Newly elected MLA Sanjeev Arora inducted in Punjab cabinet, portfolio later
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has expanded his cabinet with the induction of newly elected Ludhiana West MLA Sanjeev Arora as a minister. Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administering the oath of office and secrecy to first-time MLA Sanjeev Arora at a simple ceremony at the Punjab Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday. (HT Photo)
Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administered the oath of office and secrecy to the first-time MLA in a simple ceremony at the Punjab Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. Arora took the oath in Punjabi.
This marks the seventh reshuffle of the Bhagwant Mann cabinet in just over three years.
The swearing-in took place in the presence of the chief minister, several cabinet ministers, MLAs, government officers and Aam Aadmi Party leaders.
Arora, a businessman-turned-politician, who was a Rajya Sabha member for three years, has been sworn-in as a cabinet minister.
His portfolio will be announced later, according to an official spokesperson.
He won the Ludhiana West assembly seat on June 23 by defeating his nearest Congress rival by 10,637 votes and then resigned from the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday.
With his induction, there are now 17 ministers, including chief minister Mann, in the Punjab cabinet, which can have 18 ministers.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Pacific defence pact would organise core coalition to combat China: Ely Ratner
As the Quad foreign ministers wrapped up their meeting, former US assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific affairs Ely Ratner pitched for a new Pacific defence pact that will organise a core coalition of countries to combat China in the Indo-Pacific. In an interview with HT, Ratner argued that the Quad is not prepared for high-intensity military operations in the Indo-Pacific, and stressed that India should allow more foreign military to operate in and around the country to boost interoperability with key partners. He also said that India should expand its area of focus to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where China's policies pose the threat of serious instability. Edited excerpts: Ely Ratner argued that the Quad is not prepared for high-intensity military operations in the Indo-Pacific. (X/elyratner) You recently made the case for the creation of a new Pacific defence pact. What does that mean? Why exactly does it matter? The place to start is the principal objective of the United States, which is to secure a free and open Pacific. That's an objective that's shared broadly among countries throughout the region. There is a recognition of the threat from China, which is increasingly building up the ability to revise the regional security order in ways that better meet its authoritarian interests. One of the most important questions in U.S. foreign policy through its defence strategy is how do we strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific such that China does not go in the direction of trying to revise the geopolitical order in a way that could have catastrophic consequences. My perspective is that the U.S. requires somewhat of an evolution from the traditional American approach with its alliances. Throughout most of the 20th century, and into the 21st century, you had the hub and spoke model with America at the centre and with bilateral alliances. Now, you have a more networked architecture. Given the scale of the challenge posed by China, my view is that the United States should consider leading a more formal Pacific defence pact that would bring a select set of allies together to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. This pact would be able to integrate planning, command and control, and exercises and operations in a way that would make that collective power much more effective. And the countries that I've proposed starting are the United States, Australia, Japan and the Philippines. Why these specific countries? Some have compared your proposal to plans for an Asian NATO. Also, how do you see countries like India fitting into this proposal? So the idea of a Pacific defence pact is not meant to replace other bilateral and multilateral security arrangements already present in the region. Nor would it displace existing regional institutions like ASEAN. This would coexist and overlap with other initiatives. In terms of this proposed grouping, the difference between it and NATO would be that the latter is a pan-regional organisation. That does not really apply to the Pacific defence pact since there are a number of major regional countries like India and South Korea in Southeast Asia that may not necessarily align with the grouping at this time. That being said, the idea of a Pacific defence pact could expand to include other countries that share a similar threat perception from the People's Republic of China. South Korea would be one key country in this regard. When it comes to India, in the future, there may be opportunities to cooperate in a less formal way through observer status or ad-hoc participation in exercises. I worked the India account at the Pentagon for several years. My sense was very much that India values its 360-degree approach to diplomacy and values its independence in foreign policy matters. But if India did want to join such a Pacific defence pact, I think other countries would welcome India with open arms. You've said that the Quad doesn't have a very strong defence and security focus. Why is that? Will the Trump Administration push a stronger security focus going ahead? I think the United States has been open to the Quad taking on a greater security role. During the Biden administration, we saw the Quad working more on maritime defence and domain awareness. And of course, we've seen cooperation on security through the Malabar defence exercises. But as for why the Quad doesn't have a greater security focus, the reason is that at particular points in time, other partners like Japan, Australia and India for their own particular reasons - often because of their ties to China - have been hesitant to expand the Quad's security agenda. So the focus has been on issues like providing public goods for the region. I have been encouraged by some of the recent developments I have seen. There are a lot of opportunities for the Quad to do more on security and defence. The way for that to move forward is not just for the foreign ministers to meet and discuss, and the militaries to exercise together. The defence establishments and policy arms of their defence ministries should be working much more together in the Quad format. Is the Quad ready to handle a security contingency with China at this time? Well, the Quad was born out of a response to a humanitarian disaster, and some of those activities the Quad has developed work well today. I think when it comes to higher-end military cooperation, the Quad still lacks the number of abilities that we would want to be able to operate seamlessly in a high-intensity format. Many of the things that exist among America's East Asian allies do not exist in the Quad format. For instance, on the question of force posture and reciprocal access, it would be important over time for Australia, Japan, and the United States to have more reciprocal access agreements with India, such that those countries may be able to operate in and around facilities in India. The Indian military would also be able to operate around foreign military facilities. There have been some efforts with regard to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but nothing comprehensively exists. India opening up a broader consideration of opportunities for foreign militaries to operate in and around India would allow for new types of military cooperation and deterrence as well. So force posture is one aspect of things. A second would be just on actual military planning. The Quad would need much closer efforts to try to coordinate planning among the four countries to know what kinds of roles and missions they would need to take on during a crisis or contingency to be able to operate effectively. There are a number of areas where these capabilities are non-existent or still underdeveloped. I think the efforts on maritime security do hold promise where the four countries can develop the ability to synchronise their operations in real-time. All of that should be on the table and I think those are the kinds of activities that the Quad should be aspiring for. That said, how satisfied are you with the state of the U.S.-India defence relationship at this point? Well, obviously, there's incredible growth. I think there's still strong momentum in the U.S.-India bilateral relationship. We have had some of the conversations and discussions that I was describing earlier related to border issues with China. We've obviously had an experience of ways in which we can collaborate from a capability perspective, a technology perspective and other areas related to these crises and difficulties on the India-China border. We've also had discussions on China's naval operations in the Indian Ocean. But neither of those relates to higher-end crises or contingencies with China. And neither of these conversations are being had in close coordination with the Japanese and Australians. And these conversations are also not related to possible contingencies in East Asia. So the bottom line is that there is incredible growth in India-US defence relations in getting some foundational defence agreements done and advancing defence industrial cooperation. But there are two or three areas that I think could see more growth. One is to be thinking more about how these industrial-based corporations that we're working on together are translating directly into operational cooperation. Sometimes, you can get stuck with technology-sharing cooperation agreements, and that's important because what they need to do is to be focused on the actual implementation with militaries operating together and using these new technologies. I think the second point would be to talk about India integrating more deeply with other partners in the Indo-Pacific region. The third point, from my perspective, is that it is important for India and America to work more together on the South China Sea and on possible contingencies related to issues like Taiwan in East Asia. At this time, India's defence conversations with the United States are, rightly so, related to the Indian Ocean, which also includes the East Coast of Africa and the Middle East. I understand that India is thinking about its periphery, its borders and the maritime threats from China. But when you think about the Indo-Pacific as a whole, the principal sources of instability are in the South China Sea and over the Taiwan Strait. And at this point in time, the US-India defence relationship is not really focused on these areas. It is too limiting to make the sole objective of India-U.S. defence relations simply supporting India's position and hegemony in South Asia. It needs to do more as a net security provider contributing to deterrence in the East Asia littoral. I would also point out that if China manages to achieve its objectives in the Pacific and the South China Sea, then it will truly have encircled India. So India has a very large interest in ensuring that maritime corridors in that region remain open. I would call for India and America to do more work on that front. To what extent does India's existing store of Russian defence equipment create challenges, if any, for the kind of India-US defence cooperation that you're proposing? It is a problem, but it's one that India, for its own reasons, has been addressing by reducing its reliance on Russian equipment. So what I see is that India's efforts towards indigenisation, as well as its partnership with the United States and Europe and other Indo-Pacific powers have helped diversify its defence relationships. So the trend lines are definitely moving in the right direction. But there are some areas like undersea domain awareness as well as air defence where India operating Russian equipment does create technology security – as well as interoperability - challenges for India and the United States to work together. So the US perspective is that while acknowledging that India cannot simply turn off the supply of Russian equipment, reducing reliance on Russia will widen the aperture and scope of US-India defence cooperation.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
100% waiver on water bill late fee in two months: Minister Parvesh Verma
Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma on Thursday announced that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has given in-principle approval to waive 100% of the late payment surcharge (LPSC) on all pending water bills for domestic and government users in the Capital. Minister Parvesh Verma on Thursday. (Shrikant Singh/ HT PHOTO) Announcing the decision at a press conference following a DJB board meeting a day earlier, Verma said the amnesty scheme will offer financial relief to lakhs of households struggling with inflated bills. However, the waiver will not apply to commercial users. The roll-out will take about two months, as DJB's revenue system needs major upgrades, said the minister. 'DJB's billing software is Oracle-based and very old. If we insert the amnesty feature, it will crash. We are migrating data for 15 lakh (1.5 million) consumers to a cloud-based system. Once that's done, the waiver will be implemented,' Verma said. LPSC is calculated daily at 18% per annum on the unpaid base amount. Verma added that the government is also considering scrapping the compound interest model and reducing surcharge rates to curb inflated billing. Since the surcharge will be fully waived, consumers with older dues—where penalties form a large part of the total—are expected to benefit the most. The time period to avail of the scheme and the detailed guidelines are yet to be announced. On Wednesday, Verma told HT that no further amnesty schemes will be offered for the next five years, as repeated waivers encourage consumers to delay payments in anticipation of future relief. Pending water bills have been a contentious issue in Delhi, especially during the run-up to last month's assembly elections. In June 2023, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had announced a one-time settlement for 1.17 million consumers with total dues of ₹5,737 crore. However, it was never implemented due to a standoff between the elected government and the bureaucracy. DJB, which serves about 2.89 million registered customers, has faced repeated complaints of faulty or inflated billing. In the past 12 years, it has launched five amnesty schemes offering relief ranging from 25% to 100% on principal and surcharge amounts, depending on the colony category and age of the dues. Wazirabad project revived The DJB board also revived a ₹3,715 crore plan to upgrade the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and its command area. The project, to be executed with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was first cleared in 2013 but remained unawarded until 2020, prompting ADB to withdraw. 'DJB has approved the re-initiation of the Wazirabad project with renewed ADB support,' Verma said, adding that clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs is required. He said the project cost has increased from ₹2,433 crore in 2012 to ₹3,715 crore due to delays under the 'previous AAP government'. The project will cover a 123 sq km catchment area—around 8.3% of Delhi—and benefit over 3.016 million people, or roughly 13% of the city's population. Areas to be served include Model Town, Burari, Lawrence Road, Punjabi Bagh, Shakur Basti, Shastri Nagar, Avantika, and Pitampura. 'The goal is equitable distribution, coverage of unserved areas, reduction of non-revenue water to 15%, and eventually 24x7 supply,' Verma said. Hiring to fill key vacancies To counter a staffing crunch, DJB will recruit engineers through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Of the 1,106 sanctioned engineering posts, 422 are vacant, officials said. The utility will also bring in retired PSU officers as consultants. 'These consultants will function strictly in an advisory role and hold no financial powers,' Verma said. The board also cleared ₹121.4 crore for sewerage network expansion and treatment in Sonia Vihar and the Hasanpur group of colonies, expected to benefit around 300,000 residents. To fast-track water and sewerage projects, DJB will now directly process and implement schemes for agencies such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and other land-owning departments. These will no longer require board-level clearance and can be approved at the member level. Officials said the move will prevent delays that have held up projects like the Katputli Colony rehabilitation and LIG/EWS housing in Narela. Ashok Bhasin, president of the North Delhi Residents Welfare Federation, said the upgrade was overdue but poorly coordinated. 'Roads across North Delhi, from North Campus to Roshanara Bagh, have been dug up, leading to dust, water stagnation, and mosquito breeding. The pipelines are over 60 years old and do need replacement, but the lack of planning has made daily life much harder,' he said.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
BJP's Samik Bhattacharya counters Mamata's migrant harassment claims, cites Tamil Nadu's ID checks uncovering fake Bengal documents
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claims of migrant laborer harassment in BJP-ruled states have been countered by the newly elected BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, citing identity checks in Tamil Nadu where Bangladeshi nationals with fake IDs were found. The BJP criticizes Banerjee's government over women's safety, infiltration, and vote-bank politics, vowing to bring change in the 2026 elections. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that migrant labourers are being detained, confined, and harassed in several BJP-ruled states. Responding to the claims, newly elected BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya pointed out that identity checks on migrant workers are being conducted in Tamil Nadu , a non-BJP-ruled state, where several Bangladeshi nationals with fake identity cards have been found."Tamil Nadu is a non-BJP-ruled state, and identity cards are being checked regularly. Migrant workers with fake identity cards from Siliguri and Barasat in Bengal have been identified," Bhattacharya July 3, West Bengal Chief Secretary wrote a letter to his Odisha counterpart, Manoj Ahuja, expressing concern about the continued 'harassment' faced by migrant labourers from West Bengal in Odisha.'I write to you with deep anguish and serious concern regarding the continuing harassment faced by people from West Bengal who have migrated to various parts of Odisha for livelihood. These individuals, including daily wage earners, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers, and long-settled families, have contributed meaningfully to Odisha's workforce and socio-economic fabric,' Pant wrote in the to that, around 300–400 migrant workers from Bengal were rescued and released from Rajasthan in less than a year to go for the 2026 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP announced Samik Bhattacharya as its new West Bengal after taking over as state president on Thursday, said that under West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's regime, the state has returned to the dark chapters of Bengal's history in 1946 in terms of women's former Union Minister and BJP's chief election officer Ravi Shankar Prasad , who was in Kolkata to make the announcement, slammed Mamata Banerjee over the recent South Kolkata law college rape case, lack of women's safety, infiltration, and vote-bank politics in a message of communal harmony, Bhattacharya, after receiving the new post, said during a felicitation ceremony on Thursday, 'BJP's fight is not against minorities. We want to witness a Bengal where Durga Puja and Muharram rallies will be celebrated together.'Bhattacharya, the 61-year-old BJP leader and a veteran known for his oratorical skills, is a Rajya Sabha MP. He had been part of the delegation that visited Pahalgam after the terror attack recollected how he started his journey as a party worker in South Howrah several decades ago and became the state president today. 'It took me several minutes to sink in that I will be the new Bengal president of BJP,' Bhattacharya Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed the Mamata Banerjee government over the law college rape case. Prasad said, 'It was a shame on the state government.''Mamata Banerjee is responsible for large-scale infiltration in Bengal. Banerjee has kept the gate open. When will the door close?' Prasad questioned. He also criticised vote-bank politics, infiltration, loot, and the recent incident of violence in said this would only change when power at the helm changes. 'With Bengali 'asmita', in the coming days, a change will be witnessed in Bengal,' Prasad of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he would extend full support and that the party would ensure the removal of the Mamata Banerjee government in state president Sukanta Majumdar also said that the state is set to witness a change of power in 2026, and all will fight together.
