Centre suspends 2 DANICS officers for 'unproductive expenditure' on ads by Delhi govt
New Delhi (PTI): The Centre has suspended two DANICS officers in connection with alleged "unproductive expenditure" on advertisements by the Delhi government, officials said.
They said Shamim Akhtar and Manoj Dwivedi previously worked as the director of the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Delhi government.
In separate orders issued on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Akhtar and Dwivedi were suspended with immediate effect by the president in exercise of the powers conferred by the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965.
Akhtar, a 1996-batch officer of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS), is currently posted at the Urban Development department of the Delhi government, while Dwivedi (DANICS, 2003) was last posted in the Andman and Nicobar Islands.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had in January this year recommended to the MHA disciplinary action against the two officers.
The MHA is the competent authority to take action against DANICS officers.
A complaint in the matter was lodged by former Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken with the LG office in 2016 for the recovery of alleged "unproductive expenditure" on advertisements of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, amounting to the tune of Rs 97 crore, officials said.
The complainant had accused the AAP government of allegedly publishing political advertisements in the garb of government promotions.
The complaint was examined by the Supreme Court mandated Committee on Content Regulation on Government Advertising, CCRGA, they said.
The committee in its report had directed the recovery of the expenditure incurred on issuing advertisements on various occasions published outside Delhi, advertorials carrying AAP's name, advertisements with Delhi chief minister's views on issues in other states, the officials said.
On March 29, 2017, the matter was placed before the then Delhi LG who directed to recover the payments already released and freeze fresh payments. He also ordered an inquiry and fixing of responsibility.
The Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) secretary issued a notice to AAP on March 30, 2017 for reimbursement of Rs 97 crore incurred on specific advertisements.
The AAP challenged the notice before the Delhi High Court. The matter is still pending before the court.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
