News Digest: L-G Asks For Files on All Decisions Taken by Govt Without His Consent

Here are some headlines from the daily newspapers:

1.L-G asks for files on all decisions taken by govt. without his consent

Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday issued an order addressed to all Secretaries and heads of departments of the Delhi government asking for the files of all the decisions taken by the AAP government without his approval, reports The Hindu.

“The secretaries, principal secretaries and heads of all the departments, autonomous bodies, boards, corporations and institutions concerned should immediately review all such orders and identify by August 17 those cases where prior approval of the L-G was required but not taken,” Vijay Kumar, Secretary to the L-G, said in an order.

2. WASTE LAND - Swachh flops, roads turn bins in Dwarka

South Delhi Municipal Corporation seems to have failed in carrying forward the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dwarka Sector 23. Even after two years of the “garbage-free city“ promise, residents are going through a harrowing time over waste disposal reports Times Of India.

Every society in Dwarka Sector 23 was given two dustbins for collection of garbage as there are no dhalaos, but a few weeks ago officials from Najafgarh zone removed them and instructed residents to dump waste in open plots.

3. Spectrum auction to kick off on Sept 29

The government will kick off the biggest ever spectrum auction on September 29 and plans to assign spectrum won in the auction within 30 calendar days from the date of making the payment, which takes 10 days, reports The Business Standard.

JS Deepak, secretary of the Department of Telecommunications, said the focus was on facilitating the ease of doing business. In earlier auctions, spectrum assignment took as much as four-five months.

4. EPIDEMIC THREAT - 52 dengue cases in just a week

The capital may be staring at another dengue epidemic after 2015. The count has already reached 171, with 52 cases reported during the first week of August. This is the highest number of cases reported in one week this year. Last year, 119 cases were reported till the first week of August, reports The Times Of India.

Public health officials fear the situation may get worse than 2015. “This year excessive breeding of dengue mosquitoes has been reported and if not contained, it may lead to another epidemic,“ said a senior official from North Corporation.

5. NGT orders inspection of 200 industries in Ghaziabad

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered inspection of over 200 industries in Ghaziabad to check if borewells are installed on their premises reports The Hindu.

The direction came on a plea seeking closure of all industrial units in Ghaziabad and Hapur that extract groundwater illegally. Justice U. D. Salvi ordered the Ghaziabad District Magistrate to appoint a team of officers to conduct inspections, and submit a report to it.

6. JNU blows off Kanhaiya’s private security cover

Jawaharlal Nehru University has withdrawn the private security cover provided to its Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.

The security cover has cost the university Rs.5 lakh so far and it said that it cannot bear such an expense to provide security to a single student, reports The Hindu.

Mr. Kumar, since his release on bail after the sedition case was filed against him following the February 9 incident on campus, was being protected by the personnel of Group 4 while on campus. This was done after the Delhi High Court offered him police security, but Mr. Kumar wrote to the V-C saying he did not want the Delhi Police to accompany him on campus.

7. HRD Ministry Ready With Quality Schooling Plan

With every other report on education pointing to a major quality deficit and dipping lear ning levels, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry is readying a slew of measures towards course correction right at school and the PMO is tracking closely, reports The Economic Times.

From holding annual learning assessment surveys across states to developing a `sound' question paper for higher secondary classes and `social auditing' of how much a child manages to learn from classroom teaching, the ministry is set to roll out a full-fledged school reform programme.

8. Police fall back on beat staff to check auto thefts

With over 100 vehicle thefts being reported daily in Delhi, the police in some parts of the city are countering the menace by falling back on their beat staff and primitive methods of policing,reports The Hindu.

For years, the anti-auto theft squads (AATS) and special staff have been cracking down on vehicle thieves, but their success rate is less than 10 per cent in a city that has already seen over 22,000 vehicle thefts this year. The first seven months this year have witnessed a 30 per cent jump in vehicle thefts.

So, the south-west Delhi district police are focusing on the prevention of vehicle thefts through stronger presence of beat policemen in areas notorious for such crimes.

9. Court gives relief to cop, cites health issues

A session court has set aside an order to lodge an FIR against a policeman for allegedly forging the statement of a witness in a case. It observed that the harsh view was taken against the man without considering his medical condition, reports Times of India.

“The metropolitan magistrate has taken a harsh view without considering the medical condition of the revisionist (cop) who has undergone two heart surgeries.He has also suffered a severe paralytic attack which was visible to the magistrate as he was unable to even sign the statement given by him,“ additional sessions judge Sudesh Kumar said.

10. Patidars, Dalits See Merit in Each Other's Agitations

Patidar and Dalit agitations in Gujarat have claimed their first casualty in Anandiben Patel.

To raise the pitch of their protest movement, Dalits are holding AhmedabadUna `march for freedom'. They want their voices to be heard in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab too reports The Economic Times.

Also, Patidars are planning to rejuvenate their stir later this month. Patel activists are claiming on social media platforms that Nitin Patel lost out to Vijay Rupani in race for Gujarat CMship because of upper caste politics. Not to be left behind, Alpesh Thakore is citing the numerical strength of OBCs to demand chief ministerial position for his community.