AAP completes 100 days in office

May 24, 2015

New Delhi, May 24: The AAP-led Delhi government today completed 100 days in office, a period marked by its ongoing bitter tussle with the Lt Governor, a split in the party and implementation of a slew of its electoral promises, including slashing power tariff by 50 per cent and providing free water of up to 20,000 litres per month.

AAP 100The government also relaunched the '1031' anti-corruption helpline, where people can lodge complaints against officials, to weed out graft and achieve its stated objective of making Delhi the country's first graft-free state.

The government has planned a mega event at Central Park here in the heart of the national capital tomorrow where the entire Delhi Cabinet will be present to highlight its achievements before the public.

The Arvind Kejriwal government has also initiated the process of regularising unauthorised colonies while it banned demolition of jhuggis immediately after assuming office and held a series of special camps to provide licences to e-rickshaws.

A new body, Delhi Dialogue Commission, was created to implement the government's 70-point development agenda whereas 21 MLAs were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries to assist in matters of governance.

Its bid to reach out to the rural constituency suffered a serious setback in the form of an alleged suicide of a farmer at a party rally days after it announced relief of Rs 20,000 per acre for rain and hailstorm hit farmers in Delhi.

On the administrative front, Kejriwal had to settle for KK Sharma as the Chief Secretary as the Centre overruled his choice of Ramesh Negi.

A major conflict broke out as the Lt Governor Najeeb Jung appointed Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary when Sharma went on a 10-day leave.

As Kejriwal questioned the LG's authority and accused him of trying to take over the administration, the Union Home Ministry came out with a notification throwing its weight behind Jung.

The chances of the confrontation ebbing away looks a distant possibility as the two sides have raised the stakes in the power tussle with the Delhi government mulling to take the legal route.

The AAP government has also decided to call a two-day 'emergency' session of Delhi Assembly from Tuesday to deliberate on the notification.

The comment by the Chief Minister, who has repeatedly alleged "conspiracies" against the government, that there should be a "public trial" of the media evoked sharp criticism.

Later, the government also issued a circular on filing of defamation cases against media houses for publishing or broadcasting news that damages the reputation of the Chief Minister, the council of ministers or the government. The circular was stayed by Supreme Court.

In February, the AAP government had announced a 50 per cent subsidy on monthly power consumption of up to 400 units and 20,000 litres of free water per month to all households which would cost the exchequer around Rs 1,670 crore annually.

The free water scheme and power subsidy came into effect from March 1.

The ruling AAP on multiple occasions locked horns with the police, accusing it of creating problems towards smooth functioning of the government, which reached its flashpoint when they got entangled in a tussle over the issue of statutory powers of a District Magistrate who was asked to probe the alleged suicide of farmer Gajendra Singh.

Delhi Police had written to the district magistrate saying he had no jurisdiction in the matter as it was the subject matter of an FIR filed under various sections of IPC, including abetment of suicide.

The period also saw Kejriwal loyalists having an ugly spat with dissident leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. The duo were expelled from the party last month.

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June 26,2020

Jun 26: The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Centre and the CBSE to cancel the remaining board examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and gave the go-ahead for the scheme to award marks to students for the cancelled papers scheduled to be held in July.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna permitted the CBSE to issue a notification for the cancellation of the examinations.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the CBSE, said that the assessment scheme would consider marks scored by students in the last three papers of the board exams.

Both CBSE and ICSE told the top court that the results of the class X and XII board exams can be declared by the middle of July.

The top court was hearing pleas seeking relief, including scrapping of remaining exams of Class 12 scheduled from July 1 to 15, in view of increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Similar relief was sought by the ICSE Board also.

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April 2,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 2: The Centre's decision to accept contributions from abroad to PM-CARES fund for fighting COVID-19 has prompted social media users to take potshots at it as Kerala was not allowed to receive foreign aid after the devastating floods in 2018.

Senior Congress leader Sashi Tharoor said accepting relief for coronavirus pandemic does not affect "one's ego", while other reactions varied from taking a dig saying 'Vikas has reached new heights" to asking where is the country's pride.

Government sources have said a decision had been taken to accept contributions from abroad to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES) to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Narendra Modi government had earlier turned away foreign aid, including a reported Rs 700 crore donation from the UAE, to help Kerala during the floods that devastated the southern state, while "deeply appreciating" the offers from various nations then.

Over 480 people were killed, several had gone missing during the worst floods in a century that also rendered lakhs homeless and dealt a severe blow to the state's economy.

"Flood relief for Kerala hurts ones ego. Pandemic relief doesnt. Go figure! #PMCARES!" tweeted Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in Lok Sabha.

Another twiterratti reacted to the Centre's latest move, saying: "Wow.. a nation that built 3,000 crore statue is B3GG!NG now? Sad!"

"Vikas has reached new heights... Where are the proud Modi Bhakts?" another wrote.

"Thanks but no, says India to foreign aid for Kerala", another social media user tweeted, tagging a 2018 news report on MEA Spokesperson saying the government was committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation in Kerala through domestic efforts.

"Pandemic is unprecedented, India has taken a decision to accept foreign donations to the PM fund. But....", "5 Trillion begging bowl", "Where did the 'National Pride' go now?" another tweet asked.

The Centre's present decision marks a shift from its earlier position of not accepting foreign donations to deal with domestic crisis.

"In view of the interest expressed to contribute to Government's efforts, as well as keeping in mind the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, contributions to the Trust can be done by individuals and organisations, both in India and abroad," a government source has said.

It said the fund was set up following spontaneous requests from India and abroad for making generous contributions to support the government in its fight against COVID-19.

On Saturday, Modi had announced setting up of the PM CARES fund.

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February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: A Delhi court today sent Sharjeel Imam, who has been named as an "instigator" by the Delhi Police in its chargesheet on violent protests against the amended citizenship act at New Friends Colony near Jamia in Delhi last year, to judicial custody till March 3.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested on sedition charges last month.

The Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur, naming Sharjeel Imam as an instigator of the violence.

It said it has attached CCTV footage, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses as evidence in the chargesheet.

The court had on Monday sent Sharjeel Imam to one-day custody of Delhi Police in the case.

Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi during the demonstration against the CAA on December 15, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

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