Chandigarh, June 21 (IANS) The Punjab vigilance arrested Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sanjay Popli and his secretary on corruption charges.
As per the FIR, Popli allegedly sought one per cent commission from a contractor of a Rs 7 crore sewerage project in the Nawanshahr town during the previous Congress regime.
The contractor paid Rs 3.5 lakh through Sanjeev Vats, a Superintendent-level official posted as secretary to the officer, who was heading the Water Supply and Sewerage Board, on January 12.
The officials said Popli was seeking the remaining Rs 3.5 lakh from the contractor, who recorded his phone calls and complained on the anti-corruption helpline set up by the present Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
The officer was arrested from his house in Chandigarh on Monday evening.
Issuing strict guidelines for male officers and ministers on dealing with harassment of women at workplaces, the Punjab State Women Commission on Monday said that any sexual overtures during and after office hours with women staff will not be tolerated.
The woman's mother-in-law decided to take her "agni-pariksha" - an ancient ritual of trial by fire - and allegedly put a burning log of firewood on her palms
If Narendra Modi can be "stopped" in the next elections then India should still be able to protect its pluralist way of life and the longer he continues as Prime Minister, the greater the danger that the extent of India's "Modi-fication" will be irreversible, says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu reiterated that he is committed to help the affected families monetarily and that they would not be left in the lurch.
Asha Kumari -- the Punjab in-charge of the All India Congress Committee -- was trying to defend a Minister who is being asked to step down for allegedly sending an "inappropriate" SMS text to a woman official a few weeks ago.
