Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

Triple Talaq bill introduced in Lok Sabha

by

Image result for Triple Talaq bill introduced in Lok Sabha

New Delhi, (IANS) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, commonly known as the Triple Talaq Bill, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday despite opposition from the Congress and amid protests over the Rafale controversy.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the bill amid ruckus created by opposition members including the Congress, AIADMK and TDP over various demands.

Soon after the House reassembled at noon after the first adjournment, the Congress, the AIADMK and TDP members trooped near the Speaker’s podium and started sloganeering.

The Congress members were demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale jet fighter deal with France while the AIADMK members wanted Karnataka to take back its proposal to construct a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekadatu.

The TDP members raised several issues related to special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Minister Prasad sought permission from the Chair to introduce the bill.

Congress member Shashi Tharoor opposed the bill claiming it was targeted at a particular religion and hence unconstitutional.

“The bill was based on the ground of a specific religion and it was violation of sections 14 and 21 of the Constitution. This is a misconceived bill,” he said.

His objections were rejected by Prasad.

“The bill was brought in as per the direction of the Supreme Court to protect the rights of Muslim women. Several Muslim women suffered due to instant talaq. This bill is in the nation’s interest and constitutional. The objection is baseless,” Prasad said and then introduced the bill.

The government could not pass the bill in Rajya Sabha during the previous monsoon session.

Later it issued an ordinance on September 19 in making Triple Talaq a criminal offence.


Editors Guild laments Meghalaya HC summoning editor for alleged contempt

by

Image result for Editors Guild laments Meghalaya HC summoning editor for alleged contempt

New Delhi,(IANS) The Editors Guild on Sunday expressed grave concern over the Meghalaya High Court summoning ‘The Shillong Times editor and publisher for alleged contempt over reporting on how the judges of the court have granted themselves and their families multiple facilities and benefits.

“It is unfortunate that an editor has been summoned by the Meghalaya High Court for what appears to be a factual news report,” the Guild said over The Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim and publisher Shobha Chaudhuri being issued a show cause notice for contempt and asked to appear personally before the court. 

The notice was issued by Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen over the daily’s December 10 report “When judges judge for themselves”, about a recent order passed by Sen calling for better facilities for retired judges and their families. 

Justice Sen has been facing criticism for his recent observation that “nobody should try to make India… another Islamic country” and that the government should allow non-Muslim and tribal communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to live in India without any cut-off year.

The Guild said the judiciary was one of the pillars of democracy and should stand by the media in helping it discharge its functions in an independent and unbiased manner. 

“Such contempt notices are regrettable and will be seen as judicial intimidation of the media. Judges, who have broad shoulders and are tolerant of criticism, are the need of the hour.

“The Guild urges the Meghalaya High Court to take necessary steps that uphold the spirit of unbiased and independent functioning of both the judiciary and the media,” added the Guild. 

Both Mukhim and Chaudhuri appeared before the court on Thursday in pursuance of the court’s directive. 


Sudan President becomes first Arab leader to visit Syria since civil war

by

Damascus,(IANS) Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Syria’s capital Damascus, the first Arab leader to do so since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, state news agency SANA reported.

The Sudanese President was received by his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at the international airport of Damascus, Xinhua news agency cited a report by SANA on Sunday.

Al-Bashir arrived in Damascus for an official working visit.

During their meeting, the two leaders agreed that the crises in many Arab countries require new approaches based on the respect of the sovereignty and the policy of non-interference in their internal affairs.

Al-Bashir wished Syria a quick recovery, hoping that its people can determine their own future without foreign interventions.

The Sudanese president also highlighted his country’s support to Syria, saying Sudan is ready to provide whatever needed to support the territorial integrity and unity of Syria.

For his part, Assad said al-Bashir’s visit will give a strong push toward restoring the bilateral relations to what they were before the war.

Al-Bashir arrived in the afternoon and left the country hours later in the evening.

Throughout the Syrian crisis since 2011, most Arab countries have cut or downgraded their diplomatic relations with Syria.

But in recent months, reports emerged that some Arab countries had requested the resumption of their diplomatic relations with Syria.

The fresh nudge in the diplomatic relations comes amid a succession of victories of the Syrian army, which enabled the Syrian government to control much of the country.

Bhupesh Baghel is Chhattisgarh’s new CM

by

Raipur, (IANS) State Congress President Bhupesh Baghel was on Sunday named the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and he vowed in no time to cancel within 10 days bank loans taken by farmers — a campaign promise that led to the BJP’s rout in Assembly elections.

Shortly after the 58-year-old Baghel was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader by party MLAs, the Congress leader announced that he would take oath as the third Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh on Monday at 4.30 p.m. at the Science College Ground here.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress observer for Chhattisgarh, told the media that Baghel was elected unanimously by the MLAs but only he would take oath on Monday. The names of Ministers would be declared later “after detailed discussions with all stake-holders”. 

“I am committed to waiving farmers’ bank loans within 10 days,” said Baghel, a post-graduate from Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University here and a father of four.

He added that the Congress government will unravel the conspiracy that led to the killing by Maoists of top Congress leaders in the Jheeram Valley in Bastar in May 2013 including the then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, the veteran V.C. Shukla and Mahendra Karma.

In his first tweet as Chief Minister elect, Baghel expressed his gratitude towards Congress President Rahul Gandhi and said Gandhi had given him the responsibility of building “a new Chhattisgarh”.

“I can assure the great people of Chhattisgarh that the new Congress government would live up to their expectations and wishes.”

The Congress said on Twitter: “We wish him the best as he forms a government of equality, transparency and integrity starting off with farm loan waiver for farmers as we promised.”

Baghel is a powerful leader of the OBC community which makes up 52 per cent of the state’s 2.55 crore population.

The five-time MLA was elected from Patan in Durg district. He was Revenue Minister in Ajit Jogi’s first government in Chhattisgarh that was voted out in 2003.

Baghel was also in the centre-stage of the ousted BJP government’s attacks and was recently jailed for some days in Raipur after he was charge-sheeted by the CBI for his alleged role in the circulation of a sleaze CD against a powerful BJP Minister in Chhattisgarh.

He launched his political career in early 1980s from Durg district under the guidance of the late Chandulal Chandrakar. He joined the Youth Congress in 1985 and was elected to the undivided Madhya Pradesh Assembly for the first time in 1993.

Hailing from a farmer’s family, Baghel is credited with leading the party from the front in the fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and scripting the crushing defeat of the 15-year-old regime of Raman Singh. The Congress won 68 of 90 seats.

And although there were other contenders too for the Chief Minister’s post, Baghel was far ahead of them unlike in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where there was intense tussle as to who would get to helm the states. 

Ashok Gehlot is Rajasthan’s Chief Minister designate and Madhya Pradesh has Kamal Nath in the top post. They too will take oath on Monday.

With Sunday’s development, all three states in the Hindi heartland where the BJP lost power to the Congress now have Chief Ministers.

Sonia Gandhi unveils Karunanidhi’s statue at DMK party office

by

 (17:48) 

Chennai, (IANS) The Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and former President of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi on Sunday unveiled the bronze statue of late DMK President M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu.

Sonia Gandhi was received by DMK President M.K. Stalin at the party headquarters.

She unveiled former Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s statute installed at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam here in the presence of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, leaders of DMK and several other parties, movie actors and industrialists.

Actor-turned-politician Rajnikanth also participated in the function.

Later in the evening Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Stalin, Chief Ministers Naidu, Vijayan, Narayanasamy and others will be addressing a public rally here.

Gehlot sworn in as Rajasthan CM, Pilot Deputy CM

by

Array

Jaipur, (IANS) Congress leader Ashok Gehlot was sworn in on Monday as the 12th Chief Minister of Rajasthan, while the party’s state president Sachin Pilot took oath as his deputy at a ceremony here.

It is Gehlot’s third innings as Chief Minister.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Nationalist Congress Party’s chief Sharad Pawar were some of those who attended the ceremony in Albert Hall.

Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje was also present at the event.

Analysis of Income & Expenditure of National Political Parties for FY- 2017-2018

by


Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the total income and expenditure incurred, all over India, by the National Parties during FY 2017-18, as declared by the parties in their IT Returns submitted to the ECI. The National Parties include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

Refer to the complete report, attached herewith, for top sources of income and top items of expenditure of the National Parties.

Submission of audited reports by the National Parties

·         The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was 30th Oct,’18.

·         AITC, CPM and BSP submitted their audit reports on time while CPI submitted after one day, NCP submitted after 20 days and BJP, 24 days after the due date for submission.

·         As on 17th December, 2018, INC has not yet submitted its audited reports to the ECI, more than 48 days after the due date for submission.

PartyDue date for submission: 30th Oct,’18
Date of submissionDelay in submitting their report
AITC24th September,’2018–
CPM9th October,’2018–
BSP12th October,’2018–
CPI31st October,’20181 day
NCP20th December,’201820 days
BJP24th November,’201824 days
INC–48 days (As on 17-12-2018)

Total Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for – FY-2017-2018

·         BJP declared a total income of Rs 1,027.339 cr during FY- 2017-18, but spent only 74% (Rs 758.47 cr) of the total income while BSP’s total income was Rs 51.694 cr of which the party spent only 29% (Rs 14.78 cr).             ·         NCP is the only party to have spent more than its total income during FY- 2017-18. While declaring an income of Rs 8.15 cr, the party spent Rs 8.84 cr, an                        excess of Rs 69 lakhs.

image.png
image.png

Comparison of total income of National Parties between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18

·         Between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18, the income of BJP decreased  by 0.67% (Rs 6.93 cr) from Rs 1034.27 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 1027.34 cr during FY 2017-18.

·         Between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18, the income of BSP decreased  by 235.78% (Rs 121.88 cr) from Rs 173.58 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 51.694 cr during FY 2017-18 while the income of NCP decreased  by 111.47% (Rs 9.085 cr) from Rs 17.235 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 8.15 cr during FY 2017-18.

image.png

All sources of income declared by National Parties: FY 2017-18

•       6 National parties collected 86.91% (Rs 1,041.80 cr) of their total income from Voluntary contributions for FY- 2017-18.

•       During FY- 2017-18, out of the 6 National Parties, only BJP declared receiving an income of Rs 210 cr from Contribution through Electoral Bonds. 

•       Rs 714.57 cr was income generated through other contributions by National parties during FY- 2017-18. 

image.png

Recommendations of ADR

·   The Supreme Court gave a judgment on September 13, 2013 declaring that no part of a candidate’s affidavit should be left blank. Along the same lines, we recommend that the Election Commission India impose rules that no part of the Form 24A submitted by political parties providing details of donations above Rs 20,000 should be left blank.

·   Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for 75% of the source of funds to be unknown.

·   According to the Finance Bill, 2017, Section 13A of the IT Act was amended to state that tax exemption will be given to registered political parties “Provided also that such political partyfurnishes a return of income for the previous year in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4B) of section 139 on or before the due date under that section.” Thus, any party which does not submit its IT returns on or before the due date, their income should not be tax-exempted and defaulting parties should be derecognized.

·   Those parties not following the ICAI guidelines for auditing of reports should be scrutinized by the IT department.

·   The National political parties must provide all information on their finances under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections and democracy.

Delhi HC sends Sajjan Kumar to jail life in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case (Second Lead)

by

New Delhi (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday held Sajjan Kumar and five others guilty in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case and sentenced the Congress leader to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.

The court asked Sajjan Kumar to surrender by December 31.

A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel overturned a trial court judgement that had acquitted the Congress leader.

“In the summer of 1947, during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus were massacred,” the bench said.

“Thirty-seven years later, the country was again witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on the morning of October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed.”

“For four days between November 1 to November 4 of that year, all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered. Their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too, thousands of Sikhs were killed,” the bench observed in its 203-page order.

The court said: “A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes, enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.

“The criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.

“It took as many as 10 Committees and Commissions for the investigation into the role of some of them to be entrusted in 2005 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 21 years after the occurrence.”

The court convicted the Congress leader under various counts of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, criminal conspiracy, wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house and injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.

The CBI had filed an appeal challenging the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and said that the trial court “erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots”.

In October, the High Court reserved its order on the pleas challenging that trial court judgement on Sajjan Kumar but convicted the other five accused in the case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

The HC Division Bench upheld the trial court April 30, 2013, judgement convicting five other accused — former councillor Balwan Khokhar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, Krishan Khokar, Girdhari Lal and Retired Captain Bhagmal — for their involvement in the case.

The five convicts have also filed appeals against their conviction.

Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs — Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family — by a mob in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

The case against Sajjan Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission.

Lok Sabha adjourned till noon

by

 

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 p.m. on Monday after the opposition created a ruckus in support of various demands.

Soon after the House met, AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members trooped near the Speaker’s podium and started sloganeering.

The AIADMK members raised the Cauvery water issue while the TDP demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress members were seen sloganeering against the government for misleading the apex court on the Rafale deal. They were countered by the Bharatiya Janata Party, who demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the government in the case.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urged the agitating members to allow the Question Hour to progress but the members continued with their protest.

Amid the din she adjourned the House till 12 p.m.

Foggy Monday morning in Delhi, air quality remains ‘very poor’

by

 (10:22) 

New Delhi, (IANS) Residents of the national capital woke up to a foggy morning on Monday with the minimum temperature touching 6.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.

“There was shallow fog in the morning along with haze and mist. The sky will remain clear with no chances of rainfall,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 94 per cent.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi continued to breathe under ‘very poor’ air quality with index being at 321. The major air pollutants were PM 2.5 and PM 10.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 22 degrees Celsius, season’s average while the day’s minimum will remain around 6 degrees Celsius. 

Sunday’s maximum temperature settled at 22 degrees Celsius, a notch above season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.2 degree Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives