1. Sidelined AIADMK Leader VK Sasikala's Husband Natarajan Maruthappa Passes Away
Sidelined AIADMK leader VK Sasikala’s husband Natarajan Maruthappa passed away at the age of 76 at a hospital in Chennai on the midnight of Tuesday, 20 March. Natarajan was admitted to Gleneagles Global hospital in Chennai on Sunday after complaints of chest infection. He was reportedly put on ventilator as his condition worsened on Monday.
Natarajan died due to multiple organ failure, said the authorities of Gleneagles Global Health City hospital, reported ANI. He had also undergone a liver and kidney transplant last year.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. House Paralysed by Govt to Avert Trust Vote: Oppn Uproar
There was high drama in the Parliament on Monday, 19 March, with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan, citing a disorderly House to disallow, for the second time (the first time was on Friday), a no-confidence motions against the government.
The move provoked protests from opposition leaders with several claiming, outside the House, that the protests by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi that caused the disorderliness were stage-managed by the National Democratic Alliance.
The NDA has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha and there is no chance of the no-confidence motion going through, but analysts say the government seems eager to avoid the discussion that such a motion would entail in the House.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Lingayats a Religious Minority, Says K'Taka; Centre Will Decide
Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah-led Congress government on Monday accepted an expert committee’s recommendation, and accorded the status of a religion (a minority one) to the Lingayat sect, until now considered a part of Hinduism.
The move, which analysts see as an astute political move and opponents as an opportunistic one with an eye on the forthcoming state elections in Karnataka, acknowledges an almost fourdecade long demand by the Lingayats.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Students Clash With Police, Demand Arrest of JNU Professor
Hundreds of JNU students marched to the Vasant Kunj police station in south Delhi on Monday evening, demanding the immediate arrest of a professor accused of sexual harassment by several students. They overturned barricades on Nelson Mandela Marg and had scuffles with police.
The Delhi Police had on Friday said that an FIR had been filed based on the first seven complaints received on Thursday, and the two complaints received on Friday would be bunched with them. They had also said on Saturday that the teacher would be asked to join the probe on Monday, and record his statement.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Lalu Convicted in Fourth Fodder Scam Case, RJD to Appeal
Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad was Monday convicted in the fourth fodder scam case related to the fraudulent withdrawal of around Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury by Animal Husbandry Department officials between 1991 and 1996. He has now been convicted in four fodder scam cases with two more cases still at the trial stage.
Another former chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, was acquitted. Of the 31 accused, the court convicted 19 and acquitted 12 and will pass orders on the quantum of sentence over three days beginning 21 March through video conferencing.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Kejriwal’s Sorry Count: Three Down, Quite a Few to Go
Days after his apology to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia plunged the AAP into chaos, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday “expressed regret” to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and apologised to Amit Sibal, the son of former Union minister Kapil Sibal. Sources in the AAP said that Kejriwal and the party would make similar efforts to try and end at least 20 more cases.
Following the apologies Monday, the parties involved filed joint applications in court seeking the withdrawal of the cases, which led to acquittals in both.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Bhagalpur Clashes: Union MoS Ashwini Kumar Choubey's Son Booked for Rioting, Promoting Enmity
Union Minister of State Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s son Arjit Shaswat and eight others have been booked for rioting and inciting violence, two days after a procession of BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal workers triggered communal clashes in Medini Chowk under Nathnagar police station, a Muslim-dominated area, in Bhagalpur.
A second FIR has been filed against 10 residents of the area under the Arms Act for carrying weapons and allegedly opening fire.
“We have filed two separate FIRs. In the first FIR, BJP leader Arjit Shaswat and eight others have been named under various sections of the IPC and Loudspeaker Act. They had not sought permission for the motorcycle rally. If the administration had granted permission, it would have decided the route and made arrangements accordingly,” Bhagalpur DIG Vikas Vaibhav told The Indian Express.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. KCR, Mamata Banerjee Pitch for 'Non-BJP, Non-Congress Federal Front'
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee on Monday pitched for a non-BJP, non-Congress "federal front" to counter the political powerhouses ahead of the 2019 general elections.
"People are thinking before 2019 there will be another front. Let me clarify that this front will be for people of India. This won't be a mere alliance of a few political parties, this will be for the people. There is a need for alternate force," Rao told reporters.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. ED Challenges 2G Spectrum Case Acquittals in Delhi High Court
The Enforcement Directorate moved the Delhi high court on Monday challenging the acquittal of former Union telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi among others in a money laundering case in the 2G spectrum scam.
On December 21 last year, a special CBI court had acquitted Raja and 18 others, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal and daughter Kanimozhi, for the offence of money laundering. The court had also ordered release of attached properties in the case worth Rs 223 crore.
(Source: The Times of India)
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