IANS/PTI
States to discuss steps to empower minorities today — Naqvi
Lucknow, Jan. 17 (PTI): Minority affairs ministers and ministers of social justice from several states will discuss measures to empower minorities “without appeasement” at a meet here tomorrow, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today. The meeting would be inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Naqvi will be the chief guest. The states and union territories participating in the programme are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh. “The main agenda of the programme is development with dignity and empowerment without appeasement. Various developmental measures initiated by different state governments for education and socio-economic development are likely to come up for a threadbare discussion,” the minority affairs minister told PTI.
AAP minister calls BJP MLAs ‘blanket thieves’
New Delhi, Jan. 17 (IANS): Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain called the four BJP members in the assembly “blanket thieves” in the House here on Wednesday. Hearing his remark, the four legislators walked out. The Aam Aadmi Party leader made the remark while replying to Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta’s demand for a government report into the death of 44 people allegedly due to cold in the city. “These people (from the BJP) distribute blankets at one end and collect it back at the other end (of the line),” Jain said, terming them “blanket thieves”. Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs had protested in front of the Speaker’s podium with blankets, demanding an inquiry into the deaths.
Bengal nets over Rs 2 lakh cr of investment proposals
Kolkata, Jan. 17 (IANS): The two-day Bengal Global Business Summit organised by the state government has so far received new investment proposals worth Rs 2,19,925 crore, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced here on Wednesday. Addressing delegates on the concluding day of the meet, Banerjee said 50 per cent of last year’s business proposals and that of previous years are “in the process”. According to the state government, the 2015 summit had fetched investment proposals of Rs 2.43 lakh crore and the 2016 edition received over Rs 2.5 lakh crore of investment proposals. Terming the fourth edition of the business summit a successful event, she said 1,040 B2B and 40 B2G meetings were held in the summit and 110 MoUs would be signed. The next year’s summit will be held on February 7 and 8.
Class I student stabbed by senior girl in Lucknow school, critical
Lucknow, Jan. 17 (IANS): A Class 1 student of a local school was in critical condition after he was stabbed by an unidentified girl student, police said on Wednesday. Hrithik was found bleeding profusely and unconscious at Brightland school in Triveni Nagar on Tuesday. School Principal Reena Manas said the crime occurred after the morning assembly and that the boy was admitted to the Trauma Centre at King George’s Medical University. The boy told police that a ‘didi’ sporting a boy-cut hair style first took him to the bathroom, thrashed him, and then stabbed him with a knife. He told his parents and police that he could identify the girl. Officials said the bathroom on the second floor was sealed on Wednesday and police were looking for the accused.
As many as 16 people, including a prominent builder, were arrested in connection with the seizure of nearly Rs 97 crore in demonetised currency notes kept in gunny bags stacked inside a bed from the builder’s ancestral house here. The UP government said prima facie no terror link had been established. Among those nabbed, four were involved in the conversion of illegal money in the Swaroop Nagar area, leaving police baffled as to whether some bank employees were involved in clandestinely replacing the demonetised currency notes in strong rooms. Police suspected the possible role of even some RBI staff in the matter and was investigating from that angle too. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has its regional office in Kanpur.
Parents whose children study in Delhi government schools will have real-time access to CCTV footage of classrooms to ensure transparency and safety of children, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday. Kejriwal tweeted that he reviewed the progress of installation of CCTV cameras in each class in all government schools. “Each parent will be given access to see his child studying in class on real-time basis on his phone. This will make the whole system transparent and accountable. It will ensure safety of kids,” he said.
A cyber police force will be raised under home ministry to keep a tab on the crimes dominating the internet space, Union minister Rajnath Singh said here today. Chairing a meeting on the action plan for the newly created Cyber and Information Security (CIS) Division of the ministry, Singh said an Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Cyber Police Force will set up under the CIS. He directed for an effective mechanism to strictly monitor cyber space and block website flouting India’s laws, especially child porn.
Six months after a 27- year-old man was killed in an accident in Saudi Arabia, his mother, a resident of a village here, is still waiting for the body to arrive despite assurances by the authorities. The deceased went to Saudi Arabia four years ago to take up a job opportunity, Shakuntala Devi said. She added that she was assured by District Magistrate Virendra Kumar Singh that the needful would be done to bring her son back. Asked about the issue, the district magistrate said the Ministry of External Affairs had sought certain information in this regard, adding that efforts were being made to bring the body fast and hand it over to the family.
