Archives for August 2023

NEW DELHI:  Union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday tabled the Digital Personal Data Protection bill in the Lok Sabha, amid protests from Opposition parties demanding it be sent to a parliamentary committee. 

The bill proposes to regulate the usage of personal data of citizens by private companies as well as government agencies and is the first legislation related to privacy. It says personal data can be only processed by data fiduciaries (entities that collect and process personal data), companies or government agencies lawfully with the consent of the individual concerned. 

“The bill will protect the rights of all citizens, allow the innovation economy to expand, and permit government’s lawful and legitimate access in national security and emergencies like pandemics and earthquakes,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology. The bill will be tabled in Rajya Sabha next week. 

NEW DELHI: India will be attending a meeting that is being hosted by Saudi Arabia that will seek ways to find a way to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“Yes, India has been invited for a meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on August 6th. India will take part in this meeting. It is in consonance with our mission that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward to end the conflict,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi on Thursday.

Amongst the countries that are expected to take part include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries. A high-level official from the US is expected to attend. The event has excluded Russia and is being overseen by Kyiv.

Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan will also be discussed. The peace plan includes punishing those responsible for war crimes withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine and restoring their territorial integrity.

Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the talks comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May attended an Arab League summit in Jeddah to press those nations to back Kyiv. Arab nations largely have remained neutral since the conflict began in February 2022, in part over their military and economic ties to Moscow.

Saudi Arabia also has maintained a close relationship with Russia as part of the OPEC+ group.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday deferred hearing for September 4 on the interim bail pleas of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in two Delhi excise policy cases being probed by the CBI and ED.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti perused the medical records of Sisodia’s wife, and said she is “fairly stable” and, therefore, it will consider the interim bail pleas of former deputy chief minister along with regular bail pleas in the cases.

On July 14, the top court had sought responses of the CBI and the ED on the interim bail pleas of Sisodia in the cases.

Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio among the many that he handled as the deputy chief minister, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 for his alleged role in the “scam”.

He has been in custody since then.

The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar Jail.

Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.

The high court had denied him bail in the CBI case on May 30, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a “high-profile” person who has the potential to influence the witnesses.

On July 3, the high court had declined him bail in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the city government’s excise policy, holding that the charges against him are “very serious in nature”.

In its May 30 order, the high court had said since Sisodia was at the “helm of affairs” when the alleged scam took place, he cannot say he had no role to play.

The high court had said with his party still in power in the national capital, Sisodia, who once held 18 portfolios, continues to wield influence, and since the witnesses are mostly public servants, the possibility of their getting influenced cannot be ruled out.

According to the two federal investigative agencies, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours were extended to licence holders.

The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.

MUMBAI: The strike by the drivers of private bus operators hired by the BEST – Mumbai’s civic transport utility – intensified on the third day on Friday with more than 1,300 buses staying off roads, causing immense inconvenience to commuters using the service.

A spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) said that as many as 1,375 out of the total 1,671 private buses of the civic transport service did not leave 20 depots, including Colaba, Worli, Majas, Shivaji Nagar, Ghatkopar, Deonar, Mulund, Santacruz, Oshiwara and Magathane, since morning.

“The strike by drivers of private bus operators for the salary hike and other demands intensified on the third day. Majority of drivers of the BEST’s four big private bus operators – Mateshwari, SMT, Hansa and Tata Motors have joined the strike on Thursday,” a BEST official said.

On Wednesday, drivers of the private bus operator SMT, also known as the Daga Group, went on a flash strike at the Ghatkopar and Mulund depots of BEST in the eastern suburbs over their demand for a salary hike, affecting services on several bus routes.

On the first day of the strike, only 160 leased buses did not operate, but the number crossed 1,000 on the second day on Wednesday.

The operations of the BEST’s wet leased buses were severely hampered at Ghatkopar, Mulund, Shivaji Nagar, Worli and other depots, the officials said.

The undertaking has directed the private operators to resolve the issue as early as possible, and necessary action was being taken against these companies as per the terms and conditions of the lease agreements, they said.

The protesting drivers have claimed that they did not get adequate salary hike in the last three years and find it difficult to manage household expenses.

Their salaries are quite low compared to those of BEST employees, they added.

The BEST has hired buses on a wet lease model under which private operators have the responsibility of the vehicle ownership, maintenance, fuel and driver costs.

The undertaking’s fleet of around 3,100 buses (including its own 1,340 buses) ferries more than 30 lakh people in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar every day.

NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s plea against the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) order of granting Shiv Sena’s name and its ‘bow and arrow’ symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction. It will hear the plea after the conclusion of the Article 370 hearing.

Senior Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari mentioned the plea before the bench of Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud, and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra. “We’ll have to hear it. Wait for the Constitution Bench and we will list it,” the CJI said.

The Uddhav faction had suffered a setback when the Supreme Court, on February 22, refused to stay the ECI’s order, and directed the current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the ECI to file its counter within two weeks. The bench had also refused to accede to Uddhav Thackeray’s request to restrain the Shinde faction from taking over the party’s office and bank accounts in Parliament and the state assembly. Remarking that there is a contractual relationship within the parties, the bench said they can pursue alternate remedies of law. 

“It’s a contractual relationship within the party. We are entertaining the Special Leave Petition, but we can’t stay the order,” the CJI had remarked. Furthermore, the bench had also allowed the Thackeray faction to continue using the ‘flaming torch’ symbol and the name of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The ECI, while allotting the party’s name to the Shinde faction, had also allowed the Uddhav faction to retain the new name and the symbol till the by-elections for 205-Chinchwad and 215-Kasba Peth of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were over. 

A division bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the bail granted to former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Jitendra Narain in a rape case filed by a 21-year-old woman.

NEW DELHI:  Taking exception to the conduct of the treasury benches in Parliament, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that despite being the leader of the Opposition, he was being insulted in Parliament by not being allowed to speak.

Speaking to the media along with senior INDIA leaders at Vijay Chowk, Kharge said the BJP government was trying to intimidate the opposition parties, but they would continue the fight to save democracy and the Constitution. “INDIA will not be intimidated and INDIA was not constituted to run away,” said Kharge.

Kharge pointed out that a record number of 65 Rajya Sabha MPs had sought discussion under Rule 267. “This was the first time that so many members sought suspension of business to discuss Manipur since it was not an ordinary incident. Women are being paraded naked and people are being killed. Despite that the government is not ready for discussion,” he said.