Archives for 2021

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon as opposition members entered the Well of the House insisting on a debate on the issue of Israeli-made military-grade Pegasus spyware allegedly being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists.

Soon after the listed papers and reports were laid on the table of the House, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he had not admitted the notices given by the MPs for suspending the listed business to discuss the Pegasus issue.

Naidu said the discussion on the farmers’ issue will take place.

The opposition members, however, insisted that the Pegasus matter be taken up for discussion and and trooped into the Well. Naidu repeatedly stressed on discussing the farmers’ issue, but opposition members did not agree.

The chairman adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.

Thane: A 15-year-old girl allegedly strangulated her mother to death with a karate belt after a fight over her studies in Navi Mumbai, police said on Tuesday.

The girl later tried to pass it off as a case of accidental death, they said.

The incident took place in Airoli area of Navi Mumbai township on July 30.

The girl and her 40-year-old mother used to have frequent quarrels as the woman wanted her daughter to pursue a medical course, but the latter refused to do so, an official at Rabale police station said.

The girl had last month also complained to police about her mother, following which the police counselled the family members.

On July 30, the girl informed the police that her mother fell and died, the official said.

The body was sent for postmortem and the report revealed that the woman was strangulated to death, he said.

During questioning, the girl told the police that she had strangled her mother with a karate belt after a tiff with her, the official said.

The teenager was detained on Monday and a case was registered under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), he said.

Srinagar: A security force personnel was injured in firing by militants on a road opening party of the CRPF in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

The ultras attacked the team at Kralcheck while they were carrying out road opening duties, they said. Constable Ajay Kumar of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sustained injuries, they said.

The area has been cordoned off and search operations have begun, they added.

New Delhi: The four accused in the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old Dalit girl was remanded in the custody of the Delhi Police for three days on Monday, officials said.

The girl died under suspicious circumstances on August 1 even as her parents alleged that she was raped and forcibly cremated by a crematorium’s priest in southwest Delhi’s Old Nangal village.

The agitated locals, along with the parents of the girl, had blocked the road in the area demanding justice. However, police have cleared the stretch.

A senior police officer in the Crime Branch said they have got the four accused in their remand for three days and they will be interrogated.

Last week, Crime Branch officials visited the crematorium ground twice. The police had earlier said that based on the statement of the victim’s mother, the charge of rape was added in the FIR.

The girl lived with her parents in a rented house in front of the crematorium. Around 5.30 pm on August 1, she went to get water from a cooler at the crematorium. Around 6 pm, the crematorium’s priest Radhey Shyam and two-three others called the girl’s mother to the spot.

Showing the girl’s body to her mother, they claimed that she got electrocuted while getting water. There were burn marks between her left wrist and elbow, and her lips were also blue.

The priest and the others dissuaded her mother from making a PCR call, saying police will make a case out of it and during post-mortem, doctors will steal the girl’s organs, so it was better to cremate her.

The girl was cremated but subsequently, her parents alleged that it was done without their consent.

Guwahati: The matter of NRC applicants whose biometric details were locked during the claims and objections phase of the citizenship document update process, and thus making them unable to get their Aadhaar enrolment done has been raised by the Assam government with the appropriate authorities, the state assembly was informed on Monday.

No eligible beneficiary under Prime Minister Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) scheme or the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the state was being deprived due to the absence of their Aadhaar cards, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a written reply to a query.

The biometric details of over 27 lakh NRC applicants were collected during the claims and objections phase while updating the National Register of Citizens, prior to the publishing of the document’s final draft on August 31, 2019. However, it is yet to be notified by the Registrar General of India (RGI).

This data has since been frozen pending completion of the NRC, leaving these people unable to generate their Aadhaar numbers, which has also reportedly led to problems in availing benefits under various government schemes.

Responding to a question by ruling BJP MLA Kaushik Rai, Sarma informed the House that the state government has raised the issue of a section of the people failing to get their Aadhaar number as their biometric details have been locked with the RGI and the Union home secretary.

The Supreme Court has directed that an appropriate regime be enacted for NRC data on lines similar to the security regime provided for Aadhaar data. Subsequently, the RGI has sanctioned requisite funds for it, with the NRC State Coordinator taking up the project and C-DAC the implementing agency, he added.

The reply was laid in the House in the name of the chief minister in his capacity as the home minister though he was not present.

His reply further said linking of Aadhaar details of the beneficiaries under the PMAY-G scheme is not mandatory for Assam yet.

However, there is a directive from the Ministry of Rural Development to capture and upload Aadhaar details of beneficiaries for the preparation of PMAY-G additional list (Awaas+).

In case any person is left out of Awaas+ due to non-generation of Aadhaar number, the beneficiary will be included in the eligible list once Aadhaar-like security regime for NRC data is available, according to the reply.

Similarly, all beneficiaries under NFSA are getting food grains by showing their ration cards and no one is being deprived of their monthly entitled quota due to lack of Aadhaar card, it added.

New Delhi: The National Commission for Minorities on Monday issued a notice to Delhi’s deputy commissioner of police over anti-Muslim slogans allegedly raised during a protest at the Jantar Mantar here and asked the official to apprise it of the action taken in the matter.

As directed by NCM Vice-Chairman Atif Rasheed, the panel has taken suo motu cognisance of the news in social media regarding an event organized under “Bharat Jodo Movement” which took place at Jantar Mantar, wherein anti-Muslim slogans were raised, the notice said.

“The same has hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community. You are directed to be present in the commission on 10.8.2021 at 12 noon,” it said.

The commission has asked the deputy commissioner of police to furnish information as to what action has been taken against the people who raised such slogans, whether any arrests have been made and, if so, the sections under which the accused have been booked.

The commission also asked the deputy police commissioner to apprise it on whose permission was such an event organised and what are the measures taken to prevent such incidents in future.

Also, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Mahmood Madani has written to Home Minister Amit Shah and the Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana and demanded stern action against the guilty.

Apart from this, a delegation led by Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi, the General Secretary of the Jamiat, called on Jaspal Singh, the Joint Police Commissioner, New Delhi Range and Deepak Yadav, the DCP, at a makeshift camp at Jantar Mantar and handed over to them the copy of the letter.

It states that the hate-filled video was being circulated and shared by a large number of people on social media platforms. It has hurt the Muslims and peace-loving people across all communities, the letter said.

A video showing anti-Muslim slogans being raised during a protest at Jantar Mantar here is being widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case in connection with the matter on Monday, officials said.

Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by Bharat Jodo Aandolan at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.

Shipra Srivastava, the media in-charge of Bharat Jodo Aandolan, said the protest was held under the leadership of advocate and former BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay.

However, she denied any links to those who raised anti-Muslim slogans.

“The protest was held against colonial laws and demanding to abolish 222 British laws. We have seen the video, but have no idea who they are. The police should take strict action against the persons who raised the slogans,” Srivastava said.

Upadhyay too denied any involvement in the anti-Muslim slogan-shouting incident.

“I have submitted a complaint to the Delhi Police to examine the video which went viral. If the video is authentic, then strict action should be taken against the persons who were involved in it,” he said.

The video shows a group of people shouting inflammatory slogans and threatening Muslims during the protest at Jantar Mantar.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said, “We have received a video and we are examining it. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the law and an investigation is in progress.” 

New Delhi: The government on Monday introduced a key Constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha that seeks to restore the states’ power to make their own OBC lists.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar introduced the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021.

In the statement of objects and reasons, Kumar said in order to adequately clarify that the states and Union territories are empowered to prepare and maintain their own lists of SEBCs (Socially and Educationally Backward Classes) and with a view to maintain the federal structure of the country, there is a need to amend Article 342A and make consequential amendments in articles 338B and 366 of the Constitution.

Most Opposition members, including those from the Congress, have supported the politically sensitive bill as it touches on the interests of the numerically-strong Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

“The government is going to introduce the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament. All leaders of various parties will support this bill and we want this bill being introduced today (Monday) to be passed immediately after a discussion on it,” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters.

Opposition members, who have been in the Well of the House throughout the session to register their protest over the Pegasus snooping issue, went back to their seats when the minister introduced the bill.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress, T R Baalu of the DMK and Ritesh Pandey of the BSP voiced their support to the proposed legislation even as they objected to the manner in which the government has been pushing forth with its legislative agenda amid the din.

Chowdhury said had the government listened to the Opposition members earlier, the states’ rights would have remained protected.

The ruling BJP has issued a whip to its MPs in the Rajya Sabha, asking them to ensure their presence in the House in the next two days, when the bill may be introduced and taken up for passage in the Upper House of Parliament.

The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list. Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the Centre’s plea seeking a review of its May 5 majority verdict that held that the 102nd Constitution amendment took away the states’ power to notify SEBCs for the grant of quota in jobs and admissions.

Opposition parties had then accused the Centre of assaulting the federal structure by taking away the power of the states to identify and list the OBCs.

However, Kumar told the Rajya Sabha last month that the government is in consultation with legal experts and the Ministry of Law and examining ways to protect the power of the states in determining the state lists of OBCs.

On May 5, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, had unanimously set aside a Maharashtra law granting quota to Marathas and refused to refer the 1992 Mandal verdict that put a 50-per cent cap on reservation to a larger bench.

Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, made the remarks as he held a meeting with the BKU’s office-bearers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at the Ghazipur border here.

The meeting was held to formulate a strategy to intensify the farmers’ agitation in these states to press their demand for the withdrawal of the three farm laws and the guarantee for MSP, according to a BKU statement.

“If the laws are not repealed and MSP not guaranteed, we shall force the BJP (government) to quit. We will reach out to farmers and expose the BJP. A government made by farmers cannot stay in power if it is anti-farmer,” the statement in Hindi quoted Tikait as saying.

However, the influential BKU leader emphasised that the farmers are not against any political party.

“We are not against any party. We are only against any group which is opposed to the welfare of the farmers and labourers,” he added.

In his meeting, Tikait held discussions on the BKU’s press conferences scheduled for August 11 in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun and Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan, the farmer union’s media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said.

The BKU will hold an event in Haryana’s Mewat on August 26 and one in Yamuna Nagar on August 29, he said.

In September, a ‘kisan panchayat’ will be held in Muzaffarnagar, the BKU’s headquarters in western Uttar Pradesh, he added.

Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi’s border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020. They have been demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for their crops.

The government, which has held 11 rounds of talks with the farmer leaders, has maintained the laws are pro-farmer and will usher in new technology in farming.