1. Governors Stripped of Halo: All Political Appointees, No Unbridled Powers, Says SC
Observing the political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh, a Supreme Court bench ruled that Governors were political appointees and did not enjoy special powers. According to The Telegraph, the bench also made comments while considering the nature of appointments of Governors.
The two lawyers, appearing for a group of BJP legislators, told the court that governors enjoyed a unique position in the Constitution and were answerable, at best, only to the President but not to the judiciary. Singh also told the court that Arunachal governor J.P. Rajkhowa was a former civil servant and not a political appointee. This comment provoked the bench to observe that every governor is a political appointee.
Read the full report here.
2. ISIS Threat: Maharashtra Rolls out Deradicalisation Plan
According to The Hindu, the Maharashtra government is all set to implement an ISIS counter strategy. The proposal, drawn after a Home Ministry order in January, aims at thwarting “jihadi ideologies” propagated by terror outfits.
The programme includes opening vyayam shalas in minority areas, making National Cadet Corps (NCC), Bharat Scouts and Guides (BS&G) compulsory in minority schools, and setting up an independent media outlet to deliver ‘mainstream thoughts and values’ to the minority youth in the State.
Read the full report here.
3. Mumbai: Smoke From Deonar Landfill Fire Visible in NASA Images
At a time when there is nationwide debate on pollution, a report in The Indian Express says the recent fire at the Deonar dumping site is visible in images clicked by a NASA satellite.
The fire has been a cause of political tu tu main main for a few days, with the Congress demanding Mumbai mayor and Shiv Sena leader Snehal Ambekar’s resignation. Government schools were even closed for two days as the fire caused thick smog.
The images show how the smoke from the fire has covered the entire city spreading deeper into the Arabian Sea and coastal areas of Maharashtra.
Read the full report here.
4. Shoot-At-Sight Orders for Trespassers at Western Sector Airbases
The Indian Air Force has issued shoot-at-sight orders against anyone who attempts to scale the walls of its bases. The IAF has also asked the government to strictly impose the ban on construction within 100 metres of any air base and within 900 metres of its ammunition depot.
A senior IAF official said the 54 airbases would get smart fences, vibration detection systems, mini-drones, thermal cameras and night vision equipment to detect trespassers and respond swiftly in case of an attempted breach.
Read the full report on the Hindustan Times here.
(Also read: Anybody Scaling Walls of IAF Bases Will Be Shot at Sight)
5. Auto Expo Wrap: Brezza Launched, Katrina-Ranbir Spotted and More
The Expo that every automobile enthusiast has been waiting for, after the last one held two years ago, is finally here. Here are all the updates from Day 1.
Read the full story on The Quint.
6. Osama Got 9/11 Terror Attacks Idea from EgyptAir Crash
According to terror outfit al Qaeda’s mouthpiece Al Masrah, Osama bin Laden got the inspiration for the 9/11 attack from a 1999 Egypt plane crash. The deceased former chief of the outfit wanted to ape the Egyptian crash in which the pilot deliberately downed his plane in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to al Masrah, when the then al Qaeda chief Osama heard about the Egyptian plane crash, he asked, “Why didn’t he crash it into a nearby building?”, pronouncing the idea of targeting buildings, the Jerusalem Post reported.
7. Son of Ex-Major General Held in Goa for ‘Terror Links’
Sameer Sardana, the son of a decorated army Major General has been held in Goa for ‘suspicious movement’. The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has reason to believe that he is linked with “jihadi groups”, reports The Times of India.
Sameer Sardana, who police have said is a “Hindu who practises Islam”, was arrested by the ATS in Vasco on Monday and has been in remand since. A chartered accountant by profession who has been associated with leading MNCs like Accenture and worked in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Sardana was held by the police in Goa after he was found “wandering suspiciously” at the Vasco railway station. The police have seized his laptop and confiscated the five passports and four mobile phones that he was carrying with him.
Read the full story here.
8. Why the BJP Embraced MGNREGA, the ‘Living Monument’ of the UPA’s Failures
On the 10th anniversary of MGNREGA, The Indian Express takes a look at why the BJP changed its stand on the scheme. The BJP, which believed MGNREGA was a ‘living monument of UPA’s failures’, now calls it the ‘nation’s pride’.
The job guarantee scheme had become a boon for many BJP-ruled states as a way to give relief to troubled farmers. In an interview with The Indian Express in April last year, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan had termed the scheme as “one of the best programmes since Independence” as it has led to an “increase’’ in the income level of rural farmers.
Read the full analysis here.
9. Bridge Over Troubled Waters: What Industry Expects from The 2016 Budget
The cabinet committee is all set to finalise the dates for the Budget session of Parliament. In the backdrop of that development, an editorial in The Times of India explains that this year, India Inc is looking forward to job creation and growth in income.
We expect that the budget would explore solutions to address bank balance sheets on the one hand, and build consumer demand on the other. Problems for banks have arisen primarily due to large infrastructure projects which have not taken off as speedily as originally envisaged. Banks face a high quantum of distressed assets, estimated at over 11% for loans gone bad as well as loans currently being restructured with fresh repayment norms.
Read the full piece here.
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