3 secretariat staff suspended by UP CM after sting exposes corruption
Lucknow, Dec 28: Three secretariat staff attached to Uttar Pradesh ministers were suspended on charges of graft following a sting operation by a news channel, according to a state government release.
They were suspended on orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who also directed officials to register a police case against them, the release said.
It said as per the chief minister's direction the matter will be probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and it will submit its report within 10 days after taking statements of all parties in the case.
The SIT will be led by Additional Director General of Police, Lucknow Zone, Rajiv Krishna, the release issued on Thursday said.
Directives have also been issued to the secretariat administration for review of such matters so that such cases do not recur, it said.
According to reports in a section of the media, a sting operation was conducted by a TV channel purportedly showing three personal secretaries of ministers allegedly seeking bribe in return for favours such as transfers and issuing of contracts.
The chief minister had earlier issued clear instructions to adopt complete honesty in the government's functioning and clarified that the government had zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, the release said.
In the sting operation, Om Prakash Kashyap, personal secretary of Backward Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar is purportedly seen seeking Rs 40 lakh for a transfer.
Rajbhar, who is a minister from the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), said he has removed his personal secretary and written a letter to the chief minister for stern action against him.
In the same sting operation, an aide of Minister of State for Mining Archana Pandey, is shown allegedly striking a deal with the channel's reporter for getting him mining contracts in about six districts.
Santosh Awasthi, personal secretary to the MoS Basic Education Sandeep Singh, is also seen in the sting operation allegedly working out a deal for a contract for books and seeking his own cut.
Singh is the grandson of former UP chief minister and current Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh.
The sting operation also produced alleged recordings of a secretariat staff assuring the reporter, who posed as a contractor, that a school bag and uniform contract would be swung in his favour.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
