AAP using religion as shield to target Sukhbir Badal, alleges SAD
Chandigarh (PTI): The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday accused the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab of using religion as a shield to target its president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, and frame him in a false case as part of a political vendetta.
Addressing a press conference here, senior Akali leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema alleged that the AAP government started targeting the SAD leadership after failing politically.
They also alleged that the attack on Badal at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where he was serving a religious penance (‘seva’), in December 2024, was government-sponsored, which was followed by the harassment of income tax lawyers associated with the SAD chief in Ludhiana and Bathinda.
The SAD leaders said Badal will not be intimidated by such tactics and will continue to expose the AAP government's “anti-Punjab policies”.
They also claimed that attempts were being made to link the arrest of an accountant hired by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) with the issue of 328 missing 'saroops' (sacred copies) of the Guru Granth Sahib to target Badal, alleging that the main accused in the case was a former SGPC employee now associated with the AAP.
The SAD leaders also accused AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal of pursuing a personal vendetta against former SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia after being forced to apologise to him over alleged baseless charges.
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia on June 25 last year in a disproportionate assets case that allegedly involved the accumulation of Rs 540 crore of wealth.
The SAD leaders claimed that despite intelligence inputs suggesting a threat to Majithia from the Babbar Khalsa International, adequate security had not been ensured for the jailed leader.
Alleging a threat to his life, they demanded that Majithia be shifted from the Nabha jail to a designated secure prison, warning that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal would be responsible if any harm came to him.
Cheema said a SAD delegation will soon seek an appointment with the Punjab governor (Gulab Chand Kataria) to apprise him of what he described as a conspiracy against the SAD leadership.
He also accused the AAP of targeting the SGPC, the Akal Takht Sahib and mediapersons critical of the state government.
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Air quality a nationwide crisis, govt response exceedingly ineffective:Cong
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Sunday cited a report to claim that air quality is a nation-wide, structural crisis for which the government response is "exceedingly ineffective and inadequate", as it demanded a thorough reform of the National Clear Air Programme.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the NCAP propagated as the National Clear Air Programme is actually another type of NCAP - "Notional Clear Air Programme".
The former environment minister said a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has now confirmed what was always India's "worst-kept secret that the air quality is a nation-wide, structural crisis for which the government response is exceedingly ineffective and inadequate".
Using satellite data, the study found that nearly 44 per cent of Indian cities that is 1,787 out of 4,041 statutory towns assessed have chronic air pollution, with annual PM2.5 levels consistently exceeding the national standard over five years (2019-2024, excluding 2020), Ramesh said in a statement.
Pointing out that the report also highlighted the ineffectiveness of the NCAP, the Congress leader said that despite the scale of the problem (1,787 towns), only 130 cities are covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Of these 130 cities, 28 still lack continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), he claimed.
Among the 102 cities with monitoring infrastructure, 100 reported PM10 levels of 80 per cent or higher, Ramesh said, adding that in totality, NCAP currently addresses only 4 per cent of India's chronically polluted cities
NCAP, propagated as the National Clear Air Programme, is actually another type of NCAP--Notional Clear Air Programme, he said and asserted that it now needs a thorough overhaul and reform.
"The first step must be to acknowledge the public health crisis linked to air pollution across wide swathes of India. Consequently, given this crisis, we must revisit and totally revamp both the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act of 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) put into effect in November 2009," Ramesh said.
As per the NAAQS the permissible concentration of fine particulate matter is 60 ug/m3 for a 24-hour period, and 40 ug/m3 annually versus the guidelines of less than 15 ug/m3 for a 24-hour period and 5 ug/m3 annually set by the WHO, he pointed out.
Ramesh urged the government to drastically increase the funds made available under the NCAP.
"The current budget, inclusive of NCAP funding and the 15th Finance Commission's grants, is about Rs. 10,500 crore, spread across 131 cities! Our cities need at least 10-20 times more funding. NCAP must be made a Rs 25,000 crore programme and spread across the 1,000 most polluted towns in the country," he said.
The NCAP must adopt measurement of PM 2.5 levels as the yardstick for performance NCAP must reorient its focus to key sources of emissions -- burning of solid fuels, vehicular emissions, and industrial emissions, the former environment minister said.
"The NCAP must be given legal backing, an enforcement mechanism, and serious data monitoring capacity for every Indian city, beyond the current focus only on 'non- attainment' cities," he argued.
Ramesh asserted that air pollution norms for coal power plants must be enforced immediately.
All power plants must install a Fluoride Gas Desulfurizer (FGD) by the end of 2026, he said.
"The National Green Tribunal's independence must be restored, and the anti-people environmental law amendments of the last 10 years must be rolled back," Ramesh said.
"Twice so far in Parliament -- first on 29th July 2024 and then on 9th December 2025 -- the Modi Government has tried to downplay the health impact of air pollution. The Modi Government is not blind to the truth, it is only attempting to cover up the scale of its incompetence and negligence," the Congress leader alleged.
