1. Ayodhya: Daily Hearing from 25 July If Mediation Fails, Says SC
Calling for the report of the mediators it had appointed to find an amicable solution to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court on Thursday, 11 July, said daily hearing on appeals challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya matter will likely commence 25 July if mediation efforts are not making progress and have to be concluded.
A five-judge Constitution Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S A Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer, asked the mediation committee – headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, it also includes spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, senior advocate Sriram Panchu – to inform it about the progress of mediation by 18 July after which it will decide whether it should be continued or ended to start hearing the appeals.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. CBI Carries out Raids on Lawyers Grover, Jaising & Their NGO
A month after the CBI registered an FIR against senior lawyer Anand Grover and his Mumbai-based NGO Lawyers Collective on charges of violating rules in receiving and spending foreign funds, the agency conducted raids at five locations in Delhi and Mumbai in connection with the probe.
The residences and offices of Indira Jaising and Grover and Lawyers Collective were searched during which, sources said, certain “incriminating documents” were seized.
Apart from Grover, the CBI has booked the president of Lawyers Collective, unidentified office-bearers of the organisation, some private individuals and a few public servants in the FIR lodged on a complaint by the home ministry.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. SC Tells K’taka Speaker to Decide, He Says Will Go by Rules
Hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday, 11 July, asked Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to take a decision on the resignations of 10 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs before the day ended, the Speaker told the court that the process would take time and he won’t be able to complete it the same day.
In Bengaluru later in the evening, the rebel MLAs met the Speaker, who ruled out an immediate decision citing rules and parliamentary procedure, and said:
“There is no date to decide the acceptance of the resignations. If I am satisfied, I will accept and if I am not satisfied the consequences are known. I will go by procedures.”
The rebel legislators had moved the SC against the delay by the Speaker in accepting their resignations, submitted on 6 July.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. ‘Save Me & My Husband,’ BJP MLA’s Daughter Petitions Allahabad HC
The daughter of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, 11 July, moved the Allahabad high court and sought security, claiming she feared for her life because her Brahmin family was opposed to her marriage with a Dalit.
Sakshi Mishra, 23, and her husband, Ajitesh Kumar, 29, in a petition to the court, said they were adults and had got married on 4 July of their own free will.
The father, Rajesh Mishra, separately issued a statement on Thursday denying his daughter’s allegation. He said Sakshi Mishra was an adult and within her rights to take her own decisions.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Goa Meltdown: 10 Ex-Congress MLAs Join BJP in Presence of Nadda
A day after resigning from the Goa Congress Legislative Party (CLP), 10 MLAs officially joined BJP in the presence of working president JP Nadda in New Delhi on Thursday, 11 July.
The legislators joined the ranks of the saffron party amid protests from Congress leaders outside Parliament over the political crisis unfolding in the state along with Karnataka.
Top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Anand Sharma, staged a protest carrying ‘Save Democracy’ placards near the Gandhi statue in the complex.
On 10 July, in a dramatic turn of events, two-thirds (10 of the 15) MLAs of the CLP resigned and met the Speaker of the 40-member Assembly in their bid to merge with the ruling BJP. All resignations were accepted by Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Peak Taxation Rate of 42.7% Not ‘Ideal’: FM Sitharaman
Ideally, the peak income-tax rate of 42.7 percent should come down over time, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday, 11 July, in an interview, repeating and stressing the word “ideally”.
“We will have to see when the timing is proper” to bring it down, she added in response to a specific question whether, in principle, she thought this was too high a tax rate for a country such as India.
Sitharaman said that the tax on the super-rich enforced in the Union Budget announced on 5 July was driven by the need to part-raise resources for important and essential government expenditure.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. ICC World Cup 2019 Will Crown First Time Winner
Chasing 224, England, flying high after Jason Roy’s typically ultra-aggressive 85 (61b, 8x4, 2x6) and his fourth century stand in a row –124 in 104 balls – with Jonny Bairstow (34, 43b, 5x4), made mincemeat of the target to book their spot in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand.
Thursday’s (11 July) eight-wicket win at Edgbaston, achieved with 17.5 overs to spare, saw England, cheered on by their army of supporters – who couldn’t stop singing and drinking in celebration – advance to the title clash for the first time in 27 years.
With neither England nor New Zealand having ever won the title, we are now set to witness a new world champion hold aloft the trophy at the Lord’s balcony this Sunday.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. ‘Face Recognition Tech No Threat to Privacy’: Govt
The Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) proposed to be rolled out by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will only be used in respect of persons figuring in the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) database, home ministry officials clarified on Thursday, 11 July.
CCTNS is a national database with linkages to over 15,000 police stations. AFRS will help law enforcement agencies identify and track criminals, missing persons and unidentified bodies.
Just as fingerprints found at crime scenes are matched with a fingerprint database, AFRS will help electronically match digital photos or video footage of suspects or missing persons with photos in the CCTNS database. This is already being done manually, the official said.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Relief for IT Professionals, US House Removes Country-Cap on Green Cards
The United States House of Representatives on Wednesday, 10 July, passed a Bill with a thumping majority to remove the country-limit on employment-based Green Cards that has sent hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled Indian into a waiting line that could theoretically last 100 or more years.
The Fairness for High-skilled Immigrants Act, 2019 or HR 1044 passed 365-65 in the 435-member House, reflecting the overwhelming bipartisan support for the plight of those impacted by the country-limit, essentially Indian professionals who came here on H-1B or transferred to it after completing their studies.
But the US senate needs to pass the same bill, or a version of it, before it goes to the president’s desk for enactment, removing the country-cap that mandates only 7 percent of the annual 140,000 Green Cards can go to nationals of any one country.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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