On July 31, unknown assailants killed Aam Aadmi Party Municipal Councillor in Malerkotla. As per reports, AAP Councilor of Ward No 18 Akbar Bholi was heading towards the gym on Sunday morning when two assailants shot him dead.
Punjab: पंजाब में लगातार हो रहा खून-खराबा, अब सत्तारूढ़ AAP के पार्षद की मलेरकोटला में दिनदहाड़े ली गई जानhttps://t.co/Pd1COkZhzP
It is noteworthy that Bholi’s elder brother Mohammad Anwar was also killed by two assailants who came on motorbike. Mohammad Anwar was a Congress councillor and was killed in January 2020. The reasons behind the murder of Akbar Bholi are unclear. The Police have initiated an investigation into the matter.
Akbar Ali had left the Congress party and joined Aam Aadmi Party just before Punjab Assembly Elections.
Law and order issue in Punjab
Since the Aam Aadmi Party government formed in Punjab, there have been persistent law and order issues in the state. On May 29, Congress leader and controversial singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in Moosa Village of district Mansa. On May 10, the Punjab Police Intelligence Office in Mohali was attacked by an RPG.
On July 28, India Today Consulting Editor and senior journalist Jayanta Ghosal came to the rescue of the West Bengal government, especially the Chief Minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee while discussing the SSC Scam. During a debate on the channel where Rajdeep Sardesai was the host, he said, “I am completely convinced that Mamata Banerjee didn’t know (about the sea of cash and SSC scam).”
He justified his claims by saying, “Because I tried to understand, I was in Kolkata yesterday, I talked to her. She was so upset, and she took the time to take action not because she was supporting Partha but because she was trying to understand what was happening.” Ghosal further claimed CM Banerjee did not know who SSC Scam accused Arpita Mukherjee was, even though there are photographs and videos that say otherwise. BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala refuted his claims and showed him a video where CM Banerjee was praising Mukherjee for her “good work”.
Who is Jayanta Ghosal?
Born in 1962, Jayant Ghosal has worked as a political journalist for over four decades. His main association has been with Bengali Newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika, where he works as a journalist. Apart from that, he has written for India TV, Bartaman, ABP News and others. He is also serving as Consulting Editor for the India Today group.
Media liaison for WB government
Ghosal is believed to be a close aide of Trinamool Congress’s chief Mamata Banerjee in the media sector. In September 2020, he was appointed as Information & Development Officer (IDO) by the Government of West Bengal. His main job as IDO was liaising between the Government of West Bengal and the Central Government’s various ministries.
As per the order issued on September 18, 2020, his profile as liaison for the WB government would not disallow him from engaging in other pursuits. The order read, “While he will thus be at the disposal of the Government of West Bengal for liaison, coordination and information dissemination, his other pursuits (not disharmonious with public interest, as envisaged by the Government of West Bengal) are not disallowed by this engagement. He will keep the State Government informed about his such other pursuits, if any.”
He was provided with office space in the Principal Residential Commissioner’s office and Kolkata Information Centre. The perks included a monthly salary of Rs 1.5 lakh and air-travel expenditure on duty in the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi sector.
It is noteworthy the post was specially created by the West Bengal government.
West Bengal government has created a post of Information and Development Officer who will liaison with the Centre on behalf of the state. Senior journalist Jayanta Ghoshal has been appointed to the post.
In a tweet, PTi journalist Soumyajit Majumder said, “West Bengal government has created a post of Information and Development Officer who will liaison with the Centre on behalf of the state. Senior journalist Jayanta Ghoshal has been appointed to the post.”
Awarded by the WB govt
Furthermore, the West Bengal government also awarded him Banga Bhushan Award 2022 on July 25, 2022, just three days before he participated in the debate on India Today. Banga Bhushan Samman (Award) is a state award instituted by the government of West Bengal to honour the prominent personalities of different fields. The awards were started by the WB government in 2011.
Ghosal authored a book on CM Banerjee
Ghosal has been working closely with the West Bengal government, which is clear by the fact that he also authored a book on Mamata Banerjee titled “Mamata: Beyond 2021”, released in February 2022. The book revolves around Banerjee’s political career. According to the book’s description, Ghosal travelled across the state to understand which factors contributed to the TMC’s victory in the last Assembly Elections.
Book cover of “Mamata: Beyond 2021” by Jayanta Ghosal. Source: Amazon
It read, “There was a massive gap in the BJP’s understanding of Bengali identity, which Mamata was able to exploit. An ‘overdose’ of central intervention, ranging from paramilitary forces to intelligence agencies to targeting key TMC leaders, added to the BJP’s disconnect with voters. Increasingly, the state felt the divide between New Delhi and Bengal grow.” The book also explored the questions, including if Banerjee considered herself to be a suitable candidate for the post of Prime Minister.
According to Outlook, Ghosal has deep access to the BJP-RSS at the highest levels. He wrote, “Many BJP and RSS leaders now believe underestimating Mamata in 2024 — as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah did in 2021 — would be a blunder. So Mamata Banerjee will have to take many more innovative steps to make herself a widely-acceptable leader who can be an alternative to Narendra Modi. Far from being inactive on this front, she is preparing quietly. Her mission ‘New Delhi 2024’ will be worth watching.”
He further pointed out that to portray herself as a national leader, she would try to shed the pro-Muslim image that had been created during her tenure as Chief Minister of West Bengal. Furthermore, if the regional parties do well in the 2024 elections, he would surpass the image of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a national leader in the eyes of associated parties, especially Congress.
Jayant Ghosal’s debates, articles and op-eds mostly attempt to portray Mamata Banerjee as a beloved leader with a high possibility of performing well at the national level. However, her portrayal differs in the voters’ minds, especially because of the poor performance of TMC in different states, including Goa and continuous attacks on BJP workers in the state of West Bengal.
Days after the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister confessed to the involvement of the party high command in the School Service Commission (SSC) scam, reportedIANS.
During the course of interrogation, he told investigators that everyone in the TMC including top party leadership was privy to his activities. He alleged that fellow TMC members were aware that money was collected in exchange for providing government school jobs to ineligible candidates.
While speaking about the matter, an Enforcement Directorate official said, “He claims that he was just the custodian. He never asked for any money neither accepted any from candidates. There was a party diktat and he was following orders. He was supposed to sign documents prepared by others.”
“The money was also collected by others and sent to him. He had been instructed to keep the money in safe custody. Hundreds of crores were later taken away for ‘party’ use. Only a fraction of the sum was confiscated. This is what he has revealed so far,” the official emphasised.
Another official of the central agency informed that Partha Chatterjee has confessed to the involvement of other Departments in providing jobs via fraudulent means to ineligible candidates.
“People allegedly got railway jobs by paying money. He has also mentioned a certain office in Majerhat where these deals were struck. Partha Chatterjee claims that the party took so long to take a decision about his fate as other leaders were cleaning up their homes. Once this was over, they washed their hands off, leaving him to fend for himself,” the official emphasised.
Besides, Partha Chatterjee has also alleged that the top leaders of the Trinamool Congress visited the properties that he bought in the name of Arpita Mukherjee. He also said that the party need a front like an actress to stash the money.
The Case against Partha Chatterjee
A day after the Enforcement Directorate recovered ₹21 crores in cash, jewellery and foreign currency to the tune of ₹50 lakhs each from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, the central agency arrested the ex-TMC heavyweight leader on July 23.
On July 22, ED conducted a raid on the properties of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee as part of an investigation in this case. Two days later, a special court remanded Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister Partha Chatterjee to Enforcement Directorate custody till August 3 this year.
He had reportedly helped 10 relatives of his bodyguard to secure jobs in different East Medinipur schools using ‘concocted and fabricated papers.’ Following allegations of corruption and impropriety, Partha Chatterjee was ousted from the Trinamool Congress.
Earlier, the TMC Minister was ‘greeted’ with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS Bhubneshwar. Videos had emerged wherein the crowd gathered outside the hospital could be heard shouting ‘chor chor’ slogans as Partha Chatterjee was being wheeled into the hospital.
On Sunday (July 31) morning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the residence of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut over his alleged involvement in the Patra Chawl land scam case.
The development comes days after the Sena leader skipped two summons of the central agency, citing the ongoing Parliamentary session. Sanjay Raut was directed to depose before the ED’s Mumbai office but he instead sought time till August 7.
The case pertains to the irregularities in the re-development of Patra Chawl near Dharavi and alleged financial transactions involving the wife and 2 associates of Raut.
Mumbai | Enforcement Directorate officials reached Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s residence around 7am today; currently conducting a search and questioning Raut, in connection with Patra Chawl land scam case pic.twitter.com/e2bfEVW3s7
Following the Enforcement Directorate’s action, Raut took to Twitter to allege political vendetta. “I have nothing to do with any scam. I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray..Balasaheb taught us to fight.. I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena,” he tweeted in Marathi.
कोणत्याही घोटाळ्याशी माझा काडीमात्र संबंध नाही. शिवसेना प्रमुख बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांची शपथ घेऊन मी हे सांगत आहे..बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला लढायला शिकवलंय.. मी शिवसेनेसाठी लढत राहीन.
“False action..False evidence…I will not leave Shiv Sena…Even if I die, I will not surrender. Jai Maharashtra,” he said in another tweet. Raut was only called in for questioning and there really wasn’t any question about ‘surrendering’ yet.
खोटी कारवाई.. खोटे पुरावे मी शिवसेना सोडणार नाही.. मरेन पण शरण जाणार नाही जय महाराष्ट्र
It must be mentioned that the Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached ₹11.15 crore worth of properties of Varsha Raut, wife of Sanjay Raut, and his 2 associates, namely, Pravin M Raut and Swapna Patkar.
Sanjay Raut was interrogated for 10 hours by the central agency on July 1 this year. He was asked to appear before ED on July 20 but he gave it a miss. A new summon was issued on July 27 but the Sena leader missed it too. This compelled the central agency to land at his residence directly.
In a shocking development, West Bengal’s Howrah police have nabbed three Congress legislators from Jharkhand traveling in a car with huge amounts of cash. The police are yet to count the cash and have arranged for note-counting machines to get the total amount. The operation was carried out in Howrah on 30th July 2022. Besides cash, police have also recovered gold from the vehicle.
Howrah,West Bengal| We’ve nabbed 3 MLAs of Congress from Jharkhand namely Irfan Ansari, MLA from Jamtara, Rajesh Kachhap, MLA from Khijri & Naman Bixal, MLA from Kolebira with huge amounts of cash. We would only be able to count it once counting machines come: SP Swati Bhangalia pic.twitter.com/yo8VYyW9Yq
According to police sources, the three Congress MLAs have been identified as Rajesh Kachhaap (MLA from the Khijri constituency), Naman Bixal Kongari (MLA from the Kolebira constituency), and Irfan Ansari (MLA from the Jamtara constituency).
The cash recovery sequence in West Bengal seemingly does not stop at Arpita Mukherjee. According to a report by the Ananda Bazar Patrika, a search was conducted on a vehicle going from Kolkata to Jharkhand on Saturday afternoon and a large quantity of cash was recovered. According to police sources, it was reported by a secret informer that a lot of money was being carried in a car from Kolkata to Jharkhand. Accordingly, police were deployed along the route. A black car was stopped near Ranihati junction on National Highway 6 in Panchla in the afternoon. The number plate of the vehicle mentioned MLA Jamtara.
#Breaking: Major cash recovery in Bengal’s Howrah district. A car with name plate MLA Jamtara intercepted at Howrah’s Ranihati area Machines being brought in to count the cash. Three Jharkhand MLAs were reportedly traveling in the said vehicle. Identities being verified. pic.twitter.com/wvAyYeVmzF
The vehicle, money, and the MLAs were taken to the Panchla police station. Howrah district rural superintendent of police Swati Bhangalia said the cash counting machines will be deployed to count the huge amount of money. The police are trying to find out where the money came from and where it was being taken. Police are currently interrogating the Congress MLAs in this case.
On 30th July 2022, CBI conducted a search operation on the premises owned by auto driver-turned-real estate baron Avinash Bhosale, who is an arrested accused in the Yes Bank-DHFL case. In its raid, the Central Bureau of Investigation seized an AugustaWestland helicopter from the builder. According to a report by the Indian Express, Avinash Bhosale is allegedly involved in a scam involving DHFL that caused a loss of Rs 34,615 crores to a consortium of 17 banks led by the Union Bank of India.
CBI seized a helicopter during search conducted at premises of builder Avinash Bhosale in Pune. He was allegedly involved in scam involving DHFL that caused loss of Rs 34,615 cr to a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India. The helicopter is AgustaWestland make: Sources pic.twitter.com/oGMLf9oK1k
Besides, in a supplementary charge sheet submitted by the CBI in the Yes bank-DHFL case, Avinash Bhosle is accused of diverting Rs 300 crore from the funds he had received through different means while he got a loan of Rs 700 crore sanctioned from Yes bank through Rana Kapoor in 2018 to buy a property at 5 Strand in London, valued at GBP 100 million, which is approximately Rs 1000 crore. The news of the CBI seizing an AugustaWestland helicopter from his premises appeared as the central agency raided his various properties in Pune on 30th July 2022.
According to the CBI’s charge sheet, Bhosale’s firms got Rs 68.82 crore in advisory fees, Rs 183 crore in loans from DHFL, and another Rs 317.40 crore in Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) and interest/premium from Radius Group entities.
The charge sheet reads, “Investigation reveals that out of the said amount of Rs 569.22 crore, a significant amount of Rs 300 crore was diverted by accused Avinash Bhosale to acquire a property at 5 Strand London, valued at GBP 92.5 million (GBP100 million with taxes/fee, etc.) through an SPV namely M/s Flora Developments Ltd. floated in the UK. The purchase was financed through a loan of GBP 70 million sanctioned by accused Rana Kapoor/Yes Bank to the said Flora Developments Ltd in April 2018.”
According to the agency, their investigation indicated that accused Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Rana Kapoor, Sanjay Rajkumar Chhabariaa, Avinash N. Bhosale, and Satyan Gopaldas Tandon planned to fraud Yes Bank and DHFL.
The charge sheet further says, “Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan misappropriated the funds amounting to Rs 4,733 crore invested/provided as loan/investment by Yes Bank Ltd to M/s DHFL & M/s Belief Realtors Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2018 and dishonestly disbursed and diverted Rs 4,727 crore against receipt of the said Yes Bank funds to the companies of accused Kapoor, Chhabarias and Bhosale.” The funds were transferred as loans, ICD investments, or consultancy charges.
On Saturday, 30th July 2022, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval attended an interfaith harmony meeting with Sufi clerics in New Delhi. Addressing this meeting he said that we Indians cannot be mute spectators to the communal tensions in the country. He said that we have to organize and raise our voices against some elements that are trying to create an atmosphere that’s vitiating the progress of India. The conference was held at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi.
According to a report by India Today, Ajit Doval said, “Some elements are trying to create an atmosphere that’s vitiating the progress of India. They’re creating acrimony and conflict in the name of religion and ideology. It is affecting the entire country while spilling over outside the country too.”
NSA Ajit Doval added, “We can’t be mute spectators. We have to organize and raise voices and improve on the mistakes. We’ve to make every sect of India feel that we are a country together, we are proud of it, and that every religion can be professed with freedom here.” Ajit Doval asserted that mere condemning radical forces is not enough and that society needs to go beyond just condemnation and actually work against these radical forces.
#WATCH An Interfaith conference was conducted…Slogans like ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ is anti-Islamic. There’s a Taliban thought, it should be countered on the ground instead of in closed rooms…Be it PFI or other org, GoI should ban them: Hazrat Syed Naseruddin Chishty pic.twitter.com/MKyNfDiJdg
This meeting was hosted by the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council. Hazrat Syed Naseeruddin Chishty, the chairperson of the All India Sufi Sajjada Nasheen Council also addressed the meeting.
He said, “We condemn when an incident occurs. But it’s time to do something. The need of the hour is to rein in and ban radical organizations. Be it any radical organization, including the Popular Front of India (PFI), they should be banned if there is evidence against them.”
#WATCH | Delhi: “…We condemn when an incident occurs. It’s time to do something. Need of hour to rein in & ban radical orgs. Be it any radical org, incl, they should be banned if there is evidence against them..,” says Hazrat Syed Naseruddin Chishty in the presence of NSA Doval pic.twitter.com/cDJZoWAk50
‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans are anti-Islamic: Hazrat Syed Naseeruddin Chishty
Chishty said, “Slogans like ‘Sir Tan Se Judaa’ are anti-Islamic. It is the Taliban’s view and we should fight against it on the ground instead of closed rooms. Be it PFI or other organizations, the Indian government should ban them.”
A resolution advocating for the outlawing of radical organizations was adopted at the meeting’s conclusion. The resolution read, ‘We strongly recommend that if there is evidence of spreading hatred between communities through any means against any individual or organization, action should be taken against it in accordance with the provisions of the law. Targeting any gods, deities, or prophets in a discussion or debate by anyone should be condemned and dealt with in accordance with the law’.
A family in the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh has urged the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath to allow them euthanasia after 6 months of alleged harassment by the miscreants in their locality. Rajkumari Sharma, a resident of the village Barautha in Harduaganj of the Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh wrote a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath on 22nd July 2022.
In her letter, Rajkumari Sharma wrote that on 24th February 2022, a local influential family from the Dalit community kidnapped her 21-years-old younger son Mukesh (mentioned as Nikhil in the FIR) and kept him locked for four months and six days. She said that the kidnappers beat the youth brutally, drugged him, and even made him drink urine in this period of abduction.
On 30th June 2022, they threw him on the highway with his hands tied. According to reports, Mukesh was kidnapped because he and his family objected to the accused family who used to keep their cattle tied on the local road causing great trouble to pedestrians.
The woman complained to the chief minister that she had registered an FIR in the local police station and she had also urged the Senior Superintendent of Police in Aligarh district to help her in this matter, but she did not get any help. She also alleged the accused miscreants of eve-teasing herself and her daughter. She, thus, urged the chief minister to allow the family euthanasia at the residence of the chief minister on the upcoming independence day.
It is notable that Rajkumari Sharma registered an FIR on 11th April 2022 against Omveer, Aman, Sushila, Prem, Puneet, Omvati, Arjun, Suresh, and Bunty; all being members of the same family. In this FIR, she complained that, on 24th February 2022, she along with her family objected to the accused people for keeping their cattle tied by the road in the locality as this caused trouble to everyone passing by.
Enraged at this, the accused then beat her elder son Nikhil. Her other two sons Alok and Prempal were taken to the local police station by the police and the station in charge ensured a compromise between the two parties.
At around 5:30 pm on the same day, the accused people came to the complainant’s house along with wooden sticks, metal rods, and belts and brutally beat the complainant and her children. She also accused the miscreants of molesting her and her daughter Narmada.
Rajkumari Sharma mentioned that she was saved because the people in the neighborhood intervened listening to the screams of the Sharma family. The attackers threatened her that they will kill Nikhil and Nikhil went missing on the same day.
Rajkumari Sharma also complained that the police staff in the Harduaganj police station refused to register her complaint and did not record the injuries she and her family members sustained in this attack. According to her, the police took weeks even to lodge a missing complaint about her abducted son.
Besides, Suresh – one of the accused – kept threatening her and told her that nothing will happen even if she books a complaint against the accused attackers because Suresh himself is a policeman. She has also mentioned that she belongs to a poor Brahmin family while the attackers are from a powerful and influential family that hails from a Dalit community.
Update: After this report was published, Aligarh Police informed on Twitter that the accused in the case have been arrested.
प्रकरण पुराना है, जिसमें तत्काल मुकद्दमा पंजीकृत कर गिरफ्तारी सुनिश्चित की गयी, वैधानिक कार्यवाही प्रचलित है ।
Responding to the OpIndia tweet posting the report, Aligarh Police tweeted that the matter is (one week) old, where the case was registered immediately and arrests were ensured. They further added that legal actions are going on in the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged the state governments to clear the outstanding dues to power generation and distribution companies, saying that unpaid dues have crippled the power companies. He made the comments while launching the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme of the power ministry, which aims to improve the quality, reliability and affordability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector.
In his speech, PM Modi gave a special emphasis on the unpaid dues in the power sector and said that several states are trying to hide the issue instead of trying to solve it. He said that states are trying to push the issue to the future, aggravating the issue even more. The power sector is in a great crisis in several states due to such an approach, the PM said.
He said that when power sector in a state weakens, it affects the power sector of the country as a whole, and it makes pushes the future of that state towards darkness. He said that the losses in the distribution sector is in double digits, while the same in developed nations is in single digits, that too negligible.
The PM added that most of the time electricity companies have a crisis of funds, and they continue to use old transmission and distribution lines that cause high losses. As a result, the power becomes costlier for consumers. The PM said that while the generation companies are producing enough power, they also don’t have power, due to unpaid dues. Similarly, distribution companies have huge amounts due in various states.
PM Modi said that people will be shocked to hear that the states have outstanding dues of more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The states have to pay money to power generation companies for the power the states have already consumed, but now not paying price for the same. Additionally, several government departments and local bodies have dues to power distribution companies totalling more than Rs 60,000 crore.
Not just the dues of power used by themselves, but even the subsidies announced by various state governments to their citizens also remain unpaid. According to the prime minister, subsidy arrear at present stands at over Rs 75,000 crore.
Therefore, in total, around two and a half lakh crore rupees are trapped as unpaid dues, severely affecting the generation, transmission and distribution companies. Due to this, it has become difficult to invest for future requirements. ‘Are we going to force our future generations to live in darkness?’ the PM asked during his speech.
Saying that the private and public companies don’t get their dues, they will not grow and will not be able to produce power, the prime minister urged everyone to realise the gravity of the situation.
‘Everyone needs to wake up so that our country doesn’t fall into darkness. And therefore, I say, this is not a question of Rajneeti, but a question of Rashtraneeti and Rashtranirman, it is a question of protection of the entire system related to electricity,’ PM Modi said.
The power ministry also released data on power dues in this regard. The total dues of states and UTs towards the Gencos, excluding state-owned Gencos, are Rs 1,01,442 crore, of which dues to dues to CPSEs alone are Rs 26,397 crore. The dues of various departments of state governments are Rs 62,931 crore, and the amount of subsidy yet to be received by distribution companies from state governments is Rs 76,337 crore. Therefore, the total outstanding due to power generation and distribution companies by state governments stand at Rs 2,40,710 crore.
Among the states, Maharashtra (₹21,656 crore), Tamil Nadu (₹20,990 crore), Andhra Pradesh (₹10,109 Crore), Telangana (₹7,388 Crore), and Rajasthan (₹5,043 Crore), top the list of overdue towards generation companies.
Similarly, Telangana (₹11,935 crore), Maharashtra (₹9,131 crore), Andhra Pradesh (₹9,116 crore), Tamil Nadu (₹3,677 crore) lead in dues to DISCOMs.
On the other hand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chhattishgarh have huge amounts due towards subsidies.
The PM urged the states to clear the power dues as soon as possible. He said, “I request the states whose dues are pending, to clear them as soon as possible. Also, consider the reasons that even when the countrymen pay their electricity bills honestly, why do some states have arrears again and again?”
Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme
The PM launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme of the power ministry today while participating in the Grand Finale of the ‘Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @2047’ via video conferencing. He also dedicated and laid the foundation stone of various green energy projects of NTPC, and launched the National Solar rooftop portal.
The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme is a Reforms-based and Results-linked Scheme with an outlay of Rs.3,03,758 crore over a period of five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26. The Scheme aims to reduce the AT& C losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and ACS-ARR gap to zero by 2024-25 by improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of all DISCOMs/ Power Departments, excluding Private Sector DISCOMs. DISCOMs and Power Departments would be able to access funds under the Scheme for various purposes aimed at reducing loss and improving efficiency.
The PM said that Energy and power sectors have a huge role to play in accelerating India’s progress in the next 25 years. The strength of the energy sector is also important for Ease of Doing Business and is equally important for Ease of Living. He said that the projects launched today are significant steps in the direction of green energy and energy security for the county.
Congress MLA from Maharashtra, Aslam Shaikh, has come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Environment Ministry for illegally operating film studios in Madh Island.
Shaikh, a legislator from Malad West constituency, had served as the Textile, Fisheries Department & Ports Development Minister during the reign of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
As per reports, he had flouted Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules and gave permission for the unauthorised construction of more than 2 dozen film studios on Madh Island. The Enforcement Directorate took up the matter after complaints were received by Environment and Forest Ministries.
#BREAKING ED heat on ex-MVA Minister. Congress’ Aslam Shaikh is under ED’s scanner now for flouting ‘CRZ norms’
While speaking about the matter, BJP’s Kirit Somaiya remarked, “A senior Congress Minister in MVA government Aslam Shaikh was found involved in unauthorized construction of more than 2 dozen film studios on the sea shore in the CRZ no development zone. We have demanded a full-fledged investigation.”
He added that the total value of the unauthorised constructions would be more than ₹1000 crores.
Who is Aslam Shaikh?
On July 28, 2015, Aslam Shaikh along with other colleagues wrote a letter to then President of India Pranab Mukherjee, seeking clemency for convicted terrorist Yakub Memon. This was despite the fact that Memon was convicted over his involvement in the infamous 1993 bomb blast in Mumbai, a city where Shaikh was born.
Although his efforts could not save Memon from the noose, Aslam Shaikh was welcomed with open arms by the Shiv Sena-led-Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
In January 2021, Opindia reported how Muslims encroached upon Hindu properties in Mumbai’s Malwani area. The illegal encroachment has forced several Hindu families to flee for their safety. At that time, it came to light that the goons enjoyed political patronage from Aslam Shaikh.
Emboldened by his support, the Muslim hooligans encroached on Hindu lands and built madrassas and dargahs. The issue was raised by Mumbai BJP President Mangal Prabhat Lodha in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
Dalit Positive Movement, a Dalit and OBC Rights initiative, had even written to the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights (NCPCR), seeking immediate intervention in the forced drug and porn addiction of Dalit children by goons who were allegedly supported by Aslam Shaikh.
In November 2021, Maharashtra BJP leader Mohit Kamboj alleged that Aslam Shaikh is involved in drug trafficking through his accomplice Kashif Khan. Earlier in January this year, Shaikh courted controversy by inaugurating a sports complex named after Islamic tyrant Tipu Sultan in Mumbai.
After inaugurating a sports complex named after Tipu Sultan in Mumbai, Maharashtra Minister Aslam Sheikh says, “LoP has raised objections to naming of the complex after Tipu Sultan. My question is: will he ask his party’s MLA &councillor, who first made this proposal, to resign?” https://t.co/uUt9isFtsPpic.twitter.com/Z3SO5hCv8D
