Archives for January 2019

---

Nasheman News : A day after the Supreme Court reinstated Alok Verma as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director with limited powers, he resumed office on Wednesday.

Verma, who was sent on forced leave on the intervening night of October 23-24, returned to work after almost two-and-a-half months.

He left from his residence in central Delhi’s Janpath area at around 10.10 a.m and reached the agency’s headquarters in Lodhi Road area 25 minutes later. He was received by M. Nageswara Rao, who was appointed to look after Verma’s duties and functions.

Verma, a 1979-batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, was Delhi’s Police Commissioner before his appointment as CBI Director on February 1, 2017. His tenure ends on January 31.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reinstated Verma as the agency chief by setting aside the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Centre’s decision to divest him of his powers to function as its head but with a caveat that he will not take any policy decision till a high-level committee goes into the issue afresh.

Disposing of a petition filed by Verma and an NGO, Common Cause, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph said Verma would “cease and desist” from taking any policy decisions till the issue of denuding of his powers was decided by the High Power Committee (HPC) comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice.

While reinstating Verma, the top court also junked the Centre’s order appointing Rao as the interim Director.

The judgement climaxes a six-month long battle between Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who both levelled corruption allegations against each other. In October, matters came to a head when Verma lodged an FIR against Asthana on a complaint by one Satish Sana Babu, the alleged middleman in meat exporter Moin Qureshi’s case.

---

Nasheman News : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said here that the upper castes quota bill passed by the Lok Sabha a day before was a “historic decision” and a slap on the face of those spreading lies and indulging in “minority quota politics”.

“Lies were being spread that the reservations available to Dalits, Tribals and OBCs were sought to be removed… By those playing ‘minority quota politics’. But we have ensured that none of these are disturbed and given an additional 10 per cent. This is a fitting reply to those spreading canards and part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s policy of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’,” Modi said at a rally here.

He expressed hope that the Bill would now be passed smoothly by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, while addressing the rally to kickstart the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign from this famed spinning textile city in Maharashtra.

---

Nasheman News : The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till afternoon following protests by opposition members amidst a demand that the Constitution bill providing for upper castes reservation be sent to a Select Committee for detailed consideration even as the government sought to push ahead with its passage on the last day of the winter session on Wednesday.

With Lok Sabha having passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) bill providing for 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections among the general category in government service and higher educational institutions, Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot moved it for consideration in the upper House.

CPI member D. Raja, who objected to the consideration of the bill, demanded that it be sent to a Select Committee and the House should first take a decision on it.

Madhusudhan Mistry of Congress said the Bill was not complete and told the government that it cannot have both introduction and voting on the same day. He asked what was the urgency in the passage of the Bill.

Members were also protesting against the “unilateral” extension of the session till Wednesday saying it was done without consulting the opposition. They said the Chair did not announce a day’s extension in the working days of the House nor did it seek the members’ consent.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the Congress was raising technical issues to stall the Bill. “If you openly oppose the Bill, it is different. Otherwise, let’s have a discussion on it as it has already been introduced,” he said.

Moving the Bill, Gehlot said the Constitution does not allow reservation on economic basis and due to that poor people in general category miss out on opportunities.

“There was a complaint by poor of the general category that they could not avail of government benefits. The decision has been taken after much consideration. This bill will uplift the poor,” he said.

He appealed to the members to pass the bill unanimously. This was followed by the start of the debate by BJP member Prabhat Jha. But as shouting and uproar continued, Deputy Chairman Harivansh adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill was passed after a division with 323 members voting in its favour and three against in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day too, the House was adjourned once up to noon after protests by members on the “unilateral” extension.

Nasheman News :  After free rice, free consumer durables like cycle, laptop mixer-grinder, fans, livestocks and others, it is now free food in Tamil Nadu.

The state government will soon provide free food for registered construction workers at subsidised Amma Canteens, said Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

Speaking in the Assembly during the debate on the motion of thanks for Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s address to the House, Palaniswami said the government will soon implement a scheme to provide free food to registered construction workers here at Amma Canteens.

The Amma Canteen is a highly subsidised outlets where a plate of sambar rice is sold at Rs 5, plate of curd rice at Rs 3 and one idli at Re 1.