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Development work will speed up now: AAP MLAs after HC relief in office-of-profit case

Agencies
March 23, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 23: AAP MLAs on Friday claimed that Delhi government officers did not take their phone calls after the EC had disqualified them for holding office-of-profit, but asserted that the development work in their areas will speed up now after the Delhi high court provided them a breather.

The court set aside the election commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs in the office-of-profit case and directed the poll body to hear the matter afresh.

Terming the EC's recommendation on their disqualification as "vitiated", the court said there was violation of natural justice and no oral hearing was given to the MLAs before disqualifying them as legislators of the Delhi assembly.

Out of the 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, about 10 legislators attended the House proceedings after the court's verdict. They said they had complete faith in the judiciary and added that had the poll panel given them a proper hearing, there would have been no need to approach the court.

Most of the MLAs alleged that Delhi government officers did not take their phone calls since their disqualification on January 20.

Kondli MLA Manoj Kumar said: "Development works were being affected in my constituency since my disqualification in the alleged office-of-profit case. Officers were not even picking up my phone."

The Chandni Chowk MLA, Alka Lamba, said that due to her disqualification, she could not become a part of the budgetary process of the government and works were affected.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, who had also been disqualified, said: "We had complete faith in the judiciary from day one. If EC would give proper hearing to us, we would not need to move to court."

Asked whether he also has faith in the election commission, which will now hear the office-of-profit case afresh, Gahlot said he has faith in the poll panel and the MLAs will present their stand and make EC understand the matter.

Another AAP MLA, Anil Bajpai, said the truth has prevailed, welcoming the high court order.

"If there had been a proper hearing by the election commission, the order of court would not have come," Bajpai said.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Seasoned diplomat and former spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Raveesh Kumar has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Finland, the government announced on Wednesday.

Raveesh Kumar, a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, served as the spokesperson of the MEA from July 2017 to April 2020 during which he deftly articulated India's position on a number of sensitive issues including last year's Balakot strike, reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens.

"He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said.

Before becoming the MEA spokesperson, Kumar was serving as Consul General of India in Frankfurt.

Kumar started his career at the Indian Mission in Jakarta and it was followed by his postings in Thimpu and London.

In his nearly 25-year career, Kumar also looked after the East Asia desk in the headquarters of the MEA in Delhi and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta followed by his posting as Consul General in Frankfurt from August 2013 to July 2017.

In Finland, he succeeds Vani Rao.

Finland is an important country for India in Europe, and bilateral trade has been on an upswing in the last few years.

Around 35 Indian companies have invested in Finland in IT, healthcare, hospitality and automotive sectors while over 100 Finnish companies have operations in India in energy, textiles, power plants and electronics sectors.

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News Network
July 31,2020

New Delhi, Jul 31: Air India has operated more than 2800 flights and flown over 3 lakh passengers worldwide till now under the Vande Bharat Mission.

"Air India under Vande Bharat Mission Operated more than 2800 flights and flown more than 3 lakh, 80 thousand passengers worldwide till now," Air India said in a tweet on Thursday.

The fifth phase of the Government of India's 'Vande Bharat' mission, aimed at evacuating Indian nationals stranded in various foreign countries owing to restrictions on air travel, will begin early next month, August 1.

"Under Vande Bharat Mission, we have already brought back more than 2.5 lakh stranded Indians from 53 commies," Air India had earlier said in a statement.

Over 7.88 lakh Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic have returned under Vande Bharat Mission till July 22, Ministry of External Affairs had said.

The government started Vande Bharat Mission on May 7.

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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: Kolkata Metro Rail Corp expects to complete its East-West project, which runs partly under the city’s iconic Hooghly river, by March 2022 after a delay of several years doubled costs.

The authority is awaiting a final installment of Rs 20 crore ($2.8 million) over the next two years from the Indian Railway Board, said Manas Sarkar, managing director at KMRC. A soft loan of Rs 4,160 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency helps fund 48.5% of the project.

India’s oldest metro, which started in 1984 with a North-South service, was due to expand by 2014 but faced problems including squatters on the planned route. These issues have contributed to the total project cost rising to about Rs 8,600 crore for some 17 kilometers from Rs 4,900 crore for 14 km.

“About 40% of total transport demand will be tackled by these two metro services,” Sarkar said in an interview at his office in Kolkata. “It will be a relief for environmental pollution and the city should be much more decongested.”

The new line is expected to carry about 900,000 people daily, -- roughly 20% of the city’s population -- and will take less than a minute to cross a 520-meter underwater tunnel. Depending on the time of day, it takes some 20 minutes to use the ferry and anywhere upward of an hour to cross the Howrah bridge.

KMRC will repay the JICA loan over 30 years after an initial six-year moratorium. The interest rate is between 1.2% to 1.6%. The East-West metro project is 74% owned by the railway ministry and 26% by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

“We don’t anticipate any further cost escalation now,” Sarkar said.

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