Ex-bureaucrat BK Bansal and son commit suicide in Delhi

Kolkata, Mar 25: Amid the countrywide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that all police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps under the supervision of District Magistrates and Police Superintendents.
"As we have to ensure that there is no scarcity of food, all Police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps and it will be monitored by District Magistrates and Police Superintendents," said Banerjee at a press conference here.
She also said that under the social pension schemes, the pension holders will get their pension of March and April together.
Speaking on local police blocking people involved in essential services, she said, "The Officer-in-charge will have to ensure that the local police know about the rules and exemptions during the lockdown."
"If any police official or an administrative official is found flouting the lockdown norms, then strict action will be taken against them," she added.
The Chief Minister also said, "If somebody needs to help us by giving materials then they need to contact health department official Sanjay Bansal, whose contact number is - 9051022000."
"The government has also launched a State emergency relief fund wherein people can donate. For donation, the account number is 628005501339, IFSC: ICIC0006280 and website: wb.gov.in," she said.
She also said that on March 31 the government will review the situation.
According to a recent update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a total of 562 positive cases for coronavirus have been confirmed in the country.

New Delhi, Feb 25: Condemning the violence in Delhi, the Congress on Tuesday demanded that the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Delhi come forward to ensure peace and maintain brotherhood while rising above partisan politics.

"This is Gandhi, Nehru, Patel's India, can any Indian accept this mindless violence? Congress appeals to the people of Delhi to maintain communal harmony and thwart all attempts of the forces dividing the country on the basis of religion," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

Unabated violence and incidents of stone-pelting and murder in the national capital have shattered the nation, he said, while referring to the riots in northeast Delhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act that continued for the third day, and demanded stern action against the culprits.

"Our appeal to the prime minister, the home minister and the Delhi chief minister is, can you rise to the occasion, leave aside your political partisanship and views, and become really not leaders of your parties but leaders of the society so that harmony, peace, and non-violence prevail," he said.

The Congress party will stand with the Centre and the Delhi government in every way to maintain brotherhood and harmony in the society, he said.

"Do not fail this country because you belong to different political parties," Surjewala said, adding this was a sincere appeal "on behalf of people of Delhi and the country" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"There is no place for violence in Gandhi ji's India... Today there is a need to establish peace on the ground and maintain brotherhood," he said.

Surjewala said the party also prays for the speedy recovery of DCP Amit Sharma and the hundreds of other people who have been injured in the violence.

"We also condemn the firing at three journalists Arvind Gunasekar, Saurabh Shukla and Akash and pray for their good health," he said.

"We strongly condemn these brutal riots and demand that the culprits are identified and stern action is taken against the real culprits and miscreants. The Congress mourns the death of Head Constable Ratan Lal and others in the violence," Surjewala said.

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.