Archives for 2024

Police have arrested a fabricator of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that recently collapsed at a fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, triggering a huge political row, an official said on Friday.

Fabricator Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, had used substandard material while shaping the 35-foot-tall statue of the Maratha warrior king, he said.

A resident of Mirzapur in UP, Yadav was taken into custody on Thursday after his role in the statue collapse came to light, the official said.

Yadav had been tasked with creating the Shivaji statue by welding separate parts, he said.

Police said the fabricator used inferior material to form the structure and did not join the parts properly through welding.

During a technical analysis, it was found that the collapsed steel statue had rusted in some places, indicating the use of low-quality material, he said.

After his role in the case was established, Yadav was also made an accused and was subsequently placed under arrest on Thursday. He was produced in a court which remanded him in police custody for three days, the official said.

The statue of the 17th-century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds.

The statue’s sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and consultant Chetan Patil were later arrested.

Salman Khan

Mumbai : The Mumbai traffic police received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from Bollywood actor Salman Khan, officials said on Friday.

The Worli police have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for threat and extortion.

The city’s traffic control room on Thursday afternoon received a threat on its WhatsApp helpline, he said.

In the message, the sender threatened the actor and demanded Rs 5 crore from him, he said, adding that a probe is underway.

The superstar had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Bishnoi gang members had also opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April, he said.

Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police on Thursday uncovered a plot to kill Khan by the Bishnoi gang in June and arrested one of its shooters, identified as Sukhbir Singh of Haryana’s Panipat, he said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday hailed the Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, saying it is a message to all that “live and let live” and conserve the culture of a multicultural and plural nation that India is.

In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants from Bangladesh who entered Assam before March 25, 1971.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, and Manoj Misra further underscored the necessity for more robust policy measures to curb illegal immigration.

In a post on X, Sibal said, “Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 6-A, upheld by Supreme Court. Message to all: ‘Live and let live’. Conserve the culture of a ‘multicultural and plural nation that India is’.

“Bhakts listening? Bajrang Dal listening? Governments listening? Hope so!” Sibal said.

Section 6A was inserted in 1985 into the Citizenship Act of 1955 following the signing of the Assam accord between the then Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre and the agitating groups led by Prafulla Mahanta, including All Assam Students Union in the state.

The verdict is believed to give a boost to those opposed to grant of Indian citizenship to immigrants who entered Assam after March 25, 1971.

According to the provision, all those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from Bangladesh at the time of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985, and since then are residents of Assam, can register for Indian citizenship.

As a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to migrants, particularly those from Bangladesh, residing in Assam.

While the CJI, Justices Kant, Sundresh, and Misra upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A, Justice J B Pardiwala dissented in a minority verdict.

Holding the cut-off date of March 25, 1971 as rational, the CJI, writing for himself, said Section 6A was included with the objective of reducing the influx of migrants to India and dealing with those who had already migrated.

CJI Chandrachud said Section 6A was not violative of Articles 6 and 7 of the Constitution, which stipulates a cut-off date for conferring citizenship to migrants from east and west Pakistan at the commencement of the Constitution”.

“The Assam Accord was a political solution to the issue of growing migration and Section 6A was a legislative solution. Section 6A must not be read detached from the previous legislation enacted by Parliament to deal with the problem of influx of migrants of Indian origin… Section 6A is one more statutory intervention in the long list of legislation that balances the humanitarian needs of migrants of Indian origin and the impact of such migration on economic and cultural needs of Indian states,” he wrote.

Justice Surya Kant, writing for himself and Justices Sundresh and Misra, said, Section 6A falls within the bounds of the Constitution and does not contravene the foundational principles of fraternity.

Davangere: A case has been registered against BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal following his allegations that a leader had collected Rs 1,000 crore with the intent to topple the Congress government in the state.

The FIR was filed at the Gandhinagar police station based on a complaint by KPCC General Secretary S. Manohar.

Yatnal had claimed that leaders from his party had amassed Rs 1,000 crore and were plotting to use the money to bring down the state government and install themselves as chief ministers. He further alleged that the money was meant to bribe Congress MLAs.

Nasheman news

Jaipur: An Indigo flight from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday made an emergency landing here following a bomb threat, an airport official said.

The flight took off from Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia and was scheduled to land at Lucknow airport. It was diverted to Jaipur for emergency landing, the official said.

The plane is at its isolation bay. Further details are awaited, the official added.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar being welcomed upon his arrival in Islamabad, Pakistan

Islamabad: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday landed in Islamabad to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the first visit to Pakistan by a high-ranking Indian minister in nearly a decade that came amid frosty ties between the two neighbours.

Jaishankar’s aircraft landed at the Nur Khan airbase on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital city at around 3:30 pm (local time) and he was greeted by senior Pakistani officials.

It is the first time in nearly nine years that India’s foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

The external affairs minister will lead the Indian delegation at the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit on Wednesday.

“Landed in Islamabad to take part in SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting,” Jaishankar posted on ‘X’ along with photographs of children and officials welcoming him with flowers at the airport.

The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad to attend the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on Afghanistan held from December 8-9, 2015.

Jaishankar, who was then India’s foreign secretary, was part of Swaraj’s delegation.

During the visit, Swaraj held talks with her then counterpart Sartaj Aziz.

Following the Swaraj-Aziz talks, a joint statement was released in which both sides announced their decision to start a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.

Little over two weeks after Swaraj’s trip, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sprang a surprise with a 150-minute visit to Lahore on his way back home from Kabul.

Modi visited the ancestral home of his then-Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and had talks to open ways for peace.

However, a series of terror attacks on India by Pakistan-based terrorists significantly strained the ties subsequently.

Before Jaishankar left for Pakistan, India on Tuesday said that it remains actively engaged in various mechanisms of the SCO.

Pakistan is hosting the two-day SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit on October 15 and 16.

“The SCO CHG meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the Organisation,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

“External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting. India remains actively engaged in the SCO format, including various mechanisms and initiatives within the SCO framework,” it said in a brief statement in New Delhi.

On Tuesday evening, Jaishankar is set to attend a banquet reception to be hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to welcome the delegates from the SCO member nations, people familiar with the matter said.

Both sides have already ruled out any bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO heads of the government summit.

Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan assumes significance as it is seen as a significant decision on New Delhi’s part.

In his recent address at an event, Jaishankar said, “like with any neighbour, India would certainly like to have good relations with Pakistan.”

“But that cannot happen by overlooking cross-border terrorism and indulging in wishful thinking.”

The decision to send the senior minister is seen as a display of India’s commitment to the SCO. China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be represented by their prime ministers while Iran’s First Vice President will be attending the summit.

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.

The relations further deteriorated after India on August 5, 2019, announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after New Delhi abrogated Article 370.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.

Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend an in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of SCO nations in Goa.

It was the first visit of a Pakistani foreign minister to India in almost 12 years.