New Delhi: Following the bomb threat through email at several schools across the city on Wednesday, Delhi Education Minister Atishi said that so far nothing suspicious has been found in any of the schools.
“Some schools have received bomb threats today morning. Students have been evacuated and those premises are being searched by Delhi Police. So far nothing has been found in any of the schools” the Minister said on X.
“We are in constant touch with the Police and the schools. Would request parents and citizens not to panic. School authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed, ” the post said.
Multiple schools in the national capital, including DPS Dwarka, BGS International School, Sanskriti School, Indian School, St Thomas School and Amity School in Pushp Vihar, faced a chilling bomb threat via email.
Following the bomb threat, several schools informed parents that the school would be closed on Wednesday, while others sent children home after receiving the email.
A senior police official said that in the preliminary inquiry, it appears that numerous emails have been sent since Tuesday following a similar pattern.
“The emails lack a date line but include ‘bcc’, indicating they’ve been sent to multiple recipients. Currently, an investigation is underway, ” said the official.
According to police, after receiving information from schools regarding the bomb threat, local police teams along with the bomb detection team, bomb disposal squad and officials of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) reached the spot in the morning. “The schools were evacuated and a search operation is going on. So far nothing suspicious has been found, ” said the official.
New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met his counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail on Tuesday, a prison official said.
He arrived at Tihar at 12.30 p.m. and left the premises around 1.10 p.m.
After meeting the incarcerated Delhi Chief Minister, CM Mann, while talking to reporters said that CM Kejriwal asked about the latest developments in the health and education spheres in Punjab.
“He also enquired about the board results in Punjab. He has assured Delhiites that he is fine and getting insulin and medical check-ups regularly, ” said CM Mann.
The Punjab Chief Minister said that CM Kejriwal has urged everyone to go and vote.
The meeting comes a day after Sunita Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Atishi met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail on Monday, said a prison official.
CM Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged excise scam, is lodged in Tihar’s Jail No-2.
The jailed Delhi CM has provided a list of six individuals with whom he wants to meet in prison.
The ED has termed CM Kejriwal the “kingpin and the key conspirator” of the alleged excise scam in collusion with other ministers of the Delhi government, AAP leaders, and other persons.
Patan : Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi today alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to finish the reservations by changing the constitution. He pointed out, the BJP leaders were openly saying that once they form the government they will be changing the constitution.
Addressing a public rally in Gujrat, RG said, these elections were going to decide whether the democracy and constitution were going to survive in India or not. He pointed out, everything the people of this country have got has its foundation in the constitution.
But, he added, the Congress along with the INDIA bloc would protect the constitution and democracy at all costs.
He alleged that Modi wanted to finish the reservation, by schemes like Agnipath and privatisation, as he wanted to give all the benefit to a select few billionaires to whom he was handing over all the national assets and wealth.
Asserting that Prime Minister’s policies were aimed at benefiting only the rich and super rich, he said, the situation in the country right now was such that 22 people owned as much wealth as 70 crore Indians. Besides, he added, just one percent of the population was controlling forty percent of the country’s wealth.
He said, unemployment and rising prices were the main issues and still these were not being discussed and debated anywhere as Modi had completely taken control of the media.
Referring to the discrimination with people on the basis of their caste, Gandhi pointed out, how the President of India, Ms Droupadi Murmu, who is the head of the state was not allowed to attend the Ram Mandir and the new parliament building inaugurations as she belonged to an Adivasi community. He asked people whether they could see any poor, any dalit, any farmer, any backward or any Adivasi at the Ram Mandir inauguration as there was none.
Gandhi alleged that not only had Modi handed over the country’s wealth and assets to his billionaire friends, he had also waived off their Rs 16 lakh crores loan, which was enough to waive off farmers’ debt for 25 years or run the MGNREGA scheme for 24 years.
He reiterated the Congress’ promise of creating crores of millionaires. He said, while Modi had created a select few super billionaires, the Congress party will create crores of ‘lakhpatis’ (millionaires) by distributing the country’s wealth among them.
He said, first the Congress party’s government will carry out the caste census and financial survey to find out who was controlling how much wealth and resources. He said, this will be the basis for further development and progress in the country.
He announced Rs one lakh every year for one woman of every poor family in the country. He said, every month one woman in every poor family will receive Rs 8500 directly in her bank account.
To address the issue of unemployment, he said, the Congress government has guaranteed ‘pehli naukri pakki’ (first job guaranteed). He said, the Congress government will bring in a law, Right to Apprenticeship. Under this law every fresh graduate and diploma holder will have the right to one year apprenticeship with a guaranteed income of Rs one lakh,
Besides, the Congress government, he added, will waive off the debt of farmers and provide legal guarantee for the MSP of their crops.
The minimum daily wages will be increased to Rs 400 per day. Besides, the wages of Asha and Anganwadi workers will also be doubled.
He also announced scrapping the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in defence services. Besides, he said, the existing GST regime will be modified to make it less complex.
The small and medium scale industries will also have easy access to bank loans and finances.
A Village Defence Guard (VDG) member was killed in a gunfight with terrorists in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Sunday, officials said.
The exchange of fire occurred in Panara village of Basantgarh around 7:45 am when a patrolling party of police and VDGs encountered the suspected terrorists.
Mohd Sharief, a VDG member from Khaned, was critically injured in the firing and later succumbed to his injuries.
A massive search operation is underway to flush out the terrorists, who are believed to have recently infiltrated from Pakistan.
According to official sources, there was information about the movement of two separate groups of terrorists who infiltrated recently from Kathua to Basantgarh.
One group, comprising five members, was confronted, while the other group, consisting of four members, is believed to be moving through the Machedi top area bordering Kathua.
The Army has airdropped Special Forces in the forest area, and a massive search operation is underway to track and neutralize the terrorists.
Ayodhya: President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on Wednesday to offer prayers at the Ram temple, temple authorities said on Tuesday.
Barring the period when President Murmu would offer prayers to the deity, the movement of the devotees would not be regulated.
Office-bearers of the Ram temple trust said on Tuesday that the queue system would remain operational as usual on Wednesday and ‘darshan’ would go on as per the scheduled timing.
President Murmu is expected to arrive in the city by a special plane around 4 p.m., after which her cavalcade and security personnel would be escorted to the temple complex via the VIP gate.
According to senior government officials, the President would be in the city for nearly three hours.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are expected to be present in the city to welcome her.
Elaborate traffic diversions will remain enforced over the Lucknow-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur national highway and on the route connecting the Ayodhya airport to Ram Path.
During the evening hours, preparations are being made at the banks of the Saryu river to host the President when the ‘aarti’ of the river takes place.
Member of the Ram Temple trust, Anil Mishra said, “The detailed programme is yet to arrive, but we are gearing up to welcome the President on May 1. Common devotees would continue to get darshan as usual. We are taking steps to organise the high-profile visit while causing minimal inconvenience to the pilgrims.”
The queue would be regulated for a brief period only when dignitaries arrive in the temple.
Divisional Commissioner of Ayodhya, Gaurav Dayal, said, “Briefing of the government officials and security personnel will be held on Tuesday. Traffic diversions and arrangements will be done to ensure seamless movement of the President’s cavalcade.”
Continuous rainfall in Ramban has triggered landslides along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, leading to its closure. The heavy downpour caused cracks in the mountains at various points along the highway, including Mehad, Kishtwadi Patthar, and Gangru Ramsu areas, necessitating a complete shutdown of the highway.
The landslides have resulted in the blocking of the highway, with large rocks falling from the mountains making the situation more challenging. Authorities have been working since 5 am to clear the debris and stones to reopen the highway for traffic.
In light of the adverse weather conditions forecasted by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Srinagar Station from April 26 to April 30, residents living near the River Jhelum, its tributaries, and Nallahs have been advised to avoid these water bodies until the weather improves.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority (JKDMA) has issued an avalanche warning, prompting the closure of all schools in Srinagar on Monday as a precautionary measure. However, teaching and non-teaching staff have been instructed to report for duty to oversee the situation and safeguard the institutional assets of their respective schools.
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that Sunita Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Atishi will meet jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.
“The Tihar administration granted permission to Sunita Kejriwal. The meeting scheduled for last night at Tihar Jail was cancelled. At 12.30 noon, Minister Atishi and CM Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, will go to Tihar for the meeting, ” said the AAP.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also scheduled to meet CM Kejriwal on Tuesday.
CM Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged excise scam, is lodged in Tihar’s Jail No-2.
The jailed Delhi CM has provided a list of six individuals with whom he wants to meet in prison.
The ED has termed CM Kejriwal the “kingpin and the key conspirator” of the alleged excise scam in collusion with other ministers of the Delhi government, AAP leaders, and other persons.
New Delhi:The Delhi Police on Sunday registered an FIR over a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where his statements indicating a commitment to abolishing reservation quotas for Muslims in Telangana, were changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.
“We received a complaint regarding the edited video of the Home Minister. Two complaints were received by police, one from the BJP and another from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Following this, the Delhi Police Special Cell Cyber Wing’s IFSO unit filed an FIR, ” a source said.
A case has been registered under Sections 153, 153A, 465, 469, 171G of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66C of the Information Technology (IT) Act and a probe has been initiated, said the sources.
According to the FIR, a copy of which is in possession of IANS, the MHA, in its complaint, stated that it has been found that some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and Twitter.
“The video seems to be doctored, spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order issues. It is requested to kindly take necessary legal action as per the provisions of law, ” the ministry said, as per the FIR.
It also stated that a report was attached with the complaint containing details of links and handles from which the doctored videos of the Home Minister are being shared.
The controversy erupted after a video surfaced on social media purportedly showcasing Home Minister Amit Shah making statements suggesting the BJP’s intention to annul reservation provisions for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
New Delhi :A Delhi court here on Friday extended the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, co-accused Vijay Nair and others till May 8 in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The accused persons were produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja through video conferencing on the expiry of their judicial custody granted earlier. The judge also directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit a report on how much time it was likely to take to digitise the documents related to the chargesheet.
During the proceedings, ED’s special public prosecutors Naveen Kumar Matta and Simon Benjamin alleged that the accused persons were delaying the proceedings and that they were not willing to expedite the hearing.
Earlier, the court sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BRS leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till May 7 in the case. The ED alleged that Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam.
Varanasi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the inauguration of SwarVed Mahamandir in Varanasi on Monday, Decmeber 18, 2023. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
New Delhi: Calling it a “historic day”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss a batch of petitions seeking mandatory cross-verification of the votes cast in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.
The SC decision came just as PM Modi was addressing a series of election rallies in Bihar and West Bengal.
Urging the opposition INDIA bloc leaders to offer an apology for doubting the integrity of the country’s electoral process, PM Modi said they committed the sin of “creating distrust” against EVMs.
“Today, the Supreme Court has delivered a massive blow to those who plan to loot the ballot boxes… Their dreams have been shattered. The Supreme Court has made it clear today that the era of ballot paper will not return now, ” said PM Modi.
“Today, when the entire world praises India’s democracy, its electoral process, and the use of technology in the poll process, these people, for their personal interests, raise questions about the EVMs with malice. They have constantly tried to undermine democracy. But, the Supreme Court has delivered a tight slap to them today. Every leader of the INDI alliance should apologise to the people of the country, ” he added.
This is not the first time that PM Modi has slammed the opposition parties for questioning the EVMs.
Soon after winning the public mandate for the second consecutive time in 2019, PM Modi highlighted the role of EVMs, saying that everyone now talks about the percentage increase in voting instead of discussing incidents of booth capturing and looting that were normal in the past.
“I want to tell the nation that for the first time in 1977, the discussion on EVMs had started. At that time, we were nowhere in politics. It was first used in 1982. We were not there even in 1988. The dignitaries at that time from this very House had approved it lawfully.
“They had framed the law. Moreover, under the leadership of the Congress in 1992, all the rules related to the EVMs were made. Like they keep saying – ‘we did this, we did that’; this too was done by you. Now you have lost. That’s why you are crying, ” Prime Minister Modi said in his reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on June 26, 2019.
PM Modi also mentioned that the opposition parties have time and again tried to derail the election process and create disbelief in the minds of the voters.
“In 2017, there was a huge uproar regarding EVMs. Then, the Election Commission stepped forward and challenged the protesters to come forward and prove the EVMs wrong. But not a single party crying over the EVMs went to the Election Commission. The NCP and the CPI went to the Election Commission but they didn’t question the EVMs. They just tried to know how the EVMs were operated. At least the NCP and the CPI went to the Election Commission. Others who doubted didn’t go to the Election Commission even after its invitation, ” he said.
While the opposition continues to make a hue and cry about the EVMs, especially after not tasting success in elections time and again, PM Modi has gone ahead and proudly told everyone about the significant role the EVMs play during elections in the world’s largest democracy.
“With time, Bharat has also integrated the election process with modern technology. Bharat has been using Electronic Voting Machines for about 25 years. With the use of EVM, both transparency in elections and efficiency in the electoral process have increased, ” PM Modi said while addressing the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit last October.
