by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress Presdient Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the latest lynching incident in Rajasthan’s Alwar represents Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “brutal New India”. The incident came to light on Saturday.
“Policemen in Alwar took three hours to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just six km away. Why? They took a tea-break en route. This is Modi’s brutal ‘New India,” Gandhi said in a tweet, attaching a news report.
The ‘New India,’ the Congress chief alleged, is where “humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die.”
Gandhi’s remarks came soon after a news report claimed that the policemen, before taking the lynch victim to the hospital, stopped to take some refreshment.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of misleading the Lok Sabha by not revealing the price of the Rafale fighter jets bought from France and indicated it could move a motion of breach of privilege against them.
“Deluding and misleading the people of India, the Prime Minister and Defence Minister sought to lie on the floor of Parliament. Neither the revelation of the commercial cost of Rafale aircraft will violate any secrecy agreement with the French government nor will it reveal any classified or protected information,” former Defence Minister A.K. Antony and senior leader Anand Sharma told a press conference.
Party sources said that consultations will be held with legal experts and the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, will decide on moving a privilege motion against Modi and Sitharaman in a day or two.
Antony and Sharma referred to the discussion during the no-confidence motion against the NDA government in the Lok Sabha on July 20 and said the Prime Minister sought to “hide behind a cloak of pseudo nationalism” in the Rafale deal and said the truth was that the Modi government was “guilty of compromising national interest and national security”.
The two leaders said that “shoddy cover-up, self defeating assertions and deliberate lies were being dished out to divert, dupe and deceive”.
“Grave apprehensions and claims of insurmountable loss being caused to public exchequer stand exposed as government refuses to state the truth,” they said.
Rejecting the government contention that the deal was covered by a secrecy clause under which the price cannot be revealed, Antony said the agreement between the governments of India and France in 2008 during the UPA government does not mention that commercial cost of procurement of defence deals cannot be revealed.
“The scope of the agreement only extends to tactical and technical details of weaponry relating to the capability of the platform in question and its performance and tactics in combat and does not include commercial details and costs. It is clear that the Prime Minister and Defence Minister misled the nation,” Antony said.
Claiming that the per aircraft price of Rafale as per international bid in 2012 during UPA government came to Rs 18,940 crore for 36 aircraft, the leaders said the Modi government purchased the same number of aircraft for Rs 60,145 crore and asked BJP to explain the extra amount of Rs 41,000 crore paid from public money. “This price is apparent from the ‘Annual Report, 2016’ of Dassault Aviation,” they said.
They contended that under the law, the government was bound to provide to full information to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and the Comptroller and Director General of India (CAG) and asked why the Modi government was not disclosing the commercial cost of the deal.
Antony and Sharma referred to two replies given by the Defence Ministry in 2016 and 2018 in Parliament revealing the price to be approximately Rs 670 crore per aircraft and asked why was the Defence Minister lying today.
They also quoted an interview given by French President Emmanuel Macron to a prominent news channel in India saying that if the Modi government wanted to disclose some of the details with the opposition, it can do so.
“Prime Minister Modi in Parliament took refuge in the statement released by the French government. Modi government must tell that the price of Rafale is not a secret, its specifications and weaponry are. The statement said the agreement ‘legally binds the two states to protect the classified information provided by the partner that could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipments of India and France’.”
The Congress asked where had the French government even said that the price of Rafale aircraft cannot be disclosed.
The two leaders also referred to answers given by the UPA government between 2010 and 2013 regarding the price of acquiring INS Vikramaditya, upgrade of Mirage aircraft, procurement of Sukhoi aircraft and development of Kaveri engine.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Himanshu,
The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is about to complete its term and has brought about several changes in the area of documentation. But there are still several loopholes which need to be worked upon. In 2014, the government repealed the requirement of providing attested documents for birth certificates, marksheets and other certificates.
Yet, in most government departments, affidavits are still required. For example, to obtain a marriage certificate or to get documerts from the a regional transport office, affidavits need to be submitted and attestation of documents by a notary is still mandatory. Again, for PAN card applications, if a person fails to provide any document for date-of-birth proof, submission of an affidavit is required.
For most of the illiterate or semi-literate people this is a problem. Also, rules are dissimilar across states. The central government needs to ensure that different departments and various states take steps to make uniform rules for document submission.
In the case of birth certificate, it has become a chicken-and-egg situation for the parents. Several municipalities, such as in Gurugram, have made the child’s Aadhaar number mandatory for issuing a birth certificate. But without a birth certificate an Aadhaar number is not issued. To simplify matters, linking of birth certificate with Aadhaar should be made voluntary or the municipalities should accept parent’s Aadhaar number as proof.
One of the most problematic area for millennials is the police verification process for issuing a passport. Migration to metros is not a new trend in India. Every year, millions of students and employees move to a new city in search of better education and employment opportunities.
Passport verification has become a hassle for this community as most of them do not have proper address proof for their new abode. In its absence, they rely on their home-town address. However, during verification, police insists on the candidate’s physical presence at the given address. In case of a no-show, the passport is rejected. Because of this, almost 30 per cent of passport applications get rejected every year.
This is an issue which can be easily resolved. Police verification serves no purpose, as all the applicants mandatorily visit the passport office, and subsequent verification could be done through the documents submitted.
Another area where government processes need to be simplified is the filing of an Income Tax return. Every government talks about simplifying the filing process, but it is still perceived as complicated by most tax payers. According to one survey, 90 per cent of people still rely on outer sources — chartered accountants or other professionals — for filing returns. Real simplification would come when even a semi-literate person can file a return without professional help.
The government needs to make the process more user-friendly and mobile responsive. At present, the assumption is that a tax payer is financially literate, which is not true in a majority of cases. Even answers to basic questions are not always available. Something as easy as a chatbot on the income tax website would be helpful.
Another area of frustration for citizens is in booking railway tickets — especially tatkal tickets. The real problem is in matching the demand and supply of train seats — the whole exercise is opaque. The Railways need to dynamically match the number of coaches and seats available in a transparent manner. Big Data analysis and Artifical Intelligence can be used to keep travellers fully informed about all aspects of rail reservation.
Most of the problems are easy to solve. Partnerships with private players would bring in the technology and solutions to allow government departments to work in an efficient, open and much less cumbersome manner. Every citizen deserves this.
(Himanshu is the founder of ItzEazy.in, that aims to make the government documentation process more efficient. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at himanshu@itzeazy.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : After tearing into the BJP-led government in his speech during the no confidence motion on Friday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi walked across to the ruling benches and hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking everyone in the Lok Sabha by surprise.
“I have not an iota of hatred or hard feelings against you. You hate me. You may call me Pappu, you can use a stream of expletives for me. But I don’t hate you or have even slightest of anger for you. I am the Congress,” Gandhi said at the end of his nearly 40-minute fiery speech.
Gandhi accused Modi of lying to the nation and making empty rhetoric “jumlas” to deceive the poor of the country. He also lashed out at the government and questioned Modi’s silence over women not feeling safe in the country and people from the minority communities being lynched.
Gandhi said the Prime Minister and BJP President Amit Shah were different type of politicians unlike those from the Congress.
“We are okay with winning and losing, staying in and out of power. But they cannot afford to lose power. They fear losing power. It is this fear that is turning into anger… But I will turn this anger into love because I am the Congress,” he said.
Resuming his speech after a brief adjournment, Gandhi said some opposition MPs congratulated him for speaking “really well’.
“I was surprised when your own members shook my hand and said, ‘you spoke really well’. This voice is also there within you. This voice doesn’t exist just within us. This Akali Dal leader (pointing towards Harsimrat Kaur) was looking at me and smiling. This feeling is there in the entire country. Our job is to connect these feelings.
“The entire opposition and a few people among you..together we are going to defeat the Prime Minister in the election.
“You may think there is anger, hatred in my heart for the prime minister. But, I want to say this from the bottom of my heart that I am very grateful to the Prime Minister, the BJP and the RSS. They made me understand the meaning of the Congress. They taught me the meaning of being a Hindustani.
“Hindustani means – one may say or do anything against you, one may tell a lie or abuse you or use a lathi against you, but you will show love towards them. Narendra Modi, the BJP and the RSS have taught me this. I would like thank you for this from the bottom of my heart.
“You taught me my religion, made me understand the meaning of Shivji, you made me understand the meaning of being a Hindu. I want to thank you for this.
“This is the history of our country. You may have hatred and anger towards me. The Congress and this very feeling has built this nation. Don’t forget this. This feeling is there within all of you, and I will bring it out from all of you. I will bring out that love that is there within you and I will turn all of you into the Congress.”
Gandhi then walked across to the ruling benches and hugged Modi who was taken by surprise. The Congress leader was heard telling the Prime Minister to get up and allow him to do “pranaam” to him.
The Prime Minister was taken aback at first and gestured as if asking Gandhi why he was there. But the Congress President bent over, threw his arms around Modi and hugged him tight.
A visibly nonplussed Modi hugged him back. After recovering from an apparent shock moment, the Prime Minister called Gandhi back towards him and the two shook their hands. He patted Gandhi on his back and exchanged a word or two with him, smilingly.
As the opposition members gave Gandhi a standing ovation and thumped their desks, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said such a conduct was against the rules of the House.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal questioned Gandhi for saying she was smiling at him when he was speaking. “This is Parliament and not a ‘pappi jhappi’ area of Munna Bhai,” she said, mocking at him.
Speaker Mahajan said but “you were smiling” when Gandhi was speaking. There was a burst of laughter in the House.
By this time Gandhi had returned to his seat amid a loud cheer from his Congress colleagues. He was seen winking at Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The BJP on Monday questioned the intention of Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking support for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha. Raising the women’s quota issue now is nothing but an attempt to divert public attention from his remark that ‘Congress a party of Muslims, the BJP said.
Addressing the media here, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: “Why did he raise this issue today? It is an attempt to divert the people’s attention from his remark that the Congress is a party of Muslims…This is the double standards of the Congress.”
Javadekar sought to know from the Congress chief whether he would also ensure the support of parties that were opposed to the bill in the past.
“The Congress has alliances with parties opposed to this bill. Will they come out of the alliance? Will they ask for letters of support from parties opposed to the bill,” Javadekar asked when questioned on Gandhi’s letter to Modi on Monday. However, he did not name the Samajwadi Party or the Rashtriya Janata Dal which had opposed the Bill and are now allies of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The BJP leader’s response came soon after Rahul Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister to seek his support for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament’s monsoon session. Gandhi said the BJP appears to have had second thoughts on the proposed law even though it was a key promise in its 2014 manifesto.
The Congress leader said the bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2010 during the UPA II government headed by Manmohan Singh, has been stalled in the Lok Sabha on one pretext or the other.
Gandhi said the bill holds the potential to transform the country’s governance and any further delay will make it impossible to implement it before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The monsoon session will be held from July 18 till August 10.
—IANS
