Lovely buoyed by footfall in party rally at Tilak Nagar
Following the change of guard in Delhi Congress which saw Arvinder Singh Lovely being appointed as its president, the party held a rally in the Sikh-dominated Tilak Nagar area last Sunday almost 30 years after the anti-Sikh riots broke out in 1984. It was a litmus test for Lovely, who was so enthused by the footfall that he went on to pitch himself as ‘Dilli Ka Sardar’ and ‘Guru Govind Ji’s Sikh’. The party succeeded in giving the impression that it has not lost touch with Sikhs and Punjabi migrant families due to the riots in which a few of its leaders allegedly played a role.
Capital’s residents bear brunt of data blackout
Even after COVID-19 disaster, various wings of the government have not learnt that giving information to the public becomes a critical component of the efforts to contain such a situation. In its fight against dengue and pollution, the concerned departments are least bothered about making the public aware of the ground reality. While the MCD stopped releasing weekly data about the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in August, the tussle between the Delhi govt and the bureaucracy stalled the real-time source apportionment study of pollution a few days ago ahead of the peak pollution season. Amid this, the two key agencies under the Union ministry of earth sciences — SAFAR and DSS — have also stopped sharing public information on sources of pollution. Whether it’s a power tussle or a political slugfest, this disconnect between the government, bureaucracy, and political leadership is coming to the fore at a time when effective measures are imperative to save the citizens from the deadly effects of pollution.
Facing threat to life in jail, Sukesh writes to CBI
Alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, currently behind bars, has written to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that he is facing a threat to his life as he has given 164 statements against AAP leaders including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, former minister Satyendar Jain and others before a court and a High Powered Committee appointed by the Lt. Governor. Sukesh alleged that he may be “poisoned or killed” by the jail administration which reports to the Aam Aadmi Party-led city government. The letter said he was “exposing” the financial relations between him and the AAP leaders from 2014 onwards and urged the Central agency to take cognisance of the complaint immediately.
Civic agency tweaks hiring norms for PR advisor
The vacancy announced recently by the NDMC for the position of senior PR advisor has raised eyebrows, especially due to the terms of employment in terms of remuneration and qualifications. The position offers a salary of 2 lakh a month which, according to sources, is thrice the usual sum. Sources pointed out that the minimum qualification demanded for this technical job is only graduation. They said that for a senior post like this, the criteria followed during previous engagements were PG diploma in Mass Communication. Senior administration officials hinted that the vacancy could have been rolled out to hire a specific professional, citing the 2024 general election which is only months away.
(Contributed by Anup Verma, Ashish Srivastava, Jaison Wilson)