Will Mayawati continue to back UPA? Decision expected after key party meeting today

October 10, 2012

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Lucknow, October 10: Mayawati is expected to make it officially clear today whether she will continue to extend external support to the Congress-led UPA government or not. The Bahujan Samaj Party chief will do this after she consults her party's top leaders in Lucknow on Wednesday morning.

From all the signs that Ms Mayawati held out for an anxious Centre at a massive comeback rally yesterday, she is not inclined to pull the rug from under it just yet. She said though she remains opposed to reforms in retail, she is willing to be convinced of its merits. It was the decision to open up India to foreign mega-chains like Wal-Mart that cost the Prime Minister his biggest ally, Mamata Banerjee. Last month, she pulled her Trinamool Congress out of his coalition, reducing the government to a minority. To remain in power, the coalition needs the external support of both Mayawati and her arch political foe, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said yesterday, "The Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail will prove to be detrimental for the local economy. But the Centre has a different opinion. If the decision to allow FDI benefits the farmers, small businessmen and ordinary, the BSP may in future support the decision. But in the present situation, without seeing the effects of this decision, our party will not support FDI."

But Mayawati also made it clear at her rally that the valuable support she offers must not be taken for granted. She warned that she does not expect the UPA government to last its term till 2014, and said she has told her party workers to gear up for early general elections. And she did not spare the Congress-ruled UPA for being, she said, "anti-Dalit" and "anti-poor." Among many jibes was one at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when she said, "It saddens me to see that instead of understanding the problems of the middle class and poorer sections of the population, the Centre says money doesn't grow on trees."

The reference was to Dr Singh's address to the nation last month when he explained why tough economic times demanded tough reform measures like reducing subsidy on fuel and allowing FDI in retail. Dr Singh had said in a 15-minute address to the nation last month, "Subsidies on fuel are very large, though, and the subsidy bill would have shot up to more than 2 lakh crores. Where will we find the money for this? Money does not grow on trees."

But for all her attacks on the Centre, Mayawati stands to lose more than she can gain from early elections. She needs time to rebuild her support base in UP, which rejected her overwhelmingly in the state Assembly elections earlier this year. Mayawati was also unambiguous at her first public rally since that rout seven months ago, where she is headed politically. The BSP chief clearly sees herself at the head of a national party very soon, and repeatedly exhorted her audience of nearly 4 lakh to extend the BSP's area of influence to many other states. The BSP chief said no government at the Centre has done anything for landless people in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh where Dalits, backwards and adivasis have been thrown out of their land.

The rally at Lucknow's Ambedkar Park had the usual trappings of a Mayawati show - a huge audience, a massive stage with a huge picture of her in the background, and a vitriolic attack on Mulayam Singh Yadav and son, Akhilesh, is now the chief minister of UP.

Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav, she said, were so against Dalit empowerment that they cancelled the holiday she had instituted to commemorate the death anniversary of Dalit leader, Kanshi Ram, who was her mentor.

In large parks around Lucknow, crores were spent by her on oversized statues of Kanshi Ram and herself, along with Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar, who led the committee that drafted the Constitution. "The state government has not only broken my statue but also a dozen statues of Dr BR Ambedkar. If it weren't for Dr Ambedkar you would have seen Mulayam Singh and family members handling the buffaloes of an upper caste person," she said.

She also said that since his sweeping victory, Akhilesh, who is 39, had failed to improve the law and order in Uttar Pradesh, or tackle corruption. "Everyone knows that during our government's time our policies were based on inclusiveness to allow entire society to benefit from it. But the Samajwadi Party hasn't done anything for Muslims in the state," she said.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav hit back, accusing the previous Mayawati government of indulging in loot in Dr Ambedkar's name.

"Had the BSP been the real followers of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, they would not have indulged in massive loot in the construction of memorials, statues and parks set up in the state in his name," Mr Yadav said yesterday, adding that the people of the state have given them the "ultimate punishment by ousting them from power".

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News Network
March 6,2020

New Delhi, Mar 6: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday will move the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passing in Lok Sabha.

In December last year, the Union Cabinet had approved a proposal to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016.

The amendments will remove certain ambiguities in the IBC 2016 and ensure smooth implementation of the code, an official statement said.

The move is aimed at easing the insolvency resolution process and promoting the ease of doing business. Aimed at streamlining of the insolvency resolution process, the amendments seek to protect last-mile funding and boost investment in financially-distressed sectors.

Under the amendments, the liability of a corporate debtor for an offence committed before the corporate insolvency resolution process will cease.

The debtor will not be prosecuted for an offence from the date the resolution plan has been approved by the adjudicating authority if a resolution plan results in change in the management or control of the corporate debtor to a person who was not a promoter or in the management or control of the corporate debtor or a related party of such a person.

The amendments are aimed at providing more protection to bidders participating in the recovery proceedings and in turn boosting investor confidence in the country's financial system.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Ayodhya, Jul 18: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya either on August 3 or 5, both auspicious dates, said a spokesperson.

PM Modi had announced the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust on February 5.

Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the spokesperson of Ram Mandir Trust president Nritya Gopal Das said, "We have suggested two auspicious dates -- August 3 and 5 -- for the prime minister's visit based on calculations of movements of stars and planets."

After a protracted legal tussle, the Supreme Court had on November 9 last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple by a Trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

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News Network
January 17,2020

New Delhi, Jan 17: Airports in Srinagar and Jammu are to be “immediately” brought under the security cover of the CISF in view of the arrest of DSP Davinder Singh, a Jammu and Kashmir government order has said.

The two sensitive airports are to be “handed over” to the CISF by January 31, the order of the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department to the Director General of Police (DGP) said.

“This issue (CISF security at Srinagar and Jammu airports) has acquired immediacy in view of the recent developments relating to the arrest of Davinder Singh, DSP airport security, for trying to assist militants to travel to other parts of the country,” the order issued on Wednesday said.

Police had arrested Singh, a deputy superintendent of police, at Mir Bazar in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday, along with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba and Altaf, besides a lawyer who was operating as an overground worker for terror outfits.

The two airports are guarded by the CRPF and the J-K Police at present.

The Union government had last year decided that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be handed over security of these two airports along with the one in Leh in view of their sensitive and strategic location and the threats it faced related to possible terrorist and hijack attempts.

CISF is the national civil aviation security force and at present it guards 61 airports including the ones at Delhi and Mumbai.

News agency had on January 13 reported that the Union home ministry sanctioned about 800 personnel to the CISF in order to take over security duties at the three airports of the newly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

As per the original plan, the CISF was to take over Jammu airport by next month and the Srinagar and Leh airports after the spell of severe cold ends.

However, officials said, keeping in mind the arrest of the DSP and his alleged links, the latest order has been issued which also directs the J-K Police to make arrangements for accommodation, transport and other logistical requirements of the armed contingent of the CISF on a quick basis.

Once inducted at the most-sensitive Srinagar airport, the CISF will secure access control at both city and air side (tarmac area) while the CRPF will be responsible for securing the outer periphery. At the Jammu airport, the peripheral security duties will be rendered by the JK Police.

An assortment of surveillance and security gadgets like CCTVs, observation monitors, hand-held metal detectors, bullet-proof patrol vehicles and bomb detection and disposal equipment are also being provided by the airport operator, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), to the CISF.

The Union government sometime back made it clear that CISF will be the only civil airports guarding force and all such facilities in the country will be gradually brought under its command to bolster aviation security and tighten anti-terror and anti-hijack protocols.

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