Archives for June 2022

MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Sena legislators, led by senior minister Eknath Shinde, have raised the banner of revolt against their party.

These MLAs had first come to Guwahati on June 22 and subsequently in several batches from Gujarat’s Surat in chartered flights.

Amid criticism that the Sena dissidents were staying at a luxury hotel in Guwahati even as parts of Assam were grappling with severe floods, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs told PTI, “Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as our contribution to their ongoing rescue work. We cannot ignore the plight of people here.”

Kesarkar added that with Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari asking the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to face a floor test on Thursday, the rebel MLAs have decided to move out of Guwahati and shift to a place near Mumbai.

A close aide of Shinde, however, said the group will be staying in a Goa-based hotel and reach Mumbai by 9.30 am on Thursday.

Kesarkar said, “We will be staying at a place that is one hour air distance from Mumbai, so that that we can comfortably reach the state capital for the floor test. The decision (of floor test) will be what we have been demanding for a long time from our leadership.” Expressing disappointment with Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said the party MLAs had been asking him to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government), but he never listened to them.

“As majority of Shiv Sena MLAs decided to go away from these two parties, the remaining Sena legislators with him (Thackeray) will have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test,” Kesarkar said.

Thackeray can definitely issue some instructions, but when we are in the House, we are bound by the Constitution of the country, he said.

Shinde said on Wednesday that he will return to Mumbai on Thursday for the floor test against the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress government.

AHMEDABAD:  The Congress in Gujarat wants a probe against the Surat hotel where the Maharashtra rebels stayed before flying to Guwahati. The party has sought an FIR against the hotel for sheltering the Shiv Sena rebels.

“The conspiracy to overthrow our government in Maharashtra has been hatched in this hotel. Otherwise, how can so many MLAs reach the same hotel? The fact that they all came here together means the venue had already been decided and local BJP leaders were present to welcome them when they arrived at the hotel,” said Surat city Congress president Hasmukh Desai. He also alleged that the MLAs were served liquor at the hotel and demanded probe into how they got alcohol.

‘Form SIT to look into conspiracy’

In a memorandum submitted to Surat police commissioner, the Gujarat Congress has demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team to investigate the role of the hotel in the conspiracy of sheltering the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs. 

NEW DELHI:  The biggest reform of reorganising the Indian Armed Forces into theater command is moving ahead with the studies commissioned to individual services reaching the advanced stages. The Indian Air Chief has confirmed “definite progress” in the process.

Sources in the defence establishment confirmed that the “the studies being done by the Army and the Navy are complete.” As reported in media, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Sunday said, “The process of theaterisation of the Indian Armed forces is at a deliberation stage.

There are a few issues which are being discussed and definite progress has been made in this aspect,” he said. “Therefore, the joint structures that we may form shall be specific to our environment, adequately deliberated and war-gamed to clearly enunciate tasks and roles of each service,” he said.

As reported earlier, one of the main differences that have protracted the finalisation of the process is the IAF’s reluctance over distribution of resources. It has highlighted that of the 42 combat squadrons sanctioned, the IAF operates with just about 30.

Speaking on the issues Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari on Sunday said that the three services are on the “same page” on the issues of formulation of joint structures. “The IAF remains fully committed to integration that brings about transformation and enhancement of the comprehensive national combat power,” he said.

The Commands of the three services were entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out independent studies on the organisation and structures. Initial plan was to hold presentations in the months of February, March and April with the final presentation due in May had the things gone as per the plan.

While, in the case of the Army South Western Command and Central Command have carried out the study. Central Command of the Air Force and Eastern Command of the Navy have carried out the studies. The theaterisation process was initiated by CDS General Rawat who was killed in an unfortunate accident in December 2021. This led to delay in the process. 

The war fighting structure of the Armed Forces (Army, Air Force and Navy) is being reorganised into theatre commands with an aim to have the assets of all three forces under one commander responsible for all operations under his theatre.

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India on Tuesday described the arrest of Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair on charges of hurting religious sentiments as “extremely disturbing” and demanded his immediate release.

Both the media bodies pointed out that the action against Zubair came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech, “online and offline”.

“It is apparent that Alt News’ alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments,” the guild said in a statement here.

Zubair was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings.

“Zubair has been arrested under sections 153 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

This is extremely disturbing because Zubair and his website Alt News have done some exemplary work over the past few years in identifying fake news and countering disinformation campaigns, in a very objective and factual manner,” the guild said.

It demanded that the Delhi Police release Zubair immediately.

“This is necessary to buttress the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the G7 meet in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline content,” the guild said.

The Press Club of India said: “The action by the Delhi Police in hastily arresting Muhammad Zubair showed the blatant violation of the country’s commitment on the global platform given by none other than the prime minister himself.”

Earlier, a body of digital media organisations had condemned Zubair’s arrest and asked the Delhi Police to withdraw the case against him immediately.

In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is unjustifiable that such stringent laws are used as tools against journalists, who have been accorded the role of playing a watchdog against the misuse of the institutions of the State, a statement issued by the DIGIPUB said.

“The use of such stringent laws as tools against journalists who are considered the fourth pillar of democracy must be stopped. We stand with Zubair,” it added.

Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday termed the arrest “discriminatory” and demanded that the government take “fair action” in the matter respecting the country’s reputation at the international level.

Jamiat president Maulana Mahmood Madani also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah saying “the discriminatory nature” of the functioning of law enforcement agencies is condemnable.

“On one hand, people who openly deliver hate speeches and make genocide calls are roaming free, while on the other hand journalists who are tirelessly working in exposing such hate-mongers are being systematically harassed and intimidated,” Madani said.

“There is no doubt that the people accused of hurting religious sentiments of other people’s faith, their holy saints and holy books with the intention to cause communal disturbance must be dealt with firmly as per the provision of the law.

However, there must not be any discrimination in dealing with such people on the basis of their particular faith,” the Jamiat chief said.

In the case against Zubair, Madani alleged “discrimination and religious persecution”.

“We solemnly appeal to you as the guardian of the law enforcement to kindly make sure that absolute equality and impartiality is exercised by the law enforcement agencies in dealing with the hate mongers irrespective of their faith,” Madani said in his letter.

“We demand that the government take fair action respecting the country’s reputation at the international level,” he said.

RANCHI:  A Special MP/MLA Court in Ranchi on Tuesday rejected a petition filed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking exemption from physical appearance in a case related to violation of the model code of conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. javascript:false

A case was registered against Soren at Argora Police Station in Ranchi during the LS elections after he was spotted wearing his party’s scarf with a symbol of bow and arrow printed over it while exercising his franchise at the polling booth. Soren was scheduled to appear before the Court on Tuesday, but now, the case will be heard on July 15.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government on Thursday at 11 am.

Immediately after the Governor’s demand to prove the majority, Shiv Sena approached Supreme Court claiming his request is illegal.

BELAGAVI:  The political crisis in neighbouring Maharashtra and the imminent change of guard in the state is unlikely to have a major impact on Karnataka as far as inter-state issues like boundary dispute and sharing of river waters are concerned. However, the exit of Shiv Sena from the seat of power may weaken Maharashtra’s stand on the long-drawn boundary row. Even as the governments which came to power in Maharashtra in the last two decades did not take the boundary case seriously, the coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray had adopted several stringent measures to expedite the case through legal and political means.

Thackeray had bolstered the Maharashtra legal teams in the Supreme Court to stake claim on several areas on Karnataka border including Belagavi, Bidar, Karwar and Nipani. Besides appointing a minister in-charge of the boundary dispute, Thackeray had taken personal interest in the issue and even tweeted, “All Marathi-majority areas of Karnataka should be merged with Maharashtra”.

Despite coming under fire for his tweet last year, the CM had gone a step further releasing a controversial book ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Ani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Row: Struggle and Resolve) at a programme held in Mumbai on January 27 last year. The book was brought out by the government headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

Advantage K’taka if MVA falls, feel experts

The series of measures over the boundary dispute initiated by the Thackeray government at a time when the case is pending before the Supreme Court had drawn flak from Karnataka.Political observers feel the imminent exit of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government would weaken Maharashtra’s stand on the dispute. “It will be an advantage for Karnataka as the Shiv Sena had taken the issue seriously. The ‘Marathi politics’ and attempts to get all Marathi people onboard on the border issue by Shiv Sena will not be the same with a change in guard. A government headed by the BJP which is likely to come back to power in Maharashtra may soften its stand and put the boundary issue on the backburner,’’ said noted activist Ashok Chandargi.

As far as the issue of sharing of Krishna waters between the two states is concerned, Chandargi said several governments which came to power in both states did not take the issue seriously. The previous three governments in Karnataka — headed by H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai — could not find a concrete solution on ensuring release of 4 TMCft water from Maharashtra to Krishna every summer, said Chandargi, adding that a proposal of Maharashtra government to have an MoU between the two states on exchange of release of 4 TMCft of Krishna water every year also failed to yield results.

NEW DELHI: The US President, Joe Biden, was the last to emerge for the photo op of the leaders at G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany, and as soon as he did that he walked over to greet Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, tapping him on the shoulder.

During the session that followed the photo-op, Investing in a better future: Climate, Energy and Health, PM Modi said that though India was home to 17 per cent of the world’s population it accounted for only 5 per cent of global carbon emissions.

“Seventeen per cent of the world’s population resides in India. But our contribution of global carbon emissions is only 5 per cent. The main reason behind this is our lifestyle, which is based on the theory of co-existence with nature,” PM Modi said.

Unfortunately, it is believed that there is a fundamental collision between the developmental goals of the world and environmental protection. 

“There is also another misconception that poor countries and poor people cause more damage to the environment,” PM Modi said adding that it was important to remember that access to energy shouldn’t be the privilege of just the rich.

“All of you will also agree that energy access should not be the privilege of the rich only – a poor family has the same rights on energy. And today when energy costs are sky-high due to geopolitical tensions, it is more important to remember this,” PM Modi said.

India has delivered LED bulbs and clean cooking gas door-to-door and showed millions of tons of carbon emissions can be prevented while ensuring energy for the poor.

In its endeavour to protect the environment India has achieved the target of generating 40 per cent of energy from non-fossil sources nine years ahead of the target of 2030, while the target of blending 10 per cent ethanol in petrol was achieved five months ahead of the target. 

“India has the world’s first fully solar-powered airport (Cochin) and its railway system will become net zero in this decade,” PM Modi said.

Meanwhile, PM Modi said the health of humans and the planet are interconnected, and this is why India had adopted the approach of “one world, one health”. During the Covid-19 pandemic, India found creative uses of digital technology for health, and the G7 countries can help India to take such innovations to developing countries.

Yoga and traditional medicines in many countries are assets that can be used for holistic health, Modi said, adding that WHO has decided to set up a global centre for traditional medicine in India. This centre will be a repository of traditional medicine systems from across the world and encourage research in this area.

Besides India, Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina and Senegal have been invited to the Summit. PM Modi met many leaders on the sidelines of the Summit.

In his interaction with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, PM Modi said that they discussed cooperation in key sectors like commerce and energy.

“We also had deliberations on furthering environment-friendly growth of our planet,” PM Modi added.
During his interaction with Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, PM Modi exchanged views on Indonesia’s forthcoming G20 presidency. 

PM Modi also had interactions with French President Emmanuel Macron, Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez and the President of South Africa.

During his meeting with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, PM Modi welcomed the WTO agreement that supports the production of Covid vaccines in developing countries.

PM Modi has been invited thrice to the G7 Summit since 2014. This is indicative of India’s emerging clout globally.

LUCKNOW: Film director and producer Ram Gopal Varma have been booked for making uncharitable remarks on NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, a police official said here on Monday.

Lucknow’s Police Commissioner DK Thakur said that a case was registered against Ram Gopal Varma for making indecent remarks against Droupadi Murmu in a tweet.

The case has been registered at Hazratganj police station on Sunday, he said.

In a tweet on June 22, Varma had said, “If Drapaudi is the President who are the Pandavas? And more importantly, who are the Kauravas?” In a tweet on June 24 he tried to clear his stand and said, “This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way… Draupadi in Mahabharata is my favourite character but since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone.”

Subsequently on June 25, he made two tweets.

In the first tweet he said, “The tremendousness of this incredible icon the extremely honourable Drapaudi being president is that both Pandavas and Kauravas will forget their battle and together worship her and then Mahabharat will be rewritten in new India and the world will be proud of India… Jai BJP.”

“Post the extensive research I did on the honourable Draupadi ji and studying the nuances in the intensity of her eyes and the depths of both her smile and facial contours, I have no doubt that she will be the greatest president ever in the whole wide world…Thank you BJP,” he said in the second tweet.