1. BMC & Maharashtra Local Elections: 10 Things the Verdict Tells Us
1. BJP Is No. 1
The BJP has established itself as the number 1 party across Maharashtra by bagging 8 municipal corporations. The party is also leading in over 10 zilla parishads. Only the Congress had enjoyed such pan-Maharashtra presence before the saffron party.
The BJP had won the 2014 Assembly elections riding the Modi wave, but it has now proven that it has a solid grassroots-level presence.
2. Fadnavis Has Arrived
CM Devendra Fadnavis’ position has now become stronger as the BJP had fought these elections with him as its face. He not only managed to scoop up eight civic bodies, but most importantly, he helped the BJP’s seat share in the BMC grow two and a half times.
(Read the full story on The Quint)
2. 'The Nation Hears Me Now,' Says Umar Khalid as Forced Peace Descends on DU
Forced peace descended on Delhi University’s North Campus on Thursday after a day of unrest in which rival groups clashed over an invite to two controversial student leaders to speak at a seminar at Ramjas College.
The unrest brought Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid — whose invitation to the seminar provoked the violence — back to the limelight.
If I would have spoken at Ramjas, only a handful of people would have heard me. Because of the furore, the nation is hearing me now.Umar Khalid
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. UP Election: Rahul Gandhi Sings From Bollywood Classic to Accuse Modi of Hate Politics
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi again turned to Bollywood to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he accused of resorting to hate politics out of fear of losing the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Gandhi had called Modi’s 2.5-year tenure a retrograde journey from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the 1995 Shah Rukh Khan hit, to Gabbar Singh’s Sholay at his poll rallies.
“I have only one thing to say, tu na Hindu banega na Musalman banega, insaan ki aulaad hai insaan banega,” he said on Thursday, at a party rally in his Lok Sabha constituency.
The lyrics — eulogising communal harmony — are from a song from yesteryear movie Dhool ka Phool.
“He was happy till the formation of the Congress-SP alliance. His mood changed thereafter and so has his expression. He is resorting to spreading hatred,” he said at the Ramlila grounds in Amethi, which votes in the fifth phase on 27 February.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Male Cops Beat Women at Ramjas, What’s Delhi Police Going to Do?
Dear Commissioner of Police (Delhi),
Is this the way your men are supposed to treat women citizens they are paid to protect? Punch her, push her, humiliate her? Are they ignorant of the laws they uphold, or are they simply using these situations as golden opportunities to rough up female students?
During the campus protests at Ramjas college on Wednesday, we witnessed certain policemen brutalising protestors in the confidence that they could do so with impunity. The same policemen, on realising their unconscionable conduct was being recorded by a journalist, attacked The Quint’s cameraman and snatched the equipment.
(Read the full story on The Quint)
5. Three Army Men Killed, Two Officers Among Four Injured in J&K Attack
Three army personnel were killed and four injured as militants ambushed an army convoy in Shopian district of Kashmir early on Thursday morning.
A woman was also killed in the crossfire. The soldiers who were killed have been identified as Sepoy Vikas Singh, Lance Naik Ghulam Mohammad Rather and Sapper Sreejith. Two officers — Lt Colonel Mukesh Jha and Major Amardeep Singh — are among those injured.
The latter is reported to be critical. The Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Hizbul spokesperson Burhan-ud-Din told a local news agency that the attack was carried out by a squad of militants who escaped after the attack.
Shopian Superintendent of Police Tahir Saleem said the 44 Rashtriya Rifles personnel were returning from a cordon-and-search operation at Kungnoo Shopian when they were attacked.
According to officials, a joint team of 44 RR and police personnel had gone to the village, following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants.
(Source: Indian Express)
6. Probe Against 3 Firms for Illegal Use of Aadhaar Biometrics
In a first, three firms are being probed for attempting unauthorised authentication and impersonation by using stored Aadhaar biometrics in what the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said is a clear violation of the law.
UIDAI has lodged a criminal complaint with the cyber cell of Delhi Police.
The entities under the scanner are Axis Bank, Mumbai-based Suvidhaa Infoserve and Bengaluru-based eMudhra and they have been served a “notice for action” under Aadhaar regulations.
It is understood that Delhi Police is in the process of registering an FIR after preliminary investigations into the UIDAI complaint.
The complaint was filed after UIDAI detected an exact biometric match in multiple consecutive transactions which the authority said was not possible without the biometrics being stored and their unauthorised use.
UIDAI officials noticed that one individual performed 397 biometric transactions between 14 July 2016 and 19 February 2017.
What stood out was that multiple transactions were performed concurrently with different user agencies — Axis, eMudhra and Suvidhaa — which suggested a common element attempting the illegal operations.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. India, Israel to Develop Missile for Army
Ahead of the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel later this year, India has approved a deal to develop jointly a medium range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army in a ₹17,000-crore deal.
This is the latest in a series of other variants of SAM systems for the Navy and the Air Force being jointly developed with Israeli help under deals estimated at billions of dollars.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which met on Wednesday, gave the go-ahead for the deal to be executed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). A source said Modi is likely to visit Israel in June, and preparations were currently under way in both countries.
The deal is for five regiments of the missile, which consists of 40 units and 200 missiles. It has a range of 50-70 km.
The system will be based on the older Barak system of Israel, which is in use in India. It is being changed as per requirements.Defence Source
The systems will be manufactured in India and would have 80% indigenous content.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. 3% Drugs in India Are Substandard, Shows Health Ministry Survey
Over 3% of all drugs sold across India are of substandard quality, according to the first-ever survey conducted by the union ministry of health and family welfare.
In the largest ever scientifically designed drug survey undertaken in the world for determining the quality of drugs, ministry officials said 0.0245% of the 47,012 samples were spurious.
The survey included as many as 224 drug molecules belonging to 15 different therapeutic categories of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2011.
As a part of this survey, 47,954 drug samples relating to 23 dosage forms were drawn from 654 districts of 36 states and union territories from the supply chains including retail outlets, government sources and from eight airports and sea ports.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Speed Governors & GPS Must for School Buses, Says CBSE
The Central Board of Secondary Education has issued comprehensive guidelines on safety of children in school buses on Thursday. Stating that the guidelines "should be scrupulously followed and complied with by all affiliated schools," the Board stated that the management and the head of the school will be held responsible for any lapse which could lead to disaffiliation.
The Board has made speed governors with 40 km per hour, GPS, and CCTV mandatory for school buses.
CBSE in its circular stated that “the recent unfortunate instances reported in the media about callous approach by certain schools with respect to the safety of school children during transit to and from the school have again agitated deep concern regarding the safety of school children. The time has come to make the schools sensitive to this serious issue and to take proactive remedial measures to ensure that safe transport for school children becomes one of the paramount safety objectives for every CBSE-affiliated school.”
(Source: The Times of India)
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