IMPHAL: The crucial one-day session of the Manipur Assembly on Tuesday is likely to hold a discussion on the state’s prevailing situation of ethnic strife, although most of the Kuki MLAs, regardless of party affiliations, are likely to skip the session over safety concerns.

Six of the ten MLAs from Kuki-dominated areas have already sought leave of absence from the speaker of the assembly.

Five legislators had applied for their leave to the speaker on Monday, while Social Welfare and Cooperation Minister Nemcha Kipgen, MLA of Kangpokpi, had sent her application on Saturday, an official said.

The MLAs who sought leave on Monday are Tribal and Hill Affairs Minister Letpao Haokip (Tengnoupal), Churachandpur MLA Khaute, Kimneo Hangshing of Saikul, Haokholet Kipgen of Saitu and Henglep legislator Letzamang Haokip.

The social welfare and cooperation minister, in her application, said that ever since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, it has not been possible for her and her family members to stay in Imphal on security grounds.

“Due to the ongoing violent crisis and keeping in mind the law and order situation in Imphal, I will not be able to attend the upcoming one-day session,” she said.

After obituary references, committee reports will be presented and other businesses of the House will be held, the official said.

The state government had last month recommended a session by August 21, but later revised it to August 28 on not getting a green light from the Raj Bhavan.

Last week, the chief minister’s office announced that the assembly will reconvene from August 29.

The previous assembly session was held in March and according to the norms, a session must be held every six months.

The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) had recently denounced the convening of the session saying the present situation is not conducive for Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend it.

In a joint statement on Sunday, both organisations said considering the complete breakdown of law and order and the failure of the state government to protect the lives of the common people and officials, convening the session “is devoid of logic and rationality.”

On Saturday, former Manipur chief minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh had said the session is an eyewash and not in the public interest.

More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3.

LUCKNOW:  A division bench of Allahabad High Court, headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker, on Monday adjourned the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the maintainability of the title suit seeking restoration of temple in place of Gyanvapi mosque till September 12. The hearing in the matter had been already concluded by the bench of Justice Prakash Padia on July 23, and had reserved the order to be delivered on Monday.

Earlier, the cases related to Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque title suit were transferred to a different bench, headed by CJ Diwaker on August 25, just a month after the single judge bench of Justice Padia concluded the hearing and had reserved the order to be delivered on August 28. In fact, Justice Padia had been hearing the matter since August 2021.

On the contrary, the opposite side’s (Hindu side) lawyer, Advocate Puneet Gupta said that it was the prerogative of the CJ to withdraw the case from a bench, where even after exhaustive arguments, the judgement was not delivered. He said it was the settled law that the CJ was the master of roaster and that he could decide which bench would hear what matters.

However, the CJ Diwaker said he will decide after the AIM submissions. The matter pending in the court includes a challenge to maintainability of a suit filed before a Varanasi Court, seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists.

The application was filed in a suit filed by the Ancient Idol Of Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar And 5 Others in the year 1991 claiming the restoration of  the land on which the Gyanvapi Mosque stands to Hindus. The Plaintiffs, in the suit, sought a declaration that the land on which the Mosque is built  on the ruins of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The suit has been challenged before the HC.

The Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into the issue of the suspension of Jammu and Kashmir education department lecturer who had argued before the top court in a matter related to the abrogation of Article 370.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the suspension of Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, who had argued before the top court on August 24 as petitioner in-person in the case.

As soon as the court resumed its hearing, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Rajeev Dhavan pointed out that Bhat was suspended from his job by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after having argued before the top court.

“He took leave for two days. Argued before this court and went back and was suspended,” Sibal said.

The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, asked Venkataramani to talk to the J-K Lieutenant Governor and look into the issue.

“This should not happen. Someone arguing before this court gets suspended ,” the bench said.

Venktaramani replied that he will look into the issue.

Mehta said after the news of Bhat’s suspension was published in a newspaper, he checked with the administration and he was informed that there were various reasons behind the lecturer’s suspension including that he has been regularly filing petitions before different courts.

“We can place before the court all the materials related to his suspension,” Mehta said.

Sibal countered, “Then, he would have been suspended earlier, why now. I have the suspension order of Bhat and it says that he has argued before this court and therefore the suspension. This is not fair. This is not how democracy should function.”

The bench said if there are other reasons then it is another matter but if a person gets suspended in close proximity of arguing before this court, then it needs to be looked into.

Mehta said he agrees that the timing was not appropriate and he will look into it.

On August 24, Bhat had appeared in-person before the top court and argued against the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370.

Bhat was removed from his place of posting in Srinagar and was attached to the office of the Director School Education, Jammu, while a senior official was appointed as an inquiry officer to conduct an in-depth inquiry into his conduct, according to an official order.

“Pending enquiry into his conduct, Mr Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, Senior Lecturer, Political Science, presently posted at Government Higher Secondary School Jawahar Nagar Srinagar, is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect for violation of provisions of J&K CSR, Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees (Conduct) Rules 1971, J&K Leave Rules,” School Education Department Principal Secretary Alok Kumar said in an order.

During the period of suspension, the delinquent officer shall remain attached in the office of Director School Education, Jammu.

“Further, it is hereby ordered that Ms Subah Mehta, Joint Director, School Education, Jammu is appointed as inquiry officer, who shall conduct an in-depth inquiry in the conduct of the delinquent officer,” the order issued on Friday read.

Hailing from central Kashmir’s Budgam district, Bhat, who holds a law degree, personally appeared before the Supreme Court which is currently hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state.

The central government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories of J-K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said Jan Dhan Yojana-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in the country, as more than 50 crore people have been brought into the formal banking system with cumulative deposits surpassing Rs 2 lakh crore.

On the ninth anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, Sitharaman in her message said 55.5 per cent bank accounts have been opened by women, and 67 per cent have been opened in rural/semi-urban areas.

Under the scheme, the number of bank accounts grew 3.4-fold from 14.72 crore in March 2015, to 50.09 crore as on August 16, 2023.

Total deposits too have swelled from Rs 15,670 crore as of March 2015, to over Rs 2.03 lakh crore as of August 2023.

The average deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased 3.8 times from Rs 1,065 as of March 2015, to Rs 4,063 in August 2023.

About 34 crore RuPay cards have been issued to these accounts without charge, which also provides for a Rs 2 lakh accident insurance cover.

The zero-balance accounts under the scheme have reduced to 8 per cent of total accounts as of August 2023, from 58 per cent in March 2015.

Sitharaman said, “the 9 years of PMJDY-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in India. With the collaborative efforts of stakeholders, banks, insurance companies, and government officials, the PMJDY stands out as a pivotal initiative, changing the landscape of financial inclusion in the country…”.

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said Jan Dhan Aadhaar Mobile (JAM) architecture has enabled successful transfer of government benefits in the accounts of the common man seamlessly.

“PMJDY accounts have become the fulcrum of people-centric initiatives like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and have contributed towards inclusive growth of all sections of the society, especially the underprivileged,” Karad said.

The PMJDY was launched on August 28, 2014, with an aim to provide universal banking services through the opening of zero-balance bank accounts for every unbanked household, based on the guiding principles of banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded.

Thiruvananthapuram: A 15-year-old boy in Kerala allegedly attempted to kill his father after a quarrel ensued between them and later, the boy tried to kill himself, police said on Monday.

The incident was reported from Pothencode in this district on Saturday.

The boy allegedly attacked his father after he scolded him for some reason.

“It seems like the boy attacked his father for scolding him and hit his head multiple times with a hammer

However, the father escaped from the room and ran out of the house, the police added.

The boy later attempted to hang himself inside the room, but the locals and the police rescued him.

Police said both of them are undergoing treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to press its claims over the un-demarcated borders with India, China is busy setting up ‘border settlement villages’ in many sensitive areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Multiple sources confirmed to this newspaper that these settlements (Xiaokang in Chinese) have focused on the Eastern Sector. While the number of such settlements is estimated at 628 villages in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the focus has been towards Tawang (30 villages) and Tulung La (25).

construction is also taking place opposite West Bhutan and North Bhutan. This activity gained pace after the 19th Party Congress in October 2017, which was “intended to create a buffer and a means of surveillance and territorial claim”, said sources.

However, officials warn against treating these settlements as villages, as China will use them while pressing its claim over the areas. “We should call these Chinese border settlements in the un-demarcated areas and not Chinese villages,” said an official, adding: “If we call them Chinese villages now, after 10 years they will say even Indian media term these settlements Chinese villages.”

China’s 2022 Land Border Law calls for resettling the population and upgrading critical infrastructure along the border. These villages fill the gap between civil and military infrastructure. “Connectivity has improved… they have oil pipeline, optical fibre, and heliport,” say sources, adding that Chinese people have been forced to live there.

During a field trip to Kibithu, East of Arunachal Pradesh, this reporter witnessed one such settlement called Tatu Camp. It had two separate sections constructed. Half of it is a village area and the other half is a military block having an administrative building, helipad, and a small firing range on the backside of the building.

“India has also begun constructing villages closer to the borders but we are a late starter,” said sources.

According to the 2022 Land Border Law of China, these villages have a legal basis. This law stipulates that the PLA and Chinese People’s Armed Police Force are responsible for maintaining security along the border.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Indian economy was on the path of rapid growth which had led to creating big opportunities for employment of the youth.

Addressing a Rozgar Mela where he distributed over 51,000 appointment letters to the youth, mostly in the security forces, the prime minister said automobile, pharma, tourism and food processing sectors were expected to grow at a rapid pace and open up employment opportunities for the youth.

He said the tourism sector alone was expected to contribute Rs 20 lakh crore to the economy by 2030 and had the potential to create 13-14 crore new jobs.

The prime minister said India was set to emerge among the top three economies in the world in this decade and bring benefits to the common man.

“Every sector has to develop. From food to pharmaceuticals, from space to startups. When every sector progresses the economy will grow,” he said.

Citing the example of the pharmaceutical industry, the prime minister said the sector worth Rs 4 lakh crore at present is expected to grow to Rs 10 lakh crore by 2030.

“What does it mean? It means that in this decade the pharma industry will need a lot of youth. There will be opportunities for employment,” Modi said.

He said the automobile sector too was on the growth path and would require youth power to propel it. “There will be immense employment opportunities,” the prime minister said.

Citing the example of Uttar Pradesh, he said good governance in the state has led to the establishment of the rule of law, which has in turn brought in a lot of investments.

“In an atmosphere of security, the establishment of the rule of the law speeds up development, instils confidence in the people and brings in investments,” he said.

However, the states with rising crime rates witness fewer investments and shrinking employment opportunities, Modi said.

RANCHI:  Jharkhand politics is on the boil: A day after the state government lodged four FIRs against state BJP chief Babulal Marandi in Ranchi over hate speeches, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday skipped the ED summons again, and moved Supreme Court.

Marandi faces four cases of hate speech in Simdega, Degohar and Latehar where he alleged used derogatory words against JMM chief Shibu Soren and his son. In Ranchi, the FIR has been lodged by Sonu Tirkey at Kanke police station under IPC Sections 504 (deliberate insult), 505 (offence at a religious place) and 505(2).

Marandi had made a scathing attack on the CM accusing him and his family members of changing their identity to get tribal land transferred in their names.

“The statements against Shibu Soren were meant to spread hatred against him. We call Shibu Soren Dishom Guru for playing a key role in the formation of Jharkhand,” said Tirkey in his FIR. Deoghar SP Ajit Peter Dungdung also asserted that an FIR has been registered against Marandi in Deoghar.

Meanwhile, Hemant Soren on Thursday skipped the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate again and moved the Supreme Court.

Sources said Soren has filed a writ petition in the SC against the summons issued to him by ED in a land scam case.

Soren sent a letter to ED, saying he has moved the SC challenging the summons. Soren was issued a second summons by the ED for questioning in the land scam case.

Earlier, Soren skipped the first summons on August 14, and sent a letter to the ED asking it to withdraw the summons. However, the ED in its second summons asked him to appear before it on August 24.

The ED is probing two cases of money laundering. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj. The second case is related to an alleged land scam in Ranchi.