Category: India

The principal was getting the beauty procedure done when she was supposed to be teaching.

On Thursday morning, students at a school in Uttar Pradesh were deprived of an academic lesson because their principal was busy getting a facial, but possibly learned a valuable life lesson instead – facts are, sometimes, indeed stranger than fiction.
Police officials said Sangeeta Singh, the headmistress of a primary school in Unnao district, was getting a facial done when she was supposed to be teaching students. The beauty procedure was being carried out in the area where food is cooked for students of the primary school in Dandamau village of Bighapur block and an assistant teacher, Anam Khan, caught wind of it.

Intent on catching the headmistress in the act, Ms Khan filmed a video of herself walking into the cooking area and coming across Ms Singh, who looked like she was in the final stages of her beauty regimen. In the video, a shocked Ms Singh can be seen getting up from the chair in a hurry while Ms Khan is heard saying “very good”.

What followed, according to the assistant teacher and police officials, was that an angry Ms Singh chased after Ms Khan, thrashed her, and even bit her hand, leaving it bleeding. The assistant teacher also posted a video of the bite marks, and both videos went viral.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/video-principal-gets-facial-done-in-school-bites-teacher-who-caught-her-5471030

After the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested party MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with a money laundering case associated with the Delhi Waqf Board, the legislator clarified that he had been summoned for ‘questioning’ by the probe agency instead.

“I came for questioning at 11 AM. Since then questioning was going on. Now I am free so going home,” Khan told news agency PTI after leaving the ED office at midnight.

On Thursday night, several AAP leaders, including party MP Sanjay Singh and ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited Khan’s residence in Okhla to show support and solidarity with his family members.

While speaking to reporters outside Khan’s house, Atishi said that they had received news about his arrest.

“We are getting the news that AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan ji has been arrested,” she said.

Asserting that the case against Khan was ‘fake’, Atishi remarked, “This is an attack on AAP before Lok Sabha polls. Why was Kejriwal arrested before the polls? Why has Amanatullah Khan been arrested after a non-bailable warrant was quashed? This is a conspiracy to break the AAP by scaring its MLAs. But we won’t be scared.”

Khan had appeared before the federal agency earlier in the day for questioning in the money laundering case. This came after the Supreme Court refuse to entertain his anticipatory bail plea on Monday.

A top court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked Khan to appear before the anti-corruption agency on April 18 at 11 am.

Before entering the ED office, Khan — speaking to reporters — claimed that he followed the rules when he was the Waqf Board’s chairman, adding that he did everything after taking legal opinions and as per the new Act (for the board) that came into play in 2013.

The money laundering case against Khan stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.

According to the central probe agency, Khan had acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/delhi-waqf-board-scam-ed-arrests-aap-leader-amanatullah-khan-money-laundering-case-questioning-8857639.html

Charging electronic devices at such infected ports may make users victims of juice-jacking, which may lead to installation of malicious apps on their devices, opening up the possibility of data theft or ransom demands to restore it.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued an advisory in the fast spreading USB charger scam wherein cyber-criminals can use ports at public places such as airports, cafés, hotels and bus stands for malicious activities.

Charging electronic devices at such infected ports may make users victims of juice-jacking, which may lead to installation of malicious apps on their devices, opening up the possibility of data theft or ransom demands to restore it.

The advisory states, “One should think twice before plugging into public charging stations or portable wall chargers and use an electrical wall outlet to charge the mobile device and try to carry your own personal cable or power bank.”

The advisory further states that one must lock the mobile device and disable pairing with a connected device and try to charge it in a switched-off state. The city police sources, meanwhile, stated that so far no case of juice jacking has come to the notice of the police department.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/beware-govt-issues-advisory-over-fast-spreading-usb-charger-scam-check-details

In a statement, the Raj Bhavan said that Singh has conveyed his condolences to the family of Raja Shah, a resident of Bihar.

Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday condemned the shooting of a migrant labourer by terrorists.

In a statement, the Raj Bhavan said that Singh has conveyed his condolences to the family of Raja Shah, a resident of Bihar.

“No words are strong enough to condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Bijbehara, Anantnag, targeting Raja Shah, a resident of Bihar. I convey my heartfelt condolences to the family of the innocent civilian martyred in this cowardly attack,” the Lt. Governor said.

“Entire nation stands in solidarity with the family in this hour of grief. We have full faith in the unparalleled valour of J&K Police and security forces, and I assure the people that terrorists responsible for this barbaric act will have to pay a very heavy price. We will hunt down the perpetrators and crush those elements, who are aiding and abetting the terrorists,” he added.

Terrorists opened fire on Raju Shah in the second targeted attack in the last 10 days. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment but he succumbed to his injuries.

According to the police, the area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched to nab those behind the attack, which comes days before the country goes to polls.

Political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir also condemned the incident.

A spokesperson for BJP’s J&K unit termed the attack “frustration of adversaries” and said these acts will in no way revive election boycott politics in Kashmir.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cowardly-lg-manoj-sinha-condemns-killing-of-migrant-labourer-in-kashmir-101713398841040.html

The High Court passed the order after noting that only government bodies were consulted before banning 23 breeds of “ferocious dogs”.

Gujarat-based businessman Bhavesh Bhandari who belongs to a well-off family in Sabarkantha was seen distributing money from truck after giving up on Rs 200 crore

In a striking display of their renunciation of worldly wealth, Gujarat businessman Bhavesh Bhandari and his wife embarked on a procession on Sunday, where they gave away their belongings from a moving truck. The couple, who have decided to take up a life of monkhood and donated their lifetime earnings of over ₹200 crore, held a grand event as they prepare to embrace an ascetic lifestyle.

The procession took place in the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, with Bhandari and his wife riding on top of a decorated truck that resembled a chariot. Dressed in traditional attire, they were surrounded by their family as they traveled along a narrow road lined with onlookers. The couple was seen distributing clothes and showering cash onto the crowd below, prompting people to rush forward to collect the money.

Bhavesh Bhandari had previously worked in the construction industry, managing projects in Sabarkantha and Ahmedabad. He and his wife have a son and a daughter, who embraced Diksha, a ceremony that marks a formal commitment to live a spiritually disciplined life, in 2022. The couple’s decision to lead a life of simplicity and renunciation extends to their entire family, who will forgo modern comforts such as air conditioners, fans, beds, electronics, and other gadgets.

This act of renunciation is part of a broader trend in Gujarat, where members of affluent families are choosing to adopt a monastic lifestyle. In 2018, a 12-year-old son of a diamond merchant in Surat joined the order of Jain monks, while in the previous year, a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a wealthy diamond merchant, became a nun after a traditional Jain ritual in Surat.

Source: https://www.spotboye.com/trending/trending-news/omg-gujarat-couple-who-gave-up-rs-200-crore-to-become-monks-distribute-cash-to-crowd-from-truck-watch-viral-video/661fc0cc609773853cf13617

Ramakrishnan explains why we may not want to lengthen our lives much longer.

Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan sat down with ABC News Live to discuss the science and ethics of extending the human lifespan.

In his new book, “Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality,” Ramakrishnan explains why we may not want to lengthen our lives much longer.

Ramakrishnan’s thought-provoking argument is that a society where people lived for hundreds of years could potentially become stagnant, as it would consist of the same group of people living longer, raising important questions about societal dynamics and progress.

He discussed the cycle of life and why we die.

ABC NEWS : If you think it might be wonderful to live forever, you may want to hear what a Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist has to say that could change your mind. Venki Ramakrishnan has examined the latest science, weighed the possibilities and researched the ethical cause of lengthening our lifespans in his new book, ‘Why We Die The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality.’ Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

RAMAKRISHNAN: Thank you.

ABC NEWS : So humans now live twice as long as we did 150 years ago. But you raise some, some caveats to why we may not want to lengthen our lives that much longer. Why is that?

RAMAKRISHNAN: Well, I think a society where everybody lived indefinitely or very long time, say, hundreds of years would be a very different society. It would be quite stagnant. It’d be the same group of people just living longer and longer.

You wouldn’t have that turnover between generations. You know, maybe new ideas, things like that. But I think that’s still in the realm of science fiction. I think biology is looking at the causes of aging, and that’s allowing us to tackle some of these causes. But most of the focus is how to live healthily for longer, because all developed societies are living longer lives.

So we’re having more and more older people well past retirement. And we want to see how can we keep older people healthy and productive, you know, and energetic and and actually lively. So I think a lot of biology is trying to understand those causes so we don’t suffer some of the debilitating consequences of aging.

As the first phase of voting kicks off on April 19, Modi’s dreams of a record win hinge on a part of the country that has traditionally been immune to the BJP’s charms.

“Abki baar 400 paar,” Modi declared, claiming that the National Democratic Alliance, the ruling group of parties, would cross the 400-seat mark in a house of 543 parliamentary seats, with the BJP alone winning 370. Only once in India’s 77 years as an independent nation has any party or alliance won more than 400 seats: the now-in-opposition Congress Party in 1984, in the aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Yet, with India poised to hold the first phase of its 44-day, seven-stage election on April 19, analysts say the success of Modi’s calculations could hinge on one significant part of the country, which has so far remained largely impervious to the BJP’s Hindu majoritarian charms: the country’s south.

Home to about 20 percent of the nation’s population, the five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana, and the union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep, constitute India’s most economically prosperous region. The south contributes more than 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

But despite Modi’s pitch that his government has helped boost the Indian economy, the BJP won just 30 of the 131 seats from the region – the vast majority of them from one state, Karnataka – in 2019. It drew a blank in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, and lost the constituencies of Puducherry and Lakshadweep. Some analysts believe a repeat is inevitable.

Nationally, the BJP won 303 out of 543 seats, almost maxing out in most northern states – its traditional strongholds – and leaving the south as the territory it likely needs to gain in for the party to win a larger mandate than in 2019.

“BJP is very unpopular in Andhra Pradesh and other southern states. In fact, anyone that allies with the BJP will do badly in these elections,” said Mohan Guruswamy, a political analyst and the chairman of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA), a New Delhi-based think tank.

Parakala Prabhakar, an economist and the husband of India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said the coming election would reflect a “north-south divide”. Prabhakar has been a critic of the government his wife is a key member of.

The BJP’s struggles in India’s south are not new. With substantially better development indices, including on education and health, than the north, the region has been relatively immune to the religion-driven politics that have traditionally characterised the BJP.

The southern state of Kerala, for instance, has an infant mortality rate of six deaths out of every 1,000 births– almost on par with the United States. The figure for the BJP-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh on the other hand stands at 48, a rate similar to that of war-torn Afghanistan.

Those relative development gains make the BJP’s Hindu majoritarian Hindutva ideology less of a draw in the south, said Prabhakar.

Kishore Chandra Deo, a former federal minister who resigned in February from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a regional force in the state of Andhra Pradesh, after it decided to ally with the BJP in the 2024 election, agreed. “In North India, it is possible to bring about religious consolidation whereas in the south, it is not possible,” Deo said.

“Here, the Ram temple is not an issue,” he added, referring to the temple to the Hindu god Ram consecrated by Modi in January, in the city of Ayodhya. The temple was built on the ruins of the 16th-century Babri Masjid mosque, which was demolished by hardline Hindu activists in December 1992.

Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, the Tamil Nadu minister for information technology and digital services, who until recently was the state’s finance minister, echoed Deo’s view.

“The south has a tradition of harmonious co-existence between all religions going back several hundred years. Attempts at communal polarisation will definitely backfire in the south,” Rajan told Al Jazeera.

That hypothesis is now about to be tested – starting on Friday.

Modi’s Tamil Nadu push

Despite its traditional struggles there, the BJP and Modi have been trying hard to break through in the state of Tamil Nadu, which, with 39 seats, sends the largest contingent of parliamentarians from the south to the national legislature.

All of Tamil Nadu votes on April 19, and Modi has made at least six trips to the state in the lead-up to the election – using an artificial intelligence-driven app that translates his Hindi speech into Tamil in real-time for audiences; and apparently breaking down in tears at the support the BJP claims he has received during rallies.

Ahead of the election, the BJP and Modi have also tried to accuse the DMK of being anti-Hindu. Last September, DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin made controversial remarks comparing “Sanatana Dharma” (the eternal religion) to malaria and dengue. Sanatana Dharma is used by many Hindus as an alternative term to Hinduism, though others – including the DMK – have long associated it with the caste system embedded in traditional Hinduism.

Amid this push, some New Delhi-based pollsters have suggested that the BJP could increase its vote in Tamil Nadu to 20 percent from under 4 percent in 2019 – and win a few seats too.

That is easier said than done, say analysts.

The highly anticipated ‘Surya Abhishek’ of Ram Lalla is set to take place around 12:15 pm on Wednesday. This celestial event will last four minutes, during which the Sun’s rays will create a 75 mm tilak on Ram Lalla’s forehead.

The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has collaborated with scientists from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, to calculate the timings based on the Sun’s movement. “The ‘Surya Abhishek’ of Ram Lalla will be performed using an optomechanical system with high-quality mirrors and lenses,” the Trust stated.

Elaborating on the process, the Trust explained, “Sun rays will initially fall on a mirror installed on the temple’s top floor, then with the help of three lenses, they will be directed to another mirror on the temple’s second floor before reaching the sanctum-sanctorum of the temple and fall on Ram Lalla’s forehead.”

Leading the project are experts from CBRI, Roorkee, including Prof Pradeep Kumar Ramancharla and Prof Devdutt Ghosh, who are currently stationed in Ayodhya to ensure the success of the ‘Surya Abhishek’.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/what-is-surya-tilak-of-ram-lalla-the-science-behind-ayodhyas-celestial-magic-article-109360525

Aditya Srivastava, who emerged as the topper in the country in the Union Public Service Commission, reveals how he transitioned from high-paying Goldman Sachs job in Bengaluru to the elite civil services.

Aditya Srivastava, who hails from the city of Nawabs- Lucknow, emerged as the all-India topper in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services mains examination 2023. From the corporate corridors of Goldman Sachs, to the forefront of India’s civil service, Aditya Srivastava’s journey has been a remarkable one.

The UPSC top rank holder is a graduate of IIT Kanpur, and holds a degree in electrical engineering.

In 2019, Srivastava began his professional journey by pursuing a career with Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s leading investment banks. The post was based in Bengaluru. Driven by a desire to serve the nation through the civil services, Srivastava devoted himself entirely to preparing for the UPSC exams by quitting the high-paying investment banking job and returning to his hometown after 15 months with Goldman Sachs.

Srivastava did not rely on traditional preparatory methods but banked heavily on previous years’ questions. He also took up mock tests and interviews. Srivastava stressed the overwhelming importance of strategic preparation, which essentially means making a distinction between smart work from hard work, Moneycontrol reported.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/how-2023-upsc-topper-aditya-srivastava-transitioned-from-high-paying-goldman-sachs-job-in-bengaluru-to-all-india-rank-1-11713319371911.html

The Collegium had last month deferred its consideration of Vijayalakshmi’s appointment in view of certain inputs from the Ministry of Law & Justice.

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended that Advocate Sreeja Vijayalakshmi be appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court.

The Collegium had last month deferred its consideration of the High Court Collegium recommendation for Vijayalakshmi’s appointment in view of certain inputs from the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice.

Following a clarification from the High Court Collegium, the Supreme Court Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai said,

“We have scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record, including the report dated 21 March 2024 of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala. The Collegium, therefore, is of the considered view that Smt Sreeja Vijayalakshmi is fit and suitable for appointment as Judge of the High Court of Kerala.”

The High Court Collegium had recommended Vijayalakshmi’s name for judgeship in December 2023.

Last month, the Supreme Court Collegium had sought a report from the High Court Collegium “in light of the inputs placed by the Department of Justice in the file”.

On March 21, the High Court Chief Justice forwarded his report after consulting with other members of the Collegium and gave a green signal for Vijayalakshmi’s appointment as a judge.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/supreme-court-collegium-recommends-advocate-sreeja-vijayalakshmi-for-appointment-as-kerala-high-court-judge

The most complaints were received from Congress at 59 followed by BJP, which filed 51 complaints.

In the first month since the announcement of Lok Sabha elections on March 16, the Election Commission of India received 200 complaints pertaining to violation of Model Code of Conduct, and disposed of 169. The most complaints were received from Congress at 59 followed by BJP, which filed 51 complaints.
The Commission said on Tuesday that i ttook “swift and salutary action to ensure that the level-playing field is not disturbed and the discourse in campaigns does not plummet to unacceptable levels.” It added that in the past month, 16 delegations from seven political parties met it to lodge their complaints. Some delegations also met the Chief Electoral Officers in the states.

‘Broadly satisfied with the compliance of the code’

Noting that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu have been monitoring countrywide pending cases of alleged violations of MCC daily, the Commission said it is “broadly satisfied with the compliance of the code by political parties and that campaign by various parties and candidates has remained largely clutter free.”

Matthew Miller was asked why the US has not considered sanctions against India over the matter of the murder plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the reported killings in Pakistan.

The US was asked about its relations with India and why it has not considered sanctions against the latter over reports of killings in Canada and Pakistan. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US would not like to get in the middle of India’s issues with Pakistan, and also that they don’t discuss sanctions openly.

Miller was asked why the US has not considered sanctions against India over the matter of the murder plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the reported killings in Pakistan. “I am never going to preview any sanctions actions, which is not to say that there are any coming. But when you ask me to talk about sanctions, it’s something that we don’t discuss openly,” said Miller at a news conference on Tuesday.

When the spokesperson was asked about the statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on crossing borders to kill terrorists in Pakistan, Miller encouraged India and Pakistan to resolve the matter through dialogues. When asked if Modi and Singh’s comments can be seen as “confessions” on the alleged “assassination of Nijjar in Canada, Pannun’s murder-for-hire plot in New York, and killings in Pakistan”, Miller said, “So as I have said before, the United States is not going to get in the – into the middle of this, but we do encourage both India and Pakistan to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue.”

Singh, earlier this month, responding to a report by British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ that claimed that Indian intelligence agencies carried out 20 targeted killings of terrorists in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 that killed 40 Indian soldiers, said if terrorists try to disturb the peace in India or carry out terror activities, a befitting response will be given.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/us-was-asked-why-it-has-not-considered-sanctions-against-india-heres-what-it-said-425818-2024-04-17

The ASI, Sanjay Kumar Rawat, showed presence of mind and great agility and prevented the 63-year-old Sajjan Kumar from falling into the gap between the platform and the train.

An alert ASI (assistant sub-inspector) with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) saved the life of an elderly man by showing exemplary courage in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. On Sunday (April 14), the brave policeman’s courageous act saved a senior citizen’s life. The ASI, Sanjay Kumar Rawat, showed presence of mind and great agility and prevented the 63-year-old Sajjan Kumar from coming under the train.

The incident happened on Sunday (April 14) when Sajjan Kumar got down at the Prayagraj junction to buy food. The Guwahati-Bikaner train (no. 15634) reached Prayagraj station at 11.18 am. The train was on time and left the station around 11.35 am after getting a green signal.

However, the 63-year-old Sajjan Kumar, upon learning that the train had started moving, tried to get inside the train even as the train was in motion. This is when he lost balance as he tried to get inside the train by catching the handle of the AC coach handle. However, the 63-year-old fails to get onto the train and instead loses balance and risks falling into the gap between the platform and the train.

The alert policeman Sanjay Kumar Rawat, who was standing close by and was walking towards Sajjan Kumar to stop him from trying to get inside the moving train, springs to action. The alert cop pulls back Sajjan Kumar with all his force and ensures that he safely falls on the platform instead of the gap between the train and the platform.

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to issue directions for maintaining “earthly timings” for recording statements.

The Bombay High Court said that the right to sleep is a “basic human requirement” and not providing it violates a person’s human rights.

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to issue directions for maintaining “earthly timings” for recording statements, when summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are issued by the agency.

“The right to sleep / right to blink is a basic human requirement, in as much as, non-providing of the same, violates a person’s human rights,” the bench said in its order.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by 64-year-old Gandhidham resident Ram Kotumal Issrani seeking that his arrest be declared illegal.

Advocates Vijay Aggarwal, Ayush Jindal and Yash Wardhan Tiwari submitted that on August 7, 2023, Issrani joined the investigation at 10.30 am in Delhi and his personal liberty was curtailed, his mobile phone was seized, and he was surrounded by ED officials who even followed him to the washroom.

Issrani was interrogated throughout the night, which violated his ‘right to sleep’, which forms part of his right to life, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, Aggarwal said.

Issrani’s statement was recorded by ED from 10.30 pm till 3 am, thereby depriving him of his right to sleep. Aggarwal submitted that Issrani had medical issues and as such, there was no tearing hurry for the ED to record his statement post midnight, and he could well have been summoned on the next date or even a few days thereafter. Issrani was formally shown as arrested at 5.30 am on August 8, 2023.

Advocates Hiten Venegaonkar and Ayush Kedia appearing for the agency submitted that Issrani had no objection to the recording of his statement belatedly and hence, the same was recorded.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/bombay-high-court-ed-right-to-sleep-basic-human-requirement-2527650-2024-04-16

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta would consider all pleas related to Electronic Voting Machines in the matter for hearing on April 16.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 16, will hear a batch of petitions seeking cross-verification of the votes cast with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly.

The VVPAT generates a paper slip which can be viewed by the voter. It is kept in a sealed cover and can be opened in case of a dispute.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections 2024 will begin on April 19.

Supreme Court to hear EVM-VVPAT plea: Top points

• A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which could not take up the pleas related to Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs, said it would consider all petitions in the matter for hearing on Tuesday.
• On April 3, the Supreme Court had said it would hear the plea filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) along with other matters, after advocate Prashant Bhushan sought an urgent hearing.
• On April 1, the apex court had sought responses from the Election Commission of India and the central government on a plea by activist Arun Kumar Agrawal seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips in polls as opposed to the current practice of tallying slips from only five randomly selected EVMs from each assembly segment comprising a parliamentary constituency.
• The Supreme Court said both the petitions will now be taken up for hearing on Tuesday.

What ADR’s plea says

The ADR has sought the Supreme Court direction to the Election Comission and the Centre to ensure the voters are able to verify through VVPATs that their vote has been “counted as recorded”.

The petition has sought to match the count in EVMs with votes that have been verifiably “recorded as cast” and to ensure that the voter can verify through the VVPAT slip that his vote, as recorded on the paper slip, has been “counted as recorded”.

The petition has also said the requirement of the voters verifying that their votes have been “recorded as cast” is somewhat met when the VVPAT slip is displayed for about seven seconds after pressing the button on the EVM through a transparent window.

A boat carrying several passengers, including 10 to 12 school students, overturned in Srinagar’s River Jhelum on Tuesday.

At least four people died after a boat carrying several passengers, including 10 to 12 school students, overturned in Srinagar’s River Jhelum on Tuesday.

Locals from the city’s Batwara Gandabal area told India Today TV that the boat capsized early in the morning.

Muzaffar Zargar, the Medical Superintendent of the SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, said that seven people were brought to the hospital, of which four were dead, and three others were undergoing treatment.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/boat-with-students-overturns-in-srinagars-river-jhelum-several-feared-drowned-2527695-2024-04-16

The drug trade has played a significant role in the political landscape as well as in heightening the conflict in Manipur.

Ratan Kumar Singh, a 58-year-old high school teacher, never imagined he would be happy to see armed fighters, or “revolutionaries” as he called them. But on May 28 last year, Singh welcomed them to his town of Sugnu in Manipur, a state in India’s northeast corner bordering Myanmar.

For nearly three weeks, the small town had managed to dodge the ethnic violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo tribespeople that had engulfed the rest of the state since May 3. But that day, four people were killed in the area and 12 injured as bullets found their way from surrounding hilly regions and from a camp dominated by the Kuki-Zo community.

“Then they started burning our houses. Our reinforcements, including the police and our civilian volunteers, started firing back. It was only when the revolutionaries came that we succeeded in overcoming the other side,” Singh told Al Jazeera.

“We were never for gun violence… but when we saw the revolutionaries and other Meitei volunteers come on that day, we cried [out of happiness] because we knew we would be safe.”

The fighters who came to defend Sugnu were, like him, ethnically Meitei.

Eleven months on, the conflict has killed 219 people, injured 1,100, displaced 60,000 and divided the state into ethnic territories. Armed groups have been fighting battles using sophisticated weapons and explosives in rural parts for territorial control even as more than 60,000 armed forces of the federal government and the state have so far failed to bring a durable end to the violence.

“From ‘blockade state’, Manipur is paving the way for international trade. Our government has launched… campaigns to bridge the gaps between the Hill and the Valley,” he said during the rally.

Modi was referring to the historical discrimination felt by tribal communities, including the Kukis, who live on the hillsides and feel that the Meitei community is economically more prosperous than them and are in the majority in the smaller valleys and the capital, Imphal. Modi said Chief Minister Singh’s policies had fostered a more integrated relationship between the hill and valley communities.

It appeared true at the time. In several parts of the hills, the civil society and the rebel groups of the Kuki-Zo community canvassed for Chief Minister Singh, and top politicians of the tribal community lined up for tickets from his party.

Chief Minister Singh swept the elections. In his second tenure beginning 2022, the BJP won five of the 10 state assembly seats from the Kuki-dominated hill constituencies. BJP legislators (MLAs) from these constituencies increased to seven after two of the Kuki MLAs who had won on Janata Dal United tickets defected to the governing party in September 2022. Two out of seven MLAs became ministers in his cabinet.

However, two years later, Modi and Singh’s claims bit dust, with Manipur witnessing unending ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei people, arguably, the longest-running ethnic conflict the country has witnessed in the 21st century.

Now, as the state prepares to vote in national elections on April 19 and April 26, those divisions have become entrenched, with a resurgence in armed groups formed along ethnic lines, as the first part of this series showed. It also revealed a presentation by the Assam Rifles that listed several factors that played a role in igniting the conflict: illegal immigrants from Myanmar, the demand for Kukiland, political authoritarianism and ambition of Chief Minister Singh and his war on drugs among others.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/4/16/behind-indias-manipur-conflict-a-tale-of-drugs-armed-groups-and-politics

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the Patanjali founders during the previous hearing last week. It had also pulled up the Uttarakhand government for not acting against the Haridwar-based company.

Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna are in the Supreme Court today as it hears the contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved in connection with its misleading ads and Covid cure claims. The court had come down heavily on the Patanjali founders during the previous hearing last week. It had also pulled up the Uttarakhand government for not acting against the Haridwar-based company.
This morning, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah called the Patanjali founders forward and told them they have made significant contribution to yoga.

The court has rejected two sets of apologies by Ramdev and Balkrishna, noting that the letters were sent to the media first. “Till the matter hit the court, the contemnors did not find it fit to send us the affidavits. They believe in publicity clearly,” Justice Hima Kohli said last week.

Justice A Amanullah, also on the bench, asked if the apology is “even heartfelt”. “Tendering apology is not enough. You should suffer the consequences for violating the court’s order,” he said.

The matter dates back to the Covid years, when Patanjali launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 and Ramdev described it as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”. The Indian Medical Association spoke out against the “blatant lie” that Coronil had WHO certification.

Subsequently, a video of Ramdev, in which he was heard saying that allopathy was a “stupid and bankrupt science”, went viral. He said no modern medicine was curing Covid. The IMA sent a legal notice to Ramdev and sought an apology and withdrawal of statements. Patanjali Yogpeeth responded that Ramdev was reading out from a forwarded WhatsApp message and has no ill-will against modern science.

In August 2022, IMA moved a petition against Patanjali after it published an advertisement in newspapers titled ‘Misconceptions Spread By Allopathy: Save Yourself And The Country From The Misconceptions Spread By Pharma And Medical Industry’. The ad claimed that Patanjali drugs had cured people of diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid, liver cirrhosis, arthritis and asthma.

The doctors’ body said the “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” comes alongside Patanjali’s efforts to make false claims about curing certain diseases through use of Patanjali products.

On November 21, 2023, the Supreme Court warned Patanjali against claims that its products can completely cure ailments such as diabetes and high blood pressure and threatened to slap heavy fines.

Patanjali’s counsel, court documents say, then assured that “henceforth, there shall not be any violation of any of the laws, especially relating to advertisement and branding of products”.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ramdev-patanjali-their-apologies-rejected-ramdev-and-aides-big-supreme-court-date-today-5452102#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Sanjay Patil, former BJP MLA in Karnataka, sparked a row after he suggested that state minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar should have “an extra peg”.

Speaking at a party workers’ meeting, Sanjay Patil said women’s support for the BJP is rising in Karnataka, which would make Hebbalkar of the Congress worry a lot. Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Belagavi seat.

“Hebbalkar will not get good sleep looking at the rising support of women for the BJP in Belagavi. It will also be difficult for her to see Ramesh Jarkiholi campaigning there. She has to have a sleeping pill or an extra peg to get a good night’s sleep,” Patil said at the meeting.

Hebbalkar shared a video statement condemning the former BJP MLA’s comments. She questioned whether Patil’s comment is an example of the kind of respect the BJP has for women.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/former-bjp-mla-sanjay-patil-tells-minister-lakshmi-hebbalkar-to-have-extra-peg-article-109297886

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had moved Supreme Court challenging a Delhi high court judgment that dismissed his plea on April 9 in excise policy case.

The Supreme Court on Monday is set to hear a plea of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and his subsequent remand in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will be hearing the matter.

Arvind Kejriwal had moved the top court challenging a Delhi high court judgment that dismissed his plea on April 9 and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

According to the Delhi high court, the probe agency had sufficient materials to justify the arrest, adding that it was an “inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation” with the ED. Notably, the probe agency had summoned Arvind Kejriwal nine times in the case, but he did not depose before it.

The 103-page judgment by the single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma also observed that the central agency could not be blamed for choosing the timing of the chief minister’s arrest.

The AAP leader was arrested on March 21 in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy and was sent to judicial custody till April 15 in the last hearing. He is the first sitting CM to be arrested in the case. The CM is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

Apart from Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been in jail since February last year in the excise policy case. Sanjay Singh was also arrested in the case, however, he recently got out of jail on bail.

What is the Delhi excise policy case?

The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22. The Delhi government had come up with the policy to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business by replacing the sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. However, it was scrapped shortly after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena sought a CBI probe into the policy alleging irregularities.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday spoke to his Iranian counterpart H Amirabdollahian and raised the issue of the release of 17 Indian crew members MSC Aries

A day after the MSC Aries-cargo ship with 17 Indian citizens on board was seized by Iran because of its link to Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took up the matter with his Iranian counterpart H Amirabdollahian on Sunday.

EAM S Jaishankar said that the two leaders talked about the release of the Indians and discussed the current situation in the region.

“Took up the release of 17 Indian crew members of MSC Aries. Discussed the current situation in the region. Stressed the importance of avoiding escalation, exercising restraint and returning to diplomacy. Agreed to remain in touch,” he said in his post on X. Tensions further escalated after the Islamic Republic launched hundreds of missiles and drones on the Jewish state early morning.

MSC areas seized by Iran
The ship was seized by Iran officials amid growing concerns about a wider Middle East war. After the seizure of MSC Aries, India began its efforts to contact Iranian officials for the immediate release of the Indians.

“We are aware that a cargo ship ‘MSC Aries’ has been taken control of by Iran. We have learnt that there are 17 Indian nationals onboard. We are in touch with the Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the security, welfare and early release of Indian nationals,” reported ANI citing sources.

The ship, identified as the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries- was “directed towards the territorial waters” of Tehran, reported ANI referring to Iranian state media.

India calls for immediate de-escalation in Iran-Israel conflict

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/salman-khan-house-firing-news-lawrence-bishnoi-gangster-anmol-dawood-ibrahim-and-chota-shakeel-mumbai-mafia-gurugram-11713156232543.html

An Indian-origin couple hid in a backroom and barricaded themselves with cardboard boxes along with dozens of others when a man went on a stabbing spree, killing six people before being shot dead by police at a busy shopping centre in Sydney on Saturday.

An Indian-origin couple hid in a backroom and barricaded themselves with cardboard boxes along with dozens of others when a man went on a stabbing spree, killing six people before being shot dead by police at a busy shopping centre in Sydney on Saturday, according to a media report.

Shoi Ghoshal from Sydney told the BBC that she and her husband Debashis Chakrabarty were at the Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction earlier today when the attack started to unfold.

The 36-year-old described how they were inside a store when it became clear something was wrong.

Ghosal said they heard some people rushing inside the store and thought a fire had broken out but “people were saying someone was stabbing rampantly”.

“We went into a backroom, a storeroom, and used boxes to barricade ourselves in,” she said, estimating that there were between 20 and 25 people huddling inside.

Ghosal said an elderly woman was crying for her husband who was still on the outside. She explained how when the group made calls to the police, they relayed to them what was happening and told them to “stay there, stay calm”.

The group was later evacuated through the emergency exit of the mall, where they were met with the sight of a swarm of police cars.

“It was just beyond horrible. It plays on your mind that you could have been one of the victims. We are grateful we are safe and our thoughts are with those who have suffered. It is terrible for their families,” she told the BBC.

Four women and one man died at the scene, while a fifth woman died from her injuries at a hospital, police said.

Eight people are being treated for their injuries at hospitals around Sydney, including a nine-month-old baby who was last reported to be in surgery, reported the BBC.

Authorities say the suspect is a 40-year-old man, but are waiting for formal identification and say it’s “too early to speculate” about his motivations.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/indian-origin-couple-caught-in-sydney-mall-attack-used-boxes-to-barricade-2526876-2024-04-13

The Court was informed that the 17-year-old pregnant girl did not wish to initiate criminal proceedings against her minor partner as their relations were consensual.

A hospital cannot deny medical treatment to a pregnant minor girl merely because no police complaint was filed in the matter, the Bombay High Court recently held.

The Court made the observation while dealing with a case where a 17-year-old pregnant minor indicated that she did not wish to initiate any criminal proceedings against her partner (also a minor) since their relations were consensual.

In such circumstances, a Division Bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla opined that a hospital cannot insist on the prior registration of a criminal case as a condition to treat the pregnant girl.

“In these circumstances, in our opinion, there cannot be an insistence from any medical centres or hospitals, that nonetheless, the petitioner (minor girl’s father) should register a police complaint as a condition to receive medical treatment. Merely for the reason that there is no police complaint, the petitioner’s daughter cannot be denied medical aid,” the Court observed in its April 10 order.

Pertinently, sexual relations with a minor could be penalised in India as statutory rape if one of the partners is an adult while the other is a minor. An adult who has sexual relations with a minor would also be subject to punishment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).

In this case, however, the Court was told that both partners were minors. Additionally, since the minor girl said that the relations were consensual and refused to disclose the details of her partner, no criminal case was filed.

Despite such circumstances, every hospital or medical clinic that the girl approached for medical treatment insisted that she first show a copy of a police complaint.

Therefore, she filed a petition through her father before the High Court seeking relief. Their counsel argued that medical aid could not be denied to the pregnant girl, in view of her rights under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.

In response, government pleader Poornima Kantharia assured that the girl can receive medical treatment at the State-run JJ Hospital without her identity being disclosed.

However, the State counsel also suggested that the minor girl submit a formal statement that she does not want to file a police complaint. This statement could be made in the form of an Emergency Police Report (EPR), the government pleader added.

The Court found no harm in this suggestion and directed the counsel for the petitioner to hand over this statement to Kantharia, who would keep it in a sealed cover.

“As and when need so arises, it can be utilized for the appropriate purpose with the prior permission of the court”, the Court said.

The dean of JJ Hospital was also directed to take all precaution and care to maintain confidentiality and provide medical treatment during the girl’s pregnancy and post delivery as well.

Before parting with the matter, the Court also emphasised that the grant of medical aid to any person is a part of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life. This right includes the protection of one’s health by making available appropriate medical aid, the Court said.

Source : https://www.barandbench.com/news/hospital-police-complaint-pregnant-minor-bombay-high-court

In the present case, the Court said the wife was free to live her life as per own wishes whether orthodox or modern.

Wife leading a modern lifestyle is not wrong and cannot be ground to deny maintenance to her, the Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held.

Justice GS Ahluwalia opined that the Court cannot hold a wife to be wrong merely because wife’s modern life was “immoral” in the eyes of her husband.

“Leading a modern life without committing an offence cannot be criticized at all. Unless and until it is held that wife is residing separately without any reasonable reason, she cannot be denied maintenance,” the Court observed.

It, therefore, rejected a petition filed by a man who wanted the Court to quash the order directing him to pay ₹5,000 monthly maintenance to his wife.

The Court added that except for submitting that his wife was in the “habit of living a modern life” which was not acceptable to him, nothing else had been pointed out to show that she was residing separately without any reasonable reason.

“If there are differences between the applicant (husband) and his wife on this issue, then this Court can only say that so long as respondent No.1 is not indulged in criminal activity, she is free to live her life as per own wishes whether orthodox or modern,” the Court said.

In the present case, the husband (36) had challenged the order passed by a Court in Satna district for grant of maintenance to his wife (26). The Satna court also had ordered the man to also pay maintenance of ₹3,000 to his toddler son.

Challenging the order, the counsel representing the husband submitted that while he belonged to a very orthodox family, his wife was a “very modern girl”. Her Facebook posts were cited as evidence to back the submission.

The Court was told that while the man had no objection to pay the maintenance for his son, the amount awarded to the wife may be quashed in view of her lifestyle.

However, the Court questioned the argument and asked whether it can bypass the law on the basis of morality. It also asked whether the wife’s modern life can be said to be an immoral act on her part.

In response, the counsel representing the husband submitted that law cannot exist in isolation of morality. He submitted that morality must be given a preference.

Disagreeing with the submissions, the Court said even otherwise, the trial court had awarded only an amount of ₹5,000 which cannot be considered to be on the higher side.

“In the light of price index, cost of living as well as cost of goods required for daily needs, this Court is of considered opinion that by no stretch of imagination, it can be said that the maintenance amount of Rs.5,000/- per month is on higher side,” Justice Ahluwalia reasoned.

Source : https://www.barandbench.com/news/husband-cant-deny-maintenance-wife-living-modern-life-madhya-pradesh-high-court

PP Reddy started Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd, now valued at ₹ 67,500 crore, with a capital of just ₹ 5 lakh.

Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd, which has emerged as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds and is the subject of a bribery case filed by the CBI, is owned by a billionaire who is the fifth child of a farmer from Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district.

Refusing to let his humble beginnings prevent him from sowing the seeds of what would become a behemoth valued at ₹ 67,500 crore, Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy himself commands a personal net worth of $2.3 billion (approximately ₹ 19,230 crore), according to Forbes. He also now lives in a house in Hyderabad which is shaped like a diamond.

PP Reddy started the company with a capital of just ₹ 5 lakh from a shed at Balanagar in Hyderabad under the name of Megha Engineering Enterprises and built pipes for municipalities. His nephew, PV Krishna Reddy, joined the company two years later and the two men slowly branched out into building roads and taking up small infrastructure projects, eventually changing the company’s name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) in 2006.

With the elder Reddy as the chairman of the company and the nephew as the managing director, MEIL started making a name for itself in a crowded industry filled with competitors with deep pockets, and went on to become one of India’s top-performing unlisted companies.

The company slowly began taking up major projects like highways and power plants and then expanded to over 20 states and multiple countries, including Bangladesh and Kuwait.

One of the company’s most talked-about projects is the construction of the Zojila tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between Ganderbal in Kashmir and Drass in Kargil. The cost of the project is around ₹ 25,000 crore.

Other key contracts include the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project in Telangana and the construction of the Bandra-Kurla Complex Station for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, which is being carried out in collaboration with another company.

PP Reddy now lives in a house built to look like a diamond in Hyderabad, which is now one of the city’s landmarks. He also has a golf course in his farmhouse.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/meet-megha-engineering-founder-farmers-son-who-lives-in-a-diamond-house-5435265

Following the killings coming to light, the Committee of Tribal Unity, a Kuki-Zomi group based in Kangpokpi district, called for a 24-hour shutdown in the district on Sunday.

IN A violent flare-up after a period of relative peace lasting over 40 days, two persons were killed on Saturday morning in an area at the border of Meitei-majority Imphal East district and Kuki-Zomi-majority Kangpokpi district.

Kuki-Zomi organisations identified the victims as Kamminlal Lupheng (23) and Kamlengsat Lunkim (22), both residents of Kangpokpi.

A senior police officer confirmed that there was firing in the area, and said two persons are suspected to have died but the bodies haven’t been found yet.

Purported videos of the killings — police said the videos are prima facie from Saturday — showed the bodies being stamped on, disfigured and dragged.

According to sources, there was heavy cross-firing between two armed groups at about 8 am. The incident took place in an area under the jurisdiction of Maphoudam police station in Imphal East district, where the districts of Imphal East, Kangpokpi, and Naga-majority Ukhrul meet.

The Committee of Tribal Unity, a Kuki-Zomi group based in Kangpokpi district, called for a 24-hour shutdown in the district on Sunday.

Saturday’s killings come less than a week before polling takes place for the Inner and Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seats in most of the conflict-hit parts of the state. The campaigning has been muted so far but was looking to pick up, especially with Union Home Minister Amit Shah expected to arrive on April 15.

On Friday, at least two people from the Meitei community were injured in a gunfight which broke out in the adjoining areas of Tengnoupal and Kakching districts. The renewed flare-ups over the past two days come after the longest period of relative peace the state has witnessed in the 11 months after violence broke out on May 3 last year.

The last major flare-up was on February 27, when members of radical armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol abducted two police personnel — including an Additional Superintendent of Police — and attacked the ASP’s residence after police arrested some of its members in connection with the theft of vehicles.

Source : https://indianexpress.com/article/india/persons-killed-fresh-violence-manipur-9268189

A live-in couple allegedly died by suicide after jumping from the seventh floor of their residential building in Haryana’s Jhajjar district on Saturday.

The couple, identified as Garvit Singh Garry (25) and Nandini Kashyap (22), were YouTubers and hailed from Uttarakhand’s Dehradun. They had been residing in a residential building located in Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh for the past month, according to police.

According to authorities, the incident occurred around 6 am on Saturday. The couple, who had returned home late after a shoot, got into an argument over an undisclosed issue, as per NDTV report.

The couple, both content creators who made reels and videos for social media platforms, was taken to a hospital where they were declared brought dead, police confirmed. Authorities added that it was yet to be ascertained why they took the extreme step. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.

The police further added that CCTV footage from the area is currently under scrutiny to understand the sequence of events leading up to the incident.

Source : https://www.news18.com/india/haryana-youtuber-couple-dies-by-suicide-jumps-from-7th-floor-after-argument-8850781.html

Top events today: BJP to release Lok Sabha polls 2024 manifesto; AAP to observe ‘Save Constitution’ campaign; PM Modi to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Karnataka’s Mysuru and Mangaluru

Today’s news is packed with AAP’s big campaign to save the Constitution on Dr BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, the BJP will unveil its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election 2024, Central Railway mega block, PM Modi’s rally in Mysuru and Mangaluru and more.

PM Modi, BJP to release manifesto for Lok Sabha Election 2024

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to release its manifesto or “Sankalp Patra” for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on Sunday, April 14. The manifesto will be released at party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Israel calls for emergency UNSC meet as Iran launches unprecedented strikes

Israel has urged the United Nations Security Council to immediately convene a meeting to unequivocally condemn Iran and designate its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.

Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles on Israel late Saturday.

AAP’s ‘Save Constitution’ stir in Delhi today

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader will observe “Samvidhan bachao, tanashahi hatao Divas” (Save the Constitution, end dictatorship Day) on April 14, the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar in view of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s protest.

Today’s IPL Match: KKR vs LSG

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

PM Modi to visit Mysuru, Mangaluru in Karnataka today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Karnataka’s Mysuru and Mangaluru on Sunday. This comes after mega rallies by the PM in Kalaburagi and Shivamogga districts of the southern state last month.

Mayawati to start her poll campaign in UP today

Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati will kick off her poll campaign for Lok Sabha polls on April 14 (Sunday). The BSP supremo will address rallies in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar on Sunday.

Central Railway to operate mega block on April 14

The Mumbai Division of Central Railway will operate a mega block on its suburban sections to carry out various engineering and maintenance works. The block will be on the mainline and trans-harbour network.

Source : https://www.livemint.com/news/india/top-events-of-the-day-bjps-manifesto-for-lok-sabha-polls-aaps-save-constitution-campaign-ipl-match-and-more-11713055977806.html

The move comes after the NCPCR conducted an investigation which found that Bournvita contains sugar levels, much above the acceptable limits.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has put out an advisory to the e-commerce companies and directed them to remove Bournvita among other drinks and beverages from the category of ‘health drinks’ on their platforms. The advisory comes after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) conducted an investigation which found that Bournvita contains sugar levels, much above the acceptable limits. The Ministry said in a notification dated April 10 that NCPCR said that there is no ‘health drink’ defined under the FSS Act 2006.

“National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a statutory body constituted under Section (3) of the Commission of Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 after its inquiry under Section 14 of CRPC Act 2005 concluded that there is no ‘health drink’ defined under FSS Act 2006, rules and regulations submitted by FSSAI and Mondelez India Food Pvt Ltd,” the ministry said in the notification.

Earlier, the NCPCR had asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to take action against those companies that failed to meet safety standards and were projecting power supplements as ‘health drinks’.

‘Health drink’ not defined in food laws

According to the regulatory body, ‘health drink’ has not been defined in India’s food laws and projection of any product under the same is a violation of the rules. The FSSAI, earlier this month, also instructed e-commerce portals against labelling diary-based or malt-based beverages as ‘health drinks’.

The row over the ‘unhealthy’ nature of Bournvita came to the fore after a YouTuber in his video alleged that it contained excessive sugar, cocoa solids and harmful colourants that could lead to serious health hazards in children, including cancer.

Source : https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/bournvita-other-beverages-to-be-removed-from-health-drinks-category-centre-orders-e-commerce-firms-sugar-health-supplements-ncpcr-fss-act-business-2024-04-13-926107

King versus Queen in Mandi as the Congress fielded Vikramaditya Singh against BJP’s Kangana Ranaut in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.

Vikramaditya Singh, the Congress MLA who fomented a rebellion against the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, will be fighting against BJP’s Kangana Ranaut in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi. The Congress on Saturday announced the names of 16 candidates for the Lok Sabha election 2024. Himachal Pradesh’s former chief minister Virbhadra Singh’s son 35-year-old Vikramaditya will be replacing his mother – sitting MP Pratibha Singh — as a candidate from the constituency.

Manish Tewari will be contesting from Chandigarh against BJP’s Sanjay Tandon who replaced sitting MP Kirron Kher.

The other names announced on Saturday were Ramji Thakor from Mahesana, Himmatsinh Patel from Ahmedabad East, Pareshbhai Dhanani from Rajkot, Naishadh Desai from Navasari, Vinod Sultanpuri from Shimla, Mohan Hembram from Keonjhar, Shrikant Kumar Jena from Balasore, Anant Prasad Sethi from Bhadrak, Anchal Das from Jajpur, Sashmita Behera from Dhenkanal, Sidharth Swarup Das from Kendrapara, Rabindra Kumar Sethy from Jagatsinghpur, Sucharita Mohanty from puri and Yasir Nawa from Bhubaneswar.

It’s Vikramaditya Singh versus Kangana Ranaut from Mandi

Even before Vikramaditya’s name was announced, the Mandi fight turned fierce with Kangana Ranaut calling Vikramaditya ‘chhota pappu’. Vikramaditya reacted to the moniker and said he would pray to Lord Ram to give the actor some “good sense”.

“We respect our elder sister Kangana Ranaut. Today she was addressing the people of Manali. Instead of speaking against Congress party and its leaders, it would have been good, if she would have taken up and talked about the issues on the biggest disaster of the century, which happened in Manali a few months ago,” Vikramaditya said.

Before this, Vikramaditya called Kangana the queen of controversy and that she knew nothing about Himachal. “Yeh tumhare baap-dada ki riyasat nahin hai, ke tum mujhe dara, dhamka ke vapis bhej doge (This is not the estate of your father or grandfather that you will threaten me and send me back). This is the new Bharat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where a small, poor boy who used to sell tea is the biggest hero and “pradhan sevak” of the people,” Kangana said.

Vikramaditya Singh is the scion of the erstwhile Bhushar estate, now known as Rampur. He was crowned the titular king of the erstwhile princely state after his father’s death.

Himachal Pradesh has four Lok Sabha seats. The polling on these four seats, along with six Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh that fell vacant following the disqualification of Congress MLAs will be held on June 1. The BJP won all four seats in 2019. The counting will be done on June 4.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/vikramaditya-to-take-on-kangana-in-mandi-manish-tewari-fielded-from-chandigarh-101713023135573.html

According to NIA sources, the two would hop between hotels frequently, and use only cash payments to avoid leaving a digital trail.

Fake identity documents such as Aadhaar cards and driving licences with addresses ranging from Maharashtra to Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, apart from 35 SIM cards, helped the Bengaluru cafe blast accused evade investigators for more than a month, sources familiar with the probe have said.

On Friday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mussavir Hussain Shazib (30), who allegedly planted the IED at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1, and Adbul Matheen Taha (30), who orchestrated the attack and subsequent escape. The two were caught from Digha in Purba Medinipur, a little over 180 kilometres from Kolkata.

On Saturday, the agency was granted 10-day police custody of the two men by a special terrorism court in Bengaluru. Taha and Shazib were produced before the special terrorism court judge at his residence after they were brought to Bengaluru on a transit warrant. They were produced before the judge after a medical test. “The court has given the NIA 10 days of custody of the accused for further investigations,” a special public prosecutor for the NIA said.

According to investigators, the two had been staying in West Bengal for roughly three weeks, mostly in low-budget, under-the-radar hotels, and changing aliases frequently. Apart from Digha, where they were finally caught, the men are believed to have stayed in Kolkata, Purulia and Darjeeling, investigators say, based on the questioning of the two men.

According to investigators, during the stay at two hotels in Kolkata, Shazib used a fake Aadhaar card under the name Yusha Shahnawaz Patel from Maharashtra’s Palghar. Taha, on the other hand, used fake names such as Vignesh B D from Karnataka at one hotel and Anmol Kulkarni at another, it is learnt.

At yet another hotel, they checked in under aliases Sanjay Agarwal and Uday Das, residents of Jharkhand and Tripura respectively.

According to NIA sources, the two would hop between hotels frequently, and use only cash payments to avoid leaving a digital trail.

As reported by The Indian Express earlier, to avoid detection, Taha had used cryptocurrency to finance the operation. “He used various conduits, including stolen identities and IDs of people recruited for the ISIS cause in different parts of India, to transfer cryptocurrency to Shareef to arrange logistics for the blast,” an official said, adding that Taha is an IT graduate.

Source : https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/sim-cards-fake-aadhaar-driving-licences-bengaluru-cafe-blast-accused-law-9268114

India on Sunday called for an “immediate de-escalation” in the wake of Iran attacking Israel with missiles and drones.

India on Sunday called for an “immediate de-escalation” in the wake of Iran launching a direct attack on Israel by firing a barrage of missiles and drones. It also expressed concerns at the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran that threaten “peace and security in the region”.

In response to the Iranian attack, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement, “We are seriously concerned at the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran which threatens the peace and security in the region.”

“We call for immediate de-escalation, exercise of restraint, stepping back from violence and return to the path of diplomacy,” it added.

The Ministry also said that it was “closely monitoring the evolving situation”.

“Our Embassies in the region are in close touch with Indian community. It is vital that security and stability are maintained in the region.”

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Iran fired more than 200 missiles and drones directly towards Israeli territory in the early hours of Sunday.

Iran’s unprecedented attack was in retaliation against the April 1 airstrike on its consulate in Damascus that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, including two commanders, and six Syrian civilians. Israel, however, has not acknowledged the airstrike.

The IDF also said that the forces intercepted the “vast majority” of the missiles and drones, while adding that a number of “small hits” were recorded in southern Israel, with minor damage to infrastructure.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/indian-government-concerned-seeks-immediate-de-escalation-iran-drone-attack-israel-2526920-2024-04-14

The interim bail has been sought in connection with the cases registered by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the matter.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who is presently in jail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, has approached a Delhi court seeking his release on interim bail so that he can campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The interim bail has been sought in connection with the cases registered by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the matter.

The matter will be heard by Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) Kaveri Baweja on April 20.

Sisodia is one among several high-profile political leaders who are presently in jail on allegations that they were part of a criminal conspiracy in framing the now-scrapped Delhi Liquor Policy of 2021-22.

Sisodia has been in custody since February last year.

The case originated out of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the CBI in 2022. It was alleged that AAP leaders received kickbacks from liquor manufacturers through this policy.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023. Following this, ED also arrested him on March 9 last year.

His bail plea in both cases were rejected by the trial court, Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also rejected his review and curative petitions.

However, last month, he moved fresh bail applications before the trial court, which are yet to be decided.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/manish-sisodia-moves-delhi-court-interim-bail-campaign-aap-lok-sabha-elections

The NCDRC noted that a Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) report categorically recorded that the lead content in the tested Maggi noodle products was within permissible limits.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has dismissed the Indian government’s 2015 complaint against Nestlé India over the safety of its Maggi noodle products [Union of India v Nestlé India Ltd].

The Indian government had accused Nestlé of engaging in unfair trade practices by adding a ‘No added MSG’ label and claimed that the instant noodle product contained impermissible lead levels.

However, in an April 12 order, NCDRC President, Justice AP Sahi noted that a Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) report categorically found that the lead content in the tested Maggi noodle products was within permissible limits.

“Once the scientific analysis and the clarifications issued by the Government itself do not and have not indicted the Opposite Party (Nestlé), there is no material to support the allegations made in the complaint for proceeding any further,” the Commission eventually concluded, while dismissing the complaint against Nestlé.

In 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had directed Nestlé to withdraw and recall nine variants of Maggi noodles to rectify the ‘No added MSG’ labels.

The food safety authority also cited studies that revealed significant lead content in different variants of Maggi noodles.

It further directed the complete withdrawal of Maggi Oats Masala noodles within 24 hours on the ground that the said product did not undergo risk assessment or get the appropriate approval for its release to the Indian market.

Nestlé was issued a show cause notice as well regarding the product approval for nine variants of its instant noodle products.

The company immediately withdrew its products as ordered, but challenged the move before the Bombay High Court. Taking note of the voluntary withdrawal by Nestlé, the High Court stayed the government’s order.

Eventually, the Bombay High Court allowed the challenge and permitted Nestlé to resume business.

Subsequently, the Central government filed a complaint before the NCDRC. The matter also reached the Supreme Court, which directed an analysis of the noodles by Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) and left it open to the NCDRC to evaluate the report.

This report, the NCDRC found, indicated that the lead content in Maggi noodles was within the permissible levels.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee contended that even if the report were assumed to be correct, the issue regarding Monosodium glutamate (MSG) levels in the Maggi products remained. Nestlé had still engaged in deceptive labelling of its product, the ASG said.

Further, the ASG pointed out that the Maggi Oats Noodles product had been launched without any approval.

He also referred to the standards published by the United States Food and Drugs Administration and a publication of Health Canada to contend that the consumption of MSG is hazardous.

The ASG’s arguments were opposed by Senior Advocate Harish Salve for Nestlé, who pointed out that the advisory based on which the approval for Maggi Oats noodles was questioned had eventually been quashed by the Bombay High Court.

Salve further pointed out that as per the CFTRI report, the presence of MSG was dependent on various factors including the naturally present Glutamic Acid and also the contents of the food product.

He highlighted that the laboratory itself had clarified that in the absence of any analytical method to distinguish between the naturally present Glutamic Acid and added MSG, the institute could not render any opinion regarding the label claim of “no added MSG.”

He further pointed out that the report found the lead content in the noodles to be within permissible levels.

Moreover, he contended that there was no material available to show that MSG was added during the manufacturing process of the products. Therefore, the complaint was unfounded, the NCDRC was told.

Since the CFTRI report was not opposed by the Central government, the NCDRC determined that the issue relating to lead content in Maggi was closed.

The issue of MSG also stood answered by the report, the Commission observed. It noted that as per a clarification issued by the government itself, the presence of MSG should be checked through the investigation of the manufacturing premises.

Source:https://www.barandbench.com/news/ncdrc-dismisses-complaint-by-indian-government-against-nestle-maggi-noodles

Gopi Thotakura is set to become the first Indian to venture into space as a tourist as part of Blue Origin’s New Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission.

Pilot Gopichand Thotakura is set to become the first Indian to travel into space as a tourist. He will travel to space as part of the crew for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin’s New Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission. The flight date will be announced soon.

Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot, was the first Indian to travel into space in 1984.

Describing Thotakura, Blue Origins wrote, “Gopi is a pilot and aviator who learned how to fly before he could drive. Gopi pilots bush, aerobatic, and seaplanes, as well as gliders and hot air balloons, and has served as an international medical jet pilot. A lifelong traveler, his most recent adventure took him to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.”

On being selected for the space mission, Gopi Thotakura said, “…Blue Origin’s tagline is ‘for the benefit of earth’ and that is what is important to notice here to protect mother earth, they’re seeking life and adventure outside the planet…all the efforts that are put in, is to explore the space beyond. That’s how we can protect mother earth and this is my interpretation of Blue’s mission.”

He further talked about space tourism and how it can open avenues and make it affordable and accessible for civilians.

“I can’t express my feelings right now because it is something that is not in the urban dictionary. It is something I take with me. I always tell people that right from when you are born till the time you leave, you wake up and want to see the sky, want to take a breath, but I want to have this opportunity to do the reverse, to go up there and see down here. Movies do a fantastic job but (to see) what the naked eye can see, you have to do that yourself. The whole excitement is about looking back and seeing what’s going on, without being documented or without someone else’s eye,” Thotakura said in an interview with ANI.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/meet-gopi-thotakura-first-indian-space-tourist-as-part-of-blue-origins-new-shephard-25-ns-25-mission-2526659-2024-04-13

A six-year-old boy fell into a 50-feet deep open borewell while playing in an agricultural field in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district.

According to a report in Times of India, the rescuers are working frantically to reach Mayank Kol who, they believe, is trapped at a depth of around 50 feet. Rescuers said that a lot of soil also got into the borewell after he fell.

A parallel tunnel has been dug to a depth of around 30 feet by around 10pm. Oxygen is being pumped into the borewell, the report stated.

“The borewell in which the boy is trapped is 6 cm in diameter. The locals informed the police, after which the rescue team reached the spot and launched an operation to bring him out,” Rewa’s additional superintendent of police Anil Sonkar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He added that two earth-movers have been pressed into service as part of the ongoing rescue work. TOI, however, stated that five JCB machines and other equipment were on the spot to dig a parallel tunnel and rescue Mayank.

Thankfully, the diggers haven’t hit any stones so far but evening rain hindered the rescue effort for some time and heightened concern, the publication stated.

The report quoted Rewa collector Pratibha Pal as saying, “A camera was lowered to a depth of around 40 feet into the borewell but the child couldn’t be seen. He may have been covered in the soil that fell after him. He is at a depth between 50 feet and 60 feet.

According to TOI, Mayank lives in Manika village, right next to the Uttar Pradesh border, and around 630km from Bhopal. He had gone to the fields with some friends on Friday afternoon. They were playing when he fell into the open borewell around 5pm.

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/6-year-old-boy-falls-in-borewell-in-mps-rewa-rescue-team-called-from-varanasi-earth-movers-pressed-into-service-8849866.html

Four Indian-origin men, found guilty in last year’s brutal murder of a 23-year-old delivery driver, also of Indian heritage, were sentenced to a total of 122 years in prison. A fifth Indian-origin man was handed a 10-year prison term for manslaughter.

Four Indian-origin men in the UK were on Friday sentenced to a total of 122 years of imprisonment after they were found guilty in the murder of a 23-year-old driver, who was also of Indian heritage.

In August last year, Aurman Singh, the delivery driver, was killed when he was brutally attacked with an axe, a golf club, a wooden stave, a metal club, a hockey stick, a shovel, a cricket bat and a knife in Shrewsbury, western England. The West Mercia Police later arrested the four men, BBC reported.

The four men, Arshdeep Singh and Jagdeep Singh from Dudley, and Shivdeep Singh and Manjot Singh from Smethwick, will all serve at least 28 years in prison.

A fifth man, Sukhmandeep Singh from Peterborough, believed to be an “insider” who sent information to the four men about Aurman Singh’s deliveries on the day he was killed, was handed a 10-year prison term for manslaughter.

Earlier during the trial, the police said no evidence came out that would explain the motive behind such a brutal attack on Aurman Singh.

“I am pleased that significant sentences have been handed to these men for the brutal murder of Aurman Singh. These five men are dangerous individuals who will now serve a considerable sentence in prison where they cannot cause further harm to the wider public,” said Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Mark Bellamy of West Mercia Police, who led the murder investigation.

“Aurman’s family have understandably been left shattered when he was tragically killed in a planned and brutal attack in Shrewsbury, and my thoughts and condolences remain with them,” he said.

“Today’s sentence should send a strong message to those who think they can come into our towns and cities to commit violent crime that we will not stop in our efforts to find them and put them before the courts,” he added.

Kristina Montgomery KC, a judge at Stafford Crown Court, called the attack “a horrifying brutality” and “a very public execution”, while adding that Aurman Singh was left to die at the side of the road, BBC reported.

The development came after the five men were convicted last month by the same court following the end of a six-week trial.

According to prosecutors, Aurman Singh was slashed in the head with an axe three times, fracturing his skull with one blow penetrating his brain. He was also struck on the head with the golf club with such force that its head broke off, and the shaft was bent, BBC reported.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/indians-abroad/story/indian-origin-men-life-imprisonment-murder-indian-heritage-delivery-driver-uk-court-2526671-2024-04-13

Kavitha had told Reddy that in case of non-payment of money his business will be harmed in Telangana and Delhi under the Excise policy, the CBI has alleged.

New Delhi: BRS leader K Kavitha had allegedly ‘threatened’ Aurobindo Pharma Promoter Sharath Chandra Reddy to pay Rs 25 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party for five retail zones allotted to his firm under the Delhi government’s excise policy, the CBI told Special Court on Friday, while seeking her custody.

Kavitha had told Reddy that in case of non-payment of money his business will be harmed in Telangana and Delhi under the Excise policy, the CBI has alleged.

Reddy, who was an accused under the PMLA case probed by the Enforcement Directorate, had turned an approver in the case. He has not been charged sheeted by the CBI yet.

Seeking custodial interrogation of Kavitha, the CBI told Special Judge Kaveri Baweja that it was on the ‘insistence and assurance’ of Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, that Reddy participated in the liquor business in the national capital.

She assured him that she had contacts in the Delhi government and that she would help him in liquor business in Delhi under the new excise policy.

“Kavitha further told Sharath Chandra Reddy that the payments of upfront money of Rs 25 crores for wholesale business and Rs 5 crores for each retail zone were to be made to the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi Government for getting liquor business and the same was to be paid to her associates Arun R. Pillai and Abhishek Boinpally, who would in turn coordinate with Vijay Nair, who was a representative of Arvind Kejriwal,” the CBI has alleged.

Earlier in the day, a Delhi court sent K Kavitha to CBI custody till April 15 in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The agency has alleged that in March and May 2021, when the excise policy was being formulated, Kavitha’s associates Arun R Pillai, Abhishek Boinpally and Butchibabu Gorantla stayed at Hotel Oberoi in Delhi to swing the policy in their favour through Vijay Nair by inserting provisions.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/k-kavitha-threatened-s-c-reddy-to-pay-rs-25-crore-to-aap-cbi-in-court-2976408

Abdul Rahim, who hails from Kozhikode, has spent 18 years behind bars in the Gulf nation for allegedly killing a Saudi boy in 2006.

In a display of solidarity and compassion, people in Kerala have rallied together to raise an astounding ₹ 34 crore to save a man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia.
Abdul Rahim, who hails from Kozhikode, has spent 18 years behind bars in the Gulf nation for allegedly killing a Saudi boy in 2006.

Until five days ago, the action committee, formed to work for the release of Rahim, could raise only a meagre amount but as the campaign intensified, help poured in from Kerala people from across the world, the organisers said on Friday.

Local people said Rahim was jailed in 2006 after he accidently caused the death of a specially-abled boy whom he was taking care of. He was sentenced to death in 2018 after the family of the Saudi boy refused to grant amnesty.

The action committee members told the media that the appeals were rejected by the top courts but later the family agreed to pardon Rahim if he pays the ‘blood money.’ “More than 75 organisations in Riyadh, Kerala-based businessman Bobby Chemmannur, various political organisations in the state, the common people all helped us to raise the money,” an organiser told the media here.

His mother said she never thought that such an amount could be raised.

“I had no hope as we have no means to raise ₹ 34 crore. But somehow it was all made possible,” she said.

Chemmanur organised multiple events in the past few days to raise money. He also organised the sale of one of his products and donated the whole amount to the cause.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/rs-34-crore-blood-money-raised-to-get-kerala-man-out-of-saudi-jail-5428769

Bengaluru Cafe Blast Case: Several customers and hotel staff members were injured in the blast at popular Bengaluru cafe on March 1.

The two men who plotted and executed the blast that rocked Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru last month have been arrested from Kanthi in Bengal’s East Midnapore district, the National Investigation Agency said Friday morning. Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Taha were caught after a joint operation by central agencies and police from Bengal, Karnataka, Telangana, and Kerala, and have been remanded in the custody of the NIA for five days while they are transported to Bengaluru.
The available evidence indicates Shazeb planted the explosive device, placed inside a backpack, at the popular eatery. Taha was responsible for planning the attack and for their disappearance.
These are the second and third arrests in this case; last month Muzammil Shareef, who extended logistical support to the Shazeb and Taha, was taken into custody.

Residents of Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, Shazeb and Taha were traced to Kanthi after officials conducted searches at 18 locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and even Uttar Pradesh.

The blast at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1 injured 10 people, customers and staff.

Fortunately there were no deaths; the bag containing the explosives was placed in a relatively less crowded area and against a large pillar that absorbed the brunt of the explosion.

After the blast, the NIA released photos and videos of the accused, as seen on CCTV cameras across Bengaluru. In one such clip, the accused – wearing a face mask – was seen boarding a bus.

That was about an hour after the blast.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rameshwaram-cafe-blast-anti-terror-agency-detains-2-suspects-in-bengaluru-cafe-blast-case-5424432

New Delhi also asked Indians in Iran and Israel to observe utmost precautions.

New Delhi: With the threat of a retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel looming large, India has advised its citizens not to travel to any of the two West Asian countries.

New Delhi also asked Indians in Iran and Israel to observe utmost precautions.

“In view of the prevailing situation in the region, all Indians are advised not to travel to Iran or Israel till further notice,” the Ministry of External Affairs stated in a travel advisory issued in New Delhi.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/mea-asks-indians-not-to-travel-to-iran-or-israel-till-further-notice-2975846

Earlier, the Congress lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, claiming a mismatch in actual and declared assets in the affidavit filed by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is in the fray against former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Minister and BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Rajeev Chandrasekhar has sent a legal notice to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, accusing the MP of making defamatory statements against him. In his notice, the BJP leader has accused Tharoor of disseminating “patently false information” regarding the bribing of key voters and influential figures such as parish priests, among others, by the BJP candidate.

In the notice, Chandrasekhar has sought Tharoor to “immediately withdraw” all the allegations made against him and tender an “unconditional public apology”. Notably, Chandrasekhar has been pitted against Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, which will vote on April 26.

Statements made to harm Chandrasekhar’s reputation and image
The legal notice also states that Tharoor has made these statements “with an intent to harm” Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s reputation and image. It said that the Congress MP’s remarks also disrespected the entire Christian community of Thiruvananthapuram and its leaders, as he had accused them of engaging in cash-for-votes activities.

Chandrasekhar has expressed ‘shock’ at the allegations made by Shashi Tharoor in a TV interview by a Kerala-based news organization. “Shocked and surprised to watch the news video dated 06.04.2024 on a Malayalam news channel named 24 News, wherein you, the Noticee (Shashi Tharoor), made defamatory statements alleging that Our Client (Rajeev Chandrasekhar) had indulged in illegal activities of offering money to voters and that Our Client is spreading lies in Christian communities. Not only are the said statements totally and completely false but it is clear that the same was made with the clear mala fide intent to tarnish the reputation of Our Client to try and gain an unfair advantage in the upcoming elections,” the legal notice further said.

The Congress MP’s statements were also in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The notice further claimed the statements were also targeted at injuring the BJP leader’s election campaign and benefitting Tharoor in the elections. “It is apprehended that you (Shashi Tharoor) have concocted these allegations and circulated them to influence the voters in Thiruvananthapuram. It is feared that you have engaged in spreading such false news to subvert the process of free and fair elections,” the notice further added.

‘Tender an unconditional public apology’
It sought Tharoor to immediately withdraw all the allegations made against Chandrashekhar and tender an unconditional public apology to him. “Immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions made by you the Noticee against Our Client, i.e. Rajeev Chandrashekhar on the aforesaid news channel dated 06.04.2024; Tender an unconditional public apology to Our Client to his satisfaction through print and electronic media about the said baseless allegations and aspersions made by you the Noticee; and Immediately cease, refrain and desist from defaming, harassing, hampering the reputation of Our Client and spreading any uncalled for rumour and stop indulging in any such activities in the future,” the notice read.

Failure to comply with the stated conditions within 24 hours of receipt of the notice would lead to initiation of appropriate criminal and civil proceedings in a competent court of law, the BJP candidate warned.

‘Shashi Tharoor, in desperation…’
Speaking with ANI, the Union Minister said that the Congress leader likely made the allegations “in his desperation”. “I think Shashi Tharoor, in his desperation, has flung a lot of allegations at me. One of the allegations is that I am paying money for votes. I have said very clearly that, I will not be drawn into this negative type of politics. However, if anybody defames me and attempts to trespass into an area by telling lies about me, I will certainly not be quiet. I will certainly use all the tools under the law to ensure that that person is held accountable,” he said.

Source:https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/rajeev-chandrasekhar-accuses-shashi-tharoor-of-defamation-sends-legal-notice-over-false-allegations-of-bribing-key-voters-latest-updates-2024-04-10-925632

An audit report by the Director General of Audit (Central), Chandigarh, revealed the three IAS officers extended their stay in Paris, upgraded their hotel accommodation, and approved each other’s trips, bypassing the rules and guidelines.

Three senior IAS officers spent an excess of Rs 6.72 lakh of taxpayer’s money during a trip to Paris in June 2015, an audit report by the Director General of Audit (Central), Chandigarh, revealed.

Vijay Kumar Dev, who served as the Advisor to the Administrator of Chandigarh at the time, Anurag Aggarwal, the then Home Secretary of Chandigarh, and Vikram Dev Dutt, the then Secretary (Personnel), have come under scrutiny for the misuse of taxpayer funds.

They allegedly extended their stay in Paris, upgraded their hotel accommodation, and approved each other’s trips, bypassing the rules and guidelines.

In 2015, the Chandigarh administration received an invitation from the Foundation Le Corbusier, located in Paris. The invitation was for a meeting, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who had contributed to Chandigarh’s master plan.

The administration nominated four participants for this event. The Home Ministry demanded certificates for Vijay Dev, Vikram Dev Dutt, and Anurag Aggarwal. The travel program was arranged and approved.

However, the audit report found that the officers were approving each other’s trips. Vijay Dev approved Vikram Dutt’s trip, and Dutt approved Dev’s trip. Vijay Dev also approved Anurag Aggarwal’s trip.

The audit report has revealed that the initial budget for the trip was Rs 18 lakh, which escalated to over Rs 25 lakh, with business-class tickets costing approximately Rs 1.77 lakh each and hotel accommodations exceeding the original budget by a significant margin.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chandigarh-ias-officers-misused-funds-upgraded-stay-paris-trip-audit-report-2526194-2024-04-11

A US Navy and Coast Guard operation on Tuesday rescued three mariners stranded on a tiny Pacific Ocean islet for more than a week after the trio spelled out “HELP” using palm fronds laid on a white-sand beach.

The mission also unexpectedly turned into a family reunion.

The three men had been planning to fish the waters around the Pikelot Atoll, part of Micronesia, on March 31 when their 20-foot open skiff was caught by swells and its outboard motor was damaged, according to US Coast Guard officials.

They scrambled ashore on uninhabited Pikelot, but their radio ran out of battery power before they could call for help.

So the castaways gathered palm fronds from the 31-acre island, arranged them to spell out “HELP” on the beach, and waited, according to a Coast Guard statement.

The names of the stranded men have not been released by the Coast Guard, and CNN attempts to contact their relatives have not gotten replies.

For a week, the men lived off coconut meat, but they did have fresh water from a small well on the island, which is sometimes visited by fishers in the region, Coast Guard officials said.

The search for the men began on April 6, when one of their relatives called rescue officials in the US Pacific territory of Guam, saying they had not returned to Polowat Atoll, an island more than 100 miles away, where the three started their voyage on Easter Sunday.

It is difficult to overstate just how remote Piklelot is. The island is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a Pacific nation between the Philippines and Hawaii that is made up of more than 600 islands scattered across about 2.5 million square kilometers of ocean.

The Coast Guard said a US Navy P-8A reconnaissance jet dispatched from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan, spotted the palm-frond “HELP” sign on the beach on April 7.

Lt. Chelsea Garcia, the search-and-rescue mission coordinator on the day the trio was located, said the sign was “crucial” to finding them in a search area that covered more than 103,000 square miles.

“This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location,” Garcia said in a statement.

The Navy jet dropped survival packs to the three men and relayed their location to the rescue center.

A day later, a Coast Guard HC-130 flying from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii dropped a radio to the men, who were able to tell the crew they were in good shape and eager for help to get back to Polowat.

When the Coast Guard cutter Oliver Henry reached Pikelot on April 9, the story took another twist.

One of the first rescuers on the beach was Petty Officer 2nd Class Eugene Halishlius. The stranded men were surprised to see that Halishlius was Micronesian and spoke the local language.

“I could see on their faces, ‘Whoa! Who’s this guy pulling up that can speak our language?’” Halishlius told CNN in an interview from the Oliver Henry, which was at sea on Thursday after dropping the men off at Polowat.

When he gave his name to the first of the stranded men to reach the rescue boat, the castaway was stunned: they were related.

“It’s a crazy world, I actually found out I’m related to them!” Halishlius said.

“He couldn’t believe I’m with the Coast Guard trying to rescue them.”

The man was a third cousin, the others fourth cousins, he said.

Amazingly, this was not the first rescue of castaways from Pikelot.

In 2020, three other men traveling between two Micronesian atolls found themselves washed up there after their boat ran out of fuel during their voyage.

Those three spelled out “SOS” on the beach, a message that was spotted by the crew of a US Air Force tanker operating out of Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, which then directed Coast Guard, Micronesian and Australian naval units to get the men from the island.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/11/asia/pacific-castaways-pikelot-island-us-rescue-intl-hnk/index.html

Villagers snatched the key of the bus driver, who appeared to be drunk, but returned it after the school authorities assured them of replacing him. A four-member panel has been formed by the Haryana government to probe the accident, which killed six children and injured 20 others.

The bus accident in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district on Thursday, which killed six school children and injured 20 others, could have been avoided. According to eyewitnesses, some villagers had snatched the key from the driver, Dharmender, who appeared to be drunk, and stopped the vehicle from moving forward. However, after assurance from the school authorities about replacing Dharmender, the key was handed back to him.

These villagers were requested to give the key back to Dharmender, and were assured of sending a new driver in the future. However, the bus barely covered a few distance when the driver lost control and crashed into a tree near Unhani village in Kanina around 8.30 am. The bus, carrying around 40 children to GL Public School, overturned as a result of the crash.

Not just the villagers, some parents had also pointed out the driver’s drinking habit to the school authorities, news agency PTI reported. In fact, even on Thursday, they had alerted the school that the driver was under the influence of alcohol.

Three people have been arrested in the matter so far, including Dharmender; the school’s principal, Deepti; and another official, Hoshiar Singh. Police said that Dharmender was caught at the accident site and his medical examination confirmed he was under the influence of alcohol, news agency PTI reported.

A show-cause notice has also been issued to the private school to explain why it was open on Thursday despite it being a national holiday on the occasion of Eid. A four-member panel has been constituted to probe the matter.

“We will investigate why the school was open even on a holiday. The driver has been arrested, and a medical test will be conducted on him,” Kanina Deputy Superintendent of Police Mahendra Singh said.

The fitness certificate of the bus expired in 2018, and Haryana Transport Minister Aseem Goel said that the continued usage of the vehicle was a clear lapse on the part of the school authorities, officials said.

An assistant secretary in the office of district-transport-cum-secretary, Mahendragarh, was also suspended after it came to light that the bus lacked certain documentation. The Additional Transport Commissioner (Road Safety) has been directed to conduct a detailed enquiry into the reasons for the accident and find out those responsible, the officials added.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/haryana-school-bus-accident-locals-tried-stop-drunk-driver-snatched-his-keys-children-killed-injured-2526229-2024-04-12

In a blow to yoga guru Ramdev and managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Balkrishna, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday refused to accept their affidavits tendering unconditional apologies over publishing “misleading” advertisements. The court said it was “not blind” and the apologies came only when it was “caught on the wrong foot”. The matter will be next heard on April 16.

The court also came down hard on the State Licensing Authority for its inaction on the issue and said it is not going to take it lightly. “We will rip you apart. Do you have the guts to do what you are doing? You are acting as a post office,” the bench said in an unusually stern reprimand.”

The court also criticised the Uttarakhand government for its failure to take action against Patanjali Ayurved for violating the law.

Here’s all you need to know about the case.

WHO FILED IT?

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in August 2022 after Patanjali published an advertisement titled ‘Misconceptions Spread By Allopathy: Save Yourself And The Country From The Misconceptions Spread By Pharma And Medical Industry’ (see below).

The petition mentioned the instances where Ramdev called allopathy a “stupid and bankrupt science”, and made claims about allopathic medicine being responsible for Covid-19 deaths. The IMA also accused Patanjali of contributing to vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic. The IMA stated the “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” comes alongside Patanjali’s efforts to make false and unfounded claims about curing certain diseases through the use of Patanjali products.

His father, Mohammed Saleem, has now said that the family has to think about repaying the Rs 43 lakh education loan apart from waiting for his body to reach India. Earlier, Mohammed Saleem said that Arfath last spoke to him on March 7, and since then he had not been in touch with his family.

Hailing from Hyderabad’s Nacharam, Arfath moved to the United States in 2023 for a Master’s degree at Cleveland State University. He had been missing for nearly three weeks. The Indian embassy in New York had earlier said that it was in touch with Arfath’s family and was working with “law enforcement agencies to locate him.”

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/with-rs-43-lakh-education-loan-to-repay-family-of-indian-student-found-dead-in-us-says-torture-is-article-109230712

On March 2, the court admitted a complaint by an NGO, Pleasant Valley Foundation, against the officials and asked the revenue police to register a case against them and investigate the charges.

An FIR has been registered against Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and his subordinate YVVJ Rajasekhar following the orders of a court in Uttarakhand’s Almora town.

On March 2, the court admitted a complaint by an NGO, Pleasant Valley Foundation, against the officials and asked the revenue police to register a case against them and investigate the charges.

Pleasant Valley Foundation alleged that the officials sent four people to a school run by the NGO in Dadakada village on February 14. The four men vandalised the office chamber of the NGO’s joint secretary and took away files, records, documents and pen drives which contained evidence of their involvement in scams.

They allegedly threatened to frame the NGO’s officials if complaints of corruption filed by it against them with the Vigilance department and other forums were not immediately withdrawn, the complainant said.

The Muthuvallur Sree Durga Bhagavathy Temple, situated near Kondotty, has been witnessing the religious camaraderie since 2015 as both the communities have contributed for the renovation.

In a display of communal harmony, the small village of Muthuvallur in Kerala’s Muslim-majority district of Malappuram has captivated attention with its tale of unity surrounding the restoration of a 400-year-old Durga temple.

According to a report by Times of India, the Muthuvallur Sree Durga Bhagavathy Temple, situated near Kondotty, emerges as a beacon of syncretism, with the initial phase of its renovation now concluded. The idol-installation ceremony will be held in May.

Since 2015, Muslims have contributed to the temple’s renovation. Continuing the tradition, shrine officials have solicited the assistance of individuals from all religions for next month’s installation of the new idol, stated the Times of India report.

A brochure will released by temple authorities from May 7-9, marking the idol installation.

According to Times of India, the brochure prominently features images of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) chief Panakkad Sadikkali Shihab Thangal and the temple’s vedic head, Thekkiniyedathu Tharananellur Padmanabhan Unni Namboodiripad.

Situated within a predominantly Muslim neighborhood and managed by the state-run Malabar Devaswom Board, the temple has enjoyed support from the Muslim community. The community has helped in its renovation including the copper-plating of its dome. Namboodiripad, the temple’s thantri overseeing several temples across Malabar, emphasised the necessity of cooperation and goodwill across religious lines. He acknowledged the overwhelming support received from the Muslim community, including Thangal’s involvement.

Thangal highlighted the natural inclination within their harmonious community to assist one another, even in matters concerning faith and places of worship. He cited his visit to the temple during a fundraising event in 2023. He told Times of India that a generous donation of Rs 1 lakh was made by KP Sulaiman Haji, a member of the state Haj committee. A heartfelt “message of love” from the thantri, addressed to IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty was read out at a temple function on March 30.

Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/this-village-temple-in-kerala-stands-testimony-to-hindu-muslim-unity-12611041.html

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu and the people of the archipelago nation on the occasion of Eid, underlining the cultural and civilisational linkages between the two sides.

“As we celebrate Eid al-Fitr with traditional fervour, people across the world are reminded of the values of compassion, brotherhood and togetherness, which are essential in building a peaceful and inclusive world that we all aspire for,” PM Modi said in his greetings to President Muizzu.

In his message, Prime Minister Modi also highlighted the cultural and civilisational linkages shared by India and Maldives that go back in time. “Hon’ble Prime Minister of India @NarendraModi extended warm greetings to His Excellency President of Maldives Dr. @MMuizzu, the Government & the people of the Republic of Maldives,” the Indian High Commission here said in a post on X.

INDIA-MALDIVES TIES
The India-Maldives ties have come under stress as President Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president in November that he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.

There were 88 Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms in the Maldives. Last month, the first batch of 26 Indian military personnel were replaced by civilian personnel from India. The remaining Indian defence personnel are expected to return to India by May 10, the deadline set by Muizzu.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/pm-modi-highlights-civilisational-linkages-in-eid-message-to-maldives-president-muizzu-8847744.html

Haryana school bus accident: The incident occurred near Unhani village in Mahendragarh district on Thursday morning.

At least six children were killed and 13 others injured after a school bus carrying 30 children overturned in Haryana’s Mahendergarh on Thursday morning, police said.

Police officials said the school bus belonging to GL Public School in Kanina was involved in an accident near Unhani village in the Mahendergarh district after the driver tried to overtake another vehicle. The school was functioning despite a holiday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

“The injured students were rushed to various hospitals in Mahendergarh and Narnaul. The official documents show that the bus’s fitness certificate had expired six years ago in 2018,” said a senior police official.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to X (formerly Twitter) and extended condolences over the deaths in the school bus accident while assuring that the local administration is providing help to the injured children. “The accident of a school bus in Mahendragarh, Haryana is very sad. My condolences are with the bereaved families of the deceased children. May God give them strength to bear this loss. The local administration is providing help to the injured children. I wish them a speedy recovery,” Amit Shah’s Hindi post roughly translated to English read.

Counsel for Khalid denied the accusation that he was the “mastermind” of the Delhi Riots and that women were placed at the forefront as a shield during the riots.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday opposed the bail plea of activist Umar Khalid, arguing that his contention of being subjected to a media trial does not hold water as his father gave interviews to the media [Umar Khalid v. State].

Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad told Special Judge Sameer Bajpai that influential social media handles such as those of Teesta Setalvad, Aakar Patel and Amnesty International amplified a “narrative” against his incarceration.

“Similar exercise is being adopted while applicant’s bails are being listed to influence his bail hearings, samples of post on X (earlier Twitter) with hashtag about applicant,” said Prasad.

Apart from Setalvad, Patel and Amnesty International, Prasad named Swati Chaturvedi and Kaushik Raj as those who had shared similar posts.

After the Delhi Police completed its arguments, Senior Advocate Trideep Pais began his rebuttal and differentiated how this time around, it was essential to examine the bail plea in the light of the orders passed by the Supreme Court in the cases of Vernon Gonsalves and Shoma Sen.

Pais referred to the apex court’s observations with respect to Call Data Records (CDR) and how evidence now had to be analysed at the stage of bail — thereby buttressing his plea of change in circumstances.

He said that the trial court and the Delhi High Court, while rejecting his client’s bail plea, had only done a “surface analysis” of the evidence to check the probative value.

Pais referred to the conspiracy charge against Khalid on the basis of his purported meeting with co-accused Tahir Hussain and Khalid Saifi on a particular day and the prosecution relying on witnesses and a CDR to build its case.

“I’m in disbelief that the public prosecutor said CDR has to be proved at trial….A ‘flurry of calls’ allegation is based on that. I haven’t heard anything as absurd. Now document shows they never met at the date and time mentioned. This very witnesses in a connected FIR has been disbelieved and discharged,” stated Pais.

“There is no credible case of conspiracy,” Pais went on to argue.

The senior lawyer countered the accusation that Khalid was the “mastermind” of the Delhi Riots and that women, who were stated to be Bangladeshi, were placed at the forefront as a shield during the riots.

“Has a single woman spoken that I came from Bangladesh and I was made to sit here?” he asked.

Arguments will continue on April 24.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 on charges of criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly and several other offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He has been in jail since then.

A Karkardooma court denied bail to Khalid in March 2022. He then approached the High Court, which also denied him relief in October 2022, prompting him to file an appeal before the top court.

In May 2023, the Supreme Court sought the response of the Delhi Police in the matter. His plea before the top court was then adjourned 14 times.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/umar-khalid-not-on-media-trial-father-gave-media-interviews-delhi-police

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday quashed the circular issued by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department, which bans the rearing of certain breeds of dogs on the ground of them being ferocious and dangerous to human life.A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said, “The High Court of Delhi from which the entire impugned action has sprung…

Source: https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/karnataka-high-court/karnataka-high-court-quashes-central-government-ban-rearing-dangerous-dog-breeds-254814

A terrorist was killed during a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The area has been cordoned off after the gunfight broke out.

A gunbattle broke out between terrorists and security forces at Frasipora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in the wee hours of Thursday. One terrorist was killed during the gunfight.

The gunfight occurred in the Muraan area of the district after security forces received inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area.

Following this, a brief exchange of fire took place.

Paramilitary personnel and Jammu and Kashmir Police cordoned off the area after the gunbattle broke out.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gunfight-terrorist-trapped-security-forces-police-jammu-and-kashmir-pulwama-operation-2525824-2024-04-11

Haryana school bus accident: The incident occurred near Unhani village in Mahendragarh district on Thursday morning.

At least eight children were killed and 13 others injured after a school bus carrying 30 children overturned in Haryana’s Mahendergarh on Thursday morning, police said.

Police officials said the school bus belonging to GL Public School in Kanina was involved in an accident near Unhani village in the Mahendergarh district after the driver tried to overtake another vehicle. The school was functioning despite a holiday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

“The injured students were rushed to various hospitals in Mahendergarh and Narnaul. The official documents show that the bus’s fitness certificate had expired six years ago in 2018,” said a senior police official.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to X (formerly Twitter) and extended condolences over the deaths in the school bus accident while assuring that the local administration is providing help to the injured children. “The accident of a school bus in Mahendragarh, Haryana is very sad. My condolences are with the bereaved families of the deceased children. May God give them strength to bear this loss. The local administration is providing help to the injured children. I wish them a speedy recovery,” Amit Shah’s Hindi post roughly translated to English read.

Bus driver allegedly drunk

Eyewitnesses alleged that the bus driver was drunk.

Mahendergarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Arsh Verma said that doctors are conducting a medical examination of the bus driver to ascertain whether he was drunk or not.

“We are also examining documents of the bus. The school authorities are yet to be contacted to determine their responsibility. Two children are still critical and undergoing treatment. Six children had died,” the SP said in an earlier statement.

Supreme Court pulls up Uttarakhand government for not taking action against Patanjali Ayurved for violation of law.

Supreme Court on Wednesday pulls up the Uttarakhand government for not taking action against Patanjali Ayurved for violation of the law.

As reported by ANI, “Supreme Court tells Uttarakhand government that it is not going to let it free. All complaints were forwarded to the government. The licensing inspector remained quiet, there is no report by the officer. The concerned officers should be suspended right now.”

The apex court further stated, “They say the purpose of the advertisement was to keep people connected with Ayurvedic medicines as if they are the first ones in the world to come up with Ayurvedic medicines.”

It says the Supreme Court has become a mockery now.

Meanwhile, Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ramdev, says earlier affidavits have been withdrawn and fresh affidavits have been filed tendering unconditional and unqualified apologies for lapses on their part.

Earlier, on April 2, the highest court had strongly criticized Ramdev and Balkrishna, dismissing their apology as “lip service”, PTI reported.

The court also raised concerns about the government’s apparent lack of action regarding Patanjali’s exaggerated claims about product effectiveness and criticism of allopathic medicine during the peak of the Covid pandemic, questioning why the government chose to keep its “eyes shut”.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/patanjali-misleading-ad-case-ramdev-supreme-court-pulls-up-uttarakhand-govt-for-not-taking-action-against-patanjali-11712732695449.html

Supreme Court said that the DMRC was not obliged to pay over ₹8,000 crore to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL)–a subsidiary of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure firm

In a major relief to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed its previous order in which it had asked the DMRC to pay an arbitration award of ₹8,000 crore to Anil Ambani’s firm.

A special bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday held that the top court erred in setting aside the Delhi High Court verdict.

The top court said that the DMRC was not obliged to pay over ₹8,000 crore to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL)–a subsidiary of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure firm.

The apex court said that the arbitral award caused a huge miscarriage of justice, and directed that execution proceedings in the Delhi High Court will be discontinued.

The special bench also said that that amounts deposited by the DMRC till date shall be refunded and restored the parties to their position in which they were on the date of pronouncement of the Delhi High Court verdict.

The dispute between DMRC and RInfra’s subsidiary began out of a “concession agreement” in 2008 over the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/delhi-metro-not-to-pay-rs-8-000-crore-to-reliance-infra-shares-anil-ambani-delhi-airport-metro-express-private-ltd-11712737279300.html

His planned visit comes weeks after the government announced a new electric vehicle policy under which import duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/elon-musk-confirms-india-visit-says-looking-forward-to-meet-pm-modi-2973283

Last week, the RBI proposed to allow users to deposit cash in cash deposit machines (CDMs) through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday highlighted India’s growth in digital payments saying that the country is making Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions worth ₹120 crores in a month. He also drew a comparison to the United States, asserting that they make digital transactions only worth ₹40 crores in a year.

“Today, we do cashless payments through UPI. We have transactions worth ₹120 crores in a month. While the US makes digital transactions worth ₹40 crores in a year. You should see how we have progressed in some areas and the world commends that,” Jaishankar said at an event in Rajasthan’s Bikaner.

UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, merging several banking features, seamless fund routing, and merchant payments into one hood, according to an official government release. It was launched on April 11, 2016, by former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan.

RBI proposes cash deposits in banks through UPI
Last week, the RBI proposed to allow users to deposit cash in cash deposit machines (CDMs) through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Announcing the current fiscal’s first monetary policy outlook, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said, “Deposit of cash through cash deposit machines (CDMs) is primarily being done through the use of debit cards. Given the experience gained from cardless cash withdrawal using UPI at the ATMs, it is now proposed to facilitate deposit of cash in CDMs using UPI.”

He added, “At present, UPI payments from Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) can be made only by using the web or mobile app provided by the PPI issuer. It is now proposed to permit the use of third-party UPI apps for making UPI payments from PPI wallets. This will further enhance customer convenience and boost adoption of digital payments for small value transactions.”

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/s-jaishankar-says-indias-upi-transactions-way-more-than-us-digital-payments-101712799469116.html

India will post defence attaches in several African countries, including Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, and strategically important Djibouti.

In a first, India will post defence attaches in several countries, with a focus on Africa, aimed at strengthening strategic ties and military diplomacy amid China’s increasing efforts to expand its influence in the African nations.

New Delhi will appoint new defence attaches in the African countries of Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, and Djibouti. This decision is in line with India’s priority to expand its strategic engagement with the continent, news agency PTI reported.

A clip that surfaced on social media on Tuesday (April 9) showed how a group of 30 men who reached near the exit point of the Lucknow airport escaped in a dramatic fashion. Shockingly, even the guards on duty did not stop the men from escaping.

In a strange incident, about 30 gold smugglers got an “open exit” when they arrived at Lucknow Airport and the smugglers made the most of it by escaping from the airport with the gold. Days after the incident came to light, the CCTV footage of the gold smugglers running away even as the security guards stood spectator has gone viral on social media.

A clip that surfaced on social media on Tuesday (April 9) showed how a group of 30 men who reached near the exit point of the Lucknow airport escaped in a dramatic fashion. Shockingly, even the guards on duty did not stop the men from escaping.

The incident that has shocked the airport authorities

Days back, 36 gold smugglers were held by the airport authorities at Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport. However, in a dramatic scene, 30 of the 36 gold smugglers held escaped from the airport, as the video shows.

The airport suspected that some officers were hand in gloves with the smugglers with made their escape possible. The airport transferred 8 officers who were at Lucknow Airport after the incident.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/video-30-gold-smugglers-make-a-dramatic-escape-at-lucknow-airport-probe-ordered

It is worth mentioning attacks on Indians, especially on students, have soared tremendously in recent months. As of April 9, a total of 11 students, who went to pursue higher studies, were either killed or died mysteriously.

New Delhi: The concerns regarding Indian students in the United States have spiralled tremendously following back-to-back deaths of students migrating for higher education in America. As of writing this report on April 9, Tuesday, at least 11 of them have already lost their lives, with some dying naturally while some mysteriously.

Durg Collector Richa Prakash Choudhary said that the bus was packed with workers.

Durg: At least twelve workers of a private firm were killed and 14 injured on Tuesday, after a bus overturned and fell into a ditch in the Kumhari area of the Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

Durg collector Richa Prakash Choudhary said that the bus was packed with workers. The bus fell into a ‘murum’ soil mine pit on Tuesday night, the collector said.

“The bus carrying labourers fell into a ditch near Kumhari around 8.30 pm, resulting in the deaths of approximately 12 individuals while 14 others were injured and admitted to a hospital,” Choudhary told PTI.

She said the injured had been shifted to AIIMS (Raipur).

“Twelve of the injured were referred and shifted to AIIMS (Raipur), while the remaining two are receiving treatment at a private hospital. All of them are currently in stable condition and we are providing them with the best possible care,” she added.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

The local administration has launched a probe into the accident.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account to express his grief over the incident.

“I was saddened by the news of a bus, packed with employees of a private firm, meeting with an accident near Kumhari in Durg,” he said.

“I pray to the Almighty to bring peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved families. Adequate arrangements have been made for the treatment of the injured employees. I wish them a speedy recovery,” he added.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/chhattisgarh-12-workers-killed-as-bus-falls-into-ditch-in-durg-pm-narendra-modi-offers-condolences-101712707452706.html

The Bengaluru Police has lodged a case against unidentified people who allegedly duped a woman and made her stip on video call.

A woman in Bengaluru has lodged a complaint with the police, claiming that she was scammed by a group of people and was made to strip on a video call. The fraudsters also allegedly duped her of Rs 10 lakh.

In her complaint, the woman, who is a lawyer by profession, said she was contacted by some people on April 5 who claimed that they were officers with the customs department in Mumbai.

The fraudsters claimed that there was a drugs package in her name getting dispatched from Singapore and asked her to strip on video call for a ‘narcotics’ test, the woman said in her complaint.

This went on for two days following which the fraudsters started blackmailing the woman, saying they would upload the video online if she did not transfer Rs 10 lakh to their account.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/bengaluru/story/bengaluru-woman-made-to-strip-by-fraudsters-posing-as-custom-officers-2525268-2024-04-09

Somanath highlighted the importance of Chandrayaan-4 in propelling India’s lunar exploration ambitions. He stressed the necessity of ongoing exploration to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of landing an Indian on the moon by 2040.

During a press conference, Somanath highlighted the significance of Chandrayaan-4 in advancing India’s lunar exploration agenda. He emphasised that continuous exploration is essential for achieving the goal set forth by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of landing an Indian on the moon by 2040.

“Chandrayaan-4 is a concept that we are now developing as a continuation of the Chandrayaan series…our honourable Prime Minister has announced that an Indian will land on the moon in 2040. So, if that has to happen, we have to have continuous moon exploration of various kinds,” Somanath said.

“Chandrayaan-4 is the first step in the direction…to step a craft on the moon and collect sample and bring it back to Earth. It demonstrates the full cycle of going to the moon and coming back to Earth,” Somanath explained.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/a-step-closer-to-putting-astronaut-on-moon-isro-chief-s-somnath-on-chandrayaan-4-article-109177807

“I see the Indian support that started much before, years before October 7 and after October 7,” Moran expressed.

As the Israel-Hamas war completed its six months, Moran, a survivor of the October 7 attack, conveyed appreciation towards India and its people for their steadfast support during a challenging period.
Moran’s words reflect the profound bond shared between the two nations in times of adversity.

“I see the Indian support that started much before, years before October 7 and after October 7,” Moran expressed, highlighting the enduring nature of India’s solidarity, adding, “Thanks to Prime Minister Modi, all over the media. And we know that India is a true friend of Israel.”

Moran’s gratitude extended beyond governmental assistance, acknowledging the compassion and friendship displayed by the Indian populace. “I think it’s not just the Indian government. Thanks to the Indian people, who have always been and continue to be a good friend of ours,” Moran added, emphasising the collective support from India.

Acknowledging India’s role in amplifying Israel’s voice globally, Moran added, “Our voice cannot be everywhere. Everywhere. And we know that the Indian people are taking care of everything we need.”

“Thank you very much to the government, but for the people as well,” Moran expressed, encapsulating the depth of gratitude towards India’s unwavering support.

Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon too has said India has been very strong against terrorism from the first moment. He said that Israel is appreciative of the Indian government’s support since Hamas launched the attack on October 7.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/thanks-to-pm-modi-victim-of-october-7-attack-lauds-indian-support-for-israel-5401638

A viral video shows Seema Haider with a bruised lip and a swollen eye, sparking rumours of domestic abuse by her husband Sachin Meena.

Pakistani woman Seema Haider, who crossed the Indian border to meet and marry her lover Sachin Meena from Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, is once again in the news after a video showing her with injuries and bruises on her face went viral. The video shows Seema Haider with a swollen eye and a bruised lip, sparking rumours of domestic violence.

The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter), went viral on social media and sparked rumours that Seema Haider was being physically abused by her husband Sachin Meena.

However, Seema Haider’s lawyer AP Singh clarified that the video is “fake”. Releasing an official statement, AP Singh said the video of Seema Haider was artificially manipulated using AI, and was posted on social media by Pakistani YouTubers.

After probing the source of the video, the Noida Police also said that Seema Haider’s viral clip is a deepfake and she was not beaten up.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/seema-haider-assaulted-viral-video-shows-her-with-bruised-lip-eye-what-happened-101712621163830.html

The man who shot the dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar was killed by the Uttarakhand STF and Haridwar Police in an encounter.

The man who shot the dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar was killed by the Uttarakhand STF and Haridwar Police in an encounter, the state’s top cop told ANI news agency on Tuesday.

Baba Tarsem Singh was shot dead on March 28 on the shrine’s premises by Sarabjit Singh and Amarjit Singh, who came on a bike. The dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara was sitting in a chair when he was shot with a rifle by the shooter who was riding pillion.

While announcing Amarjit Singh’s death, Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar told ANI that his accomplice has fled and the authorities are searching for him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started election campaign in Madhya Pradesh by holding a road show in Jabalpur on Sunday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started election campaign in Madhya Pradesh by holding a road show in Jabalpur on Sunday.

During the PM’s roadshow, a large number of people were present on the road.

Half a dozen people were injured as a stage collapsed during a road show in Gorakhpur Jabalpur.

City superintendent of police HR Pandey said, “During the road show of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a welcome stage was erected on the roadside on Rampur-Gorakhpur road. As soon as the Prime Minister’s vehicle passed in front of the stage, people climbed on the stage to get a glimpse of him due to which the stage collapsed.”

“As soon as the Prime Minister’s convoy moved forward, the stage collapsed. Seven people were injured in this incident. Among the injured, four people including a girl and a policeman have suffered fractures in their hands and legs. Three women have received minor injuries. Due to this incident, there was chaos for some time during the road show. The security personnel immediately brought the situation under control,” CSP Pandey added.

During the road show, people were raising slogans of ‘Abki Baar 400 Paar’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. PM Modi greeted the crowd with folded hands.

Prime Minister Modi’s roadshow started from Bhagat Singh Square at 6.40 pm with religious chanting. During the roadshow, the PM was accompanied by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state government minister and local MLA Rakesh Singh and Lok Sabha candidate Ashish Dubey in the vehicle.

During the roadshow, a large number of people were present on the balcony and roof of the houses built on the roadside. At many places along the 1.2 km long route of the roadshow, women were seen performing traditional dance and Aarti of Prime Minister Modi. Posters with the slogan ‘Hamara Parivar Modi Parivar’ were also put up in the houses. A large number of banners and posters were sported on both sides of the road to welcome the Prime Minister.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/four-injured-after-stage-collapses-during-pm-modis-roadshow-in-jabalpur-report-101712506402279.html

According to the police, Dhananjay had visited the water park accompanied by four friends. Shortly after using the slide, he complained of trouble breathing and sat down.

Sanjay Maheshwari, who resides in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar and is the father of Dhananjay, shared that his son had gone out with his friends for an outing. Dhananjay’s friends supported his father’s statement, affirming that Dhananjay started experiencing breathing problems after he went down the slide.

Upon receiving notification of the incident, the police initiated an investigation. They visited both the hospital and the mall, gathering information and conducting inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Dhananjay’s death. His body was sent for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/city/noida/noida-man-dies-at-water-park-due-to-breathing-difficulties-after-slide-ride-article-109116828

JS Siddharth, a 20-year-old student at Kerala Veterinary University in Wayanad, died by suicide after enduring severe ragging and assault for 29 hours, according to the police.

JS Siddharth, the 20-year-old student who was found dead at Kerala Veterinary University in Wayanad on February 18, was subjected to severe ragging and was continuously assaulted for 29 hours, the state police said in their case file handed over to the CBI.

The CBI on Friday took over the investigation into the death of the second-year student and re-registered the FIR filed against 20 people.

According to the case details provided to the CBI, Siddharth was tortured by his seniors and classmates from 9 am on February 16 to 2 pm on February 17. He was assaulted using belts and was subjected to cruel ragging, physical attacks, and mental torture, the primary investigation details in the case file revealed.

“This made him in an utter stage of mental stress and feeling that he could neither continue studying at the institute and complete this course nor go home, dropping the course. As he was so mentally stressed, he felt that there was no option for him other than suicide, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of the men’s hostel on February 18,” the police file mentioned.

Siddharth was found dead on February 18 inside the hostel premises. His family has alleged that students linked to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the ruling party CPI(M)’s student wing, were behind the assault on the student.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/kerala/story/js-siddharth-student-kerala-veterinary-university-in-wayanad-suicide-death-cbi-police-2524395-2024-04-07

On the occasion, Secretary (Economic Relations) Dammu Ravi of the Ministry of External Affairs represented India at the 30th commemoration of the genocide in the Rwanda capital, Kigali.

The Qutub Minar was lit up with the colours of the Rwandan national flag on Sunday in solidarity with the people of the east-African nation in remembrance of the 100-day massacre that claimed the lives of 800,000 people in 1994.
On the occasion, Secretary (Economic Relations) Dammu Ravi of the Ministry of External Affairs represented India at the 30th commemoration of the genocide in the Rwanda capital, Kigali.

Sharing a post on X, the official spokesperson of MEA, Randhir Jaiswal, wrote, “In solidarity with the people of Rwanda, India lit up the Qutub Minar today, marking the UN International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.”

“Secy (ER) Dammu Ravi represented India at the 30th commemoration of the genocide today in Kigali,” the post read.

Rwanda marked 30 years of the genocide orchestrated by armed Hutu extremists, who tore apart the nation. The 1994 Rwanda Genocide (Kwibuka 30) is considered one of the bloodiest massacres of the 20th century.

According to Al Jazeera, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame led the commemoration on Sunday by placing wreaths on the mass graves in the country’s capital, Kigali. The event was flanked by several foreign dignitaries, including the South African leaders, as well as dignitaries from Ethiopia.

Former US President Bill Clinton was also present, who had called the genocide the biggest failure of his administration.

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel group captured Kigali in July 1994 after a 100-day killing spree that started on April 7, 1994, and claimed the lives of almost 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, according to Al Jazeera.

Notably, Dammu Ravi, the Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs (Economic Relations), is on a visit to Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya from April 7-12, accompanied by the Additional Secretary (East and Southern Africa), Puneet R Kundal.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-qutub-minar-illuminates-in-remembrance-of-rwanda-genocide-of-1994-5395830

Shashi Tharoor, the three-term Thiruvananthapuram MP, will face Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from here in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress’s three-term Thiruvananthapuram MP who has been retained by the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, on Sunday responded to BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar, accepting the Union minister’s “challenge” for an open debate.

Tharoor also took a jibe at the BJP, claiming that it was the saffron party that had been evading the debate.

“Yes, I welcome a debate. But the people of Thiruvananthapuram are aware of who has been evading a debate till now. Let us debate politics and development. Let us debate price hike, unemployment, corruption, communalism, and the BJP’s 10 years of propagating politics of hatred,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“Let us also discuss about the development of Thiruvananthapuram and the visible progress we have made in the last 15 years,” Tharoor added.

Blinkit, in partnership with Sony, is delivering the PlayStation 5 Slim edition in just ten minutes, which has triggered mixed reactions on social media.

Blinkit, in partnership with Sony, is delivering the PlayStation 5 Slim edition in just ten minutes. The gaming console was launched this month in India. However, the announcement by the popular grocery-delivery app has triggered mixed reactions on social media.

People have expressed their confusion over “why” there would be a need for such a quick delivery time for the console, while others have different opinions.

In a post on X on April 5, Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa said “Blinkit customers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru can now get the all new PlayStation 5 Slim editions and controllers delivered in 10 minutes.”

The PlayStation 5 Slim is available for Rs 54,990 in India, while the Digital Edition (Slim) costs Rs 44,990.

This post has sparked a debate on X, with users questioning whether there is actually a demand for ten-minute deliveries of gaming consoles.

“Why does one need a PS5 in 10 minutes,” a user asked in the comments section of the post. “Why someone needs a play station in 10 mins? What is the use case here,” another person echoed the same sentiment.

“No but I want to know what kind of rich people have such urgency to buy a PS5 in 10 minutes,” another person commented.

“Okay but why?” another said.

However, another section of the internet praised this initiative and expressed their thoughts in the comments section of the post.

“10-minute delivery is a service, not an urgency. The question is whether you need a PS5. Whether it’s a yes or no, it’d be delivered in 10 mins. That’s it,” one person said. “Because why not,” another person commented.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/blinkit-will-deliver-sony-playstation5-in-just-10-minutes-but-why-asks-internet-2523986-2024-04-06

A 120-foot-tall temple chariot collapsed at Anekal town near Bengaluru on Saturday, during the annual chariot fair of Huskur Madduramma temple.

The structure, built for a religious and cultural event, collapsed but narrowly missed hitting an electric pole and a group of devotees who quickly moved to safety.

Thousands of devotees, from over 10 villages, were participating in the annual temple fair when the incident occurred. No injuries were reported.

A video capturing the collapse of the chariot has since gone viral, showing the tense moment when the structure came crashing down.

The viral video shows the decorated structure, pulled by bulls, collapsing. It narrowly misses a large electric pole and kicks up dust, making some animals uneasy. Devotees were trying to raise the chariot using ropes tied to all sides when it lost balance and fell to the ground. Spectators can be seen running to safety in the footage.

The chariot was created for the Huskur Madduramma temple fair, an annual event. Every year, thousands of people come to Anekal for the festival, where the chariots are a big draw.

Source : https://www.news18.com/india/120-foot-tall-chariot-collapses-during-annual-fair-in-anekal-bengaluru-devotees-escape-unharmed-8842518.html

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at several locations in Delhi on Friday, in connection to child trafficking. During the raid, two newborn babies were rescued from a house in Keshavpuram area.

Currently, the woman who sold the children and the person who bought them in this case, are being interrogated, news agency ANI reported.

The central investigation agency has also detained some more people including a woman and their interrogation is underway.

Source : https://www.news18.com/india/delhi-child-trafficking-cbi-conduct-raids-rescues-two-newborn-babies-from-keshavpuram-8841799.html

The French national was given seat no 50H, and was reported to have been smoking during the journey and using the seat as a toilet.

Vistara Airlines filed a case against a 36-year-old male French national on April 4 at the Sahar police station for alleged smoking and misconduct on the flight. He was intoxicated at the time of the incident and has been granted bail on a sum of Rs30,000. The accused is an archaeologist, working in Indore for a few months.

Crew Seizes Cigarette From The Passenger

According to police, a Vistara Airlines (UK-024) flight from Paris landed at the Mumbai international airport, terminal V-13, at 9.19am on April 4. The French national was given seat no 50H, and was reported to have been smoking during the journey and using the seat as a toilet. The airline crew seized the cigarette and a lighter from him.

French Passenger Taken To Sahar Police Station

Upon landing, the Vistara crew informed the airport’s security department about the incident, requesting their presence at the landing point and handed over the accused to the security department. After completing the immigration process, the Vistara security officer took him to the Sahar police station and filed a case against him under the Indian Penal Code sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and Aircraft Rules section 25 (smoking in aircraft).

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-news-vistara-airlines-files-case-against-french-passenger-for-smoking-and-using-seat-as-toilet-during-flight

Saudi Arabia has scaled back its medium-term ambitions for the desert development of Neom, the biggest project within Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans for diversifying the oil-dependent economy, according to people familiar with the matter.

By 2030, the government at one point hoped to have 1.5 million residents living in The Line, a sprawling, futuristic city it plans to contain within a pair of mirror-clad skyscrapers. Now, officials expect the development will house fewer than 300,000 residents by that time, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Officials have long said The Line would be built in stages and they expect it to ultimately cover a 170-kilometer stretch of desert along the coast. With the latest pullback, though, officials expect to have just 2.4 kilometers of the project completed by 2030, the person familiar with the matter said, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information.

As a result, at least one contractor has started to dismiss a portion of the workers it employs on the site, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

Representatives for Neom and the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, the main entity that owns and is funding the project, declined to comment.

Crown Prince Mohammed intends for Neom, a $1.5 trillion development on the Red Sea coast, to be a showpiece that will transform his country’s economy and serve as a testbed for technologies that could revolutionize daily life. Along with The Line, Neom’s plans include an industrial city, ports and tourism developments. It’s also set to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029 at a mountain resort called Trojena.

To be sure, work is continuing on other parts of the broader Neom project and officials have maintained their overall objectives for The Line, people familiar with the matter said. For instance, another development within Neom that is turning an island in the Red Sea into a luxury tourist destination known as Sindalah is due to open this year.

The pullback on The Line comes as the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has yet to approve Neom’s budget for 2024, the people familiar with the matter said. It shows that the financial realities of the trillions of dollars of investment are starting to cause concern at the highest levels of the Saudi government as it tries to fulfill its ambitious Vision 2030 program, the overarching initiative tasked with diversifying the kingdom’s economy.

Already, officials have said that some of the projects outlined in that program will be delayed past 2030.

A longer period is needed to “build factories, build even sufficient human resources,” Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said in December. “The delay or rather the extension of some projects will serve the economy.”

Source : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-05/saudis-scale-back-ambition-for-1-5-trillion-desert-project-neom

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has questioned the timing and permissions of the NIA raids after a team of officials was attacked in Medinipur earlier today. The incident was condemned by the BJP.

Hours after a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was attacked in the Medinipur district of the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked why the team had arrived for raids post midnight. The Chief Minister also questioned if the team had the required permission to conduct raids at odd hours.

“Why did they conduct a raid in the middle of the night? Did they seek permission from the police? Locals reacted just like they would if any other stranger came to that place in the middle of the night,” Banerjee said.

Slamming the Centre, and drawing a reference to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Banerjee asked, “Why are they arresting people just before the elections? Does the BJP think they will arrest every booth agent? What authority does the NIA have? All of this is being done to support the BJP. We urge the world to fight against this dirty politics of the BJP.”

NIA officials were attacked by villagers in the Bhupatinagar area, where they had gone to investigate a 2022 bomb blast case.

Speaking to news agency PTI, a police official said a team of NIA officials earlier this morning arrested two persons in connection with the case and were on their way back to Kolkata when the vehicle came under attack.

“Locals gheraoed the vehicle and pelted stones at it. The NIA has said one of its officers was also injured, “a senior police official told PTI.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nia-team-attacked-in-west-bengal-mamata-banerjee-bjp-leaders-react-bengal-police-2524066-2024-04-06

The woman was assaulted a few days after her son eloped with a girl and married her. Reportedly, the girl’s family was not very happy with the marriage, and therefore, they assaulted the woman when she was alone at home. A video of the incident has also gone viral online.

Punjab News: A 55-year-old woman was assaulted and paraded naked by her son’s in-laws after he got married against their wishes. The incident took place in Punjab’s Valtoha village. This comes a few days after four women allegedly beat up, stripped, and paraded a 30-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district. The women were later arrested after a video of the incident went viral online.

Meanwhile, the victim’s son had eloped with a woman and married her against her family’s desire. A few days later, on March 31, when the victim’s mother was alone at her home, her son’s in-laws allegedly assaulted her and tore off her clothes.

They paraded her in the village in a semi-naked condition, according to the complaint filed by the victim. A purported video of the incident has also gone viral on social media and as many as five people have been booked in the matter. Three of the accused have been identified as Kulwinder Kaur Mani, Sharanjit Singh Shanni, and Gurcharan Singh, according to the police as quoted by PTI.

The complaint was filed on April 3 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 354D (stalking), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and no arrests have been made in the matter.

Source : https://english.jagran.com/india/woman-assaulted-paraded-seminaked-in-punjabs-valtoha-by-her-sons-inlaws-three-booked-10152541

The CJI urged the women lawyers to assert their position in the Bar Associations. “Come forward, contest elections and hold positions of responsibility,” he said.

The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud questioned the lack of female representation in the Bar Councils and Bar Associations across India.

CJI Chandrachud remarked that a lack of conducive environment for the election of women in the bodies representing lawyers was leading to a “perpetuation of an entrenched old boys club”.

He further said that though there was an unprecedented rise in the number of female lawyers, the same was not reflecting in the composition of the elected Bar Councils and Bar Associations.

“Even as the number of women lawyers is increasing at an unprecedented pace, this trend is not reflected in the composition of our elected Bar Associations, or even our Bar Councils. When there are no formal barriers to contesting elections, and the number of women lawyers is increasing, the question that arises is – ‘why are more women not contesting and winning elections to Bar Associations or Bar Councils?’” the CJI asked

He was speaking at the three-day centenary celebration of the High Court Bar Association at Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court where he also questioned the trend of bar association members commenting on pending cases and the judgments delivered by the courts.

In his speech, CJI Chandrachud also focused on the need for representation of women in the judiciary including the bar.

The CJI highlighted that there was not a single woman officer bearer in the Bar Council of India. Similarly, he said there was only one woman member in the Executive Committee of Supreme Court Bar Association.

Pertinently, he also referred to the 2021 report of Bar and Bench which had revealed that only 2.04 percent of the elected representatives across State Bar Councils from 21 states and union territories are women.

Source : https://www.barandbench.com/news/cji-dy-chandrachud-flags-low-representation-women-bar-bodies

AAP leader Gopal Rai a nationwide collective fast will be observed to garner maximum support fm the public for Arvind Kejriwal’s fight.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will observe a daylong fast today to mark their protest against the arrest of party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai announced on Saturday that the collective act of solidarity would include a congregation of supporters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and Khatkar Kalan in Punjab, the ancestral village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, where AAP leaders and party workers would undertake a mass fast.

“Simultaneously, in 25 states across India and key international hubs including New York, Boston, Toronto, Washington DC, Melbourne, and London, supporters will extend their support to Kejriwal through community fasting,” Rai said at a press conference.

Rai urged those opposed to Kejriwal’s arrest and “who want to save the country’s democracy” to participate in collective fasts across various locations, including homes, villages, neighbourhoods, block headquarters, tehsils, districts, and state capitals. He also encouraged people to collectively pray or listen to the devotional song “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” on YouTube, expressing solidarity with Kejriwal.

“You can sing it collectively. Together, we will pray for Kejriwal to receive strength and fight against tyranny while he is in jail. We can fight to bring the truth to light,” he added.

People holding fast to protest Kejriwal’s arrest have been asked to send pictures to the website kejriwalkoaashirvaad.com.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by Enforcement Directorate last month in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. He has been sent to judicial custody till April 15. Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar jail along with his former cabinet minister Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been demanding Kejriwal’s resignation as Delhi chief minister. The Enforcement Directorate also opposed the plea moved by Kejriwal before a city court for more time with his lawyer, saying special privileges cannot be extended to him merely because he wants to run the government from inside the jail.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kejriwals-arrest-aaps-collective-fast-today-congregation-at-jantar-mantar-khatkar-kalan-101712450993309.html

Reacting to Sarma’s statement, Assam Congress spokesperson said that a turncoat like him wouldn’t understand the party’s secular and inclusive ethos.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday attacked the Congress party over its poll manifesto, saying that it was more appropriate for elections in neighbouring Pakistan than for India. Sarma said the manifesto was targeted at dividing society.

“This is politics of appeasement and we condemn it. The manifesto feels like it is not for elections in Bharat but for Pakistan,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an election rally in Jorhat constituency. The Assam CM said that no one in the country, neither Hindus nor Muslims, wanted the revival of triple talaq or supported child marriage or polygamy. “The mentality of the Congress is to divide the society and come to power,” the BJP leader said.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Assam CM’s statement, Assam Congress spokesperson Bedabrata Bora said that a turncoat like Sarma would not be able to understand the party’s secular and inclusive ethos and asserted that its manifesto aims to safeguard the interests of all sections of society.

“Sarma had been in the Congress for several years but he could not understand the main ethos of the party. That is why he went to the BJP. Even after being in the BJP for some time now, he still tries to defame Congress to prove his loyalty to the saffron party,” Bora told PTI.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/himanta-biswa-sarma-says-congress-manifesto-is-for-elections-in-pakistan-party-responds-101712451941479.html

India has dismissed Canada’s allegations of its interference in Canadian elections, calling it “baseless” and said that Ottawa instead, was meddling in New Delhi’s internal affairs.

India has strongly rejected as “baseless” allegations of its interference in the Canadian general elections and has claimed that Ottawa was, instead, meddling in New Delhi’s internal affairs.

India’s hard-hitting response, which was made in February, came after a Canadian media report claimed that India and Pakistan attempted to “interfere” in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections in Canada, the country’s spy agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), alleged. It also came amid the ongoing diplomatic row between both countries over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

Canada’s federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference is looking to examine claims of election interference by India in 2019 and 2021, according to the country’s media reports.

Responding to the reports, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission inquiring into. We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections.”

“It is not the government of India’s policy to interfere in the democratic processes of other countries. In fact, quite on the reverse, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs,” he said.

WHAT DOES CANADA’S SPY AGENCY DOCUMENTS CLAIM?

Unclassified documents by the CSIS alleging election interference were tabled as part of the Federal Commission of Inquiry examining “possible meddling” by India, China, Russia and other countries in the 2019 and 2021 elections, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

The CSIS, in its documents, alleged that the Indian government in 2021 had “intended to interfere and likely conducted clandestine activities”, including using an Indian government proxy agent in Canada.

Two years earlier, in 2019, “Government of Pakistan officials in Canada attempted to clandestinely influence Canadian federal politics with the aim of furthering the Government of Pakistan’s interests in Canada,” the CSIS claimed.

In 2021, the spy agency alleged, that the Indian government’s foreign interference activities “were centred on a small number of electoral districts”.

The CSIS documents claimed that the Indian government targeted those electoral districts due to New Delhi’s perception that “a portion of Indian-Canadian voters were sympathetic to the Khalistani movement or pro-Pakistan political stances”.

The CSIS has amassed “a body of intelligence” that indicates a government of India “proxy agent may have attempted to interfere in democratic processes” by providing illegal financial support to pro-Indian candidates, the document said.

“Any such financial contribution could have remained unknown to the candidate,” CSIS said, without identifying the specific electoral districts or candidates that may have been subject to India’s alleged meddling in 2021.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-canada-interference-federal-elections-diplomatic-row-justin-trudeau-khalistani-hardeep-nijjar-2524015-2024-04-06

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had on March 22 declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act unconstitutional. This verdict has been stayed by the top court.

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad High Court’s recent decision to declare the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 unconstitutional [Anjum Kadari and anr vs Union of India and ors].

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the stay order on finding that the High Court’s views on the matter appeared to be, prima facie, incorrect.

“The object and purpose of Madarasa Board is regulatory in nature and Allahabad High Court is not prima facie correct that establishment of Board will breach secularism. It (High Court judgment) conflates madrasa education with the regulatory powers entrusted with the Board … The impugned judgment shall remain stayed,” the top court said.

In its interim order, the Court also noted that the High Court appears to have misconstrued the provisions of the Madarsa Act, since it does not provide only for religious instruction.

The purpose and nature of the Act is regulatory in nature, the top court added.

The Court added that even if the petition before the High Court (which had challenged the Act’s validity) was meant to ensure that secular education is provided at madrasas, the remedy was not to strike down the Madarsa Act.

“The State has a legitimate public interest to ensure all students get quality education which makes them qualified enough to pursue a dignified existence. Whether this purpose will require jettisoning the 2004 Act merits serious consideration,” the Court further observed.

Notably, the Court also recorded the State’s submission that it would accept the High Court’s judgment in the matter.

All the same, the top court proceeded to stay the operation of the High Court judgment until the matter is considered further.

“The High Court, while striking down the Act, has ordered that (madrasa) students will be relocated by the State. This will impinge on future of education for all the 17 lakh children. We are of the view that this direction was not prima facie warranted,” the Court added, before staying the High Court’s judgment.

The bench was hearing an appeal challenging the High Court’s March 22 decision to strike down the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 as unconstitutional.

Senior advocates AM Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi, Huzefa Ahmadi, Menaka Guruswamy and Salman Kurshid appeared for the appellants today and highlighted that the judgment would affect around 17 lakh students and 16,000 madrasas in Uttar Pradesh.

Singhvi argued that it was wrong to term the education being imparted in madrasas as only being religious educations or to halt the functioning of such schools on such a ground.

“Today there are famous gurukuls because they are doing good work. Even my father has a degree from one of them. So should we shut them and say it is Hindu religious education? What is this? Is this ground to strike down a 100 year old regime? … Just because I teach Hindu religion, Islam etc that does not mean religious instruction and it was clearly held in the Aruna Roy judgment of this court,” he argued.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi also relied on the Aruna Roy judgment to urge the top court to stay the High Court’s verdict.

“Education under Entry 25 does not eschew religious education. Please stay the judgment,” he said.

“17 lakh students will have to be shifted across schools in Uttar Pradesh and they will go from different districts etc.. How will this situation be salvaged?” Rohatgi added.

The submissions made by the appellants were opposed by senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar, who appeared for the lawyer who had filed the petition challenging the Act before the High Court.

“It is being shown that other subjects are being taught at par with religious subjects. But it is other way around. Students of class 10 do not have the option to study science, maths, humanities separately. Thus there is a straight Constitutional bar under Article 28(1) and they concede before the High Court that religious instruction is being imparted,” Krishnakumar argued.

Additional Solicitor General, KM Natraj, meanwhile, said that the State of Uttar Pradesh has accepted the High Court judgment and would not be defending the validity of the 2004 Act.

“Yes, the State is not defending it (the Madarsa Act). They (students from madrasas) all will be accommodated in the normal schools. The State is competent to repeal the legislation as well. The matter requires consideration then I am not coming in the way,” he said.

Attorney General K Venkataramani informed the Court that the Central government had not supported the validity of the Act before the High Court either.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/supreme-court-stays-allahabad-high-court-judgment-madarsa-act

Canada’s spy agency alleged that countries like India and Pakistan attempted to interfere in the country’s elections in 2019 and 2021.

The Canadian spy agency has alleged that India and Pakistan had tried to “interfere” in Canada’s federal elections in the 2019 and 2021 general elections, reported a media report on Friday.

An unclassified summary by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) alleging the interference was tabled as part of the Federal Commission of Inquiry examining possible meddling by China, India, Russia and others in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Indian government has strongly rejected as “baseless” allegations of its interference in Canadian elections and asserted that the core issue has been Ottawa’s meddling in New Delhi’s internal affairs.

“We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission enquiring into …We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi in February.

During a press briefing in February, Jaiswal said, “We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission enquiring into …We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections.”

“It is not the government of India’s policy to interfere in the democratic processes of other countries. In fact, quite on the reverse, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs,” he added.

What did the CSIS report say?
A document by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that the Federal Commission of Inquiry is examining the possible interference of foreign nations like India, Pakistan, China and Russia in the country’s elections in 2019 and 2021.

In 2021, the government of India had “intent to interfere and likely conducted clandestine activities,” including using an Indian government proxy agent in Canada, the CSIS alleged in the documents.

The Canadian spy agency further alleged that the Indian government in 2021 ran foreign interference activities that “were centred on a small number of electoral districts.”

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-reacts-allegations-of-interference-in-canadas-elections-baseless-101712365613421.html

Social activist Sonam Wangchuk has called for a march on April 7, which is expected to attract a large crowd in Leh

The administration in Ladakh on Friday decided to impose Section 144 in Leh district ahead of the proposed “Pashmina March” towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Sunday in support of the Sixth schedule and statehood.

The police also ordered for temporary suspension and downing of speed of the mobile data service in Leh.

Social activist Sonam Wangchuk has called for a march on April 7, which is expected to attract a large crowd. The apex body of Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance, along with Wangchuk, have been holding fasts and agitation demanding Sixth schedule and statehood for the UT. The body held several rounds of talks with central government, which remained inconclusive.

In an order, Leh district magistrate Santosh Sukhdeva that he had got reliable inputs of apprehension of breach of peace and public tranquillity in the district from senior superintendent of police of Leh and wanted it immediately prevented.

Exercising the powers vested in him under Section 144 of the CrPC, 1973, the DM said, “There shall be no procession, rally, march etc. taken out by anyone without the prior approval from the Leh district magistrate, in writing. No one should use vehicles mounted or other loudspeakers without prior approval from the competent authority.”

The order said no public gathering without the prior approval of the competent authority shall be allowed and no one shall make any statements, which have potential to disturb the communal harmony, public tranquillity and which may lead to law and order problems in the district.

The order said action will be taken against violators.”All the persons shall ensure that they follow the model code of conduct and that all the activities are according to the law. Any violation of the order shall invite punitive action under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code,” the order said.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/section-144-imposed-in-leh-ahead-of-sonam-wangchuk-s-pashmina-march-101712341067045.html

Indian officials have dismissed a media report that said the Indian government orchestrated killings of individuals in Pakistan as part of a bid to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.

Officials familiar with the developments told CNN-News18 that the article by British daily The Guardian is “false and fabricated”, and designed to malign the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They accused Pakistan’s notorious spy agency of carrying out the assassinations.

They stressed that when India says “we will eliminate terrorists by entering their homes”, it only refers to tensions in the border region and eliminating terrorists there who pose a threat to India’s sovereignty.

The Guardian, citing unnamed intelligence officials, mentioned almost 20 killings since 2020 which have been carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan. The report said the assassinations increased significantly in 2023. That year, seven terrorists – most wanted in India – were killed in Pakistan by unknown miscreants.

“This policy of Indian agents organising killings in Pakistan hasn’t been developed overnight. We believe they have worked for around two years to establish these sleeper cells in the UAE who are mostly organising the executions. After that, we began witnessing many killings,” a Pakistani official told The Guardian.

The report suggested India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) developed a sleeper cell in the UAE, and orchestrated the killings from there. In order to carry out the assassinations, the article said, Indian officials gave big amounts of money to poor Pakistanis — and, on occasions, got the job done by jihadists who were made to feel that they were killing “infidels”.

Analysts feel Pakistan has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge the killings as most of the targets are known terrorists and associates of banned militant groups that Islamabad has long denied sheltering, the report said.

Defence expert Sanjay Kulkarni told News18 that the Indian government does not operate in such ways. “These are false allegations. All these killings happened as part of a local gang war. These have nothing to do with the Indian government,” Kulkarni said.

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/indian-govt-ordered-killings-in-pakistan-as-part-of-bid-to-eliminate-terrorists-says-guardian-report-citing-intel-sources-8840097.html