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“SPG Bill will restore its original intent,” Amit Shah defends amendment

Published

5 years ago

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Amit Shah

Amid uproar over the amendment to the Special Protection Group (SPG) Act and the recent withdrawal of top level SPG cover to the Gandhi family, Home Minister Amit Shah accused the previous governments of amending the original law and “diluting” it and told the Lok Sabha today that the SPG (Amendment) Bill will restore the law’s original intent to protect only the prime minister and former prime minister.

He also clarified that security for the Gandhis had “not been removed but replaced”.

According to the proposed amendment, the SPG commandos will protect only the prime minister; and former prime ministers and their families will not get the coveted SPG security cover.

The SPG, an elite force of 3,000, is now tasked with protecting only Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The term ‘Special’ indicates its special purpose. Many countries have such elite and compact cover exclusively for their respective heads of state. There is a misconception that the SPG is only about physical protection. It is not just physical security but also about covering the prime minister”s office, his health and communications as well,” he said.

The amendment states that the period of protection for former prime ministers and their immediate families will be capped at five years when in the past it could be extended based on threat perception.

While introducing the SPG (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the lower House on Monday, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in the existing Act there is no cut-off period for the SPG cover.

“In such a scenario, there can be severe constraint on resources, training and related infrastructure of the SPG. This can also impact the effectiveness of the elite force in providing adequate cover to the principle protectee,” the bill says.

But the Congress is demanding that SPG cover should be provided to former prime ministers and their family members for the rest of their lives.

“Security is provided on the basis of a threat perception and assessment. Based on the security assessment, a level of cover is provided – be it X or X+, Y or Y+, Z or Z+ and so on. But my question is that is a threat assessment 100% accurate? Can there not be an incident despite of the security assessment?” Congress leader Manish Tewari asked.

He added that in countries such as the US, Secret Service guards former presidents for the rest of their lives.

Earlier this month, the SPG cover to the Gandhi family – Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was withdrawn.

The government had said that the decision was based on a “reassessment” of their threat perception.

All three Gandhi family members now have Z+ category security. Z+ security means each of the Gandhis will be guarded by around 100 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The move provoked a furious response with party leaders accusing the centre of “playing with the lives” of the Gandhis. The Gandhi family, which has seen the assassination of two members, has always been among India’s most protected.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s SPG cover was withdrawn in August.

The SPG was set up in 1985 for the security of prime ministers after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her security guards a year before.

After the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the SPG Act was amended to provide security to former prime ministers and their families for 10 years.

In 2003, the Vajpayee government amended the law again to bring down the automatic protection for 10 years to one year — or more depending on the level of threat as decided by the centre.

During the Vajpayee regime, the SPG cover of former PMs such as HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujaral and PV Narasimha Rao were withdrawn.

However, Vajpayee himself enjoyed SPG protection until his death last year. Under the current SPG Act, family members of an incumbent or former PM can decline security cover. Manmohan Singh’s daughters declined SPG cover after his tenure ended.

The SPG is highly trained in physical efficiency, marksmanship, combat and proximate protection tactics and is assisted by all central and state agencies to ensure foolproof security. The SPG offers an Advance Liaison Team that screens places that the protectees will visit.

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

IMD claimed in a tweet that Thunderstorm dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North west Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East delhi and NCR( Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indrapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana) Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor , Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur ,Gulaoti ,Siyana ,Sikandrabad , Bulandshahr ,  Jahangirabad (UP)

Published

2 years ago

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May 17, 2023

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

On Wednesday, a dust storm with light to moderate rain is expected in numerous locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The India Meteorogical Department (IMD) stated the city’s maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to be in the range of 40 and 25, respectively.

The IMD tweeted an advisory that thunderstorms, dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East Delhi and NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana), Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor, Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur, Gulaoti, Siyana, Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, Jahangirabad (UP).

For the next two hours, light to moderate intermittent rain is expected over and near Adampur, Hissar, Hansi, and Meham (Haryana).

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On Thursday, May 18, light rain is predicted for in Delhi based on the seven-day prediction for the city. The sky will mainly be cloudy, with the potential of a light  rain or drizzle, according to the weather office.

The air quality will continue to be deteriorated in the city after strong winds with dust swept across the Delhi-NCR on Tuesday. Following this, visibility had reduced to 1000 metres. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of regional forecasting centre, said the dry atmosphere is one of the reasons for the dust storms.

Following Tuesday’s severe winds and dust storm that blasted across the Delhi-NCR, the city’s air quality had taken an alarming dip.

The monsoons, which are awaited across India, are likely to make landfall in Kerala on June 4. Usually, the monsoon arrives on May 31 or June 1 but the delay will be made up as the phenomenon progresses on its south-west to north-east arc. With extreme temperatures right from a cold sytart to May to dust-laden winds in mid-May, the weather in the country is paying the price for accelerating climate change.

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Security lapse at Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Patiala home, says it will not deter him from raising his voice against Punjab

After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

Published

2 years ago

on

April 17, 2023

By

Navjot Singh Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has filed a complaint with the Punjab Police after he spotted a suspicious person wrapped in a grey blanket on his terrace. He alleged a security lapse at his Patiala home. He couldn’t catch him as he fled after his servant raised an alarm.

Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said, Today on the terrace of his residence an unknown suspicious character wrapped in a grey blanket was noticed around 7:00 pm, the moment his servant went out raised the alarm, and called for help, he immediately ran and escaped.

The 59-year-old further said that he has spoken to DGP Punjab Police and has also informed SSP Patiala. He said the security lapse will not deter him from raising his voice for Punjab.

Read Also: This is Punjab, not India: Girl with tricolour painted on face denied entry into Amritsar’s Golden Temple | WATCH

Punjab Police registered a case in this matter. According to the reports, the Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma visited his residence after the complaint and is currently investigating the matter. The CCTV footage of the area is also being scanned, reports state.

Cricketer-turned-politician came out of the Patiala Central Jail on April 1 after serving nearly 10 months in a 1988 road rage case. After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

He said Democracy is in chains. Punjab is the shield of this country. When dictatorship came in this country, a revolution also came, led by Rahul Gandhi.

Sidhu also slammed the Mann government over the pruning of security of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala and also making it public.

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Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight suffers tech glitch before take-off, returns to stand

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

Published

2 years ago

on

April 10, 2023

By

Air India Flight

Air India flight which was en route to San Francisco from Delhi on Monday had to be returned to the stand because of a technical glitch. The San Francisco-bound flight suffered a tech issue before take off.

According to the reports, the aircraft which was carrying over 200 passengers from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) had to be replaced with another aircraft. Later, the passengers were accommodated in another aircraft.

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

Read Also: Clashes in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur after Ram Navami flag desecrated, Section 144 imposed

Earlier today, another Air India incident occurred where a London-bound flight returned to Delhi’s IGI airport after a mid-air brawl between an unruly passenger and the flight’s cabin crew.

A brawl ensued between a passenger and the crew members shortly after it departed from the airport at around 6:35 am. The onboard ruckus forced the plane to turn around and return to Delhi again where the raucous passenger was deboarded and handed over to the police at the airport.

Air India apologized to the passengers on the affected Delhi-London flight for the delay and inconvenience caused to them due to the incident and assured them that efforts will be made to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future.

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