Modi unveils new team in Finance Ministry

October 17, 2014

New Delhi, Oct 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed US-based economist Arvind Subramanian as the chief economic adviser (CEA) and shunted out Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, signalling the government’s intention that it may finally push for big ticket reforms in the next Budget.

Arvind SubramanianThe Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Modi, cleared the changes late on Wednesday night.

Mayaram, who will take charge of the Tourism Ministry, will be replaced by Rajasthan Chief Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who has overseen radical changes, particularly in the area of free-market labour, land and welfare reforms in the state. Mayaram and Mehrishi, who is also one of the officers being considered for the post of the Cabinet Secretary, are 1978-batch IAS officers from the Rajasthan cadre.

Mayaram’s transfer was part of the first major shuffle of top civil servants since the NDA came to power.

The timing is significant as the Prime Minister's Office and the Finance Ministry have just begun work on the first full-fledged Budget of the NDA government.

Subramanian, who has been publicly critical of the NDA government for not doing enough to kick-start the economy, took charge as the CEA in North Block on Thursday.

The CEA is responsible for producing the Economic Survey, a document on the state of the economy that provides the base for drafting of the budget. He also brings out a mid-year economic update that is presented to Parliament.

Subramanian told the media that his focus will be on growth, investments and providing equitable growth for all Indians. “It is an honour and privilege to serve the government that has a mandate for reform and change,” he said.

An economist of international repute, Subramanian has closely worked with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan during his stint at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

One of the prime factors that weighed on Modi’s mind was the excellent understanding Subramanian shares with Rajan.

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June 8,2020

Jaipur, Jun 8: An inquiry has been initiated against staff of a private hospital in Rajasthan's Churu district after receiving screenshots of a purported WhatsApp chat in which they allegedly discussed about not attending to Muslim patients affected by COVID-19, police said on Sunday.

Screenshots of the chat between the hospital staff had gone viral following which an investigation has been initiated, they said.

Dr Sunil Choudhary, who runs the Srichand Baradiya Rog Nidan Kendra in Sardarshahar and whose staff purportedly wrote the messages, apologised through a Facebook post, saying the hospital staff did not have any intention to hurt any religious groups.

"We have received a complaint following which we are taking action to register FIR in the matter," Churu Superintendent of Police Tejaswini Gautam said.

Sardarshahar police station SHO Mahendra Dutt Sharma said the police control room had received a complaint regarding screenshots of the chat being circulated on social media. "We are inquiring into the matter. An FIR will be registered against the names mentioned in the WhatsApp chat," Sharma said.

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February 28,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 28: The Cyber Crime Police of Hyderabad has registered an FIR against social media platforms- WhatsApp, Twitter and TikTok- for allowing people to spread anti-national activities, as per a complaint filed by one S Srishailam.

Raghuveer, Additional DCP Cyber Crimes said," We have received a court referred complaint, which was filed by S Srisailam in the concerned court stating that social media platforms Whatsapp, Twitter and TikTok are allowing few people to spread anti-national activities and videos."

S Srisailam also claimed that a few people are running a campaign against the CAA on social media platforms to spread hatred which in turn is causing damage to national integrity.

"In this regard, because the complaint was referred by a court a case has been registered against Whatsapp, Twitter & TikTok under the relevant section of Indian Penal Code and IT Act and took up the investigation," the DCP added.

He also added that the police cannot take action against these platforms as they are not banned in India but can initiate action against persons who intentionally indulge in spreading hatred.

"The police are conducting the investigation and if allegations of the complainant are found to be false then we will drop the case. We had received the case one week ago," informed the DCP.

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April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi has been booked for culpable homicide after some of the attendees of the religious congregation died due to coronavirus, police said on Wednesday.

Kandhalvi had organised the religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz last month against the social distancing protocol imposed by the Centre to curb the spread of the deadly disease.

An FIR was registered against the cleric on March 31 at Crime Branch police station on a complaint of the Station House Officer of Nizamuddin.

He was earlier booked for holding the event, police said.

“After several attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat event succumbed to coronavirus, we added IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in the FIR against the leader, a police official said.

Some foreigners who attended the event have also been booked for violation of visa norms.

In an audio message, Kandhalvi had said that he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamudddin Markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

The FIR registered against the Tablighi Jamaat event says that the Delhi Police contacted the authorities of Nizamuddin Markaz on March 21 and reminded them of the government order which prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

It says that despite repeated efforts, the event organisers failed to inform the health department or any other government agency about the huge gathering inside the Markaz and deliberately disobeyed government orders.

“The sub district magistrate of Defence Colony inspected the premises several times and found that around 1,300 people, including foreign nationals, were residing there without maintaining social distance. It was also found that there were no arrangements of hand sanitizers and face masks,” the FIR adds.

The Nizamudddin centre, attended by thousands, turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in the national capital, but the entire country.

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.

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