Archives for February 2020

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army within three months and said there will not be any absolute bar on giving them command postings.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud rejected the Centre’s argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying them permanent commission and command postings, saying it is disturbing and against the concept of equality.

The bench said women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in armed forces.

The top court said despite there being no stay on the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre showed scant regard in implementing the directive in past one decade.

New Delhi: After Supreme Court rap and the government’s stringent deadline, Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards statutory dues. The company said it will make payment of the balance amount after self assessment exercise.

“The…total amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor.

“We are in the process of completing the self assessment exercise expeditiously and will duly make the balance payment upon completion of the same, before the next date of hearing in the SC,” Bharti Airtel said.

The company said it will also submit supporting details at the time of making balance payment.

The telecom department on February 14 began issuing orders asking firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to clear past dues immediately.

The DoT, which faced the ire of the Supreme Court for putting on hold recovery of dues from telecom companies, had started issuing circle or zone-wise demand notices to the firms.

Airtel had previously responded to DoT order by offering to pay Rs 10,000 crore by February 20 and the remaining before March 17. Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charge, to the government.

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday said the ongoing preparation for the much awaited visit of US President Donald Trump is a reflection of the “slave mentality” of Indians.

Trump’s India trip is like the visit of a “Badshah” (emperor), an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ said.

Taking a dig at the construction of a wall on a plot having several slum structures in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump’s visit there, the Sena said the US president’s trip would neither stop the fall of rupee’s value in forex market nor offer betterment to those (slum dwellers) behind the wall.

“Before Independence, British King or Queen used to visit one of their slave nations like India. The kind of preparations going on from taxpayers’ money for the arrival of Trump is similar to it. This reflects the slave mentality of Indians,” it said.

The Sena also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) move to build wall on a plot to “hide the slums” on the route through which Trump’s convoy would pass.

“Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had once given the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’, which was ridiculed for a long time. It seems now Modi’s plan is ‘Garibi chupao’ (hide poverty),” the Marathi publication said.

Is there any financial allocation for such a wall being built in Ahmedabad? Is the US going to offer loan to India to build such walls across the country? it wondered.

“We have heard Trump is going to be in Ahmedabad for only three hours but the wall construction is costing almost Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer,” it said.

It is basically a political arrangement between Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump, the Sena claimed.

Last year, ‘Howdy, Modi!’ (a mega event jointly addressed by the Indian prime minister and Trump) was organised in the US, it noted.

A similar programme, “Kem Chho Trump” (Gujarati expression for how are you Trump), has been now organised (in Ahmedabad) ahead of the US elections, chiefly because of a sizable number of Gujarati people living in America, the Shiv Sena claimed.

“But this visit of President Trump is neither going to stop further fall of rupee in the forex market nor offer betterment to those behind the wall (being built in front of slums in Ahmedabad),” it said.

The Sena said Trump is “not someone very wise or a statesman or someone who cares for the whole world”, but he has to be treated with respect as he represents the mighty US.

“Sometimes you have to treat someone with respect to get your things done,” it quipped.

The AMC on Friday said the construction of the wall, around four feet in height, was approved much before Trump’s Gujarat visit was finalised.

Trump is scheduled to visit Modi’s home state Gujarat on February 24.

He will visit the famous Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and take part in a roadshow with Modi. After that, the two leaders will inaugurate a new cricket stadium in Motera and address a gathering there, with an expected audience of over a lakh people.

While it was earlier speculated that the programme would be called ‘Kem Chho Trump’, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on Sunday tweeted a series of posters confirming that the event is now christened as ‘Namaste Trump’, apparently to give it a pan-India appeal.

Hyderabad: The Telanagna government has decided to pass a resolution in the assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act, joining the ranks of anti-CAA states.

The Telangana government took the decision in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, while urging the Centre to repeal last year’s changes in the Citizenship Act.

It also appealed to the Centre “not to discriminate” on the basis of religion in granting citizenship to anyone.

“The State Cabinet appealed to the Union Government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion for according Indian citizenship. It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law,” an official release on decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting said on late Sunday night.

The Cabinet meet, chaired by the Chief Minister, felt the CAA would lead to discrimination on the basis of religion in grant of citizenship and jeopardise secularism envisaged in the Constitution.

“The Cabinet further requested the central government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which will lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the Constitution,” the release said.

The state Cabinet decided to pass the anti-CAA resolution in the state assembly on the lines of the ones passed by Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, it said.

Coming out strongly against the CAA, Rao had said last month said he might convene a meeting of regional parties and chief ministers to oppose the amended citizenship law.

The state assembly may pass a resolution, like the other state assemblies did, against the CAA, he had said then. The Cabinet meeting, which began on Sunday evening, concluded late in the night.

The Cabinet also decided to organise ‘Pattana Pragathi’ (progress of towns) programme, aimed at ensuring cleanliness, greenery and planned development in urban areas, for 10 days beginning February 24 in all towns and cities of the state, a separate official release said.

A state-level ‘municipal conference’, to be attended by mayors, municipal chairpersons, commissioners, MLAs and district collectors, would be held here on February 18 to finalise the guidelines for the programme, it said.

New Delhi: Two alleged criminals were killed in an exchange of fire with the Special Cell of Delhi Police at Pul Pehlad Pur area here on Monday morning, officials said.

The encounter took place around 5 am, they said.

Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur, who were injured during the encounter, were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said.

According to police, the two men were involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery.

New Delhi: Shaheen Bagh protesters on Sunday tried to march to Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence here for a dialogue over the amended citizenship law, but were stopped by police after a little distance from the sit-in site as they did not have permission from authorities to take out the rally.

The protesters, who had announced that they will take out the march on Sunday, said they were awaiting a nod from the police which, they claimed, had sought some time.

A large posse of security personnel was deployed at Shaheen Bagh in south-east Delhi where hundreds of women protesters gathered to march towards Shah’s residence on the Krishna Menon Marg for a dialogue over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Barricades were put up in the area and the protesters were stopped a little distance from the site.

The protesters chose an eight-member delegation, including elderly women called ‘dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh, to approach the police “to allow them” to meet Shah and asserted that they will carry out the march peacefully.

“Police said they have forwarded our request to meet the home minister and have sought some time to arrange it,” Javed Khan, one of the protesters, said.

He said the protesters will replan their march after getting confirmation from the police.

Another protestor Arbaaz said, “We will not march ahead as the police have assured us that our request has been forwarded to the authorities concerned. Amit Shah has not communicated to us anything directly but it was through a news channel.”

“So, how does he want us to meet him. We are carrying out a peaceful protest so why would we need an official appointment from him?” he asked.

Another protestor Aamir said “We don’t have any doubt about the CAA. We don’t need any explanation or clarification on it. We are only going to meet Amit Shah to teach him the Constitution.”

Unable to get the requisite permission, the anti-CAA protesters, mostly women, returned to the site where they have been holding the sit-in against the citizenship law, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) for the past two months.

Police officials, including DCP (Southeast) R P Meena and Additional DCP (Southeast) Kumar Gyanesh, held talks with a group of protesters and assured them that their application has been forwarded to the authorities concerned for further action.

“The protesters wanted to know about the status of their application. This was regarding permission for marching from Shaheen Bagh to the residence of the home minister. They had given the application to us.

“We told them that the application was given to DCP New Delhi and it will be further submitted to the police headquarters which will take a final call on it,” Meena said.

After continuous dialogue and efforts by senior police officials, including additional DCPs, of the South East District with a group of protesters, including the ‘dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh’, the march was postponed, he said.

The march was unlawful as it did not have necessary permissions from law enforcement agencies concerned, Meena said in an official statement.

“The protesters accepted the police officials’ requests and did not proceed. Police have requested them to make a delegation and the same will be facilitated for further appointment and meeting,” he added.

Three days ago, Shah had said anyone who wants to discuss issues related to CAA with him can seek time from his office. “(We) will give time within three days,” the home minister had said.

JAC co-convenor Maulana Zubair Ahmed Khan demanded that the government adopt a resolution against the CAA in the Assembly.

KURNOOL: Several political parties and social organisations are planning to meet Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who will be visiting Kurnool on February 18, to demand a resolution in the State Assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

Pamphlets and brochures on CAA, NRC and NPR were released by Loukika Rajyanga Parirakshana Vedika (Secular Constitution Protection Forum) at Adoni on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, the JAC convener and Human Rights Forum State president UG Srinivasulu wanted a resolution passed in the AP Assembly against the CAA. “We will not stop protests till the CAA, NRC and NPR are withdrawn by the Centre,” he said.

JAC co-convenor Maulana Zubair Ahmed Khan demanded that the government adopt a resolution against the CAA in the Assembly. “With the Chief Minister visiting Kurnool, people of the district have come up with several demands. A significant one among them is rejection of the CAA, NRC and NPR to uphold the democratic and secular values,” he stated.