1. In 2017, DEA Secy Wrote: Why Were Electoral Bond Details Shared With RBI?
In a clear indication that the government did not want to involve the Reserve Bank of India in the formulation of the draft notification for issuance of electoral bonds, then Secretary (Economic Affairs) Subhash Garg wrote in his own hand in the file concerned on 1 September 2017, “I had specifically directed on file not to issue this until asked. Why has it been done?”
Documents obtained under RTI by transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj and shared with The Indian Express reveal that Prashant Goyal, then Joint Secretary in the Budget Division under the Department of Economic Affairs, had written a confidential letter to RBI Deputy Governor BP Kanungo and shared the operational details of the electoral bonds.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Maharashtra: Uddhav Will Take Charge Today, NCP Gets Deputy CM, Congress Speaker
As their party workers and authorities readied Shivaji Park in Dadar for Thursday’s inaugural of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, leaders of the Sena, NCP and Congress got down to business Wednesday evening, distributing berths and portfolios for the incoming government.
While Thackeray will be chief minister for the full-term, six others will be sworn in with him. NCP leader Praful Patel said it has been decided that the Assembly Speaker will be from the Congress and the Deputy Speaker from NCP. The lone deputy chief minister will be from NCP.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Jharkhand Elections: In BJP Manifesto, Job for Each BPL Family, Cellphone for Farmers
Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday released the party’s manifesto for Jharkhand polls, promising a job for at least one member of each BPL family if re-elected in the state.
A loan of up to Rs 3 lakh with easy repayment options and a mobile phone to each farmer, along with a promise to make Jharkhand “Naxalism-free” and implementation of the NRC, were among the other major promises made.
The manifesto promises Rs 5,000 to a number of farmers every year under the Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana, and to send 5,000 farmers abroad to learn about modern farming technologies.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Purpose of Ayodhya Review Plea Not to Disrupt Harmony: Jamiat Chief Arshad Madani
Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani on Wednesday said that the purpose behind filing a review petition in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit verdict is not to disrupt the country’s solidarity but to use the privileges provided by the law of the land to seek review of a judgment that is “beyond understanding”.
Both Jamiat and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have decided to file review petitions in the Supreme Court against its 9 November verdict that paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Government to Push Localisation of Data After Snooping Row
The Union government is likely to cite the WhatsApp snooping controversy to push through with its plan to compel digital companies to store data of Indian users locally, which, according to officials aware of the developments, would have helped the administration carry out its own investigation in the incident.
The mandatory data localisation rule is part of the provisions of the personal data protection law, which could be introduced for Parliament’s approval during the ongoing Winter session. Multinational companies such as Amazon and Facebook have opposed the rule through prominent trade bodies that they are a part of.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. India’s Rain Pattern Getting Affected by Global Climate Crisis
Scientists have for the first time linked a specific phenomenon brought on by the climate crisis to reduced winter rain in India – a growing patch of warm seas in the Indo-Pacific ocean region that is causing droughts in some regions across the world and extreme floods in others.
In a report published on Wednesday, climate scientists pointed out that the Indo-Pacific warm pool, a stretch of ocean where the temperature remains above 28°C in the winter months, has doubled in size between 1981 and 2018. This, in turn, has “warped” the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a band of rain clouds that moves eastwards over the tropics and is responsible for most weather variations in the region – including the south-west and north-east monsoons.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. ‘It Has Happened in the Middle East’: Row Over Indian Diplomat’s J&K Remarks
India’s top diplomat in New York created a flutter when a video emerged on Wednesday that showed him suggesting that the country emulate Israel’s example to ensure the return of Kashmiri Pandit refugees to Jammu & Kashmir.
Sandeep Chakravorty, the consul general in New York, was filmed making the remarks at a private event on Saturday that was also attended by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, actor Anupam Kher and members of the Kashmiri Pandit community settled in the US. The hour-long video was posted on Facebook by Agnihotri.
The external affairs ministry did not comment on the issue. Chakravorty, who is believed to be a front-runner to become the ministry’s next spokesperson, tweeted that he had “seen some social media comments on my recent remarks”, which he said “are being taken out of context”.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Hindu Minister to Be Chairperson in Case of Muslim CM: Char Dham Proposal
The Uttarakhand cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to manage the Char Dham,or four holy Hindu abodes in the state, and 51 other temples on the lines of the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir and Tirupati Balaji shrine in Andhra Pradesh.
The state government plans to enact the Chardham Shrine Management Board Act 2019 to oversee the management of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
State urban development minister and spokesperson for the state government Madan Kaushik said on Wednesday that the proposed law would provide for a Hindu cabinet minister to be the chairperson of the shrine board in case a Muslim becomes chief minister.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Row Over Pragya Thakur's Nathuram Godse Remark in Parliament
BJP MP Pragya Thakur, known for making controversial remarks, once again called Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot during a debate in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 27 November. Her comments triggered a protest by members of the Opposition with the Congress calling her comments "BJP's deplorable hate politics."
During a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, when DMK's A Raja cited a statement of Nathuram Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi, Pragya Thakur interrupted and said he could not give the example of a patriot.
Raja said that Nathuram Godse himself admitted that he had nursed a grudge against Mahatma Gandhi for 32 years before finally deciding to assassinate him. Nathuram Godse, A Raja said, killed Mahatma Gandhi because he believed in a particular philosophy.
(Source: NDTV)
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