QBullet: Govt to Push Triple Talaq Bill in RS; FIR Against Army

Here’s a roundup of the top stories of the day.

1. Budget Session: Govt Set to Push Talaq Legislation

The NDA government will push the Triple Talaq Bill in the budget session of Parliament starting on Monday but is likely to face a stiff challenge from the Opposition, which stalled the legislation in the Rajya Sabha in the winter session.

Opposition parties insisted the proposed law be referred to a select committee for scrutiny. After an all-party meeting on Sunday, the government said it will do “everything possible” to ensure the bill’s passage in the budget session.

“We will leave no stone unturned in talking to and convincing all the political parties to ensure that the triple talaq bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha. The way they have passed GST unanimously, we request them to pass this too unanimously,” parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

2. PM: Common Man Getting Padma Awards Now Due to Reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday shared stories of ordinary men and women who had made extraordinary contributions to society, and who were honoured with Padma awards this year.

Modi said the common man had found space in the awards category as a result of changes made in the nomination process in the past three years. The online nomination process had brought in transparency, he said. “You will be proud of the fact that today, the common man is being cited for Padma awards without any recommendations. There was a certain methodology of awarding Padma awards every year, but this process has been changed for the past three years. Now, any citizen can nominate any person in our country. Transparency has been brought about in the process by making it operable online,” he said.

(Source: The Times of India)

3. MCI Case: In-house Probe Records ‘Adverse Remarks’ Against Allahabad HC Judge

The in-house inquiry committee set up by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to look into allegations of corruption against a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court in the Medical Council of India (MCI) case contains certain “adverse remarks” against him.

The allegations, which prompted the inquiry pertain to Allahabad High Court judge Justice Narayan Shukla granting permission to certain private medical colleges to admit students after an MCI ban, also involved the rulings on the case in the Supreme Court.

Sources told The Indian Express that the report of the in-house inquiry committee, submitted to the CJI, contains “adverse remarks” against Justice Shukla, who was also mentioned in a preliminary investigation conducted by the CBI last September. The CBI, sources said, is keen on seeking the CJI’s sanction afresh to file an FIR against Justice Shukla.

(Source: The Indian Express)

4. FIR Against Army Over 2 Civilian Deaths in J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir police has registered an FIR against the Indian army, charging its 10th Garhwal unit with murder, attempt to murder and endangering life, over the killing of two civilians in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday, officials said on Sunday.

A senior police officer confirmed that an FIR was filed at the Shopian police station against the army’s 10th Garhwal unit. “The charges under sections 302, 307 and 336 are pressed,” he said.

The Army says it opened fire in self-defence after a convoy came under heavy stone-pelting by protesters who allegedly tried to snatch the weapon of a soldier and lynch him.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

5. Man Dies as Oxygen Cylinder Sucked Into MRI Machine

A patient’s attendant was killed after he was pinned by a leaking oxygen cylinder to an MRI machine in a Mumbai hospital on Saturday evening.

An autopsy said the 32-year-old Rajesh Maruti Maru inhaled poisonous amounts of liquid oxygen that leaked during frantic moments to pull him to safety after his hand was crushed between the cylinder and the machine that should not have been switched on at the time.

MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, machines are equipped with magnets so powerful that metallic objects like paper clips can turn into lethal projectiles if kept close by.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

6. Foreign Player Keen on 49% Air India Stake: Aviation Secy

A foreign player has expressed interest in acquiring 49 percent of soon-to-be privatised Air India. Aviation secretary RN Choubey told TOI this company has given an “unsolicited expression of interest for AI’s airline arm.”

While the identity of this player and whether it is an airline is not being revealed at the moment, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is among the foreign players that are looking at AI’s disinvestment process with interest. Its joint venture airline with Tatas, Vistara has an “open mind” for AI if it makes business sense. “SIA is very keen on AI,” said a person in the know.

Qatar Airways is the other global biggie that wants to start a domestic carrier in India and has for long wanted to pick up a stake in IndiGo. Incidentally IndiGo has given a formal expression of interest for AI’s airline arm.

(Source: The Times of India)

7. Supreme Court Crisis: CJI Dipak Misra, Four Judges to Meet on Wednesday

The next in the series of meetings between Chief Justice Dipak Misra and his four senior-most colleagues in the Supreme Court, to try and end the impasse in the working of the apex court, is scheduled for Wednesday, 31 January.

At the last meeting between the five, apart from Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, who together form the Collegium — the highest decision-making body of the judiciary — three other Supreme Court Justices, AK Sikri, DY Chandrachud and UU Lalit, were present. The meeting, held last week, was the longest so far, going on for over an hour.

(Source: The Indian Express)

8. Stents Cheaper, But Not all Get Benefit

Almost a year after prices of cardiac stents were capped, an examination of bills from various hospitals shows that the extent to which it has brought down the total cost of an angioplasty depends on which hospital you go to.

When the price of stents was capped at Rs 30,000 in February last year, the order had stated that the prices would be reviewed after one year. As the stent companies start lobbying in anticipation of the review, a look at the fallout of the price capping shows that government hospitals and some of the charitable ones have passed on all or most of the benefit to patients.

However, with no regulation on the price of other consumables used in angioplasty like catheters, balloons and guide wires and no control over the cost of the procedure, many large hospitals and corporate chains have increased these to make up for the lost margins on stents. Despite such hikes, since the capping reduced stent prices by as much as 85 percent, there is still about 20 percent reduction in angioplasty costs in most cases.

(Source: The Times of India)

9. Law Ministry Says no to Review of Trade Reforms by External Consultant

India’s attempt to review trade reforms in order to help improve the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country has run into rough weather with the Law Ministry objecting to any external agency being authorised to evaluate existing laws and suggest amendments to them.

Earlier this month, the Law Ministry quoted a 1961 Presidential Order that blocks the hiring of a third party consultant to examine and interpret domestic laws, bilateral and multilateral treaties, or to advise ministries on probable changes in laws, regulations and circulars.

(Source: The Indian Express)

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