EPCA lashes out at authorities over traffic congestion, garbage burning

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January 4, 2019

The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Friday came down heavily on authorities over continuing traffic congestion and garbage burning activities that are worsening air quality in the national capital.

EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal, in a meeting with representatives of Delhi Pollution Control Committee, DSIDC, civic bodies, police and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, asked police to strictly regulate traffic and ensure its smooth passage.

Various road stretches in Sarai Rohilla, Anand Vihar, Zakhira Najafgarh Road, Soan Park, Azadpur Mandi where heavy traffic congestion is resulting in increase in pollution were identified.

In Sarai Rohilla, Lal was told by authorities that the absence of a foot-over bridge is resulting in increase in traffic.

“Illegal encroachment further adds to traffic woes in the capital. Guards need to be posted to ensure smooth passage of traffic,” Lal said.

He also ordered police to ensure traffic regulations are followed strictly, especially in Soan Park in Mundaka where he said no traffic regulations are followed.

Lal expressed concern over garbage burning in Bawana, Mundaka and Narela which worsens the air quality.

He lashed out at the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIDC) Ltd. for not monitoring day-to-day status of garbage accumulation.

He also came down heavily on civic body officials over not lifting garbage regularly in Nangloi.

Delhi’s air quality has been oscillating between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ categories for the past three weeks.

Delhi’s air quality was in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday, before deteriorating to ‘severe’ on Wednesday as it was on Monday. Since Wednesday the air quality was in the severe category before slightly improving on Friday morning to very poor.

In view of the prevalence of severe air quality for over 31 hours, the EPCA on Thursday imposed the 24-hour ban on the entry of trucks.

Entry of trucks to Delhi would be stopped for 24 hours starting 11 pm Friday in view of the severe pollution in the national capital, the Supreme Court-appointed EPCA has instructed authorities.

In a letter to chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Lal directed them to stop the entry of truck traffic into Delhi, except essential commodities, from 11 pm on January 4 to 11 pm of January 5.

“The enforcement of this direction requires coordination of all NCR (National Capital Region) states and you are therefore, requested to take steps to ensure that this happens.

“Also, the opening of the Eastern and Western Expressway will make this easier to implement as the trucks that are not destined for Delhi now have convenient alternative to take,” Lal said.

Lal also urged people to minimise use of personal vehicles and avoid being outside for prolonged periods.

The direction came after the recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board-led task force.

WR to build 64 FOBs on suburban network, including 30 in 2019

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January 4, 2019

Western Railway will build 64 foot overbridges over the next two years, 30 of which will be ready for use in 2019, a senior official said on Friday.

He informed that WR had commissioned 19 FOBs in 2018 and four new ones would come up before the end of the current fiscal in March this year.

He said that a greater number of FOBs on the suburban network would provide relief to commuters and also bring down instances of people trying to cross tracks to change platforms.

Plans to build FOBs in the metropolis gained momentum after a stampede on a narrow bridge connecting Parel and Elphinstone (now Prabhadevi) stations in September, 2017 killed 23 people.

A cave-in of a portion of a bridge at the southern end of Andheri station in July last year had killed five people, prompting Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to order an audit of all such structures on the suburban networks of WR and Central Railway.

Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, said meticulous planning and time bound execution was ensuring that FObs were being built at a fast rate across its network.

He informed that the Carriage Repair Workshop at Lower Parel had built a modified bridge inspection coach for speedy checking of these structures.

An order for an 8-wheel overhead inspection car had also been placed with the Dahod Workshop, he informed.

27 economic offenders fled India in last 5 yrs

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January 4, 2019

Twenty-seven defaulting businessmen and economic offenders have fled the country in the last five years, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Interpol has been approached to issue red corner notices (RCNs) against 20 persons out of these 27, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

He further said that Interpol has already issued RCN against eight persons who have fled the country and extradition requests have been sent in case of six.

As per the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), applications under Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 have been filed against seven persons out of these 27, the Minister said.

Shukla informed the House that Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London has recommended extradition of Vijay Mallya from the Uk to India.

The government, he said, has also advised the public sector banks to obtain a certified copy of passport of promoters/directors and other authorised signatories of companies availing loan facilities of more than Rs 50 crore.

Filmmakers reserve the right to criticise politicians: Akshaye Khanna

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January 4, 2019

Akshaye Khanna, who will be seen in political drama “The Accidental Prime Minister”, says filmmakers reserve the right to criticise politicians.

There is a growing debate about Anupam Kher’s “The Accidental Prime Minister”, based on former PM Manmohan Singh, with some critics calling it a pro-BJP and anti-Congress film.

Akshaye, who is in the role of Singh’s former media advisor Sanjay Baru, says it would be wrong to assume that the film makes fun of the Congress party. It only chronicles the tenure of Singh, and criticises issues which are already in public domain, he says.

“Rahul Gandhi is the great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru. When he comes in front of the camera and tears up an ordinance by the government, the nation didn’t like it. India went crazy.

“As filmmakers, we reserve the right to criticise you. It’s not something which is not in public domain. It’s etched in everyone’s mind. If we don’t like that behaviour, I have the right to say that,” Akshaye told agencies.

The trailer of the film was shared by BJP’s official Twitter handle and irked some Congress leaders, who termed the political-drama as a “propaganda”.

The 43-year-old actor, son of late veteran actor-BJP MP Vinod Khanna, is aware of the controversy surrounding the film.

“Everyone has the right to their opinion. These comments and strong reactions are going to increase after the film is released. It won’t die down. That’s when the real politics will start,” he says.

“If someone makes a statement on anything be it a famous actor, director, author or painter, it is good. People are allowed to give their views, it’s their freedom.”

Akshaye said that he can’t wait for audience to watch the film, which, he says, is an “honest” take on how things unfolded in the UPA government.

“It’s a film which when released, will bring about a big change in the way freedom of speech and expression is viewed in the country and how the world looks at us in terms of freedom of expression and how we look at it ourselves. It’s an important day when the film will release because it makes a larger commentary,” he adds.

Akshaye says it is puzzling to see people take offence on something that is constantly written about and also debated on social media and on TV channels.

“The film isn’t a biopic. It’s ten years of prime minister Manmohan Singh, from 2004 to 2014 and that’s what we are showing- what all happened in there.

Every other form of media has full liberty to criticise governments, politicians, but you can’t make a film? Why? What’s the big deal if we have made a film on politics?”

The film, directed by Vijay Gutte, features Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh. It is scheduled to be released on January 11.

4 killed in accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

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January 4, 2019

Four persons were killed and three injured in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Friday, police said.

A truck, while negotiating a turn, keeled over and fell on two cars in the opposite lane below near Khalapur around 11.45 am, a police officer said.

One of the cars was pushed off the edge of the road and fell down 40 feet into a gorge, he said.

Four passengers in the cars including two women died while three persons sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital, he said.

The condition of two of them was stated to be critical, the official added.

Govt ready for polls in J&K along with general elections if EC wants: Rajnath Singh

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January 4, 2019

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government is willing to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with General Elections which are slated to be held by May.

Jammu and Kashmir was last month placed under President’s rule, six months after the BJP pulled out of Mehbooba Mufti- led government and the state was put under Governor’s rule.

“If Election Commission wants (to hold elections in state along with general elections), our government will have no objection,” Singh said replying to a debate on proclamation of imposition of Central rule in the state.

He said that there would be no obstruction from the Centre for holding elections in the state.

“We are willing to provide whatever security force Election Commission wants for holding elections there” he said.

After 1996, this is the first time the Central rule has been imposed in the militancy-hit state.

Rejecting opposition criticism that BJP’s “unnatural” alliance with PDP had alleniated population, he reeled out statistics to drive home the development without appeasement agenda of his party.

“There was no conspiracy not to allow any other party to form the government,” he said in response to opposition charge that the Governor did not allow National Congress, PDP and Congress to form an alternate government.

Governor’s rule was imposed in June last year after the leaders of all political parties in the state stated that they were not in a position to form the government, he said.

In his report to the Centre, the Governor clearly stated that there was no initiative by political parties to form an alternate government, the Home Minister said.

“Allegations are being heaped on us but I want to make it clear that our intentions cannot be doubted,” he said.

The BJP and the government is not responsible for the sense of alleniation which has been there since independence as no one worked to address that, he said. “We do not want any sense of alleniation in people of the state. We want to minimise it and neutralise any sense of alleniation.”

Singh said that the government supported an all party delegation holding talks with separatist Hurriyat but their doors were shut.

“There was this perception that BJP leaders are against talking to Hurriyat… but when an all party delegation visiting the state asked us about talking to Hurriyat, we encouraged them to do that,” he said. “But when these leaders went, doors of Hurriyat were closed. They did not even talk to these leaders.”

The Home Minister said that he had told the Chief Minister Mufti to try and speak to Hurriyat. “We were ready for unconditional talks. They did not respond to our initiative.”

He reeled out statistics on employment of locals in security forces to counter opposition charge that unemployement was creating unrest in the Valley.

“In 1995, there were 5,938 terrorist incidents. In 2017 there were only 342 terrorist-related incidents,” he said. “Our endeavour is that there should not be a single act of terrorism.”

He said that this was not the first time that Governor’s rule had been imposed in the state. The state has been under President’s rule for six years in a row at one point of time.

The Governor’s rule was imposed as no one came forward to form government. “When after six months the Governor’s rule was ending, the Governor said he spoke to political parties once again and nobody had come forward to stake claim for forming a government and so recommendation was made for President’s rule,” he said.

While Muslims not just in Jammu and Kashmir but all over the country whose number were more than those in Pakistan had decided to stay with India and not migrate at the time of partition, politics of appeasement has created a crisis, he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the BJP for “destablising” the government in the state. He alleged that the BJP tried to split Congress, NC and PDP in the state to form its own government.

Intervening in the debate, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recalled history of alleged rigged elections that alineate away people of the state.

Smriti Irani slams Congress for creating hurdle in Ram Temple court proceedings

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January 4, 2019

Union Minister Smriti Irani on January 4 blamed the Congress for “creating hurdle” in the judicial process in the Ram temple case through its lawyers and said ‘Ram Bhakts’ should ask the party about it.

“Congress should not do politics through its lawyers on Ram temple issue, which is matter of faith of people. It’s leaders, as lawyers, are creating hurdle in the court. People and Ram bhakts should ask the party whether its leader wore ‘janeu’ only for polls of three states,” she said.

Her reference was to senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal, who sought deferment of hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute till after the 2019 general elections.

Irani is on a day’s visit to Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency and was talking to mediapersons on way to Amethi, about 140 km from the state capital.

Attacking Rahul for delaying his visit to Amethi by a few hours, she said, “His coming late in ‘maidan-e-jang’ (battle field) of Amethi is an indication that the person who cannot visit his constituency on time cannot give timely solutions (to problems).

Rahul had rescheduled his visit on January 3 night. He was expected to arrive in Lucknow at 10 am on Friday but later he changed the timing and will be landing in Fursatganj airstrip in the evening.

When asked whether Rahul was afraid of her, Irani said in a lighter vein, “bina dare chartered flight se aa rahe hain” (he is coming on a chartered flight without any fear).”

Rahul had defeated Irani in the 2014 Amethi Lok Sabha election and they are likely to lock horns once again in the upcoming general election.

The Congress chief will meet the people of his constituency, attend public and party reception, hold ‘corner meetings’ in Salon and visit Pareshdepur, Naseerabad, Paraiya Namaksar and Gauriganj areas on Friday.

He will also take part in the oath-taking ceremony of the Gauriganj Zila Adhivakta Sangh and inaugurate the Adhivakta Bhawan, built from the MPLAD funds.

On Saturday, he will travel to Musafirkhana tehsil, Jagdishpur and Tiloyi, where he will meet the family members of late Shiv Pratap Singh, veteran Congress leader who died last week after a prolonged illness, before reaching Lucknow for his onward journey to Delhi.

Irani, on the other hand, will attend a programme organised by Raghav Sewa Sansthan during which blankets and financial assistance will be extended to needy people and a foundation stone for a school will also be laid.

Though the Union textiles minister was trounced by the Gandhi scion in 2014 election, she maintained her contact with the constituency, nurturing it and visiting it frequently.

Irani continued to cultivate Amethi during these years, dropping enough hints that she will once again contest against Rahul Gandhi in the polls.

UPSC aspirants protest outside Amit Shah’s home, demand one more attempt

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January 4, 2019

UPSC aspirants staged a protest outside BJP president Amit Shah’s residence to press for their demand for one more attempt to crack the civil services exam, claiming they were affected by abrupt changes in rules between 2011 and 2015.

According to one of the protesters, they protested at Shah’s residence in Lutyens’ Delhi around midnight last night.

He said that they were 52 in number and lit candles outside the residence. Police said that it was a peaceful protest.

Arun S Nigavekar Committee set up by the Commission and UPSC’s own annual report have highlighted that “due to CSAT, selection of students from regional languages and from humanities background has declined during 2011-2014”, according to one of the protesters.

The CSAT paper was competitive in nature during the 2011-14 period.

“In 2015, UPSC made the CSAT qualifying in nature. Because of these frequent changes in exam pattern and discriminatory nature of CSAT we lost many precious attempts to appear in the exam during this period. We demand due justice from the government. We are not asking for any job, rather we want a chance to compete,” said one of the protesters.

Students who appeared between 2011 and 2014 demand they be compensated with one more chance as they lost out because of the changes.

Will 2019 election-battle be fought with casteist weapons? – Part I

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January 4, 2019

Already having nibbled by the caste venom spreaders during the Jat reservation stirs, will Haryana have to face a new bite of the abhorrent caste-based method to fetch votes? After seeing the ineffectiveness of its religious weapon in recently held elections in some states, is BJP trying to utilise the divide and rule policy among the castes to win the race? An advertisement, carrying the photo of a BJP Mayoral candidate in a recently held Municipal Corporation elections on December 16, 2018, along with the photos of Prime Minister Modi and state’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (A Punjabi by caste, but always claims to be a Haryanavi) with BJP’s symbol printed therein, clearly shows the intention of the persons entangled in the publication of this piece to divide the community in caste segments for their electoral gains.

The advertisement, requesting to vote for a BJP candidate, reads, “Vote for BJP, because – Got the first Punjabi CM in Haryana in 52 years. If you make a mistake today, you will not get the chance again in the next 60 years. Some persons of a particular caste want to dethrone the Punjabi Chief Minister by putting and firing the gun on someone else’s shoulder. Appeal of Punjabi community – Support the Punjabi Chief Minister openly.”

Is it not a direct violation of the code of conduct by getting the advertisement published to fetch the support for the Mayoral candidate of Karnal just on the day of voting and requesting the voters’ favour on caste basis? Is it not a case of inciting caste hatred in the society during elections? Has it been got published without the knowledge and permission of the state Chief Minister and Karnal MLA Manohar Lal Khattar? Or the party is sowing the caste-coated seeds to harvest the better crop in the forthcoming assembly and parliamentary elections? Who got this published? If there is no involvement of BJP and its Mayoral candidate in its publication, will the party and the candidate dare to demand its vigilance enquiry? Will the Election Commission take a note of it and order its enquiry or close its eyes just to ignore the incident? Many questions are raising their hands to get the answers, but who will reply and what the reply will be can reflect the working of the Election Commission and the intention of BJP.

BJP’s distancing and aligning strategy

The political analysis of the Municipal Corporation elections held in December 2018 in Haryana reflects that BJP has a planned undeclared elusion from Jats to attract the Non-Jats. Out of all the Mayoral candidates fielded by BJP in the five Municipal Corporations, none was Jat and the most surprising thing was that despite Jat dominated belt not even a single ward member was made its candidate on all the 22 seats by the BJP in Rohtak Municipal Corporation. However, nine Jat ward members got the win by defeating BJP candidates.

The political analysts consider that the avoidance from Jats and showing an affinity towards Non-Jats is not a current decision taken for the Municipal Corporation elections rather it’s a part of the well-planned policy of BJP since last four years in Haryana. On one side, the BJP’s own Member of Parliament Raj Kumar Saini is driving a regular campaign of bifurcating Jat-Non-Jat communities under his anti-Jat reservation stir to oppose reservation to Jats and the BJP high command is calmly watching its outcome with closed eyes. Political thinkers clearly deduce that it is not the helplessness of the party but it’s the part of the party’s well-thought step. On the second side, the Jat reservation demand raiser Yaspal Malik, President of All India Jat Sangharsh Samiti is getting full support of BJP’s Union Cabinet Minister Birender Singh on all the occasions. It is the most suitable win-win situation for BJP. By keeping alive the Jat reservation stir by propelling the fuel to its fire dome, BJP consolidates the Non-Jats in its favour by creating fear, threat, and terror of Jats in their minds.

Krishan Swarup Gorakhpuria, a political thinker and social activist, says, “Since the beginning of Jat stir, it was the political game of BJP leadership to divide the Jat-Non-Jat.”

(This is the first part of the Column and the latter part will continue on Monday.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Govt working with RBI to look into frauds cases of below Rs 1L

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January 4, 2019

The government is working with the Reserve Bank (RBI) to look into cases of financial frauds involving amounts which are below Rs 1 lakh, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

A Financial Data Protection bill has been drafted that aims to address issues related to data theft, including from social networking websites, he also told the House.

Presently, the RBI along with banks is tracking cases of frauds related to credit, debit and ATM cards and internet banking involving over Rs one lakh, he said.

“The data of India cannot be stolen and strict action will be taken against any kind of fraud,” Prasad said during the Question Hour while responding to Supplementary queries.

He also mentioned that the data on hacking placed before the Upper House is substantially related to financial fraud. The RBI is already looking into cases of frauds involving transaction above Rs one lakh.

“We are working with the RBI to look into frauds involving transaction below Rs one lakh amount,” he said.

To a supplementary query on steps taken to curb hacking of data from social networking sites, Prasad said, “Today, India will not bow down to the new imperialism. We took action against Facebook the moment we received the complaint.”

A Financial Data Protection bill has been drafted that aims to address all these issue, he said.

The Minister also said there are problems because of uncertainty of cyber world. However, the government conducts security drills and has also set up centres to provide protection.