SP leader brags he got IAS officer Durga Shakti suspended in 41 minutes

August 2, 2013
Lucknow, Aug 2: A video purportedly showing a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader claiming he got IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended in "just 41 minutes" has put the Uttar Pradesh government in a tight spot. durga

The video comes after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav firmed up his stance in the matter of the official's suspension, and said there was no question of revoking the order served to the officer.

The video shows Narendra Bhati, agro chairman who enjoys minister status in the state, telling supporters in the Greater Noida region that he rang up chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at around 10.30am and by 11.11am suspension orders were served to Nagpal.

This showed the "power of democracy", said the leader, who is also the SP candidate from Noida for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Bhati has been in the eye of a storm ever since Nagpal was suspended last week, as it is alleged that he was behind serving her the orders, under pressure from the sand mining mafia against whom she had earlier clamped down.

BJP legislator from Noida Mahesh Sharma has also alleged that Bhati was hand-in-glove with the mining mafia and has asked for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into his alleged links with the mining mafia.

As soon as the video surfaced, opposition parties pounced on the UP government.

The BJP state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that the "blatant lies of the chief minister had been exposed".

"Till yesterday, the chief minister was saying that the suspension of the lady IAS officer was an administrative decision. Now it is clear that it was a brazen act of political vendetta against an upright official" Pathak said.

A senior IAS official, on condition of anonymity, conceded that the situation was fast turning into a major embarrassment for the state government and there was a need to wriggle out of it. The state government's stand that Nagpal was suspended over her decision to raze an illegal boundary wall of a mosque has also come under a cloud, after the district magistrate sent a report to the government denying this.

The report says that the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) did not make any such order and that the villagers, on being told that this was illegal construction, brought down the wall themselves.

The IAS officials in the state are angry with the government for punishing an honest official. Some officials of the IAS association had on Thursday petitioned the union government to intervene and revoke the suspension of the officer.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31: People offered Eid-al-Adha namaz while ensuring social distancing norms at mosques in Thiruvananthapuram and Mallapuram on Friday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Thursday announced that the Eid-al-Adha prayers can be offered in mosques of the state on Friday with a limited number of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kerala is celebrating the festival of Eid-al-Adha on Friday.

Eid al-Adha or Bakrid, also known as "Sacrifice Feast" is marked by sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat to prove their devotion and love for Allah. Post the sacrifice, devotees distribute the offering to family, friends, neighbours and especially to the poor and the needy. 

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News Network
January 3,2020

New Delhi, Jan 3: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Thursday said the homegrown payments technology RuPay will offer 40 per cent cashback for its international card users for transactions in select countries.

Indians travelling to the UAE, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the UK, the US, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand will be able to earn up to Rs 16,000 cashback per month by getting their RuPay International Card activated, the NPCI said in a release.

With RuPay International cards --JCB, Discover and Diners Club--customers using multiple cards can earn more cashbacks under the 'RuPay Travel Tales' campaign.

To avail the cashback benefit, customers will have to do a minimum transaction of Rs 1000 and the maximum cashback is capped at Rs 4,000 for a single transaction.

The offer can be availed by customers using RuPay International Card four times a month that can give them a chance of earning up to Rs 16,000 as cashback.

Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI said, "We always aim to create an end-to-end value proposition for RuPay International cardholders to make their overseas travel experience seamless and memorable. The campaign is not only providing an exciting platform for travelers to earn cashbacks but also motivating them to migrate towards digital transactions nationally and globally".

Apart from earning cashbacks, RuPay International cardholders can access to RuPay affiliated domestic/international airport lounges.

They also can avail attractive offers on booking international fights and hotels in association with Thomas Cook and Make My Trip, the release said.

RuPay has a partnership with Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Japan based JCB International, allowing RuPay users the access to across 190 countries.

As on date, there are over 1,100 banks live on RuPay platform including SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis bank, among others.

RuPay card base has crossed 600 million, half of which are in the mid and premium segments, NCPI said.

NPCI was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. An initiative of RBI and IBA under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, NPCI was initiated for creating a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in the country.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: The government on Tuesday said that the Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, has sufficient stocks in its godowns, even after meeting the requirement of additional wheat and rice provided free of cost during the lockdown period.

Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has given detailed information about the various steps taken by the government and the total stocks of food grains and pulses available with the government and sent to the states till now, an official statement said.

"FCI currently has 276.61 lakh tonnes rice and 353.49 lakh tonnes wheat. Hence a total of 630.10 lakh tonnes food grain stock is available," it said.

As against this, about 60 lakh tonnes of food grains is required for a month under the NFSA (National Food Security Act) and other welfare schemes.

Paswan said FCI stocks are comfortable even after fulfilling extra commitments during the lockdown.

Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana', the Centre is providing 5 kg of free food grains per month to 80 crore ration card holders. This free of cost wheat and rice will be provided for three months. Besides, 1 kg of pulses will also be supplied per family.

This is over and above the normal quota of 5 kg of food grains provided per month per person to about 80 crore people under the food law.

The minister informed that since the lockdown, about 69.52 lakh tonnes of food grains have been transported through 2,483 rail rakes.

Apart from rail route, transportation was also done through roads and waterways. A total of 137.62 lakh tonnes has been transported.

During the lockdown, NGOs and social institutions running relief camps can purchase wheat and rice directly from FCI Depots at Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS) rate.

The state governments can also purchase food grains directly from FCI. Under the OMSS, the rate of rice is fixed at Rs 22 per kg and wheat at Rs 21 per kg.

Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana', for the next 3 months a total of 104.4 lakh tonnes rice and 15.6 lakh tonnes of wheat is required of which 59.50 lakh tonnes rice and 8.14 lakh tonnes wheat have been lifted by various states and UTs.

The Government of India is bearing 100 per cent financial burden of approximately Rs 46,000 crore under the scheme, the statement said.

For pulses, the total requirement for the next three months is 5.82 lakh tonnes.

So far, 2,20,727 tonnes of pulses have been dispatched, while 1,47,165 tonnes of pulses have reached the states/UTs and 47,490 tonnes have been delivered, it said.

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