Tag: govts

Nomination Of Numberdars Runs Opposite To Govt’s Claims Of Strengthening Democracy In J&K: Dr Farooq Abdullah

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SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member of the Parliament Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said the recent move of J&K administration to nominate Numberdars/Chowkidars for villages and towns across J&K runs contrary to the government claims of strengthening democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Echoing the concerns of a delegation of Numberdars that had called on him, Dr Farooq said that the government is trying to bring in their own people for this important position through backdoor.
Dr Farooq said the association members who called on him resented the manner in which the incumbent Numberdars were being shown the door and the new ones nominated by the incumbent administration ditching all established norms and procedures.
“The incumbent numberdars who command public confidence as persons are being shown the doors. It seems the administration, by nominating candidates of their choice, is trying to set a political discourse in the villages and towns that suits their cause,” he said.
“The positions of Numberdar and Chowkidar are very significant in terms of better coordination at the grassroot levels and for that reason the government should have acted more sensibly rather than in this arbitrary way,”Dr Farooq said adding, “The process of selection cannot evade accountability and public scrutiny. The manner in which the process is being carried out raises a number of questions and it’s the government which has to come clean.”

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#Nomination #Numberdars #Runs #Govts #Claims #Strengthening #Democracy #Farooq #Abdullah
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 11, 2023
AAP, BJP face off after CBI report claims Delhi govt’s feedback unit collected ‘political intelligence’

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New Delhi: A row erupted on Wednesday over a CBI report claiming political intelligence gathering by the Feedback Unit (FBU) formed by the AAP after coming to power in Delhi in 2015, with the BJP demanding registration of case against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Hitting back, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the BJP’s allegation that Sisodia was involved in “political snooping” is “completely false”.
The Kejriwal government claimed in a statement that these all cases are “politically motivated”. “The CBI and ED should rather investigate the dubious relationship between Modi and Adani where the real corruption happened,” it alleged.
The CBI in its preliminary inquiry report found that the FBU formed through a Delhi cabinet decision on September 29, 2015 indulged in gathering political intelligence.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that the AAP since its inception has been working with hostility towards its political opponents.
“The Kejriwal government formed FBU to keep an eye on not only its political opponents but Union Ministers, MPs, LG Office, media houses, leading businessmen and also the judges,” Sachdeva charged in a press conference.
The CBI in its report submitted to Vigilance department sought approval of the LG who is competent authority in the matter, to register a case against Deputy CM Manish Sisodia who played an “active role” in creation of the FBU.
The central agency also sought permission of the LG for registering cases against others involved in functioning of the FBU.

Sources said LG VK Saxena has referred the CBI request to the President through the Ministry of Home Affairs, for registration of a case against Sisodia.
The LG has also sent the CBI recommendation to Home ministry, regarding registration of cases against then FBU joint director, RK Sinha, and FBU officers Pradeep Kumar Punj and Satish Khetrapa. Approval for the prosecution against then Vigilance director, Sukesh Kumar Jain, an IRS officer, will come from the Finance ministry, they said.
The approval has, however, been given by the LG for registration of a case against Delhi Chief Minister’s advisor Gopal Mohan, the sources said.
The AAP in a statement said “the whole country knows political spying is done by Modi not Manish Sisodia. An FIR should be registered against Modi not Manish Sisodia,” the party said in its statement.
The CBI report said that the FBU was tasked to gather actionable feedback regarding working of various departments of Delhi government and also to do “trap cases”.
The FBU started functioning from February 2016 and a fund of Rs 1 crore was kept for it under “secret service expenditure”. A rough analysis of nature of reports generated by the unit revealed that while 60 per cent of it was related to vigilance matters, political intelligence and other issues accounted for around 40 per cent, the report said.
“Scrutiny of such reports during the period from February 2016 to early September 2016 shows that a substantial number of reports submitted by FBU officials were not actionable feedback on corruption in any department, but related to political activities of persons, political entities and political issues touching political interest of the Aam Admi Party,” the report said.
“The feedback unit was not functioning in the manner and for the purpose approved by the cabinet but was working for some other hidden purposes which were not in the interest of the GNCTD but private interest of Aam Admi Party and Manish Sisodia, the Dy CM, who played an active role in its creation of Feedback flouting established rules of GNCTD and MHA.” charged the CBI report.
It also alleged that the “unlawful” manner of creation and working of the FBU caused loss of to the government exchequer to the tune of around Rs 36 lakh.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri charged that the AAP government formed the FBU by misusing public fund and indulging in a “scam”.
He demanded registration of FIR against Kejriwal and Sisodia charging they had “malafide intention” behind creation of the feedback unit.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government termed “all allegations” as “completely bogus”.
“Till now, the CBI, ED and Delhi Police have registered so many cases against us. About 163 cases have been registered against us. However, the BJP has not been able to prove even a single case. About 134 of these cases have been dismissed by the courts and in the rest of the cases also, the BJP government has not been able to provide any evidence,” it said in the statement.
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#AAP #BJP #face #CBI #report #claims #Delhi #govts #feedback #unit #collected #political #intelligence
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 8, 2023
Assam govt’s motive malicious: Owaisi on crackdown on child marriages

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Lucknow: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday questioned the Assam government’s motive behind its crackdown on child marriages in the state and said the exercise reflects a “failure of governance” by the BJP dispensation.
“There is a malicious motive behind all the action that is being taken,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader told PTI in a telephonic interview, when asked about the hundreds of arrests made in the northeast state.
More than 2,250 people have been arrested in Assam till Saturday in the crackdown on child marriage, according to an official statement by the state government.
Owaisi, who was in Lucknow to attend the executive committee meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said, “As you know the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was passed in 2006, and it is the BJP’s government which is in power in Assam for the last six years. Now, why did the government not stop all these in the last six years? This really shows the failure of their governance.”
“Experts have said that if you want to stop child marriages, you have to open a lot of schools, (but) you have not done that. You have closed down the madrassas too which were imparting some form of education,” he alleged.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday asserted that the drive against child marriage launched by the state police from the previous day would continue till the next Assembly elections in 2026.
A total of 2,258 people have been arrested so far across the state based on 4,074 FIRs, the Assam government statement said.
Speaking to PTI, Owaisi asked who would now take care of the poor women who have been left in the lurch after the state government’s crackdown on child marriages.

“Now, who will look after those poor women? Forget about whether they are Muslims or not Muslims or Hindus? Who will take care of them now? What steps is the government taking to look after them? … many of them have children now,” he said.
Owaisi also informed that he recently shared a tweet about an Assamese woman who has died by suicide.
“You must remember that at 18-plus, we allow consensual sexual relationships. So, how does it make sense if at 18 she is having a consensual sexual relationship and then you are saying it is child marriage? Even in the law, this needs to be looked into,” he said.
“It is a completely biased government against Muslims, discriminatory against Muslims. For example they went on an (anti)-encroachment drive, wherein they made hundreds of Muslim families homeless in Assam. In upper Assam, they gave ‘pattas’ (land strip) to landless people, but in lower Assam, they don’t do that,” Owaisi alleged.
The Assam cabinet had recently decided that those having married girls below 14 years of age will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The council of ministers also took the decision that cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 will be registered against those who have married girls in the 14-18 years age group.
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#Assam #govts #motive #malicious #Owaisi #crackdown #child #marriages
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 5, 2023
Asaduddin Owaisi raises concern over Assam govt’s crackdown against child marriages

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Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday raised concern after the Assam government’s crackdown against child marriages.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, the Hyderabad MP said, “What will happen to those girls who have been married? The Assam government has booked 4000 cases and is talking of booking 4000 more. So, who will take care of those girls? You are putting a mountain of troubles over them.”
“You are in the government for six years, so it is a failure of the state. Why haven’t you built more schools in the state,” he added.
He further accused the BJP of being “biased” and alleged that the government is not giving land to people in Lower Assam.
“This government is biased against Muslims. They gave land to landless people in Upper Assam but didn’t give the same to people in Lower Assam, instead are evicting people in huge numbers,” he said.
The AIMIM chief also raised concern over the adjournment of Parliament for the second day in a row.
“We want to raise certain issues in the Parliament, but the government is not letting the Parliament function. It is benefitting them as they are able to get away with the questions,” he further said.
Notably, considering a surge in cases of child marriage (below the age of 18 years) of Assam women as reported by the National Report of the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led State government is carrying the crackdown against child marriages.

As per the latest development, Assam police have arrested 2258 people, across the state, involved in child marriage incidents.
Police said they have a list of 8,000 accused and as the drive continues, the figures will increase.
The drive was launched on Thursday night after CM Himanta Biswa Sarma chaired a video-conference meeting with senior officials of the police department directing them to launch a crackdown to rid the state of the evil practice of child marriage.
This episode of this slew of crackdowns dates back to May 5, 2022, when the Health Ministry released the fifth report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), carried out in 2019 and 2020.
The report, following a fine and detailed reading by the Assam government, showed serious concerns regarding child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and maternal mortality.
It was found in the report that 31.8 per cent of women in Assam between 20-24 age were married at a minor age or before 18 years. This was even higher than the national average of 23.3 per cent.
Of these 31.8 per cent of women, more than half (50.8 per cent) cases were from All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MP Badruddin Ajmal’s parliamentary constituency, Dhubri.
As per the government, child marriage leads to teenage pregnancy in women causing maternal deaths in the state.
According to the Assam police data, 139 people have been arrested in Biswanath, 126 in Dhubri, 120 in Baksa, 114 in Barpeta, 97 in Nagaon, 96 in Hojai, 94 in Kokrajhar, 87 in Bongaigaon, 79 in Karimganj, 76 in Hailakandi, 72 in Cachar, 72 in Goalpara district in cases related to child marriage.
Director General of Assam Police (DGP) GP Singh, while addressing a press conference on Friday, said that 4,074 cases related to child marriage have been registered at different police stations across the state.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that the crackdown against child marriages in the state would continue in the coming days.
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#Asaduddin #Owaisi #raises #concern #Assam #govts #crackdown #child #marriages
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 5, 2023
Delhi excise policy case: Govt’s loss of Rs 581 cr was diverted as profit to accused, says ED

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has claimed in its supplementary chargesheet filed in connection with the excise policy case that the Delhi government lost revenues of about Rs 581 crore by providing a margin of 12 per cent to private wholesalers (L1 licence holders).
This 12 per cent commission was given to them by not paying heed to the expert committee headed by IAS Ravi Dhawan, as per the chargesheet.
The ED claimed that the loss was diverted to ostentatious profits to the wholesalers, including accused M/s Indo Spirits which was used to recoup the kickbacks paid in advance by the ‘south group’.
“In order to create a device for continuous payment of kickbacks to Vijay Nair, an unheard of margin of 12 per cent was provided to the private wholesalers contrary to the recommendations of the expert committee headed by Ravi Dhawan, then excise commissioner, which suggested for a single government entity as wholesaler for Delhi.
“On this account, the government lost revenues of Rs 581 crore that would have accrued to it in case the expert committee recommendations were accepted by the government, which in the subject policy was assigned to private players, only to fill the personal coffers of AAP leaders,” the chargesheet read.
The ED has also claimed in the chargesheet that the ‘south group’ directly and indirectly controlled nine retail zones, which included five retail zones of Sarath Reddy.
In some cases, the control was via financing of the EMD (earnest money deposit) for the process, ostensible investments, relatives/dummies/proxies.
Apart from the direct profits accruing from the wholesale business of Indo Spirits, the modus operandi for recovering the kickback paid in advance by the ‘south group’, monies in the form of outstanding from the ostensible sales from the wholesale of Indo Spirits to retail of the ‘south group’ with an understanding that the outstanding was not to be recovered and the amount will be shown as recoverable in the books of account, the chargesheet said.

“Sarath Reddy’s controlled entities owed over Rs 60 crore to Indo Spirits, which is shown as outstanding but was not meant to be recovered as part of the conspiracy,” the ED claimed.
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#Delhi #excise #policy #case #Govts #loss #diverted #profit #accused
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
IMF expresses concern over possibility of Pak opposition creating hurdles in govt’s hard economic decisions

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Islamabad: The IMF has expressed concern that Pakistan’s opposition parties might create hurdles in the way of implementing the tough economic decisions of the cash-strapped Shehbaz Sharif-led government, media reports said on Wednesday.
The views of the global lender came as a high-level delegation led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief Nathan Porter on Tuesday met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials as part of the opening session of 10-day long talks for the completion of the much-delayed programme review for a bailout package.
Porter raised the question about the implication of the opposition’s role in difficult decisions that Pakistan would have to take to avoid the default, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
“The fund had concerns that the opposition might create some problems in the way of rolling out additional taxation measures that the government was planning to impose to revive the talks,” it quoted Porter as saying.
However, Finance Minister Dar assured the IMF mission head that the government believed in political dialogue and there was nothing to worry about.
Dar stated that the government would try to enforce additional taxes in a manner that would avoid any untoward legal and political challenges, the report said, citing sources.
The government was planning to promulgate a presidential ordinance but in case the IMF concerns remained, it might bring an act of parliament. Parliament route would take at least 14 days before the new taxes were implemented, the report said.
Pakistan signed a USD 6 billion IMF programme during Imran Khan’s government in 2019, which was increased to USD 7 billion last year.

The programme’s ninth review is currently pending with talks being held between IMF officials and the government for the release of USD 1.18 billion.
But the IMF suspended disbursements in November last year due to Pakistan’s failure to make more progress on fiscal consolidation amidst the political turmoil in the country.
As part of the tough decisions, the Pakistani government on Tuesday hiked the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 30 per cent and finalised a minimum of Rs 6 per unit average increase in electricity rates between now and August, according to a report in the Dawn newspaper.
During the talks, Dar assured the IMF team that Pakistan would soon roll out a plan to reduce the gas sector’s circular debt by half to around Rs700 billion.
Dar, according to the finance ministry, said that reforms were being introduced in the power sector and a high-level committee had been formed for devising modalities to offset the menace of circular debt in the gas sector.
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#IMF #expresses #concern #possibility #Pak #opposition #creating #hurdles #govts #hard #economic #decisions
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023
AAP govt’s mega project to transform 1,400 kms Delhi roads to kick off from April 1

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New Delhi: Repairing broken pavements, central verges and manholes, resurfacing roads and sprinkling of water on them on a daily basis — these are some of initiatives that will be undertaken as part of the Delhi government’s mega project to transform the city roads that will kick off from April 1.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said about Rs 4,500 crore will be spent on the project in the first year and then Rs 2,000 crore every year.
The Delhi government will also introduce deep scrubbing machines and litter picker machines, he said, adding that it will also hire over 100 mechanised road sweepers, over 150 sprinkler tankers and 250 anti-smog-guns-cum-sprinklers.
The chief minister said they will be transforming a total of 1,400 kms of roads that come under the jurisdiction of the Delhi Public Works Department.
He added that heavy penalties will be imposed on the contractor in case of any shortcoming in the project.
The entire system will be monitored remotely from a dashboard and there will be a centralised complaint system for citizens to reach out to the government, he said.
“The PWD has jurisdiction only on roads wider than 18m (45ft) across the national capital, and we will leave no stone unturned to transform them,” he said.
Kejriwal said all the footpaths and central verges along the roads will be repaired when necessary.

“This means that in contrast to the usual practice of replacing footpaths on the entire stretch as adopted by governments who want to spend away all public funds, in this project, we will take up spot-repairs.
“If one stone is missing, it will be replaced. If two are damaged, they will be repaired. We will not misuse public funds,” he explained.
Outlining the timeline for the project, he said the work orders will be issued by March 20 and the work will commence from April 1.
He said the repair work will be completed within six months and once it is complete, a 10-year maintenance contract will be put in place.
Roads will be resurfaced every five years while regular painting of roads, medians, central verges will be taken every three to six months, he said.
“All roads and footpaths will be washed in a daily basis or thrice a week,” he said.
He asserted that all central verges will be repaired along with damaged manholes, street furniture, railings, precast slabs, signages and electrical poles.
“In all the city subways, the railings and light fittings will be repaired, as will the foot over bridges. Beyond these, civil and electrical repairs, all potholes and cracks on roads will be repaired,” he said.
All railings, trees and plants around the roads will be washed as well, he said.
The government is also introducing deep scrubbing machines to thoroughly clean the roads of all dirt and litter picker machines to pick up all littered material and debris from the roads.
“We will hire over 100 mechanised road sweepers, over 150 sprinkler tankers and 250 anti-smog-guns-cum-sprinklers. There are 250 wards in Delhi and each ward will get one machine. The 150 sprinkler tankers will be deployed on the large PWD roads.
“But the 250 smog guns will be handy in cleaning the smaller roads and lanes in the city. These machines too will be engaged for 10 years. 10,000 kilolitres of water will be needed for this purpose. We will be using the water treated at Delhi Jal Board’s STPs for this purpose, instead of discharging it into the Yamuna,” he said.
The chief minister said all posters, banners and other material stuck on roadsides will be removed on a daily basis, with the government taking up tree plantation on a very large scale on the roadsides and central verges.
“A 10-year contract will be awarded for daily maintenance, washing, trimming, soil upkeep and watering of such plants. This project also needs rigorous monitoring, so we will deploy a third party monitoring system.
“Camera-enabled vehicles will go around Delhi throughout the day and record the live situation of the roads and maintenance work,” he said.
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#AAP #govts #mega #project #transform #kms #Delhi #roads #kick #April
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
Morbi bridge collapse: Municipality seeks docs seized by SIT to reply to Gujarat govt’s notice

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Morbi: The Morbi municipality has appealed to the Gujarat government to return documents seized by a special investigation team (SIT) probing the collapse of a bridge in the town so it could respond to the government’s show-cause notice asking why the civic body should not be dissolved over the tragedy, which claimed 135 lives.
All the documents are with the government-appointed SIT and the Morbi municipality does not have any document, an official from the civic body has said.
The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed on October 30, 2022. The Gujarat government last week issued a show-cause notice to the Morbi municipality asking why it should not be dissolved for failing to discharge its duties.
In the notice, the state Urban Development Department directed the civic body to submit a written clarification in the form of a general body resolution by January 25.
The bridge was maintained and operated by the Oreva Group as per an agreement signed with the Morbi municipality.
The 52-member Morbi municipality held a meeting on Monday and passed a resolution urging the government to return documents seized by the (government-appointed) SIT so it could respond to the government’s show-cause notice, the civic body’s vice president, Jayrajsinh Jadeja, told reporters after the meeting.
All the 52 elected representatives of the Morbi Municipality are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power in the state.
“Since all the documents are with the SIT and the Morbi municipality does not have any document, the municipality passed a resolution urging the government to return them as soon as possible so that it could reply to its notice,” Jadeja said.
In the notice, the Urban Development Department said the previous contract to operate the bridge expired in 2017.

Between 2018 and 2020, the Oreva Group had written several letters to the Morbi municipality warning about the dilapidated condition of the bridge and also cautioned that a serious accident may occur if the bridge remains open to the public in such a condition.
However, the civic body did not take cognizance of such warnings by the company, the notice said.
Moreover, the municipality did not take any concrete action to take over the bridge from the company in 2017 after the completion of the contract and remained inactive despite knowing the situation of the bridge, it said.
Notably, the state government had on December 13 told the Gujarat High Court, which took cognisance of the tragedy on its own and registered a public interest litigation (PIL), that it had decided to dissolve the municipality. The court had turned down the plea of the civic body members to be impleaded as a party in the case.
Nine persons, including four employees of Ajanta Manufacturing (Oreva Group), have been arrested so far in the case.
They include two managers and as many ticket booking clerks of the Oreva Group that was managing the British-era bridge.
The SIT had cited several lapses on part of the Oreva Group in repairs, maintenance and operation of the carriageway.
A Gujarat court last week also issued an arrest warrant against Jaysukh Patel, managing director of the Oreva Group, after getting an application for the same from police under section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Patel, who is not named as an accused in the FIR, had moved the Morbi sessions court on January 20 for anticipatory bail fearing arrest in the bridge collapse case. The hearing was adjourned till February 1 as the public prosecutor was not present.
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#Morbi #bridge #collapse #Municipality #seeks #docs #seized #SIT #reply #Gujarat #govts #notice
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023