1. Train Rams Into School Van, 13 Children Dead
At least 13 schoolchildren were killed and eight others injured when a speeding passenger train crashed into a van at an unmanned railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district early on Thursday, officials said. The impact of the collision was so strong that the van, carrying 20 students of Divine Mission School, was crushed instantly and many children died on the spot.
The driver, identified as Neyaz Ahmed, 22, allegedly had earphones plugged in while driving and ignored warnings by the ‘gate mitra’ at the crossing, officials said. ‘Gate mitras’ are volunteers posted at unmanned level crossings to alert motorists of train traffic. A survivor said the driver was busy talking on his mobile phone and didn’t hear children screaming to him that a train was approaching.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Govt Rejects KM Joseph as Supreme Court Judge, All Eyes on Chief Dipak Misra
Deepening its standoff with the judiciary, the government Thursday returned for reconsideration the Collegium’s recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court even as it notified the appointment of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as a judge of the apex court. Her name had been recommended along with that of Justice Joseph on 10 January.
In a letter to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad underlined that “this proposal for reconsideration of the case of Shri Justice KM Joseph has the approval of the Hon’ble President and the Hon’ble Prime Minister” and listed reasons why his appointment “at this stage does not appear to be appropriate” — Justice Joseph is at serial number 42 in the All India High Court Judges’ Seniority List; his parent High Court of Kerala has “adequate representation in the Supreme Court”; several High Courts are “not represented in the Supreme Court at present”; and, “there is no representation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities in the Supreme Court since long”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Govt Has Struck at the Very Heart of Judicial Freedom: Former CJI RM Lodha
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Four former Chief Justices of India and another four former judges of the Supreme Court have expressed their concern over the current standoff between the Supreme Court and the government and have questioned how CJI Dipak Misra has let the government stonewall the collegium’s recommendations.
In fact, the government’s “segregation” of the recommendations — to reject the nomination of Justice KM Joseph, the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand to the Supreme Court, and to accept the elevation of advocate Indu Malhotra “strikes at the very heart of the independence of the judiciary”, former Chief Justice of India Justice RM Lodha said on Thursday.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. PM Narendra Modi Arrives in China, His Goal Clear: Bridge the Trust Deficit
Past midnight on Thursday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in this picturesque city of lakes, parks and gardens along the Yangtze river, the big question that followed him was this: Can he bridge the trust deficit with China, and its powerful President Xi Jinping?
The answer, The Indian Express has learnt, could possibly lie in a new “modus vivendi”, an arrangement for two conflicting sides to co-exist in peace, that the two leaders will work on over the next two days.
“The modus vivendi, which was reaffirmed and arrived at during (then PM) Rajiv Gandhi’s 1988 visit, has frayed considerably. It has been felt on both sides that it needs to be reframed,” sources told The Indian Express.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Two PSB Heads, Ex-IDBI Chief Booked for Fraud
The CBI has filed a loan fraud case against former promoter of Aircel C Sivasankaran, his son and companies along with the heads of two public sector banks — Melwyn Rego of Syndicate Bank and Kishor Kharat of Indian Bank — and former CMD of IDBI Bank MS Raghavan for allegedly cheating IDBI Bank of Rs 600 crore between 2010 and 2014.
The former Aircel promoter’s alleged involvement in a high-profile bank case marks a reversal of roles for Sivasankaran, chairman of Siva Group of Companies, as far as the CBI is concerned as the entrepreneur, popularly known as “Siva”, is the main complainant in the Aircel-Maxis case where former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi are named.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Indrani to End 16-Year Marriage With Peter, Sends Notice for Divorce
Indrani Mukerjea has sought a divorce from her husband Peter, marking the beginning of the end of a marriage that started with love at first sight, wound its way through business success and failure, and then started breaking down, especially after both partners were accused of being involved in the murder of Indrani’s daughter from a previous marriage, Sheena Bora.
Indrani’s lawyer Edith Dey sent a notice to dissolve the marriage by courier to Peter on 25 April. It was couriered after he refused to accept a delivery by hand when in court. Peter and Indrani are both in jail. She was arrested in August 2015, and he, a few months later.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Govt to Add Death Penalty for Rape of Boys Under 12
Less than a week after the Criminal Law (Amendment) ordinance, 2018 — which provides for death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below 12 years — was promulgated, the Union women and child development (WCD) ministry is set to move the Cabinet seeking approval for the same punishment for those guilty of sexually abusing young boys of the same age, two senior government officials familiar with the matter said.
The 22 April ordinance amended Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that deals with rape. It also changed Section 42 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, a special legislation enacted in 2012 to address sexual offences committed against those below 18 years of age, to say that newly amended IPC section would apply to children below 12 years of age.
But while POCSO is gender-neutral, the amended Section 376 mentions the word “woman”. This meant that those guilty of raping boys below the age of 12 years old would not be subject to the death penalty provision.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Congress Cries ‘Conspiracy’ Over Snags in Rahul Gandhi’s Plane
Congress on Thursday alleged conspiracy and lodged a complaint with the Karnataka Police over what it called “unexplained malfunctioning” of the 10-seater Dassault Falcon 2000 aircraft (VT-AVH) carrying its party president, Rahul Gandhi, to Hubballi from New Delhi.
According to the complaint, filed by Rahul’s aide Kaushal K Vidyarthee, who was with him, the aircraft suddenly tilted to the left side, dipped steeply and shuddered violently.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Bhaichung Kicks Off ‘Hamro Sikkim’
There was a time in the 1990s when Bhaichung Bhutia could fill football stadiums. On Thursday, his name became an irresistible clickbait that crammed the small conference hall at the Delhi Press Club, even though the occasion wasn’t prime-time material – the announcement of a regional political party’s name. The name, as it turned out, was Hamro Sikkim (Our Sikkim), and by evening, thanks to his presence, it had even trended on Twitter.
The former India striker, though, behaved much like an astute playmaker who wouldn’t hog credit. Bhaichung insisted he was neither the party’s CM candidate nor its leader. Rather, he reiterated what others flanking him on the dais had said earlier — that he was one of the party’s senior members and supporters.
(Source: The Times of India)
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