Mayor’s Facebook page reclaimed after a week
The Facebook page of Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi was hacked and remained inaccessible for a week. The page was re-claimed on Saturday evening after a tedious process of verification by Meta, officials said, who added that Oberoi’s staff had to continuously follow-up with the Facebook authorities for many days. The Delhi Mayor was unable to access or post anything on her official page since December 9. She had alerted her followers to remain suspicious if any “unusual activity” is reported from her page. However, it’s still not known how and who hacked her page.
Post of CEO of NDMC Smart City Ltd remains vacant
Despite deputing a new secretary, the post of CEO of the NDMC Smart City Limited is still vacant. Sources said that the reason behind this is that the newly-appointed secretary, Krishna Mohan Uppu is yet not relieved from the charge of excise commissioner at the Delhi government. Traditionally, the post of CEO of the smart city mission of the NDMC has always been held by its secretary. However, since Uppu is already managing two key portfolios, the authorities are hesitant of adding one more to his burden.
NDMC budget may highlight Centre’s schemes
The New Delhi Municipal Council fiscal budget for next year may be colored in political shades keeping in view of Lok Sabha elections which are just months away. According to sources, the political leadership in the council led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to announce schemes which could highlight the popular schemes of the Central government to help the ruling party garner votes. However, the fact remains that the area under the jurisdiction of the NDMC sees poor voter turnout. It’s inhabited mostly by government officials who remain on election duty during polls. The civic body council will announce its annual budget for the next year on December 27.
With eye on polls, Cong bid to strengthen party
Indicating its intent to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls slated to be held next year, the Delhi unit of the Congress has started strengthening its organisational structure from block to top level. Its president Arvinder Singh Lovely, after taking charge, had hinted at a massive change in the party by roping in new faces. It has now initiated the appointment of block presidents and office-bearers across 280 Block Congress Committees. Additionally, the party is planning to hoist Congress flags in every house and building. The party has also been holding back to back rallies in the city from where it is gaining momentum.
Centre spent Rs 2.4K cr on crop residue machinery
The Centre has spent Rs 2440.07 crore under its scheme providing subsidy for the purchase of crop residue management machinery and establishment of custom hiring centers (CHCs) in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and UP, revealed a report submitted before the NGT, accessed by this newspaper. Over 2 lakh crop residue machinery have been delivered to individual farmers and CHCs, and over 39,000 CHCs have been established, it was stated. The report also mentioned about other green initiatives taken in view of pollution in Delhi including an RFID (radio-frequency identity) system launch by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) for collection of toll and environmental compensation charges from commercial vehicles entering Delhi while pointing out a leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards in the recent years.
Contributed by Ashish Srivastav, Anup Verma, Jaison Wilson