National

3 secretariat staff of Uttar Pradesh ministers suspended on corruption charges

Yogi

Lucknow | Three secretariat staff attached to Uttar Pradesh ministers were suspended on charges of corruption 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 said on Thursday. 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-tolerence 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. Mr Rajbhar, who is a minister from the Suheldev Bharatiya 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. Sandeep 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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International Politics

“More Comfortable Stepping Down Size Of Rate Hike,” Says US Fed Governor

ANI
US Fed Governor

After having raised key interest rates by 75 basis points at four straight monetary policy meetings, US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J Waller has given hints that it would consider a small size hike in their upcoming meeting.

Washington:  After having raised key interest rates by 75 basis points at four straight monetary policy meetings, US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J Waller has given hints that it would consider a small size hike in their upcoming meeting.

Speaking at the 59th Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon, Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, Governor Waller said the data of the past few weeks have made him “more comfortable” considering stepping down to a 50-basis-point hike in the upcoming policy meet. “But I won’t be making a judgement about that until I see more data, including the next PCE inflation report and the next jobs report,” Waller added.

“If the FOMC were to step down to a 50-basis-point increase, it is important to remember that this would still be a very significant tightening action–in other words, just pulling back on the rate of ascent a little bit.”

Waller added the federal funds rate can still be increased quite rapidly with several 50-basis-point increasesa pretty aggressive path for policy.

In nine months, US Fed has raised the target range for the federal funds rate from near zero to 3.75 to 4 per cent. Raising interest rates is a monetary policy instrument that typically helps suppress demand in the economy, thereby helping the inflation rate decline.

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Inflation in the US remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures.

“Despite these actions, I believe that policy is barely in restrictive territory today, so more interest rate hikes are needed to get inflation down,” Waller said.

The US central bank’s aim has been to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 per cent over the long run.

Consumer inflation in the US declined in October to 7.7 per cent from 8.2 per cent the previous month but is way above the 2 per cent goal.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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