1. Madhya Pradesh: Congress Accuses BJP of Duplicating Voter Entries, EC Orders Probe
Hours after a Congress delegation, led by Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission regarding discrepancies in the voters’ list of Madhya Pradesh, the poll watchdog ordered an investigation into the matter. Nath questioned how the number of voters increased by 40 percent at a time when the population in the state rose by only 24 percent in the last 10 years.
The EC has formed two teams to probe the allegation. The two teams will visit Narela, Bhojpur, Seoni-Malwa and Hoshangabad assembly seats to ascertain how the discrepancies occurred. The teams have been asked to furnish their report by 7 June.
“We’ve provided evidence to the Election Commission that there are approximately 60 lakh fake voters registered in the voting list. These names have been deliberately registered,” Kamal Nath said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Days After Truce Pledge, Pakistan Resumes Shelling
Two BSF personnel were killed and 13 civilians and a cop were injured when Pakistani Rangers violated the recent ceasefire agreement and resorted to heavy mortar shelling on the International Border (IB) in the Pargwal sector in Akhnoor area of Jammu on 3 June.
“Thirty-one villages and 27,000 people have been affected in Marh and Khour subdivisions. Six lodgements and shelter camps are ready for accommodating affected villagers,” Jammu additional deputy commissioner Arun Manhas said.
After frequent border skirmishes, India and Pakistan had, on 29 May, agreed to restore a ceasefire and DGMOs of both the countries vowed to “fully implement” the pact of 2003 in “letter and spirit” forthwith. But on Sunday, Pakistani forces started unprovoked firing, targeting a BSF post along the IB around 1.15 am.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Kathua Case: Father’s Old Plea Comes to Haunt ‘Juvenile’ Accused
As one of the accused in the Kathua rape and murder tries to prove he is a juvenile, he is up against an application filed by his own father to a local tehsildar seeking registration of birth of his three children around 14 years ago.
Equipped with this application and also a report of a board of doctors of the Government Medical College, Jammu, the Crime Branch has now approached the state High Court requesting it to set aside a trial court decision to treat the accused as juvenile. The medical board has determined his age as “not less than 19 and not more than 23”.
While seeking birth certificates for his children, the accused’s father had submitted an application to the Hiranagar tehsildar on 15 April, 2004, mentioning the date of birth of his eldest child as 23 November 1997, the middle child as 21 February 1998, and youngest as 23 October 2002. It is this youngest child who is the accused in the rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua.
The Crime Branch has pointed out that there is a gap of only two months and 28 days between the ages of the first two children, as per the dates furnished by the father, indicating his lack of seriousness.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Confine Illegal Rohingya to Designated Camps: Centre to States
The Centre has asked Jammu & Kashmir and other states to confine illegal Rohingya settlers to pre-identified locations within their respective jurisdictions, record their personal particulars, including biometric details, and not to issue them Aadhaar number or any other identity proof.
The meticulous preparation of their personal particulars has been sought so that these details can eventually be shared with Myanmar for likely repatriation, said a government source.
This indicates the government’s intent to prevent a wider diffusion of Rohingya in India beyond the camps, and the Centre’s concern over possible presence of radical elements among them and their involvement in crime.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Navy Evacuates 38 Stranded Indians From Cyclone-Hit Island in Yemen
In a swift operation, the Indian Navy on 3 June rescued 38 Indians from Socotra island in Yemen where they were stranded for nearly 10 days after a severe cyclonic storm hit the area.
The Navy on Satuday had diverted its ship INS Sunayna from the Gulf of Aden to Socotra as part of the operation ‘NISTAR’ to rescue the Indians, Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said.
He said that the stranded Indians were rescued off the coast of Socotra early this morning and are now onboard INS Sunayna, adding that all of them were safe. The ship is bringing the Indians back home.
(Source: PTI)
6. Shillong Limps to Normalcy After Three Tense Days
After a three-day communal conflagration threw life out of gear, the Meghalaya capital limped to normalcy on Sunday with the district administration relaxing curfew for seven hours while a Sikh delegation from Delhi took stock of the situation in the town.
Shillong Municipal Board employees were pressed into service to clean up the debris in the riot zone since morning following which vegetable and fruit vendors set up their temporary stalls to sell their produce after the administration relaxed curfew from 8 am to 3 pm to allow people to stock up on essentials.
Trouble began on 31 May morning in Motphran, a commercial centre close to Them Metor where the Sikhs live after a driver parked a public bus near a water tap and went for tea, leaving behind his two sons and a nephew in the vehicle.
A group wanting the bus to be moved accosted the boys and assaulted them when they couldn’t shift the vehicle following an altercation. One boy was injured and had to be taken to hospital. Later in the evening, a group of bus drivers converged at Motphran for a retaliatory attack which soon snowballed into arson.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. BJP Calls Meeting of Bihar Allies
After a united Opposition gave a jolt to the BJP’s prospects of government formation in Karnataka and in the recent by-elections in various states, the party is getting down to the business of strengthening its bonds with its allies in order to be fighting fit for the Lok Sabha election in 2019.
The party has called a meeting of its Bihar allies, district-level office-bearers upwards, including MLAs and MPs, of all NDA partners in Patna on 7 June. While the meeting will be a team-building exercise, BJP president Amit Shah met Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi on Sunday.
Paswan supported Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s demand for Special Category Status (SCS) for Bihar. Top BJP sources confirmed that talks had been on between the party and its allies in Bihar over seat adjustment for the 2019 election, with the return of the Janata Dal(U) to the NDA.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Sushma Swaraj’s Plane Goes Incommunicado For 14 Mins
A VIP Embraer aircraft carrying External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Mauritius, on her way to South Africa, had gone incommunicado for 14 minutes, triggering a scare after the Air Traffic Control of the island nation pressed the panic button, an official statement said.
The Mauritian ATC could not establish contact with the Indian Air Force flight IFC 31 after it entered that country's airspace yesterday, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement.
But instead of waiting for the mandatory 30 minutes, the Mauritian ATC activated the uncertainty phase, known as INCERFA in aviation parlance, it said. The Ministry of External Affairs has not commented on the issue so far.
(Source: PTI)
9. ‘Miffed’ Top Karnataka Congress Leader Resigns
Senior Congress leader SR Patil has resigned as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president, taking moral responsibility for the party’s unsatisfactory performance in the recently concluded assembly elections. Patil had mailed his resignation letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on 25 May. Rahul, who is currently abroad, is yet to reply to the letter.
“The Congress high command reposed faith in me and gave me responsibility to ensure victories in as many as constituencies in north Karnataka,” 69-year-old Patil told reporters at Hubballi airport on Sunday. “However, I could not ensure victory of the Congress candidates. Hence, I have decided resign.”
However, party insiders attribute the decision to what they call “ill-treatment” meted out to Patil by leaders after the assembly election results were announced. “He was not consulted or involved in talks that led to the Congress-JD(S) alliance,” a Congress leader said. “Also, his efforts to become deputy CM under the Lingayat quota failed. He has been miffed since then.”
(Source: The Times of India)
More From The Quint:
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)