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Mamta government wants CM, not Governor, as Chancellor of state varsities

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 A fresh confrontation between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Mamta Banerejee government loomed after the state cabinet on Thursday decided to have Chief Minister as the Chancellor of all state universities instead of the Governor.

This is for the first time that the state government has taken such an initiative to break the protocol, persisting since Independence, of having the Governor as Chancellor of the state universities.

Following the state cabinet meeting at the state Secretariat, Nabanna, Education Minister Bratya Basu said that the state government will bring a bill in the Assembly proposing that the Chief Minister, not the Governor, will be the Chancellor of the state universities.

“Once the bill is passed in the Assembly, it will be sent to the Governor for his assent. In case the Governor refuses to clear the bill, the state government will bring an ordinance to implement this change of practice,” he said.

The development comes at a time when the state government and the ruling Trinamool Congress is already in a fix over the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities where two ministers of the state government have already been grilled by the central agency sleuths.

Till this report was filed there was no reaction from the Governor on this matter. However, the opposition parties have criticized the initiative.

BJP’s state spokesman, Shamik Bhattacharya said that this is a direct attempt to have a control over the autonomy of the state universities. “Since the beginning the Chief Minister had been trying to run the state as an independent entity and hence, she has taken such a decision which no state government has done before. This is against tradition and convention,” he said.

CPI-M Central Committee member and former leader of Left in the Assembly, Dr Sujan Chakraborty, contended that this initiative is aimed at having direct administrative and political control over the state universities.

“The decision has been taken at a time when roles of several state ministers and officers are in question because of rampant corruption in the education sector. This is complete politicisation of the functioning of the state agencies. On one hand, the Chief Minister is demanding complete autonomy for the central agencies, and on the other, she is trying to destroy the autonomous nature of the state universities,” he said.

Educationists seemed to be divided over this development.

Educationist, political analyst and former Principal of the then Presidency College, Dr Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay said that the Chief Minister is the administrative head of the state and a political personality.

“So, the event of the Chief Minister being the Chancellor of the university means political interference in the independent functioning of the institutions. Traditionally and conventionally the Governors, by virtue of their chairs, had been the Chancellors of the state university. I do not find any reason to break away from that convention,” he said.

Renowned historian and Sanskrit scholar, Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, however, welcomed the decision.

“Current West Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar had been creating many obstacles for the state government to function properly. The Governor is holding back many files including those relating to appointment Vice Chancellors of universities. So, the state government had no other option but to take this decision. I welcome this move,” he said.

Maharashtra

Pakistani PIO spy Ravinder Verma in judicial custody

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Mumbai: The court has ordered the remand of Pakistan Intelligence Operative PIO spy Ravinder Verma from ATS remand to judicial custody. Ravinder Verma of the police station is accused of providing secret information to Pakistan, after which the ATS arrested him. Ravinder Verma’s defense lawyer Rupali Shinde said that her client does not have any secret money more than Rs 2,000 in his account, but the ATS opposed it and said that money was also transferred to him from other accounts, after which the court ordered the accused to be kept in judicial custody for 14 days. The defense lawyer said that the girl with whom Ravinder Verma was in contact is not Preeti Jaiswal, but Jaspreet, and he was in contact with her and was affected by the honey trap and this girl is from Punjab and Delhi. The ATS has interrogated the accused, in which the ATS has been provided with many important details.

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Maharashtra

Muslim representative delegation met police commissioner Deven Bharti on Mumbai loudspeaker, stop action till Eid-ul-Adha: Azmi

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Mumbai: Muslim representatives met Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti and lodged an objection against the removal of loudspeakers from mosques, saying that only mosques are being targeted, which is completely wrong, while the principle of noise pollution is equally applicable to all, but only on the complaint of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya there is a risk of deteriorating the environment by removing loudspeakers from mosques, and a demand was also made to stop police action to maintain law and order.

Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and Assembly member Abu Asim Azmi told the media after meeting the Police Commissioner on the loudspeaker issue that Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti said that no action will be taken against loudspeakers till Eid-ul-Azha, while Azmi drew the attention of the Police Commissioner on this issue that unilateral action is being taken only against mosques. The police take action after the complaint of Kirit Somaiya and then the action starts. He said that the issue of removing loudspeakers from mosques is threatening peace in Mumbai. Azmi said that the way Kirit Somaiya and Nitish Rane are demonstrating provocations has spoiled the atmosphere of Mumbai city.

The police should also take action against them to maintain law and order. Police Commissioner Deven Bharti has assured the delegation that he will take necessary steps on this issue and action will be taken as per the law. Abu Asim Azmi, while expressing concern over mischief on Eid-ul-Azha, told the Police Commissioner that the way some miscreants are constantly trying to create conflict in societies by offering sacrifices. On Nitish Rane’s venom regarding sacrifice in societies, Azmi said that sacrifice is offered in societies and it is done legally, there is no problem in it, but some people are presenting sacrifice as an issue to spoil the environment. He said that even in Hinduism, cats are offered, then no one objects. On Nitish Rane’s demand for virtual sacrifice, he said that Islam will follow Sharia and Muslims offer sacrifices only according to Sharia and the law has allowed us to do so.

Samajwadi Party leader Yousuf Abrahani, Advocate Amin Solkar, Khateeb and Imam of Hari Masjid Maulana Zubair Ahmed Barkati were also present in this representative delegation. Yousuf Abrahani said that legal action is being taken on the loudspeaker issue and the court is also being approached, while all the conditions imposed on the loudspeaker issue are illegal, while the Supreme Court had ordered decibel control and decibels have been fixed, accordingly, loudspeakers are used in mosques, but the police are taking action under pressure from the Kirit Somaiya and the police do not have the authority to remove loudspeakers from mosques, but despite this, this process is continuing, while the Mumbai Police Commissioner has also assured of necessary action on this issue.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Cyber ​​Cell recovered Rs 1.29 crore

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Mumbai: The Cyber ​​Cell of Mumbai Police has recovered Rs 1.29 crore from the victims in the Digital Arrest fraud case. The Mumbai Crime Branch had received several complaints on helpline 1930, in which complaints of cyber fraud were received. A 73-year-old doctor from Vile Parle had lodged a complaint on the helpline. The elderly man was called on a video call by a police officer and a judge and cash was withdrawn from his bank account.

In this case, money was transferred five times from the bank account between June 2 and June 4 and Rs 2.89 crore was transferred. After registering a complaint in this case, the police filed a complaint on the NCRP portal and the nodal officer of the bank froze Rs 1.29 crore in the bank account itself for cyber crime. This action was taken under the guidance of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, Joint Police Commissioner Crime Lakshmi Gautam, DCP Purushottam Karad.

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