Archives for August 2023

NEW DELHI: Tomato prices are likely to touch Rs 300 per kg in the coming days and the prices of vegetables are also on the rise, according to wholesale traders. Kaushik, a member of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), said that vegetable wholesalers are facing losses as the sale of tomatoes, capsicum, and other seasonal vegetables has fallen drastically.

He said that the prices of tomatoes have shot up to Rs 220 per kilo from Rs 160 per kilo in the wholesale market, owing to which prices can also go up. Meanwhile, Mother Dairy started selling tomatoes at Rs 259 per kg on Wednesday through its Safal retail stores. Tomato prices have been under pressure for more than a month now on account of supply disruptions caused due to heavy rainfall in the key producing regions.

“There is much difficulty in the transportation of vegetables due to heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh. It takes 6 to 8 hours more than usual in the exportation of vegetables from the producers due to which the price of tomato might reach nearly Rs 300 per kilogram,” Azadpur Mandi wholesaler Sanjai Bhagat said. He said the quality of tomatoes and other vegetables that they export from Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra has come down.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Minister Atishi will be given additional charge of the services and the vigilance departments, a government source said, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal forwarding a proposal to L-G VK Saxena for approval.

The move comes a day after the Delhi services bill secured parliamentary approval after the Rajya Sabha passed the measure that will give the Centre control over the bureaucracy in the national capital.

Atishi was given additional charge of the revenue, planning and finance departments in June after Saxena approved a proposal to rejig the Cabinet.

These three departments were earlier with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

Atishi — the only woman minister in the Delhi Cabinet — will now hold 14 portfolios, the highest among all ministers in the city government.

NEW DELHI: TMC leader Derek O’Brien on Tuesday was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the Monsoon session after he disobeyed Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar while trying to seek a discussion on the Manipur issue.

The TMC leader sought to speak under the pretext of raising a point of order and when the chairman asked him to point to the rule he was wanting to speak on, O’Brien said 267 — the rule under which the opposition has been seeking a discussion on the Manipur issue since the start of the Monsoon session on July 20.

This infuriated the chairman, who said he is naming O’Brien.

The Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal thereafter moved a motion for suspending the TMC leader for the rest of the Monsoon session.

No sooner had Goyal got up than TMC MPs rushed to the well, shouting slogans.

Dhankhar said O’Brien has been suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon session. The Monsoon session of Parliament is to end on August 11.

An MP named by the chair, as per rules, has to withdraw from the proceedings of the House for the day.

The chair and O’Brien had a spat even during discussions on the Delhi services bill on Monday evening when Dhankhar accused Derek O’Brien of doing “theatrics” in the House to gain publicity during a heated debate on the Delhi services bill.

The chair then adjourned the session till noon.

Imphal: NDA partner Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) on Sunday announced withdrawal of support from the N Biren Singh government in Manipur.

In a letter to Governor Anusuiya Uikey, KPA president Tongmang Haokip informed about the party’s decision to snap ties with the BJP-led government in Manipur, where ethnic rioting since the last three months has claimed more than 160 lives.

“After careful consideration of the current conflagration, the continued support for the incumbent government of Manipur led by Chief Minister N Biren SIngh is no longer fructuous.

“Accordingly, the support of the KPA to the Government of Manipur is hereby withdrawn and can be considered null and void,” Haokip said in the letter.

In the 60-member House, the KPA has two MLAs – Kimneo Haokip Hangshing from Saikul and Chinlunthang from Singhat.

The BJP has 32 members in the Manipur Assembly, while it has support of five NPF MLAs and three independent legislators.

The opposition legislators include seven from the NPP, five from the Congress and six from JD(U).

Gurugram: Haryana authorities on Sunday razed several illegal structures in violence-hit Nuh including a hotel from where stones were allegedly pelted on a religious procession during the clashes last week, officials said on the fourth day of the demolition drive.

Besides the three-storey Sahara Hotel near Nalhar Road Chowk, a restaurant and a showroom of tiles were also demolished, they said. As many as 162 permanent and 591 raw structures have been demolished in the district so far.

Different teams of the administration, accompanied by the paramilitary and the police, also removed alleged encroachments in Punhana, Pinganwa, Nagina, Tauru and Ferozpur Jhirka.

Sub-divisional Magistrate Ashwani Kumar said these structures were built illegally and were used by “hooligans” to throw stones during the recent violence.

Deputy Commissioner of Nuh Dhirender Khargata said that action will continue “against people involved in illegal construction and anti-social activities in the district”.

A senior police officer claimed that CCTV footage showed people pelting stones and firing bullets from the roof of the Sahara Hotel.

“The hotel owner knew everything, but even after that he did not stop the culprits from collecting stones. With the help of four poclain machines, the hotel was demolished in four hours,” the officer said.

Till Sunday, illegal constructions were removed from 57.5 acres of land at 37 places while 162 permanent and 591 raw structures have been demolished in the district, the DC said.

The police was continuing raids to nab those involved in the violence that erupted on July 31.

Till Saturday, 147 people have been arrested and a total of 56 FIRs registered, officials said, adding eight people arrested on Friday were residents of Bharatpur and Alwar districts in Rajasthan.

A 50-member team from Gurugram police scoured the Nalhad hill on Sunday from where hooligans had allegedly opened fire on devotees.

“The search operation continued from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on Sunday. Two ‘desi katta’ (country-made pistols) and a dozen bullet shells have been found on the upper part of the hill.

“A ‘desi katta’ has been recovered near Khedla Chowk. All the weapons have been sent for forensic examination,” a police officer said.

Khadgata said curfew was relaxed on Sunday from 9 am to 12 noon.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, died in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh after the Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by mobs on Monday.

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India on Sunday expressed concerns over certain provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, saying they can have an adverse impact on press freedom.

In a statement here, the Guild said the DPDP Bill creates an enabling framework for surveillance of citizens, including journalists and their sources.

The Guild has asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a parliamentary standing committee. It has also written about its concerns on the Bill to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and leaders of political parties in Parliament.

The government tabled the DPDP Bill in Lok Sabha on August 3 with an aim to protect the privacy of Indian citizens while proposing a penalty of up to Rs 250 crore on entities for misusing or failing to protect digital data of individuals.

The Bill comes six years after the Supreme Court held that right to privacy is a fundamental right.

Under Section 36 of the DPDP Bill, the Guild said, the government can ask any public or private entity (data fiduciary) to furnish personal information of citizens, including journalists and their sources.

It also voiced concerns over clause 17(2)(a) that allows the Union government to issue a notification exempting any “instrumentality of the State” from the provisions of this Bill, thereby out of the ambit of data protection restrictions, including internal sharing and processing of data.

Section 17(4) allows the government and its instrumentalities to retain personal data for an unlimited period of time, it added.

“We note, with dismay, that while the Bill, ostensibly to promote data protection, has failed to make any provisions that bring about the surveillance reform that is urgently needed, and in fact creates an enabling framework for surveillance of citizens, including journalists and their sources,” the Guild said.

It said it is deeply concerned about the lack of exemptions for journalists from certain obligations of the law where the reporting on certain entities in public interest may conflict with their right to personal data protection.

The Justice Srikrishna Committee had provided a framework for balance between personal data protection and public interest, which is missing from the current bill, it said.

“This will lead to a chilling effect on journalistic activity in the country,” the Guild said.

It said certain provisions of the Bill also shift the balance in favour of non-disclosure of information, including information sought by journalists in public interest, thereby reducing accountability.

The Guild has also flagged concerns over the composition of the Data Protection Board and stressed the need for it to be independent of the government.

The government has listed the DPDP Bill for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha on Monday.