In a frontal attack on Modi government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today accused it of trying to run Delhi through “backdoor” to protect the corrupt and said it had “back-stabbed” the people of the city by issuing a notification “siding” with the Lt Governor.
Hours after the Home Ministry issued the gazette notification saying it was not mandatory for the LG to consult the Chief Minister on matters like appointment of bureaucrats, Kejriwal said it showed the nervousness of BJP and the Centre over the anti-corruption efforts by his government.
The Chief Minister charged that Jung is just the face and the orders to him are coming from the PMO. “Pre-independence, Queen of England used to send notifications to the Viceroy here. Now, Jung Sahab is the Viceroy and PMO is London.”
He said the AAP government was taking views of constitutional experts on the notification and a decision will be taken accordingly.
Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia alleged that the development showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were “kneeling down” before corruption and the “thriving transfer-posting industry” which the AAP government had stopped in the last three months.
“Earlier, a lot of money was changing hands for transfers but now that has ended under AAP government’s three-month rule. Once we did it, Congress and BJP people failed to get contracts in Delhi. Then they went to the PMO.
“Now, they have brought this notification as the BJP and Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get government contracts for their own people and that is why they want control over the transfer-posting industry through the LG. By bringing in the notification, the Centre has back-stabbed the people of Delhi,” the Chief Minister told reporters.
In the gazette notification issued today, the Union Home Ministry said that the LG will have jurisdiction over matters connected with services, public order, police and land and he may consult with the Chief Minister whenever he thinks necessary in issues of services using his own “discretion”.
Kejriwal pointed out that it also said that anti-Corruption Branch police station shall not take any cognisance of offences against officials, employees and functionaries of central government services and wondered who were the people Modi government was “trying to protect”.
He said such actions amount to promoting corruption.
Claiming that his government is the “most honest” government in the history of Delhi, Kejriwal said Jung has “never asked about water or electricity supply for the people of Delhi. He is only interested in transfers and postings.”
The Delhi Chief Minister said “Modi government is trying to run Delhi with three BJP MLAs through backdoor.”
The appointment of senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary by LG last week had triggered a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and the Lt Governor, with Kejriwal questioning the LG’s authority and accusing him of trying to take over the administration.
The Chief Minister, who had recently written to Modi on the issue, also alleged that the main crux of the notification lies in its last paragraph which says that the Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi government can’t take any action against central government employees.
“Our government has brought corruption down in its last three months. 36 officials have been arrested and 52 have been suspended. There is terror among corrupt officials and our government is the most honest in the history of Delhi.
“Now, the Centre wants that if ACB sees any sort of corruption by its central government employees, it should overlook it,” he said.
Earlier in a tweet, Kejriwal said “BJP first lost Del elections. Today’s notification shows BJP’s nervousness abt our anti-corruption efforts. BJP again lost today(sic)”
Reacting to the notification, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that it has become clear through this notification that the “Delhi’s transfer-posting industry” is afraid of AAP government.
“By this notification, it is clear that how the transfer industry of Delhi is afraid of us,” Sisodia said in his series of tweets.
“Through this (notification), it is being made efforts to save transfer-posting industry,” he said.
he United States Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors earthquakes across the world, said on Wednesday that while the chances of future aftershocks in Nepal were lower than its previous forecast, strong tremors could be felt in the Himalayan nation in the next week.
“The aftershocks are a normal occurrence after large earthquakes, and are expected to continue in Nepal but occur less often with time. The probability of future aftershocks is lower than in our forecast of May 13 due to the additional time that has passed since magnitude 7.3 earthquake on May 12, 2015, which was itself an aftershock of the Gorkha mainshock,” the USGS said in an advisory released on Wednesday.
“Within the week of May 20 to May 26, the USGS estimates that the chance of at least one magnitude 5 to 6 aftershock is about 40% and up to 3 such events are likely to occur,” it said.
Two mild tremors were felt on Tuesday in Kathmandu and surrounding areas affected by the April 25 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal. The temblor also hit parts of northern India, killing more than 60 people across Uttar, Bihar and West Bengal.
A second powerful earthquake in less than three weeks spread panic in Nepal on May 12, bringing down buildings weakened by the first disaster and killing at least 66 people, including 17 in neighbouring India and one in Chinese Tibet.
Most of the reported fatalities were in villages and towns east of Kathmandu, only just beginning to pick up the pieces from the April 25 quake.
A total of 248 aftershocks of over 4-magnitude have been recorded since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal.
“Aftershocks have the potential to create damage, just like other earthquakes… Some aftershocks may be strong enough to be felt widely throughout the area and may cause additional damage, particularly to vulnerable structures and those already weakened by the mainshock and the aftershocks,” the USGS said.
More than 600 temples, statues and museums across the country were damaged in Nepal’s deadliest earthquake on record, including Kathmandu’s 200-foot Dharahara Tower, built in 1832, which collapsed.
The little-seen older brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has surfaced in London, according to a series of reports, attending concerts by Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall.
A man identified as Kim Jong-chul was filmed by Japanese TV crews at the guitarist’s concert on Thursday evening.
Broadcaster TBS filmed Kim, wearing dark sunglasses and clad in a leather jacket, getting out of a people carrier outside the central London venue, flanked by suited men who appeared to be North Korean officials.
More TBS footage shows the 33-year-old applauding in the crowd and then leaving the venue via a corridor. “How was the concert?” asked the TBS reporter, in response to which one of Kim’s entourage places a hand over the camera lens.
The NK News website cited an anonymous source who also filmed Kim’s exit as confirming the man was brother of North Korea’s leader. According to this source, the older Kim saw Clapton play on both Wednesday and Thursday, sitting near the stage.
“He wasn’t so distinctive,” NK News quoted the source as saying. “But the obviously older guy next to him was clearly neither a typical Clapton fan or dressed for a gig.”
According to NK News, Japanese and South Korean media learned of Kim’s appearance at the Wednesday concert and so arrived in force the next day.
He is the middle of the three sons of North Korea’s late leader, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011. The eldest of the trio, Kim Jong-nam, 44, who has a different mother to the other siblings, was seen as most likely to succeed as leader before an incident in 2001 when he tried to enter Japan on a false passport, supposedly to visit Disneyland.
While Kim Jong-chul has previously held some mid-level official positions, he has kept a low profile under the rule of his younger brother.
North Korea is officially run on a highly nationalistic and insular philosophy of self-reliance, known as juche. But top-ranking citizens have previously shown a taste for foreign culture. Kim Jong-il was well know for his love of foreign cuisine and US cinema, while his youngest son is a basketball fan who has repeatedly met former NBA star Dennis Rodman.
According to the Financial Times in 2008, North Korea had formally invited Clapton to play in the country. The overtures reportedly followed a concert in Pyongyang by the New York Philharmonic.
RJD chief and former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad on Thursday hit out at the Narendra Modi-led government and gave zero marks to it which completes one year on May 26, arguing that it failed to help farmers in distress or provide jobs to the youth.
“I would give minus zero marks to the one-year-old Modi government,” Lalu told the media minutes before leaving for Delhi to meet Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and JD-U president Sharad Yadav over the merger of the six parties of the Janata Parivar.
He said Modi’s government has failed to help farmers suffering because of crop loss, and has not been able to bring back black money stashed abroad.
He also accused the BJP-led NDA government of failing to provide jobs to the youth or providing a sense of safety and security to minorities.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief said people have been disappointed and left in lurch by the Modi government and said that they will teach Modi’s government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a lesson.
New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Settlement of the border issue is “critical” for India-China ties, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said today, as he called for a “larger plan” for “tackling” that country to resolve all ticklish matters.
Doval also said that while India’s relations with China “are looking up” there was a need to remain at a “very very high alert”.
Delivering the annual K F Rustamji lecture, Doval, who leads the Indian side at the talks of Special Representatives with China, also dwelt on China’s emergence as world’s economic power and its relations with Pakistan.
The event is organised by the BSF in memory of Rustamji, the founder Director General of of the force who retired in late 1960’s but was reemployed as first Special Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs. He is the only police officer who has been awarded Padma Vibushan, the country’s second highest civilian award.
Doval, a former Intelligence Bureau Chief, said “…we might have to see China border in a different way once the boundary is settled….
“We have got a very long border we have got 3,488-km long border, a very difficult and mountainous terrain snow-clad…
now for the bilateral relations with China, border is the critical and vital issue,” he said speaking on the topic ‘Challenges of Securing India?s Borders; Strategising the Response?.
He said all advancement made in the “relationship” with China gets centred around and becomes important on settlement of the border.
Doval said while the bilateral relations with China “are looking up” there was a need to remain at a “very very high alert”.
“We are particularly concerned about the Eastern sector where the claims have been made on Tawang(in Arunachal Pradesh) which is totally in contravention of accepted principles,” Doval said and expressed surprise that while McMahon line was agreed till Burma by China, the same was not accepted thereafter.
The line is named after Sir Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of the British-run Government of India and the chief negotiator of settling disputes with China in 1914.
“The fact is there is settled population in these areas particularly in Tawang and other areas which have been participating in the national mainstream all through.
“So, these are the ticklish issues. But these ticklish issues have to be talked about, deliberated and worked out, he said, adding there was a need for working out a “larger plan for tackling China”.
The comments by Doval came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to China asked Beijing to “reconsider its approach on some issues that hold us back”, an apparent reference to the long-pending boundary issue.
Cast: Kangana Ranuat, R. Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Deepak Dobriyal
Direction: Aanand L. Rai
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Duration: 2 hours
Language: Hindi
Manu comes to India to find a bride for himself and falls for Tanu at first sight but Tanu, a free spirited girl has no plans of marrying him.
Hisar, May 22 (PTI) Police today claimed to have arrested one person along with his brother for allegedly killing his 20-year-old daughter here at Dhana Kalan village.
Sonia, a student of BA Final year, had allegedly eloped with her boyfriend of same village on May 9.
However, both were found by police two days later from Gurgaon railway station on the basis of complaint filed by girl’s father Ravi Dutt.
Sonia was handed over to the family by the police, they said.
However, she died under mysterious circumstances on May 19 and her family cremated the body next day without conducting postmortem, police said.
After learning about the girl’s death, police lodged a case against girl’s father Ravi Dutt, his brother Krishan Saini and another relative Rajender under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) and other sections of the IPC against them.
Ravi Dutt and Krishan Saini were arrested, police said, further investigation is underway
Amid rumours that director A M R Ramesh’s next venture ‘Oru Melliya Kodu’ is based on the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, a scene was shot recently, in which Shaam entered wedlock with Manisha Koirala.
While confirming that he is acting opposite Manisha and the wedding scene was canned recently, Shaam is however not ready to reveal much details about the movie. “It is suspense,” smiles the actor, who adds that Ramesh has touched upon an interesting subject.
On working with Manisha, he says, “Her energey levels are amazing. She is the same Manisha of ‘Bombay’ and ‘Indian’ days. She is so dedicated and cooperated with us very well. And she is down to earth despite working with legends Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.”
Margao, May 22 (PTI) With two successive draws, Dempo FC will have to go all out against Bengaluru tomorrow in their attempt to avoid relegation in the Hero I-League football tournament.
A win is important for both as Dempo FC are fighting to save relegation while Bengaluru FC, who are at the top of the table with 35 points are fighting for the title with Bagan.
Dempo FC who were tipped one of the strong contenders for the title but injuries to the likes of main striker Tolgay Ozbey saw them drawing nine matches out of 18 matches.
They had ample of scoring chances against Salgaocar but failed to score and now their are in a precarious situation to win their next two matches to come out of the relegation.
Dempo’s assistant coach Aaron Symons said “It?s definitely a challenge at hand for us from the position to get
points against a side who has been consistent throughout the tournament and on verge of retaining the title. For us this game counts, we are expecting a tough match and we should be self motivated and the coach have made it sure that we are well prep rared to collect full points.
“The boys have played well during the tournament inspite of injuries to key players but somehow failed to convert chances after dominating several matches which resulted us to be in this position. We had a strong Federation Cup, but non availability of all four foreign players and injuries to key Indian players at some point of time during the tournament has affected our performance.
New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today launched a publicity blitzkrieg marking one year of the Modi government saying it has eliminated political and governmental corruption, put the economy back on track and accused the Congress of adopting obstructionism to growth.
Maintaining that the BJP-led NDA government has created an environment of enthusiasm in which decision-making process has become transparent, he said the government’s decisiveness in the face of obstructionism has been its hallmark with speed of taking decisions.
Addressing the first of the two dozen press conferences to be addressed by union ministers throughout the country, Jaitley asserted that the country is getting investment and there is a need to ensure ease of doing business and expand economic activity to achieve double-digit growth.
At the 90-minute media interaction, Jaitley, who is also the Information and Broadcasting Minister, answered a number of questions on economy and politics and how the government dispelled the general environment of gloom that prevailed during the UPA regime which encouraged crony capitalism.
He expressed confidence that the controversial land bill will be passed in the next Parliament session because “the numbers are clear”. Similarly, the indirect taxation reforms measure Goods and Service Tax (GST) will be passed in the next session.
The Minister, who is also the media face of the government, disapproved of the remarks made by his ministerial colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who had said those who want to eat beef could go to Pakistan or any other country.
He dismissed opposition criticism over the overseas visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his visit to 18 countries in the last one year has earned for the nation a special place in the world. .
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