Page 43 - Aam Aadmi Party

Govt mowed down democracy with this 'billdozer': Raghav Chadha on CEC bill

Further, Chadha underscored the pivotal role of an independent Election Commission in ensuring unbiased elections

Delhi govt plans to provide parents with live-feed of CCTVs in classrooms

The Delhi government has developed an app, called 'DGS Live', through which parents can get a live view of cameras installed in classrooms for about five minutes per class

Delhi to create separate budget head for funds to NCRTC for RRTS project

The Delhi government will create a separate head in its Budget Estimate for allocation of funds to the NCRTC for the RRTS project, days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on it for not coming up with funds for the rapid transit corridors to Alwar and Panipat. The city government released Rs 415 crore to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project following the top court's rap. According to an official, the Delhi government's transport department had not allocated funds for the project under any budget head in 2023-24. "The allocation of funds to the RRTS project was nowhere mentioned in the Budget Estimate that was sent before the budget and even in the subsequent discussions between the finance and the transport departments. It meant that it was completely missed," said the official. In order to avoid such a recurrence, the finance department has directed the transport department to keep a budget head for th

Keeping me in custody serves no purpose, AAP's Sanjay Singh tells court

AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday urged a court here to release him, saying no purpose will be served by keeping him in further custody in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam. Singh's counsel made the submission before Special Judge M K Nagpal during the hearing of his bail application. He told the court that he was not required for further investigation and that the probe against him was over. "The ED has already filed its charge sheet against me after the completion of the investigation. I'm not required for the custodial interrogation any further. There is no purpose to keep me in further custody," Singh's counsel told the court. During the arguments, the ED said the probe was ongoing and if released on bail, Singh could hamper the investigation and tamper with the evidence as well as influence the witnesses. In the course of hearing on bail application, the fifth supplementary prosecution complaint filed against Singh was also taken out from a se

Day after Delhi LG recalls files, Gahlot loses law portfolio to Atishi

Kailash Gahlot was divested of the Law and Justice portfolio in the AAP government on Friday, a day after LG V K Saxena recalled files related to judicial infrastructure and administration in the city as they remained pending with him for months, officials said. They said the Chief Minister's Office wrote to the LG office recommending to assign the charge of the law ministry to Atishi and it has received Saxena's nod. The AAP government has not officially responded to queries. With this change, the number of portfolios held by Atishi has increased to 14, the highest among the ministers of the Kejriwal government. Earlier in October, she was handed over the charge of water department. In June, Atishi was given charge of the Revenue, Planning and the Finance Departments, the portfolios earlier held by Gahlot. Gahlot now holds the charge of Transport, Home, Administrative Reforms and Information Technology departments. Saxena on Thursday recalled files related to courts, judicial .

Delhi govt report shows decline in sex ratio, rise in birth rate in 2022

The sex ratio in the national capital dropped to 929 in 2022 from 932 a year back, according to a report published by the Delhi government. The 'Annual report on registration of births and deaths in Delhi, 2022' showed that the birth rate in Delhi increased to 14.24 per thousand of population during 2022 from 13.13 in 2021. The death rate declined to 6.07 per cent in 2022 from 8.28 per cent in 2021. It also revealed a significant jump in the average number of births per day in Delhi i.e. up from 745 in 2021 to 823 in 2022. The sex ratio declined to 929 per thousand males in 2022 from 932 in 2021, the report said. The report said 1,55,670 (51.83 per cent) of the total births registered were males and 1,44,581 (48.14 per cent) were females and 99 (0.03 per cent) belonged to the "others" category. Out of the total births, 2,82,389 (94.02 per cent) were institutional -- 1,86,905 (66.19 per cent) of them in government hospitals -- and 17,961 (5.98 per cent) were domiciliary in nature.

Punjab Guv Purohit reserves 3 Bills for President Murmu's consideration

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has reserved three Bills, including the one which aims to replace him with the chief minister as the chancellor of state-run universities, for the consideration of the President. The Bills were passed by the state assembly during the June 19-20 session which the governor had earlier termed illegal. "The Hon'ble Governor, Punjab has reserved the following three bills for the consideration of the Hon'ble President of India as per article 200 of the Constitution of India," said a Raj Bhavan statement issued on Wednesday. The three bills, which will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu, are the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023. One more Bill -- the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill, 2023 -- was also passed during the June session. While the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill was aimed at ensuring a free-to-air telecast of .

Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha's Rajya Sabha membership revoked

The membership of Chadha was suspended during the Monsoon session of Parliament, was revoked after a motion moved by BJP Member of Parliament GVL Narsimha Rao

Delhi court seeks ED's reply on Sanjay Singh's bail plea by Dec 6

A Delhi court on Tuesday directed the ED to file by December 6 its reply to an application by AAP MP Sanjay Singh seeking bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal issued notice to the central probe agency on the application, which claimed that no purpose will be served by keeping Singh in further custody. The judge also directed the ED to provide a copy of the reply to the accused. The anti-money laundering agency had arrested Singh on October 4. The ED has alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped policy, which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, for monetary considerations. Singh has strongly refuted the allegations.

Delhi schools directed to have minimum 220 working days in an academic year

Delhi schools have been directed to observe a minimum of 220 working days in an academic year, according to a circular from the Directorate of Education (DoE) issued on Monday. "As per section 19 of RTE Act-2009 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, it is mandatory for all the schools running under Directorate of Education to observe the minimum 220 working days in an academic year giving consideration to the notified lists of gazetted/restricted/local holidays for the calendar year (January to December)," the circular stated. It said that prior to the commencement of academic year and before observance of the holidays, the heads of government schools must ensure that 220 working days are completed. "The deputy district education (DDE) officers are also advised to ensure strict compliance of the same before sanctioning restricted/local holidays to any school under their jurisdiction. In addition, un-aided recognised schools would also obtain approval of holida

Excise Case: Delhi Court to hear bail plea of AAP's Sanjay Singh on Nov 28

ED claimed that Singh played a part in the Delhi govt's decision to give licenses to alcohol shops and merchants in 2020, causing losses to the state exchequer and violating anti-corruption laws

BJP calls Kejriwal 'dishonest' over Delhi-Meerut RRTS project funding dues

The BJP on Wednesday flayed Arvind Kejriwal and called him an "outright dishonest and useless" chief minister, alleging that he is only concerned about benefiting his friends in liquor business and using public money for self-promotion and not the welfare of people. The BJP's attack came a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for not providing funds for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors to Alwar and Panipat and said if the dues were not paid within a week, the funds allocated by the AAP government for advertisements will be transferred to the project. The apex court said budgetary provision was something which the state government should look into but if such national projects were to be affected and money was spent on advertisements, it would be inclined to direct that those funds be transferred for this project. Latching on to the top court's observation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia targeted Kejriwal and said, "The Supreme Court's

Centre, Punjab govt negligent in stubble management: Farmers leaders

Farmer leaders in Punjab on Wednesday accused the Centre and the state government of not making proper arrangements for stubble management and said it is vehicular and industrial pollution which affects the air quality in Delhi and not farm fire. They also said the governments should guarantee minimum support price on alternative crops such as maize and pulses to wean away growers from the water-guzzling paddy crop, which is not even native to Punjab. Their remarks came a day after the Supreme Court, while hearing a matter related to stubble burning, observed farmers are being made "villains" and that they have not been heard. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia had also suggested why should there be any purchase under the minimum support price (MSP) system from farmers who indulge in crop residue burning, irrespective of the fact that citizens and children were affected due to pollution. Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh ...

Delhi may face severe water shortage over Jal Board fund crisis: Atishi

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Tuesday said there could be a severe water crisis in the national capital since funds have not been released to the DJB. She requested LG V K Saxena to intervene in the matter. The minister alleged that despite written directions from her, who also holds the finance portfolio, funds were not released to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). "There could be a severe water crisis in the national capital. There are no funds to carry out routine work and paying salaries. The contractors have refused to carry out work. This could lead to a severe water crisis in Delhi, overflowing sewers and dirty water," she said. She also claimed that funds were not released by the Finance Department on the directions of Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. There was no immediate reaction from the chief secretary's office or the Finance Department.

State Assembly polls 2023 LIVE: Amit Shah to hold rally in Telangana today

Check out the latest updates on Assembly elections in five states, namely Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Mizoram

AAP complaints against BJP to EC over social media content against Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission accusing the BJP of using "absurd" content on social media to tarnish the image of its convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. An AAP delegation requested the Election Commission to take cognisance of the complaint and ensure proper action against the BJP, senior AAP leader and party MP Raghav Chadha said. "The BJP is using substandard and absurd content while trying to spoil the image of our party and leader Arvind Kejriwal. They are trying his character assassination," he charged, objecting to a post on November 5. Last week, the Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Kejriwal for alleged disparaging remarks made by AAP against Prime Minister Narendra Modi its social media handle and asked him to respond to the charge of poll code violation by November 16. A day later, Chadha had accused the BJP of running a "derogatory and misleading" campaign on social media against Kejriwa

SC seeks responses from Centre, ED on Sanjay Singh's plea against arrest

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and the Enforcement Directorate on AAP leader Sanjay Singh's plea challenging his arrest and remand in a money laundering case related to alleged Delhi excise policy scam. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti issued notice to the Centre and the ED, and asked them to submit their responses before December 11. The bench ordered that if Singh files a petition for regular bail in the interregnum, then it should be considered independent of the observation made in the Delhi High Court's judgement dated October 20. Singh, who was arrested on October 4 in the case, had moved the top court challenging the High Court verdict. In its order, the High Court had refused to interfere with his arrest in the case, saying it could not impute a political motive to a premier investigating agency in the absence of material on record. It had also said that Singh's was not a "prima facie case of no evidence at all". The ED's money

Delhi L-G orders inquiry into delay, cost escalation in Barapullah project

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has given nod to acquire a land parcel to complete the Barapullah corridor phase-III project which was delayed by six years, Raj Niwas officials said on Saturday. According to officials, Saxena has asked the chief secretary to conduct an inquiry into the erred planning and assessment of land requirement that led to the project delay and cost escalation by Rs 362 crore. The LG has also directed for the suspension of the project's engineers in charge right from the start of the construction, if yet serving, and initiating suitable action against those who have retired, they said. The two land parcels measuring 1,169 square metres and 709.9 square metres are located in Nangli Razapur village in the Southeast district of the city. The project was held up due to non-acquisition of these land parcels all these years, the Raj Niwas officials said. Citing the AAP government's oft-repeated claims that it was saving huge amount of public money by executin

Chhattisgarh polls 2023 LIVE: Voting ends, 67.34% voter turnout recorded

The voting for the second phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls is being held in 70 of the 90 Assembly constituencies in the state

State elections: AAP knocks EC's door against BJP's 'poll code violations'

The Aam Aadmi Party has sought swift action against the BJP to "uphold the integrity of the election", currently happening in five states of India.