Thursday 30 July 2015

Privilege notice against Robert Vadra over Facebook post against MPs



Lok Sabha failed to transact any business for the second straight day as confrontation between ruling and opposition sides intensified with BJP hitting back at Congress by raking up Vadra while the Congress targeted the BJP ministers.

Two BJP MP have moved a privilege notice against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra over a Facebook post. Vadra had allegedly made some negative remarks against MPs on his Facebook page, commenting over the impasse in Parliament. "Parliament begins and so do their petty diversionary political tactics..

"People of India are not fool. Regret to see India led by such so-called leaders !!," Robert Vadra said in a Facebook post. Later, in response to the comments by people on his post, Vadra wrote:"we need to win over this kind of dictatorship and intrusion in a democratic India. Have nothing to hide, so will fight this till they stop falsely accusing me !!".

Committee to examine age relaxation for civil services exam

An expert committee will examine various issues related to age relaxation, eligibility, syllabus and pattern of civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers. "The central government has received various representations on issues concerning the scheme of civil services examination (CSE) including for relaxation in maximum age limit and setting of question papers in the regional languages in the civil services (preliminary) examination," minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

BJP re-inducts Sabir Ali with an eye on minority votes in Bihar

Minority votes in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections are important and keeping this in mind the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today re-inducted former Rajya Sabha member Sabir Ali to its fold. Ali was a JD(U) MP till March 2014, when he was expelled from the party for praising Narendra Modi. He joined BJP on March 28, but was expelled the very next day after his induction faced severe criticism within the party, especially from party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who in his tweet had insinuated that he had links with arrested Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal.

India ranks third among top 10 countries for LEED green buildings

India ranks third on the US Green Building Council's annual ranking of the top 10 countries for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings. LEED is a widely used green building rating system. The top 10 list is led by Canada with a total of 4,814 LEED certified and registered projects followed by China with 2,022 such projects. India comes third with 1,883 LEEd certified projects. In comparison, the US, which is not included in the list, has 53,908 LEED certified projects.

ISIS bigger threat to US than al-Qaeda: FBI

The FBI chief has warned that the Islamic State has become a bigger threat to the US than al-Qaeda as the dreaded group has influenced a significant number of Americans through social media and instructed them to carry out attacks in their own country. The group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a former al-Qaeda commander in Iraq, has gone on to build a global network of affiliates and branches that now stretches from Afghanistan to West Africa.

Bail for Jitender Singh Tomar in fake degree case

Former Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar was today granted bail by a court in Delhi  in an alleged fake degree case with riders. A bar on his travel outside the national capital without prior permission from the court and joining the investigation as and when required, are some of the conditions imposed in the bail order. Tomar, an MLA from Trinagar, was arrested on June 9 following a probe by the Delhi police on the complaint of Bar Council of Delhi that he had obtained a fake law degree from a Bihar college. Tomar has been asked to deposit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of the like amount.

100 IAS officers came under CBI scanner in last 5 years

The government has revealed today that 100 IAS officers came under the CBI scanner in the last five years for their alleged involvement in various corruption cases with the Central Government according sanction to prosecute 66 of them. The CBI has sent requests seeking sanction to prosecute 100 IAS officer, 10 CSS Group A officers and nine CBI Group A officer since 2010,  The Centre sanctioned the CBI requests in the cases of 66 IAS officers, 8 CSS Group A officers and six CBI Group A officers during the period.

Over two hours on Facebook daily bad for kids' memory

A Canadian study has found that spending more than two hours daily on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram can put children at the risk of developing poor mental health, high psychological distress and even suicidal thoughts. The study compared time spent using social networking sites to the teenagers' self-reports of psychological well-being and unmet needs for mental health support.

All new metro stations to have toilets

Taking note of passenger amenities the government has decided that all upcoming metro stations including 32 of them under the Delhi Metro will have toilets. Direction has been issued to all metro companies implementing metro projects under 50:50 joint venture partnership between the Centre and respective state and Union Territory governments to provide toilets in the paid areas of all proposed metro stations, urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in a written reply today in Rajya Sabha.