Archives for 2021

New Delhi: A Delhi court has discharged former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger and five others in the 2019 accident case of Unnao rape survivor, saying that prima facie no charges are made out against him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey discharged the accused observing that prima facie there is no evidence against the accused persons — Senger, Komal Singh, Arun Singh, Gyanendra Singh, Rinku Singh and , Awdesh Singh.

The court however ordered framing of charges against four other accused –Ashish Kumar Pal, Vinod Mishra, Haripal Singh and Naveen Singh — as there was prima facie sufficient evidence against them.

In its order passed on Monday, the court noted that the charge sheet did not find mention of any record or evidence regarding the criminal conspiracy between the accused persons ordered to be put on trial with the accused Sengar.

“Accused Ashish Kumar Pal is directed to be charged for offence punishable under section 304-A (causing death by negligence), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 279 (rash driving on a public way) of IPC and accused Vinod Mishra, Haripal Singh and Naveen Singh are directed to be separately charged for offence punishable under section 506(ii) (threat to cause death) of IPC, read with Section 34 (common intention) of IPC, the court said.

According to the prosecution, a truck rammed into the vehicle in which the Unnao rape victim was travelling to Rae Bareli with her two aunts and lawyer in July 2019.

While her aunts succumbed to their injuries, the rape survivor and her lawyer were grievously injured.

The order also noted that Sengar was in judicial custody during the period when the alleged threat was extended to the victim or her family members.

Admittedly the case of prosecution was that he conspired with the other accused to extend the threat to the victim or her family members and he himself not extended any threat, the court said.

On August 1, 2019 the Supreme Court transferred the case to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh.

Besides, on December 20, 2019, Sengar was sentenced to jail for the remainder of his natural biological life in a separate case for raping the minor in 2017.

On March 4, 2020, Sengar, his brother, and five others were also convicted for the death of the rape survivor’s father in judicial custody and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Kolkata:he Trinamool Congress Tuesday stormed back to power in the 144-member strong Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the third consecutive time, bagging 89 seats and leading in 44 wards, a senior State Election Commission official said.

The BJP has emerged victorious in one ward so far and is leading in three others, he said.

“The TMC has won the KMC board as it has already crossed the majority mark. The party has thus far won 89 seats and is leading in 44 wards. The TMC in total is either leading or has won 133 seats,” the official said.

The Congress won two seats, but the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which is leading in two wards, is yet to open its account.

New Delhi, Dec 21: The word lynching was practically unheard of before 2014 when the BJP came to power, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter on Tuesday and went on to taunt the prime minister with a “Thank you Modiji”.

Asked about the lynching jibe at a media briefing later in the day, the former Congress president said, “Sarkar ki dalali mat karo (Don’t do mediation for the BJP).”

Gandhi, who appeared to lose his cool, responded after reporters asked him about the BJP’s attack on his tweet.

“Before 2014, the word ‘lynching’ was practically unheard of. #ThankYouModiJi,” Gandhi’s tweet said.

The attack comes in the wake of lynchings in Amritsar and Kapurthala in Punjab where the Congress is in power.

The BJP hit back at the Congress, saying Rahul Gandhi is the son of Rajiv Gandhi who had justified the anti-Sikh riots.

VIJAYAWADA: The second case of Omicron variant in Andhra Pradesh emerged from Tirupati with a
39-woman, who travelled from Kenya to the temple town, testing positive for the variant.

According to the Director of Public Health, the foreign traveller came from Kenya to Chennai airport on December 10 and reached Tirupati by car. On reaching Tirupati, she was tested and declared RT-PCR positive for Covid-19 on December 12.

“The sample was sent to CCMB, Hyderabad for genome sequencing and result was declared as Omicron positive on Wednesday,” DPH Dr Hymavathi said in a statement. Six of her family members were tested and found negative for Covid-19, Dr Hymavathi said adding the foreign traveller is healthy and in
institutional quarantine under the close observation of the health department.

Dr Hymavathi said so far, 45 foreign travellers and nine of their contacts tested positive for Covid and all the samples were sent to CCMB for genome sequencing. The DPH advised the public not to worry and believe in any rumours but continue to take precautions and follow physical distancing, wearing a mask
and washing hands regularly.

Andhra Pradesh reported its first Omicron positive case on December 12. A 34-year-old international traveller, who came from Ireland to Vizianagaram district, was the first to test positive for the new variant.

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, bringing an end to the Winter Session of Parliament that saw opposition protests on issues such as price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The Winter Session of Parliament, which had begun on November 29, was scheduled to end on Thursday.

During the session, the House saw the passage of nine bills which included the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill and legislations to fix the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI at five years and supplementary demands for grants.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the valedictory remarks as soon as the House assembled for the day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among those present in the House on the last day of the Winter Session.

Floor leaders of political parties met the Speaker in his chamber after the House was adjourned sine die.

The Lok Sabha had 18 sittings during the Session which lasted for 83 hours and 12 minutes Debates on COVID-19 and climate change were held during the session lasting 12 hours 26 minutes and six hours and 26 minutes respectively.

While 99 members participated in the debate on the pandemic, the discussion on climate change, which remained inconclusive, saw the participation of 61 members.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said the House lost 18 hours and 48 minutes to disruptions, but saw productivity zoom to 204 per cent on December 2, when the issue of pandemic was taken up for discussion.

“The overall productivity of the Lok Sabha was 82 per cent,” Birla said.

The government introduced 12 bills during the session, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to increase the marriageable age for girls from 18 years to 21 years.

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, a day ahead of the scheduled end of the Winter Session of Parliament, with Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu lamenting that the Upper House functioned much below its potential due to repeated disruptions.

The session, which started on November 29, was scheduled to conclude on December 23.

Soon after laying of listed papers and reports, Naidu said he was not happy to share with members the that the House functioned “much below its potential”.

“I urge all of you to…reflect and introspect if this session could have been different and better. I don’t want to speak elaborately on the course of the session that would lead me to make a very critical view,” he said.

The chairman stressed that rulings, regulations and procedures have to be followed and said precedents, decency and decorum has to be maintained by members in the House.

He also called on members for “realisation of what has happened is wrong” and said that “we should all work towards a constructive and positive atmosphere for the larger interest of the country”.

Naidu wished MPs a Merry Christmas and a prosperous English New Year, and also conveyed his greetings for Makar Sankranti, Pongal and other upcoming festivals.

The session was a stormy one as it witnessed several disruptions by members of opposition parties, including they trooping into the Well of the House, carrying placards, over the suspension of 12 MPs for their “unruly” conduct in the previous session in August.

Opposition members also protested on the Special Investigation Team’s report regarding the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh and farmers’ issues, among others.

Despite disruptions and loss of business hours, the Rajya Sabha passed several key bills, including those related to electoral reforms and surrogacy.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Monday wrote to the Centre, asking for obtaining presidential assent for two bills passed by the state Assembly in 2018 for ensuring stringent punishment for those involved in desecration incidents.

Randhawa wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for ensuring assent to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, which provide for life imprisonment for the sacrilege of holy books.

In the letter, Randhawa, who holds home portfolio, wrote, “I want to bring to your notice that sacrilege of holy books is becoming a major issue in Punjab.”

“Shri Guru Granth Sahib is considered a living Guru and not an object by the Sikhs and it is accorded respect according to Sikh maryada. In this context, it was felt that the existing provisions of Section 295 and 295-A of the Indian Penal Code-1860 which provide for a punishment of up to three years are inadequate to deal with this situation,” he said.

“So, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018 which provide for punishment up to life imprisonment for whoever causing injury, damage or sacrilege to the Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt religious feelings of people,” he wrote.

Randhawa said these bills were given assent by the Punjab governor in September 2018.

However, these have been pending for assent of the President since October, 2018, he said.

“Punjab being a border State, it is extremely necessary to maintain communal harmony here. For this, deterrent punishment is a must for those trying to disturb communal harmony by indulging in the sacrileges. So, I again request that the Presidential assent for the said Bills may kindly be obtained and conveyed to the state government at the earliest possible,” he wrote.

Two unidentified men were beaten to death at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and at a gurdwara in Kapurthala district for their alleged sacrilege attempts.

CHENNAI: A-17 year old girl from Erode district in Tamil Nadu has received a full scholarship worth Rs 3 crore to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Chicago in the US.

Swega Saminathan, daughter of a farmer, hails from Kasipalayam village in Erode, a release from Dexterity Global, where she received training under its leadership development and career development programs, said in a release.

She was identified and groomed by Dexterity Global when she was 14, it said.

Expressing joy over the scholarship, Swega credited the organisation and its founder Sharad Sagar for the same.

DUBAI: Human Rights Watch said Monday a Saudi court had sentenced a Yemeni man to 15 years for apostasy, urging the kingdom to prioritise decriminalising blasphemy amid a modernisation drive.

The rights group said that Ali Abu Luhum, 38, had been accused of making comments “via two anonymous Twitter accounts”, which prosecutors argued were registered with phone numbers linked to him.

“The court found that the tweets were promoting ‘apostasy, unbelief, and atheism'”, HRW said, reporting the trial was held without defence witnesses.

Charges against Abu Luhum included the reported “denial of the existence of God” as well as publishing content which “prejudices public order, religious values, and public morals on social media”, HRW said.

It said Abu Luhum was found guilty of “promoting atheism” and was sentenced to “15 years in prison for apostasy”, but gave no further details of what he was accused of saying.

There was no immediate response from Riyadh.

The trial was held in October, with an appeal awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court, HRW said.

Abu Luhum is held in a jail in Najran, close to the border with Yemen.

The Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition backing Yemen’s internationally-recognised government in its battle against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has sought to project a moderate, business-friendly image of his austere kingdom as he seeks to boost investment to diversify the economy away from oil.

Saudi has also invested heavily in recent years in the tourism, entertainment and sports sectors.

“Saudi authorities are sparing no expense to portray the country as tolerant and reforming, but contradicting state orthodoxy on religion still results in a decade-and-a-half prison sentence,” Michael Page, HRW’s deputy Middle East, said in a statement.

“A ‘modernising’ Saudi Arabia needs to first stop policing people’s personal beliefs,” he added, calling for “the decriminalisation of blasphemy.”