Delhi Chief Minister Arvind KejriwalDelhi Live Updates, September 1: As tensions continue to mount between the ruling AAP government and the BJP, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday flagged the number of cases that have been filed against his party’s MLAs in recent months. “I have brought some data with me. There have been 169 cases against 49 of our MLAs so far,” Kejriwal said in the Delhi Assembly. “We are a small party. We have just been born but there are 169 cases. Of these, 134 have been closed.” The Delhi CM added that investigation agencies have not been able to prove any of the BJP’s corruption allegations. He went on to list two demands
As the ruling AAP government continues to clash with the BJP over its ambitious Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, the state government is set to bring back the ‘old excise regime’ from Thursday (September 1) onwards. This comes after the AAP government was compelled to scrap the contentious new liquor policy over allegations of corruptions and irregularities in the drafting and implementation. From today onwards, the old excise regime will come into effect again, and will continue for the next six months till a new policy replaces it for the next financial year.
Meanwhile, Delhi L-G V K Saxena will take legal action against AAP leaders, including MLAs Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, and Durgesh Pathak for “false” corruption charges against him, news agency PTI reported quoting officials on Wednesday. Saxena termed the AAP leaders’ charge of Rs 1400-crore corruption when he was Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman as a “figment of their imagination”. Legal action will also be taken against Jasmine Shah who is the vice chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, officials added.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj and others gather outside CBI headquarters demanding a probe into the alleged 'Operation Lotus' of BJP to topple opposition-ruled state governments, in New Delhi, Aug. 31, 2022. (PTI)
Delhi L-G V K Saxena on Thursday alleged that CM Arvind Kejriwal has resorted to diversionary tactics and false accusations. "I called for good governance, zero tolerance to corruption and better services for the people of Delhi. But unfortunately Hon’ble CM Arvind Kejriwal in desperation has resorted to diversionary tactics and false accusations," he tweeted.
Three white tiger cubs born in the Delhi zoo on Thursday.
"It has been four months, and Satyendra Jain has still not got bail. Why? Because their arguments do not have merit... He used to say then also that --- nothing has been found from Satyendra Jain's locker, this speaks volumes. Now he is saying the same about Manish Sisodia," said Patra.
BJP leader Sambit Patra Thursday said that Kejriwal is not answering the questions on liquor policy because he knows Sisodiaji would get arrested if he gives reply. During a press conference at party headquarter in Delhi, "They used to give a list of people who are accused in corruption and now they are saving people indulged in corruption," he said. Kejriwalji is waiting for us to speak on other things so that the subject is diverted from liquor policy," he said.
In the Delhi Assembly on Thursday, CM Arvind Kejriwal listed out two demands for the opposition BJP: "Stop buying MLAs. They have turned this into a mandi," he said. "The second demand is that you must stop waiving loans given to your friends."
As tensions continue to mount between the ruling AAP government and the BJP, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday flagged the number of cases that have been filed against his party’s MLAs in recent months. “I have brought some data with me. There have been 169 cases against 49 of our MLAs so far,” Kejriwal said in the Delhi Assembly. “We are a small party. We have just been born but there are 169 cases. Of these, 134 have been closed.” The Delhi CM added that investigation agencies have not been able to prove any of the BJP’s corruption allegations.
From Thursday onward, only government-run liquor shops will be open in Delhi for a period of at least six months. The Excise Department is soon coming up with a new app—mAbkariDelhi—to provide customers with liquor-related information.
What changes from today:
- 300 shops will open in Delhi from Thursday and the 250 shops being run by private players will be shut.
- All discounts and offers—buy one, get one free, two-plus-three on MRP of liquor price—will be discontinued and the dry days in the national capital will once again go up from 3 to 21.
- Shops at the Delhi airport will remain shut for another few weeks as procedural requirements are still pending. Read more.
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Delhi Metro’s blue line, connecting Dwarka and Vaishali, witnessed a brief delay on Thursday morning due to a ‘passenger on track’ at Tilak Nagar, DMRC announced.
As the ruling AAP government continues to clash with the BJP over its ambitious Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, the state government is set to bring back the ‘old excise regime’ from Thursday (September 1) onwards. This comes after the AAP government was compelled to scrap the contentious new liquor policy over allegations of corruptions and irregularities in the drafting and implementation. From today onwards, the old excise regime will come into effect again, and will continue for the next six months till a new policy replaces it for the next financial year. Here's what it means.
In a first in the national capital, the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been invoked against several gangsters, including those accused of killing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. Typically, the Act is used in terror cases or incidents that threaten the national integrity.
Delhi Police officials are coordinating with their National Investigation Agency (NIA) counterparts after getting directions from the Home Ministry to take strict action against the gangsters who are in touch with several banned outfits and planning to execute targeted killings in India, it is learnt.
The UAPA has been invoked against Moosewala murder accused Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Vikram Brar as well as members of their rival gangs – Davinder Bambiha, Kaushal Chaudhary, Neeraj Bawana, Sunil alias Tillu Tajpuriya, Dilpreet and Sukhpreet alias Budha — besides absconding terrorist Harvinder Rinda. This comes after Delhi Police’s Special Cell received information that members of both gangs were procuring illegal weapons from outside the country to execute targeted killings in Delhi and other states. Read more.
In the last year, the Delhi Police has recorded an exponential rise of 1342% in the recovery of fake Indian currency notes (FICN). Police said there are multiple gangs, operating at the state and international level, which are bringing in fake notes from Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh or via Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
According to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data for 2021 specific to the national capital, more than 50,151 fake currency notes were recovered last year with a value of Rs 2.05 crore. In 2020, during the lockdown when travel was prohibited, only 3,476 fake currency notes were recovered with a value of Rs 4.16 lakh.
“The gangs mostly work through India-Nepal or India-Bangladesh borders because they are porous. After demonetisation in 2016, there was a break in the circulation of FICN from foreign countries but the gangs have started smuggling notes again. The recovered notes are of high quality and can’t be identified with the naked eye. They have the same colour, marks, security threads, texture etc,” said a police officer. Read more.
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