Page 54 - Aap Government

Delhi's state food commission not constituted as mandated: Officials

Delhi has not constituted a state food commission and not framed a grievance redressal mechanism as mandated by the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday. There was no immediate reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the capital on the issue. Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved the draft of the Delhi Grievance Redressal Rules pending since 2013 and slammed the city government for the "delay", the officials said. "Delhi has not constituted a state food commission and not framed a grievance redressal mechanism as mandated by the NFS Act, 2013 even after 10 years. The mechanism and the commission meant to look into critical aspects of transparent and corruption-free implementation of the TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System) under the NFSA was even ordered to be put in place by the Supreme Court and the high court way back in 2017, within the deadline in 2017 itself," a senior official said. However, despite the apex ..

Electricity prices to hike in Delhi: AAP, BJP indulge in blame game

Delhi Power Minister Atishi on Monday blamed the Centre's "mismanagement" for the hike in power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC), while the BJP claimed it was a result of "collusion" between the AAP government and power discoms. An "artificial shortage" was pushing up coal prices in the country. The Centre is forcing the power generation companies to buy at least 10 per cent of imported coal, which is 10 times costlier than domestic coal, Atishi charged. "Delhi's consumers are being forced to bear the brunt of the central government's coal crisis through a hike in the power purchasing adjustment charge. Its power generation company NTPC is selling electricity to Delhi at a massive 25-50 per cent hike over DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission) stipulated rates," she charged. "Why is the BJP-led central government forcing power companies to purchase 10 per cent of imported coal, which is 10 times more expensive? Is the BJP also colluding with coal importers," she asked. Domes

Oppn meet attendees disagree with AAP's charge against Cong on ordinance

The Aam Aadmi Party's shrill indictment of the Congress over alleged apathy towards the central ordinance issue seemed to have few takers among those present at the recent opposition meeting in Patna. At least five leaders, who represented their respective parties at Friday's meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, appeared unimpressed with the AAP going into a sulk over the ordinance, which seeks to curtail the powers of the Delhi government. It is very unfortunate that the AAP seems to be looking at the issue through the prism of rivalry with Congress in Delhi and Punjab, said CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar. He asserted that it was wrong on AAP's part to say in an official statement that the Congress refused to oppose the ordinance at the meeting, despite being asked to do so by many parties. All parties were unanimous in the condemnation of the ordinance. But the AAP leadership must place the issue in a broader context. It is about the attacks on the

It'll be BJP vs 15 in 2024 LS polls: Oppn parties resolve to stay united

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he attended the meeting without "memory" of past likes or dislikes and prejudices

Retired Allahabad HC judge Umesh Kumar appointed chairman of DERC: Delhi LG

Former Allahabad High Court judge Umesh Kumar was Wednesday appointed the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission chairman by the President, a move likely to fuel a fresh tussle between the LG and the AAP government as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had suggested another retired judge for the post. A late-night statement issued by the lieutenant governor's office said Justice Umesh Kumar (retired) has been appointed the DERC chairman by President Droupadi Murmu in the exercise of powers conferred by Section 45(b) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, read with sub-section 2 of Section 84 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Chief Minister Kejriwal had in January recommended the name of retired high court judge Rajeev Kumar Srivastava for appointment as the chairperson of the power regulator. The LG office statement, however, said the appointment of Umesh Kumar comes as Shrivastava expressed his inability to take the charge due to "family ...

Panel to screen applicants for PTU VC post not as per norms: Punjab guv

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday said the committee set up by the state government to screen applicants for the post of vice-chancellor of the Punjab Technical University was not as per UGC norms. The governor said he approved the appointment of Susheel Mittal as the vice-chancellor of the IK Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, out of a panel of three names forwarded to him by the government, keeping in mind the interests of the university which has been without a head for two years. "Three names were sent to me and I chose who I thought was the best of the lot," Purohit said. The governor has been at loggerheads with the AAP government in Punjab over several issues, including the appointment of some vice-chancellors. "In the PTU case, I was told a search committee was formed as per UGC norms. Luckily, when I saw the file, there was nothing about UGC norms. The chief secretary is one of the members, the second member was an additional chief secretary. One

Delhi to bear 90% cost to convert non-conforming industrial areas: CM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday that the government will bear 90 per cent of the cost to transform all 26 non-conforming industrial areas in the city into conforming industrial areas, with the remaining 10 per cent to be contributed by the industries themselves. This redevelopment initiative is expected to generate six lakh jobs. Kejriwal emphasised the significance of this project for the growth and progress of Delhi's industrial sector. Once the transformation is complete, these areas will be granted the coveted conforming area status, providing a conducive environment for businesses to thrive, a statement said. During a high-level meeting, the chief minister and officials discussed the progress made so far, identified challenges, and devised strategies to expedite the redevelopment process. The meeting also shed light on the reasons behind the existence of non-conforming industrial areas. Due to the inability of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) t

Delhi would've been safe under AAP, says Kejriwal; Lekhi hits back

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the national capital would have been the safest place had law and order been under the AAP dispensation instead of the Lt Governor. His comments, however, drew a sharp reaction from Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi, who claimed that Kejriwal does not understand the law. Harish Khurana, the spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit, on the other hand, accused him of trying to settle political scores with Lt Governor VK Saxena. Kejriwal's remarks came after two women were allegedly shot dead by assailants over a suspected financial dispute with their brother in southwest Delhi's RK Puram on Sunday morning. Three men have been arrested in this connection. "Our thoughts are with the families of the two women. May their souls rest in peace. The people of Delhi have started feeling quite insecure. Those who are responsible for handling the law-and-order situation in Delhi are hatching a conspiracy to take control of the Delhi government inste

AAP blames BJP for Manipur violence, dubs PM Narendra Modi 'incompetent'

AAP blames BJP for Manipur violence, dubs PM 'incompetent' for failing to restore peace

Are you opening NCB office or BJP's in Amritsar? Kejriwal takes dig at Shah

Arvind Kejriwal took a swipe at Amit Shah on Sunday over his decision to open a NCB office in Amritsar, Punjab, and questioned whether he was opening an NCB office or a BJP office

Delhi's law system has worsened over past year: Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj

After two women were shot in Delhi's RK Puram, the health minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, slammed the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi over the law and order situation in Delhi

Delhi would've been safest had law and order been under AAP, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the national capital would have been the safest place had the law and order situation been under the AAP dispensation instead of the Lieutenant Governor. His remarks came after two women were allegedly shot dead by unidentified assailants in R K Puram in southwest Delhi Sunday morning. "Our thoughts are with the families of the two women. May their souls rest in peace. The people of Delhi have started feeling quite insecure. Those who are responsible for handling the law and order situation in Delhi are hatching conspiracy to take control of Delhi government instead of fixing the situation," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. "Had the law and order situation been under the AAP dispensation instead of the LG, Delhi would have been the safest," he added. The AAP had on earlier occasions too attacked Lt Governor V K Saxena over the alleged "deteriorating" law and order situation in the city.

Delhi water minister seeks LG's approval for water augmentation projects

Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Friday wrote to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, requesting him to approve the city government's water augmentation projects such as the rejuvenation of lakes and installation of tubewells on DDA land. Bhardwaj said Delhi continues to face a water deficit of nearly 300 million gallons per day (MGD), a problem that is expected to worsen due to the upcoming land pooling and redevelopment projects of the central government and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), along with other commercial developments. He said Delhi, heavily dependent on neighbouring states for water supply from the Yamuna and Ganga rivers, has been actively engaging with the governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to secure more water. However, these efforts have not yielded any positive outcomes so far. Bhardwaj requested the LG's intervention in procuring additional raw water for the people of Delhi from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The minister said the Delhi government

Delhi's water crisis to be resolved within 2-3 years: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi's water crisis will be resolved within the next two-three years as the government is taking radical steps to tackle the problem, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. In 2015, Delhi's water production stood at 850 million gallons per day (MGD). It has now increased to 1,000 MGD, he said at a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat. Kejriwal said he has set an ambitious target to further enhance Delhi's water production capacity to a range of 1,200-1,300 MGD. Once this goal is achieved, Delhiites will no longer face water shortages, he added. To accomplish this, the government plans to install tubewells in areas with high water-tables, enabling the extraction of water on a large scale. Additionally, an innovative approach will be adopted to recharge groundwater by rejuvenating lakes with treated sewage treatment plant (STP) water, the chief minister said. The recharged water will undergo further treatment in reverse osmosis (RO) plants before being supplied to ...

AAP govt acting against Constitution, says Guv; Punjab CM Mann hits back

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday accused the AAP government of acting against Constitution for not responding to his letters, asserting that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is bound to reply to the Raj Bhavan. Hours after Purohit's remarks, Mann posted a video of the governor's address on his Twitter handle to stress that Purohit has stopped referring to the AAP-led state government as "my government" at the instance of the opposition party in the House on March 3. Mann asked the governor to explain why he had "failed" to discharge his constitutional duty by not using the word "my government" during his address. The chief minister said it is unfortunate that "in the present Central regime, selected ones are unnecessarily peeping into the affairs of the elected ones". Undue hiccups are being raised to derail the smooth functioning of the state government, alleged Mann in a statement. The "gubernatorial" Raj Bhavans are now acting as the state headquarters of the BJP which

Several from BJP attended rally against Centre's ordinance, claims Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday claimed that even BJP workers and supporters participated in the AAP's rally held here a day ago since they were unhappy with the Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi. Braving the scorching heat, thousands of people gathered for the "Maha Rally" at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital on Sunday against the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023. "Several people from the BJP attended the rally against the ordinance on Sunday. The BJP people are also saying that Modiji did not do the right thing by bringing the ordinance," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. The Centre on May 19 promulgated the ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, which the AAP government had called a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieuten

Delhi L-G office slams Saurabh Bhardwaj over remarks on Yamuna's cleaning

This comes after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bhardwaj challenged Delhi LG to present any new projects he has initiated before "taking credit" for the work done by the Arvind Kejriwal govt

'Strange' that L-G takes credit for Yamuna's improvement: Saurabh Bhardwaj

Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Sunday said it is "strange" that Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena takes credit for the improvement in the Yamuna river's water quality while all accountability lies with the Kejriwal government. In a statement released by his office, Bhardwaj said no significant improvement in the Yamuna water quality could be achieved without enhancing the quality and capacity of sewage treatment plants. "It is quite strange that any improvement in the pollution of Yamuna is claimed by the LG while all the accountability and answerability lies with the Arvind Kejriwal government," Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj said the reference parameters for sewage treatment plant functioning were recently changed nationwide, and states have started rehabilitating their STPs accordingly. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has been at the forefront of these efforts. It has already awarded contracts to professional firms for the rehabilitation of 11 STPs, aiming to upgrade them to the lates

BJP launches 'selfie with palace of corruption' campaign to target AAP

The BJP on Sunday launched "selfie with palace of corruption" campaign here to target the AAP over the alleged irregularities in the renovation of the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The "#SelfieWithCorruptionKaRajmahal" campaign comes at a time when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Kejriwal, have been targeting the Modi government over its ordinance denying the Delhi government control over services matters. The BJP has been alleging irregularities in the renovation of the official residence of the Delhi chief minister at a cost of Rs 52 crore, calling it a "Raj Mahal". During the campaign, party leaders and workers will click selfies with a model of the renovated official residence of the chief minister to corner the AAP. The campaign launch at Connaught Place was attended by Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramveer Bidhuri, MPs Manoj Tiwari, Ramesh Bidhuri and Hans Raj Hans, among others. Sachdeva

Increasing VAT on petrol, diesel burden on common man: Sukhbir Badal

SAD President Sukhbir Badal condemned the AAP government for putting an unprecedented burden on the common person and farmers by repeatedly increasing VAT on petrol and diesel