Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar resign, BJP sharpens attack on delayed action

May 11, 2013

Pawan_Kumar_BansalNew Delhi, May 11: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal have been asked to put in their papers, a decision that came on Friday evening, after Congress President Sonia Gandhi conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that their continuation would further muddy the image of the party and the government.

As indicated by ET in a report on May 10, the Congress leadership axed the two ministers in a move seemingly aimed at dispelling the impression of shielding the embattled ministers and savouring the much needed political bounce from the party's election victory in Karnataka. Both Kumar, who faces the charge of brazenly intervening in the CBI's investigation into the coalfield allocation scandal, and Bansal, who is embroiled in a cash-for-jobs scam, appeared to run out of the prime minister's stout backing after the Congress president forced his hand. Gandhi's intervention came two days after the government chose to end Parliament's budget session ahead of schedule amid the demand of the Opposition to sack the two ministers before debating important bills such as the one on food security. The government had refused to give in to the demand even as the budget session turned out to be least productive ever due to the gridlock.

The party brass can now use the vacancy at the railway ministry to appease Karnataka leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost out to Siddaramaiah in the election to the post of chief ministership earlier on Friday, a senior Congress leader told ET. Kharge is currently handling the labour portfolio at the Centre.

The main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party, sharpened its attack on the government, saying if Bansal and Kumar had resigned earlier, Parliament's time would not have been wasted. BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain questioned the prime minister for allowing the two ministers "to continue for so long despite the SC rap on one and the CBI tightening its noose around other".

Hussain said the government should have heeded the advice of BJP's Sushma Swaraj. "The leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj had said that both ministers should resign and then Parliament can run. But two days before the session was to end, it was adjourned sine die. The Congress must have thought it would get some respite but the BJP will continue its fight outside Parliament," Hussain said.

The PM was believed to have had reservation on dropping the law minister in particular because while Bansal faced charges of financial impropriety, Kumar faced the rap in an exercise that also involved the

Prime Minister's Office and the coal ministry. Recent reports have alleged that Bansal presided over a ministry riddled with corruption. The CBI's investigations into the case have been pointing to the involvement of the minister's kin as well as officials in fixing important appointments.

On May 3, the CBI had arrested railway board member Mahesh Kumar for allegedly paying Rs 90 lakh as bribe for a posting in the Railway Board. The negotiations were allegedly done through the minister's nephew, Vijay Singla.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police will file 12 chargesheets against 536 Tablighi Jamaat members from three countries, officials said on Thursday.

Till now, the police has already filed chargesheets against 374 foreigners from 32 countries.

The officials said the charges against the Tablighi Jamaat members pertain to violation of visa rules, government guidelines regarding the Epidemic Disease Act and acting negligently in a way that was likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life.

The Tablighi Jamaat, a religious organisation in Nizamuddin in South Delhi, had allegedly organised a congregation in March in violation of mass gatherings.

The Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin Markaz (centre) had become a coroavirus hotspot in the national capital.

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News Network
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: Just an hour ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Arvind Kejriwal invited the people of Delhi again for his oath-taking ceremony at Ramlila Maidan today.

Referring himself as "son of Delhi", the AAP convener today tweeted saying, "Delhiites, your son is going to take oath as Delhi chief minister for the third time. You must come to bless your son".

The AAP national convener will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row.

Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to take oath along with other ministers at Ramlila Maidan.

On Saturday, Kejriwal, through a tweet, has said that autorickshaw drivers, students, teachers, doctors, labourers, etc will be the "chief guests".

The guest list put out by the AAP includes ''Delhi ke Nirmata''- people who contributed to the development of the city during the last five years.

These include Sumit Nagal, a Delhi government school student and an international Tennis player, Laxman Chaudhry an auto driver, Manu Gulati a teacher and "one of the many architects of Delhi Governance Model", Dalbir Singh a farmer, Ratan Jamshed Batliboi - the architect of the famous Signature Bridge among others.

By winning 62 seats by cashing in on the plank of development, his party nearly repeated its 2015 performance, sweeping the Assembly polls in the face of a high-voltage campaign by the BJP, which had fielded a battery of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in its electioneering, spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP marginally improved its tally, managing just eight seats from its 2015''s tally of three seats. The Congress failed to open its account in the second successive election.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: The primary classes of all schools in the national capital will remain closed till March 31 to prevent a possibility of spread of coronavirus, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Thursday.

According to Directorate of Education (DoE) officials, while elaborate guidelines have been issued about preventive measures for coronavirus, students of nursery and primary classes are too young to understand the risk, making them more prone to infectious diseases.

Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, tweeted, "As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed the immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20(sic)."

A senior DoE official said, "Elaborate guidelines have already been issued. However, students of nursery and primary classes are too young to understand the risks associated with COVID-19. Thus they are more prone to infectious diseases and mingle around with classmates more often."

"It will be good if they are trained in the do's and dont's under the care and supervision of their parents at home. However, students of classes other than primary will continue to come to schools or examination centres for writing their examination as per schedule. The teaching, as well as non-teaching staff, will also attend regular school," the official said.

As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 30, including 16 Italian tourists. The figure includes the first three cases reported from Kerala last month who have already been discharged following recovery.

Alerted by the coronavirus case reported in Delhi-NCR, schools in the region have sent out advisories to parents suggesting that they do not send their wards to attend classes even in case of mild cough or cold, and saying that they may declare holidays if the need arises. A few schools have announced already holidays and others have advanced their spring break.

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