1. How Rohith Vemula Was Shown the Door by His University Campus
Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula would have turned 27 on 30 January. The Dalit research scholar, suspended from Hyderabad Central University over a political dispute, committed suicide by hanging himself. Just hours before ending his life, Rohith told his friends that since his stipend was on hold, he was unable to give them “even a small treat”, reports The Indian Express.
His suicide sparked protests across the country and led to an FIR against local BJP MP and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya under the SC/ST Act and on charges of abetment to suicide.
Rohith was steadily isolated by campus authorities and his appeals — many of them anguished and sometimes cloaked in irony — went largely unheard.
Por P Appa Rao, Vice-Chancellor, HCU as reported by The Indian ExpressThe decision to suspend the students was done after a thorough inquiry by a Proctorial Board and an executive committee. Instead of suspending them fully, we ensured that they could attend classes. They were barred from the hostel and from participating in any non-academic activities and politics in the campus.
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2. Odd-Even Scheme to Make a Comeback in Delhi After March
Delhi’s odd-even traffic plan has come to an end. While some called it a success, others called it a failure but the Delhi government isn’t done just yet.
The government might implement the next phase of the odd-even scheme after March as it seeks to first address two major concerns related to commuting by school children and the possibility of people going for another car to circumvent the restrictions.
According to sources, the second phase might be implemented after the CBSE board exams in March-April and two-wheelers will not come under the ambit of the next phase of the car-rationing scheme.
Gopal Rai, Delhi Transport MinisterAll the departments including PWD, transport, environment as well as independent experts have expressed their views that the scheme should continue further to bring down pollution level and de-congest the capital’s roads.
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3. Pathankot Attack: Court Allows NIA to Conduct Lie-Detector Test on SP Salwinder Singh
A special court in Delhi has given the green light to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct a lie-detector test on Punjab Police’s senior officer Salwinder Singh in connection with the Pathankot attack, The Tribune reports.
The NIA team had taken Salwinder to the court of District Judge Amarnath and sought consent to conduct a lie-detector test on him.
During in-chamber proceedings, the NIA reportedly told the judge that there were “inconsistencies” in the statements made by Salwinder Singh during questioning, so they should be allowed to conduct a lie-detector test on him, the same report states.
NIA has been directed to get the test conducted on him within three days.
Read the full story here.
Also read on The Quint:
Pathankot Attack: Questions the NIA Possibly Asked Salwinder Singh
4. India Attaches Top Priority to Ties with Israel: Sushma Swaraj
External affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on her first visit to West Asia as the External Affairs Minister. She has said that India attaches the highest importance to its ties with Israel as she called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the entire spectrum of the relationship.
Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External AffairsIndia attaches the highest importance to the full development of bilateral ties with Israel. Our bilateral cooperation has grown in a number of areas over the past two decades but the potential of our relations are much more. I hope to discuss the entire spectrum of our bilateral relationship.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said the two countries are intensifying their contacts and cooperation in fields such as science and technology, cyber, defence and agriculture.
Read the full report here.
5. Vacancies Mount: High Courts Need 443, Supreme Court Needs Five Judges
According to data compiled by the Law Ministry of the approved strength of 1,044 judges in the 24 high courts, there are 443 vacancies. In other words, the high courts are functioning with 601 judges as on 1 January, reports The Tribune.
Vacancies in high courts continue to mount with the collegium which made a comeback three months ago yet to recommend names for the posts, including that of Chief Justices to eight of them.
The Allahabad High Court faces the maximum vacancies of 86 judges, followed by 38 in the Madras High Court
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6. Ink Attack on Arvind Kejriwal Was a Rehearsal to Kill Him, Alleges AAP Leader
Dilip Pandey, Official Spokesperson, AAPYesterday it was ink, tomorrow it could be a bomb or a gun.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal having ink splattered on his face is just the trailer of a movie that is yet to come.
Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that the act was a rehearsal of as assassination attempt, reports The Hindustan Times.
At a press conference, senior AAP leader Ashutosh blamed the police for alleged lapses in security at a function in north Delhi, when a woman threw ink at Kejriwal alleging that a “CNG scam” was afoot in the recently-concluded odd-even scheme in the naitonal capital.
Ashutosh, AAP Leader as reported in The Hindustan Times.We are questioning the lapse in security and whether responsibility will be fixed. Sunday’s ink attack on Arvind Kejriwal seems like the rehearsal of an assassination attempt.
The party says that the BJP is behind this attack.
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7. Are Sikhs Minority in Punjab? Supreme Court to Adjudicate
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether the Sikh community was a minority in the ‘homeland’ of Punjab.
A Constitution bench initially countered the plea by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi for treating Sikhs as a minority in Punjab by asking:
Can Muslims be treated as minority in Jammu and Kashmir? For that matter, can Christians, who are the majority in the states of Nagaland and Meghalaya, be also treated as a minority community in these two northeastern states? Sikhs may be a minority in other states but can they be treated as a minority group in Punjab?
Read the full story here.
Also read on The Quint:
Some Are Sick of Sikh Jokes: SC to Decide If They Should Be Banned
8. Slogans Contrary to Actions in Modi’s Constituency: Green Court
The National Green Tribunal slammed the Centre and the UP government over pollution in the Ganga in Varanasi and said their slogans are contrary to actions.
The green panel pulled up the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Water Resources and the UP government while asking them to look into the matter and deal with it expeditiously.
Swatanter Kumar, NGT ChairpersonIt is really very unfortunate that such things are going on. Why don’t you do something about this? Your slogans are very contrary to your actions.
The observation came after advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal mentioned before the bench that bodies of humans and animals were being dumped in river Ganga and the authorities were allegedly not taking any action on the same.
On 15 January, the bench had directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to identify seriously polluting industries located on the banks of the Ganga and apprise it about “quantity and quality” of discharge generated by them in the river.
The green panel had also ordered a joint inspection by a team comprising officials from Central Pollution Control Board, UPPCB, UPCB and a representative from the Environment Ministry at points where tributaries of river Ganga from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh meet the Ganga.
Earlier, the Tribunal had directed the Centre not to release funds for cleaning the river from Gomukh to Kanpur without its nod, chiding the two states for failing to identify the seriously polluting locations.
9. SC Orders Free Foodgrains and Jobs for Residents in Drought-Affected Areas
India’s Supreme Court has directed the Centre and drought-hit states to ensure that affected residents are given free foodgrains in keeping with the Food Security Act, The Times of India reports.
The apex court also directed one member of every affected family to be given a minimum 150 days of employment under the MGNREGS.
The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by an NGO which has alleged negligence on the part of the state governments in implementing the Act.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and RK Agrawal asked the Union agriculture secretary to convene a meeting with officials of 12 drought-affected states that include Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate appearing for the NGOThe state governments have abdicated their constitutional obligation.