Lucknow, July 4 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of retired Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava (II) of Allahabad High Court to investigate the July 2 Hathras stampede, in which at least 121 died.

A notification in this regard was issued by Governor Anandiben Patel late on Wednesday night.

Retired IAS officer Hemant Rao and retired IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh have been appointed as members of the inquiry commission. The headquarters of the commission will be located in Lucknow.

The commission is tasked with completing its investigation within two months from the date of the notification.

According to an official release, any extension of this duration will require an order from the state government. The commission will investigate the prescribed points and submit the report to the state government.

The prescribed points for the probe include investigating the organiser’s compliance with the conditions set for granting permission by the district administration. The commission will also investigate whether the incident was an accident, a conspiracy, or the result of another planned criminal act.

Additionally, the commission will examine crowd control and law and order arrangements by the administration and the police during the event, along with related aspects. It will also analyse the reasons and circumstances leading to the incident.

Furthermore, the commission will provide recommendations to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

–IANS

amita/sha

Bhopal, July 4 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed an allocation of Rs 1,081 crore for the Culture Department, which would develop ‘Shri Krishna Patheya’ in line with the ‘Ram Van Gaman Path’.

Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, who also holds the finance portfolio, made the announcement while presenting the annual budget for the financial year 2024-25 in the Assembly on Wednesday.

The Ram Van Gaman Path is the route taken by Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman during their exile period. The project was announced by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 2020.

Last month, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced to develop Shri Krishna Patheya in line with the Ram Van Gaman Path. The same also got a mention in the budget announced on Wednesday.

In the proposed project, the places associated with Lord Krishna in the state will be developed as pilgrimage sites.

Officials recently told IANS that the Culture Department is deeply studying the places associated with Lord Krishna in Madhya Pradesh.

It is believed that Lord Krishna came to Ujjain’s Sandipani Ashram for studies. Besides, he also visited various other places in the state.

–IANS

pd/sha

Jaipur, July 4 (IANS) The Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB) has said that some upcoming examinations will be conducted through the CBT-cum-OMR mode, in which questions will be displayed on a computer screen while the candidate will have to answer them on an offline OMR sheet.

The RSSB in this regard issued guidelines on Wednesday.

According to guidelines, only one question will be displayed on the computer screen at a time.

The remaining process in the CBT-cum-OMR mode exam would be the same as it is for an offline exam.

The candidate will have to sign the attendance sheet in the presence of the invigilator, the guidelines stated.

–IANS

arc/sha

Bhopal, July 3 (IANS) The Mohan Yadav-led Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday presented its first budget with an outlay of Rs 3.65 lakh crore for the financial year 2024-25 during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Assembly.

Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jagdish Devda presented the Annual Budget in the Assembly amid relentless sloganeering by the Opposition.

The budget made it clear that the old public beneficiary schemes like ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ introduced during the previous (ex-CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government would continue.

The government has proposed a budget of Rs 26,560 crore.

Women who used to receive monetary assistance of Rs 1,250 per month would continue to receive a similar amount.

The Mohan Yadav-led government has allocated Rs 10,000 crore for the development of expressways, including Atal Pragati Path, Narmada Pragati Path, Vindhya Expressway, Malwa-Nimad Vikas Path, Bundelkhand Vikas Path and Madhya Bharat Vikas Path.

The government has set aside Rs 11,292 crore for the Home Department, while the Education and Health departments got Rs 22,600 crore and 21,144 crore, respectively.

The state government plans to recruit over 75,000 youth in the Madhya Pradesh Police this financial year.

The government would set up three medical universities in the state.

Besides, a provision of Rs 26,560 crore has been made for the women and child development department for 2024-25, which is 81 per cent more than the Budget Estimate of the year 2023-24, Finance Minister Devda said while presenting the Budget.

The minister said the state government has also made a provision of Rs 500 crore for ‘Simhastha’ to be held in 2028. This will lead to development work in Ujjain and 10 surrounding districts.

‘CM Rise Schools’, another project launched by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was given Rs 667 crore. The project is aimed at improving education standards in Madhya Pradesh and more than 900 schools are proposed to be open.

Commenting on the first annual budget of his government, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said: “This budget will take the state forward. The overall development will take place and the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeing MP as a developed state will be accomplished.”

The Opposition, however, said that before the Assembly elections, BJP had given many guarantees to residents of Madhya Pradesh but not a single one had been included in this budget.

–IANS

pd/pgh

Srinagar, July 3 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday issued a notice to incarcerated Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid over disparity in his poll expenditure statement.

Rashid, who is lodged in jail since 2019 after being charged by the NIA in a terror-funding case, defeated former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate by over 2 lakh votes in the recent elections.

The ECI notice was served by the deputy district election officer in Baramulla, highlighting the expenditure register submitted by Rashid which showed Rs 2.10 lakh while the actual amount recorded in the shadow register maintained by observers shows Rs 13.78 lakh.

The notice directed Rashid or his representative to appear before the district expenditure monitoring committee within two days to address the discrepancy and ensure timely submission of the expenditure report to the ECI.

The notice said that failure to comply with election expense reporting requirements could lead to disqualification under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for a period of three years.

Doubts had been raised during the Lok Sabha elections as to how Rashid’s liabilities were reduced significantly while his assets increased over the past five years despite being lodged in jail.

According to the 2024 poll affidavit, the former MLA’s assets were valued at Rs 1.55, crore compared to Rs 80 lakh in 2019, including a 41,072 sq ft non-agriculture land in his hometown Langate and a house in Srinagar worth Rs 90 lakh.

A science graduate with a diploma in civil engineering, Rashid also declared Rs 11.31 lakh home loan and Rs 3.11 lakh Kisan Credit Card loan as liabilities.

Five years back, he had declared a residential house in the posh Jawahar Nagar locality in Srinagar purchased in 2017 as his only asset, and also stated that he had a liability of Rs 60 lakh towards a home loan from a bank.

Rashid, who won the Assembly polls from Langate in Kupwara district in 2008 and 2014, is presently lodged in Tihar jail in connection with a case being probed by the NIA alleging his involvement in money laundering linked to terror funding.

The Patiala House Court in Delhi has granted him parole for two hours on July 5 for taking oath as a Member of Parliament.

–IANS

sq/arm