Latest news with #BhagatSingh
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Time of India
FIR lodged against ex-Cong MP & vice chairman of ANSCBL for 'irregularities' in sanctioning loans
An FIR has been lodged against vice chairman of Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd (ANSCBL) and former Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma in connection with alleged gross irregularities in sanctioning huge amounts of loans to various people, a police officer said on Friday. Those named in the FIR include former chairman of ANSCB late Bhagat Singh, vice chairman Kuldeep Rai Sharma, board and directors/officials of ANSCB and other beneficiaries, the officer said. SSP (CID) Jitendra Kumar Meena told PTI, "We have received a complaint from the deputy registrar of cooperative societies (HQ) regarding gross irregularities in sanctioning loans to various people by the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank. Based on the content of the complaint, we have lodged an FIR (dated May 15). Further investigation is in progress." There are allegations that the managing committee of the ANSCB overlooked the recommendations of the loan screening committee and ignored the CIBIL report and mandatory documents while sanctioning loans, a police source said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like War Thunder - Register now for free and play against over 75 Million real Players War Thunder Play Now Undo In some cases, there are also allegations that an unsigned site verification report was submitted by the branch manager during the loan disbursement process to some of the beneficiaries. There are also allegations that loans were disbursed to some unfit applicants without following the banking norms. Live Events A police team has been constituted to investigate and they are going through all the documents (including technical aspects) related to loans sanctioned to unfit applicants, the officer said. "It seems that the irregularities in sanctioning loans have been going on for the last few years. We will file a charge sheet once the investigation is over," the officer added.
India Today
22-05-2025
- India Today
Why Agra has no place for Taj of sweets
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated May 26, 2025)The smell of syrup in the air, the hot petha rolling out of factories on both sides of the road, their candied memories travelling up and down the country in tiny coloured boxes by road, rail and now air—this is the identity of Agra's Noori Gate area. About seven kilometres from the Taj Mahal, these desi ptisseries also churn out tiny, delicate monuments to the sweetness of composite culture. If the Taj was born in Shah Jahan's mind, legend has it that the petha was born in his royal kitchen—upon a royal firman to create a sweet delicacy as pure and white as the Taj! Marble was traded for white pumpkin, Agra's magic spell was spoken, and voilathe world was suddenly SPIKEDThat magic spell is being broken. The Noori Gate petha manufactories, running unbroken since the Mughal period, have been ordered to shift out of the city. That also breaks other ties with history. In 1929, the revolutionary Bhagat Singh, after shooting down British police officer John Saunders (the Lahore Conspiracy Case that led to his hanging), spent a few days hiding in a two-storey house right here in Noori Gate area. Girish Singhal, 63, lives next to this house, beginning his petha-making career in his two-room abode in 1980. Over 40 years on, he's worried. 'I do not have the resources to go 30 km away and set up business afresh. If there's too much pressure, I'll stop making petha and open a grocery shop but not move.' advertisement Anoop Mittal, 50, another Noori Gate native, conjures up the Gilauri Patta, a special sweet made from petha. 'I make petha on the ground floor of my two-storey house,' he says. 'It's a cottage industry for my family. If I shift out, I won't be able to bear the costs. I'll have to stop.'Noori Gate has over 500 small and big units related to petha production. Over 5,000 people work here, churning out some 1,000 quintals of petha daily. For about three decades, the locality has attracted the attention of disapproving government planners due to an ironic inversion of the petha's relation to the Taj: the fear that pollution caused by this sweet-making industry could be damaging the heritage April 3, the Supreme Court ordered the evacuation of petha units from the city. It was hearing cases related to the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a designated 10,400 sq. km area around the Taj, established to protect it from pollution. After this, the Agra administration and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) have started surveying these petha is indeed an issue. After the TTZ was set up in 1983, the use of coal in kilns was banned and petha units adopted gas-based technology. In 2013, the UPPCB imposed a complete ban on the entry of coal-laden trucks into Agra. But problems persisted. According to a 2021 study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the city's petha industry generates about 17,800 kg of solid waste per day, mostly petha peels, sugar syrup and lime water. District officials say a campaign was launched in 2018 to educate petha producers about the importance of proper waste disposal, also granting aid to the big players to procure equipment for it. A large part of the industry, though, falls under the unorganised sector, beyond the pale of government traders deny petha pollution, and say the incriminating data is from a 25-year-old survey. Says Rajesh Agarwal, a leading voice from the organised part of the industry: 'Now all the units run on gas furnaces. The peel was earlier identified as waste, but now they use it as animal feed. They should conduct a fresh survey.'Dr Devashish Bhattacharya, an ENT surgeon who's fighting a case in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against petha pollution, is still sympathetic to their fate. 'If all facilities were provided on time by the government, the petha makers would not have faced any problem,' he says. Now, they face the gloomy prospect of shifting to the New Petha City in Kalindi Vihar, a 1999-vintage plan on which none of the traders were consulted.A bitter end looms to a long to India Today Magazineadvertisement
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
What happened to CYSS? Why AAP rebooted its student wing
Arvind Kejriwal NEW DELHI: With Aam Aadmi Party launching a new student wing—Association of Students for Alternative Politics—ahead of the upcoming Delhi University Students' Union elections, a key question emerges: what happened to Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti , the party's original student outfit launched in 2014? Despite early ambitions and backing from the party in Delhi, CYSS struggled to gain a foothold in student politics, failing to dominate either Delhi University or Punjab University. Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti was launched on Sept 27, 2014, coinciding with Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary. It was envisioned as a platform to bring AAP's brand of 'alternative politics' to campuses. In 2015, it made its debut in the DUSU elections but failed to win any seats. In 2018, it entered into an alliance with All India Students' Association, fielding candidates for secretary and joint secretary, but again failed to secure a victory. The wing's most notable success came in 2022, when CYSS candidate Aayush Khatkar won the president post in the Panjab University Campus Students Council elections. However, the victory did not translate into sustained presence or control, either in Chandigarh or elsewhere. In response to a question on why a new student organisation was being launched, a party functionary told TOI that'CYSS has not yet achieved the desired success. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Switch to UnionBank Rewards Card UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo This organisation has not been able to establish its sole rule in Delhi or Punjab University. Hence, AAP has made a new plan to launch the student organisation afresh and make a deeper inroad among the youth.' Speaking at the launch event of the party's student wing at Constitutional Club of India on Tuesday, the party's national convener and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal described the association as a platform for India's youth, aimed at offering them an alternative brand of politics. However, he pointed out that this student wing's key objective was not just to contest elections 'but also to build social and cultural groups in schools and colleges to unite students through ideas and creativity.' On Monday, the party in an official statement had announced that Association of Students for Alternative Politics would contest the DUSU elections. It also announced that the student wing's aim is to 'prepare 5 lakh patriots in 50,000 colleges across the country'. The relaunch of AAP's student wing appears to be an attempt to rebrand and reset strategy. While the party has not officially dissolved CYSS,there is no clarity yet if the older body has been phased out. For AAP, which has long sought a stronger student base, the success or failure of the association could determine the future of its youth outreach.
Hindustan Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Parliament breach: Accused can't compare themselves with Bhagat Singh, says Delhi HC
New Delhi, Calling the Parliament building India's pride, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said nobody could play a prank in there and those arrested for its security breach in 2023 couldn't equate themselves with martyrs like Bhagat Singh. Parliament breach: Accused can't compare themselves with Bhagat Singh, says Delhi HC A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar further asked Delhi Police to explain why the accused persons were booked for an offence punishable under the stringent Unlawful Activities Act . "Nobody can even play a prank or do something like... in the Parliament building which is of course the pride of the country. Nobody is saying anything about that. But the question is whether an offence under UA, which has stricter bail considerations, made out? There can be other Acts under which you can proceed. No problem in that. The issue is whether offence under UA is made out," the bench said. The court was hearing the bail pleas of Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat who were arrested in the case. The high court asked the police to explain whether carrying or using a smoke canister, inside and outside Parliament attracted UA and if it fell under the definition of terrorist activities. "Otherwise their liberty should be not curtailed and you can continue with the trial and they can be let out on bail. They are only on the application for bail," the bench said. The high court went on, "We are not for a minute saying that they have done a prank or a protest and this is the form of protest. No, this is not a form of protest and you are actually disrupting a place where serious work gets transited, where laws for the country are made. It is not a joke. It is not even a place where you can compare yourself to martyrs like Bhagat Singh who have done it. You cannot equate yourselves with them. Still the question is UA." Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing Delhi Police, referred to the incident on December 13, also the date of 2001 Parliament attack, and argued it was a premeditated act and the authorities were taking it "very seriously". "It has certainly caused terror in the parliamentarians, they were shocked," he added. Since the place of the incident was Parliament, Sharma said, even a small act would be viewed with a magnitude of a different variety. "This is an emerging situation and this type of an act has been done for the first time in the newly constructed Parliament," he said. The bench asked him to support his statement with a case law or any other material and posted the bail pleas on May 19. "Smoke canisters do not have metal inside them that is why they passed through the metal detectors. It does not have metal that is why it does not emit sharpness to hurt people and passed through the gates. It is the same as we use in Holi and IPL. You see it in children's parties as well," it said. As the prosecutor defended its case saying the court must see the intention with which smoke canisters were used in Parliament by the accused, the bench clarified it was not calling the actions of the accused correct. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, accused Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D allegedly jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and sloganeered before they were overpowered by some MPs. Around the same time, two other accused Amol Shinde and Azad allegedly sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi " outside the Parliament premises. The police claimed detailed investigations indicated Manoranjan and his associates had been planning a disruptive terror attack in Parliament. The trial court rejected Azad's bail plea, saying there was sufficient evidence to believe allegations against her were "prima facie" true. All accused persons Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat already had the knowledge about the threat given by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu for targeting Parliament on December 13, 2023, it added. Four were taken into custody from the spot whereas Jha and Kumawat were arrested later. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
The unknown lives of young Indian revolutionaries
Only weeks ago, reporters covering state-level Delhi politics were filling column inches about a storm-in-a-teacup controversy. The Aam Aadmi Party, recently removed from power following the assembly elections, claimed that the new victors, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had removed a portrait of the revolutionary Bhagat Singh from the chief minister's office. The BJP replied with a quick denial and hastily shot video rebuttals. To the unschooled observer, it might seem strange that circa 2025, Indian politicians are devoting so much time to the symbolic significance of Bhagat Singh. But that's the grip on the imagination that Bhagat Singh and the other revolutionaries of that era like Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru, among others, continue to have. I was powerfully reminded of this phenomenon while reading A Glimpse of My Life by Ram Prasad 'Bismil" (1897-1927), translated into English by Awadhesh Tripathi (the original Hindi memoir is called Nij Jeevan ki ek Chhata ). The book is a part of the 'Chronicles" series of Indian non-fiction conceived by the Ashoka Centre for Translation at Ashoka University. Bismil was a poet, writer, translator and front-line revolutionary involved in the famous Kakori train robbery of 9 August 1925 alongside the likes of Azad, Ashfaqullah Khan and Rajendra Lahiri. The group looted bags full of tax money collected by the British government from a train travelling from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow. Years later Bismil was captured, convicted and eventually hanged for his role in the operation. A Glimpse of My Life presents his life story in a linear, largely chronological order. The book begins from his childhood in Tomarghat village near Gwalior, the midsection moves on to his youth and revolutionary exploits in the 1920s, and the final section is a kind of manifesto-cum-prison-diary, peppered with occasional verses of both mystic and nationalistic poetry. To my mind, this book is a reminder of why the writings of Indian revolutionaries form a sort of alt-history of the interwar period in India. Specifically, the writings of Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, among others, bust three major myths, which have been sustained and encouraged by mass-media depictions, such as the countless biopics produced by Hindi and Punjabi-language cinema, an honourable exception being Raj Kumar Santoshi's sincere and kinetic The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002). The fallacious idea that Indian revolutionaries were primarily youthful daredevils whose greatest feats were more physical than intellectual. The fallacious idea that Indian revolutionaries were monomaniacally focused on expelling the British, and therefore had no plans for 'what came after" for the newly-independent India in terms of laws and policies. The fallacious idea that Indian revolutionaries, on account of their relative lack of experience, were not sufficiently cognizant of the fault lines within Indian societies, especially with respect to gender, caste and religion. To the first point, let us consider Bismil: throughout A Glimpse of My Life , there are copious quotations of well-known lines from Kabir, the Gita and several other foundational Indian texts. A bit of a polyglot, Bismil was fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bangla and probably a few other languages we do not know of. Indeed, in the original Hindi text, the narration of life events takes place in the Khari Boli register of Hindi typical of the 1910s and 1920s. But the couplets he composes and sprinkles liberally over the text are all in either Urdu or braj bhasha, a completely different Hindi/Hindustani-adjacent register. Also read: 'White Lilies': Life and death on the mean roads of Delhi As the moment of execution drew near, Bismil recited some of his own lines: Maalik teri raza rahe aur tu hi tu rahe/ baaki na main rahun, na meri aarzoo rahe./ Jab tak ki tan mein jaan ragon mein lahu rahe/ Tera hi zikreyaar, teri justujoo rahe (Lord, may your will prevail and may you prevail/ Neither I nor my desire may remain./ Till there is life in the body and blood in my veins/ May you be remembered and longed for). These were remarkably thoughtful and prescient young people with a cosmopolitan ease in the way they read and wrote about the dominant cultural and social issues of the day. In The Bhagat Singh Reader (edited by Chaman Lal and published by HarperCollins India in 2019), there is a letter Singh wrote to his beloved comrade Sukhdev Thapar on the subject of suicide. It starts on predictable lines, with the query: Is suicide justified for the revolutionary in the face of imminent capture? But the letter soon branches out to become something considerably stranger and more wide-ranging. At one point, Singh launches into a kind of comparative criticism mini-essay about realism in Indian vs Russian literature. 'Perhaps you recall that we have talked several times about the fact that the realism that one finds in Russian literature everywhere is not seen at all in our literature. We really admire the painful and sorrowful situations in their stories, but do not feel the sensation of going through that pain. We praise their intense passion and their characters to unprecedented heights, but never trouble to ponder over their reasons. I would say that it is the delineation of suffering in their literature that gives sensitivity, a sharp pang of pain and nobility to their characters." Reading Bhagat Singh makes you realise the true scale of the revolutionaries' intellectual ambitions and nation-building vision. In his letters Singh describes his vision for a socialist Indian republic where caste, gender and religion-based discrimination would be eliminated, where agrarian and labour laws would give the working-class lives dignity and security. He would cite everyone, from Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill to the Romantic poets, to support his arguments. His boundless curiosity and rhetorical flair, impressive for a man still in his mid-20s, were proof that India lost a future statesman with his passing. And Singh could be funny in a sardonic way, too, like when he writes about his British-loving classmates at college and their servile behaviour. Subhas Chandra Bose's unfinished memoir An Indian Pilgrim also has several funny episodes from his youth as well as his military career. While headed by ship to Cambridge, for example, the beleaguered Bose had to put up with the company of a pair of irritating, henpecked men who he describes with deadpan restraint. 'One fellow-passenger had been ordered by his wife not to touch beef. By another passenger he was tricked into taking 'copta curry" of beef (which he thoroughly enjoyed) under the impression that it was mutton 'copta curry". Great was his remorse when he discovered his mistake after twelve hours. Another passenger had orders from his fiancée to write a letter every day. He spent his time reciting love-poems and talking about her. Whether we liked it or not, we had to listen." Above all, these revolutionaries had the humility to concede that their paths were exceptional, and not replicable in a widespread way. Indeed, towards the end of A Glimpse of My Life , Bismil came to a similar conclusion. He suggests that for the average educated young man, 'organizing the working class and the farmers into unions" was even more important than 'secret revolutionary work". It's useful to remember that Bismil wrote this at the back end of his imprisonment, when he already knew his fate. He was thinking of the future of the nation even as his own ran the clock. It takes rare mettle to be able to collect one's thoughts in such circumstances, which is a big reason why these books by Indians revolutionaries remain enduringly relevant. Also read: Looking back at the intertwined legacies of Tagore and Ray
