Archives for January 2025

AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge

Belagavi: In a strict warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that those who insult the Congress party and its values will be burnt.

Speaking at the ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhana’ conference organized by the Congress party at CPED Maidan in Belagavi, Kharge condemned the BJP for its disrespect towards the Constitution and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar ( Chief Architect of the Constitution).

Referring to the BJP leaders, Kharge stated, “Those who burned the Constitution and Ambedkar’s portrait at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi should not teach us a lesson. If you insult us, you will be burnt,” emphasizing the Congress party’s commitment to safeguarding the nation’s democratic values. The Congress leader also criticized the BJP for their changing stance on Ambedkar, noting that it was the Congress party that made Ambedkar the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

Kharge further attacked the BJP for its treatment of Ambedkar’s legacy, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of relegating Ambedkar’s statue to a corner of Parliament, contrasting it with Indira Gandhi’s efforts to place it prominently. “Ambedkar’s statue was unveiled in front of Parliament during Indira Gandhi’s time. Now Modi has placed Ambedkar’s statue in a corner of Parliament,” Kharge remarked.

In his speech, Kharge stressed that the Congress, under leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhiji, had supported Ambedkar’s vision, citing his unopposed election to the Rajya Sabha. He also pointed out that the BJP and RSS did not hoist the tricolor in their offices for 50 years, while Rahul Gandhi had led the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, symbolizing the true spirit of the Constitution.

Kharge further criticised the BJP, accusing them of honoring Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, while failing to follow Gandhi’s principles.

He also pointed out the hypocrisy of the current government for failing to address the struggles of farmers, laborers, and the poor in the country. “The government is not worried about the farmers’ crops, nor has there been any thought of reducing fertilizer prices,” he lamented.

The Senior Congress leader also spoke on the sacrifices of previous Congress leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh, highlighting the pivotal laws brought during their tenures, including the RTI, Food Security Act, and Forest Rights. “Has the NDA government given any program for the poor?” he questioned.

“If Congress is strong anywhere in the country, it is only in Karnataka,” he asserted.

Furthermore he praised Priyanka Gandhi as a powerful woman who, like Rani Channamma of Belagavi, is fighting for the country’s self-respect.

Prominent Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, Priyanka Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with several ministers, MLAs, and senior party officials, attended the event.

Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he likes both sides of the argument on H-1B foreign guest workers’ visa, noting that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country and that he has used the programme.

“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. But I don’t want to stop — and I’m not just talking about engineers, I’m talking about people at all levels,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a joint news conference with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman.

The president was responding to a question on the ongoing debate on H-1B visa within his support base.

While his close confidants like Elon Musk, the Tesla owner, supports H-1B visa as it brings in qualified tech professionals, many of his supporters oppose it arguing that it takes away jobs from Americans.

“We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d’, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters — you’ve got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs… they need engineers like nobody’s ever needed them,” Trump said.

“So, we have to have quality people coming in. Now by doing that, we’re expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So I’m sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B programme,” Trump added.

Raichur: At least four persons including three students were killed and ten others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned in the wee hours of Wednesday in this district, police said.

The vehicle was carrying students of Mantralaya Sanskrit Pathashala were on a pilgrimage to Hampi to offer prayers at Narahari Temple. Police said the accident occurred near Araginamara Camp in Sindhanur.

Deceased students have been identified as Aryavandan (18), Sucheendra (22) and Abhilash (20). Driver Shiva (24) too lost his life in this accident. The 10 injured people have been admitted to a local hospital.

The Sindhanur police visited the spot, shifted the bodies to the mortuary and injured to the hospital. Sindhanur Traffic Police Station registered a case.

Barabanki: Two men, including a journalist, have been arrested here for allegedly making objectionable social media comments on the Maha Kumbh and Hindu deities, police said on Wednesday.

The two were held Tuesday evening after their remarks sparked anger among some members of the Hindu community, prompting the police to issue an alert for enhanced social media monitoring.

City Kotwali SHO Alok Mani Tripathi said, “Kamran Alvi was arrested after he posted a video related to the Maha Kumbh. It offended some people. The higher authorities took note of the video.

“The accused was promptly arrested, and a case was registered under section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the BNS Act for insulting religious symbols. He will be presented in the court,” Tripathi said.

Alvi describes himself as a journalist on Facebook where he has more than 9,000 followers. He runs a news portal.

Police said they are investigating others involved in the circulation of the video.

In the second case, SHO Amit Pratap Singh said, “Abhishek Kumar, a resident of Boja village near Jaidpur, made objectionable remarks on social media about Hindu deities and the Maha Kumbh. A case has been registered and the accused arrested”.

Being organised after 12 years, the Maha Kumbh — one of the most significant Hindu pilgrimages — kicked off on January 13 in Prayagraj and would continue till February 26.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended its stay on the Allahabad High Court’s order that permitted a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex in Mathura.

The complex is located adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, a site of significant religious importance for Hindus.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan said it will defer the hearing on the plea of the ‘Committee of Management of Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah’ against the court-monitored survey of the mosque complex in the week commencing April 1.

The CJI said there were three issues pending now with the apex court and they are “the issue of an intra-court appeal (against consolidation of lawsuits filed by the Hindu litigants), the other one is the Act (challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991) itself. List in the week commencing April 1.”

The bench said in the meanwhile the interim order of the Allahabad High Court staying the court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex will continue to operate.

The top court, on January 16 last year, had first stayed the operation of the December 14, 2023 order of the high court.

The high court had allowed a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex and agreed to the appointment of a court commissioner to oversee it.

The Hindu side claims the premises hold signs suggesting that a temple once existed at the site.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the Hindu parties, had said the appeal of the mosque committee was filed against the December 14, 2023 order of the high court and connected orders in the matter had become infructuous.

“All these petitions have become infructuous as the high court has pronounced its order later,” he said.

Jain referred to the subsequent order of the high court by which it rejected a plea of the Muslim parties challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura, and ruled that the religious character of the mosque needs to be determined.

The high court had dismissed the Muslim side’s contention that the suits filed by the Hindu litigants relating to the dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple and the adjacent mosque violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991 and therefore were not maintainable.

The 1991 Act prohibits changing the religious character of any shrine from what existed on the day of the country’s Independence. It exempted only the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute from its purview.

In Mathura, a suit was filed in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division (III) for shifting the Shahi Idgah mosque, claiming that it was constructed on a part of the 13.37 acre land of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust.

The Hindu side had requested the high court to conduct the original trial like it had done in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute.

While allowing the plea for a court-monitored survey, the high court had said that no harm should be caused to the structure during the exercise which it indicated could be overseen by a three-member commission of advocates.

Rajouri/Jammu: The remote Badhaal village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district was on Wednesday declared a containment zone and prohibitory orders imposed on all public and private gatherings in the wake of the death of 17 people belonging to three families, officials said.

Another person belonging to the village has been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition, they said.

The containment orders have been imposed under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Section 163 of BNSS gives magistrates the power to issue written orders in urgent situations. These orders can be used to prevent or remedy nuisance or dangers.

According to the order issued by additional district magistrate (Rajouri) Rajeev Kumar Khajuria, the village has been divided into three containment zones – the first covering all families where deaths have occurred.

“The houses of these affected families shall be sealed and entry will be totally restricted for all individuals, including their family members, unless otherwise authorized by the designated officers/officials.”

In the containment zone 2, the order said the members of all families identified as close contacts of affected individuals be shifted to Government Medical College, Rajouri for continuous health monitoring which is mandatory.

All households will be covered under the containment zone-3 and staff will be deployed to ensure the continuous monitoring of food consumption, deployment of police personnel to enforce compliance and deployment of designated officers for maintenance of log books, the order said.

“All public and private gatherings are hereby prohibited within the jurisdiction of these containment zones, in order to prevent further spread of the infection,” the order said.

It said the designated officials shall be responsible for monitoring all meals provided to families in containment zones.

“It is mandatory for affected families and their close contacts to consume only the food and water provided by the administration. Any other food items available in the households are strictly prohibited for consumption,” the order said.

It ordered immediate replacement of all food and water supplies, and seizure of all edible materials in the infected households.

The fresh steps were taken after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited the village on Tuesday.

Seventeen persons belonging to three families linked to each other have died under suspicious circumstances in the village between December 7 and January 19.

A 24-year-old man identified as Aijaz Ahmad was hospitalised on Tuesday evening after his health deteriorated.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said it would hear the CBI, the victim’s family and the convict before deciding on the admission of an appeal filed by the West Bengal government claiming inadequacy of sentence given by a trial court in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case.

The high court said it will hear the matter on Monday.

The CBI opposed the state’s right to file an appeal in the case, claiming that it was the prosecuting agency and had the right to prefer the appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of the sentence.

The Sealdah court on Monday sentenced Roy to life imprisonment till death for the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

A division bench, presided by Justice Debangshu Basak, said that it would hear the CBI, the family of the victim and the convict through their lawyers before deciding on the admission of the state government’s appeal.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

Kochi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor urged the Kerala government on Thursday to act swiftly in resolving the Waqf land dispute in Munambam.

He also appealed to the government not to turn it into a communal issue.

Residents in Cherai and Munambam in Ernakulam district allege that the “Waqf Board has been unlawfully claiming” their land and property, despite them holding registered deeds and land tax receipts.

Protesters from Munambam village have urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to find a lasting solution to their ongoing land dispute with the Waqf Board.

Interacting with reporters after visiting the locals who have been on a hunger strike for the past 96 days, Tharoor said, “It’s not a Muslim-Christian issue, it’s a technical-legal issue and should be resolved in that way.”

“So let’s not make it a communal conflict. It’s an administrative, legal confusion which should be clarified in the earliest possible moment,” he said while urging the state government to act immediately to resolve the issue.

The MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “My appeal is no one should wait much more and the state government should not delay in establishing the facts on file what is happened.”

“Whatever judicial process has already begun should be expeditiously concluded so that these people should get their lands,” he added.

Responding to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that India got “true independence” after the Ram temple consecration, Tharoor said, “Independence was won with a lot of sacrifices and hard work of a lot of people in our minds, starting with Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation.”

Bhagawat may have several other ways of being happy in his political career or political interests but it’s not the right category in which it was discussed, he added.

How can any responsible Indian denigrate the achievements of freedom fighters who have given their lives in several cases as well as their freedom in British jails to fight for the freedom that we take for granted today, he posed.

Welcoming the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the former union minister said, durable and permanent peace should be established.