1. No Confusion Over UAE Offer, Says Kerala CM
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday, 24 August, that there was no confusion over the UAE’s offer of financial assistance to help Kerala deal with the devastation caused by the recent floods.
The Gulf kingdom’s willingness to help Kerala had been conveyed to the state government by NRI businessman MA Yusuff Ali, he told reporters on Friday. “He confirmed that the UAE ruler had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While it is for the Centre to decide on whether to accept the offer, I am of the opinion that we should.”
(Source: The Hindu)
2. ‘2019 Will Be Straightforward – BJP on One Side, Oppn on the Other’: Rahul Gandhi at LSE
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Friday, 24 August, addressed students of the London School of Economics (LSE). During his interaction, Gandhi said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was an ideological battle, and that the Congress would only ally with parties which were on the same platform. He added that the elections would be “pretty straightforward”, with the BJP on one side and the entire Opposition on the other.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi addressed a gathering at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, where he compared the BJP’s ideological parent to the “Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world” and accused it of “changing the nature of India”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Mamata Banerjee Hails SC’s Panchayat Poll Verdict
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday, 24 August, termed a “victory of democracy and of people” the Supreme Court’s rejection of the plea of opposition parties to cancel elections for over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in the state.
State minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee also hailed the verdict as a “a victory of Maa, Mati, Manush”, referring to Banerjee’s slogan of “mother, motherland and people”.
Rejecting the pleas, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, however, said the aggrieved candidates may file election petitions to challenge the panchayat polls in courts concerned.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. 1.36 Crore 'Silent' Calls Received by Child Helpline in 3 Years
Of over 3.4 crore calls received by child helpline 1098 between April 2015 and March this year, as many as 1.36 crore were "silent" calls where background sounds were audible and the caller remained on phone for a few minutes but did not say anything, indicating a muted cry for help.
"These silent calls are taken very seriously by those manning 1098," said Harleen Walia from Childline India Foundation. Data showed that the number of silent calls increased from over 27 lakh in 2015-16 to more than 55 lakh in 2016-17. It was over 53 lakh in 2017-18.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Aircel-Maxis Case: ED Questions P Chidambaram
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram. Earlier, in a relief to the leader, Patiala House Court had extended interim protection granted to him till 7 August. Chidambaram had filed a fresh anticipatory bail plea on 24 August in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.
On 10 July, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a detailed reply in the case and opposed Chidambaram's previous anticipatory bail.
In its statement, the ED said that they have come to a bonafide conclusion that under anticipatory bail, it will not be possible to reach the truth.
(Source: DNA)
6. 'Identification Parade' of Kashmir School Kids
Security forces looking for a militant carried out an "identification parade" at a Valley school on Friday, 24 August, not even sparing three-year-olds, their bemused teachers said.
The cordon-and-search at the reputable Hamdard Grammar School in south Kashmir's Tral area came a day after new governor Satya Pal Malik was sworn in.
Riyaz Ahmad Wani, the principal, said students aged three to 16 – boys and girls – had to go through the three-and-a-half-hour ID parade but clarified that no student was harassed or frisked. "The young kids panicked but we tried our best to cheer them up," he said.
(Source: The Telagraph)
7. Beware HD Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah Eyeing Your Seat!
In a sign that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is far from done with politics and will not be content by taking a back seat, the Kuruba strongman made it clear he was intent on making a comeback for a second stint as chief minister of the state.
“If I have the blessings of voters, I will become the CM again. If I become the CM again, I can do more good work for the state,” he said.
That he picked the Vokkaliga heartland and in particular, Holenarsipur, the erstwhile home turf of his mentor-turned-foe HD Deve Gowda, to drop the bombshell on Friday was lost on no-one.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
8. Muzaffarpur Shelter Abuse Case: RJD Slams HC ‘Gag’ Order
RJD national Vice-President Shivanand Tewary on Friday, 24 August, criticised the Patna High Court’s decision to restrain the media from reporting on the Muzaffarpur shelter abuse case, saying it was “nothing less than a gag order” and went “against the very spirit of the right to know as enshrined in the RTI Act”.
The RJD leader said the order “violated” the provisions of the “freedom of expression”.
In a verbal order on Thursday, the Patna High Court said that “till the investigation is completed, all the print and electronic media are hereby restrained from reporting anything with respect to the case, more particularly, with respect to the investigation already undertaken and/ or which is likely to take place as it may seriously hamper the investigation of the case.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Live-Streaming for ‘Open Courtroom’
Technology has a flip-side but live-streaming of Supreme Court proceedings is a true representation of the “open courtroom” system where courts are accessible to one and all, Justice DY Chandrachud said on Friday, 24 August.
The remark countered arguments that live-streaming of court proceedings would be misused, and verbal comments made by judges in the course of a hearing would be twisted and converted to “fake news”.
To this Justice Chandrachud countered that court proceedings are live-tweeted even now and there is no authentic record of the hearing to prove a tweet wrong. “At least when the hearing is live-streamed, we will have an authentic record of what happened,” the judge responded.
(Source: The Hindu)
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