QBullet: BJP Storm Coming, Says Modi; Collegium Meet on KJ Joseph
Catch the top stories of the day on QBullet.
1. Modi Begins K’Taka Campaign Blitz, Says BJP ‘Storm’ Coming
Starting a whirlwind five-day, 15-rally push to get the BJP over the halfway mark in the Karnataka Assembly, PM Modi said on Tuesday, 1 May, that he saw a “storm,” not a “wave,” in favour of his party, targeted the state government for corruption, and ridiculed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for what he termed a “2+1” strategy of contesting two constituencies even while handing over his own to his son.
Modi also highlighted his government’s achievements, including the latest one of electrifying all villages in the country, in one of the three rallies he addressed on Tuesday.
Most opinion polls have predicted a hung Assembly, with neither the Congress nor the BJP achieving a simple majority, leaving former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) in the position of deciding who forms the next government in the state.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. How Congress Has Shifted Its Strategy to Attack PM Modi by Name
In his last two major political speeches, Congress president Rahul Gandhi named and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attack 99 times over a stretch of 65 minutes.
Congress leaders say the aggressive attack reflects a conscious shift in strategy. Until a year ago, the Congress had treaded cautiously in referring to Modi.
The party has concluded that the 2019 general election must be projected as a Modi vs Gandhi contest, something it had hitherto shied away from.
Launching a ‘Save the Constitution’ campaign from New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium on 23 April, Gandhi mentioned Modi by name 47 times in a 30-minute speech, attacking him on a range of issues, from his “silence” on the issue of corruption to the alleged atrocities committed on Dalits, women and minorities.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Delhi World’s Most Polluted, Mumbai Worse Than Beijing
The Indian capital has once again been found to be the world’s most polluted city and Mumbai is fourth, according to air quality data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) for megacities with a population of 14 million or more.
An analysis of particulate matter in the air showed about 90 percent of people across the world are exposed to bad air, which was linked to 7 million deaths in 2016, WHO found.
Globally, ambient air pollution — caused by industries, cars and trucks, among others, caused 4.2 million deaths and indoor pollution caused 3.8 million deaths in 2016.
The analysis shows many smaller towns and cities in India also report pollution levels comparable to Delhi; the sheer population of Delhi, home to over 17 million people, compounds the health impact of air pollution.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Collegium to Meet on Justice Joseph Today
The five-member collegium headed by CJI Dipak Misra will meet on Wednesday, 2 May, to decide on Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph’s appointment as Supreme Court judge, even as a retired district judge has moved the apex court with a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to immediately appoint Joseph as an apex court judge.
The collegium will consider the letter of Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad listing the reasons behind the Centre’s decision to seek reconsideration of the proposal to appoint Joseph as an SC judge.
The petitioner, retired district judge GD Inamdar, said the Centre’s decision to return the collegium’s recommendation on Justice Joseph smacked of political interference in the working of the judiciary and appeared to be a brazen intrusion into independence of judiciary.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Present Situation in Supreme Court Disastrous: Former Chief Justice RM Lodha
Former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha on Tuesday, 1 May, described the prevailing situation in the Supreme Court, where the top five judges appear to disagree on important issues such as allotment of cases, as “disastrous” and suggested “collective leadership” as a remedy to tide over the crisis.
Justice Lodha also called on Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra to “show statesmanship” and “take all judges together.”
“Undoubtedly, the Chief Justice of India is the master of the roster, but does it mean he can do whatever he wants? The allocation of cases has to be fair and in the interest of the institution,” Justice Lodha said at a function to release veteran journalist and former Union minister Arun Shourie’s latest book, Anita Gets Bail.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Aadhaar Not Must for Mobile SIM, Says Govt
Here’s some good news for consumers struggling to get a mobile phone SIM without an Aadhaar card. The government has ordered operators to accept alternative identification documents such as driving licence, passport and voter ID card.
Mobile companies have been asked to follow the instructions “immediately” so that consumers are not inconvenienced, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said.
“The ministry has issued instructions to all telecom companies asking them not to deny SIM card to any individual who does not have an Aadhaar number. We have asked them to accept other forms of KYC (know your customer) documents and continue to issue SIM cards,” Sundararajan told TOI.
While the Telecom Ministry insisted that it had given such instructions only after observations of the Supreme Court in the Lokniti Foundation case, the top court recently clarified that it had not given any such orders.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Rajasthan Allots Land for BJP Offices, Congress Says Rules Flouted
The Vasundhara Raje government’s move to allot land in 25 of the state’s 33 districts to the BJP for setting up party offices has spiralled into a controversy with the opposition Congress claiming the allotments are being made at concessional rates, facilitating a “land-grab,” even as the BJP and the state government insist the allotments are above board, and paid for.
State Congress president Sachin Pilot said the BJP has gone about the land allotment in a clandestine manner and in violation of regulations. “They are grabbing prime land at concessional rates. They have changed land use at several places. This is misuse of office.”
“There has been no political pressure. The party has acquired land legally by paying the right price and there has been no loss to the state exchequer,” said the party’s media head in the state, Anand Sharma.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Couple Thrashed for Hugging in Kolkata Metro, Locals Stage Protest
In a shocking incident of ‘moral policing,’ a young couple travelling on the Kolkata Metro were reportedly harassed and thrashed by some of their co-passengers for “being too close” after they boarded a train late on Monday, 30 April.
It all began after some elderly co-passengers objected to their “intimacy in public,” leading to a heated argument. The young couple was reportedly bombarded with embarrassing questions followed by punches, kicks and slaps inside a station once they deboarded the train.
“Unfortunately, no complaint has been lodged as yet and this makes it very difficult to conduct an inquiry,” Kolkata Metro Railway CPRO Indrani Banerjee said, adding that the Metro was “against moral policing.”
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Soon, Use Broadband to Call Landline, Mobile Numbers
Soon, you'll be able to latch on to your home or office WiFi broadband to make calls to mobile phones as well as landlines, with the government on Tuesday, 1 May, approving a proposal to allow internet telephony in the country.
Telecom operators and other companies who obtain a telephony licence will be able to offer you a new mobile number that will not require a SIM, but can be activated by downloading an internet telephony app.
Regulator TRAI had recommended the proposal last October, with the aim of giving new connectivity options to consumers plagued by call drops.
The inter-ministerial Telecom Commission approved the proposal, which will now enable the rollout of internet telephony services by companies such as Reliance Jio, BSNL, Airtel and other operators.
(Source: The Times of India)
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