1. Election Omission: EC Announces Poll Dates for Himachal Pradesh but Not for Gujarat
In a controversial decision, the Election Commission (EC) broke from convention on Thursday as it did not simultaneously announce polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, even though the terms of the two state Assemblies expire within two weeks of each other.
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said that this raised “serious questions,” while the Congress, the leading Opposition party in Gujarat, alleged that the BJP had pushed the EC to delay the announcement.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. Talwars Acquitted in Aarushi Case
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and quashed their conviction in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in Noida.
A Division Bench, comprising Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra, pronounced the judgment on an appeal filed by the couple challenging their conviction by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad in November 2013. The Talwars had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Old Delhi Vendors Flout SC Ban, Sell Crackers
The Supreme Court may have banned the sale of firecrackers in the national capital region (NCR) in the run-up to Diwali, but that needn’t necessarily mean that this festive season will be any less colourful – or polluted – than the last.
Street vendors in Old Delhi continue to sell phooljhadis, anars and chakris with gay abandon, caring little for the environment or the khaki-clad policemen patrolling the area. The moment these small-time traders are alerted to an impending raid, their wares are hastily whisked away to a hiding place far away from probing eyes.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's Blue WagonR Stolen
.gif?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's car was on Thursday stolen from near the capital's ITO area.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's blue WagonR was stolen from near Delhi Secretariat, reported ANI. An FIR has been lodged in the matter.
"The car was parked outside the Delhi Secretariat. It went missing around 1 am," a senior police official told PTI.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Ryan Murder: Parents Protest After Students Asked to Stay Back to Help CBI Probe
The parents of students in class 11 and 12 of Ryan International School, Bhondsi, held a protest saying that they were not informed that their wards would be required to stay on after school time to interact with officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI team is probing the murder of an eight-year-old boy in the school on 8 September. The students were reportedly asked by the CBI officials to stay on after school hours and watch the CCTV footage to identify three senior students who are seen near the bathroom on the morning of the incident.
On 8 September, the boy was found with his throat slit in the washroom of the school. A school bus driver, Ashok Kumar has been arrested in connection with the case.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Stubble Burning: Punjab Lines up Farmers to Present Before NGT in 'Showcase' Village
At 3 pm on Thursday, exactly 12 hours before a bus full of farmers from here travels to Delhi to testify at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on measures to curb stubble-burning, Jasveer Dass, an assistant technology manager with the Punjab government’s Agriculture Department, rode pillion through the village of Kalar Majri.
In his hands he held an A-4 sheet, containing names of 21 farmers from this village that the state government says it has “adopted”, to demonstrate different technologies for paddy straw management.
The choice of this particular village, especially since it has only 60 farming families, has been questioned by farmers of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-Rajewal faction, who have been protesting over the last two weeks outside the NGT.
(Source: Indian Express)
7. Trend of Killing All Opposition Dangerous: Bombay High Court on Gauri Lankesh
Referring to the murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru last month, the Bombay High Court said on Thursday that the “trend of killing all opposition is dangerous” and is bringing disrepute to the country. It added that “there is no respect for liberal values and opinions”.
The division bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Vibha Kankanvadi was hearing petitions filed by relatives of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, urging the court to monitor the probes into their deaths.
(Source: Indian Express)
8. Punjab Minister Rana Gurjit Singh Took Loans From Firms That Funded Mine Auction
Punjab Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh and his wife, Rana Rajbans Kaur, took loans from the same three companies that paid a firm which, in turn, paid 50 per cent of the bid amount for two sand mines allotted to two former employees of the minister.
The three companies are RGS Traders Pvt Ltd, RJ Texfab Pvt Ltd and Jay Aar Builders Pvt Ltd.
(Source: Indian Express)
9. RSS Voice on Jay Shah Stands Out
A senior RSS leader has said the alleged spurt in the turnover of a company owned by BJP chief Amit Shah's son should be probed if "the charges are prima facie true".
Although the call for a probe came with strings attached, it stood out in contrast to the outright manner in which several BJP ministers and leaders had readily given a clean chit to Jay Amitbhai Shah and attacked the news portal, The Wire, that carried the report. Jay has denied any wrongdoing and filed a defamation case.
"Like any other corruption case, there should be an inquiry and action (should be taken) in keeping with the findings of the inquiry," Dattatreya Hosabale, the joint general secretary who is considered the third in command in the RSS, said in Bhopal where the Sangh is holding its national executive meeting.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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.)