Kejriwal slams Modi for civil servants’ strike

With over 200 civil servants on strike here, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was dictating the functioning of Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and civil servants in Delhi.

He said the officers of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) “have become full fledged B-teams of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.

He alleged that Modi was using DANICS and IAS officers to target the Delhi government.

“LG personally attended DANICS association meeting yesterday (Wednesday) through speaker phone. LG in turn was in touch with Nripendra Misra (principal secretary to Modi) in Prime Minister’s Office,” Kejriwal tweeted.

“Government ready to give paid leave. Governance will become honest, smooth and efficient,” he said.

At least 200 senior bureaucrats of the Delhi government went on a day’s protest leave here over the suspension of two officials.

Kejriwal added that the time has come to replace bureaucrats with “professionals and sector experts”.

“Government will not tolerate corruption and insubordination,” he added.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Four nations to meet on Afghan peace talks on January 16

The first round of quadrilateral meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan, US and China will take place on January 16 to work out a clear and comprehensive road map for a meaningful Afghan peace process, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Thursday.

The efforts to facilitate the Afghan reconciliation were started on the occasion of the “Heart of Asia” Conference in Islamabad on December 9.

Diplomatic efforts will get momentum with the meeting to revive the dialogue process between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Pakistan earlier brokered the first ever face-to-face talks in early July and the second round was cancelled after the death of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar was revealed in late July.

All stakeholders are now making efforts to end the deadlock in the process that was necessary to stop the Taliban’s Spring Offensive. The Taliban launch the annual offensive in late March or early April.

Asif told the senate the quadrilateral meeting will clearly demarcate responsibilities of each stakeholder at all stages.

Talking about the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif’s recent visit to Kabul, he said the army chief carried a message to Kabul that the peace process would necessarily be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.

“It was agreed that they will pursue peace and reconciliation with Taliban groups willing to join the process,” the minister informed the upper house of the parliament.

Elements that would still continue to pursue violence will be dealt, under a mutually worked out framework, he declared.

All eyes are now on the four-nation meeting that was seen very significant to explore ways for the revival of the dialogue process.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Voting on for second phase of Himachal panchayat polls

Voting began on Friday for the second phase of Himachal Pradesh panchayat elections amid tight security.

The polling, which began at 7 a.m., is taking place for the election of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), representatives of 732 panchayats, State Election Commissioner T.G. Negi told IANS here.

Police and home guard personnel were deployed to maintain law and order.

The counting of the votes for gram panchayat elections would start soon after the polling ends at 3 p.m., while the counting of votes for panchayatsamitis and zilaparishad would be held on January 7.

In the first phase, the panchayat polls were conducted in tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti and Chamba districts on November 26.

The third and the last phase will be held on January 3 and 5, respectively.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Junior policemen don’t respect seniors: Outgoing UP police chief

Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police Jagmohan Yadav, who retired on Thursday, said nowadays juniors in the police force did not adequately respect their seniors.

Yadav, who was the top police official for some six months, was given a ceremonial sendoff at the police lines in the state capital.

In his last formal interaction with the media after a 32-year career, Yadav said that while he enjoyed his stint as the top police officer of the state, he advised the state police to be more connected to the people and try to give a makeover to the image of the force.

He, however, said that these days, juniors in the police force did not adequately respect their seniors.

He also expressed his desire that a ‘police week’, which was celebrated in the state many years back, is restarted.

Yadav was known for his proximity to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Till late on Thursday, the state government did not come up with a name as the next police chief of the state.

 Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

PM must introspect on parliament’s functioning: Congress

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the Congress to make a New Year resolution to allow parliament to function, the opposition party hit back by asking him to “introspect” instead on the issue.

“The prime minister should introspect the reason on account of which parliament is not functioning. Should he not examine the reasons instead of creating a false smoke screen? Has he forgotten the attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party between 2004 and 2014 in not allowing parliament to function?” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told media persons here.

Modi asked the Congress to adopt a resolution to allow parliament to function for the sake of the nation’s development, adding that the party that ruled for six decades did not have the right to destroy its functioning for political reasons.

“If the opposition has no right to speak, will Modi-ji tell the people of India as to under what right parliament (functioning) was blocked by the BJP during the 10-year rule of the United Progressive Alliance government?

“We believe the responsibility of running parliament is of the government and of championing the people’s issues is that of the opposition. The prime minister has given a complete go-by to constitutional norms, parliamentary values and democratic ideas,” he added.

Surjewala said: “Modi-ji only believes in his own branding, giving a complete go-by to the welfare of the poor. We urge Modi-ji and the BJP to take action against their own corrupt leaders.

“He should remove Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other tainted ministers and by all means let parliament function,” the Congress leader said.

 Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs