Top controversies during Smriti Irani's tenure as HRD minister

July 6, 2016

New Delhi, Jul 6: In a major overhaul of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday not just inducted 19 new faces into his ministry, but also changed the portfolios of some his top ministers.

iraniOne of the most prominent changes involved Smriti Irani, who was shifted from the key Human Resources Development Ministry to the relatively lower profile Textiles Ministry.

Smriti Irani's two-year tenure as the Union HRD Minister has been marked by several controversies.

Here's is an overview of some the controversies that Irani has had to grapple with:

JNU row

Irani also faced flak over the controversy over alleged seditious activities on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. She also was singled out for attack by the Congress after she read out a JNU pamphlet word-by-word. Congress members trooped into the well of the House over some of the pamphlet's content, which they claimed contained derogatory references to Goddess Durga. Opposition parties later demanded an apology for her 'blasphemous' comments, which she rejected, saying she is a worshipper of Durga and read aloud offensive things about the deity in Parliament on Thursday merely to prove a point.

The degree dilemma

Irani's educational qualifications came under the scanner immediately after she took charge of the HRD Ministry. A case was filed against her alleging that she had made contradictory declarations when she contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2014. As a candidate in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Irani had declared that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree. "B.A. 1996 Delhi University (School of Correspondence)", she had written in the column which seeks details of University education and the year in which the course was completed. In the same column of the affidavit filed in the 2014 elections from Amethi, Irani has said,"Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994". Irani's claim to have a degree from Yale University was also highly criticised. The university later clarified that she had only attended a week-long programme, India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program, in 2013.

German-Sanskrit row

The HRD ministry had asked all Kendriya Vidyalayas to put an end to German as the third language option. The Ministry wanted it to be replaced by the Sanskrit language. However, she said German would continue to be taught as an "additional subject of hobby class". This, again, created a furore and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the matter with Prime Minister Modi.

Rohith Vemula suicide case

Smriti Irani was subject to a lot of public outrage and opposition attack over the suicide of Rohit Vemula, a Hyderabad University scholar. Rohith had hung himself on campus on January 17, days after he was banned from the hostel and other common areas on the campus for allegedly attacking an activist of the BJP-linked ABVP. The opposition alleged that the HRD Ministry had sent five reminders to university's Vice Chancellor on a complaint against Rohith from parliamentarian Bandaru Dattatreya. She was also accused of distorting facts while making a speech in Parliament over the issue.

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News Network
July 5,2020

New Delhi, Jul 5: World's largest, 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital (SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area of the national capital has made operational on Sunday.

Inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, the facility has been created on an emergency basis by the South Delhi District Administration with support of the Ministry of Home Affairs in a record time of 10 days.
Notably, this coronavirus treatment centre which is set up in Chhatarpur area of the national capital is said to be the "largest" of its kind in the world.
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"The Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital has been developed to help the citizens of Delhi and NCR who are affected by the coronavirus. Our team of doctors and medical staffs will take care of this facility. Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital will have 10 per cent of beds with oxygen facility," the Delhi LG said after the inaugural.
Talking about the facilities at the new coronavirus centre, Baijal further stated, "We have counsellors for mentally traumatised patients. We have a team of good psychiatrists and specialists in medicine."

The facility will function as an isolation centre for mild and asymptomatic COVID positive patients. 10 per cent of the beds will have oxygen facility in case the patient develops severe breathlessness and requires tertiary hospital care, read a statement.

Operationally, the facility has been linked to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. The referral tertiary care hospitals are Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

ITBP will be running the first 2,000 beds with their 170 doctors/specialists and more than 700 nurses and paramedics, the statement added.
Most of the basic infrastructure such as beds, mattresses and linen has been donated by various civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. 

A recreational centre has been made available to the patients along with a library, board games and skipping ropes. People admitted to the facility will be provided five healthy meals a day along with immunity-boosting chawanprash, juices and hot kadha, the statement added.

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News Network
February 19,2020

Feb 19: Pay increases across India’s organized sector will probably grow at the slowest pace since 2009 this year, according to a survey from Aon Plc.

Companies will increase average pay by 9.1% in 2020, down from 9.3% in 2019 and 9.5% the previous year, Aon said in a report published Tuesday. The small increase reflects a deep slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy, where growing pessimism about job prospects have led many to cut down on consumption -- the main driver to growth.

India still leads the Asia-Pacific region in pay rises, but that is mainly due to higher inflation and a “war for key talent and niche skills,” Aon said.

“There is a general air of caution about the economy as we enter into 2020,” Tzeitel Fernandes, partner for rewards solutions at Aon, told reporters in New Delhi. “Low GDP projection and weak consumer sentiment are the reasons behind our lowest ever prediction.”

E-commerce companies and start-ups will probably get the biggest salary increases, projected at an above-average 10%, while financial institutions will hand out 8.5%. Unsurprisingly, the auto sector witnessed the biggest drop in growth -- down to 8.3% from 10.1% in 2018, according to Aon. The survey covered more than 1,000 companies across over 20 industries.

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June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has gone into self-quarantine after developing sore throat and fever, and will get himself tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday, officials said on Monday.

They said the chief minister, who is also a diabetic, was feeling unwell since Sunday afternoon.

"He has mild fever and sore throat since Sunday afternoon. As advised by doctors, the chief minister will undergo COVID-19 test on Tuesday morning," officials said.

Officials said the CM had attended a Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning and thereafter, he did not attend any meeting.

The chief minister has been holding most of his meetings via video conferencing from his official residence for past two days.

This come as the number of coronavirus cases in the national capital crossed the 28,000-mark with 1,282 fresh infections while the death toll climbed to 812 on Sunday, a health bulletin issued by the Delhi government said. According to the health bulletin, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose to 28,936 with 1,282 fresh cases.

A total of 51 fatalities were reported on June 6, the bulletin said, adding that these lives were lost between May 8 and June 5. It, however, said the cumulative death figure refers to fatalities where the primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, according to a report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of the case-sheets received from various hospitals.

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