Bhopal civic body meet resumes after 3-months; clashes erupt, Rs 25 crore ghat plan passed
The agenda included proposals to construct six new immersion ghats with a budget of Rs 25 crore, and to rename Old Ashoka Garden as Ram Bagh and Parihar Chauraha as Vivekanand Chowk.
The meeting was marked by heated exchanges between BJP and
Congress
corporators over civic issues and administrative accountability. Proceedings began with the council recognising the efforts of sanitation workers, following Bhopal's achievement of second place in the national cleanliness rankings.
Tensions rose as BJP corporators demanded a censure motion against BMC Commissioner Harendra Narayan, citing his lack of response and inaction on previous complaints.
Congress members echoed the criticism, highlighting poor road conditions, non-functional streetlights, and controversial increases in public toilet fees.
The council approved the proposals to rename Old Ashoka Garden and Parihar Chauraha. Corporators from both parties pointed to specific cases of official negligence, prompting the commissioner to issue show-cause notices to three engineers in the electricity department.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
9 minutes ago
- Hans India
PM Modi to release 20th installment of PM-KISAN from Varanasi on August 2
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 20th installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme on August 2 from Varanasi, marking another significant step in the government's direct benefit transfer initiative for farmers. The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched in February 2019 by Prime Minister Modi to supplement the financial needs of land-holding farmers. Under this scheme, the financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers' families across the country through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. The PM-KISAN scheme is one of the largest DBT schemes in the world. On Wednesday, a high-level meeting to finalise preparations for the nationwide event was held in Delhi, chaired by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan described the PM-KISAN scheme as a "historic success", highlighting its role in directly supporting farmers' incomes. He announced that the distribution of the 20th instalment would be conducted as a nationwide campaign, with events organised across all states. These gatherings will witness participation from lakhs of farmers, along with Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, MPs, MLAs, and other public representatives. The meeting also included a virtual session with 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), over 100 institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Vice Chancellors and officials from agricultural universities across India to coordinate efforts ahead of the Varanasi event. "This is not just a financial transaction but a mission to empower our farmers and raise awareness," Chouhan said. He urged that the programme be organised with enthusiasm and wide participation, ensuring it reaches farmers at the grassroots level. The upcoming 20th instalment, amounting to approximately Rs 20,500 crore, will benefit around 9.7 crore farmers nationwide. To ensure maximum participation and outreach, Minister Chouhan directed officials to engage rural networks, including Krishi Sakhis, Drone Didis, Bank Sakhis, Pashu Sakhis, Insurance Sakhis, and Gram Panchayat Sarpanches, to spread awareness about the event and mobilise local communities. "I appeal to all farmer brothers and sisters to actively join these programmes on August 2 and make this a festival of gratitude and empowerment," he added. Also present at the meeting were Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, ICAR Director General Dr Mangi Lal Jat, and other senior officials, who discussed logistical details and promotional strategies to ensure the programme's success. Under PM-KISAN, the government provides Rs 6,000 annually to eligible farmers, transferred in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each. Since its inception in 2019, the scheme has disbursed over Rs 3.69 lakh crore across 19 instalments, directly into farmers' bank accounts. On February 24, Prime Minister Modi had released the 19th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Bihar's Bhagalpur. During the event, over 9.8 crore farmers, including 2.41 crore female farmers, across the country benefited, receiving direct financial assistance exceeding Rs 22,000 crore through DBT without involvement of any middlemen.
Mint
9 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump sees emergencies everywhere. Judges are considering whether to rein him in
WASHINGTON : Across the U.S. landscape, Donald Trump sees one emergency after another, and that is posing a host of challenges for the federal courts. Since beginning his second term, Trump has declared in dozens of presidential documents that the U.S. faces emergencies requiring him to take extraordinary actions that circumvent normal government processes. That gambit offers him a path of unilateral action instead of the uncertain route of enacting legislation through Congress. On Inauguration Day, Trump declared national emergencies involving energy production, border crossings from Mexico and transnational cartels. In the months since, he has proclaimed that the actions of the International Criminal Court, California water regulations and protests against his immigration policies all constitute emergencies of one form or another. The moves have spurred many lawsuits. While the details vary, the cases share common core questions: When does the law allow Trump to claim power this way? And are the emergencies he is claiming real ones? The president's strategy faces perhaps its biggest test yet on Thursday, when his use of tariffs to address a range of commercial, political and diplomatic issues he has labeled emergencies goes before a federal appeals court in Washington. The case is expected eventually to reach the Supreme Court; if Trump wins, legal experts say he could claim broad unilateral power to regulate the economy. Almost all presidents are aggressive in their use of executive power, but Trump 'has gone further with declaring emergencies than other presidents have," says Samuel Bray, a law professor at the University of Chicago. Trump early in his second term has built a mixed record in court. Several courts have rejected his proclamation under a 1798 statute, the Alien Enemies Act, that Venezuela is attempting a 'predatory incursion" of U.S. territory through the unauthorized immigration of members of a criminal gang. The president has argued that the law gives him the authority to apprehend Venezuelans and remove them without the typical due process given to immigrants who are residing in the U.S. without permission. In June, a federal appeals court in San Francisco agreed that Trump could use emergency powers to take control of the California National Guard over the objection of its regular commander in chief, Gov. Gavin Newsom, to protect federal personnel and facilities during immigration raids in Los Angeles. Trump enjoyed some success asserting emergency powers during his first term. In 2019, after Congress declined his request to fund a wall along the Mexican border, Trump declared a national emergency and diverted to the project $2.5 billion that lawmakers had appropriated for other purposes. Congress voted to cancel the border emergency, but Trump vetoed the resolution. Lower courts found that Trump exceeded his authority, but a 5-4 Supreme Court issued a temporary order in 2020 allowing him to continue with construction. The justices never got a chance to hear argument over the issue, as President Joe Biden terminated Trump's emergency declaration in January 2021. Biden didn't fare as well when he sought to cancel student-loan debt to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, the Supreme Court said Biden's plan to forgive $430 billion in debt exceeded the powers Congress granted the president to waive or modify student-loan programs in response to national emergencies. In the tariff litigation, two federal courts found in May that Trump exceeded the authority granted by a 1977 statute, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, when he imposed tariffs to pressure foreign governments to meet U.S. demands. He said one set of tariffs was necessary to prod Canada, China and Mexico to step up their fight against fentanyl smuggling into the U.S., while another aimed to goad countries throughout the world to lower barriers against American exports. The Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs, but it can delegate authority to the president. The 1977 law allows the president to take economic steps to deal with 'unusual and extraordinary" threats to America's 'national security, foreign policy, or economy." Whether the statute provides for tariffs at all is hotly debated, as is the difficult question of whether courts can and should second-guess a president's decision to proclaim that an emergency exists. In court briefs, the New York wine importer VOS Selections and other companies challenging the tariffs say Trump himself acknowledged that there is no emergency. 'At least nine times, Executive Order 14,257 describes the trade deficit as 'large and persistent,'" the plaintiffs say. A persistent problem 'that has been a consistent feature of the U.S. economy for 50 years" can't be deemed an emergency, they say. In reply, the Justice Department says that trade imbalances have grown into an emergency over recent years. But, as it has in other cases, the administration argues that judges are powerless to second-guess Trump's determinations. 'Courts cannot substitute their exercise of discretion for the president's," the government says. Historically, that has been the practice, says Peter Shane, a constitutional scholar at New York University. 'Federal courts are usually pretty deferential to presidential fact-finding when it comes to an emergency," he says. The Constitution provides the executive branch no explicit authority to set aside normal laws, suggesting the framers 'suspected that emergency powers would tend to kindle emergencies," as Justice Robert Jackson put it in a 1952 opinion. Nonetheless, presidents have over time asserted extraordinary authority to deal with contingencies that Congress didn't anticipate—and take actions that Congress didn't authorize. President Richard Nixon, faced with a Democratic Congress critical of his Vietnam War policies and conservative agenda at home, took unilateral action on several initiatives. Congress tried in the 1970s to reclaim some of the power that Nixon had consolidated in his so-called imperial presidency. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 established procedures for the president to declare emergencies, set a renewable one-year time limit on emergency declarations and gave Congress authority to cancel an emergency declaration. Trump has invoked that act at least eight times this year. Write to Jess Bravin at
Time of India
9 minutes ago
- Time of India
'Don't Control Me': Jaya Bachchan Snaps At Priyanka Chaturvedi During Op Sindoor Speech
During a debate on 'Operation Sindoor' in the Rajya Sabha, MP Jaya Bachchan took jibes at the NDA government. Questioning the symbolic use of the operation's name, she said, 'The real sindoor was wiped off the women's foreheads,' referring to victims' widows. She accused the government of destroying the faith and trust of the people of Kashmir and urged leaders to be humble and responsible. She said that she would not make remarks to provoke a BJP-Congress fight. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi was seen giggling and trying to control her laughter during Bachchan's speech in Parliament.#jayabachchan #operationsindoor #rajyasabha #parliamentdebate #ndagovt #kashmir #indianpolitics #priyankachaturvedi #congress #bjp #toi #toibharat Read More
