GoM takes on Modi over claim of rapid development in Gujarat

June 14, 2012

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Ahmedabad, June 14: The three-member Central Group of Ministers' on Wednesday took Chief Minister Narendra Modi head-on on his claim of rapid development in Gujarat and its being “ahead of all other States in the country.”

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was leading the GoM, not only refuted the State government's charges of discrimination and injustices against the Centre, he also saw nothing new in Mr. Modi's “story of development.” Union Information, Broadcasting and Women's Welfare Minister, Ambika Soni claimed that malnourishment among women and children in Gujarat was higher than the national average, while Law, Justice and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid dismissed as “mere myth” Mr. Modi's claims that the minorities in Gujarat were better off than their counterparts in other parts of the country.

Ms. Soni claimed that while the percentage of malnourished women in the country was 51 per cent, in Gujarat it was 55 per cent. The malnutrition among the children, which was 70 per cent in Gujarat in 2000, had risen to 80 per cent now which was much higher than the national average of 56 per cent, she claimed.

“This government claims to be vibrant but vibrancy depends on how women and children stand up with self-respect. How can 55 per cent of malnourished women and 80 per cent malnourished children can stand up with dignity?” she asked.

Ms. Soni's claims, however, were immediately contradicted by the Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas, who called it “manipulation of figures.” Quoting from the Central government department statistics, Mr. Vyas claimed that in both the cases of women and children, Gujarat was lower than the national average on the malnourishment front. While 55 per cent of the women in the State were malnourished, the national average was 56 per cent and among the children, the figure was 46 per cent for Gujarat as against 51 per cent for the national average, he claimed.

Minorities better off?

“There is nothing to indicate that the minorities in Gujarat were better off than their counterparts in other parts of the country,” Mr. Khurshid said. He said Gujarat was the only State where the pre-matriculation scholarships for the minority students were not being implemented because the State government did not accept the scheme. “We have received complaints, but we cannot force the State to accept it as it required 25 per cent contributions from the State government. Gujarat is not ready as it claimed to have better scholarship schemes existing in the State than accept the Central scheme,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram agreed that Gujarat was among the developed states, but that was nothing unique nor had it achieved the feat all by itself. He said it was good that the States compete with each other as it would lead to national development. “There is no doubt Gujarat's own resources have increased, but tremendous amount of Central assistance was also being pumped into the State to contribute to its development,” he said.

‘No discrimination’

The Home Minister refuted the allegations that Gujarat was being discriminated against and that the Centre was meting out any injustice to the State on political grounds. “Do not take such allegations seriously,” he said.

About the alleged harassment of some Indian Police Service cadre officers in the State, Mr. Chidambaram said the Centre would not like to interfere unless there was a specific complaint. He said he had received some complaints in this respect and had taken up the matter with the State but said generally he would expect all the State governments to treat their IPS officers “fairly and with dignity.”

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Agencies
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the Delhi government on news reports showing deplorable condition of medical wards in Delhi, where dead bodies were not only in wards, but were also found in lobby and waiting areas.

The apex court termed the situation in Delhi "horrendous, horrific and pathetic". It slammed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for its handling of dead bodies, terming it "very sorry state of affairs".

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah took suo moto cognizance of the ill-treatment being meted out to Covid patients in hospitals and also the undignified way in which dead bodies of Covid patients were being handled.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said there was a case in Delhi where dead bodies were found alongside patients, who were undergoing treatment.

Justice Shah questioned Mehta, "So what have you done?"

The bench termed the situation in Delhi "horrendous, horrific and pathetic", and reproached the government for patients being placed alongside stacks of dead bodies in the hospitals. The bench noted that patients' families aren't even informed about deaths and in some cases, families haven't been able to attend the last rites, too.

The bench noted that there is a problem with the way the pandemic was being fought in the national capital.

"The number of tests conducted are low in Delhi compared to Chennai and Mumbaia...Why are tests so less in Delhi?" the bench said.

"Nobody should be denied testing onn technical reasons...simplify procedure so more and more can test for Covid," said the bench.

The top court pointed out that it is the duty of the state to conduct testing so that more people know about their health status.

The top court also noted that the situation is grim even in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

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News Network
March 23,2020

New Delhi, Mar 23: The central government has asked state governments to take strict action against violators of the coronavirus lockdown being enforced in 80 districts across the country.

An official statement released on Monday said there will be a total lockdown in 80 districts where coronavirus cases have been reported. The shutdown will end on March 31.

Delhi's borders will remain sealed during the lockdown, but essential services related to health, food, water and power supply will continue, and 25 per cent of the DTC buses will run to transport people associated with essential services.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Monday appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced as he noted that many people were not taking the measure seriously.

"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Mumbai, Mar 8: A day after the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and raided his premises, he was taken to the agency's office in Mumbai on Saturday for further questioning.

Kapoor, who was grilled by central agency's officials on Friday night at his Samudra Mahal residence in Mumbai, was shifted to the ED office in the metropolis around 12.30 pm.

ED officials said Kapoor was questioned throughout the night, with some rest time.

A senior ED official connected with the probe told IANS: "Kapoor will be questioned about Yes Bank loans to Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL)."

The official said that during searches a lot of incriminating documents were found and the agency wanted to grill him on his links with DHFL promoters and other companies.

Kapoor's alleged role in the disbursal of loan to a corporate entity and kickbacks reportedly received in his wife's bank account are also under probe.

The ED had filed the money laundering case against Kapoor and raided his residence, apart from issuing a look-out circular so that he does not flee the country.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Kapoor as a continuation of its probe against the DHFL wherein it was allegedly found that Rs 12,500 crore was diverted to 80 shell companies using one lakh fake borrowers. The transactions with these shell companies date back to 2015.

An ED official in New Delhi told IANS that the DHFL probe revealed that funds diverted by the DHFL originated from Yes Bank.

He said that the searches at Kapoor's residence on Friday night were meant to find out any irregularity in grant of loans to the DHFL by the Yes Bank.

The ED has accused Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL of purchasing shares in five firms -- Faith Realtors, Marvel Township, Abe Realty, Poseidon Realty, and Random Realtors -- after which they were amalgamated with Sunblink.

The outstanding loans of these five firms, totalling around Rs 2,186 crore till July 2019, were allegedly appropriated onto the books of Sunblink to cover up the diversion of loans acquired from DHFL.

The ED's action comes after the RBI superseded Yes Bank Board for 30 days and appointed an administrator, putting a cap of Rs 50,000 on withdrawals by account holders for a month.

The RBI said that the bank's board was superseded "owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank".

Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar was appointed as administrator of Yes Bank, which has over 1,000 branches and 1,800-plus ATMs across the country.

On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the bank was on watch since 2017 and developments relating to it were monitored on a day-to-day basis.

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