Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / Archives for News & Politics / India

India-born US Judge Amit Mehta assigned Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google

by

print sharing button

New York: India-born US District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, has been assigned the Justice Department’s crucial lawsuit against internet search giant Google. Mehta was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on December 22, 2014.

Born in Patan, Gujarat, Mehta received his BA in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997.

After law school, Mehta worked in a law firm in San Francisco before clerking for Susan Graber of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Mehta worked at a Washington, DC-based law firm. In 2002, Mehta joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney.

Mehta served on the Board of Directors of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and is the former co-chair of the District of Columbia Bar’s Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section Steering Committee. He is also a former Director of Facilitating Leadership in Youth, a non-profit organization dedicated to after-school activities and mentoring for at-risk youth, according to his profile on the website of US District Court, District of Columbia.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice – along with 11 state Attorneys General – filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.

The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas.

As one of the wealthiest companies on the planet with a market value of $1 trillion, Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States and has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising, the Justice Department said.

A report in The Washington Post said, absent a settlement, the outcome could rest in the hands of Amit Mehta, a federal judge in a Washington, D.C., district court. Appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, he was randomly selected Wednesday to hear the Google case.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot writes to PM Narendra Modi, wants control over cooperative societies

by

Gehlot argued that recent amendments placing multi-state Cooperative Societies under the Centre’s control were contrary to the basic spirit of the cooperative movement in the states.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

JAIPUR: The issue of control over cooperative societies and banks has sparked a tug of war between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the central government.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gehlot has strongly objected to the amendments made in the provisions of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act in September 2020 whereby effective control has been given to the RBI.

Gehlot argues that these amendments will adversely affect the basic spirit of Cooperative Banks and the entire cooperative movement in the states. CM Gehlot has urged the PM to reconsider the said amendments and restore the earlier system.

In the past few years, Rajasthan has been rocked by several scams  in cooperative societies and recently the name of union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had also surfaced in a cooperative scam.

Through a series of tweets, Gehlot revealed the broad tenor of his letter to the PM regarding Multi State Cooperative Societies and Banking Regulation Act. He argued that recent amendments placing multi-state Cooperative Societies under the Centre’s control were contrary to the basic spirit of the cooperative movement in the states.

In his letter to PM Modi on October 19 , Gehlot  has strongly objected to the amendments made in the Banking Regulation Act on September 16, 2020  giving the control of cooperative societies to the Reserve Bank of India

Gehlot claims the recently amended provisions of Banking Regulation Act are against the basic principles of cooperatives and would have a negative impact on the functioning of State Cooperative Banks and has asked PM Modi to withdraw these amendments .

“Under the new provisions, all administrative control of the Co-operative Banks has been given to the RBI. As a result, the administrative control of the co-operative banks under the state government will go under RBI, which is an encroachment on the principle of co-operatives.

Under amended provisions, the principle of one member one vote does not hold any longer. The previous structure and provisions must be restored in the interest of cooperatives,” said Gehlot in a statement.

Gehlot claims that the move has made the Rajasthan Co-operative Societies Act 2001 (which is responsible for managing and monitoring co-operatives) irrelevant. “The amendment will adversely affect the basic spirit  of the cooperative banks and the cooperative movement in the state,” reads a statement by Gehlot.

He also points out that a large number of common people have invested in Multi State Cooperative Societies operating in the state and the Rajasthan police have received complaints from around 73 thousand investors regarding irregularities amounting to Rs 1419.77 crore.

As such, Gehlot has asked PM Modi to initiate remedial measures by “directing the Central Registrar to authorise State’s Cooperative department to take action in the matter in order to save the interests of common people”.

Gehlot’s concern on the issue has been preceded by crores of investors in Rajasthan losing their hard-earned money in a series of scams connected to Cooperative Societies. Hundreds of crores have been embezzled by Adarsh, Navjivan and Sanjeevani Credit Cooperative Societies and last year the State Cooperative department had  cancelled registration of 7 credit cooperative societies.

Cases of fraud by three big credit societies in Rajasthan had been exposed by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police who had arrested Vikram Singh, the owner of the dubious Sanjeevani Credit Cooperative Society for allegedly siphoning off over a thousand crores.

In  the complaint related to Sanjeevani Credit Cooperative Society, the complainant  had named Union Jal Shakti minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and others as the alleged accused in the scam and sought further investigation by the SOG into their role.

Shekhawat, his wife and other partners had been named in the complaint in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in which around 50,000 investors allegedly lost about Rs 840 crore.

Maharashtra COVID numbers at 16,17,658 with 8,142 new cases; 23,371 discharged

by

Mumbai city reported 1,609 positive cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 2,45,869, while its death toll rose to 9,912, of which 48 were reported today.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally on Wednesday increased to 16,17,658 with the single-day rise of 8,142 cases, a state health official said.

The state also reported 180 deaths, which took the fatality count to 42,633, he said.

A total of 23,371 patients were discharged during the day after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 14,15,679.

With this, the number of active patients in the state stands at 1,58,852.

Mumbai city reported 1,609 positive cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 2,45,869, while its death toll rose to 9,912, of which 48 were reported today.

Pune city added 442 COVID-19 cases, raising its tally to 1,69,178, while three deaths took toll to 3,876. The state has so far conducted 83,27,493 tests.

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally is as follows: Positive cases: 16,17,658, new cases: 8,142, death toll: 42,633, discharged: 14,15,679, active cases: 1,58,852, people tested so far: 83,27,493.

Fake TRP scam: Names of two more channels crop up during probe

by

Earlier three channels, including Republic TV, was found allegedly involved in the TRP racket.

MUMBAI: The names of two more TV channels have surfaced during the investigation of alleged fake Television Rating Points (TRP) scam, police said on Wednesday.

While one is a news channel, the other one is an entertainment channel, the official said.

“During the investigation, it came to light that these two channels were also involved in fixing the TRP by paying money to households for watching them,” he said.

“While investigating the fake TRP racket, the police have added fresh sections of IPC, including 174, 179, 201, 204,” he said.

According to the official, the police had earlier registered an offence under section 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 120(B), 34 of IPC in the case, he said adding the crime branch submitted the letter to the court about adding new sections.

Earlier three channels, including Republic TV, was found allegedly involved in the TRP racket.

Meanwhile the probe team on Wednesday once again recorded statements of Republic TV CFO S Sundaram and executive editor Niranjan Narayanswami, he said.

The alleged fake TRP scam came to light when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint with the police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain channels were rigging TRP numbers to lure advertisers.

It was alleged that some families at whose houses meters for collecting data of viewership were installed were being bribed to tune into a particular channel.

COVID-19 Updates IN india Virus infection cases in India cross 77 lakh-mark, death toll at 1,16,616

by

Total case tally in the country stands at 77,06,946 including 7,15,812 active cases and 68,74,518 recovered.

India on Thursday recorded 55,838 fresh cases of virus infection and 702 deaths. 

Total case tally in the country stands at 77,06,946 including 7,15,812 active cases, 68,74,518 recovered and 1,16,616 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As the country proceeds towards the winter season, experts said that cooler weather is likely to worsen as it happens with most viruses that attack the respiratory tract and may lead to possibly a second, even a bigger wave of cases and deaths in the country.

After Punjab, now Rajasthan government to bring bill against Centre’s farm laws

by

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced this on Twitter, hours after the Punjab assembly unanimously passed four bills and adopted a resolution against the Union government laws.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said his government will bring a bill against the Centre’s farm laws on the lines of Punjab.

The chief minister announced this on Twitter, hours after the Punjab assembly unanimously passed four bills and adopted a resolution against the Union government laws.

“INC under the leadership of Smt #SoniaGandhi ji& #RahulGandhi ji stands absolutely with our annadatas and will continue to oppose the anti-farmer laws passed by NDA Govt. Today Congress Govt in #Punjab has passed Bills against these laws.

Earlier, the Congress leadership had suggested states where the party is in power to pass laws of their own, negating the central legislation.

In the meeting of the state council of ministers held at the chief minister’s residence, the effects of Centre’s three new laws on the farmers were discussed.

The council of ministers decided that a special session of the Legislative Assembly will be convened soon and amendment bills will be brought to preserve the interests of the farmers, an official statement said.

The council also emphasised on the imperative of procurement of crops at minimum support price (MSP).

The council observed that the removal of the maximum limit of stock of various agricultural commodities under normal circumstances under the Essential Commodities Act after the implementation of the new agricultural laws will increase black marketing, unauthorised storage and rise in prices.

It was also discussed in the meeting that the provision of MSP in the Contract Forming Act will be in the interest of the farmers of the state, the statement said.

The meeting also discussed the coronavirus situation in the state government’s efforts to deal with it.

The council decided that the mass movement against COVID-19 in the state should be extended for a month till November 30.

New COVID-19 cases remain below 60,000 mark for the third consecutive day, India tally nears 77,000

by

A total of 54,044 fresh infections were reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,15,914 with 717 fatalities being registered in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed

NEW DELHI: The number of new coronavirus infections reported in India in a span of 24 hours remained below 60,000 for the third consecutive day, taking the COVID-19 caseload to 76,51,107, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

A total of 54,044 fresh infections were reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,15,914  with 717 fatalities being registered in a span of 24 hours ,the data updated at 8 am showed.

As many as 67,95,103 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 88.81 per cent while the case fatality rate due COVID-19 has dropped to 1.51 per cent.

The active cases of coronavirus infection remained below 8 lakh for the fifth consecutive day.

There are 7,40,090 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 9.67 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past 50 lakh on September 16,  60 lakh on September 28 and crossed 70 lakh on October 11.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 9,72,00,379 samples have been tested up to October 20 with 10,83,608 samples being tested on Tuesday.

The 717 new fatalities include 213 from Maharashtra, 66 from Karnataka, 61 from West Bengal, 50 each from Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, and 41 from Delhi.

A total of 1,15,914 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 42,453 from Maharashtra followed by 10,741 from Tamil Nadu, 10,608 from Karnataka, 6,714 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,481 from Andhra Pradesh, 6,180 from West Bengal, 6,081 from Delhi, 4,037 from Punjab and 3,651 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its  website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Anti-triple talaq crusader Shayara Bano gets minister rank in Uttarakhand

by

The move comes just ten days after Bano, who was the first Muslim woman to question the constitutionality of the practice of triple talaq in the Supreme Court, joined the BJP.

Shayara Bano was the original petitioner in the case against triple talaq.

DEHRADUN: Anti-triple talaq crusader Shayara Bano, who recently joined the BJP, has been given minister of state status by the Uttarakhand government.

The move comes just ten days after Bano, who was the first Muslim woman to question the constitutionality of the practice of triple talaq in the Supreme Court, joined the BJP here in the presence of its Pradesh president Bansidhar Bhagat and a host of other leaders.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s media coordinator Darshan Singh Rawat said ,Bano is among three women, who were appointed vice presidents of the State Women’s Commission besides being accorded MoS status on Tuesday.

The other two women appointed to the post are Jyoti Shah from Ranikhet in Almora district and Pushpa Paswan from Chamoli district.

The three posts in the commission had long been vacant.

It is the chief minister’s gift to the women of the state during Navratri, he said.

Bano was the first to challenge the constitutionality of the practice of triple talaq in the apex court in 2014, four months after being divorced by her husband through speed post.

She is a resident of Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand.

Air Pollution is the highest health risk for newborns in India: Study

by

More than half of these deaths were associated with outdoor  PM 2.5 and others were linked to use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking.  

Delhi Pollution

NEW DELHI: A comprehensive analysis  of  air  pollution’s  global  impact  on  newborns  finds  that outdoor  and household  particulate  matter  pollution  contributed  to the  deaths  of  more than 116,000 Indian infants in  their  first month of  life  in 2019,  according  to a  new  global  study, State of Global Air 2020 (SoGA).  

More than half of these deaths were associated with outdoor  PM 2.5 and others were linked to use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking.

Long-term  exposure  to outdoor  and  household  air  pollution  contributed to  over  1.67 million annual  deaths from  stroke, heart  attack, diabetes, lung  cancer, chronic  lung  diseases, and  neonatal diseases, in India  in 2019.  

For  the  youngest infants, most deaths were related to complications from low birth weight  and preterm birth.  

The  report  highlights  the  ongoing  challenge  of  high outdoor  air  pollution — South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan  and Nepal  feature  among  the  top  ten  countries  with the highest  PM 2.5  exposures  in 2019;  all of these  countries  experienced increases  in  outdoor  PM2.5 levels  between  2010 and  2019. 

Use  of  solid fuels  for  cooking, however,  presents  a  pattern of  moderate  success. Since  2010, more than 50  million fewer people  have  been exposed  to household  air  pollution. The  Pradhan  Mantri Ujjwala  Yojana Household  LPG program  and  other  schemes  have helped  to  dramatically  expand access  to  clean  energy,  especially  for  rural households.

 This report  comes  as  COVID-19 — a disease for  which  people with  heart  and  lung  disease are particularly at  risk of  infection and  death — has  claimed  more than  110,000  lives  in India. 

Although the  full  links  between air  pollution  and  COVID-19  are  not  yet  known, there  is  clear evidence  linking  air  pollution  and  increased  heart and  lung  disease  creating  a  growing  concern that  exposures  to high  levels  of  air  pollution, during  winter  months in South Asian countries  and East  Asia, could  exacerbate the effects of  COVID-19. 

“An  infant’s  health  is  critical  to  the future of  every  society,  and  this newest  evidence suggests  an  especially high  risk for  infants  born  in  South Asia  and sub-Saharan  Africa,” said  Dan  Greenbaum,  President  of  HEI. 

“Although  there  has  been slow  and steady reduction  in  household  reliance  on poor-quality fuels, the  air pollution from  these  fuels  continues  to be  a  key factor  in the  deaths  of  these  youngest  infants,” he added. 

Infants  in  the  first  month  of  life  are  already  at  a  vulnerable  stage. But  a  growing  body of scientific  evidence from  multiple  countries,  including  recent ICMR-supported  studies  in  India, indicates that  particulate  air pollution exposure  during  pregnancy is  linked  to low  birth weight  and pre-term  birth.

These  latter  conditions, both of  which are  associated with  serious  complications, already account for the vast majority of  deaths in the neonatal period  (455,000  in  2019).  

The  new  analysis  reported  in the  State  of  Global Air  this  year  estimates  that nearly  21 per cent of neonatal deaths from  all  causes  are  attributable  to ambient and household air  pollution. 

“Addressing impacts  of  air  pollution on  adverse  pregnancy outcomes  and newborn  health  is  really important  for low- and middle-income  countries, not  only because of the high prevalence  of low  birth weight, preterm  birth, and child  growth deficits but  because  it allows the design of strategic  interventions  that  can be  directed  at  these vulnerable  groups,”  said  Dr.  Kalpana Balakrishnan,  an  air pollution and health expert who was not involved with the study.   

The  State  of  Global  Air  2020  annual  report  and accompanying  interactive  website  are  designed and implemented  by the  Health  Effects  Institute  in cooperation with  the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME2) at  the  University of  Washington,  and  the  University  of  British Columbia; its findings  are  based  on the most  recent  Global  Burden  of  Disease (GBD3)  Study  published  in the  international medical  journal, The  Lancet on October  15, 2020.

If Nitish Kumar wins elections by mistake, Bihar will be ruined: Chirag Paswan

by

Paswan also said his party’s manifesto is based on the vision of ‘Bihar first Bihari first’.

PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Wednesday attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying that if Kumar wins the upcoming election by mistake then the state will be on the verge of getting ruined.

“If the current Chief Minister again wins this election by mistake then our state will lose. Our state will again stand on the verge of getting ruined. I wonder how he promotes casteism. It is not appropriate to imagine the development of Bihar under the leadership of a person who promotes communalism,” Paswan said while launching the party’s manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls.

Paswan said his party’s manifesto is based on the vision of ‘Bihar first Bihari first’.

“Today, with the release of our party’s manifesto for the Bihar Assembly polls, I put forward our vision of ‘Bihar first Bihari first’ which will resolve various problems that the people of Bihar have been facing for long,” he said.

Building a web portal where employers and job seeker can connect, constituting Yuva Commission, separate toilets for women in all the block headquarters, gram panchayat headquarters and markets are among the main poll promises made in the manifesto.

“The posts of all the departments of the government-approved will be filled soon. All the employees working in the state government on the contract will be regularised. To prevent flood and drought, all the rivers of the state will be connected by canals,” the manifesto said.

The party, which was part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, has decided to field candidates against Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and not against the BJP. Paswan has been slamming Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over some of the promises made by the JD-U.

Elections to the 243-seat Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases — October 28, November 3 and 7 — and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives