Rahul to launch Congress campaign in Kerala

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will reach Kerala on Tuesday to virtually kickstart the ruling UDF’s campaign for the coming assembly elections.

“He is expected to make some important announcements,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here.

On his arrival here, Gandhi will attend the valedictory meeting of state Congress president V.M. Sudheeran’s state-wide yatra that has reached the capital city.

On Wednesday, he will take part in the executive meeting of the party unit besides meeting senior Congress leaders.

The elections to the 140-member Kerala assembly are expected to be held in April-May.

In 2011, the Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front (UDF), contested in 82 constituencies. It won 38 seats.

With erstwhile allies Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and Janadhipatya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) breaking up and the Kerala Congress’ (Pillai) lone legislator joining the Left, the Congress may contest nine seats more.

The Indian Union Muslim League, the second largest ally of the UDF, is likely to get 24 seats to contest.

The Kerala Congress (Mani), which contested 15 seats last time and won nine, is expected to bargain for more seats. Ditto for the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Janata Dal-U.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

245 villages electrified last week: Government

The union power ministry electrified 245 villages in India during the first week of February under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna, a ministry said on Monday.

“Of these electrified villages, 82 villages belong to Assam, 77 in Odisha, 69 in Jharkhand, 13 to Chhattisgarh and two each in Tripura and Madhya Pradesh,” the ministry said in a statement here.

A total of 5,027 villages have been electrified during 2015-16, till date, the statement said.

The government said it has decided to electrify the remaining 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 1, 2018.

“Out of the remaining 13,425 villages, 10,487 villages are to be electrified through grid; 1,997 villages through off-grid where grid solutions are out of reach due to geographical barriers and 941 villages are to be electrified by the their state governments,” it said.

“The project has been taken on mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezed implementation schedule of 12 months with 12-stage milestones for village electrification monitoring with defined timelines,” the statement added.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

AAP government files appeal on nursery admissions

The AAP government on Monday approached the Delhi High Court, challenging a single bench order that restored the management quota for nursery admissions in private unaided schools in Delhi.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath agreed to hear the appeal of Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government on Wednesday.

A bench of Justice Manmohan on February 4, in an interim order, put on hold the city government’s January 6 circular scrapping 62 criteria, including the management quota, but accepted 11 criteria proposed by the private schools’ association, saying some of the 62 criteria fixed for private schools for nursery admissions were “untenable”.

The court restored the management quota, saying the private unaided private schools are “entitled to full autonomy” in administration.

The government filing the appeal before division bench said the practice of management quota was “deleterious” for school education’s development in Delhi and hence “must be stopped” and also it was “wholly non-transparent and susceptible to misuse”.

Upholding the autonomy of private unaided schools, the court said: “Promoters of a school who make investment at their own personal risk are entitled to full autonomy in administration, including the right to admit students”, and held that the government’s order infringed on their autonomy and students’ rights.

“The private unaided schools have maximum autonomy in day-to-day administration, including the right to admit students,” it said but asked the AAP government to take action against erring private schools which were “demanding money” from parents to admit kids under the management quota.

The January 6 order was passed “without any authority under law” or without approval of Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, and was in direct conflict with the 2007 order (after recommendations of the expert Ganguly Committee) issued by the Lt. Governor, which accorded freedom to private unaided recognised schools to frame their own guidelines for nursery admissions, it added.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on January 6 said the decision to scrap the management quota was taken to bring in more transparency in the admission process, while the existing provision of 25 percent seats for students from poor families would remain in place.

Currently, the schools keep 20 percent or even more seats under the management quota, while 25 percent seats are reserved for students from economically weaker sections.

The remaining are open for the general category.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

‘Return of jungle raj’ is an opposition conspiracy: Lalu Prasad

The “return of Jungle Raj in Bihar” is a lie spread by the opposition parties in their attempt to defame the state, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has said.

“Opposition parties are talking and spreading falsehood of return of ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar as part of conspiracy to defame the state again,” Lalu told reporters here on Sunday after his arrival from Delhi.

Lalu also dismissed the demand made on Saturday by Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan that President’s Rule be imposed in Bihar in view of the deteriorating law and order situation under the government of the ‘Grand Alliance’ of JD-U, RJD and the Congress.

Rule of law prevails in Bihar and there is no place for violence and lawlessness, said Lalu whose two sons, Tejaswi Prasad and Tej Pratap, are ministers in the state government, the former also being the deputy chief minister.

Chirag, son of Union minister Ramvilas Paswan, had spoken in the context of the killing on Friday of his party leader Brijnathi Singh by some people here. Singh was a criminal-turned-politician, known once as the terror of Raghopur area in Vaishali district.

“Brijnathji was shot dead within 10-15 km of the chief minister’s house. He was shot dead only because he and his family fought against Laluji in the VidhanSabha polls. I would definitely want to ask the chief minister if this is not political rivalry, then what is?” Chirag was quoted as saying in a media report.

Lalu said the opposition is not ready to realise its rejection by the people in the elections and so is trying to paint Bihar in a poor light.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

BJP welcomes TRAI decision, says will boost ‘Digital India’

The BJP on Monday welcomed the decision of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) against discriminatory pricing of data content, saying it will give a strong impetus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘Digital India’.

In a statement issued by Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the party said the decision was an expression of popular will and it will give a strong impetus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a Digital India.

“The BJP wholeheartedly welcomes the TRAI decision on differential pricing. The decision is a clear expression of popular will. The decision is fully in line with the BJP-led NDA government’s vision of open and fair Internet and support to net neutrality, which it has reiterated time and again, on the floor of the parliament and outside,” the statement said.

The statement said the National Democratic Alliance government ensured unparalleled transparency in the entire issue of net neutrality.

“The BJP is confident that today’s decision will give a strong impetus to PM Modi’s dream of a Digital India. The party notes with joy that this decision was taken after extensive consultations between various stakeholders across the spectrum,” the statement said.

The party also attacked the Congress, saying it sought to mislead the people and stood exposed.

“The Congress tried its best to create an atmosphere of distrust and fear while the process was going on and in the process made a deplorable attempt to mislead the people for the sake of petty politics. Today they stand completely exposed,” the statement said.

It said the government made sure proper processes were followed at all levels “which eventually led to the victory of an open and equal Internet”.

The telecom watchdog on Monday said no to discriminatory pricing of data content in a move seen as an endorsement of net neutrality and a setback to offerings such as Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs