Wooing investors, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said there is no communal tension in the state, in comments that came barely days after the communal violence in Malda. With the state assembly elections round the corner, the Trinamool Congress chief also assured industry captains that her party will not come in the way of investment in the state, claiming her government will retain power.
“We have already set up a core group for industries. Our elections are coming but don’t worry everything will be sorted out. Democracy will continue. This elected government (TMC government) will come up ( will return),” Banerjee said addressing the third edition of Bengal Global Business Summit here.Claiming that a peaceful atmosphere prevailed in West Bengal, she said it was the most conducive aspect for setting up industries.Only political critics try to portray Bengal as a violent state, she said.”Bengal is a peaceful state where we all work together. There is no such communal incident or tension. Somebody might criticize it politically. We don’t allow all these (communal problems). Because we know that if there is peace everything is settled,” Banerjee said.She also referred to the “peaceful atmosphere” at the Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal.Her comments came against the backdrop of the communal violence that broke out at Kaliachak in Malda, which had prompted the Union Home Ministry to seek a report from the state government.Banerjee said availability of land won’t be a problem in Bengal as the state government has a land policy and a land bank.”Some people are saying that there has been no investment. It is not true. The projects worth Rs 94,000 crore investment have already taken off. Some of the projects we had signed had already started,” Banerjee said.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spoke at the summit, said investors anxiously look forward to an environment to see their investments were yielding results.”If you are not in a position to attract that, then investments will dry up,” he warned.Opposition parties like CPI-M, Congress and BJP had yesterday termed the event as a “drama” and said it will complete the process of de-industrialisation in Bengal.

The fate of the odd-even vehicle scheme will be decided on January 11 by the Delhi High Court which on Friday reserved its order on various pleas challenging the AAP government’s ambitious pilot project which will continue till then.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath reserved the order after the Delhi government informed it that the pollution level of particulate matter across the national capital showed a declining trend due to the implementation of the scheme which began on January 1.
The AAP government’s response came after the bench had on January 6 questioned the impact of the odd-even operation on pollution and asked it to consider restricting it to a week.
Read Also: Odd-Even success proves that AAP can govern: Arvind Kejriwal
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Delhi government, submitted that the capital is piloting its first-ever emergency action to reduce peak pollution levels.
“This is consistent with global best practice. Vehicles that are second highest emitters in the city are responsible for very high exposure and health impacts.
“The first few days of the programme have already demonstrated that peak pollution levels are lower than the normal smog peaks of the season despite the adverse weather conditions,” Salve said.
He said that the scheme is to reduce congestion on the capital’s roads that has further contributed towards lowering of pollution.
“Emissions from vehicles caught in the congestion increase two times due to idling and frequent acceleration and deceleration,” Salve submitted.
He also said, “The Delhi government must be permitted to continue with the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme and if these adverse weather conditions continue, then our recommendation is that the programme should also be beyond 15 days.”

When asked if schools refuse to abide by the government’s order, Kejriwal said, “The government can do anything; schools can be derecognised or the government can take over such schools.”

Delivering a master stroke that will provide big relief to the parents seeking admission for their kids in private schools and will have long-term bearing on Delhi’s education system, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government on Wednesday ordered scrapping of all admission quotas from private schools, except 25 percent reservation for children belonging to the Extremely Weaker Section (EWS).

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “There will be only 25 percent quota for EWS students, while the schools will have to be made available 75 percent of seats to general public.” Denouncing private schools ‘unreasonable admission criteria’, Kejriwal said, “We have scrapped 62 criteria of admission process in private schools that were unreasonable and discriminatory.” “The Delhi High Court has directed that the criteria and admission process has to be fair transparent and reasonable,” said Kejriwal.

“Abiding by the HC’s direction, the Delhi Government in December had asked all private schools to make their own criteria for making the admission process transparent, and upload those criteria on your website, and also upload on your website that which child has got how many marks under which criteria”, he said.

“However, when we received their criteria for admission and we complied those criteria, we found 62 of them unreasonable and discriminatory, and thus, order the scrapping of those criteria,”he added.
The Chief Minister said it had been done in order to make the admission process in private schools transparent and people-friendly.

When asked if schools refuse to abide by the government’s order, he said, “The government can do anything; schools can be derecognised or the government can take over such schools.”

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away early Thursday morning at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he was undergoing treatment for pneumonia.
Sayeed was admitted to the hospital on 24 December after he complained of severe neck pain. On Tuesday, his health deteriorated and he was put on ventilator with a special team of AIIMS doctors monitoring his health. We are given to understand that he passed away after multiple organ failure.
Mufti Sayeed’s body will be taken to Palam where several political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay their respects. His mortal remains will then be flown to Srinagar where the final rites will be conducted.
Vice President Hamid Ansari has arrived at AIIMS to pay tribute to Mufti Sayeed.

The Aam Aadmi Party has made fresh accusations against the BJP and in a bid to counter claims made by the finance minster. They have also questioned the role of as the president of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and said that Thakur cannot wear two hats. They produced two letters claiming Arun Jaitley misused his power and had written to the police seeking closure of the probe. AAP leader Ashutosh claimed that they had posed five questions to Jaitley to which they have not yet received any reply. The party reiterated their resignation demands. The five questions are:
Being an eminent lawyer yourself, can you deny that your action amounts to directly obstructing the police investigation in an ongoing case?
Mr. Jaitely, on what basis did you conclude that the complaints regarding Syndicate Bank were unsubstantiated and disclosed no offence?
Given your political clout in this central government, is it fair for you to continue as a central minister, particularly when the Delhi Police directly reports to the Centre?
Mr. Jaitley, What was your interest in attempting to derail the investigation and did you reveal your action in the next DDCA AGM?
Mr. Jaitley, is it not a fact that you misused your position as Leader of the Opposition (LoP) of Rajya Sabha to pressurize the Delhi Police?
Escalating their attack, Ashutosh further said that Jaitley made attempts to interfere and cover-up the graft charges, as he was well aware of the rampant corruption going on in the DDCA. DDCA Row: Arvind Kejriwal refuses to apologise to Arun Jaitley.

After a drubbing in a state poll in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to overhaul his cabinet to weed out under performers and improve his government’s image. Problem is, several sources said, he can’t find the right replacements. As New Delhi buzzes with speculation about changes in several ministries, senior members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a close aide to Modi said some changes could come early next year but the talent pool was too shallow to engineer a major revamp. Pressure is mounting on Modi to revive his party’s fortunes. Nearly two years after he swept to power on a promise of jobs and growth, the shine is coming off – reforms to revive investment have withered and the economy is stuttering.
Rural distress has grown after two successive droughts. “The challenge is to identify the right candidates who can deliver fast-paced reforms and policies in their work sphere,” the prime minister’s aide said. Articulate and suave, Finance Minister has been considered for the defence portfolio, another high-profile role that is crucial to Modi’s geopolitical ambitions and plans to boost Indian industry. But there was no one to take Jaitley’s place in finance, the sources said. A spokesman for Modi declined to comment. An official in Jaitley’s office said they didn’t have any knowledge of a possible reshuffle. Modi tends to keep such decisions close to his chest, and the sources said the final decision lay with the prime minister. They added that he has yet to make up his mind on the changes, and that nothing has been confirmed. Another close aide to the prime minister dismissed talk of a reshuffle as speculation, saying it had no basis. The problem with the government’s search for talent is that Modi’s Hindu nationalist administration is loath to tap people who are associated with other ideologies, such as liberals or the left. At the same time, the right-wing intelligentsia has not developed after decades of rule by the centrist Congress party, under which liberal institutions flourished. “Compared to the Congress, we have a smaller talent pool and less exposure, but it’s only a matter of time that we expand our base,” BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said. He said Modi has “embarked on the process of fine-tuning the government machinery and also send a concrete signal that inefficiency will be checked.” BJP’s defeat in Bihar state polls earlier this year led to calls from within the party and the Hindu group that is its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to remove ministers and party officials who failed to deliver. Although a general election is not due until 2019, the government’s fortunes will depend on upcoming provincial polls, including an election in bellwether Uttar Pradesh state in 2017. Top RSS and BJP leaders are expected to meet in New Delhi in the second week of January, where these issues are likely to be discussed. A revamp is also expected to send the message that Modi will not tolerate remarks by ministers that fan intolerance against India’s non-Hindu minorities. Junior ministers and could be removed after they made public remarks construed as anti-minority, the sources said. Singh’s and Jyoti’s offices said they have no information about Modi’s reshuffle plans. Some ministers are also looking for a change. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked to be moved to a portfolio with a more domestic focus, the sources said. Swaraj’s office said they will not comment about her plans. Road transport minister was offered additional charge of the agriculture ministry, but he declined saying he already had too big a job, the sources said. A source in Gadkari’s office declined to comment, calling it a “hypothetical question.” Modi is looking to the RSS and may go further afield in southern and northeastern states to find new, lesser-known faces to bring to his government, his aide said. That would also give his cabinet a more pan-India feel, the aide said.

Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who is RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s elder son, rode a horse from his parents’ home to his official residence to celebrate Christmas, drawing sharp criticism from opposition BJP.

Accompanied by a posse of security personnel and a trained jockey on another horse, Yadav junior rode the half km distance from his parents’ home at 10, Circular Road to his official residence at 5, Deshratna Marg on Friday.

Later, Tej Pratap told newsmen “I enjoyed horse-riding which I have done after many years…I had been doing it regularly years ago.”

He also harped on the environmental benefits of horse-riding saying it helps in containing pollution and referred to growing air pollution in Patna and other towns in Bihar due to increasing vehicular traffic.
Tej Pratap holds Environment and Forest portfolio as well.

His ride drew sharp criticism from the Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar of BJP who said Tej Pratap was enjoying pleasure rides at a time when patients need improved facilities in hospitals which lacked infrastructure and medicines.