Latest news with #PratibhaSharma
Time of India
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Ma' for masjid, ‘Na' for namaz: ABVP accuses MP school of using 'Islamic content' in Hindi charts; probe ordered
(Ai-generated image) NEW DELHI: A school in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district is facing backlash after alphabet charts with Islamic references were allegedly distributed to students. The incident triggered protests and a government inquiry. Officials on Saturday said Baby Convent School principal I A Qureshi is accused of handing out Hindi alphabet charts where 'Ka' stood for Kaba, 'Ma' for Masjid and 'Na' for Namaz. According to protesters, the material was inappropriate for a school setting. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration on Friday and surrounded the principal's office. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Pratibha Sharma said police intervened to bring the situation under control. 'The matter is related to the education department and referred to the district education officer,' Sharma said. DEO D D Rajak confirmed an investigation is under way, adding, 'As per the Education department's guidelines, study material containing religious symbols of any particular faith cannot be taught in schools.' Qureshi admitted to an 'inadvertent' error, stating that one or two books with mixed Urdu-Hindi content had reached students. She claimed the alphabet charts were sourced from Bhopal and that the inclusion of three such items was due to a seller's mistake.
Hindustan Times
06-08-2025
- Hindustan Times
Punjab VB busts fake licence racket in Gurdaspur, MVI among 4 held
Continuing its crackdown on corruption in the Punjab transport department, the Vigilance Bureau (VB) has unearthed a fake heavy vehicle driving licence racket in Gurdaspur, four months after uncovering a similar racket, spread across 10 districts, in April. Apart from the motor vehicle inspector (MVI), the other arrested accused include private agents who sourced applicants and facilitated document forgery. (HT) Exposing a nexus between officials of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Gurdaspur, the State Institute of Automobile and Driving Skills Centre (SIADS), Mahuana, Muktsar Sahib, and private document agents operating in Gurdaspur district, the VB has registered a corruption case against seven accused, arresting four of them, including a motor vehicle inspector (MVI). Raids are underway to nab the remaining three. Disclosing this on Tuesday, an official VB spokesperson said an in-depth probe was launched against Pratibha Sharma, a data entry operator at RTA Gurdaspur, following a complaint by a Pathankot resident. Verification revealed that 23 out of 51 driving training certificates, purportedly issued by SIADS centre, Mahuana, were fake. The forged certificates featured manipulated system-generated fields like the unique certificate number, QR code and mobile number-embedded receipt number, which could only be altered by institute officials. The mismatch of these authenticity parameters confirmed fraudulent creation. Sukhdev Singh, a light motor vehicle (LMV) instructor and GI Driving In-charge at SIADS centre, Mahuana, allegedly misused his access to generate the fake certificates, each carrying a government fee of ₹430, causing direct financial loss to the state exchequer, the probe revealed. The spokesperson informed that the investigation pointed to the role of private agents as well, sourcing applicants and facilitating forged documentation in exchange for bribes. These include Kulbir Documents Centre, Shelly Documents Centre, GMD Documents Centre and Punjab Documents. Financial trails traced direct payments from these centres into the bank accounts of Pratibha Sharma and Rakesh Kumar, a former RTA data entry operator, now posted at SDM office, Batala. Following probe, VB arrested Rakesh and three other key accused: MVI Sukhdev Singh, who is a resident of Maidowal Kalan village in Gurdaspur; Amit Kumar of Shelly Documents Centre and Jagpreet Singh of Punjab Documents. Three other accused, Pratibha Sharma, Kulbir Singh of Kulbir Documents Centre and Rakesh Kumar of GMD Documents Centre are absconding. The arrested accused will be presented before a court on Wednesday. A case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code and IT Act has been registered at the VB police station in Amritsar. Further investigation into the case is underway. In April, in a widespread bribery network, where licences were being issued without proper driving tests, as many as 16 FIRs were registered and 24 people were arrested, including three district transport officers (DTOs), government staff and private agents. The agents and officials were arrested from Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Sangrur, Tarn Taran, Bathinda and Gurdaspur. Investigations revealed that agents were bypassing the automated driving test system in multiple ways. Punjab has 32 automated tracks where driving tests are recorded on video and scored digitally. Agents, in collusion with RTO officials, were copy-pasting old video footage of candidates who had passed and uploaded it under the names of new applicants who never actually took the test. In many cases, the same vehicle was used multiple times, raising suspicion. Proxy drivers were also used to take tests on behalf of others, using vehicles arranged by agents.
New Indian Express
05-08-2025
- New Indian Express
Punjab Vigilance Bureau busts fake heavy driving licence issuance racket
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has unearthed a major corruption racket involving the issuance of fake heavy vehicle driving licences. It exposed a nexus between officials of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Gurdaspur, the State Institute of Automobile and Driving Skills Centre (SIADS) Mahuana, in Mukatsar Sahib district and private document agents operating in Gurdaspur district. In this case, the VB has registered a corruption case against seven accused out of which four accused, including the Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) have been arrested. An official of the vigilance bureau said acting on a complaint received from a resident of Pathankot, the Bureau has launched an in-depth probe against Pratibha Sharma, a Data Entry Operator at RTA Gurdaspur.
