Arvind Kejriwal all set to take oath as Delhi CM today; President's rule revoked

February 14, 2015

New Delhi, Feb 14: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday night appointed Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister of Delhi along with six cabinet ministers.

Arvind Kejriwal

A home ministry statement said the President appointed Kejriwal as the chief minister of Delhi with effect from the date he is sworn in.

"The President, on the advise of the chief minister, has also appointed Manish Sisodia, Asim Ahmed Khan, Sandeep Kumar, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai and Jitender Singh Tomar as ministers of Delhi," the statement said.

Earlier, the President revoked the order issued on February 16, 2014 under article 239AB of the Constitution imposing central rule in Delhi to pave the way for installation of an elected government.

In the recently held Delhi assembly elections, Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scored a historic victory sweeping 67 of the 70 seats.

Kejriwal is set to take oath as chief minister along with his cabinet colleagues today at Ramlila Maidan, the the protest venue of the anti-graft campaigners over three years ago.

This will be his second term as Delhi chief minister after he resigned last February following a 49-day stint in government in the national capital with the support of Congress.

His deputy, Manish Sisodia, is set to head the education, public works and urban development departments. Former health minister Satyendra Jain may retain his portfolio while senior leader Gopal Rai is tipped be to the next transport and labour minister, sources said.

Sultanpur Majra legislator Sandeep Kumar, a lawyer by profession, will possibly look after the women and child welfare, and the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe welfare departments.

Tri Nagar MLA Jitendra Tomar will possibly be the law minister and Matia Mahal legislator Asim Ahmed Khan is likely to be given charge of the food and civil supplies and the minority affairs ministries.

Rai, Kumar, Tomar and Khan are all first-time MLAs as the party looks to keep Saturday’s event dispute-free by dropping former minister Somnath Bharti and Rakhi Birla, both of whom were embroiled in controversy during AAP’s 49-day rule last year.

Kejriwal’s two-year-old party won a record mandate this week, securing 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly, reducing its main rival BJP’s strength to just three legislators.

Saturday’s swearing-in is likely to see a turnout of over 150,000 people and the government has put 40,000 chairs on the ground, with standing space for another 20,000.

Authorities have put up 12 LED screens so that the public can view the ceremony live and installed 76 CCTV cameras to ensure security. There are 12 enclosures for the public and one VIP enclosure.

“Two monitoring units have been set up, with one taking care of 51 cameras while the other tracking the rest 25,” said a senior government official.

Around 3,000 security personnel have been deployed on all arterials roads leading to the venue. Metal detectors have also been installed in and around the ground, while 60 baggage scanners have been put in for the first time, the official said.

Kejriwal’s poor health, however, has acted as a dampener, curtailing a proposed roadshow to the Ramlila grounds. The AAP chief will not take the Metro to his swearing-in as he did last year and travel to the venue in a car instead.

All Delhi MLAs, seven BJP MPs, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and all central ministers have been invited for the event.

“In 2013, the ceremony saw a little over one lakh people turn up but we expect more this time as the victory is much bigger,” said an AAP worker.

The main stage from where Kejriwal has addressed huge crowds several times in the past has been given a fresh coat of paint. The public works department is also busy decking up the venue with potted plants and flowers.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Rajghat, Feb 23: The maternal uncle of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was recently arrested for allegedly making inflammatory statements during anti-CAA protests, was shot dead in front of his house at Bankatichak in Rajghat area, police said on Sunday.

Dr Nusratullah Warsi aka Dada (55), a property dealer, was shot dead on Saturday night at about 10:45 pm and an FIR against two people was filed in this connection on a written complaint of his family members.

According to police, it appears to be a case of murder due to monetary and property dispute and they are searching for both the accused.

Dr Kafeel Khan, suspended doctor of Gorakhpur BRD Medical College, was last month arrested under charges of giving a provocative speech during a protest against the CAA and NRC at Aligarh Muslim University and was later charged with the National Security Act.

Warsi on Saturday evening had gone to his lawyer Siraj Tariq's house, a few metres away from his own house, and was returning home on foot when a man shot him in his head, killing him on the spot.

"On the written complaint of family members, case of murder against one Imammuddin and Anil Sonkar has been registered and police has initiated probe and is searching for both the accused. Police met the women in their house and is interrogating them," Circle Officer VP Singh said.

Prima facie it appears to be a case of property and money dispute, he said, adding, three teams have been constituted to investigate the case and soon the accused will be caught.

Dr Kafeel Khan had last month raised apprehension in a Mumbai court about being killed in an "encounter" by the Uttar Pradesh police after claiming that he had been "falsely" implicated in the case by them.

The paediatrician had come to the limelight in 2017 when a controversy broke out after the death of over 60 children in less than a week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he was posted.

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Agencies
May 5,2020

Jammu and Kashmir, May 5: Awarding the prestigious Pulitzer Prize to three Indian photographers, the Pulitzer Board at Columbia University claimed that it was for their work in Kashmir as "India revoked its independence".

The award to Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin in the feature photography category for their pictures for the Associated Press was announced on Monday.

The prizes, considered the most prestigious for US journalism, are associated with the university's Graduate School of Journalism where the judging is done and is announced, although this year it was done remotely.

Besides a certificate, the prizes carry a cash award of $15,000, except the public service category for which a gold medal is awarded.

The public service prize went to The Anchorage Daily News for a series that dealt with policing in Alaska state.

In making the award to the three, the Board said on its website that it was "for striking images of life in the contested territory of Kashmir as India revoked its independence, executed through a communications blackout".

Besides making the false claim about "independence" of Kashmir being "revoked", the board that includes several leading journalists did not explain how their photographs could have reached the AP within hours of the incidents recorded "through a communication blackout".

India's Central government only revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and it was not independent.

Indian journalists were allowed to operate in Kashmir, while only non-Indian journalists were barred.

The wording of the award announcement calls into question the credibility of the Pulitzer Board that gives out what are considered prestigious journalism awards.

The portfolio of pictures by the three on the Pulitzer web site included one of a masked person attacking a police vehicle and another of masked people with variants of the Kashmir flag, besides photos of mourners and protesters.

One of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism was a reporter of Indian descent at The Los Angeles Times, Swetha Kannan, who was nominated for her work with two colleagues on the seas rising due to climate change.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: India emerged as the world's fifth-largest economy by overtaking the UK and France in 2019, says a report.

A US-based think tank World Population Review in its report said that India is developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies.

"India's economy is the fifth-largest in the world with a GDP of $2.94 trillion, overtaking the UK and France in 2019 to take the fifth spot," it said.

The size of the UK economy is $2.83 trillion and that of France is $2.71 trillion.

The report further said that in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India's GDP (PPP) is $10.51 trillion, exceeding that of Japan and Germany. Due to India's high population, India's GDP per capita is $2,170 (for comparison, the US is $62,794).

India's real GDP growth, however, it said is expected to weaken for the third straight year from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

The report observed that India's economic liberalisation began in the early 1990s and included industrial deregulation, reduced control on foreign trade and investment, and privatisation of state-owned enterprises.

"These measures have helped India accelerate economic growth," it said.

India's service sector is the fast-growing sector in the world accounting for 60 per cent of the economy and 28 per of employment, the report said, adding that manufacturing and agriculture are two other significant sectors of the economy.

The US-based World Population Review is an independent organisation without any political affiliations.

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