1. TDP Quits Modi's Cabinet, to Remain Part of NDA Alliance
A day after their party chief announced to pull out of the NDA government at the Centre, Union ministers belonging to the Telugu Desam Party P Ashok Gajapati Raju and YS Chowdary on Thursday submitted their resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two ministers drove to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence and handed over their resignations in accordance with the party’s decision to resign over the TDP’s charge that the Centre was not granting special status to Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing media after the meeting, Choudhary said, “I don’t think it’s fair on our part to expect PM to deal with these issues. It’s for the concerned ministries to take up, already considerable amount of time has lapsed”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. SC Sets Aside Kerala HC Order Annulling Hadiya's Marriage
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a Kerala High Court order annulling the marriage of Hadiya to Shafin Jahan, whom she had married after converting to Islam.
In an order coinciding with the International Women’s Day, the Supreme Court recognised and upheld Hadiya's freedom “to pursue her future endeavours according to law”.
This means Hadiya is free to leave her college hostel at Salem and join Jahan. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud observed that the High Court “should not have annulled the marriage”.
“Marriage and plurality are the fundamental core of our culture. Plurality in India should be zealously guarded,” Justice Chandrachud observed during an hour-long hearing.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Aarushi Murder Case: CBI Moves Supreme Court Challenging Talwars' Acquittal
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi and Hemraj double murder case by the Allahabad high court.
The Talwars’ daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj were found murdered in their Noida flat in 2008. The move comes almost a month after the law ministry advised the CBI to file the special leave petition.
The CBI is said to have said in the appeal that the high court’s conclusion that there was no evidence to prove the couple guilty was wrong on “many counts.” An appeal filed by Hemraj’s wife Khumkala Bandaje against the HC verdict is already pending.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Statue Vandalism: Violent Protests Break out at Jadavpur University
A group of students allegedly beat up members of a right-wing Hindu outfit outside Kolkata’s Jadavpur University on Thursday evening.
The little-known Hindu group – Bangali Hindu Astitwa Raksha Mancha – had gathered to protest against the desecration of a statue of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on Wednesday.
The protest was scheduled next to a statue of Russian communist icon Vladimir Lenin at 6.30 pm but members of various Left-leaning student organisations started gathering by the hundreds since afternoon. Though police was present at the spot, it couldn’t prevent the Hindu group members from being beaten up.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. In Singapore, Rahul Gandhi Launches Scathing Attack On Modi Govt
In a scathing attack on the Modi government, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said there is a general atmosphere of “intimidation” in the country and politics of dividing people are being played to win elections.
“There is a particular type of politics that’s not only happening in India but in a number of places – of dividing people, of using (their) anger to win elections and that’s what is happening in India,” he said, while speaking at a panel discussion at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
Talking about the situation in Kashmir, the Congress president said he realised in 2014 what a bad political decision can do to years of policy-making in the state. “In 2014 when I went to J&K, I felt like crying. I saw what a bad political decision can to do years and years of policy-making,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. 3-Day RSS Meet to Begin in Nagpur Today
An estimated 1,500 delegates from across India will be huddled in Nagpur over the next three days for a meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the Sangh.
The organisation will conduct elections for its general secretary or Sarkaryvaha— done once in three years. The general secretary, in turn, will appoint his team, including three or four joint general secretaries or Sahkaryavahas, and more than 20 executive committee members.
There has been buzz that this election may see present Sarkaryavaha Suresh (Bhaiyyaji) Joshi bow out and the mantle being passed on to Dattatreya Hosabale. Mr. Joshi has been unwell in recent years, and has undergo operations in both his knees, sources say. However, he is well on the path to recovery now.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Siddaramaiah Unveils Proposed State Flag for Karnataka
Flagging off the “Kannadiga pride” ahead of the assembly polls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday unveiled the proposed official state flag for Karnataka.
The ‘Naada Dwaja’ (state’s flag) in hues of yellow, white and red, has the state’s emblem ‘Gandaberunda’ or the two-headed mythological bird, at its centre.
A committee formed by the state government last year had recommended the separate flag for Karnataka, discounting any constitutional or legal hurdles for it. Siddaramaiah unveiled the flag after chairing a meeting of pro-Kannada organisations, activists and literary personalities, where they unanimously approved the design.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Terrorism Grossest Violation of Human Rights: India Replies to Pakistan at UNHRC
India today condemned Pakistan's statement made at UN Human Rights Council, where it had accused the former of human rights violation in Kashmir, saying that "terrorism is the grossest violation of human rights".
In a Right of Reply filed at the 37 Session of the UN Human Rights Council, New Delhi reminded Islamabad about the state of human rights within its own borders and said that Pakistan has been using the argument of human rights as a shield to mask its territorial ambitions.
"This council should be mindful that the dubious concern for human rights is coming from a country, which has systematically abused and violated the human rights of the people in Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir," it said in a response to Pakistan's statement.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. India vs Bangladesh T20I: India Beat Bangladesh by Six Wickets
In-form Shikhar Dhawan scored his second fifty in as many games to help India register a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their second Twenty20 Internationals of the Nidahas Trophy Tri-Series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday.
India chased down the modest 140-run target in 18.4 overs, with Dhawan scoring 55 off 43 balls that included five fours and two sixes. Rubel Hossain (2/24) was the pick of Bangladesh bowlers, while Taskin Ahmed (1/28) and Mustafizur Rahman (1/31) chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Earlier, Jaydev Unadkat (3/38) and Vijay Shankar (2/32) shared five wickets to help India restrict Bangladesh to 139/8.
(Source: The Times of India)
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