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Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary, four others arrested in graft case

[email protected] (Agencies)
July 4, 2016

New Delhi, July 4: The CBI on Monday arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and four others in connection with a case of showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore.kejriwal12

Kumar, a 1989 IAS officer of UT cadre, was called along with Tarun Sharma, a Deputy Secretary in Kejriwal's office, besides three other private persons for questioning at the CBI headquarters this morning.

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

The CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others in December last year alleging that the officer had abused his official position by “favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders of Delhi government departments”.

The charges pressed by the CBI are under sections 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring a private company –Endeavour Systems Pvt. Ltd.– in bagging five contracts.

The CBI alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi Government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015, and claimed that the officials had taken “undue benefit” of over Rs three crore while awarding the contract.

“The CBI has today arrested five persons including a senior civil servant, Government of Delhi, another official of Delhi government, two directors of a Delhi-based private company and a private person.

“The allegations relate to bribery and abuse of official position by the said senior civil servant and others to favour a Delhi based private company in award of contracts of Delhi government,” CBI's Chief Press Information officer R K Gaur said, adding the arrested accused persons will be produced before court tomorrow.

This is the same case in which CBI had come under scathing criticism from court which directed it to return documents sought by the Delhi government seized during December 15, 2015 raids on Kejriwal's office.

“The CBI cannot retain the documents in the garb of the argument that investigation is in progress without whispering the fact in what manner they are related to the present case (against principal secretary Rajendra Kumar).

“The acceptance of vague reasons like investigation is still in progress implies that CBI is recognised with unbridled power to investigate even in violation of the relevant laws and regulations,” Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain had said in his order in January this year.

The case was registered on a complaint from former Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) member Ashish Joshi to the Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) earlier last year. The complaint was forwarded to CBI in July last following which the agency registered an FIR after a five-month probe.

According to CBI, the five contracts were allegedly awarded to Endeavour Systems when Kumar was holding various posts in the Delhi government and include a project for the development of a comprehensive management system to Endeavour Systems without any tendering process.

The CBI alleged that as Secretary, Health, in the Delhi government, Kumar facilitated the award of a manpower project to the firm without inviting tenders.

The CBI claimed, as commissioner, trade and taxes, Kumar helped the firm bag a contract for development of software applications for his department.

He was also accused of committing irregularities in award of contract for a facility management system for the trade and taxes department. As secretary to the Chief Minister, he allegedly facilitated the award of Delhi Jal Board contract for enterprise resource planning to the firm.

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Satyameva jayate
 - 
Monday, 4 Jul 2016

Election time....modijis politics....

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: With preparations underway for conducting exams for the final semester/ year students in the state, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan on Monday directed the respective universities to conduct exams for the backlog papers as well.

"In the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided to hold exams only for the students of final semester/year courses. It has come to our notice that some universities have decided against conducting exams for final year students who have a backlog to clear from previous semesters. This is unpardonable," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

"Our intention is to see that the final year students finish their course. In the present situation, conducting only final semester exams won't help. We have to help the students in clearing their backlogs," added Ashwathnarayan, directing all universities to compulsorily conduct these exams.

Meanwhile, Ashwathnarayan thanked the staff and officials of various government departments who were responsible for successfully conducting the CET exams even amidst the difficult situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

"In all, 1,94,419 students had registered for the CET exams, of which 1,75,428 wrote the exams. The percentage of students who took up the exams this year was equivalent to that of the previous years, in normal times," the DCM informed.

"After we successfully conducted the exams, Arunachal Pradesh is going to conduct the Public Service Commission exams on the lines of how we successfully conducted the exams. Likewise, even our KPSC has said it will conduct the exams. We must appreciate the good work of the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), which has set an example for others," Ashwathnarayan said.

The deputy chief minister said that 33 colleges in various districts across the state faced shortage of land and that it is the responsibility of the District Commissioners (DCs) to get the lands sanctioned for all these colleges.
In Bagalkot district alone land has not been sanctioned for six degree colleges, he said.

Reacting to this, Bagalkot DC Captain Rajendra assured to look into the matter as soon as he receives the proposal from department officials.

"Similarly, there is shortage of land for five Diploma colleges and 28 ITI colleges in different parts of the state. The DCs must immediately pay attention to this. Once they get the land, buildings will come up within no time," the Karnataka deputy chief minister said.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Bengaluru, April 3: Messages have been displayed outside mosques in Shivajinagar requesting people to offer Friday prayers at home during the lockdown imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 threat.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, several Muslim organisations and mosques across various states have temporarily halted the congregational prayers.

The usually bustling Jama Masjid area, today, wore a deserted look.

One new positive case of COVID-19 was reported in Karnataka on Friday.

The patient is a 75-year-old man from Bagalkot and has been isolated at a designated hospital in Bagalkot, the state government said.

"Till date, 125 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state, this includes three deaths and 11 discharges," it added.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 2301 in India on Friday, including 156 cured/discharged, 56 deaths and 1 migrated, as per the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.

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