Highlights for Day 50 of Narendra Modi government Development Work

Highlights for Day 50 of Narendra Modi government Development Work

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MPs must monitor mid-day meal scheme Smriti Irani

HRD minister Smriti Irani has written to all MPs asking them to be part of committees set up to monitor the mid-day meal scheme which has seen complaints of poor quality of food and corruption. Irani told Lok Sabha that she has written to all MPs requesting them to be part of their respective district- level committees set up to monitor the mid-day meal scheme. "A district-level committee under the chairmanship of the senior most Member of Parliament (of the district) can monitor the mid-day meal scheme quarterly. The team shall comprise all MPs, MLAs and members of zila parishad and the district magistrate will be member-secretary” To a question on construction of kitchens for mid-day meal in schools, Irani said the cost is shared in the ratio of 75:25 with the states, and in the North East the cost is shared in the ratio of 90:10. She said cooks get an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month from the Centre and the states were free to raise it.

BJP MLAs put pressure on party to form government in Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata party MLAs are putting pressure on the party to form the government in Delhi, said sources on Wednesday. A section of the BJP MLAs also met party Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay in this regard. Sources added that Jagdish Mukhi was the front-runner for the chief minister's post. Sources in the BJP said that a large section of the party MLAs do not want to face elections. Upadhyay said, "There should be elected government in Delhi as it cannot live in uncertainty. The party's senior leaders will decide over the issue." Meanwhile, sources in the Congress party said that six of its eight MLAs were willing to join the BJP. The final decision was left to the BJP. BJP leader Vijay Jolly said, "We will cross the bridge when it comes, but BJP does not believe in horse trading." The BJP had won 31 seats in the assembly polls in December 2013 but its number came down to 28 in the 70-member house after three of its legislators Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma were elected to the Lok Sabha. President's Rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17 after the AAP government resigned. Lt Governor Najeeb Jung is likely to send a report to the Centre in a month or two on the political situation. The Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision on whether to extend President's Rule by another six months or go for fresh polls.

AIR news will be broadcasted on Private FM channels: Government

Private FM channels will be allowed to broadcast news only from bulletins of All India Radio, but the policy can be relaxed in future, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said during Question Hour that private FM channels have so far not been permitted to broadcast news under the existing FM radio policy guidelines. He said under the guidelines approved for FM radio Phase- III, FM channels will be permitted to carry AIR news bulletins in exactly the same format. To a supplementary, he said presenters of private FM channels will be allowed to to read AIR news. Javadekar said the present norm of opening FM channels in cities with population of three lakh is being reviewed and areas with one lakh population would also be allowed to have FM radio channels. In his written reply, Javadekar said broadcast relating to sporting events, excluding live coverage, live commentaries of sporting events of local nature, information on traffic, weather, announcement on civic amenities, natural calamities will be treated as non-news items "and will, therefore, be permissible." He said the number of cities with FM channels will increase by March 30, 2015 when the Phase-III is rolled out.

 --written By Aadil Mir--

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