Archives for August 2021

MUMBAI: An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it.

The Maharashtra government in March this year formed a one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

As Singh failed to appear before the commission on Wednesday, a fine of Rs 25,000 was imposed on him, a government lawyer said on Thursday.

During the previous hearing, the probe panel had given Singh the “last chance” to appear before it.

This is the second instance of fine being imposed on Singh.

In June, the commission had asked the senior IPS officer to pay a fine Rs 5,000 for not appearing before it despite a summons.

The amount was to be deposited in the Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March, Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai.

Deshmukh, an NCP leader, has denied the allegations.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by the senior IPS officer.

NEW DELHI:  For the first time ever, three women judges were together recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court, one of whom could go on to become the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI). They were part of the nine names cleared by the five-member Supreme Court collegium, whose decision was uploaded on Wednesday.

The recommendations are subject to approval by the Centre. Justice B V Nagarathna, the senior-most judge of the Karnataka High Court, has the chance of becoming the first woman CJI in in September 2027.

The other two women judges picked for elevation are Justice Hima Kohli, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court and Justice Bela Trivedi, the fifth in seniority in the Gujarat High Court. Two other chief justices — Justice C T Ravikumar of the Kerala High Court and Justice M M Sundresh of the Madras High Court — were recommended for promotion by the collegium, which met on Tuesday.

Besides, senior advocate P S Narasimha has been selected for appointment directly to the bench. If his name is cleared, Narasimha would become only the sixth lawyer in India to be elevated to the SC bench directly from the Bar. The last such elevation was of Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who retired last week.

Narasimha is a former Additional Solicitor General. With the retirement of Justice Navin Sinha on Wednesday, the strength of judges in the top court came down to 24 as against a sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI. No appointment has been made to the Supreme Court after CJI Ranjan Gogoi retired on March 19, 2019.

SRINAGAR:  Police on Tuesday lathicharged and thrashed a group of journalists covering a Muharram procession here, evoking criticism from various quarters.

The traditional Muharram procession used to pass through the areas of Abi Guzar, Lal Chowk and Dalgate areas, but has been banned since the eruption of militancy in 1990 as authorities maintain that the religious gathering has been used for propagating separatist politics.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said police respects the religious sentiments of the public, but at the same time, it is their joint responsibility to defeat the ill designs of vested interests who try to disturb the peaceful atmosphere.

As the media personnel, mostly photo and video journalists, were discharging their professional duties, police swung into action and lathicharged them, the scribes said.

They said the policemen, armed with batons, also thrashed some of the journalists and caused damage to their equipment.

The pictures and the videos of the incident were uploaded on various social media forums as the journalists protested the police action.

A senior police officer reached the spot and assured the journalists that he we will look into matter.

Kashmir Press Photographers Association (KPPA) condemned the use of force by police.

“KPPA terms the action unjustified and uncalled for. It is highly unfortunate that the police was thrashing the photojournalists (and stopping them) from performing their professional duties,” a statement from the photojournalist body said.

The Kashmir Press Club condemned the assault and demanded action against the concerned policemen involved in the incident as well as sensitisation of the police force to ensure media freedom is respected.

Observing that the journalists were performing their professional duty, it said in a statement that the police action was uncalled for and unfortunate.

“The club reiterates that the police authorities need to respect the freedom of the press as enshrined under the Constitution and ensure strict disciplinary action against the guilty policemen involved in the incident,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, leaders cutting across political lines too denounced the incident.

National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said the police action was unfortunate and expressed hope that Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha will ensure such incidents are not repeated.

“Very unfortunate to see J&K police personnel mercilessly thrashing journalists in Srinagar. These people were simply doing their jobs – reporting the news. They don’t make the news & they don’t engineer events to create the story. I hope @OfficeOfLGJandK will ensure no repeat,” Abdullah said on Twitter.

He also demanded that an independent photojournalist be compensated for the loss after his equipment was damaged allegedly in the police action.

“He’s an independent photo-journalist. His camera is his livelihood. The administration owes it to Sajad to compensate him for the loss he has suffered while working,” the NC leader said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti also took to Twitter to highlight the issue.

“Media is spending hours debating the human tragedy and unfolding crisis in Afghanistan but will they speak up for their own community in Kashmir who were beaten to pulp today by security forces for doing their job?” Mufti tweeted.

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) termed the thrashing of media persons as “unfortunate”.

Media is fourth pillar of democracy and the routine coverage as part of its professional obligation must be allowed, they should not be intimated while performing their duties, the party said in a statement.

JKPCC feels disappointed over the thrashing of mediapersons, who were covering Muharram procession and expresses its full solidarity with the media fraternity, it said.

The party urges the government to ensure that mediapersons are allowed to perform their duties, without any fear, it added.

The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) led by Sajad Lone too condemned the police action.

“Merciless beating of journalists is highly condemnable. We express serious concern over such repeated acts of use of force on the media fraternity without any accountability. Surprisingly, the upholders of the law are out to demolish the founding principles of law,” the JKPC said in a tweet.

Apni Party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir termed the thrashing of mediapersons as undemocratic.

In a statement issued here, Mir said media is the fourth pillar of democracy and the coverage of routine happenings is a part of their professional obligation that must not be dissuaded with the use of force or any sort of intimidation.

“Today’s incident in which journalists allege that they were thrashed by police while doing their duty is extremely unwarranted. These journalists were performing their usual professional duties. These kinds of occurrences need to be stopped as it taints democratic ethos of our country,” he said.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday appointed Netta D’Souza acting president of the party’s women’s wing, after Sushmita Dev quit the party to join the Trinamool Congress.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed D’Souza acting president of the All India Mahila Congress with immediate effect till a full-time chief is appointed, a party statement said.

After her appointment, D’Souza, who was a general secretary of the party’s women’s wing, thanked Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K C Venugopal for giving her the opportunity.

In a tweet, D’Souza said she would ensure that she meets the leadership’s expectations and the vision of the Congress.

Dev, who was the national spokesperson of the Congress and chief of the All-India Mahila Congress, sent her resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday.

In her letter to Gandhi, Dev said she was beginning a “new chapter” in her “life of public service”.

On Monday, Dev joined the TMC in the presence of senior party leader Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata, and the Mamata Banerjee-led party welcomed her into its fold.

TUMAKURU: The BJP looks to be utilising the ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’, aimed at introducing the four new Union Ministers of State from Karnataka, to project them as next-gen leaders who can strike a rapport with different segments of society in specific regions.

Evidently, the yatras of the Union ministers have witnessed traction wherever they have visited. Union Minister of State for Social Justice Anekal Narayanaswamy received a rousing welcome at places like Nelamangala in Bengaluru Rural district and Tumakuru on Tuesday. 

With slogans of ‘Jai Madiga’, the SC-Left community members, cutting across party affiliations, took part in the yatra, indicating that they accept him as their community leader. One of the factors which may have worked for him is that he has been unwavering in the demand for internal reservation from within the 15 per cent SC quota. If the government decides to implement the Justice Sadashiva Commission recommendations, the SC-Left community will exclusively get 6 per cent internal reservation.

“There is no question of backtracking on internal reservation. I have fought for the cause for several years. But it will be achieved by winning the hearts of all SC communities”, he declared at the Siddaganga Mutt here, and it was received with huge applause.

“I was surprised when I was named MoS for social justice. But my three decades of commitment to the party’s ideology have paid off,” he remarked.

Narayanaswamy migrated to Chitradurga Lok Sabha seat after he lost the Anekal Assembly seat. He is quite popular with the SC-Left community (Madiga) in parts of Old Mysuru, especially Tumakuru and Chitradurga. Interestingly, the community has also started identifying with L Murugan, MoS for Animal Husbandry, who hails from Tamil Nadu, as they consider him as their man.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Shohba Karandlaje, who was seen as a replacement for former Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda, got to engage with the Vokkaliga community in strongholds such as Mandya and Hassan where she too reportedly got good response.

Lingayat leader and Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Bhagwanth Khuba, took part in the yatra in Bidar, a region dominated by the community. Interestingly, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrashekar, an entrepreneur himself, went to Hubballi, a business centre, and Uttara Kannada, where former Union minister Anantkumar Hegde has been inactive due to personal reasons.

How this will pay dividends for the BJP in the coming days, specially in the light of the series of elections, remains to be seen.

FATEHPUR: A man has been booked for allegedly divorcing his wife over phone from Saudi Arabia through the outlawed practice of instant triple talaq, police here said on Wednesday.

A case has also been registered against eight members of Tasabbul’s family, police said.

Bano had married Tasabbul, a resident of Mohammadpur Gaunti under the Sultanpur Ghosh police station, on May 21, 2005, the SHO said, adding that the woman is a resident of the Chak Auhadpur village.

After her marriage, Tasabbul and his family members also allegedly assaulted her several times, Gautam said.

Tasabbul, who works in Saudi Arabia, on Monday gave her triple talaq over phone, the SHO said.

No arrests have been made yet and the matter is being probed, he said.

HUBBALI: Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said the Government is doing everything for total evacuation of Indian citizens stuck in Afghanistan after the Taliban asserted control over the nation.

He added that the government is trying to bring the remaining Indian citizens stuck there.

“The entire system has collapsed there (in Afghanistan). Flight services are hit and aeroplanes are not flying. Not only airport but also the air space is jammed. In this scenario, the Indian government is doing whatever best it can do. We are very concerned about individual citizens,” Joshi said.

Stating that the government of India is closely monitoring the developments, Joshi said the Government led by Modi is capable of handling all kinds of situations.

To buttress his point, he said no terrorist activity has taken place in any part of India except for “things happening” in Jammu and Kashmir unlike earlier when terrorist activities were happening in many parts of India including Hubballi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Hyderabad.

“Today not a single incident is taking place. The reason is that we follow zero tolerance towards terrorism. Accordingly, we have made our preparations whatever is necessary and we are doing everything to put the terrorist organisations in their place,” Joshi said.

The minister said for the past seven years, the Government is monitoring “every development at the micro-level” and, hence, there was no need to panic.

MUMBAI: A health task force constituted by the Maharashtra government on Tuesday warned that the easing of Covid restrictions may trigger a third wave of the pandemic, if people fail to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. From Tuesday, malls, hotels, and other commercial establishments are allowed to operate till 10.00 pm across the state. The education department has given a green light to schools to begin offline classes for secondary and higher secondary divisions in both urban and rural areas. 

The task force said the easing of restrictions was essential to boost the economy, but it can lead to a surge in Covid-19 cases and help trigger a third wave of the pandemic.Dr Sanjay Oak, chief of the task force, said if the demand for oxygen goes beyond 700 metric tonnes per day and if 30,000 patients are either on oxygen support or ventilators, then the government will have to re-impose the curbs.

“We have to also closely monitor the growth and spread of the delta plus variant. In the second wave, the delta virus was there and that spread very speedily across the state and other parts of India,” Dr Oak said. In Maharashtra, a total of 76 cases of delta plus variant cases have been reported. There have also been five deaths linked to the variant. 

Dr Oak said the vaccines were manufactured before the advent of the delta plus variant and therefore it is not clear how much effectiveness the vaccines would have. “The vaccine was manufactured and produced before the rise of delta plus variant. Therefore, it is yet to check how much the vaccine is effective on delta plus variant,” he said.