New Delhi: Extending support to striking MCD workers demanding dues, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday hoped that “some solution” will emerge after the high court hears the matter next week.

“I support demand of protesting MCD employees that they shud get their full salaries. I hope some solution will emerge after Tue HC hearing,” Kejriwal, currently in Bangalore for naturopathy treatment, said on Twitter.

The chief minister also lauded personnel from the state’s public works department (PWD) for working the “whole night” to clear garbage and urged AAP functionaries to help the department men.

“I am told PWD people and trucks worked whole nite to clean up garbage. I wud urge all AAP volunteers to help PWD,” he said on the micro-blogging site, urging the PWD to “keep it up”.

The government had yesterday deployed hundreds of PWD workers to lift garbage from across the city as nearly 60,000 civic sanitation workers continued their indefinite strike demanding payment of dues amid a blame game over the issue between AAP and BJP, which rules the three municipalities.

The strike was launched by sanitation workers on January 27, demanding timely salaries and payment of arrears.

New Delhi: The Delhi government has proposed setting up Local Complaints Committee (LCC) in every district of the national capital which the victims of sexual harassment at workplace denied justice by the Internal Complaints Committees (ICC) can approach.
According to the proposal drafted by the Women and Child Development department, District Magistrates or Additional District Magistrates will be notified as District Officers (DOs) to exercise the powers and discharge functions under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013.

The DO will constitute the LCC in his district and will further appoint a nodal officer in every ward, municipality to receive the complaints and forward it to the concerned Committee within a period of seven days.

The DO will also monitor the timely submission of reports furnished by the local complaints committees and take measures as may be necessary for engaging NGOs in creating awareness about sexual harassment and the rights of women.

The members of the LCC will include a chairperson, to be nominated from among eminent women in the field of social work and committed to the cause of women. There will be one member from among the women working in municipality in the district, two members, of whom at least one shall be woman, to be nominated from among such NGOs or associations as are committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues related to the protection of women from sexual harassment.

Also, an officer dealing with women and child development in the district, shall be it ex-officio member.

The chairperson and every member of the LCC will hold office for three years from the date of their appointment as may be specified by the DO.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal has expressed sadness over the fact that even after two years of the passage of the Act, the DOs and LCCs have not been notified in the city till date. She had written to Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung about it.

“There has already been a considerable delay in this regard. It cannot be overemphasized that the Act virtually exists on paper and steps are yet to taken for its effective implementation,” she had said in her letter, adding, the Commission has been receiving a large number of complaints regarding sexual harassment at workplace.

Under Section 5 and 6 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, state is required to set up a LCC to investigate complaints related to sexual harassment from cases which cannot be dealt with by the ICC or where there is no ICC.
by: pti

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi today accused the government of delaying a decision on the issue of net neutrality on the “pretext” of repeated discussions and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his ‘Digital India’ scheme cannot become a “euphemism” for an Internet controlled by large remote corporations.

Insisting that the Congress has always stood for ‘Freedom of the Internet’ and ‘Net Neutrality’, he said the party wanted that Internet Service Providers (ISPs)/Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and government should treat all data on Internet equally.

“With Digital India, people would get more access to the Internet – the whole Internet – and not primarily a filter on the web. This is imperative for India to grow in 21st Century.

I sincerely hope that TRAI report and Modi government will adhere to this bounden need espoused by millions of Indians”, the Congress Vice President said in a statement.

He told the Prime Minister that ‘Digital India’ “cannot become a euphemism for an Internet controlled by large remote corporations. Digital India should mean Internet connectivity as a public utility, open ended and generative.”

“Congress Party’s and my belief is shaped by our faith that Internet users should be free to connect to any website or service that they want, enabling a level playing field on the ‘world wide web’. We recognize the danger of privileging a private platform over a public Internet introducing a new digital divide,” he said.

He wanted the government to realise that Internet is a powerful poverty alleviation tool, offering unbounded opportunities limited only by imagination, whether it is a farmer looking for information on monsoon preparedness, artisans connecting with buyers in a market place or a college student from rural India enrolling for an online course.

“NASSCOM has asked for Net Neutrality, over 500 start-up entrepreneurs are pleading for it, young in India have been demanding it, yet we have a government, which under the pretext of repeated discussions, has been delaying framing a clear-cut policy on this”, Mr Gandhi said attacking the government.

He charged that the BJP government “quietly looked the other way” when Telecom companies introduced price differential through zero rating plans and attempts to charge for OTT (Over The Top) services.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued consultation papers on the issue twice over, covering similar questions for consumers to answer on Net Neutrality, free basics and data price differentiation.

“Like millions of Indians out there, I am earnestly hoping to see a TRAI report (scheduled for 31st January) and Modi government’s commitment in favor of an open Internet in its entirety where there is no ambiguity in regard to difference in pricing or VOIP”, Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress Vice President said he was aware that past few months haven’t been easy for Free Internet and Net Neutrality activists, civil society and researchers, who are engaged in the movement to disseminate useful and relevant information to the public despite “misleading marketing gimmicks.”

“I salute their indomitable spirit and would like to congratulate them.”

The Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the security agencies were capable of dealing with any threat posed by the ISIS group.

“We have the capacity to meet any threat. We will face it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The Home Minister’s comments came when asked about the ISIS threat in the country.

Last week, 14 youths were arrested by the NIA and other security agencies after they allegedly formed a module on the pattern of dreaded ISIS to carry out strikes at vital installations.

According to Indian intelligence agencies, a total of 23 Indians have so far joined the ISIS of which six were reportedly killed in different incidents in Iraq-Syria.
by : pti

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has appointed a Commission of Inquiry to address “unheeded” complaints of women by the police and tasked it to recommend action in cases of crime against women and amendments to existing laws.

The three-member commission, to be headed by retired district judge Dinesh Dayal, will receive complaints, including on violence, sexual harassment, stalking and voyeurism against women since February 2013.

The appointment of the probe panel was notified by Delhi Women and Child Development Department on January 19.

The Arvind Kejriwal government had in August called a one-day assembly session, which had passed a resolution to set up the commission following the brutal murder of a 19-year-old girl in Anand Parbat area here on July 16, last year.

The tenure of the commission shall be for a period of two years and it will submit its report to the government every three months from ..

by : PTI

The Union Cabinet today gave its ex-post facto approval for revised cost of Rs 969 crore for the Afghan Parliament building in Kabul which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month during his visit to the war-ravaged country.
India built the Afghan Parliament as part of its efforts in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of that country. The project is a visible symbol of Indias contribution to strengthening and rebuilding democracy in Afghanistan.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, gave its ex-post facto approval for completion of the Afghan Parliament building in Kabul by December 31 at a revised project cost of Rs 969 crore, said an official release.
The construction of Afghan Parliament building has been completed under India-Afghanistan development cooperation and minor touch-up works, including parts of sound system and furniture are now being undertaken, the release said.
It said the Parliament building will be handed over to the Afghan authorities by March 31.
India has invested USD two billion in aid and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Modi had addressed the Members of Meshrano Jirga (Upper House) and Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) after inaugurating the building during which he had complimented people of Afghanistan and their elected representatives on consolidation of democracy in the country.

Taking a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over his “remote control” remarks, ally Shiv Sena today said he should concentrate first on “charging the batteries” of his political will to fight the threat posed by ISIS in the state.

Fadnavis, while speaking at an event to commemorate Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary here, had recently said that the late Sena Supremo may have given Uddhav Thackeray the remote control of power, but he has in turn handed it over to him.

“Now that (Shiv Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray has handed over the remote control (of power) to me, other (Sena) ministers should also understand this,” Fadnavis had said, in an apparent reference to some Shiv Sena ministers who have been critical of his style of functioning.

The Sena, in an edit in mouthpiece Saamana, today said that Fadnavis has announced that the remote control of the government is in his hands, “but, at the same time, ISIS has surrounded the state” and added that without the batteries, the remote control is worthless.

“The whole country has been gripped by the menace of ISIS. But if the remote control lies in Maharashtra, the Chief Minister should take it seriously. The CM had announced that he has the remote control of the government in his hands, but, at the same time, ISIS has surrounded the state,” the Sena said.

It said that ISIS wants to use Maharashtra for fulfiling their ill-intentions to convert India into Syria and the responsibility of stopping the terror outfit lies with those who have the remote control of power.

“But what will you do if the battery of that remote control lies somewhere else? Concentrate first on charging the batteries of your political will to fight the menace. Politics can be played over issues but security of the state is most important,” the Sena said.
by : PTI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray on his birth annivers
“Balasaheb Thackeray…my mind is filled with many memories. Tributes to the widely admired and respected personality on his birth anniversary,” Modi tweeted.
“My tribute to Balasaheb Thackeray a true nationalist & a respected mass leader on his birth anniversary,” he tweeted.
Bal Thackeray, an Indian politician who founded Shiv Sena, was born in Pune on 23 January, 1926.
Bal Thackeray died on 17 November, 2012.
PTI

Backing the students stir at Hyderabad University, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today mounted pressure on the Centre as he demanded sacking of Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide by a dalit scholar which he called a “national shame”.
Coming out all guns blazing against HRD Minister Smriti Irani, the AAP leader while addressing the agitating students here said her statement yesterday about Rohith Vemulas death as well as subsequent agitation by the universitys students was a clear attempt to make it a caste issue for which she must apologise.
He also demanded inclusion of Iranis name in the FIR in connection with the death. “It is shameful that a responsible minister without inquiring into the facts has already concluded that Ambedkar Students Association is casteist. He mentioned three words about the students — anti-national, casteist and extremist,” said Kejriwal.
The AAP leader, who met the group of students sitting on an indefinite fast, charged Irani with playing “dirty politics” on the issue of the students suicide.
“Smriti Irani lied yesterday and tried to play dirty caste politics and tried to play with the emotions of the students. We demand she seek an apology from the entire country for that. We appeal to the Prime Minister to remove Smriti Irani and Dattatreya from his Cabinet,” he said.
“An FIR is registered. Dattatreyas name is there; let there be action against Smriti Irani also. Her name should also be there in that FIR,” Kejriwal said.
Irani had yesterday alleged that a malicious attempt was being made to project it as a “dalit versus non-dalit issue to ignite passions” for political gains and strongly refuted allegations of interference or putting pressure on university authority to take action against the dalit students.
Observing that the government work is not done only through letters, Kejriwal said the role of all would be known after a probe into call records of all concerned.
He claimed that the HRD Minister must have called Vice-Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile many times in connection with the issue. Kejriwal also sought removal of the Vice-Chancellor.
Vemulas alleged suicide following his suspension has snowballed into a major row with BJPs rivals wading into it and demanding the removal of Irani and Dattatreya, accusing them of being responsible for the death.