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Khurshid trust accused of corruption, Kejriwal demands his resignation

[email protected] (ANI)
October 11, 2012
kurshid_Kejriwal

Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh), October 11: A news channel alleged that the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, headed by Congress minister and Union law minister Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid, had forged signatures of senior officials in several districts of Uttar Pradesh depriving disabled people of their
money.

According to a TV report, the Union ministry for social welfare and empowerment had granted Rs. 71.50 lakh to the trust for distributing tricycles and hearing aids to the disabled in 17 districts of UP.

While, Salman Khurshid is the president of the Trust, his wife Louise Khurshid is the project director.

As per the rules, the trust should have informed the district magistrate, the district social welfare officers prepares and send a list of beneficiaries from districts and the money is disbursed at the camps organized for this purpose, in the presence of district officials.

But reports state that the Trust distributed the equipments under the forged signatures of district welfare officers and the camps were never held.

The Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust is registered at Khurshid's residence in the national capital (4, Gulmohar Avenue, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi) and the minister's wife - Louise Khurshid, who happens to be a former MLA - is its chief functionary officer.

The trust is registered as an NGO and has been operating in many states and receiving substantial grants from several important ministries of the government of India.
The report states that the Union ministry for social welfare and empowerment had been hinted about this in May 2011, but no one sought an inquiry.

Union ministry of social justice and empowerment has, for the time being, stopped fresh grants to the trust, as Khurshid's family was yet to reply to the clarifications sought by it on the alleged malpractices.

According to reports, documents in possession of the media channel reveal that a statewide enquiry into these malpractices in a project piloted by the trust was ordered by the UP government on January 12, 2012 following a letter from the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.

The project relates to providing aids to physically challenged people in 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Khurshid's hometown Farrukhabad.

India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday demanded Salman Khurshid's resignation and his wife Louise Khurshid's immediate arrest after the TV channel's report.

"Yesterday it was exposed by one of the TV channels how law minister Salman Khurshid and his wife are involved in defalcation of funds meant for handicapped people. These funds are released by various departments of Government of India," said Kejriwal.

"They were taken by the NGO, which has been floated by the law minister and his wife. And rather than distributing this money to the handicapped people, the law minister and his wife together have forged the signatures of several government officers which is a very serious crime," he added.

Asserting that it is a non-bailable offence and a cognizable offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Kejriwal demanded that an FIR should be immediately registered in connection with this case.

"Mrs Khurshid should be immediately arrested because if she remains outside she would tamper with the evidence and put pressure on various evidences. And the law minister should immediately resign," he said.

Kejriwal also asked Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to ensure that the FIR in connection with this case is registered as soon as possible so that further investigations can be carried out.

"We demand from the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who has said that he will investigate. Investigation will only start after the registration of FIR. So, if it is not done, then there would be a suspicion that is Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh is in cahoots with UPA Government at the Centre  that the Central government is helping Mulayam Singh with his corruption cases and here whether Akhilesh Yadav is helping Salman Khurshid at the Centre," he said.


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"Air India under Vande Bharat Mission Operated more than 2800 flights and flown more than 3 lakh, 80 thousand passengers worldwide till now," Air India said in a tweet on Thursday.

The fifth phase of the Government of India's 'Vande Bharat' mission, aimed at evacuating Indian nationals stranded in various foreign countries owing to restrictions on air travel, will begin early next month, August 1.

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Over 7.88 lakh Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic have returned under Vande Bharat Mission till July 22, Ministry of External Affairs had said.

The government started Vande Bharat Mission on May 7.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Jammu, Apr 7: Old habits will just no longer do, a Jammu and Kashmir administration employee found to his dismay on Tuesday when he was sent to a quarantine centre for blowing his nose and spitting on the road.

The man, who works as an accountant in the civil secretariat here, had gone to meet a relative in Paloura on the outskirts of the city when he was nabbed, officials said.

The neighbours panicked when they saw him blowing his nose and immediately called the police, which rushed to the spot with a medical team and a magistrate, they said.

He was immediately taken to a quarantine facility set up at the IIT hostel in the Janipur area and his samples taken for a coronavirus test.

Given the high levels of anxiety over the spread of COVID-19, news of his being taken by police started circulating widely. There were also some WhatsApp messages that he was trying to deliberately spread the infection and was arrested by police.

However, police officials said they had not arrested him and merely put him in a quarantine centre. It was not clear how long he would be in the centre.

The employee told police officials he had an itch in his nose and nothing more.

"Be responsible citizens and stop spreading rumours or fake news," an official said, requesting people to be more responsible.

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February 9,2020

Panaji, Feb 9: Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, in a statement on Saturday said, "The Archbishop and the Catholic community of Goa would like to appeal to the government to listen to the voice of millions in India, to stop quashing the right to dissent and, above all, to immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the NPR."

The CAA, NRC and NPR are "divisive and discriminatory" and will certainly have a "negative and damaging effect" on a multi-cultural democracy like ours, the church said.

There is serious concern that NRC and NPR will result in "direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly Dalits, adivasis, migrant labourers, nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people who, after having been recognised as worthy citizens and voters for more than 70 years, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps," it said.

There has been widespread discontent and open protests throughout the country and even abroad against the CAA, NRC and NPR, which are "forecasting a systematic erosion of values, principles and rights" that have been guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution, the release said.

Eminent citizens, including top intellectuals and legal luminaries, have taken a studied and unequivocal stand against the CAA, NRC and NPR, it noted.

Goa also witnessed several protests, which transcended the confines of religious and caste affiliation and brought people from all walks of life together on one united platform, said the statement.

It said Christians in India have always been a peace-loving community and deeply committed to the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, enshrined in the Constitution.

"We have always taken great pride that our beloved country is a secular, sovereign, socialist, pluralistic and democratic republic," the church said.

The very fact that CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country, it said. "It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to

all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family," the church said.

"We pray for our beloved country, that good sense, justice and peace prevail in the hearts and minds of all," it added.

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