by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Uncategorized
Odd-Even: Vehicles with odd and even number plates run on alternate days
NEW DELHI: The next edition of the Odd-Even road rationing plan in Delhi will be from November 4 to 15, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced this afternoon. Mr Kejriwal announced his government’s seven-point action plan to tackle pollution due to crop burning, which includes distribution of masks, mechanised sweeping of roads, tree plantation, and special plans for 12 pollution hot spots in the city.
The Odd-Even scheme, an effort to control the pollution levels in the capital, was introduced in Delhi in 2016.
This year, restrictions will be enforced on private cars and two-wheelers, while women drivers are exempted. The Odd-Even plan is not applicable on the weekends, the Chief Minister said at a press conference.
“If you enforce Odd-Even for a long time, the implementation becomes troublesome. As of now, Odd-Even will only be restricted to this time frame,” said Mr Kejriwal. Emergency vehicles will not be subject to this, he said.
Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital city, according to several studies, with vehicle and industrial emissions, dust from building sites, and smoke from the burning of garbage and crop residue in nearby fields. “Delhi is the only city in the world where pollution is decreasing. Pollution in Delhi has decreased by 25 per cent,” Mr Kejriwal said.
The Chief Minister also urged people not to burst crackers. Mr Kejriwal also announced plans to buy electric buses and invited corporates to invest in luxury buses. He said 1,000 electric buses will be introduced in Delhi national capital, adding that a bus aggregator policy will be announced soon.
In 2016, the Odd-Even scheme was enforced twice when vehicles having odd and even number plates were allowed to operate on alternate days as the air quality deteriorated.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Nivedita Singh,
New Delhi : While the Delhi government is trying woo them with a draft agricultural policy, farmers of the national capital do not seem to be very happy with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on the issue of high electricity charges every month.
“The Arvind Kejriwal government is being praised across the country for low electricity charges in Delhi. They claim to give the cheapest electricity to the Delhi people but farmers are made to pay higher rates,” Naresh Kumar, a farmer from West Delhi’s Hiran Kudna village told IANS.
“The fixed charge on the electricity meters on our tubewells is very high. This is costing us a lot, despite the fact that we don’t use the tubewells throughout the year. Any farmer will use the tubewell only during the harvest seasons, which account for a maximum of two months. But we have to pay high charges to the electricity department throughout the year,” he said.
The fixed electricity charge for agriculture use in Delhi is Rs 125 per kilowatt per month as per the tariff schedule.
“So, if a farmer has a meter of 10 kilowatts to run a tubewell, he will have to pay a minimum of Rs 1,250 per month. The charge increase with the increase in the kilowatt. This is excluding the charges we have to pay for usage,” said another farmer.
“There are months when we have to have over Rs 4,000 for the electricity. This increases the overall cost of production and we are not getting any help from the government in this regard,” he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, 65-year-old Satbir Sharma said the profit margin of farmers has reduced because of this high charge.
“The Kejriwal government came to power with a promise to give cheaper electricity and free water to people. But the opposite happened with the farmers. We have to pay so much in terms of fixed charge even though we hardly use the tubewells. Per acre, we get a profit of Rs 10,000 and of that if Rs 5,000 or Rs 6,000 is given for electricity, what is our benefit,” Sharma said.
Some farmers also said that they have to give the fixed charge even when they purchase meters on their own, while some others said they have to pay this charge for the electricity they use in their homes as well.
Although no official data is available, at an estimate, there are about 20,000 families of farmers in the national capital. Agriculture in Delhi is being done on about 75,000 acres of land.
When contacted, Delhi Development Minister, Gopal Rai, said the government has acknowledged the issue raised by the farmers and is discussing the matter.
“We are having a discussion on the matter. We have got to know about the issue recently. Our government is working to make the life of a farmer easy. We will find a solution for this very soon,” Rai said.
While several farmers are demanding the reduction of the fixed charge, some others demand it free.
“The farmers in the national capital are very less in number. The government can give us electricity free of cost,” said 72-year-old Balbir Jatt.
Apart from electricity, the farmers are also demanding a Delhi Agriculture Commission.
“The Commission will help the farmers in the issues faced by them,” another farmer Man Singh Dagar said, adding that the commission should be headed by a local farmer so that he understand ground level issues.
In December last year, the Delhi government had formed an expert committee comprising a senior scientist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, farmers representatives and officers of the Agriculture Department for drafting the Agricultural Policy for Delhi.
The Committee has deliberated upon various issues pertaining to agriculture in Delhi, including the implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee Report on the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Apart from MSP, the government is also working and gathering inputs on the possibilities of organic farming and the problem of land shrinking. Impact of urbanization is also being worked out on in the policy, a senior official told IANS.
(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Satyendar Jain
New Delhi : The Union Home Ministry on Thursday granted sanction to prosecute Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in a disproportionate assets case registered by the CBI in 2017, triggering an angry response from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Jain is accused of floating several shell companies in Delhi including Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd and Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd during 2009-10 and 2010-11 for alleged money laundering.
“These shell companies do not have any real business. Satyendar Jain had laundered black money of Rs 16.39 crore during 2010-11 to 2015-16 through 54 shell companies of three hawala entry operators of Kolkata namely Jeevendra Mishra, Abhishek Chokhani and Rajendra Bansal,” said an official in the Home Ministry.
Jain, who holds seven portfolios including Health, Home and Public Works Department, has denied the allegations, saying the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) action is politically motivated.
Kejriwal criticised the Centre’s move, saying the BJP’s decision to registered the case amounted to an attack on people residing in unauthorised colonies.
“Satyendra Jain made the scheme to regularise unauthorised colonies. The Center did not pass it, instead registered a case against him. The BJP is strictly against the move to regularise unauthorised colonies. The BJP is the enemy of Delhiites,” he tweeted, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “harmful for Delhi”.
The CBI initiated a probe against him in April 2017 and registered a FIR on August 24 this year.
Besides Satyendar Jain, the CBI has named his wife Poonam, his alleged associates Ajit Prasad Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain and Ankush Jain as accused in the case.
“After laundering of unaccounted cash and receipt of equivalent in amounts in cheques through hawala entry operator and by using black money in the form of unaccounted cash, more than 200 bigha of agricultural land were purchased in names of companies controlled by Satyendar Jain in the vicinity of unorganized colonies located at Karala, Auchandi, Nizampur and Budhan areas in Delhi’s North and North-West areas during last five years,” said the official.
The official claimed that the Delhi Minister, after being prosecuted by the Income Tax Department, surrendered Rs 16.39 crore of “black money”, which was laundered using Kolkata-based shell companies for purchasing 200 bigha land under Income Disclosure Scheme 2016 on benami names of Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.
On enquiry, it was found that Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain were in no way connected with the four shell companies floated by Satyendar Jain, said the official, claiming that Kolkata-based hawala entry operators also told the Income Tax department that the money laundering was done on the instruction of the Delhi Minister.
“Since Satyendar Jain has declared unaccounted income of Rs 16.39 crore in benami names and tax was paid on this amount, separate proceedings under Benami Property Transaction Act have been initiated. These proceedings are presently pending before the Income Tax Department.”
The re-assessment proceedings referred to cases have detected hawala transactions and instances of unaccounted cash payments in purchase of land, said the official.
The official said that Satyendar Jain had admitted in a writ petition in the Delhi High Court that black money totalling Rs 16.39 crore was actually laundered using shell companies controlled by three hawala entry operators of Kolkata.
“The efforts of the AAP government to regularize unauthorized colonies during its first tenure from December 28, 2013 to February 14, 2014 and present tenure is linked with the investment in agricultural land by Satyendar Jain. The proposed regularization of unauthorized colonies will convert these agricultural lands into residential and commercial land which will provide huge returns on the investment by the Minister,” the official claimed.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday reminded people on the occasion of Independence Day that no religion teaches animosity.
As he and his deputy greeted the people on the occasion, Manish Sisodia told them to aspire for freedom from the shackles of caste, religion and narrow outlook.
Sharing a couplet from Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal’s patriotic song “Sare Jahan Se Accha”, Kejriwal wished that there be all around development in the country and peace should prevail.
“Religion does not teach us animosity… We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan,” he tweeted.
Sisodia said only political freedom does not make a country free.
“Let’s remind ourselves on the occasion that a free country is not made up of only political freedom. Freedom from the struggles over caste and religion, and narrow outlook towards women ensures that a country is truly free,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Ideas, Employment, Entrepreneurship, News, Politics, Social Entrepreneur, Startup Basics, Your Business Plan
New Delhi : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged the students of an engineering university to not just get a job but also become a job creator.
“I hope that you people will not only get a job but will become a job maker. Each one of you has to create at least 10 jobs,” Kejriwal said while addressing the students at the orientation programme of the Delhi Technological University (DTU) here.
He also emphasised on the potential of the youth and why they should not just support one political party but critically analyse politics in the country.
“Democracy is about people and for that democracy to run, our youth should take interest in politics,” Kejriwal said.
“Don’t join a party but observe, read and understand whose politics is right and whose is wrong. Be critical in your choices,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who accompanied Kejriwal at the programme, assured the students at DTU that all their education loans or any other education-related financial problems will be taken care of by the government.
“If the child is below poverty line (BPL) or even slightly above BPL, the government has arranged a scholarship of 25 to 100 per cent for that student,” he said.
Sisodia further assured that if a student requires any kind of loan for his/her studies, then the “government will arrange for that too”.
“You do not worry, the government will guarantee your education. You will get a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh, which you can pay after 15 years of job,” he said.
—IANS
