QBullet: Farmers to Protest in Delhi; Govt on Imran Khan’s Speech
QBullet: India Win 1st Hockey WC Match; Farmers to Hold Protest
1. Imran Khan Politicising ‘Pious’ Event, Says Govt on Pak PM’s Kartarpur Pitch
Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership are united in desiring better relations with India although Kashmir remains the key issue between the two sides, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday, 28 November, cautioning that war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was simply not an option .
Addressing a gathering that included Indian ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri after the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pakistani section of the Kartarpur corridor, Khan said “determined leadership” is needed in both countries to settle the Kashmir issue.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Mizoram Elections 2018: 21 Yrs On, Brus Refugees Cast Vote For ‘Change’
Tripura-settled Bru refugees who had fled violence in their native Mizoram 21 years ago, set foot in their native place for the first time in two decades to participate in Mizoram’s state assembly polls on Wednesday, 28 November.
Bru refugees voted at 15 polling booths at Kahnmun in Mamit district of Mizoram, close to the border. Of the 11,987 registered Bru voters, 56.46% voted.
A day before the poll, Bru voters sounded dissatisfied with the polling stations in Kanhmun village along the Mizo-Tripura border. But to everyone's surprise, even veteran Bru voters and nursing mothers were seen standing in long queues to exercise their franchise for ‘change’ in their lives.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Left-Backed Farmer Outfits to Hold Protest in Delhi Today
Farmers from various parts of the country are set to converge here under the aegis of a Left-backed organisation to participate in a two-day protest from Thursday, 29 November, to press their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for produce.
The two-day rally will be “one of the largest congregations of farmers” in the national capital in recent times, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) claimed on Wednesday, 28 November.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. 74.61% Voter Turnout in Madhya Pradesh, Congress Complains of Faulty EVMs
Complaints of malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and sporadic incidents of violence marred polling day in Madhya Pradesh, which recorded a voter turnout of 74.61%, as of 10pm Wednesday, 28 November.
The figure may be higher, as the voting time was extended in 250 polling booths. In 2013, the voter turnout was 72.13%.
The Congress complained of malfunctioning EVMs and delayed polling with state Congress chief Kamal Nath demanding a re-poll in booths where EVMs had malfunctioned. Campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote to chief election commissioner OP Rawat complaining about delayed voting and faulty EVMs.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. India Start Hockey World Cup With 5-0 Hammering of South Africa
India scored two goals in the first quarter but then seemed to lose their way a bit in the second. That was also period when South Africa applied pressure but a goal by Simranjeet Singh at the end of a counter-attack seemed to open a floodgate of sorts. India pumped another before the hooter blew to mark the end of the third quarter and added another just seconds into the fourth.
It was the kind of start that India were expected to get off to considering South Africa are not particularly known for its hockey as opposed to the country’s status in games like cricket or rugby. The hosts’ next match is against Belgium, who beat Canada 2-1 earlier in the day, and that will be played on Sunday, 2 December.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. ‘India Never Hit 9% Phase Under UPA’
India never hit the 9% ‘high-growth’ phase in the years of UPA I and II as was earlier believed, according to new back series GDP data released by the government on 28 November.
The data also show that India’s recovery from the global financial crisis took longer than previously thought.
The government in 2015 changed the methodology to Gross Value Added (GVA) from the earlier GDP and brought forward the base year for computation to 2011-12 from 2004-05. The back series release on Wednesday, 28 November, provides the growth estimates for previous years using the new methodology.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Air India Plane Hits Building at Stockholm Airport, No Injuries Reported
An Air India aircraft, carrying 179 passengers, had a close shave after it hit a building at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport with its wingtip as it was taxing on Wednesday, 28 November, AFP reported. However, no injuries were reported.
“The 179 passengers could disembark from the plane on a mobile staircase and thereafter enter the terminal,” AFP quoted a police statement. The cause of the accident was not immediately known, police said. The accident occurred about 50 meters from Terminal 5, the main terminal for international flights.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Prohibitory Orders in Sabarimala Will Stay: CM
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, 28 November, categorically ruled out withdrawing prohibitory orders currently in force in key spots in Sabarimala saying it had been enforced to differentiate between genuine devotees and troublemakers.
Replying to the Opposition demand in the Assembly seeking leave for an adjournment motion on Sabarimala, Vijayan said the government could not be a mute spectator to attempts of a section claiming to be devotees to block genuine worshippers from trekking to the sacred hill shrine.
(Source: The Hindu)
9. Death Penalty Freakishly Imposed: Justice Kurian
Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, 28 November, said the courts had been imposing the death penalty “arbitrarily and freakishly” all these years.
The dissent from within the very corridors of the Supreme Court comes almost four decades after a Constitution Bench upheld capital sentencing as a punishment under the law. A Constitution Bench in the Bachan Singh case in 1980, however, added a rider that judges should award the punishment only in the “rarest of rare category” of cases.
(Source: The Hindu)
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