Ghaziabad: Councillors suspend their round-the-clock agitation
The June 30 board meeting was called by mayor Sunita Dayal, and the councillors with a resounding majority rejected the proposal of a property-tax hike as per the new structure, saying the tax will burden residents by multiple times.
The councillors later started protesting on July 18 seeking minutes of the board meeting which had discussed the proposal for hiking property tax on June 30.
'Since the June 30 meeting, we have been demanding official minutes. But officials were not ready to give us. On Sunday, the officials arrived and accepted three demands. They also issued a letter to this effect. So, we suspended our agitation,' said Gaurav Solanki, councillor from ward 76 of Vaishali – 1.
On Sunday, the corporation officials issued a letter to the councillors saying minutes of the meeting will be issued on July 25 and made available to the mayor by 10am. The letter also stated that hiked property tax bills being sent to the mobile numbers of the taxpayers will be stopped till further order. Also, the rebate of 20% (applicable upon payment of taxes till July 31) will be extended till September 30, and its proposal will be put in the upcoming board meeting, it added.
'The Kanwar Yatra is going on well and officials and staff are engaged in different works along with the councillors. Another meeting was held today (on Sunday) with the councillors at the corporation headquarters. The secretary of the House was instructed to take immediate action on the three demands and issue a letter to the councillors,' municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik said in a statement on Sunday.
A public interest litigation filed by three former councillors against the proposed hike is pending in the Allahabad high court, with the next hearing on July 29.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
19 minutes ago
- Indian Express
From Obama's ‘treason' to missing gold reserves, the wildest conspiracy theories consuming Trump's Washington
OK, so US President Donald Trump's name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files. But who put it there? Could it possibly have been Barack Obama from his prison cell? Or a tranquilized Hillary Clinton? Oh wait, maybe it was etched onto the documents by Joe Biden's magical autopen. Or is that mixing up different scandals? It's so hard to keep up with the latest wild notions circulating in the capital and beyond. Washington is awash in conspiracy theories these days, a cascade of suspicion and intrigue promoted or denied in the Oval Office, ricocheting around Capitol Hill and cable news and propelled at warp speed across social media. No commander in chief in his lifetime has been as consumed by conspiracy theories as Trump, and now they seem to be consuming him. They have been the rocket fuel for his political career since the days when he spread the lie that Obama was secretly born overseas and therefore not eligible to be president. More than a decade later, Trump is coming full circle by trying to divert attention from the Epstein conspiracy theory with a new-and-improved one about Obama supposedly committing treason. The harmonic convergence of competing conspiracies has overshadowed critical policy issues facing America's leaders at the moment, whether it's new tariffs that could dramatically reshape the global economy or the collapse of ceasefire talks meant to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The Epstein matter so spooked Speaker Mike Johnson that he abruptly recessed the House for the summer rather than confront it. The allegations lodged against Obama so outraged the former president that he emerged from political hibernation to express his indignation at even having to address them. The whispers and questions — 'this nonsense,' as Trump put it — followed the president all the way to Scotland, where he landed Friday for a visit to his golf club. 'You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing,' he complained to reporters, suggesting, in his latest bid at conspiracy deflection, that instead of him, the news media should be looking at Epstein's other boldface friends like former President Bill Clinton. 'Don't talk about Trump,' he said. Conspiracy theories have a long place in American history. Many Americans still believe that someone else had a hand in killing President John F. Kennedy, that the moon landings were faked, that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job or that the government is hiding proof of extraterrestrial visitors in Roswell, New Mexico. Sixty-five percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters in 2023 that they think there was a conspiracy behind Kennedy's assassination. Some conspiracy theories do turn out to be true, of course, or have some basis. But presidents generally have not been the ones spreading dubious stories. To the contrary, they traditionally have viewed their role as dispelling doubts and reinforcing faith in institutions. President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate his predecessor's murder specifically to keep rumors and guesswork from proliferating. (Spoiler alert: It didn't.) Trump, by contrast, relishes conspiracy theories, particularly those that benefit him or smear his enemies without any evident care for whether they are true or not. 'There have been other conspiratorial political movements in the country's past,' said Geoff Dancy, a University of Toronto professor who teaches about conspiracy theories. 'But they have never occupied the upper echelons of power until the last decade.' Conspiracy theories are not the exclusive preserve of Trump and the political right. Around the time of last month's anniversary of the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, some on the left once again advanced the notion that the whole shooting episode had been staged to make the Republican candidate into a political martyr. Trump, however, has stirred the plot pot more than any other major political figure. In the six months since retaking office, he has remained remarkably cavalier about suggesting nefarious schemes even as he heads the government supposedly orchestrating some of them. He suggested the nation's gold reserves at Fort Knox might be missing, resurrecting a decades-old fringe supposition, even though he would presumably be in position to know whether that was actually true, what with being president and all. 'If the gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset,' he told reporters. It fell to Scott Bessent, the decidedly nonconspiratorial Treasury secretary, to burst the bubble and reassure Americans that, no, the nation's reserves had not been stolen. 'All the gold is present and accounted for,' he told an interviewer. Trump has played to long-standing suspicions by ordering the release of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an act of transparency for historians and researchers that may shed important light on those episodes. But Trump has gone beyond simple theory floating to make his own alternate reality official government policy. Some applicants for jobs in the second Trump administration were asked whether Trump won the 2020 election that he actually lost; those who gave the wrong answer were not helping their job prospects, forcing those rooted in facts to decide whether to swallow the fabrication to gain employment. Trump has likewise claimed that Biden was so diminished toward the end of his term that his aides signed pardons without his knowledge using an autopen. Biden was certainly showing signs of age, but the autopen story was conjecture. Asked if he had uncovered proof, Trump said, 'I uncovered, you know, the human mind. I was in a debate with the human mind and I didn't think he knew what the hell he was doing.' The past week or so has seen a fusillade of Trumpian conspiracy theories, seemingly meant to focus attention away from the Epstein case. Tulsi Gabbard, the president's politically appointed intelligence chief, trotted out inflammatory allegations that Obama orchestrated a 'yearslong coup and treasonous conspiracy' by skewing the 2016 election interference investigation — despite the conclusions of a Republican-led Senate report signed by none other than Marco Rubio, now Trump's secretary of state. She also claimed that Hillary Clinton was 'on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers' during the 2016 campaign. Relying on this, Trump accused Obama of 'treason,' suggesting he should be locked up and going so far as to post a fake video showing his predecessor being handcuffed in the Oval Office and put behind bars. The idea of a president posting such an image of another president would once have been seen as a shocking breach of etiquette and corruption of the justice system, but in the Trump era it has become simply business as usual. For all that, the conspiracy theorist in chief has not been able to shake the Epstein case, which reflects the rise of the QAnon movement that believes America is run by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Most of the files, the ones that his attorney general told him include his name, remain unreleased, bringing together an unlikely alliance of MAGA conservatives and liberal Democrats. It was well known that Trump was friends with Epstein, although they later fell out. So it's not clear what his name being in the files might actually mean. But Trump is not one to back down. Asked last week about whether he had been told his name was in the files, Trump again pointed the finger of conspiracy elsewhere. 'These files were made up by Comey,' he told reporters, referring to James Comey, the FBI director he had fired more than two years before Epstein died in prison in 2019. 'They were made up by Obama,' he went on. 'They were made up by the Biden administration.' The theories are endless.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
RO/ARO prelim exam held peacefully across UP amid foolproof security
The Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) Preliminary Examination–2023 was conducted peacefully across all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Despite weather challenges in several regions, the exam was completed in a fair manner, thanks to an unprecedented security and monitoring system introduced by the state government and the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). Candidates at one of the centres in Prayagraj where UP RO/ARO (Pre) Exam-2023 was held on July 27. (HT photo) This year's exam marked a significant step towards transparency, with the use of artificial intelligence for real-time monitoring—an initiative implemented for the first time in the state's examination system. Complemented by live CCTV surveillance, biometric verification and strict vigilance by the Special Task Force (STF), the exam was conducted smoothly, said officials. A total of 10.76 lakh candidates had registered for the exam, out of which 4,54,997 appeared, recording an overall turnout of 42.29 percent. The exam was held at 2,382 centres across the state, with the highest number of centres in Kanpur (139), followed by Lucknow (129) and Prayagraj (106), said UPPSC secretary Ashok Kumar. No untoward incident was reported from any district, he added. Prayagraj witnessed an attendance rate of 47.61 percent. Among all districts, Ayodhya reported the highest turnout of 52.81 percent, while Rampur recorded the lowest at 25.78 percent. Other key attendance figures included Lucknow (48.89 percent), Varanasi (49.19 percent), and Kanpur (44.37 percent), officials shared. To ensure full integrity in the process, authorities employed a fully digital and foolproof identification and entry system. Candidate verification was strengthened through an eight-step authentication linked to the one-time registration (OTR) platform. This included checks on personal details such as name, father's name, date of birth, category, and high school credentials. Entry points were equipped with biometric and facial recognition systems, while a double-layer frisking process was jointly managed by police and exam staff. Electronic devices were strictly prohibited and any suspicious activity triggered instant alerts through the AI-based monitoring system. The RO/ARO Preliminary Examination-2023 was previously held across 2,387 centres in 58 districts of the state on February 11, 2024. However, it was cancelled due to the paper leak. The arrangements received positive feedback from candidates. Many appreciated the enhanced use of technology, including QR codes, biometric verification, and iris scans for maintaining transparency. Sachin Mathur, a candidate from Varanasi who appeared in the exam at Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya Inter College in Prayagraj, noted the high level of vigilance and seamless scanning process at his centre. Pooja, a candidate from Pratapgarh, said the overall management was far better than in previous years, adding that the transport support provided by the administration ensured a hassle-free experience. Foolproof security STF units were deployed at critical locations and remained on high alert throughout the day. Authorities closely monitored individuals with a history of exam-related offences, including those out on bail. Coaching centres were kept under surveillance, with suspicious activity promptly reported. A dedicated social media monitoring cell tracked platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram to prevent leaks and misinformation. These coordinated efforts successfully dismantled cheating networks and ensured a fair exam environment. To protect the confidentiality of question papers, two separate sets—printed by different presses—were randomly selected by computer 45 minutes before the exam. Each paper came in eight jumbled versions with unique barcodes, packed in tamper-proof trunks with five layers of security. Armed guards and senior officials oversaw every stage, from treasury collection to answer sheet submission. Live CCTV monitoring at centre, district, and commission levels ensured end-to-end security. Each centre had a full administrative set-up, including sector and static magistrates, a centre administrator, co-administrators and trained invigilators. A senior officer coordinated between the STF and the commission with oversight at the district level provided by top police officials.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Over 50% candidates skip RO/ARO prelim exam in Lucknow
More than 50% of the candidates skipped the Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) Preliminary Examination–2023 in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on Sunday. Candidates at one of the centres in Lucknow where RO/ARO prelim exam 2023 was held on July 27. (Deepak Gupta/HT photo) 'Around 48.8 percent of candidates turned up for the exam. A total of 61,512 were registered to appear in the said exam held at 129 centres of Lucknow,' said district magistrate Vishak G. Some candidates alleged that invigilators forcibly removed all their 'Kalawa' (sacred thread), water bottles and other belongings outside the centres to ensure that the candidates do not resort to any kind of foul play. The exam was held in one shift from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm on popular demands of candidates. On March 2, 2024, chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered cancellation of the said exam following reports of a paper leak on social media. The CM had then directed that the exam be conducted again within six months, an official said. His decision came after a thorough review of the said exam which was conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on February 11, 2024. The complaints regarding certain questions from the question paper circulating widely on social media were discussed during the review meeting. In response, the government issued a release urging the public to provide evidence related to any attempts to influence the examination. Subsequently, in view of the evidence provided to the government and the report made available by the UPPSC, the CM ordered cancellation of the exam. Lucknow divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob inspected various exam centres with the aim of conducting the exam in a free, fair and transparent manner. She visited the Government Jubilee Inter College exam centre where she inspected all the arrangements. Security arrangements, availability of staff, seating arrangements, toilets, drinking water as well as lighting in classrooms and functioning of CCTV cameras were found to be as per the prescribed standards. Next, Jacob thoroughly inspected the exam centres of Government Girls Inter College (Samina Road), Government Girls Inter College (Hussainabad) and Shia PG College/Shia Inter College. During the inspection, all the arrangements at the exam centres were found to be satisfactory. While inspecting the control room, all CCTV cameras were found to be in working condition. Instructions were also given for active monitoring of CCTV cameras in all the rooms and to keep the recordings safe.
