1. ‘Want Them Outside 100m of Admin Block’: JNU Moves Court Against Agitating Students
The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court against its students for “gross violation” of the court’s previous order by protesting within 100 metres of the administrative block.
The students have been agitating for a complete rollback of the hostel fee hike.
The contempt plea filed by JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar through the university’s standing counsel Monika sought the court’s direction to issue a contempt notice against the student leaders.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Stone-Pelting in J&K Down Since 5 Aug, Says Govt – But Data Differs
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in Parliament on Tuesday that there was a decrease in incidents of stone-pelting and law and order issues in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) after 5 August, following the Centre’s decision to scrap its special status under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories. However, the data provided by the government shows a marginal increase in such incidents.
Replying to a written question by Rajasthan BJP MP Kanak Mal Katara, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy told the Lok Sabha: “Since 5 August 2019 to 15 November 2019, 765 people have been arrested in 190 cases registered relating to stone-pelting/ law and order. From 1 January 2019 to 4 August 2019, 361 such cases were registered.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Rajashthan’s Sambhar Lake Ecology Among Worst: Report
Rajasthan’s Sambhar lake, the largest inland salt lake in India, where the carcasses of close to 18,000 migratory birds have been found since November 10 to the concern of environmentalists and ornithologists, is among the eight worst-rated wetlands in the country when it comes to ecosystem management , according to a draft report prepared by the environment ministry in consultation with several independent experts.
The environment ministry in August started the process of preparing a health index of 100 major wetlands in India. An environment ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the final peer-reviewed report is likely to be released by the first week of December.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Parliamentary Panel To Examine WhatsApp Snooping Row Today
A parliamentary committee headed by the Congress's Shashi Tharoor will examine the WhatsApp snooping issue today, in which the 31 members will seek details from top government officials on the steps the Centre is taking to prevent such incidents. Sources said the lawyers and officials of the social media platform owned by Facebook have also been called to explain their side of story.
Earlier this month, WhatsApp revealed that more than 120 journalists and activists in India have been the target of surveillance by operators using the Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Facebook, which claimed the snooping took place in April ahead of the national elections, has sued NSO, the Israeli firm that made the software. The social media giant claimed that Pegasus was used to target users not just in India, but across 20 nations.
(Source: NDTV)
5. Delhi’s Air Bad, Farm Fires Make It Worse
Between October 23 and November 18, the number of days with “severe” air quality reduced from 13 to seven – but the city’s air quality still remained at the “poor” and “very poor” level, according to a Hindustan Times analysis of recently improvised System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) data.
Put simply, Delhi’s air quality in this period was bad even without the effect of stubble-burning, which only made it worse.
The analysis was made possible by SAFAR’s release of data on absolute contribution of stubble fires to PM2.5 concentration in Delhi since 23 October. PM2.5 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns. Prolonged exposure to high levels of PM2.5 could cause severe bronchitis, and perhaps even lung cancer. Shorter exposures are also harmful, especially to young children and the elderly.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Cong-NCP Meet Likely Today: Caution the Buzzword as Congress Discusses Maharashtra Deal
Top Congress leaders are likely to meet their NCP counterparts on Wednesday to take forward the discussions regarding formation of a government in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena. From being reluctant to engage with the politically opposed Sena, the top Congress leadership has taken a step forward towards formation of a government, but decided not to rush and exercise extreme caution.
A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, top Congress leaders — Ahmed Patel, AK Antony, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal — tasked with working out the nitty gritty of the understanding with the Sena and negotiations with the NCP met her to discuss the “baseline non-negotiables” and “assurances” that it wants the Sena to give on shedding hardline Hindutva.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Students on Warpath as BHU Appoints Muslim Professor for Sanskrit
A student-enforced lockout at the "Sahitya" or the literature wing of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharm Vijnan, a unit of the prestigious Banaras Hindu University has been continuing for nearly two weeks, with the controversy over the appointment of Firoz Khan as an assistant professor refusing to die down.
For 12 days, a group of 30-odd students of Sanskrit literature have been sitting outside the office of BHU Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar, demanding that Professor Khan's appointment be cancelled and a fresh recruitment be made.
Outside his office, students have been reciting hymns and even carried out a yagna, saying they would not budge till their demands are met.
Emphasising that they are against the professor's appoint to this particular unit of the university, he said, "This is not a normal department. It is the Sanskrit-Vidya-Dharma-Vijnan-Sankaya, where we are taught about our culture and not just the language"
"If he has to teach, let him go to the department of Sanskrit and teach. We cannot allow it here," he added.
(Source: NDTV)
8. ‘PMC Officials Hid Fraud Loans’: RBI to Bombay HC
An annual inspection of crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank has revealed that some bank officials had tampered with the lender’s core banking system to hide fraudulent loan accounts of real estate developer Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Bombay high court in an affidavit on Tuesday.
The banking regulator said access codes were given to “problematic accounts” to ensure “restricted visibility”, and these accounts could be accessed only by 25 of the bank’s 800 employees.
The RBI said the HDIL group loan accounts were excluded from system’s identification of non-performing assets (NPAs) and also did not reflect in the loan account display system of the multi-state cooperative bank.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Govt Skirts Pegasus Snooping Row, Says It Has Power to Intercept, Monitor Web Info Under Law
The government on Tuesday skirted the issue of use of Pegasus software for interception of WhatsApp calls and messages. To a question on whether the government was tapping WhatsApp calls and messages and if it was using the Israeli software for the same, the government did not answer the question directly but merely said it had powers under the statute to make legal interception of Internet communication.
The government also said that as many as 10 agencies, including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the Intelligence Bureau, were authorised to make such interceptions under law.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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