1. Office of Profit Case: President Acts on EC’s Opinion, Orders Disqualification of 20 AAP Delhi MLAs
A day after the Election Commission (EC) informed him that 20 MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were guilty of holding ‘offices of profit’ by being parliamentary secretaries to ministers in the Delhi government, President Ram Nath Kovind ordered their disqualification.
The President’s decision, made on Saturday, 20 January, was notified by the Law Ministry the next day. With 20 out of 70 Assembly seats falling vacant, Delhi is now set to witness a mini state election in the next six months.
Kovind’s decision was based on the EC’s opinion that the AAP MLAs profited from holding the office of parliamentary secretary.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. ‘Common Man Doesn’t Demand Sops, He Expects to Get What He Deserves’: Modi
The government and political parties should keep out of the affairs of the judiciary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in his first reaction to the controversy that has engulfed the Supreme Court.
In an interview to Times Now, the PM responded to a question on whether the crisis in the judiciary was avoidable by saying, “I think I should stay away from this debate. The government... and political parties must also keep out of it. Our country’s judiciary has... very capable people. They will sit together and find the solution to their problem.”
In significant comments ahead of the Budget, he strongly rejected the suggestion that impending elections were a reason for the government to turn to populism. “The common man expects to get what he deserves. He doesn’t demand sops. It is our myth,” he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Om Prakash Rawat Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner
Election Commissioner OP Rawat will be the new chief of the poll panel that also got a new member in Ashok Lavasa, a former finance secretary, the government announced on Sunday, 21 January.
A 1977-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Rawat, who joined the Election Commission in August 2015, takes over as the Chief Election Commissioner from Achal Kumar Joti whose term ends on Monday, 22 January.
Rawat’s elevation came on the day President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify 20 legislators of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for holding office of profit.
Rawat had in April 2016 recused himself from a poll panel hearing to assess if the MLAs were holding office of profit after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accused him of bias.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. World Economic Forum: Year Before Polls, India Rolls Out its Big Guns at Davos
The Central government and a few states are all set to pitch for investments at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos starting Tuesday, 23 January, with investor roundtables and conferences lined up. The Indian push in Davos comes at a time when the NDA government is entering the last year of its current term, with global growth rebounding and interest shifting to other emerging markets.
Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of his delegation who will engage with global investors in the Swiss town include Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, besides senior government officials.
With printing of the Budget papers underway, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to attend the forum on Wednesday, 24 January.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. CPI(M) Central Committee Rules Out Electoral Alliance With Congress
In a blow to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, the party’s all-important central committee on Sunday, 21 January, voted down his proposal to allow a political understanding with the Congress and other parties.
Party insiders said the voting was on expected lines after a stormy debate over his draft on Saturday night, during which Yechury even offered to step down. Senior leaders stopped him, said a CPI(M) central committee member who did not want to be named.
This effectively means the CPI(M) will not enter into any pre-poll understanding with the Congress, although it could keep its options open for a pact after the 2019 general elections.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Bawana Fire: Licence Officials to Be Grilled
Delhi Police’s crime branch has begun investigations into the Bawana fire incident, which led to 17 deaths on Saturday, 20 January. The police brass shifted the case to the department on Sunday afternoon as it requires extensive investigations and follow up.
Sources say the probe remains focussed on norms flouted by the factory, indicating that more arrests were likely on the grounds of negligence.
Cops are likely to ask Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation officials to join investigations. DSIIDC issues licences for factories.
The arrested factory owner, Manoj Jain, was produced before a magistrate and sent to Tihar jail. Cops are likely to seek his remand on Monday, 22 January. The initial probe indicates that Jain and his business partner, Lalit Goel, had sought a licence to manufacture toys but were actually manufacturing crackers which were apparently being sold online.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Urgent Need for National Security Ministry, Policy: J&K Governor NN Vohra
Making out a strong case for an overhaul of the internal security apparatus, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra said on Sunday, 21 January, that the country has not been able to develop a pan-Indian approach for national security and that Central governments have not been able to convince states that they hold equal responsibility on this issue.
Delivering the 12th RN Kao memorial lecture at the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) headquarters in New Delhi, Vohra’s suggestions included a new national security policy, a new anti-terror law, a specialised national security administrative cadre and the creation of a new ministry for national security.
“It (national security) is a crying concern and as a country, we are not conscious of security concerns,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Congress to Fix Accountability For Gujarat Loss
The Indian National Congress is reviewing the performance of candidates in the Gujarat election in juxtaposition with the identity of the Congress leaders who recommended them – a move aimed at fixing responsibility for the performance of candidates on senior party men who recommend them, an idea that was first broached in a 2013 declaration by the party.
Balasaheb Thorat, the head of the party’s screening committee that shortlisted the candidates from hundreds of applicants in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently submitted a report to party chief Rahul Gandhi, according to a leader familiar with the development. The leader asked not to be named.
Officially, the Congress refused to speak on it with party spokespersons maintaining that they have not been briefed about the report.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Centre Working to Keep PF Rates Unchanged
With an eye on the possibility of early general elections, the NDA government is working on keeping the interest rate on provident fund deposits unchanged at last year’s level of 8.65 percent by dipping into the shares held by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for the extra 0.15 percent payout.
Going by the established norm of announcing returns based on its annual interest income, the payout would have been 8.5 percent. But the government plans to sell some shares that the EPFO has bought since August 2015 to shore up the return at 8.65 percent.
Sources said the EPFO would sell shares worth Rs 2,000 crore to book an estimated extra income of Rs 850 crore due to the buoyancy in share prices on the back of a spurt in the bourses. This additional gain of Rs 850 crore would be ploughed in as total earnings to determine the PF rate.
(Source: The Indian Express)
More From The Quint
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)