1. Trouble for Uttarakhand Govt as BJP Stakes Claim With Rebel Cong MLAs
In the Congress stronghold of Uttarakhand, nine members of the party have allegedly joined hands with the BJP.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat however, believes that the government will be safe with the support of 35 legislators out of 70-member Assembly, reports The Hindustan Times.
Along with the nine Congressmen, 26 BJP members arrived in Delhi late last night from Dehradun.
The turmoil started when nine Congressmen supported the demand of BJP members in the Assembly for the passage of an appropriations bill on Friday. After the ruckus that followed, the Speaker of the House adjourned the session.
The rebel Congress members then approached the Governor of Uttarakhand to overthrow the current government.
The Central leadership, already saddled with a similar crisis in Arunachal Pradesh, is said to be speaking to some of the rebel MLAs.
2. JNU Students Question Charges
The students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who were served a showcause notice by the proctor’s office in connection with the 9 February event, have questioned the charges levied upon them.
In a written reply submitted on Friday, they have questioned the composition of the committee and the result of the probe, reports The Hindu.
Look at the process that has been followed by the committee. It did not even take the deposition of the students who were debarred. And, in its report, it says JNU students were not involved in anti-India sloganeering. If we were not involved in raising any objectionable slogans, why were we suspended for so long?Rama Naga, General Secretary, JNUSU
The students’ union has refused to accept the committee’s report, calling for a protest against it.
The panel is believed to have recommended the rustication of a few, including Umar Khaled and Anirban Bhattacharya, and fines for others.
Khaled and Bhattacharya were granted interim bail by a sessions court in Delhi on Friday. They were held in judicial custody for over three weeks in Tihar jail.
3. Fresh Attempt to Form J&K Govt Fails, BJP’s Ram Madhav Says Not Accepting New Demands
General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ram Madhav said that the new demands by the leader of Kashmir’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti are “unacceptable”, The Indian Express reports.
Mufti made fresh demands from the BJP in a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday. However, Madhav has said that the changes will be considered only after a government is formed.
The report claims that Shah had hoped that Mufti will meet the Prime Minister as well. However, Mehbooba was adamant on meeting the Prime Minsiter only after the PDP’s demands were met.
4. Big Dent in Your Savings as Govt Slashes PPF, NSC Rates
The government on Friday announced a cut in interest rates on small savings schemes such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Kisan Vikas Patras, reports The Times of India.
The rate cut will fetch up to 90 basis points lower returns during the April-June quarter.
Although the rates are to be reviewed every three months, if they remain unchanged during the next financial year, someone with Rs 5 lakh in his PPF account would face a hit of Rs 3,000 in 2016-17.
5. Telangana Gets SC Shocker on Split of Assets With Andhra Pradesh
The youngest state in the country, Telangana, is unhappy with the decision made by the Supreme Court of India to distribute school supplies among two states.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have ordered the assets of the Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education (APSC) at a ratio of 58:42 percent based on population.
Telangana, however, wants to stake claim over all the funds and assets of the APSC, reports the Deccan Chronicle.
6. Life of a Woman Maoist: A Former Member Recalls Her Cadre Days
The current ruling party of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress, may have worked in tandem with the Maoists when it was in Opposition, reports The Economic Times.
In a profile of a female Maoist Mita Baskey (name changed), she said that she was picked up after she begged the Maoists to not take her brother.
Baskey was one of the two women involved in a Maoist attack on a police station in 2009.
The TMC convinced her mother to get her to surrender. However, she was arrested before she could do it, thus, making the surrender policy useless for her.
She has spoken about various incidents of violence in the camps, including one where her friend was never to be seen after he returned from surrender.
7. Rajnath Spills Gulf in Govt Over Pakistan
Cracking open a communication gap in the government, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that the date for a team from Pakistan to visit India to investigate was decided without his knowledge.
The date was fixed during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraja and Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in Pokhara, Nepal, on Thursday, 17 March.
I have come to know through the media that the Pakistan team is coming. We are fully prepared.Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister
A series of phone calls were made to the India NSA, Ajit Doval, but none to the Home Minister, reports The Telegraph.
The Joint Investgation Team (JIT) is coming to investigate the Pathankot terror attack on 2 January which claimed the lives of seven security personnel and six terrorists.
8. SC Allows Photos of Chief Ministers, Governors, Ministers in Govt Ads
The Supreme Court reviewed its own judgement from May 2015 which laid down the guidelines for government-funded ads in print and electronic media.
The earlier ruling allowed photographs of only the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to be published in advertisements.
A bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi and Pinaki Chandra Ghose added chief ministers, governors, and cabinet ministers to the list.
The earlier ruling was in response to a plea by two Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and Common Cause.
The move was welcomed by all political parties across the country, reports Livemint.
9. Jats Put off Quota Stir Till 3 April
Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and Director General of Police Yash Pal Singal on Friday managed to convince the agitated Jat protesters to stay calm till 31 March.
The Jat leaders will stay put till the state Assembly session comes to an end on 31 March.
More than 50 Jat leaders appeared for the three-hour long meeting at the Harayana Niwas on Friday, reports The Indian Express.
After the state failed to pass the Bill to provide reservation for the Jats, the agitators had threatened to restart the protest. In February, the protests had claimed 30 lives and left several wounded.