The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 20

The International News Weekly India
November 10, 2017 | Toronto
13
Modi and Kejriwal responsible
for Delhi pollution: Congress
Agencies
NEW DELHI: The Congress
on Thursday said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi-led
central government and the
Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi
government must share the
responsibility for the pollution
in the national capital.
The party also asked
why they have not framed a
policy in the past six months
to control it.
"The Narendra Modiled
central government and
AAP government in Delhi
are responsible for Delhi
pollution. They cannot run
away from their responsibility
by blaming others," said
Congress spokesperson Randeep
Singh Surjewala.
"PM Modi goes to Paris
and talks about climate
change but doesn't he see climate
change in Delhi when
the toxic smog envelopes the
city," asked Surjewala.
"Be it Modi or Kejriwal
government, they cannot
run away from their responsibility,"
he said.
Surjewala added: "What
steps have the central government
taken to ensure the
farmers around the National
Capital Region (NCR) don't
burn stubble. Have they
been incentivised. Have special
machines been provided
in these regions -- which
roll the stubble and dispose
them."
"Do Modi and Kejriwal
government even know that
if the stubble is left behind in
the farmland, new crop can't
be produced there," asked
Surjewala.
The Congress leader further
said: "No farmer would
burn their farmlands willingly.
So, the government
should have come up with a
policy planning, parameters
to ensure that such a situation
was controlled. These
arrangements should have
been made about six months
back."
He said, "What steps
have they taken to stop the
construction work and vehicular
pollution in Delhi.
what is their long-term policy
to ensure a pollution-free
environment?"
Asked why Punjab Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh
was refusing to meet Kejriwal,
Surjewala said: "There is
no objection in meeting. Kejriwal
is more than welcome
to meet Captain Amarinder
Singh or anybody else."
"However, the responsibility
has to be shared between
Modi and Kejriwal.
Meetings can also be photoops.
We need to go beyond
photo-ops and optics into
real action to protect the environment,"
he said.
Why Modi is silent on corruption in BJP, ask Rahul
Agencies
NEW DELHI: Congress
Vice President Rahul Gandhi
on Thursday took a dig
at Prime Minister Narendra
Modi over a report that market
watchdog Sebi had imposed
penalties on several
entities, including Gujarat
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's
family, for "manipulative
trade", while the party
demanded that Rupani must
resign.
"Na khaunga na khane
dunga ki kahani. Shah-zada,
Shaurya aur ab Vijay Rupani
(Another story of 'will
not do corruption myself,
nor allow others')," Gandhi
tweeted.
The Congress demanded
that either the Gujarat
Chief Minister must resign
or Modi should break his
"silence" and dismiss him
over the allegations after
the Sebi charged 22 entities,
including Rupani's Hindu
Undivided Family (HUF),
with "manipulative trades"
in a little known company
Sarang Chemicals.
"'Zero tolerance for corruption'
has become 'zero
tolerance for honesty'. India
has witnessed a series of
scams, scandals and skullduggery
involving sons,
daughters and a number of
BJP leaders. PM Modi, is
however on a 'Maun Vrat'
(silent). "The latest in this
series is the brazen malpractice
and fraud indulged
by Gujarat Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani's HUF," said
Congress spokesperson
Akhilesh Pratap Singh, adding
that the Sebi found Rupani's
family entity guilty of
malpractices and artificial
trading.
The party demanded
that Rupani should resign
immediately. "An investigation
should be undertaken
about the dubious dealings
of Rupani HUF with Sarang
Chemicals Ltd. including the
reasons and considerations
for artificially manipulating
the trade volume and consequent
price of shares of the
company," said Singh.
He sought a probe into
whether any insider trading
took place and whether any
benefits, monetary or otherwise,
were exchanged, the
connection of Rupani-owned
sharetrading firm Rasiklal &
Sons with Sarang Chemicals
Ltd and if any other entities
also need to be investigated.
Singh also said it was
time for Modi to break his silence
on corruption and face
accountability.
1,800 income-tax officers involved in
raids on Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikala
Indo-Asian News Service
CHENNAI: In a massive operation
involving around 1,800 officials,
the Income Tax Department
on Thursday conducted
raids at the premises of, among
others, close relatives of jailed
AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala
and her nephew T.T.V. Dinakaran
across Tamil Nadu and
the neighbouring states.
Those raided in one of the
biggest operations in a single
day by officials comprising
10 teams across Tamil Nadu
-- including state capital Chennai
-- Bengaluru in Karnataka,
Hyderabad, Delhi, and other
places from 6 a.m. onwards
included not only AIADMK
leaders' close relatives, but also
business houses and other associates,
a tax official who did
not wanted to be identified told
IANS. The senior official said
the searches were conducted
in connection with unexplained
routing of cash postdemonetisation
through shell
companies allegedly connected
to Sasikala and Dinakaran.
He said the Income Tax
department will look at the
routing of funds within India
whereas other agencies will
look into the routing of money
outside India.
The places raided included
the residence of M. Natarajan,
Sasikala's husband, in
Thanjavur, Kodanad Tea Estate
belonging to late Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa,
Jazz Cinemas, Midas
Distilleries, Sharada Paper
and Boards, Senthil Group
of Companies, Nilgiri Furniture
in Coimbatore, Jaya TV,
Namadhu MGR and several
other premises in Tamil Nadu,
Puducherry, Hyderabad and
Bengaluru.
The operation was kept
secret, so much so that the
raiding tax officials hired
private cabs and had pasted
wedding stickers on the
windscreens of vehicles involved
in the operation so
as not to arouse suspicion.
Dinakaran dubbed the
raids "politically motivated"
and said he will not
be frightened by such actions
of the Centre, adding
that the officials knocked
at their door when his
wife was preparing for cow
'puja'. "Even if I am arrested
and jailed for 20 years, I
will come out and serve the
state at the age of 74," he
remarked. Jaya TV, a satellite
channel, and Namadhu
MGR Tamil daily, a mouthpiece
of the AIADMK, are
now under the management
control of the Sasikala faction.
Ram temple in Ayodhya
by 2018: VHP
Agencies
BHUBANESWAR: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
on Thursday said that it will take every measure to ensure
the construction of a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar
Pradesh by 2018.
The issue will be discussed and an action plan for its implementation
would be drawn up, VHP Spokesperson Surendra
Jain told reporters here at a press conference.
The VHP, which began the Ramjanmboomi movement
for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in the
1990s, will be holding its three-day Central Managing Committee
for the first time in Odisha's capital.
"In this meeting, construction of Ram temple issue will
be widely discussed and an action plan for its implementation
would be chalked out. Now, there won't be any delay. We
will take every step to construct the temple by 2018," he said.
The VHP leader said representatives from all states
would participate in the meet which will begin on November
27. Besides, there will be representation from 50 foreign
countries. He said religious conversion, cow protection and
jehadi terrorism would be prominent issues discussed.
Accusing the Christian missionaries of conspiring
against Hindus, he demanded that the state government
make public the report of the Naidu Commission, which
probed the murder of Hindu monk Laxmananand Saraswati.
"So that people could know who were the culprits in
the case."
Jain alleged that despite there being a law against conversion
in Odisha, the state government failed to protect
Hindus from conversion and condemned it for changing the
name of Abhimanyu Samsnt Sinhar road to Mother Teresa
road.