1. We Won't Bow to Indian Pressure for Kulbhushan Jadhav's Release, Says Pakistan Minister
Pakistan’s top officials on Wednesday toughened their stand on the death sentence for an Indian national accused of espionage, saying his trial was fair and that Islamabad wouldn’t bow to pressure from New Delhi.
Abdul Basit, Islamabad’s top envoy to New Delhi, said Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer, was tried in a military court because he was not a civilian, a treatment that was given also to Pakistani citizens accused of similar crimes.
Basit’s explanation was in response to India’s questioning of the fairness of Jadhav’s court-martial in utter secrecy – a trial that External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called “farcical”. India denies the charges against 46-year-old Jadhav, who was sentenced for “espionage and sabotage activities” on Monday.
Source: Hindustan Times
2. As Opposition Takes ‘EVM Tampering’ Fight to President, EC Decides to Throw Open Challenge to Prove Claim
In a new twist to the EVM tampering debate, the Election Commission is now planning an open challenge to prove the security of the machines. According to news agency ANI, the commission is planning to throw open a challenge to scientists, technologists and political parties in first week of May to prove the EVMs are safe from tampering.
From the first week of May, experts, scientists, technocrats can come for a week or 10 days and try to hack the machines.An Official Source
The EC decision came hours after a delegation of opposition parties, led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, raised the issue of EVM tampering with President Pranab Mukherjee.
Source: The Indian Express
3. Women Criminals Can Be Shown Leniency, Says SC
Even though gender is not a mitigating factor when it comes to punishment for criminal acts, the Supreme Court said that in the Indian context, a woman convict having three minor children to support would be a ground for courts to impose a lenient sentence on her.
But, mercy or compassion may not be shown in case of a woman who has committed a crime as part of a terrorist group, the court said.
A woman helped a man rob another of Rs 27,000 by administering drinks laced with sedatives in August 2000. Thereafter, the victim was beaten up badly and left at a place near Himachal's Dalhousie. The woman was convicted for the offence, which is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Source: The Times of India
4. FERA Violation Case: Court Issues Fresh NBW Against Mallya
A Delhi court on Wednesday issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya in a two-decade-old case of alleged violations of the (then) Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. The court had, in November last year, issued a non-bailable warrant against former Rajya Sabha member and businessman.
Chief metropolitan magistrate Sumit Dass on Wednesday issued the open-ended warrant for Mallya’s failure to appear before court despite repeated summons and the NBW that was issued in November.
The court was hearing a case by the Enforcement Directorate which claims that payment of $2,00,000 to a British firm for displaying Kingfisher logo in Formula One World Championships in London and some European countries in 1996, 1997 and 1998 were in violation of FERA norms.
Source: The Indian Express
5. Nitish Kumar's Aide Gave Us Lalu's Property Papers, Says BJP
In a curious turn to the alleged 'benami' property of RJD president Lalu Prasad's family, BJP said on Wednesday that the documents exposing the deal were provided to it by "someone close" to JD(U) president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
Former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi has held several press conferences during the last one week and released papers in public domain to "expose" Lalu.
"We are not in office in Bihar. We do not have access to official files. Obviously, an insider from the ruling JD(U) helped us launch the attack on Lalu," leader of opposition in the assembly Prem Kumar told TOI over phone on Wednesday.
Source: The Times of India
6. Hindu Yuva Vahini Barges Into House, Drags Couple Out; Man Booked for Obscenity
Members of a Hindu youth group founded by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath allegedly barged into a house in Meerut and thrashed a Muslim man for being in a ‘compromising position’ with a woman, sources told HT on Wednesday.
Local residents and activists from the Hindu Yuva Vahini allegedly handed over the man, identified as Wasim, and the woman to police on Tuesday. According to a PTI report, the woman was released after a warning, but Wasim – a resident of Muzaffarnagar who works at a hotel in Meerut – was booked on charges of obscenity.
The incident occurred in Meerut’s Shastri Nagar locality.
Source: Hindustan Times
7. UK Offers Defence Technology to India for Making Weapons
The UK said on Wednesday it wants to further strengthen its cooperation with India in the fight against terrorism and extremism, while also offering cutting-edge military technology for co-production of weapon systems to jointly become "world beaters" in arms exports.
"No country is immune from terrorism. India and the UK need to work even harder, and more closely, to combat it," said visiting British secretary of state for defence Michael Fallon, who had earlier held that his country had made it "very clear" to Pakistan that there cannot be any excuse or justification for terrorism.
Source: The Times of India
8. Canadian Defence Minister a Khalistani Sympathiser, Won't Meet Him: Amarinder
Dubbing Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan a “Khalistani sympathiser”, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he will not meet the Canadian leader during his expected visit to India later this month.
“Harjit Sajjan is a Khalistani sympathiser,” Amarinder alleged on the ‘Off the Cuff’ TV show by Shekhar Gupta. The Chief Minister claimed that there were, in fact, five ministers in the Justin Trudeau government who were Khalistani sympathisers and he would not have any truck with them.
“They had prevailed upon the government to prevent my entry into Canada, where I wanted to go to meet my Punjabi brethren and not to campaign for elections,” he was quoted as saying in a release issued by his team after the programme.
Source: Hindustan Times
9. Indian Coast Guard Saves Lives of Two Pakistan Marine Commandos
On a day when Pakistan military court awarded death sentence to a former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was in Pakistan captivity for alleged spying, a maritime force saved the lives of two Pakistani maritime commandos.
The Indian Coast Guard, on Sunday, while patrolling into Indian waters, received a distress call at the Maritime Rescue Coordination centre in Mumbai from Karachi, headquarters of Pakistani Maritime Security Agency (PSA).
According to information provided by the Indian Coast Guards headquarters based in the national capital, the message was regarding a speed boat of Pakistani Maritime Security Agency that was gone missing on a routine patrol off the International Maritime Boundary Line. The last recorded location of speed boat was 59 nautical miles West of Jakhau and was feared that it may have drifted into Indian waters.
Source: The New Indian Express
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