming up on their bill.
“There’s a Vance-Sherrod Brown bill that we’re looking at, that we’re very interested in maybe being a part of,” Rubio said in an interview Tuesday.
Brown said the bill he’s working on will likely include provisions including setting minimum requirements for how many employees should be on board a train, along with train length, speed limits and notifications to states when hazardous materials are on their way, he told reporters Tuesday.
He noted that the 150-car train that derailed in East Palestine, carrying hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride, had “one trainee and two staff people” aboard when the disaster occurred.
A Brown-Vance team-up may seem to some like an odd couple pairing, but Rubio and Vance previously wrote to Buttigieg asking whether a two-person crew is adequate. Democrats have pushed to enshrine a two-person minimum crew in federal regulations, a move opposed by the railroad industry and, historically, most Republicans. The Trump administration backed the railroad industry when it mothballed a rule that would have mandated at least two crewmembers on board every train. That rule had originally been proposed under the Obama administration.
“Republicans have seen what’s happened, too,” Brown said, explaining the bipartisan interest he’s seen so far. “The rail companies have done pretty effective lobbying in keeping Congress and the administration, the [Federal Railroad Administration] and others from doing what we ought to be doing.”
Indeed, Rubio said Tuesday that the freight rail industry’s “push for efficiency — the desire to put more cargo, longer lines, longer stretches and less people” — creates vulnerabilities.
“We have not just dangerous but important cargo being transported on longer [trains] with less people,” he said.
Other legislation has been floated in the House. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), whose district includes the area affected by the Ohio spill, has introduced a bill along with a dozen other Democrats that seeks to include more types of trains under stricter laws governing hazardous materials transport. That means more types of materials would be subject to tougher safety requirements such as slower speeds, newer rail cars and better braking equipment.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the derailment, featuring the Environmental Protection Agency, top committee Republican Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said Tuesday. She said the Senate Commerce Committee would also hold a hearing, though as yet nothing has been scheduled.
Like many of her GOP colleagues, Capito didn’t have many positive words for the Biden administration.
The federal response to the derailment “has been, I think, miserable to watch,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had sounded a similar theme Monday, accusing Buttigieg of seeming “more interested in pursuing press coverage for woke initiatives and climate nonsense than in attending to the basic elements of his day job.”
But so far, McConnell hasn’t said what, if any, legislation he thinks is needed to make rail safer.
Buttigieg shot back Tuesday.
“The freight rail industry has wielded a lot of power here in Washington,” he said on CNN. “I would love to see Leader McConnell join us in standing up to them.”
[ad_2]
#premature #Republicans #urge #Congress #rush #rail #rules
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday said AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been arrested in an “open and shut case of corruption” and that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should also be arrested for his alleged involvement in the excise policy case.
The two leaders are “deeply involved in corruption” and should be dealt with accordingly, Congress leader Ajay Maken said.
Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
“This is an open and shut case of corruption and a big scam has taken place in Delhi, and it should be viewed accordingly,” Maken said.
He said Kejriwal should also be arrested in the case.
“It has now been established in one of the charge sheets and one of the accused liquor barons has said he was made to speak to Kejriwal on Facetime,” he added.
The Kejriwal government had set up a committee to recommend changes in the excise policy but just the opposite of what the panel recommended was done “so that corruption could be done”, Maken charged.
The Congress leader claimed Sisodia and Kejriwal are “deeply involved in corruption” and asserted that they should be dealt with accordingly.
“Those who are sympathising with Manish Sisodia should know that this is a matter of corruption and it should be viewed accordingly,” Maken told PTI.
The AAP, which is projecting the action against Sisodia as “injustice”, should answer as to why changes were made against the recommendations of the committee, he said.
Maken further said, “I would also like to ask the central government not to misuse central agencies even in a genuine case like this and make it seem like political vendetta. They should use them sparingly.”
Some Congress leaders including Abhishek Singhvi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot have spoken in support of Sisodia and accused the government of misusing agencies against opposition leaders. Singhvi, who is also Sisodia’s lawyer in court, later clarified that his remarks did not represent the Congress’ stand.
The Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) has strongly criticized the removal of Congressman Moulana Abul Kalam Azad from the advertising released in connection with the Congress’s plenary session held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
A Sunni group called SKSSF, which is connected to the Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama, demanded that Congress provide an explanation for why the leader’s photo was absent from the advertisements.
The SKSSF’s state vice-president, Sathar Panthaloor, stated in a Facebook post on Monday that the images of the leaders of the independence movement have been arranged according to order followed for decades.
“The order was Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and Azad. But Azad’s photo was not seen in the official advertisement released by the AICC,” he said.
“The leaders who had left Congress including Netaji, Ambedkar, and P V Narasimha Rao, who pushed the party backward are added in the advertisements. Congress should explain why it omitted Azad from them. Is the Sangh Parivar mind that removed Nehru from the ICHR documents active in the Congress too?” he asked.
Panthaloor further said that the BJP has completely excluded Muslims who constitute fifteen percent of the population. “We can only sympathise with the Congress if the party also is toeing the BJP line,” Panthaloor said.
On criticism around Maulana Azad’s ommission, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh apologised for the ‘inexcusable slipup’.
“Today an ad released by INC did not carry a photograph of Maulana Azad. It was an inexcusable slipup. Responsibility for it is being fixed & action will be taken. Meanwhile, this is a most sincere apology from us. He will always remain an iconic & inspiring figure for us & India,” he tweeted on Sunday.
Today an ad released by INC did not carry a photograph of Maulana Azad. It was an inexcusable slipup. Responsibility for it is being fixed & action will be taken. Meanwhile this is a most sincere apology from us. He will always remain an iconic & inspiring figure for us & India.
New Delhi: Differences have cropped up between Delhi unit of Congress and the central party over extending support to deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in connection with alleged corruption in the now-scrapped liquor policy for 2021-22.
While the Delhi unit of the party welcomed the CBI action, veteran leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday night flayed it and termed all the probe agencies “harassment tools” of the BJP-led Central government, thus bringing forth the underlying difference.
Apparently, Delhi Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has sought time from the Lieutenant Governor to attack the AAP over the issue.
According to sources, the state leaders are upset over being snubbed publically by Ramesh with some privately alleging that he has a soft corner for AAP.
In an oblique reference to the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by the CBI in connection with the excise policy scam, the Congress on Monday termed the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department “harassment tools” of the BJP-led Central government.
“@INCIndia has always held the belief that institutions like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department have become instruments of political vendetta and harassment under ‘Modi Sarkar’. These institutions have lost all professionalism. Opposition leaders are selectively targeted to destroy their reputation,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, without mentioning anything about the arrest of the deputy of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
.@INCIndia has always held the belief that institutions like ED, CBI & Income Tax Dept have become instruments of political vendetta & harassment under Modi Sarkar. These institutions have lost all professionalism. Oppn leaders are selectively targeted to destroy their reputation
The Congress’ reaction had come 24 hours after Sisodia’s arrest by the CBI on Sunday after a day-long questioning, even as the leaders of the party’s Delhi unit welcomed the move.
Kolkata: The official Twitter account of the Trinamool Congress has been hacked, with the picture and logo of the handle changed.
The party’s national spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien has confirmed the development and claimed that communications are being made with the Twitter authorities to bring the handle back to its original format.
In the hacked handle the name has been changed to “Yuga Labs” and the original party logo has been replaced by a symbolic picture combining the letters “Y” and “L”.
The “blue tick”, however, is still there.
Party sources said that the matter came to the notice of the leaders early Tuesday morning and they doubt that the hacking incident took place on late Monday night.
“The Twitter authorities have contacted and they have assured us of giving back the party’s official Twitter handle the original looks at the earliest,” a party leader said.
However, despite being hacked no derogatory comment slamming the party has been posted through this Twitter handle.
The last tweet posted by the handle at 9.01 p.m. on Monday night, read: “#DidirSurkshaKawach is a mammoth effort at securing basic sustenance for every resident in Bengal, irrespective of age, gender, caste or religion, to achieve state-wide inclusive- growth & expand welfare cover, Didir Doots is generating awareness across households.”
Party sources said that besides informing the Twitter authorities about the development, the leadership might also file an official complaint with the cybercrime division of the Kolkata Police.
New Delhi: In an oblique reference to the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by the CBI in connection with the excise policy scam, the Congress on Monday termed the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department “harassment tools” of the BJP-led Central government.
“@INCIndia has always held the belief that institutions like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department have become instruments of political vendetta and harassment under ‘Modi Sarkar’. These institutions have lost all professionalism. Opposition leaders are selectively targeted to destroy their reputation,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, without mentioning anything about the arrest of the deputy of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Congress’ reaction has come 24 hours after Sisodia was arrested by the CBI following a day-long questioning on Sunday, even as the leaders of the party’s Delhi unit welcomed the move. In fact, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had come up with a clarification after initially supporting Sisodia.
Singhvi tweeted: “It is but obvious that my tweet at 3.36 p.m. on February 26 on Manish Sisodia was in the context of my appearance for him as senior counsel in many cases and not on behalf of the Congress party, though space constraints made me inadvertently omit the mentioning of this fact.”
On Sunday, Singhvi, who is a senior lawyer, tweeted: “God be with Manish ji. Distressing to see such repeated, flagrant, egregious and shameless misuse of arrest power. #Sisodia Cnot be flight risk, suborning evidence or witnesses or non cooperation after almost a year of investigation & interrogation. How & why arrest after so long?”
According to a source, the reason for the late reaction was the silence of the Aam Aadmi Party when Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were summoned by the ED.
However, many Opposition leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, have condemned Sisodia’s arrest.
“The arrest of @msisodia by CBI is another example of how @BJP4India misuses the Union government’s agencies to intimidate the opposition. It’s a blatant abuse of power and an attack on democracy. Such repression undermines the very foundation of our nation and should be resisted,” he tweeted.
