Northeast
CBI Takes Charge
Unhappy over how the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was probing the Louis Berger bribery scam in Assam, the Gauhati High Court has ordered the CBI to conduct the investigation. Words have it that the CID was not able to act independently as some senior bureaucrats and politicians were involved in the scam. The US-based consultancy firm had admitted it paid kickbacks to secure contracts in water supply projects.
All’s In a Name
Assam’s BJP-led coalition government’s decision to build 12 colleges and name them after Deendayal Upadhyaya has sparked off another controversy. The influential All Assam Students’ Union has asked the state’s education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to build similar institutions elsewhere in the country and name them after famous Assamese personalities. The minister viewed it as a challenge and said he was taking it seriously.
Punjab
The Last Laugh
Some senior Haryana Police officers are happy with Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction for raping two women devotees. They say they were harassed by Ram Rahim. A few years ago when he arrived for a court hearing in which he was an accused, he didn’t like being made to pass through a metal detector and being frisked. For the next few days, the officer who searched him was reprimanded by his seniors and political bosses.
What’s Up on WhatsApp
Congress MLA from Mohali, Balbir Singh Sidhu, took offence to an AAP office-bearer using objectionable language against former Punjab CM Late Beant Singh and hailing his assassins as heroes in a WhatsApp group. After Sidhu sought action against him, the AAP deleted its office bearer from the group. But Sidhi believes the episode was stage managed by AAP leaders and deleting the member from the group was an eye-wash.
Chhattisgarh
PM Clears Farmers’ Bonus
Getting a green signal from PM Narendra Modi on bonus for farmers came as a relief for the Raman Singh government, who promptly announced Rs 2,100 crore as bonus to over 13 lakh farmers.
The bonus will be on paddy procured in 2016-17 to be given before Diwali this year and for 2017-18, to be disbursed during Vikas Yatra next year. The target of winning 65 of 90 Assembly seats given by Amit Shah won’t not be possible without the support of farmers, said political analysts.