A day after hundreds of Islamic fanatics in Pakistani were seen burning and razing down a Hindu temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists lobbed a grenade on a temple in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday evening.
According to the reports, the terrorists hurled bombs at the temple in the border town of Kathua, however, missed the target and it exploded outside the premises, creating panic among the people there.
“A grenade was thrown on a temple in Hiranagar sector around 7.30 pm but luckily it missed the intended target and exploded in an open area, without causing any damage or casualty,” Kathua Senior Superintendent of Police Shalinder Mishra said after the Wednesday evening attack.
#NewsAlert | Terrorists reportedly lobbed a grenade on a temple in border village in Kathua district late last night. The grenade exploded outside the temple.
The officials said that the blast triggered panic among the locals who ran for cover after hearing the loud noise. He said the whole area was immediately cordoned off and a massive operation has already been launched to nab the terrorists.
Another similar attack was attempted by the terrorist recently, however, they were caught by the police, scuttling their separate plans to trigger grenade explosions in Poonch and Jammu districts at the behest of their handlers in Pakistan with the intention to disturb peace in Jammu region and harm communal harmony.
Hindu temple razed to ground by Muslim villagers in Pakistan
The terrorists’ attack on a temple in Kathua comes just a day after residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district in Pakistan razed down and destroyed a Hindu temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district on Wednesday.
The Krishna Dwara temple, which is situated in Karak’s Teri union council, came under attack by hundreds of residents who set fire to the building, then razed it down with hammers and crude weapons.
The shocking act was also recorded by the villagers, which has now gone viral on the internet. In the video, one can see how the miscreants surrounded and vandalised the temple for hours.
Reportedly, the temple was built after Guru Shri Paramhans Dayal was laid to rest at the site in July 1919. However, the Muslim residents of the area had closed the temple after the Partition in 1947. In 2015, the Krishna Dwara temple was restored on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Rohit Kumar, an advocate and the Hindu activist said the residents violated the agreement by vandalising the temple. Earlier, Hindus and the Muslims of the village had signed an agreement on December 22 agreeing that the renovation of the temple would not exceed the specified area.
However, the Muslim residents of the area had alleged that that the Hindu community was illegally expanding the temple building. They said the matter was reported to the police too.
According to the Muslims, as police did not take action against the Hindus, they themselves took the law into their hands and demolished the temple.
A 54-year-old man identified as Abdul Lateef from Kerala married a 16-year-old minor four days ago. As per a report in Times Now, the police have booked seven people, including the parents of the girl, in the case. The accused has been staying in Hyderabad city.
The parents had given consent for the marriage. When the police came to know about the incident, they immediately conducted the raids and took seven people in custody.
#Breaking | Hyderabad: 54-year-old held for marrying a 16-year-old minor.
The police said that the investigation is underway. It is still unclear if the girl was rescued or not. The police will reveal further details in a press conference. It is reported that the police will hold a press conference and produce the accused before the media.
Several cases of minors being married to older men
Older men marrying minors is not uncommon. Several reports have come to light in the past about such incidents. Recently, a man as 31-year-old T Balamurugan, of Othapatti near Kottanathampatti village in Madurai was held for marrying a minor girl. In another incident in November, a man identified as 29-year-old A Sakthivel of Kasthuribai Colony in Perungudi was held for marrying a 17-year-old.
Child marriages continue to remain a constant issue for the authorities in Telangana. In 2019, it was reported that the city police had rescued 51 child brides in 14 months.
Last week, a major controversy erupted in Karnataka after senior IPS officer and Home Secretary D Roopa made allegations of several irregularities in the bidding process for the Rs 620 crore Bengaluru ‘Safe City’ project.
The controversy began after a report had falsely claimed that a woman IPS officer in Karnataka had impersonated the state Home Secretary i.e, D Roopa, to seek classified details regarding the Rs 620 crore ‘Safe City’ project that is being funded by the centre’s Nirbhaya Fund. A report by Times of India had claimed that the Bengaluru City police was not happy with the officer’s interference in the project even as the process of selecting the bidder was underway.
The Bengaluru City Police had hired an independent project management consultancy – Ernst & Young to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) for the project and had uploaded it on November 11. However, the Bengaluru city police came to know that a woman officer had contacted the project consultants on November 7, even before the tender was uploaded, to seek details about their previous cancelled RFP based on the allegations made by one of the bidders.
The project, funded by the Centre under the Nirbhaya Fund and aimed at ensuring the safety of women and children, envisages installation of 7,500 different types of surveillance cameras across the city. Under the project, Bengaluru was one of the few cities in the country chosen to make urban spaces safer for women and children. The project includes installing of CCTV cameras, surveillance systems, panic buttons and GIS mapping of crimes in the city.
Later, it was revealed that the woman officer was supposedly IPS officer D Roopa, who had sought documents from the Ernst & Young officials in her capacity as the Home Secretary.
The Home Secretary had found serious irregularities in the RFP of the tender document for the ‘Safe City’ project when she studied the Nirbhaya Safe City project file in the Home Department. D Roopa clarified in detail stating that it was she who called the Ernst & Young officials to know the details pertaining to the tender documents, with the intention of ensuring that the tender process did not favour any single bidder.
D Roopa, a whistleblower in the present case, found several irregularities in the bidding process and added that she only contacted the consultant firm to seek details on the manner in which tenders are being drafted to allegedly favour one firm.
IPS Hemant Nimbalkar accuses Home Secretary D Roopa of ‘impersonation’ and ‘illegal interference’ in the project
Following the intervention by the female cop to seek the details of the tender over allegations of irregularities in the project, IGP Hemant Nimbalkar, the husband of Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar, who is the Chairman of Nirbhaya Tender Inviting Committee and chairman of Tender Scrutinising Committee, had filed a complaint with the chief secretary stating that the officer unauthorisedly tried to “access classified information before the publication of tender for wrongful gains”.
Nimbalkar wrote to the Chief Secretary on December 7, requesting an enquiry into what he said was “a clear case of impersonation” as Home Secretary to the Government of Karnataka for getting access to classified information with respect to the RFP in preparation for the Safe City project before the publication of the tender, for wrongful gains without any lawful authority and locus standi.
Though Nimbalkar has not named D Roopa in his letter to the Chief Secretary, he said the “impersonation as Home Secretary … amounts to undue illegal interference in the tender process initiated by the Government of Karnataka by an unauthorised person”.
However, both the charges of ‘impersonation’ and undue ‘illegal interference’ in the tender process made by IGP Nimbalkar against Home Secretary Roopa are disputed, since firstly, D Roopa has herself disclosed that she in her capacity as the Home Secretary had sought details from the consultancy group regarding the irregularities in the tender process. Hence, she says that she acted under her powers as the Home Secretary of the state.
Secondly, the charges of undue interference into the project by the D Roopa, on the basis of which a complaint and enquiry committee has also been initiated by the Home Department, are also disputed since the Home Secretary was a part of one of the meetings of ‘Safe City’ Project as an invitee by the Additional Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel on October 27, much before the tender was floated.
Here is a letter attached written by Additional Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel inviting Home Secretary D Roopa to be part of the ‘Safe City’ Project meeting to discuss the tender bidding process. Hence, she was not only aware of the ‘Safe City’ Project but also was first to appraise the Additional Chief Secretary about the irregularities in the project, prompting CS Vijay Bhaskar to invite her for the Apex Committee meeting.
Letter written by Additional Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel inviting Home Secretary D Roopa to be part of the ‘Safe City’ Project
According to D Roopa, she was handed over the ‘Safe City’ Project file by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department Rajneesh Goel IAS himself, who asked her to study the project. It was when she discovered the irregularities in the project, which she promptly brought it to the attention of her senior officers, including the Chief Secretary.
From the above official communique, which was perused by OpIndia, it can be said that D Roopa, as the Home Secretary of the state, was very much part of the process and has all the stipulated powers to seek information pertaining to the ‘Safe City’ project.
Irregularities in the tender process
The tender inviting and bidding process of Bengaluru Safe City project envisaged to make the city safer for women and children by installing over 7,500 CCTV cameras, is being allegedly influenced to favour a particular vendor. It is pertinent to note that Hemant Nimbalkar IPS is the Chairman of both Tender Inviting Committee and chairman of Tender Scrutinising Committee of the ‘Safe City’ Project.
The proposal for the ‘Safe City’ Project, was first mooted by the police in 2013. However, it was approved by the Modi government only in 2018. Under the project, the centre will grant 60 per cent of the total funds, while the State government has to spend the remaining 40 per cent. The state government approved the project in October 2019. Since then, the tender process has been cancelled twice and the third one is underway but is at risk of being allegedly influenced to favour a single vendor.
The first RFP that was floated got cancelled in January 2020 over the failure of participants to pass pre-qualification criteria. The process started for the second time in June this year but was cancelled after one of the prospective bidders had pitched products from Chinese firm Huawei. The tender was cancelled in the light of the recent ban imposed on Chinese products by the Centre and the state government after the Galway Valley clash earlier this year.
Interestingly, the Bharat Electronics Limited, one of the bidders in the tender process, was in fact the first one to whistleblow pertaining to the irregularities in the project. After the tender process began for the first time in November 2019, the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) had written a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru highlighting how the Request For Proposal (RFP) for inviting tender in the ‘Safe City’ project was drafted in such a way that it unreasonably favoured one of the two vendors.
In its letter, the Navratna company, which has a rich experience of delivering similar projects, noted to Bengaluru Police Commissioner that the tender inviting process has itself put the other bidders in a disadvantageous position despite having vast experience in the similar projects. The BEL, flagging the irregularities, said that some of the provisions of the tender also violated CVC guidelines.
Letter from BEL
In the letter, the BEL has explained in detail how certain technical provisions that have been included in the qualification criteria of the participation is not very selective but also violated CVC norms. Further, the BEL, without naming the particular vendor, alleged that the tender has been designed in such a way that it favoured a particular vendor.
The BEL has pointed out that the evaluation of the bid is based on Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) methodology and the above clauses restricted wider participation thus ‘favouring few individual vendors during technical evaluation’.
Letter by BEL
According to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Rules, 2000, the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method is not permitted for the ‘Supply for Goods & Services’ or ‘Construction’, but only be used to invite tenders in the ‘Consultancy’ process. In the QCBS process, unlike the ‘Least Cost Selection’ or ‘Single Source Selection’ – the bidders are selected on the technical parameters, based on a scoring process. The final vendor is then selected on the basis of the highest score a particular vendor has achieved.
Under this process, the Tender Inviting Committee and Tender Scrutinising Committee can influence the RFP in such a way that one particular vendor is favoured over others by imposing technical parameters that benefited that particular vendor. Thus, the tender committees enjoy a particular discretion in finalising the final vendor in a particular bid.
The BEL, in its letter to the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru has highlighted the same by pointing out that how can a ‘construction’ and ‘Supply of Goods and Services’ have been tweaked to be included in the QCBS category.
Was Tender Inviting Committee and Tender Scrutinising Committee, headed by IGP Hemant Nimbalkar was favouring a single vendor?
However, months after a letter from the BEL, the entire tender process was itself cancelled as none of the participants was qualified to bid in the ‘Safe City Project’.
Tender for ‘Safe City’ Project invited again
In June this year, the RFP for the ‘Safe City’ Project was floated again by the Bengaluru City Police. Three bidders were finally selected based on the QCBS selection – BEL, Larsen and Toubro and another Hyderabad-based company named as Matrix Security and Surveillance Private Limited.
However, Ministry of Commerce and Industry wrote a letter to Chief Secretary of Karnataka, highlighting that the project will be not be finalised if vendors do not follow the Policy Order of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017. The MCI had written a letter based on a complaint made by a vendor named ‘Tejas Networks’ asking them to include only Make in India products in the procurement procedure.
The second tender process also has to be cancelled by the Tender Scrutinising Committee after it was found that one of the bidders had pitched products from Chinese firm Huawei despite government banning procurement of Chinese products.
The Bharat Electronics Limited had also written a letter to the Commissioner of Police, again highlighting that there were irregularities in the bidding process. In its letter, BEL had mentioned that two bidders – Matrix Security and Surveillance Pvt Ltd and NCC Ltd, both having common directors who held more than 5 per cent shares, thus alleging that there was a conflict of interest in the bidding process. The BEL alleged that both the bidders had connived and submitted the proposals, which was a clear violation of the RFP conditions.
Interestingly, the BEL has also alleged that the particular company – Matrix Security Surveillance Pvt Ltd, which is allegedly being favoured by the Tender Inviting Committee and Tender Scrutinising Committee of the ‘Safe City’ Project, had quoted Chinese brand ‘Huawei’ for all equipment to be procured in the project and said that the Chinese equipment could possess a greater security risk as enormous data of the residents of Bengaluru can be accessed for tracking and monitoring.
Letter by BEL
Despite, the same tender process being cancelled for two times, the Tender Inviting Committee headed by Hemanth Nimbalkar has now floated another RFP on November 17, 2020, inviting bids for the ‘Safe City’ Project. The Third RFP for the ‘Safe City’ Project, which has been uploaded this month, also is alleged to be favouring particular vendors.
Does Third RFP for ‘Safe City’ project designed to favour a particular bidder?
According to the letters accessed by OpIndia, written by a senior officer to the Chief Secretary, the tender has specifically prescribed a lower turnover requirement, which itself is a violation of the procedures established by Finance Department for tender bidding and also KTPP rules. The third RFP, floated by Hemant Nimbalkar headed committee prescribes that any prospective bidder with the annual turnover of Rs. 250 crore can bid for the ‘Safe City’ Project.
The Third tender issued by the Bengaluru City Police for the ‘Safe City’ Project.
However, according to the KTPP rules and Standard Bid Document of the Finance Department, the turnover of the prospective bidder in at least two financial years must be more than twice the amount expected to be paid in a year in the tender.
The value of Safe City Project tender to be executed is Rs 620 crores and the payment of at least 500 crores is expected in the first year itself. Hence, a minimum annual turnover in at least two years should have been Rs 1,000 crores or at least Rs 500 crores as per the latest amendment by the Karnataka Finance Department. However, in the third tender issued by the Tender Inviting Committee headed by Hemant Nimbalkar has lowered down the limit of the annual turnover to just Rs 250 crores for the last three years.
The qualification procedure specified by the Finance Department in its Standard Bid Document.
Even, the BEL has pointed out the same irregularity saying that the annual turnover has been precisely kept low in the tender to favour specific vendors.
Addition to that, the standard bid document of the state Finance Department has clearly stated that bidding by joint ventures is strictly prohibited. However, the ‘Safe City’ Project tender has tweaked the rules a bit to allow the bidding by consortiums which is a clear violation of the procurement rules of the state.
The Standard Bid Document of Finance Department bars Joint ventures.
Apart from the violation, the ‘consortium’ provision also dilutes the responsibility of the bid winner if he happens to be a consortium and puts the project at undue risk as it allows two consortium members to fulfil the turnover requirement together. The RFP document also does not specify what happens if there is a dispute between the two members of the consortium, putting the project at risk.
To sum up, prima facie, the tender process itself is one where the eligibility criteria seem to have been tweaked by not only lowering the annual turnover but also imposing barriers for the other prospective bidders like BEL by invoking QCBS principle to select the vendor based on subjective criteria. The selection procedure also gives discretionary powers to the Tender Scrutinising committee headed by Hemanth Nimbalkar.
So far, no action has been initiated against the Tender Inviting Committee and Tender Scrutinising Committee even after BEL, a Navratna PSU, made serious allegations since November 2019 pertaining to the procedural lapses in the tender.
Hemant Nimbalkar: An accused in Rs 4,000 crore IMA scam
It is important to remind that IGP Hemant Nimbalkar, the husband of Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar, is one of the main accused in the Rs 4,000 crore IMA halal Ponzi scheme. The tainted officer is not only accused but also been charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the IMA scam case for allowing the main accused Mohammed Mansoor Khan to dupe investors across the state to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore.
The CBI has registered four cases in connection with the IMA scam. According to the charge-sheet, the accused Khan had collected unauthorised deposits from a large number of depositors on the promise of a dream return and had duped them approximately Rs 4,000 crore. The CBI had said that the senior IPS officers including Nimbalkar not only gave a clean chit to the company but also recommended that the complaints be closed stating that IMA had not indulged in any illegal acts.
After charge-sheeting him in the case, the CBI had also recommended disciplinary action of major penalty against Hemant Nimbalkar and other officers for their alleged role in the IMA scam case. The major penalty in terms of the CBI recommendation is a ‘suspension’. However, instead of suspending him, the tainted officer has been made the Chairman of the Tender Inviting Committee and Tender Scrutinising Committee of the Rs 620 crore ‘Safe City’ Project.
The targetting of IPS D Roopa
Home Secretary D Roopa, who was one of the first to point out irregularities in the ‘Safe City’ project, has now been at the receiving end of the allegations of impropriety as a committee has been constituted based on the complaint of Nimbalkar for her alleged interference in the ‘Safe City’ project after she sought clarification from Ernst & Young about the RFP for the third tender issued this November.
The ACS, Home Department has now constituted a committee to enquire into the complaint made by the Hemant Nimbalkar against D Roopa. However, D Roopa has herself clarified that she was the one who called in her capacity as the Home Secretary and there was no question of impersonation. She had also clarified that she is the current Home Secretary and also being an invitee to the meetings of ‘Safe City’ Project, she had the jurisdiction to seek details pertaining to the project.
However, it is being reported that Nimbalkar’s complaint against Roopa to the Chief Secretary for alleged impersonation and illegal interference came after Home secretary D Roopa had given the prosecution sanction on behalf of Government of Karnataka against several in the IMA scam, in which, Nimbalkar is also an accused.
The members of radical Islamic organisation Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on Wednesday were caught raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans outside a panchayat election counting centre in Ujire in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.
A video has gone viral on the social media platforms where it was seen that members of the radical Islamic outfit SDPI, carrying their party flags raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. The slogans in support of Pakistan were heard near the counting centre outside Mundaje Gram Panchayat in Belthangady Taluk.
Following the shocking incident, a sedition case has been registered on Wednesday against the members of of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police BM Laxmi Prasad in a statement said that the police have taken note of the video clipping and registered a case against 15 SDPI members for offences under Sections 124 (A) (sedition) and 143 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, SDPI Belthangady assembly unit president Hyder Ali said the ‘activists’ only raised slogans in support of the party on the victory of candidates supported by it. Despite having video evidence, he claimed that his party workers did not raise ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogans, but slogans of ‘SDPI zindabad’.
Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was detained by the Chinese government in May this year for reporting on the Wuhan virus, was sentenced to four years imprisonment on December 28. 37-year old Zhan was accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge that is very commonly invoked against critics and activists in China. She has been observing hunger strike since September. She was force-fed through feeding tubes with her hands tied so that she could not tamper with the feeding tubes.
Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, had gone to Wuhan in February this year where she reported on a number of stories including the detention of other independent journalists and the harassment of families of victims who sought accountability. She had questioned the lockdown imposed by the Chinese authorities on January 23 following the Wuhan virus outbreak. She had critically reported about the Chinese government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Zhang Zhan was also accused of accepting interviews from overseas media Free Radio Asia and Epoch Times maliciously spreading information on Wuhan virus.
The European Union demands Zhan’s release
The European Union yesterday demanded the release of Zhan and several other jailed journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. This was said by the EU in a statement that was issued before it signed a major investment deal with China despite concerns about China’s labour and civil rights accord.
Zhan was detained on previous occasions
In 2018, Zhan was detained on similar charges. Later in 2019, she was summoned by Shanghai police and was later arrested on suspicion of “picking quarrels” for supporting Hong Kong. Several other journalists like Chen Quishi and Li Zehua have also been detained by the Chinese authorities for reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak and the detention of activists.
In a horrific incident in Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit teacher named Ajay Muda was allegedly stabbed to death by some cattle smugglers in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh after he tried to stop them. According to reports, the incident happened on December 28, when Ajay Muda and Sanjeev Muda reportedly received information about some people trying to smuggle cattle in Rajnagar area. The two tried to stop the smugglers but they called more people at the spot and attacked the victims with sharp weapons. The victims were rushed to the district hospital from where they were referred to Jabalpur for treatment where Ajay Muda passed away and Sanjeev Muda continues to be in a critical condition.
Several Hindu organisations started protesting in the district hospital on receiving the information about the brutal attack on the victims and demanded immediate action against the culprits. They threatened to continue protesting in the hospital until immediate action was taken by the police against the culprits. Family of deceased Ajay Muda sat in protest refusing to cremate his body demanding immediate action against the culprits. Several Hindu organisations and members of political parties also joined the protests. His body was taken to Ambedkar chauraha by the family members who reiterated their demands there. ASP Shiv Singh and CSP Abhishek Tiwari tried to convince the family of the deceased to cremate the body assuring that swift action would follow. Thereafter, the body was taken for cremation.
Locals call it a case of mob lynching
OpIndia talked to a local who said that the incident happened at 9 pm on December 28 in Chainpur area. He alleged that the victims were attacked by a mob and that this was a case of mob lynching. He told that the deceased was a Gaurakshak and was associated with the Gaurakshak Abhiyaan. “There was a mob of attackers. This is a mob lynching. This is the area of Kasai (butcher) community. Deceased Ajay was a Gaurakshak. He was not that active but was associated with Gaurakshak Abhiyan. Locals believe that this was a pre-planned attack. He was brutally stabbed to death. He (Ajay Muda) shielded his nephew (Sanjeev Muda)”, said the person. As informed by our local correspondent, Hindu organisations are enraged over the incident and the situation is likely to deteriorate. Media reporting of the incident has been restricted by the administration.
An FIR was registered on the complaint of maternal uncle of the deceased who used to teach at a middle school in Silaiyya. Some of the people who have been booked in the case have been identified as Riyaz Kasai, Shamim Kasai, Qayyum Kasai and Baba Kasai. They had reached at the spot with weapons. BJP leader Siddharth Malaiya had alleged that police have named Vijay and Ravi Ahirvar as accused while the two were not even present at the spot. SP Hemant Chauhan assured that action will be taken against culprits and the names of those not involved in the incident will be removed after investigation.
Police’s version of the incident
SP Hemant Chauhan said that police conducted raids at the Kasai Mandi area at night and searched for culprits. A case has been filed under sections 307, 302, 323, 147, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code against six identified and several unidentified persons. According to police, seven persons have been arrested so far. Speaking to OpIndia, police denied the allegations of the attack being a pre-planned one. Police have also rejected any communal angle in the case. Refuting the allegations levelled by Siddharth Malaiya, police said that attempts were being made to give a communal colour to the incident and the incident had no connection with cow slaughter.
Presenting a totally different version of the incident, police told OpIndia that on the day when the incident happened, Riyaz Quraishi and Vijay Ahirvar were returning from market at night. They started urinating in front of Ajay Muda’s house where a woman was standing whom the two did not see in the dark. Muda family objected and this resulted in a fight. Riyaz and Vijay ran towards Kasai Mandi. Their family members also reached Kasai Mandi and fight broke out between both the parties. Being from the butcher community, one party had sharp weapons. Police have claimed that this was a spontaneous incident.
After the 6th round of meeting between the union government and the protesting farmers against the new farm laws, a consensus has been reached on two less continuous among the four demands of the farmers mainly from Punjab. Following the conclusion of the meeting, union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the talks were held in a very good environment and it concluded on a positive note.
One issue which has been resolved is the issue of penalising farmers for burning stubble that causes massive air pollution in Delhi and adjoining areas. As this has become a yearly phenomenon, the government of India had introduced the ‘Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020’, to deal with air pollution. The govt had taken this step after several PILs were filed in the Supreme Court seeking to control air pollution.
According to the ordinance, the Commission will have jurisdiction over NCR, including areas in Haryana, Punjab, UP and Rajasthan with regard to air pollution. The ordinance gives the commission the power to impose jail term of five years or fine of upto Rs one crore, or both, for violation of any measures or directions issued by the commission to control air pollution. Farmers were apprehending that they will also have to face action under this ordinance if they are found guilty of burning stubble.
First issue was an ordinance related to the Environment. Unions were apprehensive about farmers being included along with Parali ones. Both sides agreed to farmers' exclusion: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on 6th round of talks with farmers' unions https://t.co/tvF5PcP55jpic.twitter.com/elbZqB4EHw
Now, after the meeting, the union govt has agreed to amend the ordinance to keep the famers out of the ambit of it. This means that, despite a new body being set up to reduce air pollution, no action will be able to be taken up against one of the major sources of air pollution in NCR during the September-December period.
The second issue to be resolved is the amendments to the Electricity Act. Farmers are fearing that if reforms are introduced in the Electricity Act, they will suffer loss. The farmer unions demanded that the power subsidy currently given to the farmers for irrigation should continue. The centre has agreed to this demand also.
Farmers feel that if reform is introduced in the Electricity Act, they'll suffer loss. Unions wanted that electricity subsidy given to farmers by states for irrigation should continue. The consensus was reached on this issue also: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar https://t.co/bUIbLzSnyBpic.twitter.com/wW7CibZr6n
However, stalemate continues over other two demands of the farmers, withdrawal of the three farm laws and a law to guarantee MSP (Minimum Support Price). The central govt has made it clear that the laws will not be taken back, but if the farmers can point out any specific issues with the laws, the same can be amended. But the unions are not willing to, or may be not able to, point out any flaws in the laws, and demanding their total withdrawal. It is noteworthy that till few months ago, farmer unions and opposition parties like Congress were demanding and promising the provisions made in the new farm laws.
MSP is continuing for decades as an executive decision without any law to back it, but now the farmers want a law for it. The govt has also assured that the MSP will continue, however, has not committed to bringing a law to guarantee that.
Farmers have asserted that they will not end the protests unless their other two demands are also not met. The next round of talks will be held on January 4. Minister Tomar said that the meet will focus on minimum support price and the three agriculture laws.
Aam Admi Party (AAP) member Kapil Gujjar who was inducted by the BJP today at the Ghaziabad office of the party was removed from the party as soon as the party leadership came to know about his background. BJP head of Ghaziabad Sajeev Sharma released a press-note today, clarifying that a bunch of Bahujan Samaj Party members along with Kapil Gujjar had come to join the party today.
Kapil Gujjar had came to limelight earlier this year when he had fired in the air during the Shaheen Bagh protests, opposing the blockage of roads by the anti-CAA protestors.
He was inducted in the party as his involvement in the shooting incident was not known to the party members at the Ghaziabad office, the press-note said. However, when the party members came to know about Gujjar’s background his membership was immediately cancelled.
It is noteworthy that the news of Kapil Gujjar joining the BJP was widely shared by left liberals who tried to associate his act of firing shots near Shaheen Bagh with the BJP. The news of Gujjar’s expulsion from the party must have brought huge disappointment for them.
AAP member Gujjar had fired shots near Shaheen Bagh
Miffed over the long traffic jams and road blockades caused by anti-CAA protestors at Shaheen Bagh, Kapil Gujjar had fired three shots near the protest site in February this year. He was arrested by the police and was later granted bail by a Delhi court. After Gujjar fired the shots near the protest site, AAP leader Sanjay Singh had alleged that it was BJP’s conspiracy. However, much to his embarrassment, it had turned out that Gujjar had been associated with AAP since early 2019. In fact, Sanjay Singh had himself welcomed him to the party. Delhi Crime Branch had found several pictures in Gujjar’s mobile phone in which Sanjay Singh along with AAP leader Atishi Marlena and Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia were seen felicitating Gujjar and his father.
In an attempt towards damage control, AAP had tried to dissociate itself from Gujjar. AAP leader deleted his tweet in which he welcomed Gujjar and his father into the party. However, an article on the official AAP website that the party perhaps forgot to pull down proved Gujjar and his father’s association with the party. Gujjar’s father Gaje Singh Chouhan was earlier a member of the BSP and had contensted election on BSP’s ticket.
Even as the world continues to battle the Chinese pandemic COVID-19, certain individuals continue to indulge in irresponsible acts putting lives of people at risk during these testing times.
In one such bizarre incident, one health worker was caught having same-sex with a COVID-infected man in a hospital toilet in Indonesia. The authorities have now suspended the nurse after he admitted to stripping off her PPE to have sex with a COVID-infected man, in a hospital toilet. Both have been placed in isolation after the patient published details about the incident on social media.
The incident, which could see both the nurse and the patient prosecuted under Indonesia’s anti-pornography laws, occurred at Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, a coronavirus field hospital in Indonesia.
The matter came to light the patient uploaded a screenshot of WhatsApp messages that were exchanged between both of them, and photographs of the PPE kit of the health worker lying on the floor. The WhatsApp conversation showed that both patient and nurse made an appointment to have sexual interaction in the hospital’s toilet.
The Regional Military Command, as the manager of the Integrated Joint Task Command for the operation of Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, immediately conducted a search after the post went viral. Following the search, the identities of the nurse and patient were discovered and both admitted to having gay sex in a toilet at the Wisma Atlet quarantine facility in Jakarta.
The Regional Military Command immediately arrested both the health worker and the patient, and did PCR swab test on them. As the patient was still positive, he was kept in the hospital, while the nurse, who tested negative, was handed over to the Central Jakarta Police for further legal proceedings.
It is not clear under what charges they are being prosecuted. Although same-sex relation is illegal in some parts of Indonesia, it is not illegal in Jakarta.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed Ur Rehman Para allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh to terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen to ensure its support ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
According to the reports, the NIA had arrested PDP leader Para in November, just ahead of the District Development Council (DDC) polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in connection with its investigation in connection with the suspended DySP Davinder Singh’s links with the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.
Para had also recently secured a win in the DDC election from Pulwama. He is currently in jail.
TN Raina, the lawyer representing Para declined to comment on this specific NIA claim. However, in his bail application filed before the NIA special court in Jammu earlier this month, Para denied all allegations of Hizbul links and suggested he was being framed ‘for settling political scores with a political party’.
Para had allegedly paid money to Hizbul, says NIA
Reportedly, the money was allegedly delivered to Hizbul operative Syed Mushtaq Naveed alias Naveed Babu through Davinder Singh. The arrested J&K police officer had allegedly received the money at Srinagar airport, where he was posted then and had carried the same hidden in a tiffin box, as per a report in Indian Express.
Davinder Singh was arrested along with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Babu and Asif Rather on the 11th of January when they were travelling together in a car. Later, it was reported that he was on the payroll of the Islamic terrorist organisation. Subsequently, his case was handed over to the NIA. The NIA had taken over the case on the 18th of January.
