New Delhi:  Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condoled the demise of Samajwadi Party founder, Mulayam Singh Yadav and called him an icon of the socialist movement.

He wrote a letter to Akhilesh Yadav and expressed grief.

“He was a leader of high esteem who was respected by everybody irrespective of party lines. He was an Icon of the Socialist Movement and had been elected to the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly and to the Lok Sabha several times. He served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and also Union Minister many times. He was a great Parliamentarian and a distinguished administrator who devoted his whole life to the service of the poor and other backward communities.”

“My wife joins me to convey to you and other members of your family our deepest condolences on this sad occasion. May God give all of you the strength to bear this great loss with courage and fortitude, ” he added.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav was a stalwart Lohiaite but had admirers across political spectrum. His tenures as CM of UP were very consequential. He played a key national role on 2 occasions: Deve Gowda & Gujral govts as Defence Min, & in 2002 when he proposed APJ Abdul Kalam for President.”

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday said Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was deeply committed to the secular and socialist political traditions.

Mulayam Singh Yadav died on Monday at a private hospital in Gurugram after prolonged illness. He was 82.

The Janata Dal (Secular) supremo said he was deeply saddened by the passing away of his longtime colleague and friend.

“He was deeply committed to the secular and socialist political traditions. Will miss him very much,” Deve Gowda said.

JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy noted that the veteran socialist leader was Defence Minister in the Deve Gowda-led United Front government.

“Mulayam ji held several other key responsibilities during his long stint in politics and tirelessly worked for the country,” Kumaraswamy said.

To mark the 89th birth anniversary of former Chief Justice of India Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, the Competent Foundation organized the third Justice Madan Mohan Memorial Lecture at Law Bhawan at Chandigarh.

The theme of the lecture was ‘Need for Legal Reforms with the advent of Technology’ wherein invited justices including stalwarts of the legal fraternity emphasized  upon the maximum use of technology in the judicial system. Earlier, President of Competent Foundation, Sanjay Tandon and Organizing Committee member Pawan Kumar Mutneja while welcoming the delegates in their addresses said that Justice Punchhi has been considered the pillar of the judiciary where he set ideals during his tenure. The purpose of organizing this annual series of lectures is to remember him on this occasion and to strengthen the law and order by considering his ideals among the law fraternity.

Intellectuals from the legal fraternity shared their experiences of Justice Punchhi with the audiences.  While emphasizing the use of technology in the legal framework, Supreme Court Justice Hemant Gupta said that the time has come to break the imperialist legal practices established way back more than 75 years ago erstwhile British Raj to adopt online legal procedures like Singapore. Citing the example of the Virtual Conference Court established in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, he stressed upon that with the use of technology, distances will no longer become obstacles and there will also be a hope of getting justice early.

Justice GS Sandhawalia also advocated law reforms with the advent of technology. In his address he said  when the world had come to a standstill due to the global pandemic Covid-19, technology intervention in the legal procedure had provided relief to numerous petitioners.

He especially congratulated Haryana’s Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan who extended an open invitation to technology in the courts of Haryana State. Apart from that, he also expressed concern towards 800 million deprived smartphone bearers who are ignorant of technology. Baldev Raj Mahajan also described the use of technology as meaningful for the legal profession. He said that his efforts are to make the judiciary a paperless court so that the entire case comes under the online scanner. He said that efforts have been intensified in this direction, as his AG office and law offices are conducting online meetings and lectures. Digitization of custody certificates has resulted in massive resource savings and courts also welcome electronic transmission. This entire process will bring accuracy and transparency in the judiciary which is in the interest of all.

The program was mediated by Advocate Satyam Tandon. During the program Bar Council President Suveer Sidhu and other noted lawyers also expressed their views on the subject.

The prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens in the national capital on Saturday hiked by Rs 3 each in step with rise in input natural gas prices.

The Rs 3 per kg increase in CNG price is the first hike in rates in over four months, while a Rs 3 per standard cubic metres increase in piped natural gas (PNG) was the first raise in two months.

CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi now costs Rs 78.61 per kg, up from Rs 75.61 per kg, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) — the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and adjoining cities.

This is the 14th increase in price since March 7. Rates were last increased by Rs 2 per kg on May 21. In all, the CNG price has risen by Rs 22.60 per kg during this period. Since April 2021, CNG prices have increased by Rs 35.21 per kg or 80 per cent, according to data compiled by PTI.

Simultaneously, the rates of gas piped to household kitchens, called piped natural gas (PNG), was increased to Rs 53.59 per standard cubic metre in Delhi from Rs 50.59 per scm, according to IGL.
It is the 10th increase in PNG rates since August 2021. In all prices have gone up by Rs 29.93 per scm, or almost 91 per cent.

IGL said rates of CNG and PNG have also been increased in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram as well as other cities where it operates such as Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Ajmer in Rajasthan.

The price increase follows the government raising natural gas prices by 40 per cent to a record USD 8.57 per million British thermal unit from October 1.

Natural gas, which is extracted from below earth’s surface, is converted to compressed natural gas (CNG) for running automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking. It is also used to generate electricity and manufacture fertilizer.
Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) – the city gas operator in Mumbai and adjoining areas – earlier this week announced a Rs 6 per kg hike in CNG price to Rs 86 per kg and a Rs 4 per scm increase in PNG price to Rs 52.50 per scm.
Analysts anticipate that CNG prices are likely to be hiked by Rs 8-12 per kg and PNG rates by over Rs 6, but in tranches, to account for the rise in input natural gas prices. Natural gas prices are up nearly 5x in just a year – from USD 1.79 per mmBtu till September 2021 to USD 8.57 now.

For each USD per mmBtu gas price rise, city gas distribution (CGD) entities need to raise the CNG price by Rs 4.7-4.9 per kg. Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.

Enforcement Directorate has seized about Rs 1 crore in cash after raids conducted in connection with a money laundering investigation into the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, official sources said Saturday.

The searches were launched on Friday at about 35 locations in Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Telangana’s capital Hyderabad.

About a crore cash has been seized from a location during the raids conducted against liquor businessmen, distribution companies and linked entities, sources said.

Some digital devices and documents were also seized, they said without disclosing the locations of all the recoveries.

Premises linked to a director of a Delhi-based TV news organisation, who is also on the board of a Telugu daily, a city-based businessman whose company imports and distributes various alcoholic beverages and a former Punjab MLA were also searched by ED officials, they said.

The federal agency has conducted more than 103 raids in this case till now and last month arrested Sameer Mahandru, a liquor businessman and managing director of liquor manufacturing company-Indospirit.

The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that had named Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as an accused among others.

The scheme came under the scanner after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021-22.

He had also suspended 11 excise officials in the matter.

The ED has questioned AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak and minister Satyendar Jain, who is lodged in Tihar Jail, while the CBI questioned a number of people and arrested businessman, Vijay Nair.

The CBI inquiry was recommended on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, officials said.

Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals having manufacturing unit at Kundli in Sonipat district, whose cough syrups have come under the scanner of the World Health Organization (WHO) alleged contamination and claimed life of 66 children in the West African country Gambia. WHO has raised alert on four cough syrup manufactured by the firm. The officers of drug control department Haryana conducted raid at the factory ands started investigation along withRakesh Dahiya. And told that five samples of cough syrup manufactured in plant has been sent for thorough investigation to Central Laboratory Kolkata for thorough investigation as regard salts used in this drug. Meanwhile Chairman Pharma Export Promotion Council  Dinesh Dua said that exporting firms are required to take  good manufacturing practice certificate from WTO and the samples of goods dispatched to Gambia allege caused death of 66 innocent children consumed cough syrup will reveal the truth about use of correct salts in medicine.  Meanwhile Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij expressed deep concern over the death of 66 children and said that atern action will be taken against those responsible for deaths if found guilty.

Police conducting raids for the arrest of both directors Naresh Goel and Vivek Goel went underground after unfortunate incident.  The manager of company and the pharmacist of manufacturing company are also absconding. Rajiv Singhal, general secretary of the All India Organization of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD), said the body had reached out to the company, which stated that according to company these products were only for export markets and have asked the DCGI (drug controller general of India) for directions to recall the products from Gambia. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has started investigation to ascertain the facts in association with the state drug controller of Haryana, where the company has its manufacturing plant.

The CDSCO took up the matter immediately with the Haryana State Regulatory Authority, under whose jurisdiction the drug manufacturing unit of Maiden Pharmaceutical, Sonepat, is located,” the Union Health Ministry said from the preliminary enquiry by the CDSCO, it had been found that Maiden Pharma is a manufacturer licensed by the state drug controller for products such as Promethazine Oral Solution BP, Kofexnalin Baby Cough Syrup, MaKoff Baby cough syrup and MaGrip n Cold Syrup, Information reveals,the company has manufactured and exported these products only to Gambia and only report of samples sent to Central Laboratory Kolkata will reveal the truth as regard cause of death of 66 innocent children allegedly consumed cough sysrup.,