Page 8 - Delhi Assembly

Police reach Atishi's residence to serve notice on AAP MLAs' 'poaching'

Crime Branch officials reached the residence of Delhi minister Atishi on Sunday to serve a notice in connection with allegations that the BJP was attempting to "poach" Aam Aadmi Party MLAs. Sources said Atishi was not present at her residence. The minister, however, has given directions to her office staff to receive the notice, sources in the AAP said. "The team will go again to serve notice to Atishi. This morning she was not present at her residence," a senior officer of Delhi Police Crime Branch said. This comes a day after Crime Branch officials served a notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to reply within three days in a probe into his claims that the BJP attempted to poach seven AAP MLAs. Kejriwal and Atishi are scheduled to lay the foundation stones of two schools in Rohini later in the day. On January 27, Kejriwal and Atishi had claimed that the BJP was trying to poach AAP MLAs by offering Rs 25 crore each and a ticket to contest next year's assembly

Delhi Budget session from Feb 15; health, education, roads among priorities

The Kejriwal government will present its tenth budget in the budget session of Delhi Assembly to be held from February 15-20, with a focus on health, education, roads and infrastructure, officials said on Friday. Delhi Finance Minister Atishi is expected to table the 2024-25 budget of the city government on February 17, they said. It will be the first budget presentation by Atishi, who was given the finance portfolio last year. A file of the budget session has been sent to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval, said a statement from Delhi government. In the forthcoming budget, the Kejriwal government is set to address several significant issues, placing particular emphasis on education, health, electricity, water, roads, and infrastructure and various developmental projects, the statement said. The government is considering to start the 'Business Blasters' programme for final-year and pre-final-year students in colleges, aiming to enable them to start their businesses a

Delhi assembly Budget to be tabled on Feb 16; session starts from Feb 15

The Budget session of the Delhi Assembly will be held from February 15 to 20, an official said here on Friday. He said Delhi Finance Minister Atishi will table the 2024-25 budget of the city government on February 16. It will be the first budget presentation by Atishi, who was given the finance portfolio last year. A file of the budget session has been sent to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval, the officer added.

HC seeks LG's stand on DCPCR plea against inquiry, stoppage of funds

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of the city lieutenant governor on a petition by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) challenging an order to withhold funds to it pending an inquiry and a special audit over allegations of misuse of government funds. Justice Subramonium Prasad, while perusing a press note on the action ordered by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena against the child rights body, observed that certain portions of the document took a political colour and asked the counsel for the LG to seek instructions. I would've said 'audit, go ahead'. (But page) 154 takes a political colour. That's when my problem begins...The usual foundation and motive problem (is there)," remarked the judge. The portion in question noted DCPCR's former chairperson Anurag Kundu and six members were politically affiliated with the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP). The counsel for the lieutenant governor said action was taken on the recommendation of other state authoritie

Delhi 2023: Year of unrelenting tussle between AAP dispensation, L-G

An unrelenting tussle with the Lt Governor and the bureaucracy and a short-lived promise of authority after a Supreme Court verdict on control over Services-related matters marked an action-packed 2023 for Delhi's AAP government. Hardly a week after the Supreme Court on May 11 granted Delhi's elected AAP dispensation executive control over Services-related matters, including appointments and transfers of bureaucrats, the BJP-led Centre brought legislation to again tilt the balance in favour of the Lt Governor. As the weeks and months passed, the war of words between the AAP government and the Raj Niwas and bureaucrats got only sharper and noisier with even Lt Governor VK Saxena, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar getting involved. In January, the two sides came face to face as Kejriwal marched from the Vidhan Sabha to the Raj Niwas with his ministers and MLAs to protest against alleged hurdles created in sending government school teachers to Finland for

AAP lists pro-farmer policy in response to BJP's memorandum to CM Kejriwal

This is the first government to award Rs 50,000 per hectare as crop compensation during crop damage universally to all farmers, and this is the highest among all states in the country, AAP said

FM Atishi tables revised estimates of Budget 2023-24 in Delhi Assembly

Delhi Finance Minister Atishi tabled the revised estimates of budget 2023-24 in the Assembly on Friday, slashing spending on advertisements and non-yielding schemes while providing extra funds to the cash-strapped DJB. Delhi government sources claimed there was an encouraging rise in revenue of the government in 2023-24, hence no loans are required from the Centre. The revised estimates provide for an additional infusion of Rs 1,033 crore for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in 2023-24, they said. Recently, Atishi had claimed that Delhi was staring at a water supply crisis and warned that the city may might face difficulty in sewerage maintenance due to funds crunch faced by the DJB. Sources said the Delhi government provided Rs 495 crore for road, rail transport system, gave additional Rs 471 crore for additional facilities at schools and set aside Rs 650 crore for pension of DTC retired employees, in the revised estimates for 2023-24. However, the budgetary allocations have been reduce

AAP leader Satyendar Jain's interim bail extended by SC till December 4

The Supreme Court on Friday extended the interim bail granted to former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain in a money laundering case till December 4 when his plea for regular bail will be taken up for hearing. A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi posted the matter for hearing on December 4 as Justice A S Bopanna, who is presiding over the case, was not available today. "In the meanwhile, the interim bail, granted earlier, is extended till the next date of hearing, the bench said. Prior to this, the top court had extended the interim bail of Jain till October 9 and asked him to not make the pendency of the proceedings before it a ruse to delay the trial in the case. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the AAP leader was seeking repeated adjournments in the trial court on grounds that his bail plea was pending before the apex court. The probe agency has alleged that Jain has taken as many as 16 dates from the trial court. The apex court had on May 26 granted interim bail to

Delhi Assembly likely to discuss Manipur issue on last day of its session

Earlier AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on August 11 said it is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit Manipur and take any action on it

Delhi LG's objections to 2-day assembly session 'not correct': Dpt speaker

Deputy Speaker of Delhi Assembly Rakhi Birla on Wednesday said LG V K Saxena has raised objections to the convening of the two-day session and added that his observations are "not correct". Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Birla said Saxena has written a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which the LG has expressed his objections to the two-day session, saying rules on it were not being followed. The deputy speaker said that Saxena's observations were "not correct" since the session that commenced on Wednesday was in continuation of the previous session convened in April. Earlier, Saxena had also flagged "grave procedural lapses" in the session convened in April, which was called after Kejriwal received summons from the CBI for questioning him in connection with the excise policy case. Birla also said that the Speaker has the power under the rules to convene the session anytime even after the assembly is adjourned sine die. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Si

Delhi Assembly session likely to witness uproar over GNCTD (Amendment) Act

The Delhi Assembly session beginning Wednesday, the first after the enactment of the GNCTD (Amendment) Act 2023 on the control of services in the national capital, is likely to witness noisy scenes involving legislators of the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act came into being on Saturday following presidential assent. The law gives the Centre control over bureaucracy in the national capital and seeks to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers. In his Independence Day speech at Chhatrasal stadium, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Act has snatched powers of the elected government of Delhi and the AAP dispensation will restore them. The two-day assembly session will begin at 11 am on Wednesday. The list of business of the House did not specify any particular issue to be raised by the AAP. AAP leaders were tight-lipped about their strategy for the session. The GNCTD (Amendment) Ac

G20 park, over 100,000 flower pots on streets: MCD's plans ahead of Summit

From developing a thematic park to sprucing up the city with improved amenities, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has planned to deck up the national capital with just a month to go for the G20 Summit. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 last year, following which about 200 meetings were scheduled under different tracks. The Summit is slated to take place from September 9-10. "We have planned a number of things to spruce up the city and improve civic amenities ahead of the Summit. We are planning to place more than one lakh flower pots at various prominent locations, extra dustbins will be kept in streets to control littering at key location and markets," a top official in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said. The civic body will also develop a 'G20 park' in an existing park to commemorate the G20 Presidency of India, he said. The G20-theme park will be developed in the premises of a park in M-Block of Greater Kailash-2. "This thematic park will have the logo

Delhi CM Kejriwal claims Centre targeting him for public welfare schemes

A day after he was questioned by the CBI in the excise policy case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused the Centre of targeting him and his government for providing several welfare schemes, including free electricity and good health facilities, to the people of the capital. Speaking at the one-day session of the Assembly, Kejriwal again questioned the education qualification of the prime minister without naming him. The session passed a resolution attacking the prime minister and the BJP. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have long tried to contain the fast rise and expansion of the Aam Aadmi Party and growing popularity of its national convener Arvind Kejriwal," the resolution stated. Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena had earlier flagged "procedural lapses" in calling of the session in a note to the chief minister and suggested against doing so. During his speech, Kejriwal alleged that demonetisation was implemented to end corruption and terrorism, but the .

L-G flags 'procedural lapses' in summoning of Delhi Assembly, CM hits back

Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Sunday flagged "procedural lapses" in summoning a day-long session of the Delhi Assembly on April 17, drawing a sharp reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who said he would want the LG to study the Constitution again. This came on a day Kejriwal was questioned for about nine hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. In a note to the Delhi government, Saxena has pointed out that the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has proposed to call the second part of the fourth session of the seventh Assembly, whereas the Delhi Cabinet has recommended convening a one-day session of the House, officials at the LG office said. As per Rules and Act, the Assembly, which was adjourned sine die on March 29, 2023, has to be prorogued before a fresh session can be convened. As a session remains unprorogued, a new session cannot be convened, they said. "I fail to understand as to under what ...

2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits father-son duo of rioting, arson charges

A court here has acquitted a father-son duo of the charges of rioting and arson during the 2020 North East Delhi communal conflagration, saying there was no incriminating evidence against them. Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing two cases pertaining to the 2020 riots based on three complaints against Mithhan Singh and his son Jony Kumar. According to the prosecution, the duo was part of a riotous mob that set ablaze houses, including those of the complainants, after identifying the properties of people from a particular community, in lane number 29 of Khajuri Khas on February 25. ...Both both accused are hereby acquitted of all the charges levelled against them in this case, ASJ Pramachala said in the judgments passed on Monday. In both orders, the judge noted citing prosecution witnesses that though the presence of an unlawful assembly which engaged in rioting, vandalism and arson was established, they did not identify the duo. Hence, it was realised that t

Delhi govt to plant 2 million flowering saplings in Delhi for G-20 Summit

The Delhi government has set a target of planting 20 lakh flowering saplings in the national capital as part of its preparations for the G20 Summit slated to be held in September. Of these, the forest and wildlife department will plant 12 lakh saplings and other agencies the rest. A forest department official said flowering species such as jacaranda and palas will be planted in large numbers. The entire exercise will be completed by July end. Over 10 lakh exotic potted plants will also add to the beauty of the national capital as it gets ready to host the G20 Summit, officials said. The horticulture wings of the central and Delhi government departments, including the Delhi Development Department, New Delhi Municipal Council, Public Works Department and Municipal Corporation of Delhi, have been asked to decorate public spaces, roundabouts, major intersections, flyovers and vertical greens in the city with exotic flowering plants. Special attention will be given to the stretch betwe

Ensure clean milk for citizens, no garbage for cattle: HC to Delhi govt

The Delhi High Court has asked the city government to ensure supply of clean and hygienic milk to citizens and see to it that cattle do not feed on garbage as it can have a detrimental effect the quality of milk and those who consume it. The order by a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma came on a petition by a lawyer seeking directions to the authorities to take all measures for ensuring clean and hygienic milk for the people of Delhi. The Delhi government counsel said adequate steps were being taken to ensure supply of clean and hygienic milk to city residents and proper regulations were already in place. He further said if the petitioner files a representation with the authorities about her grievances, it will be considered in accordance with law. Observing that "no further orders are required to be passed" in the matter in view of the stand of the government, the court said the petitioner is at liberty to file a representation before the authorities. "The State

Amid rising temperatures, Delhites struggle to find favourite beer brands

Liquor shops in Delhi have limited stocking space, and a low number of shops in the city naturally means a low total stock holding

Bid to restrict Delhi Assembly's financial autonomy: Speaker Goel

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Monday claimed in the budget session that attempts were being made to further "restrict" the legislative body's limited financial autonomy through appointment of city government's Law secretary as its administrative head. Goel made the remark after the House passed Delhi government's budget 2023-24 following a discussion, and asked the Finance minister to look into the matter. Reading out a statement, Goel said the Finance Department of Delhi government has in a recent letter said the law department will be the administrative head of the legislative assembly. "It is a direct attack on the legislature and a clear effort to curb its independent functioning," Goel said in the statement in Hindi. He charged the development was a "conspiracy" by the officers to "obstruct" the functioning of the Assembly due to politics. He said according to the Constitution, the Parliament and state legislatures should have an independent Secretariat with financ

Focus on last-mile connectivity in Delhi Budget for transport sector

A 'mohalla bus' scheme to ensure last mile-connectivity and development of three ISBTs with airport-like facilities were some of the key announcements made by Delhi Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot for the transport sector in the city budget on Wednesday. Presenting his first budget, Gahlot announced an allocation of over Rs 9,000 crore for the transport sector. Gahlot, who also holds the Transport portfolio, said a bus fleet comprising 10,480 buses will be ready in Delhi by 2025. The city currently has 7,319 buses. "Eighty per cent of these will be electric buses. A dedicated 'mohalla bus' scheme will be launched for last-mile connectivity in the city. As part of the scheme, 100 'mohalla' e-buses will be launched in 2023-24, while 2,180 will be inducted in next two years," he said. According to the government, this is the first time in Delhi that electric feeder buses will be plying in remote areas. "The anticipated expenditure for this massive induction plan of electric buses ove