Delhi News Updates: The two-day Monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly will commence on Monday, in which the AAP government will table a Bill to increase the salaries of MLAs, an Assembly bulletin said. The AAP government is also likely to bring a resolution against Centre’s Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, sources said. According to the bulletin the session will commence on July 4 at 11 am.
Meanwhile, over 200 people including members of Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad gathered in Manesar on Sunday for a panchayat. The panchayat gave a call for the boycott of Muslim vendors in Manesar, alleging that they are running shops with names of Hindu deities as part of a larger conspiracy.
In other news, a Delhi court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and sent him to 14-day judicial custody in a case related an “objectionable tweet” he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. Delhi Police had produced Zubair before the court on the expiry of his five-day custodial interrogation. Police told the court he was not required for custodial interrogation but sought his judicial custody. Following this, Zubair’s counsel moved a bail application before the court on the ground that her client was not required for the investigation any further.
The Delhi Police caught a 23-year-old man who allegedly staged his own kidnapping and extort money from his sister to pay for a sports bike. Police said the man took Rs 2.5 lakh from his friend to buy the Yamaha-R15 bike. Later, he allegedly faked his kidnapping to return his friend’s money, police added.
On June 26, the man’s family called the police, saying that he was missing for two days. Police said a missing person report was filed in the Outer district, and police contacted newspapers to trace him.
Police said they checked CCTVs near the house but couldn’t find any clue. After some time, the family told police that they received a call from an unknown person who said he has kidnapped the 23-year-old man, and demanded Rs 2.5 lakhs for his release. (Read more)
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has formed 125 enforcement teams to ensure that the Centre’s single-use plastic ban is implemented on the ground and has issued a circular to all vendors, retailers, local shopkeepers and commercial establishments to adhere to the same.
The ban, which came into effect from July 1, mandates that disposable plastics that are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled such as ear buds with plastic sticks; plastic flags; plastic sticks for balloons, candy sticks, ice cream sticks; thermocol used for decoration; plastic plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays, straws, stirrers; plastic wrapping film around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets; and plastic or PVC banners of less than 100 microns, be done away with. (Read more)
To meet water requirements for irrigation and horticulture, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to set up an additional sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity of 500 kilolitres per day (KLD) at Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri. The STP will be installed as a part of its ‘Mission Green’ initiative.
The NDMC’s decision comes after the new Delhi Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Vinai K Saxena visited the park last month. “After visiting the existing STP, it came forth that another STP having 500 KLD capacity is required. The horticulture staff informed that during peak summer prevailing, the treated water of the existing 500 KLD capacity STP is for the complete irrigation requirement of the garden area/greenery at Nehru Park,” said NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay. (Read more)
Inspired by Gujarat’s ‘school on wheels’ initiative, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is considering starting mobile schooling buses where children of labourers as well as homeless children can study and learn.
NDMC vice-chairperson Satish Upadhyay said, “It is a great initiative started by Gujarat and we are planning to implement the same here. Although, if compared to Delhi, Gujarat is a big state. While in Delhi, if you notice in the New Delhi area there is a school every kilometre – be it an NDMC or Delhi government school. One school is there near every cluster. So, on a pilot basis we will start here.”
Upadhyay said as the New Delhi area, which falls under its jurisdiction, is small, they will start the mobile bus school on a pilot basis and assess the result. Before implementing it, a feasibility survey will be conducted across the New Delhi and Lutyens’ areas to identify the number of such children. (Read more)
As the next academic year approaches, English teachers in Delhi University are raising concerns over the loss of workload with changes to be brought in by the four-year undergraduate programme structure.
The Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) approved by the university’s statutory bodies for the implementation of the four-year undergraduate programme states that the Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC) pool that students can choose in their first four semesters will have languages included in the VIIIth schedule, which does not include English. They have stated that this replaces the current system where both English and Hindi/Modern Indian Languages are offered as options to students as AECs.
They have also pointed out that English has been removed as a Core Language course in the BA Programme and BCom programme courses. (Read more)
The two-day Monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly will commence on Monday, in which the AAP government will table a Bill to increase the salaries of MLAs, an Assembly bulletin said. The AAP government is also likely to bring a resolution against Centre's Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, sources said. According to the bulletin the session will commence on July 4 at 11 am.
In view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the MLAs will require to wear face mask compulsorily. "They will also compulsorily carry final certificate for COVID-19 vaccination or a negative report of the coronavirus test issued not earlier than 48 hours prior to the commencement of the session on July 4," the bulletin said.
According to the list of business of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly, Minister of Law, Justice and Legal Affairs of the AAP government Kailash Gahlot will table the bill for hike in the salary of ministers, MLAs, speaker and deputy speaker, leader of opposition and the chief whip. (PTI)
Instead of pointing fingers, governments and people should work together to normalise the situation that has led to Udaipur and Amravati killings, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
A tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was killed on June 28 in Rajasthan's Udaipur and chemist Umesh Kolhe was murdered in Amravati in Maharashtra on June 21, with police claiming the common thread was social media posts and messages by the two victims in support of Nupur Sharma, suspended from the BJP for her objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Both cases are being probed by the National Investigation Agency.
Queried on the two murders, Kejriwal said whatever was happening in the country at present was not good and that he condemns it in the strongest way possible. "The country cannot progress like this. There needs to be peace in the country, everybody should stay together. I have condemned it in strong words, and I condemn it again and hope the accused are arrested at the earliest and given exemplary punishment so that others dare not commit such an act," he said.
When asked about who he felt was responsible for these murders, the AAP chief said, "Finger pointing won't do. What is required is for all the governments and people to come together to normalise the situation." The Delhi chief minister is on a two-day visit to the state, where Assembly polls are likely to be held later in the year. (PTI)
The Delhi government's scheme to offer its senior citizens free pilgrimage to Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu has received a dull response. Last November, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced the addition of the popular church in its list of pilgrimage sites under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana.
"We were getting requests from our Christian brothers to add some pilgrimage sites to the scheme. We have decided to include Velankanni Church to the scheme," Kejriwal had said. Also known as the 'Lourdes of the East', the church is one of the most revered sites for Christians in the country. However, officials close to the development said there have been fewer applications.
"We have only received 500-600 applications ever since the scheme resumed following a disruption due to the third wave of coronavirus in January this year. There need to be at least 1,000 applicants for the pilgrimage," an official said. The scheme was introduced in July 2019, but suspended due with the outbreak of COVID-19. It was resumed last December after nearly 23 months. (PTI)
Delhi University's Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board (NCWEB) has invited applications for the appointment of guest faculties at 26 undergraduate and one postgraduate teaching centre for the 2022-23 academic session. In a notification, the board said the appointment will be according to the guidelines laid down by the University of Delhi. The last date to apply is July 22, 2022.
"NCWEB invites online applications in the prescribed application form eligible candidates for appointment as the guest faculty at 26 UG & 01 PG Teaching Centres for the Academic Session 2022-23," the notification dated June 30 read.
"For online submission; please visit NCWEB website www.noweb.du ac in or the university website www.du.ac.in. Any addendum/corrigendum shall be posted only on the NCWE B/University website," the notification added. The board was established in 1943. It allows women students to take some of the examinations of the university with special coaching but without attending regular classes. (PTI)
Environment minister Gopal Rai on Sunday said the Delhi government will request the Centre to reduce GST on raw materials for production of alternatives to single-use plastic items. The minister, who chaired a roundtable with stakeholders to discuss SUP alternatives, said there is a lot of confusion among public and even some government agencies regarding the items covered under the ban.
"We will conduct a training session for our enforcement teams so that there is no confusion while implementing the ban," he said. The government will also issue a helpline number to register complaints if action is taken for using products that are not banned, Rai said.
After some stakeholders drew the minister's attention towards high GST rates on raw material for green alternatives, Rai said the city government will write to the Centre on the issue. (PTI)
A panchayat organised at a temple in Haryana’s Manesar on Sunday, claiming to represent the Hindu society, called for an economic boycott of “Muslim shopkeepers and vendors”. Issuing an ultimatum to the administration, the panchayat urged the gathering to form village-level committees to enforce the boycott in their respective villages.
More than 200 people, including members of Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), took part in the panchayat. The participants also included people from nearby villages of Manesar, Dharuhera and Gurgaon. The panchayat members submitted a memorandum to a duty magistrate stating that illegal immigrants must be evicted.
“There should be an immediate enquiry into this and those found staying illegally should be evicted. They are involved in religious conversions and strict action should be taken against them,” the memorandum read. (Read more)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has appealed to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to conduct the elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) immediately and claimed that “only the AAP can bring freedom from the BJP’s garbage mountains.” AAP MLA and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak on Saturday said the problem has only worsened with heaps of rubbish welcoming those coming into the city from all sides. “Today, from whichever side one enters Delhi – it could be from Haryana or from Uttar Pradesh – you are welcomed by the BJP’s heaps of trash that are scattered all over the city. All residents of the city are bothered every single day by this,” Pathak said. He said the MCD has, over the last 15 years, spent crores of rupees on waste management and yet the city is in such a mess right now that the height of these massive landfills has not reduced even by an inch. “These landfills have directly started to affect the quality of life of the people of the city. Every couple of weeks there is news about fire in these landfills. Just recently there was a massive fire that raged on for days,” the MLA pointed out. Read more
The Delhi Police have arrested a 31-year-old man for allegedly killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run accident in the Outer district on Friday. The Mangolpuri police said that the accused was identified as Ashok, a driver from the area. The police said that on Friday, a PCR call was received regarding an accident near the Ramlila ground. They said they found a large crowd at the spot when they reached there and cordoned off the area after dispersing the onlookers. The police said they found an unknown man lying in a pool of blood after allegedly being struck by a vehicle, with his head crushed. Officials added that the man was shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead. The unidentified body was then placed in the mortuary, said the police. Read more
With the Delhi government’s finance department asking all department heads to conduct a periodical review of account cadre officers, several officials – especially accounts officers who are nearing retirement age and who are found to be ineffective – may have to proceed on early retirement.
All department heads (HODs) have been asked to treat the matter as “most urgent” and submit the report at the earliest. According to officials, the directions were given following guidelines from the central government’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). “Following the Centre’s premature retirement order, the Delhi government finance department has also issued an order to all department heads to submit the list of officers in a prescribed pro forma,” said an official. Read more
Registration for admissions to all Delhi government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) for the academic year 2022-2023 will begin on Monday. While the registration will begin on July 4, they will continue till July 31. The tentative date for displaying the rank of candidates is August 5. The application process will be carried out online. There are 19 ITIs in Delhi with a total of 11,336 seats available for admissions this session. Read more
Right across the bustling Mehar Chand Market, a worn-out grey wall has a faded and peeling portrait of an old woman. Artist Hanif Kureshi introduces her as Vimla, who sells parathas in the neighbouring Khanna Market. She drew the attention of German artist Hendrik Beikirch, who wanted to pay tribute to anonymous women who manage multiple tasks seamlessly.
“We are only used to seeing pictures of famous personalities. If it is someone unknown, you wonder why and that question is very important… When was the last time a wall made you think,” says Kureshi, co-founder of St art India, a not-for-profit organisation that works on art projects in public spaces. Read more
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena Saturday inspected city’s chronic waterlogging sites — the Indraprastha stretch, railway underpass at Pul Prahladpur, and Minto Bridge — and instructed officials to make water drainage system foolproof. He reviewed the long-term solutions to prevent waterlogging and flooding at these sites and said, “any negligence will be viewed seriously and action will be taken against erring officials”. Read more
Months after installing three ‘dominant towers’ to curb mobile network coverage inside Tihar jail, the prison administration has decided to install five-seven more network jammers inside the high security ward where they lodged high-profile criminals.
The jail administration made the decision after they received several complaints that inmates were still using cell phones. Recently, after the murder of Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab, the investigation teams found that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had been using a phone from inside Tihar and was in touch with his brother, who is absconding and believed to be abroad. His brother was in touch with Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar. Mahender Singh Manral writes
Delhi court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and sent him to 14-day judicial custody in a case related an “objectionable tweet” he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. Delhi Police had produced Zubair before the court on the expiry of his five-day custodial interrogation. Police told the court he was not required for custodial interrogation but sought his judicial custody. Following this, Zubair’s counsel moved a bail application before the court on the ground that her client was not required for the investigation any further.
Delhi Saturday recorded 678 fresh Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.98 per cent, while two more people succumbed to the viral disease, according to data shared by the health department here. This is the third consecutive day when the daily case count is less than 1,000. With these fresh infections and fatalities, Delhi’s caseload climbed to 19,36,365 and the death toll increased to 26,266, the health department bulletin said.
The Tihar jail administration has written a letter to the Delhi Police, informing them that a medical assistant in Tihar jail was seen taking some papers from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, allegedly meant to be handed to his associate in Outer Delhi’s Peeragarhi.
When contacted, DG (Prisons) Sandeep Goel told The Indian Express that a few days ago, it was noticed on CCTV cameras that a nursing orderly, who is a contractual staffer, was seen taking some papers from Sukesh. “Sukesh is lodged in Jail number 3, and after enquiry, we came to know that it was a letter. We have now written to the Delhi Police,” he said.
Right across the bustling Mehar Chand Market, a worn-out grey wall has a faded and peeling portrait of an old woman. Artist Hanif Kureshi introduces her as Vimla, who sells parathas in the neighbouring Khanna Market. She drew the attention of German artist Hendrik Beikirch, who wanted to pay tribute to anonymous women who manage multiple tasks seamlessly.
“We are only used to seeing pictures of famous personalities. If it is someone unknown, you wonder why and that question is very important… When was the last time a wall made you think,” says Kureshi, co-founder of St+art India, a not-for-profit organisation that works on art projects in public spaces.