1. Thousands Stranded on Way to Badrinath as Landslide Hits Char Dham Route
Thousands of ‘Char Dham’ pilgrims were stranded on way to the Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand on Friday when part of a huge rock rolled down the hills and blocked a key road in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, officials said.
The pilgrimage has been temporarily stopped and the people – including women and children – asked to take shelter at the major halts on the route, the officials added.
Piyoosh Rautela, executive director of the Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre said the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is expected to clear the debris by Saturday.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. GST Council Unveils 4-Slab Rates for Services, Exempts Healthcare, Education, Non-AC Travel
Maintaining status quo on most exempted services, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Friday moved towards a multi-tiered service tax structure to distribute services under four slabs – 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent – as against the single rate of 15 percent levied on all taxable services currently.
While education, healthcare and non-AC rail travel will continue to remain exempted under the proposed indirect tax regime, luxury hotels, gambling, race club betting and cinema services will attract a levy of 28 percent.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, however, said that states have the option to levy extra taxes on cinema to compensate for revenue losses due to merging of entertainment tax with GST.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. Pakistan May Be Propping up New Terror Outfit in Kashmir, Feel Intel Agencies
The rising dissonance between Kashmiri separatists and terrorists based in the Valley on the one hand and Pakistan-based terrorist commanders and cadres in Kashmir on the other has led Indian agencies to suspect that terror masterminds across the border may be covertly planning a new terrorist organisation in J&K, with focus on ex-Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa.
According to intelligence sources, multiple statements over the past two weeks by Musa, the self-styled successor of slain Hizbul leader Burhan Wani, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Kashmiri separatists and United Jehad Council chief Syed Salahuddin, coupled with images, videos and audio clips circulated on social media, point to "a widening conflict between key stakeholders of violence in the Valley".
(Source: The Times of India)
4. 30 June Not a 'Deadline' to Get Aadhaar: Govt Tells SC
The Supreme Court on Friday refrained to order an interim stay on a series of government notifications requiring citizens to have Aadhaar by 30 June 2017, to equally access benefits and entitlements, even as the Centre denied imposing any such ‘deadline” to force people to get Aadhaar.
The government was responding to a petition challenging 17 notifications issued by various government departments over the past few months, making Aadhaar compulsory after 30 June 2017, to equally access benefits, entitlements, services and welfare schemes. The petition asked the court to stay these notifications as an immediate interim relief.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. ED Registers PMLA Case Against Karti Chidambaram, INX Media
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday registered a money laundering case against former Union minister P Chidambaram’s son, Karti, and INX Media for alleged irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)’s approval for the company to get foreign direct investment (FDI).
The Indian Express had on Thursday reported that ED will file an enforcement case information report (equivalent to an FIR).
The ED registered the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a corruption case the CBI had filed on Monday against Karti and the INX group. It will now identify proceeds of crime earned through alleged corrupt means and attach assets equivalent to that.
(Source: Indian Express)
6. Seven Lynched by Mob in Jharkhand Over Kidnap Rumours
Seven people, including two brothers returning from work linked to the Swachh Bharat campaign, were beaten to death by mobs in two attacks over the last 24 hours in tribal-dominated areas near Jamshedpur following rumours of gangs involved in kidnapping children being active in the region.
Jharkhand Police said two other persons were killed similarly on 12 May and 13 May in the neighbouring Jadugora and Asanboni areas.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kolhan DIG Prabhat Kumar said, “The lynchings took place because of rumours of a child-lifting gang in the area even though no such case has been reported. We don’t know how this rumour began and who started it.”
(Source: Indian Express)
7. 180 Dalit Families Convert to Buddhism in Riot-Hit Saharanpur
Some 180 Dalit families from three villages of Saharanpur district have converted to Buddhism in protest against what they called unfair targeting of the community and Bhim Army, after incidents of violence over the past month in Saharanpur.
Dalit residents of villages around Shabbirpur, where 60 houses of the community were allegedly burnt by Thakurs, said they had been living in fear ever since.
"Police and the Thakurs are hand-in-glove. We want to flee. We hope that the conversion will give us some strength," said a Dalit resident of Shabbirpur. In the recent past, several incidents of violence involving Dalits have been reported in Saharanpur.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Round 1 Lost, Pak Looks at Getting Its Judge on the Bench at The Hague
Under fire over the loss of face at The Hague where the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav till a final decision is taken on India’s appeal, Pakistan is considering the appointment of an “ad hoc judge” to the global court. Justice Dalveer Bhandari of India is on the bench of the ICJ.
Sartaj Aziz, Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the Pakistan Prime Minister, said a new team of lawyers will be constituted to “present Pakistan’s stance vigorously” at the ICJ.
“Pakistan’s security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right,” Aziz told Samaa TV news channel on Friday. In the same breath, he defended the current legal team, saying it had “courageously presented Pakistan’s stance”.
(Source: Indian Express)
9. Presidential Poll: BJP Unlikely to Back Pranab Mukherjee for 2nd Term
The BJP is unlikely to support a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee.
The 13th President of India completes his term on 24 July and the BJP wants its candidate to replace the veteran Congressman.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was the first to support the demand for second term this week, and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee backed the idea in a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
“The question (for another term) does not arise,” a senior BJP leader said. “We have nothing against him but here is an opportunity for the party to get a president from within the family.” At least three Union ministers HT spoke to said Mukherjee’s relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained “warm”. But there were moments of “unease” too.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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