SC accepts ADR’s plea challenging the amendments in the FCRA 2010 & 1976

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

July 2, 2018

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Deepak Misra, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice A M Khanwilkar today issued notice to the Central Government on a petition filed by Mr. EAS Sarma, Former Secretary, Government of India, and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The petition challenges the amendments made with retrospective effect in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 through the Finance Act, 2016 and Finance Act, 2018, which was passed as a Money Bill. (A copy of the petition is attached with the email). 

These amendments were seen as an attempt to overturn the judgment passed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 holding the two major political parties, BJP and INC, guilty of accepting foreign funding. The Delhi High Court ordered the Central Government and Election Commission of India to take action against BJP and INC within six months. (Click here for the copy of the judgment –  https://bit.ly/2KsTB0c ).

These amendments to the FCRA law have opened doors to unlimited political donations from foreign companies and also legitimizing financial contributions received from foreign sources. The petition was necessitated due to the intransigence of the Central Government in complying with the Delhi HC order of March 2014 and instead trying to get BJP and INC off the hook by amending the FCRA 2010 in 2016 and subsequently the FCRA 1976 in March 2018.

Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, Founder Member & Trustee, ADR said, “I hope that the Supreme Court will strike down the amendments introduced in FCRA 2010 by Section 236 of Finance Act, 2016 and by Section 217 of the Finance Act, 2018 as void, illegal and unconstitutional”.

Yours Sincerely,

National Election Watch/Association for Democratic Reforms

50th Foundation Day celebrations of WAPCOS

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

50th Foundation Day celebrations of WAPCOS celebrated on 3-7-2018 at 10:30 AM at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra,Chanakya puri.New Delhi transcending boundaries touch lives, presence in critical regions around the globe.

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenatio, Shri Nitin Gadkari is the  chief guest at the 50th Foundation Day Celebration of WAPCOS.

Minister said WAPCOS not has made me proud but the nation proud with its action and  its achievements to carry out such prestigious projects and its discipline character has helped nation transform many nations to is way to prosperity which was also visibly by the massive participation which supported their work carried out.

Those present included, the eminent minister dignitaries, Ambassadors, senates from the states were, DyMinister of Energy and water from Afghanistan, Senate member,Minister of Energy & Mines of Burundi, Minister of energy Burundi, Water Minister from Ghana and Congo, Minister of Justice and Minister of Mines & Energy of Liberia and many High commissioner and Ambassadors of various countries participated on the foundation day.

Union Ministers of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal said the MEA Sushma Swaraj has said the company workers and management team work like an army personnel.

Dr. Satya Pal Singh  graced the occasion and in his address said we want to see the company grow to its glory in years centuries to come.

Shri U.P. Singh, Secretary, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is also  present on the occasion.

WAPCOS was incorporated as a Public Sector Enterprise in 1969 by the Government of India with meager capital of million rupee now it is 310Cr Miniratana wiith profit touching Rs1100Cr It is a  techno-commercial organization under the aegis of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

 WAPCOS  in consultancy has done  Survey & Investigation/Pre-Feasibility/DPRs for more than 550 Projects in Irrigation, Water Resources and  Agricultural etc.

The company has successfully completed/on-going consultancy assignments in countries covering Asia, Africa, Middle East, and the Pacific Islands and is operating in more than 45 Countries, at present.

With changing technology each moment, Wapcos is emerging from its inception along with pace of technology at costing to its lowest is well equipped with viable projects for underdeveloped countries. Grown as an exclusive government run, Indian company, working at home and in nearly fifty countries around the world with dedicated team of professionals, tenacity,ductility,  a true Indian multinational with footprints across the globe in line with Government of India’s flagship programmers on “Skill India” and “Make in India”.

The company has successfully undertaken some of the most challenging projects in inhospitable circumstances around the world; e.g. Afghan-India Friendship (Salma) Dam Project, Afghanistan.  WAPCOS today has emerged as one of India’s best performing “Mini Ratna-I” CPSE.

WAPCO has to its credit   in development of over 15 Million Ha irrigation potential; more than 200 projects in ports and inland navigation; over 500 projects in water supply and sanitation, rural and urban development, roads and highway engineering amassing its value and potential in various sectors.

Hydro-Power sector; WAPCOS has completed almost 52 Hydro-Power Projects in 19 countries with an installed capacity of more than 20,500 MW; over 105 Hydro Power Projects in India with an installed capacity of more than 9,000 MW

Thermal Power project, the Company has successfully completed 12 overseas projects with installed capacity of more than 2,900 MW and 37 projects in India with an installed capacity of more than 12,000 MW.

While in Transmission & Distribution WAPCOS has accomplished more than 14 Projects in India and Abroad.

Former Prime Minister of Kenya calls on PM

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met H. E. Mr. Raila Odinga, Former Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition in Kenya, in New Delhi today.

Prime Minister Modi fondly recalled their long association, going back over a decade when he had visited Kenya as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr. Odinga also warmly recalled his earlier visits to India in 2009 and 2012.

The two leaders discussed the progress in India-Kenya relations in recent years, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Austria ‘to protect southern borders’

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Vienna is prepared to take measures to protect its southern borders if an immigration deal within Germany’s coalition goes into effect, the Austrian government said on Tuesday. Austria was responding to a deal reached late on Monday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and her partners in Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), settling a row over immigration that had threatened to topple the German government. Under the deal, migrants who have already applied for asylum in other EU countries will be held in transit centers on the border while Germany negotiates bilateral deals for their return. “Should this agreement become the German government’s position, we see that as prompting us to take action to prevent negative consequences for Austria and its population,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a joint statement with two far-right members of his cabinet.

Wild Boar Football team missing found deep-water cave Pattaya

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

FIFA World Cup yielded many apparent divine interventions, a real-world miracle has happened in Thailand, when all players in a children’s squad and their coach, who had spent nine days in a flooded cave, were found alive.

The sudden and almost trace-less disappearance of the Wild Boar football team in northern Thailand on June 23 had kept the whole island nation on its toes for nine days, with parents and those who were glued to TV updates fearing the worst.

Its more than a week of no news and fading hopes, two British divers, part of an international team of rescuers involved in the effort, reached the so-called Pattaya Beach deep-water cave, where the boys and their mentor were holing up, on Monday.

 Further Thai Navy SEALs,  leading the large-scale search and rescue operation, posted a heartwarming video on its FB page, showing the moment the British divers first saw the frail-looking boys, crammed on a narrow ledge in complete darkness.

“How many of you?” one of the rescuers said in English. As the cave’s prisoners respond that all 13 of them were there, the rescue is seen exclaiming: “Thirteen? Brilliant!” As the boys are thanking their finders, the divers had to upset them, revealing that their ordeal is not yet over.

“We are coming, it’s OK, many people are coming … we are the first,” the diver says.

With the whole country and especially the boys’ relatives breathing a sigh of relief after days of suspense, the most challenging work has now begun.

The rescuers will wait till the water goes down, which is difficult to predict as heavy rains –that are set to continue– are hampering efforts to pump out water from around the refuge. In case it proves impossible for the moment, the rescuers may try to teach the boys how to dive so they can leave the cave by themselves, according to Capt. Akanand Surawan from the Royal Navy.

When Should We Trust Artificial Intelligence?

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

 Seminar @ Brookings India: When Should We Trust Artificial Intelligence?

Development Seminar | When Should We Trust Artificial Intelligence?

Wednesday, July 4, 2018, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Brookings India, No. 6, Second Floor, Dr. Jose P. Rizal Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi

Dear Mr. Sagar,

I am delighted to invite you to our next Development Seminar on “When Should We Trust Artificial Intelligence?” with Dr. Vasant Dhar, Professor, Stern School of Business, NYU.

Abstract: Modern day AI machines learn and improve themselves based on ever-increasing amounts of data that humans and machines generate with each passing day. This happens largely through supervised learning which is a major branch of Artificial Intelligence. But such machines also make mistakes. In his talk, Dhar will walk us through various situations in our everyday lives – investing, playing sports, riding in driverless cars, using social media platforms – to encourage us to question the faith we put in technology. He proposes methods to inform executive and policy makers in evaluating the risks associated with data infrastructure initiatives, such as those proposed in his recent Hindustan Times editorial.

Discussant: Anna Roy, Adviser NITI Aayog, Government of India

Speaker Profile: Vasant Dhar is a professor at the Stern of School of Business and the Center for Data Science at New York University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Big Data, and the founder of SCT Capital Management, a machine-learning-based hedge fund in New York City. His recent TEDx talk was on “When do we trust machines?”.

Media Invite

ON JULY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

[7/3, 8:08 AM] Naresh Kumar Sagar: You are cordially invited to 50th Foundation Day celebrations of WAPCOS on 3-7-2018 at 10:30 AM at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra,Chanakya puri.Union Minister for WR,RD &GR Shri Nitin Gadkari to be chief guest.MOS Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Dr. Satya pal singh will also grace the occasion.
Regards
[7/3, 8:09 AM] Naresh Kumar Sagar: You are cordially invited to cover
2nd Mithila Aam Mahotsav
at
Press Club of India
on 3rd July 2018, 12 pm noon
Guest names are shri Shahnawaj Hussain ji BJP, shri Prabhat Jha ji BJP ( confirmation awaited) , shri Kirti Azad ji, shri KC Tyagi ji JDU, shri Manoj Jha ji RJD, shri Shakeel Ahmed ji congress and shri Pranav Jha Ji congress, shri Sanjeev Jha Ji MLA Burari , shri Neeraj Pathak ji vice chairman Maithili Bhojpuri Academy, shri Vikas Sharma ji and Many more other is joining.
Event managed by: Credible media voices private limited.
Organised by : Maithil Patrakar Group and Press Club of India.
[7/3, 8:10 AM] Naresh Kumar Sagar: MEDIA INVITE

National Executive Meeting of Lok Janshakti Party

Date 3rd July 2018

Venue : Malwankar Hall, Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi

12.30 – 12.45 Hrs – To light the lamp and Garlanding Baba Saheb’s

Photo by National President, LJP

13.00 – 13.30 Hrs. – Inauguration Speech of Shri Chirag Paswan,

Chairman, Central Parliamentary Board, LJP

13.30 – 14.30 Hrs. – Press Conference followed by Lunch
[7/3, 8:10 AM] Naresh Kumar Sagar: MEDIA INVITE

The National Students Union of India(NSUI), cordially invites all the members of the Press fraternity to kindly be present at the NSUI headquarters at5, Raisina Road on Tuesday, 3rd July 2018 from 12 pm onwards.

The press conference would be presided over by the Honorable National Incharge – NSUI & AICC Joint Secretary Ms. Ruchi Gupta along with NSUI National President Mr. Fairoz Khan. NSUI would be exposing the people in power in this briefing.

Lawlessness is taking over as thugs and criminals run riot across the country. The issue of concern involves abuse of power and undermining the basic tenants of democratic institutions of India for political opportunism and might. At this juncture of our nation’s history, it is important for an organization like the NSUI – representing the young and free- to speak out the truth against the people in power, on the ideals of Satyagraha.

We would be graced by your presence at the event tomorrow.

Thank You,
NSUI Secretariat

Contact: Reetam Singh
Phone Number: +91-7576026976
[7/3, 8:16 AM] Naresh Kumar Sagar: INVITATION

Dear Madam/Sir,

You are cordially invited to cover the following event:

Function

Inaugural Session of the National Consultation on “Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in the Electoral Process,” to be inaugurated by Shri O.P.Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner, in presence of the Election Commissioners.

A dedicated Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Portal with a section on PwDs will also be launched during the event.

Date

3rd July, 2018, Tuesday

Time

10 am onwards

Venue

Hotel Lalit, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi