NEW DELHI: A virtual meeting of top opposition leaders to finalise a ‘common Strategy against Modi government’ and to raise several issues related to the public, including price rise, Pegasus snooping, COVID-19 mismanagement, unemployment and economic slowdown is scheduled for Friday. The meeting would be chaired by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi.

“We will discuss and finalise the strategy to raise the problems faced by the general public and the issues that the government did not allow to discuss in the monsoon session of the Parliament that concluded recently,” Yechury said.

“We have to take up the issues related to the common man. The questions are about COVID-19 mismanagement, shortage of vaccine, economic slowdown, unemployment, hunger, price hike of essential commodities, the farmers issue, government privatisation policy and Pegasus snooping row. All these questions were to be discussed in the Parliament and the government did not allow the discussion so, we will go to the public regarding all these issues,” Yechury elaborated.

The CPI(M) General Secretary further told ANI that in the opposition meeting, scheduled for today, the leaders will discuss and finalise a common strategy to go in public with and to expose the Modi government’s “real face”.

Today, opposition leaders will be meeting virtually under the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and top leaders, including three Chief Ministers, including Mamata Banerjee CM of West Bengal, Uddhav Thackeray CM of Maharashtra, and M K Stalin CM of Tamil Nadu. NCP President Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI General Secretary D Raja, among others are expected to join the meeting.

The meeting is a part of the Congress party’s efforts to unite various opposition parties on key issues to set the platform to defeat BJP in the upcoming assembly elections in 5 states.

In the recently concluded monsoon session of the Parliament, opposition parties displayed unity, leading to disruption of both Houses. The opposition leaders had given several Suspension of Business notices, Adjournment Motion Notice and had sought a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row, along with the farm laws and other issues.

Today’s meeting is being held in the backdrop of the government demanding strict action against those who indulged in unruly behaviour in the Upper House during the passing of the Insurance Amendment Bill. 

AGRA: After remaining closed for over a year for night viewing, the Taj Mahal will open from August 21 for visitors who want to explore the marble monument under moonlight, officials said on Friday.

Night viewing of the monument had closed on March 17, 2020 during the first lockdown due to COVID-19.

ASI Superintending Archaeologist (Agra Circle) Vasant Kumar Swarnkar told PTI that night viewing will be allowed on August 21, 23, and 24 as the monument is closed every week on Friday and the lockdown is in effect on Sunday.

He said there are three time slots for visitors.

From 8:30-9 pm, 9-9:30 pm and from 9:30-10 pm.

“In every slot, 50 tourists would be allowed as per guidelines of the Supreme Court,” he added.

“The tickets can be booked a day in advance from ASI office’s counter on 22 Mall Road in Agra,” Kumar said.

Rajeev Saxena, vice-president of the Tourism Guild of Agra, said it was a good step, but it would not attract weekend travellers until the restriction of lockdown on Sunday and curfew after 10 pm was not lifted.

“Tourists want to enjoy nightlife of the city, they don’t want to be packed in their hotels after 10 pm,” he said.

A government approved tour guide, Monika Sharma, appreciated the move and said it was a ray of hope for the revival of Agra’s tourism sector.

HYDERABAD: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said Taliban takeover of Afghanistan would benefit Pakistan the most as the country’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) controls the terrorist outfit.

Speaking at an event here on Thursday, Owaisi said: “Pakistan has gained the most from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Experts are saying that Al Qaeda and Daesh have reached some areas in Afghanistan.”

“Jaish-e-Muhammad, which indulges in the acts of terrorism including the attack on Parliament, they are now in Afghanistan’s Helmand. One must remember that ISI controls the Taliban. ISI is an enemy of India, and uses Taliban as a puppet,” he added.

Owaisi also stated that China would also benefit from the Taliban takeover.

Earlier on Monday, the AIMIM chief had said India should have opened dialogue with the Taliban before it had full control of Afghanistan.

“Now that Afghanistan is in complete control of Taliban, we have no communication, no dialogue with them. All international and security experts have said talks should have been done. But, for last seven years Central government has failed to read what is happening,” he said. 

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agrees to set up a 10-member ‘Strategic Policy Group’ for better coordination between the ruling party and the state government. 

In a move that struck a reconciliatory chord ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the two also ruled that all cabinet ministers must be be available at Punjab Congress Bhawan on rotation every day to address the public grievances.

One minister each will be available at the Congress Bhawan from Monday for three hours (11 am to  2 pm). In case, a minister is unable to make it, he or she will have to arrange a substitute. The arrangement will be in place five days in a week, from Monday to Friday, said Amarinder, adding that this will help in better coordination between his government and party functionaries in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections. 

Sidhu along with working president Kuljit Singh Nagra and newly appointed General Secretary (Organization) Pargat Singh called on Amarinder to discuss related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination. It was his second visit after becoming the party president.

In the Friday meeting, it was also decided to expeite the implementation of various government programmes and reform initiatives.

Headed by the chief minister, the Group will have Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as members, along with Sidhu, the four party working presidents; Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, besides Pargat Singh.

The group will hold weekly meetings, in consultation with other ministers, experts as may be required. It will discuss and review the progress of the various state government initiatives already under implementation, and will also suggest measures to expedite the same.

AICC general secretary and in-charge of Punjab Affairs Harish Rawat is also expected to reach here next week.

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.