Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary named Congress leader in Lok Sabha
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary was on Tuesday named as leader of Congress in Lok Sabha by UPA chairperson and Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, party sources said.
According to top Congress sources, the letter nominating Chaudhary, an MP from West Bengal's Behrampur, as party leader in the lower house was sent to Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The party source said, however, the name of the chief whip has not been finalised yet.
Sonia Gandhi was elected as the Chairperson of the CPP on June 1. At the meeting, party leaders had empowered her to name the party leader and the chief whip in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress is again set to lose the position of Leader of Opposition post in the lower house as it falls two seats short.
The Congress won 52 out of 542 seats. As per rules, the Congress needs one-tenth of the total seats (54) to lay claim for the Leader of the Opposition's post.
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Bengaluru jail introduces biometric tracking system for prisoners
Bengaluru: In a bid to curb misconduct and illegal activities inside Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, prison authorities have introduced a new ‘Prisoners Tracking Movement System’ under which inmates will have to undergo biometric verification while entering every barrack.
According to jail officials, biometric systems have been installed across all major sections of the prison, including barracks, visitor rooms, hospital, canteen, kitchen, library, playground, handicraft units and bakery sections. Staff members have also been deployed at these locations.
Officials said inmates visiting the visitors’ room must now obtain a digital token after biometric verification. Details such as the prisoner’s name, identification number and entry time will be updated in the prison software system. This will help authorities maintain a complete digital record of inmates visiting and returning from meeting rooms.
Similar systems have also been introduced at entry points of the hospital, library and other barracks accessed for work-related purposes. Officials said the system will help identify prisoners involved in suspicious or illegal activities with other inmates and enable authorities to track how much time a prisoner spends at different locations inside the prison.
Authorities stated that AI-powered cameras were already being used inside the prison to monitor inmates as well as prison staff. Along with this, digital tracking of prisoner phone calls and a digital token system for visitor meetings have now been added to strengthen surveillance over inmate movement. Officials said the project has been implemented at a cost of around Rs 2.25 crore.
The prison department has also introduced a canteen usage tracking system to monitor prisoners’ spending patterns. Instead of direct cash payments, inmates can purchase bakery items and snacks using wallets or coupons issued within the prison system.
Officials said the digital system will record details including the buyer’s name, items purchased, quantity, date, time and remaining wallet balance. This will allow prison authorities to maintain complete expenditure records of inmates.
