New Delhi, June 20,2024: The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved development of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a cost of Rs 2,869 crore, a move that will give boost to tourism in the pilgrimage city also known as Kashi.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved the proposal of Airports Authority of India (AAI) for development of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi including Construction of New Terminal Building, Apron Extension, Runway Extension, Parallel Taxi Track and Allied works, an official statement said.
The estimated financial outgo will be Rs 2,869.65 crore for enhancing the passenger handling capacity of the airport to 9.9 million passengers per annum (MPPA) from the existing 3.9 MPPA, it said.
The New Terminal Building, which encompasses an area of 75,000 sqm is designed for a capacity of 6 MPPA and for handling 5,000 Peak Hour Passengers (PHP). It is designed to offer a glimpse of the vast cultural heritage of the city.
The proposal includes extending the runway to dimensions 4075m x 45m and constructing a new Apron to park 20 aircraft.
Varanasi airport will be developed as a green airport with the primary objective of ensuring environmental sustainability through energy optimization, waste recycling, carbon footprint reduction, solar energy utilization, and incorporation of natural daylighting, alongside other sustainable measures throughout the planning, development, and operational stages.
New Delhi, June 20, 2024: The government on Wednesday cancelled the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination after inputs prima facie indicated that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.
According to an Education Ministry statement, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough investigation.
Meanwhile, the fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately.
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The statement said that the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination in OMR (pen and paper) mode on June 18, 2024, in two shifts across different cities of the country.
On June 19, 2024, the University Grants Commission (UGC) received certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the examination.
These inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised.
To ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, has decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination be cancelled.
A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately. Simultaneously, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough investigation.
The statement added that in the matter pertaining to the NEET (UG) Examination 2024, the issue related to grace marks has already been fully addressed.
As regards certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. The government will take further action upon receipt of this report.
The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protecting the interests of students. It is reiterated that any individual or organisation found to be involved in this matter will face the strictest action, the statement added.
New Delhi, June 9,2024: Narendra Modi on Sunday took oath as the Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive time, at the head of a 72-member National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cabinet comprising a lion’s share of ministers from the BJP and around a dozen from its alliance partners.
Modi, clad in white kurta and churidar and donning a blue jacket, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by president Droupadi Murmu at the Rashparati Bhawan here.
The 74 year old Bhadnagar-born (in erstwhile Bombay state) leader took the oath in the name of God to loud cheers from the large number of guests which included leaders of several foreign countries.
Modi now becomes only the second Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to be elected for a third consecutive term.
Thirty Cabinet Ministers along with 36 Ministers of State and five Ministers of State with Independent Charge took oath in Narendra Modi led NDA government.
A total of 25 BJP members of Parliament took oath as Cabinet Ministers. They include Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, S, Jaishankar, Manhor Lal khatar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, Dr Virendra Kumar, Pralhad Joshi, Jual Oram, Giriraj Singh, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupendra Yadav, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Annpurna Devi, Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, G Krishan Reddy and CR Patil
Those who took oath as cabinet Ministers from other NDA constituents are JD( S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Jitan Ram Manji (HAM), Rajiv Ranjan Singh JD(U) and Chirag Paswan LJP (Ram Vilas).
The Members of Parliament, who took oath as Minister of State (Independence Charge) are Rao Inderjit Singh( BJP), Dr Jitendra Singh (BJP), Arjun Ram Meghwal (BJP), Partap Rao Jadhav (Shiv Sena) anD Jayant Chaudhary (RLD).
Jitin Prasada (BJP), Shripad Naik (BJP), Pankaj Chaudhary, (BJP) Krishan Pal Gurjar, (BJP), Ram Das Athawale ( RPI), Ramnath Thakur (JDU), Nityanand Rai (BJP), Anupriya Patel (ADP), V Somanna (BJP), Dr Chandra Shekhar Pemmasani (TDP), S P Bhaghel (BJP), Shobha Karandlaje (BJP), Kirti Vardhan Singh (
BL Verma (BJP), Shantu Thakur (BJP), Suresh Gopi (BJP), Dr L Murga (BJP), Ajay Tamta (BJP),
Bandi Sanjay Kumar (BJP) Kamlesh Paswan(BJP), Bhagirath Chaudhary (BJP), Satish Chandra Dubey (BJP), Sanjay Seth( BJP), Ravneet Singh Bittu (BJP), Durga Das (BJP), Raksha Khadse (BJP), Sukanta Majumdar (BJP), Savitri Thakur (BJP), Tokhan Sahu (BJP) Dr Rajbushan Choudhary (BJP), Bhupati Raju Srinivasa Varma (BJP), Harsh Malhotra (BJP), NImuben Bambhniya (BJP), Murlidhar Mohol (BJP), George Kurian (BJP), Pabitra Margherita (BJP) took oath as Minister of State (MoS).
Among those dropped from the Cabinet are Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur. Arjun Munda and Smriti Irani, who were members in the previous Cabinet, have lost the LS polls this time.
Top leaders from India’s neighboring countries , including Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and Seychelles Vice-President Ahmed Afif, were present in the ceremony.
New Delhi, Jun 3,2024: A BJP delegation, led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal, met the Election Commissioners in New Delhi, and urged them to take “stringent action” against those who are trying to undermine the electoral process.
In a letter submitted to ECI, BJP alleged that a coordinated attempt is being made by opposition parties, led by the Congress party, and certain motivated civil society groups, to undermine integrity of ongoing electoral process.
“These efforts are a direct attack on our democratic institutions and pose significant risks to public order and trust in the electoral system,” the letter said.
The compliant letter further said, “The decisive mandates given by the Indian electorate in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, which brought BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power, have been repeatedly challenged by the opposition through baseless allegations and actions.”
“Despite clear verdicts from the people, the opposition has resorted to a series of unfounded claims aimed at discrediting the election process,” it said.
BJP also urged EC to ensure safety and security of electoral process during counting and announcement of results, including enhanced monitoring and security measures to prevent any attempts at violence or unrest.
It also demanded that every official engaged in counting process is fully conversant with the minutest details of prescribed process and engages diligently with ECI counting protocols so as there are no deviations therefrom.
New Delhi, June 3,2024: A delegation of INDI alliance met with the Election Commission on Sunday and urged it to count the postal ballots first, as they have been playing an important role in the election results.
Addressing the media after meeting the Election Commission at the Nirvachan Sadan here, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The vital importance of counting postal ballots first and declaring the results of postal ballots first. This is very clearly stated in Statutory Rule 54 A, which specifically says that you shall take up and deal with the postal ballots first.”
“Our complaint is that this statutory rule of this 2019 guideline has been given the go by. The Election Commission has now repealed this 2019 practice. The net result is that, by a method of practice, EVMs can be counted, and if the EVM counting gets over before the postal ballots, it will still be completed,” he said.
He alleged that the Election Commission has changed the guidelines for 2019, whereas according to rules, the Commission cannot change the rules by issuing guidelines.
The Congress spokesperson said that the multi-party delegation had already met the Commission twice on this issue earlier, and today it has met the Commission for the third time on this issue.
CPI (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said that on the day of counting, when the counting officers are asked to count the postal ballot paper first, they say that orders should be taken from the Election Commission in this regard, which is not possible on the day of counting. That’s why the delegation met with the Election Commission yesterday and made this request.
New Delhi, May 29,2024: Delhi Government on Wednesday directed CEO Delhi Jal Board to impose fine of Rs 2000 on anyone found misusing water and to disconnect all illegal water connections in order to prevent water shortage in the national capital.
As per the directive issued by Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi, 200 teams of Delhi Jal Board will be deployed in the city from 8 am tomorrow to crack down on wastage of water and illegal water connections.
“There is an acute heatwave in Delhi and a shortage of water supply since Haryana is not releasing Delhi’s share of water. Under these circumstances conservation of water becomes extremely important,” Atishi said in a statement.
“However, it has been seen that there is serious wastage of water in many parts of Delhi. There are also illegal connections taken by construction sites and commercial establishments, from water supply meant for domestic use. There is a need to crack down on this misuse of water,” Atishi added.
Atishi further instructed CEO DJB to immediately deploy 200 teams across Delhi to crackdown upon washing of cars with pipes, overflow of water tanks, use of domestic water supply for construction or commercial purposes. She also directed the imposition of a Rs 2000 fine on anyone found wasting water and the disconnection of any illegal water connections at construction sites or commercial establishments.