QBullet: Modicare to Cost Rs 12K Cr Per Yr; Bofors Case Re-Opened
Here’s a roundup of the top stories of the day.
1. Despite AG Advice, CBI Moves SC to Re-Open Bofors Case
Days after the Attorney General advised the government against filing a special leave petition in a case related to the Bofors scandal, the CBI Friday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the 31 May 2005 verdict of the Delhi High Court which gave a clean chit to the Hinduja brothers. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi too had been named an accused, but was exonerated in 2004 in the alleged payoffs case.
The CBI attributed the delay in filing the SLP against the 2005 High Court order to the then (UPA) government’s refusal to grant it permission to approach the court.
Last September, The Indian Express reported that the CBI, in a note to the Central Agency Section of the Department of Legal Affairs (Ministry of Law and Justice) on 22 June 2017, said it had not challenged Justice RS Sodhi’s 2005 order since it had not been granted permission from the “competent authority”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. In Second-Biggest Post-Budget Day Loss, Sensex Dives 840 Pts
The reintroduction of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax sent Dalal Street on a selling spree on Friday, as the Sensex crashed 840 points (2.3 percent), its second sharpest post-Budget day fall ever by points, and closed just a tad above 35K.
Bond yields rose on fears that the government might not be able to manage the fiscal deficit target, which also affected investor sentiment on the stock market.
After plunging to a low of 35,006 points in late trades, the Sensex closed at 35,067 while the Nifty lost 256 points to close at 10,761. The day’s session left investors poorer by Rs 4.6 lakh crore, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 153.7 lakh crore. In terms of market cap loss, it was the fifth-worst day for Indian investors.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Health Scheme to Cost Rs 12,000 Cr Every Year
Describing the National Health Protection Scheme (or Modicare, as some are calling it) as the precursor to universal health coverage in the country, Niti Aayog said it will need Rs 12,000 crore every year to cover 100 million poor households (and 500 million individuals).
The scheme is likely to be rolled out on Independence Day, 15 August, or on Gandhi Jayanti, 2 October, this year.
“Around Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for the scheme, but eventually, the states will have to implement it with help from the Centre. The Centre will bear 60% of the cost, and 40 percent will be borne by the states,” said JP Nadda, Union health minister.
The additional Rs 11,000 raised from increasing the education and health cess from 3 percent to a 4 percent will be also used to fund NHPS.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. A DG in UP Pledges to Build Ram Temple in Ayodhya Earliest
AN IPS officer heading the Uttar Pradesh Home Guard has been captured on video taking a pledge to work for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya “as soon as possible”.
The video comes days after the state government drew flak over the failure to control communal clashes in Kasganj, where a 22-year-old man was killed.
The video, purportedly shot during an event at Lucknow University on 28 January, shows Surya Kumar Shukla, Director General, Home Guard, as saying: “Aaj is karyakram ke dauran, hum sab ye sankalp lete hain ke jaldse jald Ram Mandir ka bhavya nirmaan ho… Jai Shri Ram (Today, at this programme, all of us take a pledge that the Ram temple is built as soon as possible… Jai Shri Ram).”
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Loya Death Case: Plea Says Judges Differ, SC Says Will See Evidence
The petitioners demanding an independent probe into the death of CBI Special Judge BH Loya in 2014 claimed in the Supreme Court Friday that there were contradictions in the statements of four judges recorded by Maharashtra police in the matter.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud told senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the Bombay Lawyers Association that it was “considering the evidence” put forth by him.
However, the bench said that the way “sometimes individuals including some good ones react in a calamity, someone else may feel they could have reacted differently, but their conduct cannot be said to have a bearing on the truth.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Girl’s Father Slits Her Lover’s Throat on Busy Delhi Street
In a brazen act of “honour” killing in the national capital, a 23-year-old photographer was stabbed and his throat slit on a busy street in west Delhi’s Raghuveer Nagar on Thursday evening, allegedly by the father of the 20-year-old girl he was to marry shortly.
The victim, Ankit Saxena, was kicked and punched repeatedly by the girl’s father and uncle before the former stabbed him and slit his throat using a chopper and a knife while her two other relatives held his arms, police said. Ankit’s mother, who came to his rescue, was attacked by the girl’s mother.
Police have arrested the girl’s father, uncle and mother for the murder. They have been sent to Tihar jail after being produced in court, according to DCP (West) Vijay Kumar.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Hurriyat’s Big Four Not in NIA’s Terror-Funding Charge Sheet
The January chargesheet of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the terror funding case that names Lashkar-e-Tayyaba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin also points to links between them and the top leadership of several Kasmiri separatist groups that are part of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Asiya Andrabi and Shabbir Shah.
However, the chargesheet doesn’t charge the Hurriyat leaders despite highlighting their role in conspiracies to attack Indian security forces in the valley and in instigating young people there to resort to violence.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. CBI Files Charges Against Hooda, 33 Others in Manesar Land Case
Senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, three of his former aides, and a number of real estate firms were charged on Friday with criminal conspiracy, fraud and corruption by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a decade-old case alleging a land scam in Manesar and other villages in Gurgaon.
The 80,000-page document names ML Tayal, who was principal secretary during the Hooda-led Congress regime (2005-09); Chhatar Singh, who was then an additional principal secretary and also served on the Union Public Service Commission; and SS Dhillon, the then director for town and country planning, among the 34 accused.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. SC Says it Can't Make Sexual Assault Crimes Gender Neutral
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition to declare the offences of rape, sexual assault, outraging of modesty, voyeurism and stalking as gender-neutral, saying they were meant to protect women, and only the Parliament can change the law.
“These provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) are affirmative provisions to protect women. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act is gender-neutral as it takes care of a child up to 18 years. But these sections protect women and stand on a different footing,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra told petitioner, advocate Rishi Malhotra, who asked the court to examine the validity of the sections on the same ground as it has agreed to hear a case against adultery.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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