NEW DELHI: The Congress slammed the Centre on Saturday over the UGC asking universities and colleges to set up selfie points to highlight “transformative initiatives propelling India’s growth”, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leaving no stone unturned to save his “flailing image” in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said at the fag end of 10 years, the people of India are sick and tired of this “obnoxious level of self-promotion” and will give a suitable answer very soon.

“First, it was the Army being asked to set up selfie points. Then, he asked IAS officers and other senior govt officials to take out ‘Rath Yatras’. Now, he has directed UGC to set up selfie points in all universities,” he said.

“Earlier, he hijacked the Chandrayaan-III landing by appearing on the live feed. Before that, he pasted his face onto all COVID-19 vaccine certificates,” Ramesh said, adding that these are only a few examples that reflect the man’s tremendous insecurities and the “sickening sycophancy” around him.

“At the fag end of 10 years, the people of India are frankly sick and tired of this obnoxious level of self-promotion surpassed only by North Korean dictators. The people will give a suitable answer very soon,” the Congress leader said.

The UGC has asked universities and colleges across the country to set up selfie points at strategic locations on the campus to raise awareness among youngsters about India’s achievements in various fields, according to officials.

The institutions can only put up the selfie points with the approved designs in 3D layouts shared by the Union Ministry of Education.

“These selfie points will not only serve as a source of pride but also enlighten every citizen about the transformative initiatives that have propelled India’s growth on the global stage. Students and visitors should be encouraged to capture and share these special moments on social media platforms, fostering a sense of collective pride,” UGC Secretary Manish Joshi has said.

Bengaluru: A 25-year-old employee of a private firm was arrested for allegedly morphing photos of his female colleagues including his girlfriend, police said on Thursday.

Aditya Santosh had stored more than 13,000 nude pictures of several women in his mobile phone. He morphed them along with pictures of his female colleagues, they said.

He was arrested by the cybercrime police in Bengaluru based on a complaint they received on November 23 from the lawyer of his firm, police said.

According to the police, Santosh was in relationship with his female colleague for the last four months. He allegedly recorded some of their private moments on his phone. Recently, she took his phone without his knowledge to delete these pictures and when she opened the gallery, she was shocked to find that he had stored nude photos of several women and had also morphed these pictures with that of their other female colleagues.

She then approached the office staff and informed them about it.

Preliminary probe has revealed that he morphed pictures for his own pleasure.

Santosh was working as a customer service agent in the firm since the last five months, the police said, adding they are verifying if he had circulated any of these pictures.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan

New Delhi: Voicing displeasure over Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan “sitting” for two years on bills passed by the state legislature, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will consider laying down the guidelines as to when the governors can refer bills to the President of India for assent.

While noting that the Kerala governor has taken decisions with regard to eight bills, the apex court asked him to meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the minister concerned to discuss the legislations, observing let’s hope some “political sagacity” takes over.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the office of the governor, that out of the eight bills, seven have been “reserved” for consideration by the president, while Khan has given his assent to one.

“What was the governor doing for two years by sitting on the bills?” the bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked.

The attorney general said he does not wish to go into detail as doing so will open several questions.

“We will get into it very much,” the bench observed, adding it is “about our accountability to the Constitution and people ask us about it”.

The top court permitted the Kerala government to amend its plea seeking issuance of guidelines for state governors to grant or decline assent to bills passed by legislatures in a time-bound manner.

“We will record that the governor will discuss the matter with both the chief minister and the minister in charge and related to the Bill…,” the bench said.

“Let us hope that some political sagacity takes over the state and we hope some sagacity prevails. Otherwise, we are here to lay down the law and do our duty under the Constitution,” CJI Chandrachud said.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Kerala government over the governor not granting assent to several bills cleared by the state assembly.

At the outset, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the state government, said time has come for the apex court to lay down some guidelines as to when the bills can be reserved for presidential assent.

The governor cannot be allowed to sit over bills as it halts governance, he added.

Venugopal said instead of working with the assembly, the governor was acting as an adversary.

The bench, which was initially of the view that the state government’s petition could be disposed of as the governor has taken decision on the bills, later decided to keep it pending and consider laying down guidelines on the issue.

“We have to keep the matter pending. This is a live issue,” it said.

The court said as the governor has forwarded the bills to the president, the requirement under Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with assent to bills, was satisfied.

Earlier, the top court had asked the additional chief secretary to the Kerala governor to refer to its recent verdict in Punjab’s case where it held that state governors cannot “thwart the normal course of lawmaking”.

The Kerala government claimed in its petition that the governor was delaying eight bills by withholding his assent which was “defeating the rights of the people”.

It said many of these bills were of immense public interest and provided for welfare measures. The people of the state will stand deprived of these to the extent of the delay, it said.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the Kerala government’s decision to re-appoint Gopinath Ravindran as the vice chancellor of Kannur University.

A division bench of the Kerala High Court had on February 23 last year dismissed an appeal against a single-judge order upholding the re-appointment of Ravindran as the VC of the university, saying it was done in accordance with the law and that he was not “an usurper to the post”.

“The impugned judgement and the order passed by the high court dated February 23, 2022 is hereby set aside and as a consequence, the notification dated November 23, 2021 reappointing the respondent number 4 (Ravindran) as the vice chancellor of the Kannur University is hereby set aside,” the top court said in its judgement.

Ravindran’s re-appointment has been in limelight in Kerala as for the first time in the history of the state, a vice chancellor was re-appointed.

VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against a High Court order granting bail to TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam case.

Seeking directions to set aside the High Court verdict, the State government submitted to the apex court that the accused (Naidu) is an ‘influential person’ and has helped two of his key associates (including a government servant) to flee the country.

“The accused is therefore clearly obstructing the conduct of investigation and, therefore, ought not to be granted bail,” the Special Leave Petition (SLP) read.

In its appeal filed through advocate Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, the State government contended that the High Court has not only conducted a ‘mini-trial’, but has also ‘completely erred’, rendering findings that are completely contrary to the record.

Advocate Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki said, “The State of Andhra Pradesh is constrained to file the Special  Leave Petition against the impugned judgment dated November 20, 2023 passed by the High Court.  It has delved deep into facts of the case and has rendered findings that are not only factually incorrect, but are also likely to prejudice the court below during the trial.”

While referring to various SC verdicts, the State government said the practice of detailed elaboration of evidence in bail orders has been repeatedly deprecated by the apex court.

“A bare perusal of the findings would reveal that the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction by conducting a mini-trial and rendering findings on merits. This, it is most respectfully submitted, ought not to be allowed,” the appeal read.

Speaking to reporters, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy said they have approached the apex court as they feel that the bail order was not right and that the High Court has exceeded its limits.

“During arguments on the bail plea, we brought to the notice of the HC that the SC is seized of the matter regarding bail as it is part of Naidu’s quash petition. We had submitted that it was not proper for the High Court to take up hearing on the petition as the apex court has reserved its orders. At the time, I was told my objections were noted. Unfortunately, the same was nowhere to be found in the bail order,” he said.

Stating that the probe in the case was still underway, the AAG pointed out that even the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was investigating the matter.

Explaining that evidence are only submitted to the trial court, he said proof, including like note files raising objections over release of funds, forensic audit report establishing diversion of Rs 240 crore, was submitted to the High Court as well. “The HC conducted a mini-trial against the rules during the grant of bail,” he maintained.

While denying interim bail to Naidu on October 17, the Supreme Court had said that it would pronounce its verdict on his plea, challenging the HC order refusing to quash the FIR against him in the APSSDC case, after Diwali vacation.