Latest news with #IHA
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Street vendors in Delhi seek transparency, safeguards in ongoing survey
A section of street vendors in the national capital has raised concerns over the ongoing survey to identify vendors across the city, alleging lack of transparency and procedural clarity. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the representatives from the Indian Hawkers Alliance (IHA), Town Vending Committees (TVCs), market associations and vendor unions highlighted several issues with the process, including technical glitches, inadequate communication and concerns over the accuracy of data being collected. "The current survey feels less like identification and more like exclusion," said Vikram Dhingra, a vendor from Lajpat Nagar. The IHA claimed the process is not fully aligned with the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and the Delhi Street Vending Scheme , 2019. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo They alleged that some vendors were being removed from their spaces before receiving official vending certificates, leaving them without legal protection. Among their demands, the IHA called for a temporary suspension of the survey until it can be monitored by Town Vending Committees. Live Events They also requested an independent audit of the survey's digital platform , issuance of barcoded receipts for vendors and greater accountability in enforcement actions. "Street vendors contribute significantly to Delhi's economy and deserve a fair and transparent process," the IHA said in a statement and added that ensuring inclusivity and proper regulation is key to promoting balanced urban development.
Express Tribune
19-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Turkey destroys 30,000 marijuana plants
Listen to article Turkey's drug squad has destroyed 30,000 marijuana plants being secretly grown in a vast terraced garden by the Tigris River that is on the UN Cultural Heritage list, media reports said on Sunday. In a joint sunrise operation involving divers and boats backed by helicopters and drones, drug enforcement agents and local police raided the Hevsel Gardens in Diyarbakir in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, IHA news agency and Cumhurriyet newspaper reported. They did not say when the raids took place. Inside the gardens, which cover an area stretching some 700 hectares (1,700 acres) between Diyarbakir Fortress and the Tigris River, they found thousands of marijuana plants growing at 31 locations. The plants would have yielded about 5.3 tonnes of cannabis, worth approximately two billion Turkish lira ($51 million), the reports said. There was no immediate comment from the interior ministry. The growers had taken advantage of the fact that vehicles cannot enter Hevsel Gardens, due to the nature of the terrain, to set up tents to conceal and protect the plants, and were using irrigation systems to draw water from the Tigris, the reports said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been arrested. In 2015, the terraced gardens -- which are still used for growing agricultural crops -- were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site alongside Diyarbakir fortress, in an acknowledgement of their historical and cultural significance. AFP
NDTV
18-05-2025
- NDTV
30,000 Secretly Grown Marijuana Plants Destroyed In Turkey: Report
Turkey's drug squad has destroyed 30,000 marijuana plants being secretly grown in a vast terraced garden by the Tigris River that is on the UN Cultural Heritage list, media reports said on Sunday. In a joint sunrise operation involving divers and boats backed by helicopters and drones, drug enforcement agents and local police raided the Hevsel Gardens in Diyarbakir in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, IHA news agency and Cumhurriyet newspaper reported. They did not say when the raids took place. Inside the gardens, which cover an area stretching some 700 hectares (1,700 acres) between Diyarbakir Fortress and the Tigris River, they found thousands of marijuana plants growing at 31 locations. The plants would have yielded about 5.3 tonnes of cannabis, worth approximately two billion Turkish lira ($51 million), the reports said. There was no immediate comment from the interior ministry. The growers had taken advantage of the fact that vehicles cannot enter Hevsel Gardens, due to the nature of the terrain, to set up tents to conceal and protect the plants, and were using irrigation systems to draw water from the Tigris, the reports said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been arrested. In 2015, the terraced gardens -- which are still used for growing agricultural crops -- were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site alongside Diyarbakir fortress, in an acknowledgement of their historical and cultural significance.
Indianapolis Star
13-05-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
'Hold us to the fire': How new Indianapolis Housing Agency CEO plans to fix troubled office
For the past two years, if one of the roughly 20,000 low-income residents served by the Indianapolis Housing Agency needed to ask a question, they had to send an email or go to one of the IHA offices. The public housing authority's phones didn't work. Ensuring that the people the agency existed to serve had a seamless way to reach administrators apparently did not fall high on the priority list. So buying new phones was one of CEO Yvonda Bean's first tasks after she was hired Feb. 17 to lead the IHA. She also decided to buy all new computers to replace the "antiquated" equipment employees had been using, along with new software after the IHA fell victim to ransomware attacks twice in recent years. "I can't speak to why something hadn't been done in the past. I can only speak to what has been done," Bean said when asked why prior leaders didn't fix the shoddy equipment. "We had the resources to be able to address the phone situation, and so that's what we did." Such fundamental first steps show how steep a hill Bean must climb after decades of financial mismanagement created poor living conditions in the federally funded agency's thousands of subsidized housing units. The dysfunction led the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make the rare decision to take control of IHA last year in partnership with the city of Indianapolis, following a HUD investigation that found IHA 'failed to meet its obligation to provide decent, safe and sanitary housing to Indianapolis residents." "We are having to essentially start from scratch, in terms of rebuilding," Bean said on May 12 while announcing a plan to reform IHA's systems and assess its dilapidated housing stock by January 2026, the end of her first year on the job. Bean, who previously led housing authorities in Columbia, South Carolina, and Lafayette, Louisiana, said she plans to update the Indianapolis agency's outdated technology, sell off seven dilapidated multi-family properties, and house more residents through the IHA's underused Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, in which the agency pays 70% of low-income tenants' rents to private landlords. HUD's recent investigation found that IHA's voucher program was in such disarray that about 1,500 of 9,000 available vouchers went unused and many participating landlords were not being paid. In addition, administrators were improperly using HUD vouchers funding to cover other agency expenses. Most of those landlords waiting for IHA money have now been paid, Bean said. Facing a backlog of maintenance needs on its 16 listed communities, the IHA will try to sell seven properties to private developers in the next two months — Hawthorne Place, Blackburn Terrace, Twin Hills, Laurelwood, Rowney Terrace, 16 Park and Beechwood Gardens. Developers would have to maintain the properties as low-income housing as part of any sale, Bean said. Bean said she will look to what other public housing authorities across the country have done to improve the situation in Indianapolis. Most agencies have shifted from trying to repair the aging properties they own to finding more landlords to partake in their housing voucher programs. Others have started nonprofit spinoffs to build new low-income units. The Trump administration's plans to cut funding for low-income housing, however, could force housing agencies to try to make limited dollars go even further, she said. "There used to be funds and resources for bricks and mortar, through a number of different initiatives that housing authorities could access," Bean said. "Those programs are no more... Traditional public housing is no more." Through IHA's development nonprofit — Insight Development Corp., founded in 1999 — Bean hopes to eventually build new multi-family units with a blend of funding sources. The most common way for developers to fund such housing now is through low-income housing tax credits, a federal program administered by state agencies such as the Indianapolis Housing and Community Development Authority. During Bean's time in Columbia, more than $100 million in new development occurred under her watch. Indianapolis housing issues: As Indy housing agency faces financial crisis, residents suffered the brunt of its neglect In Lafayette, Bean guided the local housing authority from the same "troubled" HUD designation that IHA currently faces to a place of stability. Within 18 months, HUD relinquished control of that city's agency to a board of managers appointed by local government leaders. She aims to replicate that outcome in Indianapolis, but it will take years. Even though some colleagues advised her against publicly sharing her steps to do so, Bean felt it was crucial that IHA make itself accountable to the community. "When I initially mentioned that I wanted to unveil a 12-month action plan, I was dissuaded to some degree because it was suggested that by releasing this publicly ... people will hold us to the fire for being able to deliver on these things," Bean said. "That is exactly why," she added, "it was important for me to do this."
The Independent
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Palace fires employee for stealing cash from Japan's royal family
The Imperial Palace in Japan has fired an employee for stealing cash totaling 3.6 million yen ($24,900) from Emperor Naruhito and his family over more than a year. In an announcement on Thursday, the Imperial Household Agency identified the suspect as an employee in their 20s who was one of about 80 attendants assigned to the palace or the agency building to serve the daily needs of Naruhito and his family. The case came to light in March during an internal investigation by the IHA that started in January when an assistant manager of the department noticed a discrepancy between the cash in the safe and the accounting book. When an agency official detected the loss of 30,000 yen ($207) in late March, the suspect, who just ended an overnight duty, was asked about the matter. He admitted stealing cash due to financial difficulty, the Imperial Household Agency added. The employee admitted to stealing a total of 3.6 million yen on a number of occasions from November 2023 to late March this year. He later returned the money by mid-April. The theft is an embarrassment for the royal household and officials said it's been unheard of in modern history. The money was part of a 324 million yen ($2.24 million) annual budget allocated as living expenses for the emperor, his wife Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and Naruhito's parents — former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. The IHA said it had filed a criminal complaint to the palace police and formally dismissed the employee. The assistant manager in his 40s, who initially noticed the cash irregularity in January, was given a one-month salary cut over his lax accounting management, the IHA said. IHA chief Yasuhiko Nishimura said the theft by the employee as a public servant and a staff serving the Imperial family was 'unthinkable' and 'extremely regrettable,' and apologized to the emperor and his family, NHK public television reported. He pledged to tighten discipline among the palace staff, according to media reports.
