Archives for April 2022

LUCKNOW:  After creating history by returning to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second consecutive term, the BJP is now eying a majority in both Houses of the state legislature and making all-out efforts to sweep the UP Legislative Council polls scheduled on April 9. The ruling party has already unanimously won nine of the 36 council seats that were up for grabs. Voting for rest 27 seats will take place on Saturday and the results will be declared on April 12.

The BJP had 35 MLCs in the 100-member Council and the nine seats have now taken its tally to 44. The party is only seven short of majority. The Samajwadi Party has 17 members while the BSP has 4 and the Congress and BJP allies Apna Dal(S) and Nishad Party have one member each. Two members belong to the teachers’ group (non-political) and two are Independent.

That leaves 37 positions in the Upper House vacant, but the election will be held for 36 seats, where elected representatives of local bodies will cast votes. One seat is lying vacant due to the death of SP MLC and leader of opposition Ahmad Hassan during the Assembly polls.

The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win all the seats. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been convening virtual meetings with party’s elected representatives. According to highly-placed sources in the party, ministers, MLAs and MPs have been asked to reach out to the voters to ensure an impressive victory. The party’s organisational secretary Sunil Bansal and his team are keeping a close eye on the day-to-day preparations for the Council polls.

In the meeting convened by CM Yogi, around 32,000 people were virtually connected. The CM appealed to MLAs, zila panchayat members, block development council members, mayors, municipal chairpersons, village pradhans and corporators to work for the victory of the BJP’s Council poll candidates.
With only seven more seats to grab, attaining a majority in the House will not be a difficult task for the party. However, it’s aiming for a ‘clean sweep’ to consolidate its position further. 

A BJP leader explained that in 2017, when the Yogi government first came to power in the state, the SP had 60-plus seats in the Council. “If the BJP gets a majority in both Houses, it will be easier for the party to get important bills and cement its position as an even more formidable political force.”

NEW DELHI: CNG prices in the national capital on Thursday were hiked for the second day in a row by Rs 2.50 per kilogram, taking the total increase since March to Rs 12.5 per kg.

CNG in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi now costs Rs 69.11 per kg, up from Rs 66.61 per kg, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) – the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and adjoining cities.

Rates had gone up by Rs 2.50 per kg on Wednesday as well. However, there was no change in the rates of Piped Cooking Gas (PNG). It continues to cost Rs 41.61 per standard cubic meter.

CNG prices in Delhi have increased by Rs 12.48 per kg since March when city gas distributors started factoring in high international energy prices.

On Thursday, Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) raised Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) price by Rs 7 per kg to Rs 67 per kg in Mumbai while Gujarat Gas hiked rates by Rs 6.50 per kg to Rs 76.98 per kg.

Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.

The increases come on the back of the government more than doubling natural gas prices to USD 6.1 per million British thermal unit from April 1.

Natural gas when compressed becomes CNG for use as fuel in automobiles.

The same gas is also piped to household kitchens and industries for cooking and other purposes.

The increase in CNG prices follows Rs 10 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices in 16 days and a Rs 50 per cylinder raise in the cooking gas LPG rates.

A record 137-day hiatus in petrol and diesel price revision ended on March 22.

On the same day, the price of a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder was increased to Rs 949.50 in the national capital.

In some places, the LPG price has touched Rs 1,000.

According to IGL, CNG will now cost Rs 71.67 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad and Rs 77.44 per kg in Gurugram, the cities adjoining Delhi.

New Delhi: Not an inch of land has been ceded since Narendra Modi became prime minister, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, hitting back at an opposition MP who accused the government of giving away Indian territory “bit by bit to China”.

Intervening in the discussion in the lower house on the situation in Ukraine, Rijiju took strong objection to the remarks made by BSP MP from Jaunpur Shyam Singh Yadav.

“Everyone knows that our claimed territory under the control of China and Pakistan dates back to earlier times. I don’t want to take anyone’s name. Since Narendra Modi has become prime minister, not an inch of land has been ceded,” Rijiju said after Yadav alleged that Indian territory was being given away “bit by bit to China”.

The minister said Arunachal Pradesh, which is a border state, is also “100 per cent safe and secure”.

“I come from Arunachal Pradesh. A TV channel did mischief and, taking images from a foreign website, said that China has established a village inside Arunachal which is false as that village had been occupied by China in 1959,” Rijiju said.

One should not mislead the country by making such claims, he said.

Rijiju recalled that in 2013 when A K Antony was the defence minister, he had stated in the House that India’s policy not to build infrastructure in the border areas was wrong.

“The Modi government is changing that policy and our borders are secure. My state Arunachal Pradesh is also 100 per cent safe and secure,” he asserted.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed the blocking of 22 YouTube-based news channels, of which four are from Pakistan, alleging that they were spreading fake news that could impact national security, foreign relations and public order.

This is the first time that action has been taken against the Indian YouTube-based news publishers since the notification of the IT Rules, 2021 in February last year, it said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur asserted that the government will not shy away from taking such action in the future as well.

In an official statement, the ministry said it issued an order on Monday to block 22 YouTube channels, three Twitter accounts, one Facebook account and one news website.

With this action, the ministry has, since December 2021, issued directions for blocking 78 YouTube-based news channels and several other social media accounts on grounds related to national security, sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, etc.

“Out of the 22 YouTube channels which were blocked, 18 are from India and four from Pakistan.

“The total views were 262 crores. They were involved in the misinformation against India which could impact the sovereignty and integrity of the country and also the national security and India’s relations with other nations,” the Information and Broadcasting minister said.

“They were spreading misinformation on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, on the COVID-19 news and other such issues which were directly impacting India. As I promised earlier as well, whether the channels are operating from foreign soil or from India, we’ll take action. We won’t shy away from taking such a decision in the future as well in the interest of India,” Thakur said.

The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 260 crore, the ministry earlier said, adding that they were spreading fake news and coordinated disinformation over social media, on subjects sensitive from the perspective of national security, India’s foreign relations, and public order.

According to the ministry, multiple YouTube channels were used to post “fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces, Jammu and Kashmir, etc.”

“The content ordered to be blocked also included certain anti-India content posted from multiple social media accounts operated in a coordinated manner from Pakistan.

“It was observed that a significant amount of false content was published by the Indian YouTube channels related to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and aimed at jeopardising India’s foreign relations with other countries, it said.

The ministry said that the blocked Indian YouTube channels were using templates and logos of certain TV news channels, including images of their news anchors to mislead viewers to believe that the news was authentic.

“False thumbnails were used, title and thumbnail of the videos were frequently altered to increase the virality of content on social media. In certain cases, it was also observed that systematic anti-India fake news was originating from Pakistan,” it said.

“The Government of India remains committed towards ensuring an authentic, trustworthy, and safe online news media environment, and thwarting any attempts at undermining India’s sovereignty and integrity, national security, foreign relations, and public order,” the ministry said.

Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil

Mumbai: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the allegations of extortion raised against some Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on Tuesday.

The SIT has been formed under an officer named Veeresh Prabhu. We have given the SIT the time required to probe the matter, he told reporters.

Prabhu is the Additional Commissioner (Crime).

Raut had alleged in a press conference last month that some Enforcement Directorate officers were acting as an ATM for the BJP. He had also said the Mumbai Police were probing extortion charges against four officers of the Central agency and some of them will go to jail.

The Sena MP didn’t reveal any names while making the allegations.

In the last few years, some ED officials and agents have been involved in extortion, threatening builders and corporates. I have passed on this information to the prime minister, he had said.

The Shiv Sena heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of which NCP and Congress are constituents.

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday moved a bill in Rajya Sabha to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi to ensure a robust setup for synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was piloted in the Upper House of Parliament by Home Minister Amit Shah.

Lok Sabha had passed the bill, which seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957, on March 30.

While introducing the bill, Shah said it will unify the three municipal corporations — North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

He also accused the AAP government in Delhi of meting out “step-motherly” treatment to the three civic bodies for political reasons.

The three municipal corporations control around 1,400 sq km of the city and their smooth functioning is necessary for the citizens of Delhi and the country.

Shah also said the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was done in a hurry in 2012 which led to an imbalance.

“I searched the reason for which the municipal body (MCD) was divided but no reason was available in any file,” he said, adding, “The objective was probably known only to the people who had brought it.”

After 10 years of division, the results were not as expected. All the three municipal corporations adopted different policies.

“There was no unanimity in the policies adopted for a city. This is because when they were trifurcated their financial resources and responsibilities were not properly addressed,” he said.

It was divided in such a manner that two of them could not even financially sustain themselves, Shah added.

“Even there are inequalities in service conditions of the workers and because of this, there is a deep resentment among them,” he said.

In the last 10 years, there were more than 250 strikes and in the decade before, there were only two big strikes.

Shah’s speech was interrupted by several opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, the home minister said all members have the right to criticise and he would reply to all of them.

CPI(M) member John Brittas has moved a proposal to refer the bill to a select committee of Rajya Sabha.

Initiating the debate on the bill, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the move is “constitutionally suspect, legally untenable, administratively blunderous and politically hypocritical”.

“This bill is about control and more control by a control freak ‘sarkar’ (government). It has nothing to do with the plight of Delhi and its hapless citizens. This is a dangerous politics of delaying (polls) through delimitation, which is going to lead to disorder, disorganisation and disaster,” he said.

Unfortunately, the ruling party which is moving the bill wants to rampage the municipal corporations with control, chaos and corruption.

“This would be, of course, challenged,” he said.

Taking a dig at the government, Singhvi said a year ago the admitted revenue gap of three municipal corporations was at Rs 2,200 crore.

If improvement of the civic bodies was an object of the bill, it should have mentioned as to how the gap would be bridged.

“Your own statement is that this bill will improve (finances of the civic bodies) by garnishing an additional Rs 200 crore. This is your own estimation and the gap is of Rs 2,200 crore,” he said, adding, “This is not an improvement bill.”

The Finance Commission had recommended devolution of Rs 488 per person per year for every municipality in India and by that count, it comes to Rs 4,087 crore for Delhi.

“Did you as the central government give Rs 4,087 crore to the municipal corporations of Delhi? You gave lots of amount to other municipalities, but not to Delhi,” he said.

Singhvi also raised the issue of reduction of the number of seats in the three corporations taken together to 250 from 272.

Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP supported the bill and said this was done under the constitutional provisions as Article 239 A says that the functioning of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi shall be regulated by law made by Parliament.

According to him, the Delhi government budget for a year is around Rs 75,800 crore and Rs 40,500 crore for the municipal corporations of Delhi. Against that, an allotment of only Rs 6,129 crore was done by the AAP government.

“This number tells what kind of justice was done with MCD and why there is a need for unification of all three municipal bodies,” he added.

The budget of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is around Rs 46,000 crore, but in comparison only Rs 6,000 crore was given to the Delhi municipal corporations, he said.