NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday held that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to safe and legal abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala and AS Bopanna delivered the verdict on the interpretation of the MTP Act, and whether unmarried or single women can be allowed like their married counterparts the benefit of abortion up to 24 weeks.

The top court said the distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is “artificial and constitutionally unsustainable” and perpetuates the stereotype that only married woman are sexually active.

The bench, on August 23, had reserved its verdict on interpretation of the MTP Act provisions which makes a distinction between married and unmarried women on the issue of abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy.

As suspense over whether or not Gehlot would agree to resign as CM to file his nomination papers continued, names of other Congress probables started doing the rounds. Right on top of the list was that of former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh, who shares a close personal equation with Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi family loyalist Ambika Soni, considered close to Sonia, could also be on the ballot.

Others include the party’s top Dalit leaders like Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and former Haryana president of Congress Kumari Selja. Party treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal’s name is also being mentioned as a possible contender.

On Wednesday, Sonia Gandhi consulted Ambika Soni and A K Antony, who was called from Kerala where he is leading a retired life, on the Rajasthan crisis. She was advised to meet Gehlot one last time to try and iron out the differences.

The two central observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge shielded Gehlot in their report after returning from Jaipur where they were not able to meet the party MLAs loyal to the CM. These MLAs opposed to the high command’s plan to replace Gehlot with his former deputy Sachin Pilot and refused to sign a resolution authorising Sonia to pick the successor. Gehlot was originally scheduled to leave Jaipur at 5.30 pm but delayed his departure.

‘To express feelings of loyalists’
“The CM is going to Delhi to express the feelings of 102 MLAs, as their guardian, with the party leadership,” minister Pratap Khachariyawas said.

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh Congress working president Harsh Mahajan joined the BJP on Wednesday and claimed the opposition party has become “vision-less, directionless and leaderless”.

A former state government minister and close aide of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who died last year, Mahajan lashed out at the Congress leadership in the state, saying it is very much ruled by “maa-beta” like in Delhi.

Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh is the state Congress president now and their son Vikramaditya Singh is a party MLA.

Nothing has been left in the Congress after the death of the former chief minister, he told reporters.

He joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for providing a “strong government”.

Goyal said the BJP will script history in the state by retaining power following the polls likely to be held later this year.

Mahajan had been with the Congress for over four decades.

Welcoming Mahajan, Goyal said he held important positions in the Congress and has maintained a clean image.

The BJP government in the state will be repeated, he claimed.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday held that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to safe and legal abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala and AS Bopanna delivered the verdict on the interpretation of the MTP Act, and whether unmarried or single women can be allowed like their married counterparts the benefit of abortion up to 24 weeks.

The top court said the distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is “artificial and constitutionally unsustainable” and perpetuates the stereotype that only married woman are sexually active.

The bench, on August 23, had reserved its verdict on interpretation of the MTP Act provisions which makes a distinction between married and unmarried women on the issue of abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy.

NEW DELHI: Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) has been appointed as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who shall also function as Secretary to Government of India, Department of Military Affairs, with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders.ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

The post of CDS was lying vacant since December 8, 2021, when the first CDS General Bipin Rawat was killed in a helicopter accident in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. The post of the CDS was created on 24 December 2019.

In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan had held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and North-East India.

Born on 18th May 1961, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

In the rank of Maj General, the officer had commanded an Infantry Division in the critical Baramula sector in the Northern Command. Later as Lt General, he commanded a corps in the North East and subsequently went to become the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command from September 2019 and held the charge until his retirement from the service in May 2021.

In addition to these command appointments, the officer also tenanted important staff appointments including the charge of Director General of Military Operations.

Earlier, the officer had also served on a United Nations mission to Angola. The officer superannuated from the Indian Army on 31 May 2021.

Even after his retirement from the Army, he continued to contribute to national security and strategic matters.

For his distinguished and illustrious service in the Army, Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.

NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday decided to depute senior party leader Kamal Nath to persuade Ashok Gehlot to resign from the post of Rajasthan Chief Minister before filing his nomination papers for the post of the party’s national president.

Sources said Kamal Nath has been asked to convey to Gehlot that if he does not resign, he would not be supported by the party high command for presidentship. They said if Gehlot does not heed to Kamal Nath’s message he may be asked not to file his nomination papers in the party election. 

Kamal Nath, who flew in here from Bhopal on Monday, met Sonia at her residence. There was no clear word on whether he will fly to Jaipur to convey her message. Top Congress leaders told this paper that Gehlot’s rebellion may not only cost him Congress presidentship but may also lead to his removal from the post of chief minister as he has refused to accept his former deputy Sachin Pilot as his successor.

He has conveyed to the party leadership that he would not accept either Pilot or anyone from his camp. He said Pilot and the MLAs who had walked out with him to form a government with the help of the BJP are not acceptable to a large number of Congress MLAs.

Kamal Nath’s meeting with Gehlot is the party leadership’s last-ditch attempt to seek Gehlot’s compliance with its decision to hand over chief ministership to Pilot. Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot had on Sunday refused to meet the party’s central observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge. The central observers were sent to get the MLAs to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to choose the next chief minister. MLAs in the Gehlot camp refused to sign the resolution. The party leadership in Delhi feels the MLAs avoided the central observers on the direction of Gehlot.

This is being seen as an open rebellion by Gehlot against the Gandhi family and the party’s central leadership. Congress leaders in Delhi said the party has started looking for an alternative candidate for the post of Congress president. There are four days left for the nominations to close for the party’s presidential election. Nominations for the presidential elections close on September 30.

The Congress Legislature Party meeting, which was called on Sunday, had to be cancelled as more than 90 MLAs loyal to Gehlot threatened to resign. Gehlot loyalists Shanti Dhariwal and Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi are being seen by the high command as the key players in the drama.

Gehlot met Kharge in the hotel he was staying on Monday afternoon. Before leaving for Delhi, Kharge said, “Everyone will have to be on the same page with Congress president’s decision. There has to be unity and discipline in the party unit.” Dhariwal later alleged that Maken was part of a plot to unseat Gehlot as CM. 

NEW DELHI: Based on the inputs from intelligence agencies, the ministry of information and broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 videos uploaded on 10 channels on the digital platform. They were accused of spreading fake news to create animosity among religious communities

The ministry’s orders to block the content were issued on Friday under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.“They were trying to divide the country, spreading scare and misleading environment.

The ill-intentioned content aimed to create misunderstanding with friendly nations. The Government will continue to take action against such channels and websites airing malicious content,” said Anurag Thakur, ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).

According to the ministry, the blocked videos had garnered 1.30 crore views cumulatively.
“The content included fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities. Examples include false claims such as the Government having taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country,” said the ministry.

Some of the videos blocked by the ministry were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, and Kashmir.
“Certain videos depicted the erroneous external boundary of India with parts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh outside the Indian territories. Such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” said the ministry.

The content blocked by the ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country, the ministry further said.

Earlier, the ministry ordered the blocking of over 100 YouTube channels and other digital platforms since December. Majority of them were being operated from Pakistan

Intel reports prompt move
Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, following the inputs and recommendations from the intelligence and security agencies, blocked the errant handles and digital platforms

A spate of recent meetings between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and Muslim personalities and clerics have sparked heated debates in many quarters. Among the prominent Muslim representatives who met Bhagwat were former Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, former Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Lieutenant-General Zameer Uddin Shah (retd.), Rashtriya Lok Dal national vice-president Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Shervani. While the RSS maintains it was an outreach effort by the outfit to strengthen religious inclusivity, Asaduddin Owaisi, Chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen says the RSS chief spoke about cutting down madrasas and the need of Muslims showing more ‘Bharatiyata’ in the meeting

Excerpts from an interview with Preetha Nair:

You were critical of RSS chief’s meeting with Muslim intellectuals and clerics…
These intellectuals claimed that they represent the Muslim community. But they don’t. They should have said that they met the RSS chief in their individual capacity. 

The meeting took place in August and it came to light only last week. What stopped them from saying it in public? Also, they are not speaking the complete truth. The truth is that the RSS chief told them to reduce the number of madrasas and that Indian Muslims need to show their ‘Bharatiyata’. 

RSS and BJP have been propounding ‘Bharati-yata’ for long. 
Bhagwat said Indian Muslims need to show their ‘Bharatiyata’. I would like to know whether RSS abdicated the Hindutva ideology which was propounded by Savarkar? According to Savarkar, a Hindu was ‘one who considers India to be his motherland and his holy land. According to him,  Muslims do not accept India as a holy land. 

Both the sides were concerned about communal disharmony…
If both sides are so concerned, why can’t the RSS chief apprise the Prime Minister? The RSS could have suggested that it would ask PM Modi to hold a National Integration Council meeting. 

BJP has also been making outreach efforts after the Hyderabad National Executive meeting…
Why are madrasas being demolished in Assam? Why is the madrasa survey being done in UP? By that logic, why can’t a survey be done of missionary schools, private schools, government schools or RSS-run schools?

Bhagwat also met Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief cleric of All India Imam Organization
That cleric is a known RSS- BJP follower, and has been associated with them for a long time.