1. SC Wants Singur Land Returned to Farmers, ‘Tears of Joy’ for Mamta Banerjee
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court set aside the Calcutta High Court order upholding the land acquisition for Tata’s Nano plant at Singur in West Bengal.
Finding fault with the land acquisition process, the bench of judges — Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice Arun Mishra — said that the acquired land should be returned to cultivators within 12 weeks from Wednesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Facebook to express her happiness with the verdict and said that the day had brought ‘tears of joy’ to her eyes.
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2. More Trouble for AAP, Arvind Kejriwal Sacks Minister Sandeep Kumar Over ‘Objectionable’ Video
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday removed cabinet minister Sandeep Kumar after he received news of an “objectionable” video of the minister doing the rounds. Reports suggest that the CD accessed by the Delhi CM exposes Kumar in a compromising position.
Opposition leaders from both BJP and Congress attacked Aam Aadmi Party over the issue.
Congress leader Kiran Walia rebuked the party leadership over the issue, and said that it was shocking to find that a minister handling the women and child development portfolio was caught in the midst of a scandal like this.
Kumar is not the first minister to be removed from the Arvind Kejriwal government. Earlier in October 2015, the then Food and Supplies Minister Asim Khan was sacked and in June 2015, Jitendra Tomar resigned from the cabinet after allegations that his degrees were fake surfaced.
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3. Dhingra Panel Hints at Irregularities in Robert Vadra Deal
On Wednesday, Justice (retd) SN Dhingra submitted his report to the Haryana government on the controversial land deals in Gurgaon during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime. Dhingra has hinted at irregularities in the deals.
According to a Times of India report, Dhingra said:
If there were no irregularities, there were no reasons for me to write182-page report, I would have finished in a one line statement.
The one-man Justice SN Dhingra Commission of Inquiry set up by the Haryana government asserted that Hooda acted “contrary to law”.
Reacting to the report, the BJP on Wednesday said that they will study the report and order further investigation. The party further said that it looks like Robert Vadra was involved in the deals. Congress lashed out at the BJP government, saying that the report is a “sinister strategy, aimed to malign the Congress”.
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(Source: Times of India)
4. PM Modi Clears Early General Budget to Ensure Approval Before 1 April
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the idea of advancing the introduction of general budget in the Parliament in the first week of February, according to a report in The Indian Express. This step has been taken to ensure that it is convenient to receive Presidential approval on the budget before 1 April.
At a meeting with ministers and officials of the Finance Ministry, the PM fixed the Parliament approval date for March 30 and asked them to work backwards to arrive at the presentation date which, officials said, would be in the first week of February with a slight compression of the recess. It would also end the uncertainty on various tax proposals presented in the Finance Bill as taxpayers would know the exact provisions before the fiscal year starts.The Indian Express
Source: The Indian Express
5. Kerry Delays His Departure, Talks on Pakistan and Terror at IIT Delhi
The US Secretary of State John Kerry delayed his departure from India on Wednesday, prompting speculation about reasons for his decision.
The Secretary of State addressed a full house auditorium at IIT Delhi on Wednesday where he talked about Pakistan and its role in keeping the terrorist activities in check.
It’s clear that Pakistan has work to do in order to push harder against its indigenous groups that are engaged in terrorist activities. In fairness, Pakistan has suffered greatly from this terrorism in their own country. More than 50,000 people have been killed there in terrorist incidents.John Kerry, Secretary of State, USA
Kerry, who had been in India for a three-day-visit, was scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm. He will not leave for China either on Friday or Saturday, where he is supposed to join President Barack Obama for the G-20 Summit.
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6. Steep Hike in Prices of Petrol and Diesel
Petrol prices have been hiked by Rs 3.38 a litre, and diesel by Rs 2.67 a litre by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday.
The hike will come into effect from Thursday.
In its most recent revision, the IOC had cut petrol prices by Rs 1 and diesel price by Rs 2.
The hike in fuel price, necessitated by a 13 percent rise in international oil rates in the last fortnight, comes on the back of four reductions. The reductions in last two months had led to the price of petrol in Delhi coming down by Rs 5.56 a litre and Rs 4.92 per litre in the case of diesel.
IOC and other state-owned fuel retailers, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) revise petrol and diesel price on 1st and 16th of every month based on international oil rate and foreign exchange ratio in the preceding fortnight.
(Source: PTI)
7. No Parole for Rapists, Terrorists as State Amends Prison Rules
The state home department of Maharashtra on Wednesday amended the prison rules to do away with paroles or furlough for rape convicts, terrorists and others who are convicted of serious crimes, according to a Times of India report.
The government brought in the Maharashtra Prisons (Mumbai Furlough and Parole) Amendment Rules 2016 after Sajjad Mughal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha in her Wadala apartment, jumped parole in April. Under the new rules, no parole or furlough will be granted to convicts involved in sexual offences against minors, human trafficking, rape or rape with murder, dacoity, terrorist crimes, mutiny against state, kidnapping for ransom, smuggling of narcotic or psychotropic substances.Times of India
(Source: Times of India)
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8. Mass Exodus of RSS Members in Goa After Unit Chief Axed
The Goa debacle seems to have landed the RSS in some serious trouble: many of its members in Goa are quitting after the removal of Subhash Welingkar from his post as the chief of the unit, according to a Times of India report.
The swayamsevaks were demanding that Velingkar be reinstated, but with the Konkan part of the RSS, which governs the state unit, refusing to budge, the sangh in Goa saw an upheaval. Speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting of the Goa unit of the sangh at Bambolim on the outskirts of Panaji, a Goa RSS leader Praveen Neswanker said that all vibhag, zilla, taluka and shaka pramukhs, have resigned.Times of India
Source: Times of India
9. Heavy Rain Brings Delhi to a Stand-Still, HC Raps PWD and MCD
Delhi High Court on Wednesday rapped the Public Works Department (PWD) and Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) over the issue of water-logging on major roads, and the consequent crippling of traffic movement in the national capital.
It further added that water-logging is a major reason behind the spread of diseases like dengue and chikungunya as it serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State had to bear the burnt of crippled traffic movement yet again. Arriving for his lecture at IIT Delhi almost an hour late, Kerry quipped at the audience:
Have you come here in boats?
The traffic at Delhi came to a standstill as roads disappeared due to heavy rain and commuters took to Twitter to vent their frustration.
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