Archives for 2020

Shah will launch the Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy, 2020 and inaugurate the Joram Koloriang Road being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an official said. 

NEW DELHI:  Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday to attend the 34th Statehood Day function at Itanagar on February 20 and launch projects related to industry and roads, government officials said on Tuesday. This will be the home minister’s first visit to a Northeastern state following the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act which has led to countrywide protests.  
Shah will also lay the foundation stone of the new headquarters of the Arunachal Pradesh Police, home ministry officials said. 

Shah will launch the Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy, 2020 and inaugurate the Joram Koloriang Road being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an official said. Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, is also expected to attend the Statehood Day function.   Arunachal Pradesh became a full-fledged state on February 20, 1987. Till 1972, it was known as the North East Frontier Agency.  It gained the Union Territory status on January 20, 1972 and was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh. Shah had cancelled his visit to Meghalaya and Arunachal on December 15 in the wake of the violent anti-CAA protests in N-E.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army within three months and said there will not be any absolute bar on giving them command postings.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud rejected the Centre’s argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying them permanent commission and command postings, saying it is disturbing and against the concept of equality.

The bench said women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in armed forces.

The top court said despite there being no stay on the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre showed scant regard in implementing the directive in past one decade.

New Delhi: After Supreme Court rap and the government’s stringent deadline, Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards statutory dues. The company said it will make payment of the balance amount after self assessment exercise.

“The…total amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor.

“We are in the process of completing the self assessment exercise expeditiously and will duly make the balance payment upon completion of the same, before the next date of hearing in the SC,” Bharti Airtel said.

The company said it will also submit supporting details at the time of making balance payment.

The telecom department on February 14 began issuing orders asking firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to clear past dues immediately.

The DoT, which faced the ire of the Supreme Court for putting on hold recovery of dues from telecom companies, had started issuing circle or zone-wise demand notices to the firms.

Airtel had previously responded to DoT order by offering to pay Rs 10,000 crore by February 20 and the remaining before March 17. Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charge, to the government.

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday said the ongoing preparation for the much awaited visit of US President Donald Trump is a reflection of the “slave mentality” of Indians.

Trump’s India trip is like the visit of a “Badshah” (emperor), an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ said.

Taking a dig at the construction of a wall on a plot having several slum structures in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump’s visit there, the Sena said the US president’s trip would neither stop the fall of rupee’s value in forex market nor offer betterment to those (slum dwellers) behind the wall.

“Before Independence, British King or Queen used to visit one of their slave nations like India. The kind of preparations going on from taxpayers’ money for the arrival of Trump is similar to it. This reflects the slave mentality of Indians,” it said.

The Sena also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) move to build wall on a plot to “hide the slums” on the route through which Trump’s convoy would pass.

“Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had once given the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’, which was ridiculed for a long time. It seems now Modi’s plan is ‘Garibi chupao’ (hide poverty),” the Marathi publication said.

Is there any financial allocation for such a wall being built in Ahmedabad? Is the US going to offer loan to India to build such walls across the country? it wondered.

“We have heard Trump is going to be in Ahmedabad for only three hours but the wall construction is costing almost Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer,” it said.

It is basically a political arrangement between Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump, the Sena claimed.

Last year, ‘Howdy, Modi!’ (a mega event jointly addressed by the Indian prime minister and Trump) was organised in the US, it noted.

A similar programme, “Kem Chho Trump” (Gujarati expression for how are you Trump), has been now organised (in Ahmedabad) ahead of the US elections, chiefly because of a sizable number of Gujarati people living in America, the Shiv Sena claimed.

“But this visit of President Trump is neither going to stop further fall of rupee in the forex market nor offer betterment to those behind the wall (being built in front of slums in Ahmedabad),” it said.

The Sena said Trump is “not someone very wise or a statesman or someone who cares for the whole world”, but he has to be treated with respect as he represents the mighty US.

“Sometimes you have to treat someone with respect to get your things done,” it quipped.

The AMC on Friday said the construction of the wall, around four feet in height, was approved much before Trump’s Gujarat visit was finalised.

Trump is scheduled to visit Modi’s home state Gujarat on February 24.

He will visit the famous Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and take part in a roadshow with Modi. After that, the two leaders will inaugurate a new cricket stadium in Motera and address a gathering there, with an expected audience of over a lakh people.

While it was earlier speculated that the programme would be called ‘Kem Chho Trump’, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on Sunday tweeted a series of posters confirming that the event is now christened as ‘Namaste Trump’, apparently to give it a pan-India appeal.

Hyderabad: The Telanagna government has decided to pass a resolution in the assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act, joining the ranks of anti-CAA states.

The Telangana government took the decision in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, while urging the Centre to repeal last year’s changes in the Citizenship Act.

It also appealed to the Centre “not to discriminate” on the basis of religion in granting citizenship to anyone.

“The State Cabinet appealed to the Union Government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion for according Indian citizenship. It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law,” an official release on decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting said on late Sunday night.

The Cabinet meet, chaired by the Chief Minister, felt the CAA would lead to discrimination on the basis of religion in grant of citizenship and jeopardise secularism envisaged in the Constitution.

“The Cabinet further requested the central government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which will lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the Constitution,” the release said.

The state Cabinet decided to pass the anti-CAA resolution in the state assembly on the lines of the ones passed by Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, it said.

Coming out strongly against the CAA, Rao had said last month said he might convene a meeting of regional parties and chief ministers to oppose the amended citizenship law.

The state assembly may pass a resolution, like the other state assemblies did, against the CAA, he had said then. The Cabinet meeting, which began on Sunday evening, concluded late in the night.

The Cabinet also decided to organise ‘Pattana Pragathi’ (progress of towns) programme, aimed at ensuring cleanliness, greenery and planned development in urban areas, for 10 days beginning February 24 in all towns and cities of the state, a separate official release said.

A state-level ‘municipal conference’, to be attended by mayors, municipal chairpersons, commissioners, MLAs and district collectors, would be held here on February 18 to finalise the guidelines for the programme, it said.

New Delhi: Two alleged criminals were killed in an exchange of fire with the Special Cell of Delhi Police at Pul Pehlad Pur area here on Monday morning, officials said.

The encounter took place around 5 am, they said.

Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur, who were injured during the encounter, were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said.

According to police, the two men were involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery.