Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has written to Congress/alliance governments in the states to have a resolution passed in their respective assemblies seeking one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

“In order to reaffirm our support for the passage of the Bill, it would be expedient for the state assembly to pass a resolution calling for the reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women, in the next session,” Gandhi said in the letter written to Congress and its allied chief ministers.

Pointing out that India ranks 148 out of 193 countries in terms of the percentage of women in Parliament, Gandhi said the situation was “even worse in state Assemblies”.

“The lack of adequate representation of women in our polity undermines our democracy and perpetuates existing systemic injustices. Women in institutions of local self-governance have not only been effective leaders, but also challenged traditional gender roles that curtailed their participation in public life,” said Gandhi in his December 6 letter.

The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.

Besides Gandhi, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik, too, on Thursday had written to all chief ministers seeking their support to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women.

IANS

Dubbing the whole affair initiated by Pakistan on the Kartarpur corridor as a “bigger conspiracy” hatched by the Pakistan Army, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the hostile neighbour is trying to revive militancy in Punjab but it will not be allowed to succeed.

Citing that Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had “broken the news of opening the Kartarpur Corridor to Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan was sworn in as their Prime Minister”, Amarinder said the whole affair smacked of a bigger conspiracy.

“The opening of the Kartarpur corridor is clearly a game plan of the ISI (Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence). A bigger conspiracy seems to have been hatched by Pakistan Army against India. Pakistan is attempting to revive militancy in Punjab and thus everyone should be wary of all of its overtures, no matter how grand they appear to be,” Amarinder told a TV news channel.

“The Sidhu affair is being unnecessarily hyped and those raising it have clearly failed to see the ISI game plan, said Amarinder, lashing out at the Akalis for branding the Punjab Minister as stooge of the Pakistan Prime Minister,” the Chief Minister’s spokesperson said here on Sunday.

Dismissing the issue as “nothing more than a credit war”, Amarinder lambasted the Akalis and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership “for indulging in unwarranted controversy over his (Chief Minister’s) relations with Sidhu in a bid to divert public attention from the core issue of Pakistan’s continued and deliberate perpetration of terror activities in Punjab with the ultimate aim of destabilising the border state”.

Amarinder said in the interview that the demand for opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor was pending since partition as several holy Sikh shrines (Sri Nankana Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib) had gone to Pakistan.

“Even former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh had taken up the issue of opening the Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan. I had myself raised this issue with my Pakistan Punjab counterpart Parvez Elahi and with then President Parvez Musharraf during my previous tenure as Chief Minister,” Amarinder pointed out.

The Chief Minister said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan “is undoubtedly making efforts to bring peace, tranquility and harmony with India”, but at the same time he should also prevail upon the top brass of Pakistani Army to ensure that killings of Indian soldiers at borders are stopped immediately.

Asked why he opted not to go to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Amarinder said he declined the invite because he could not think of going there while Indian soldiers and civilians were being killed by the Pakistan Army.

On the issue of Navjot Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony, the Chief Minister said he had told Sidhu that he had declined the invite by writing a letter to the Pakistan Minister for foreign affairs, and had also shared a copy of the same on the social media. Despite his advice against going to Pakistan, Sidhu went ahead due to his friendship with Imran Khan,” said the Chief Minister, adding that “this was not unreasonable”.

He said that he himself has many friends there, including former Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi.

“We had been meeting frequently during my previous tenure and Elahi had also been coming to meet me in Patiala,” Amarinder said.

Downplaying the controversy around his rumoured feud with Sidhu, Amarinder said Navjot Sidhu is a “likeable person” and he shares warm ties with even Sidhu’s parents when the cricketer-turned-minister’s father was president of Patiala district Congress unit and his (Amarinder’s) mother Mohinder Kaur was the Member of Parliament from Patiala.

The Chief Minister said that he and Sidhu “were not at loggerheads as reported by the media and he has absolutely no problems with Sidhu in running the government”.

Amarinder said that Sidhu always speaks in a forthright manner and his only problem is that “sometimes he shoots before he thinks”.

Responding to another question regarding Sidhu’s remarks that Rahul Gandhi is his captain, the Chief Minister said that this was hardly any issue to be raised as Sidhu has always treated him (Amarinder) as a “fatherly figure”.

Amarinder Singh warned Pakistan against carrying on its nefarious designs and urged it to desist from trying to foment trouble in Punjab.

“General Bajwa should understand that Punjab Police is fully geared up to take Pakistan head-on, if it continues to vitiate peaceful atmosphere of the state through terror. Bajwa is sadly mistaken in underestimating the unbounded capacities and capabilities of Punjab Police in facing any daunting challenge,” the Chief Minister said.

He advised Bajwa “not to compare Punjab with the 1970s and 1980s when its police force was a meager 16000-17000”.A

“The force now is well equipped with high tech weapons and ammunition, along with professionally committed commando battalions and the Punjab Armed Force, to effectively tackle any challenging task,” the Chief Minister asserted.

Reiterating his government’s commitment to break the backbone of terrorism, Amarinder said that no one would be allowed to push Punjab back into the black days of terrorism.

IANS

Charging the Narendra Modi government with destroying and compromising all important institutions of democracy, including the Union Cabinet, Parliament, Supreme Court and the media, former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Sunday said the only way out for the country is to elect a new government in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Sinha, a bitter critic of Modi, resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier this year and launched a country-wide campaign against the present government and his former party.

Participating in a talk show “Idea of Bengal”, organised by the social media cell of the Trinamool Congress, Sinha went all guns blazing against Modi and his governance, and went on to compare him with the 14th century Sultan of Delhi Muhammad bin Tughluq yet again.

Drawing a comparison between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government with Atal Behari Vajpayee as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004 (apart from a brief stint in 1996), and the present one under Modi, Sinha praised Vajpayee’s stature and personality that enabled him to take along 22 parties of the coalition without much difficulty.

“There is a world of difference between that government and the Prime Minister and this government and the Prime Minister of today. And the most important difference in my mind is that the members of the cabinet mattered in those days.

“Now they don’t matter. Nobody matters in this government. The first in terms of institutional devaluation which has taken place is the Cabinet,” he said, while dwelling on “Demonetisation, black money and broken promises”.

Sinha alleged that in the Modi regime, the Finance Minister did not know of the demonetisation exercise of 2016, the Defence Minister was in the dark about the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, “and we know about the fate of the External Affairs Minister (who was trolled on Twitter for ‘Muslism appeasement’ allegedly by Hindutva sympathisers)”.

Refering to Parliament, he said the Rajya Sabha’s authority has been taken away by declaring legislations as money bill.

“You did not discuss the Aadhar bill (in Rajya Sabha) because it was touted as a money bill. The budget for the whole year this time has been passed without discussion in Parliament. This only happens during an emergency.”

Iterating that the Supreme Court has been compromised, Sinha said: “Senior judges held a press conference… retired Justice Joseph Kurian Joseph has said that even the Chief Justice of India has been compromised. Who do we believe? Judges of Supreme Court of course, who tell us that democracy is threatened and the Supreme Court of India is compromised.”

He said institutions like the Election Commission, Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of India have suffered the same fate.

“The latest addition to the ignominious list is the Information Commission. …the posts were not filled up. And the last Information Commissioner, who is now retired, has written to the President of India how the Information Commission is being compromised.”

Rapping Modi for the demonetisation exercise, he said: “I had then reminded people that there was another ruler who had actually done demonetisation among other silly things he did. That was Muhammad bin Tughluq.”

When Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien, who was moderating the session, asked him whether Modi has similarity with Tughluq, Sinha said: “He has, obviously. Demonetisation is the most important example of that.”

IANS

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a petition challenging Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s decision to dissolve the state assembly and impose Governor’s rule.

“We are not inclined to entertain,” said a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjay Krishan Kaul as senior counsel Jaideep Gupta told the bench that Malik dissolved the assembly even though there were two letters before him staking claim to form the government.

Appearing for Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Gagan Bhagat in the now dissolved House, Gupta referred to an earlier judgment of the top court which said that Governor should have made every effort to examine if a government can be formed before exercising the extreme option of dissolving the elected assembly.

IANS

 Angry green activists on Sunday demanded firm steps to save a dying Yamuna, the lifeline of Agra with three world heritage monuments and several other architectural marvels.

River Connect Campaigners first cleaned the Etmauddaula View-Point Park on the Yamuna bank, and followed it up with a public rally to express concern and ire against continued dilly-dallying on the need for restoring the original glory of river Yamuna, one of the holiest rivers of India.

“Both Nitin Gadkiri and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised both before and after 2014 Lok Sabha elections of several steps to save Yamuna, but so far nothing has been done to save the river,” environmentalist Dr Devashish Bhattacharya said.

In a resolution, river activists demanded immediate action on the Yamuna barrage on downstream of the Taj Mahal, as was promised by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

River cleaning, desilting and dredging had also been promised but the concerned agencies have not shown any interest, the activists said, adding that the result is huge piles of garbage, sewer and industrial effluents increasing the overall pollution load in the river, causing adverse effect on the monuments along the banks of Yamuna.

The resolution also reminded Nitin Gadkiri of his promise to start ferry service to bring tourists from Delhi to see the Taj Mahal.

The green activists also expressed dissatisfaction with the working of the Taj Trapezium Zone Authority which has “miserably failed to address the problem of river pollution”.

The meeting blamed the river police squad to stop encroachers of the flood plains of the rivers, the polluters and the waste dumpers. Despite the success of the ODF programme, people could still be seen defecating on the river bed.

A political row has broken out between rival political factions in Kerala to pitch the Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) — that opened here on Sunday — as their success story.

In his inaugural address, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the airport project was conceived in 1996 when E.K. Nayanar was the Chief Minister, but nothing happened with the project when both A.K. Anthony and Oommen Chandy took over as Chief Minister in 2001 and 2004, respectively.

“It was when V.S. Achuthanandan assumed office in 2006 that things started to move forward. When Chandy assumed office again in 2011, a trial operation at the airport took place when an Indian Air Force aircraft landed in 2016.

“It was only after we came to power in 2016 that the airport project was completed. Today is the real inauguration and the airport has been commissioned,” said Vijayan.

Chandy told reporters in Kottayam that he does not wish to be drawn into a controversy, as he is happy that the airport has been finally commissioned.

“The people of Kerala know everything and I am not interested to be drawn into a controversy. I have not been invited (to the inauguration) but I am happy that the airport has finally opened,” said Chandy.

Faizal, a passenger on the inaugural flight, hailing from Nadapuram, arrived with a banner that had Chandy’s photograph. Expressing his protest, he said that it was unfortunate that the state government, while inviting former Civil Aviation Minister C.M. Ibrahim, who in 1996 gave the first clearance for this airport, did not invite Chandy, whose government finished 90 per cent of the work and conducted the first trial flight in 2016.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media in the state capital that the Chandy government had finished 90 per cent of the work and this government should have finished the remaining work and opened the airport at least two years ago.

“When Chandy conducted the trial operations using an IAF aircraft in 2016, E. P. Jayarajan protested while raising demands that the runway should be extended. Today, as Industries Minister, Jayarajan is at the forefront of the inauguration though not even an inch of the runway has been increased from what we had finished in 2016. This government despite being in office for over two and a half years has not been able to conceive a single project,” said Chennithala.

Expressing his dissent was K.Babu, former state minister who was entrusted with the job of overseeing the work of the Kannur Airport by Chandy, said that the least he expected was a telephone call from the state government.

“What’s most intriguing is the present Industries Minister Jayarajan was always at the forefront of all protests for anything and everything related to the airport during 2011-16, when 90 per cent of the work was completed. Today he is seen as the one who made this airport a reality,” wrote Babu on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, all 180 passengers of the inaugural Air India Express flight to Abu Dhabi received a gift from KIAL.

This is the fourth international airport in the state, the rest are in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

It is spread across 2,300 acres and has a runway length of 3,050 metre, which will be extended to 4,000 metre.

The KIAL is slated to serve more than 1.5 million international passengers annually.

It is expected to boost tourism in Kannur, Kasargode, Wayanad and increase trade and commerce in the handloom and spices sectors.

The airport would be able to handle 2,000 passengers at a time.

IANS

Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, is set to appear before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court here on Monday when his extradition trial is listed for a judgment hand-down.

The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He has contested his extradition on the grounds that the case against him is “politically motivated” and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought to keep his now-defunct airline afloat.

“I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud,” he said in his recent Twitter post on the issue.

The trial, which opened at the Magistrates’ Court on December 4 last year, has gone through a series of hearings beyond the initial seven days earmarked for it. It opened with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team, led by Mark Summers, laying out the Indian government’s prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Mallya.

Summers sought to establish a “blueprint of dishonesty” against the businessman and that there are no bars to his extradition on human rights grounds. Mallya’s defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, deposed a series of experts in an attempt to prove that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines’ alleged default of bank loans was the result of business failure rather than “dishonest” and “fraudulent” activity by its owner.

The court was also told that a consortium of Indian banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), rejected an offer by the liquor baron in early 2016 to pay back nearly 80 per cent of the principal loan amount owed to them. While the CPS argued that Mallya never intended to repay the loans he sought in the first place because his airline’s demise was inevitable, the defence tried to establish that Kingfisher Airlines was suffering from consequences of a wider global financial crisis around 2009-2010 and that its failure was a result of factors beyond the company’s control.

“There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans],” Judge Arbuthnot had noted during the course of the trial. In relation to the defence’s attempts to dispute Indian prison conditions as a bar to Mallya’s extradition on human rights grounds, the judge had indicated to the CPS that she did not require any further information in reference to the prison conditions awaiting Mallya at Barrack 12 of Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail after seeking a video of the cell.

“If the judge is satisfied that all of the procedural requirements are met, and that none of the statutory bars to extradition apply, he or she must send the case to the Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order extradition,” explains Pavani Reddy, a UK-based legal expert and Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co.

The judge’s decision on whether to send Mallya’s case to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid can be appealed with the UK High Court’s permission, with the person to be extradited entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14 days of the date of the Chief Magistrate’s ruling. On the other hand, the Indian government would also have 14 days to file leave to appeal to the High Court, seeking permission to appeal against a decision not to extradite.

“In case the concerned individual does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate’s decision, then the individual must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary’s extradition order. “This will also apply if an appeal lodged by either party in the High Court is unsuccessful, but the 28 days will commence from the date when the appeal hearing was concluded,” said Reddy. If the judgment goes ahead as scheduled on Monday, it would mark a significant point in this high-profile extradition trial that has lasted over a year.

PTI

Around 11.30 a.m on Sunday, every single road leading to the historic Ramlila Maidan in the national capital was jam-packed and the air reverberated with the chants of “Jai Sri Ram” and “Mandir wahi banaenge”.

People were walking in hordes towards the destination — Ramlila Maidan — which many said was their “Ayodhya” for the day.

They were here to take part in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-organised rally, or “Dharma Sabha”, to demand the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, days ahead of the winter session of Parliament.

It was saffron all around as people, men mostly, of all ages, carried saffron flags, many wearing wristbands with “Ram Mandir” inscribed on them walked around shouting slogans proudly, as if they had already achieved their goal.

“Aaj humara din hai (today belongs to us). We can’t go to Ayodhya, but we want to convey that the people are just a call away. This massive turnout is an indication that we want Ram Mandir, at any cost. It is now or never,” Namit Nagar, 28-year-old businessman who came from Faridabad, told IANS.

The agenda was set by the people at the rally and the message was clear: they do not want to wait any longer. Their voices confirmed their desire to have Ram Mandir before 2019 elections.

“We have gathered here to send a message that if the government fails to build the temple, then we will do it. Ram was born here, it is our land. If Ram temple is not constructed in Ayodhya then where do you think it should be build?” Nagar threw a poser.

Laxmi Narayan Gupta, a 75-year-old businessman who came from a village near Badarpur, said that earlier he visited Ayodhya once in every two years or so, but due to the age factor, he has not been able to go there for the last three years.

Gupta said that he still has hope that the temple will be built before the elections. On being asked the reasons for supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he stated it is the only party that can settle the temple issue.

“Ayodhya has been an emotive issue for the Hindu community… This is the right time to build temple and the BJP is bound to do it. Since people are raise voice for the temple, the government is bound to heed to their demand,” Gupta said emphatically.

The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid land dispute is currently pending before the Supreme Court which adjourned the decision on October 29. In January, the apex body is expected to announce a date for beginning the hearing.

The VHP-RSS activists and supporters, who had assembled for the Sunday’s rally, also voiced their anguish over the delay in the construction of Ram temple due to a delay in start of hearing in the matter. They also expressed their reservations on the apex court giving a verdict in a religious-emotional issue like this.

“We can’t wait for the Supreme Court verdict. If the court doesn’t come up with a judgment in our favour, which is very much likely, this crowd will end up reaching Ayodhya. The court can open at midnight to hear the case of a terrorist but doesn’t have time to resolve this matter,” said Brajendra Gupta from Dhaula Kuan who is also a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist.

But what if BJP does not build the temple prior to 2019 elections?

“We have been waiting patiently for four years now, I gave vote to BJP only because they mentioned about building temple at Ayodhya in their manifesto. It is disappointing that we were given false hopes and assurances. We still have faith that BJP will build it, and if not we won’t support it any more,” Parth Sharma, an accounts professional from Saharanpur, stated.

IANS

The Karnataka legislature is set for a stormy 10-day winter session from Monday at Belagavi in the state’s northwest district, where it meets every year in December, ostensibly to address issues concerning the region.

“This is the legislature’s second session after the JD-S-Congress coalition government was formed on May 23 following a hung verdict in the May 12 Assembly elections and fall of the 3-day BJP government on May 19 for want of majority,” an official told media on Sunday.

Belagavi in the former Bombay Province is 500km from state capital Bengaluru.

“Besides pending bills, the session will discuss major issues, including remunerative price for sugarcane growers, farm loan waiver, drought in 17 districts across the state and drinking water supply from Mahadayi river to the four drought-prone northern districts,” said the official.

The first day, however, is unlikely to see any disruption, as both the legislative Houses (Assembly and Council) will pay obituaries to three prominent state leaders and former Union ministers who passed away in November.

The deceased are Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru South Ananth Kumar on November 12, former Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Kannada super star M.H. Ambareesh on November 24 and former Railways Minister and former Congress Lok Sabha MP from Bengaluru North Jaffer Sharief on November 25.

“As the legislature is meeting after the July budget session in Bengaluru, the legislature will also pay tributes to former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, who passed away on August 16 in New Delhi,” the official hinted.

Though Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy formally began giving debt-free certificates to some farmers at Doddaballapur near Bengaluru on Saturday, the opposition BJP has vowed to expose the six-month-old coalition government for failing to waive loans of all farmers who borrowed from the cooperative and state-run banks since 2016.

“We will move a special adjournment motion in the Assembly on Tuesday against failure of the state government in fulfilling its promise of waiving farm loans till date though Kumaraswamy announced it in July,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit spokesman told IANS here.

The BJP will also seek the state government’s response to the demand of the sugarcane farmers for payment of arrears by the sugar mill owners and fair price for this year’s crop as fixed by the Central government (Rs 2,650 per tonne) and an additional Rs 250 for harvesting and transporting it to the nearby mills for crushing.

“In spite of assurances by Kumaraswamy and state Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar to resolve the issues by November 5, hundreds of farmers have resumed agitation near the state legislative building, as the state government has let them down again. There is also no sign of loan waiver for lakhs of farmers, who are unable to take fresh credit from the banks for the rabi crop as their debts have not been waived yet,” BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told reporters here.

Many Congress legislators are also miffed at the inordinate delay in expanding the state cabinet and appointing chairmen for about 30 state-run boards and corporations, as six ministerial berths are still vacant.

IANS