QBullet: Trump Slams Pak for Terrorism; Triple Talaq in RS Today
Read The Quint’s morning news wrap of the important stories from the previous day.
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1. US Foolishly Gave Aid to Pakistan for 15 Years, They Gave Us Only Lies and Deceit: Donald Trump
In what is arguably the most severe public indictment ever of Pakistan by a US President, Donald Trump on Monday said that his country has “foolishly” given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years and has got nothing in return but “lies and deceit”.
Posting his first tweet of 2018, Trump wrote: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
Trump’s tweet was posted at 5.42 pm IST on Monday, and retweeted by more than 14,200 Twitter accounts and liked by more than 34,000 within an hour.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Instant Triple Talaq Bill in Rajya Sabha, All Eyes Now on Congress
The opposition, led by Congress, holds the aces as the Rajya Sabha takes up the bill on instant triple talaq this week amid questions whether the legislation would be held up for parliamentary scrutiny or become law.
The Left parties, which have held consultations with Congress over the last week, have announced that they will demand that "The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, be referred to a select committee".
(Source: Times of India)
3. Pulwama CRPF Camp Attack: Valley Encounter Ends, Afzal Guru 'Badla' Was Inscribed on Gun Seized
The 37-hour gunfight, triggered by the fidayeen attack by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad militants on Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) training centre in south Kashmir, ended on Monday morning with the killing of a third militant.
On Sunday, five paramilitary personnel and two militants were killed. A video, recorded before the attack, by one of the slain militants also surfaced on social networking sites.
“The operation continued throughout the night. One of the militants who was hiding was killed and the operation was concluded,” Special DG, CRPF, S N Srivastava said. “Since it is a big campus and there are a large number of buildings, search operation is going on. We want to discount chances of anybody hiding there. Though the chances (of any militant hiding) are bleak, we want to be doubly sure”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Fog Hits Delhi Airport Operations 2nd Day in a Row, Over 300 Flights Affected
Dense fog continued to hit flight schedules for a second consecutive day at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Monday leaving thousands of passengers stranded for long hours on New Year’s. Around 300 flights were affected after the operations were suspended for five hours in the morning due to low visibility.
Hundreds of passengers were seen stranded outside boarding gates on Monday as officials said at least 29 flights were cancelled, one was diverted, while the rest were delayed. The situation was worse at Terminal 1 as it has already been operating beyond capacity and is in need of expansion.
The departure terminals, meanwhile, faced the larger share of the delays and congestion as low visibility forced take-offs to be halted for five hours.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Doctors Unite Against Bill
Doctors have buried their differences over medical governance to unite behind a call by the Indian Medical Association for a 12-hour shutdown of outpatient consultations on Tuesday to protest against a bill for a new medical regulatory structure.
Several doctors who have long aired concerns about corruption and unethical practices in medicine and demanded changes in governance have aligned themselves with the IMA call to doctors to provide only emergency and critical care services from 6 am to 6 pm on 2 January.
Senior officials of the IMA, the nation's largest body of doctors, on Monday repeated their shutdown call after what they said was an "unsuccessful meeting" with Union health minister JP Nadda and his officials to discuss the bill, tabled in Parliament on Friday.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Govt Appoints Vijay Keshav Gokhale as Foreign Secretary
Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale was on Monday appointed foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term, succeeding S Jaishankar who completes his tenure on 28 January, according to an official order.
Gokhale, a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), was India’s envoy to China.
He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
(Source: PTI)
7. India, Pak Share List of Prisoners
India on Monday reiterated its demand for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and Hamid Nehal Ansari, both currently in custody in Pakistan, as the two countries exchanged lists of prisoners being held in each other’s jails.
Jadhav is currently on death row after a Pakistani military court gave him capital punishment for alleged involvement in espionage. Ansari, who was arrested after he illegally entered Pakistan in 2012 to meet a woman he befriended on social media, was given a three-year prison term by a military court that will end in December.
“We also await consular access to those Indian nationals in Pakistan’s custody for whom it has so far not been provided, including Kulbhushan Jadhav and Hamid Nehal Ansari,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Rajinikanth Launches Website, Requests People to Join Him to Create a New Tamil Nadu
A day after announcing his decision to enter politics, superstar Rajinikanth on Monday launched a website to help his followers register their names in the All India Rajinikanth Fans Association. The actor appealed to his followers to join him to create a new Tamil Nadu.
"I thank all my fans and public for giving their support after I announced that I am ready to enter politics. I request all my fans who have not registered their names in any of the fan clubs to register their names on the website www.rajinimandram.org. Others who want a better politics can also register," said Rajinikanth in a press release and in a video uploaded on social media.
Those interested to register their names should also register their voter number either on a mobile app or on the above mentioned website, the release said.
(Source: Times of India)
9. New Year Will See New Equations in Rajya Sabha, BJP to Be Single-Largest Party
The new year will see a major rejig in numbers in Rajya Sabha following biennial polls and fresh Presidential nominations. The BJP is set to take its tally to at least 67, emerging as the single-largest party in a House of 245. And the ruling NDA will have 98 seats.
The Opposition Congress, which is currently evenly placed with the BJP at 57, may slide to 48 by July. The aggregate of the Congress and its allies will reduce from 72 to 63.
(Source: The Indian Express)