1. Mehbooba Shows Iron Fist: CM Warns Stone-Pelters, Loses Cool and Makes BJP Happy
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday addressed her first media briefing after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander and youth icon Burhan Wani.
Mehbooba Mufti today pledged an iron-fist policy to curb pro-azadi protests in Kashmir and then lost her cool, prompting Union home minister Rajnath Singh to play the pacifier. Seated by her side during a media interaction in Srinagar, Rajnath, who was reportedly sent from Delhi to read the riot act to her, was the picture of the gracious guest and spoke of introducing an alternative to the pellet guns that have maimed and blinded hundreds of Valley youths.The Telegraph
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2. Scorpene Leak: Firms to Be Blacklisted Only in Cases of Clear Criminality, Says Manohar Parrikar
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told The Indian Express that just a few days ago, he cleared the final draft of the new defence blacklisting policy under which no company should face such an action without clear evidence of corruption or criminality.
Companies in future will not be indiscriminately blacklisted unless the charges against them are criminal in nature or they have committed a crime like stealing documents or paying a bribe. Even the fact that allegations against a defence supplier are being examined by the CBI will not be a reason for blacklisting since the CBI can take 10 years to examine and finalise a case. And at the end of it all, the CBI may find the case is not strong enough for conviction.Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister
Source: The Indian Express
3. Don’t Carry Liquor While Travelling in Dry Bihar, Army Warns Personnel
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made Bihar a dry state as soon as he assumed office. The state is still easing into the blanket ban and is in no mood to sit back and watch.
The Army has warned both serving and retired military personnel not to carry liquor while travelling in Bihar, after some of its personnel were arrested for violating the state government’s prohibition law. The Canteen Services Directorate (CSD) of the Quartermaster General’s Branch has sent a letter to all command headquarters of the Army, Andaman and Nicobar Command, Ordnance Factory Board, Directorate General Assam Rifles, Naval Headquarters, Air Headquarters and Coast Guard Headquarters.The Indian Express
Source: The Indian Express
4. Red-Faced Over First Report on Jat Stir, Haryana Scraps Second
The Jat agitation in the early months of 2016 had seen public hue and cry after at least 30 people lost their lives, several were injured and civil disorder was rife.
After his first report indicted a section of Haryana police for deserting their posts and failing to respond to warnings from the Centre, the state government has asked retired IPS officer Prakash Singh, who headed a fact-finding probe during the violent Jat quota agitation in February, to stop working on his second report focusing on “recommending reforms” in the system. The agitation had led to the deaths of 30 people and loss of public and government property amounting to crores of rupees, forcing the Haryana government to call in the Army to control the law-and-order situation.
Source: The Indian Express
5. “What If Sheena’s Vanished, Why Fuss,” Peter Told Rahul
Phone recordings of Peter Mukerjea, Indrani Mukerjea, and Rahul Mukerjea, used by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has led to further disclosures in the murder case of Sheena Bora.
The discussions related to Sheena Bora, Indrani Mukerjea’s child with her previous partner, were recorded and made public by the CBI.
A year after Indrani Mukerjea’s arrest in the Sheena Bora murder case, phone conversations between Rahul and his father Peter Mukerjea, also an accused, and his stepmother, Indrani, appears to place Mukerjea in a corner. The CBI had relied on seven out of 20 transcripts in the chargesheet. Now it has given the remaining 13 to the accused. In one of the conversations, Peter tells Rahul: “What if she (Sheena) has disappeared, why are you making all this fuss”. This is a considerably damning conversation.The Times of India
Source: The Times of India
6. IIT Placement Ban on 31 Firms That Went Back on Job Offers
Revoking or delaying dates of joining for last year’s students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has not gone down well with the placement committee.
Healthcare startup Portea Medical and on-demand delivery service Grofers are among 31 companies blacklisted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and barred from taking part in the placement process this year for revoking offer letters or delaying joining dates. Most of the barred companies are startups. Last year’s ban on Zomato will continue for one more year. Flipkart, which had deferred joining dates last year is not on the blacklist; the e-commerce giant will only be served a warning letter. The list was compiled after taking feedback from all affected IITs.The Times of India
7. Talks With Pakistan Only After Terror Ends: S Jaishankar
Pakistan sent a second summons to Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to speak about the conflicted region of Kashmir.
Earlier, India had refused to meet Pakistan unless it was ready to take up the five-point topic based on cross-border anti-terrorist efforts.
India has drawn a red line on talks with Pakistan with foreign secretary S Jaishankar asking Islamabad to first address its concerns on cross-border terrorism, which was India’s core concern before seeking talks on disputes including Kashmir. In his response to a second letter from Pakistan in a week, inviting India for talks on Kashmir, Jaishankar also repeated India’s demand that Pakistan vacate Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said on Thursday.Livemint
Source: Livemint
8. After Sudha Singh, Marathon Runner OP Jaisha Tests Positive for Swine Flu
Olympian OP Jaisha, who returned from Rio with fever and body ache last week, has been hospitalised after she tested positive for H1N1.
Jaisha, who arrived in Bengaluru with fever and bodyache, has been hospitalised at the Fortis hospital at Bannerghatta, as per the information I had received so far from SAI doctors,” Sports Authority of India regional director Shyam Sunder told PTI. Jaisha had competed in the women’s marathon in Rio Olympics. It was an “arduous task” for SAI authorities to convince her to get her blood samples tested at the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).The Times of India
Source: PTI
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9. TRAI Row: Prime Minister’s Office May Not Meet Officials of Telcos
The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), a lobby group for Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, wrote to the Prime Minister Office against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) latest consultation paper. But looks like PMO is in no mood to entertain the lobby.
The Prime Minister’s Office is unlikely to meet representatives of India’s largest telcos over their complaint that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is biased against them, as the government believes in the autonomous functioning of regulators. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, had two weeks ago requested for a meeting with Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the prime minister, over “deep concerns” regarding some of the recent consultation papers floated by TRAI.The Economic Times
Source: The Economic Times