1. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Sentenced to 20 Years Imprisonment for Rapes
A special CBI court Monday sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years of imprisonment. CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced two sentences of 10 years rigorous imprisonment in each of the two cases that date back to 2002, said defence lawyer S K Garg Narwana.
He said both sentences will run consecutively for a total of 20 years in jail for the flamboyant guru who has millions of followers and counts politicians as well as celebrities as his friends.
Singh also fined him Rs 15 lakh in each of the two cases, of which Rs 14 lakh each would go to the two victims who were part of his sect and were coerced into having sex with him.
The defence counsel sought leniency from the court arguing that Ram Rahim was active in social work and had health issues. He said he will appeal against the orders in a high court.
Source: Indian Express
2. Doklam Row: China Removes Road-Building Equipment From Face-Off Site
In a diplomatic victory, India and China have agreed to "disengage" from the stand-off in Doklam on Bhutanese territory.
After almost 10 weeks of sustained negotiations between top-level Indian and Chinese officials, the MEA on Monday said “expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going.”
By the end of the day, as Indian troops withdrew from their post at Doka La, Chinese troops and their road-building equipment too were removed from the face-off site. The standoff has been on since 16 June when Indian troops physically stopped the PLA from building a road on Doklam plateau. In a second statement at the end of the day, MEA confirmed that both sides had moved out "under verification."
The negotiations were conducted at various levels — first, during the visit by NSA Ajit Doval to China in July, where he held discussions with his counterpart Yang Jiechi. Next, foreign secretary S Jaishankar led the diplomatic talks with the Chinese side.
Source: The Times of India
3. AAP Gets Boost From Bawana Victory, BJP a Distant Second
Aam Aadmi Party got a much-needed morale booster when it registered a big win at the crucial Bawana bypolls after a string of electoral reverses that had seen BJP winning the municipal polls and Congress staging a partial recovery in terms of improved vote shares.
The Bawana victory for AAP candidate Ram Chander by a margin of over 24,000 votes over his BJP rival, and a with vote share of 45.3%, is a timely boost for the party’s sagging morale.
BJP seemed to have paid the price of adopting rebel AAP MLA Ved Prakash, which saw defections from its camp. BJP came a distant second, pipping Congress by just under 4,000 votes.
The near equal vote shares of BJP and Congress made the contest triangular -a factor that has benefited BJP recently but which went in favour of AAP in the bypoll.
The win will give AAP bre athing space and BJP food for thought, particularly if the Election Commission (EC) decides against AAP in the office of profit cases relating to 21 of its MLAs and a "mini election" results.
Source: The Times of India
4. No Tribal, Dalit Member in CBDT for Last 30 Years
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has not had any Dalit or tribal member in the last thirty years, even as the country has gone through much upheaval over reservation during the period.
The CBDT is the statutory authority that handles matters of levy and collection of income tax and other direct taxes and has a chairperson and six members.
The tax panel in its written reply to the parliamentary committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) said:
As per the records available in the revenue (headquarters), no member from the SC/ST community has been appointed as member of CBDT since 1987. Information prior to 1987 is not available.
With the Mandal Commission report in the early 1980s changing the face of reservation in the country, representation of Dalits and tribals increased manifold in several government bodies, smoothening the roads for an inclusive growth.
Source: Hindustan Times
5. Deportation of Rohingyas: Rijiju Says UN Body Has No Right to Criticise Govt
Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Monday took on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) stating that the international rights body did not have a right to criticise the BJP government for its stand on deporting illegal migrants.
Is there any country in the world which has given shelter to as many refugees as India has given? So United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights or any other organisation do not have a right to criticise me or our government.Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home
He was referring to the flak by some human rights organisation, including the UNHCR, to the government’s move to deport Rohingyas.
The minister had said in Parliament on 9 August that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas.
What I said in the parliament was about illegal immigrants whether or not they are registered with UN. We are not shooting anyone or throwing anyone into the ocean. We only said that anyone coming to India illegally should leave the country through legal means and procedures.
Source: Hindustan Times
6. Centre Set to Roll out New Treatment for Encephalitis
Weeks after several children died of encephalitis-related complications at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, Gorakhpur, the Centre is looking to introduce a new drug, traditionally used for acne, to deal with the seasonal outbreaks of acute encephalitis.
Last year the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the drug did not appear potent enough to merit being immediately rolled out as a standard treatment for treating patients afflicted with the Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus.
In 2008, researchers at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar found that minocycline — an antibiotic typically used to treat severe acne — surprisingly seemed to cure rats infected with the JE virus.
Independent teams of doctors and researchers between 2008 and 2013 have conducted trials on patients and have concluded, that minocycline worked well on patients with AES symptoms, who survived the first day of hospitalisation. According to the studies the drug did not measurably protect patients beyond three months.
Source: The Hindu
7. India's Fastest Train Gatimaan Express Has Run Late 3 out of Every 10 Trips
Gatimaan Express, the only train in India that can do 160km per hour, was late for every third trip it made between Delhi and Agra in its inaugural year.
Flagged off by rail minister Suresh Prabhu on 5 April, 2016, the Gatimaan, which loosely translates to fast-moving, is supposed to cover a distance of 188km between Delhi’s Nizamuddin railway station and Agra Cantonment in 1.40 hours with no halts.
A look at the arrival-departure data for journeys made between 5 April, 2016 and April 5, 2017 shows that while the train left from both ends at the right time on most occasions, it lost momentum en route, mainly because of fog in the winter and allegedly faulty safety equipment.
The data was obtained from the northern and north-central railway zones through an application filed under the right to information act.
As the Gatimaan makes the roundtrip six days a week, except on Friday, the train ran for 314 days, or 628 trips, in its first year of operation.
Source: Hindustan Times
8. Justice Dipak Misra: 1st Top Judge With Z-Category Cover
Justice Dipak Misra succeeded Justice J S Khehar on Monday to become the 45th Chief Justice of India, and the first to have 'Z'-category security cover. He will have a tenure of a little over a year, and retire on October 2 next year.
On 30 July, 2015, in a predawn hearing, a Justice Misra-headed bench had rejected 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's last-gasp plea for the commutation of his death penalty. Shortly thereafter, an anonymous threat letter was thrown into Misra's official residence, necessitating 'Z'-category security.
The cover remains in place, and he is the only SC judge to use a bullet-proof Ambassador car with a police escort. Soft-spoken, Misra sports a smile that disarms the most cantankerous litigant.
Benches headed by him have upheld the constitutional validity of Section 499 and 500 of the IPC, providing for criminal defamation proceedings, and also death penalty for convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
Source: The Times of India
9. Asaram Bapu Case: Supreme Court Questions Gujarat Govt Over Slow Pace of Trial
The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Gujarat government for dragging its feet in the trial of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu. The apex court asked the state counsel why the rape victim has not been examined till date.
A bench comprising justices N V Ramanna and Amitava Roy asked the state government to file an affidavit in this regard and posted the matter for further hearing after Diwali.
Earlier in April, a bench comprising of the then Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul directed a Gujarat trial to expedite hearing in the case.
“The trial court is directed to expedite the examination of witnesses as expeditiously as may be practically possible,” the bench had said.
Appearing for the Gujarat government, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said 29 prosecution witnesses have already been examined and the statements of 46 witnesses are yet to be recorded.
Source: Indian Express
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