1. Kejriwal Charged in Assault Case
The Delhi police on Monday, 13 August, charge-sheeted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia in the case of alleged assault on his Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February this year.
The probe agency filed the charge sheet in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal at the Patiala House courts who fixed 25 August as the date for hearing arguments on taking cognisance of the charges and summoning the accused persons.
Five Delhi ministers – Satyendar Jain, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Imran Hussain – have termed the charge sheet bogus. “It is the latest example of the central government’s ongoing unprecedented witch-hunt against the Delhi government,’’ they said in a joint statement.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Umar Khalid Attacked Outside Constitution Club, Shooter Absconding
Some unidentified men targeted JNU student leader Umar Khalid and gunshots were heard at the Constitution Club near Parliament on Monday, 13 August, but he escaped unhurt, police said.
Witnesses claimed two shots were fired when Khalid was at the entrance of the club.
The student leader was at the venue to attend an event titled 'Khauff Se Azaadi' (Freedom from Fear), organised by an organisation named 'United Against Hate'.
Saifi, who was accompanying Khalid, said, "We had gone to have tea when three people came towards us. One of them got hold of Khalid which he resisted. There was a melee as a gunshot was heard. But Khalid was not injured. While the accused were fleeing, they fired one more shot".
(Source: PTI)
3. Somnath Chatterjee, Former LS Speaker, Passes Away at 89
Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha Speaker, passed away on Monday, 13 August, morning following a multi-organ failure at a city hospital. He was 89.
Chatterjee was admitted at Belle Vue Clinic last Tuesday following a kidney related ailment. On Sunday he suffered a heart attack and was put on ventilator support. “He passed away at 8.15 am today due to multi-organ failure,” said Pradip Tandon, CEO of Belle Vue Clinic.
The 89-year-old was earlier admitted to the nursing home on June 25 after suffering a haemorrhagic stroke.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Rahul Gandhi Challenges PM Modi to Debate on Rafale Deal, BJP Hits Back
Congress president Rahul Gandhi kicked off the party’s Lok Sabha election campaign in Karnataka on Monday by challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a debate on the Rafale aircraft deal, accusing the government of compromising national interest. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party responded swiftly, terming the allegation “reckless and baseless.”
Speaking at a Janadhwani (people’s voice) rally in Bidar, in northern Karnataka, to mark the start of the campaign for the 2019 polls, Gandhi said he would like “a debate [to] happen between me and Narendra Modi on Rafael deal... I will speak at length for hours.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Uttarakhand HC Declares Itself Legal Guardian of Cows; Bans Cow Slaughter
The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday, 13 August, invoked the doctrine of ‘parens patriae’ to become the legal guardian of cows and other stray cattle, thereby giving a slew of “mandatory directions” towards cow protection.
“The Court by invoking the ‘parens patriae’ doctrine issues mandatory directions…in the welfare of the cows and other stray cattle,” the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari stated in an order banning slaughter and export “for purpose of slaughter” of “any cow, bull, bullock, heifer or calf”, and selling of beef and beef products across Uttarakhand.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Karnataka CM Asks PM Modi to Ensure B’luru Hosts Aero India Air Show
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday, 13 August, sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the biennial Aero India air show is held in Bengaluru in February 2019, as it has been for the past two decades.
"I seek your indulgence for conducting the 12th edition of Aero India-2019 in Bengaluru, where the mega event was held successfully for 11 times biennially since 1996," said state Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in a letter to Modi.
The letter was written following media reports that the Defence Ministry was planning to shift the upcoming air show to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections in mid-2019.
(Source: IANS)
7. Ease of Living Index: Pune Is Number 1, Delhi at 65
Three cities of Maharashtra – Pune, Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai – are the most livable places in the country, according to the ranking of 111 cities on the Ease of Living Index released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Monday, 13 August.
While four cities of Maharashtra made it to the top 10 list (Thane is placed at 6th spot), national capital New Delhi was ranked a lowly 65 on the index. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which have a number of big cities, found no representation in the top 10.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Sacked by DMK, Azhagiri Claims Support of Karunanidhi’s ‘True and Loyal’ Followers
Less than a week after the death of Tamil icon and Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (DMK) patriarch, M Karunanidhi, a battle appears to have broken out between his sons over which of them has a claim over his legacy and his party.
On Monday, 13 August, the eve of MK Stalin’s likely elevation as president at a DMK executive committee meeting on Tuesday, Karunanidhi’s elder son MK Azhagiri, an exile from the party, said that “all true and loyal followers” of his father were with him.
Azhagiri, a former Union minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, was expelled from the party just ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections after differences with his father in an apparent turf war with Stalin. He is now based in Madurai.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Will Declare TRS Candidates for State, LS Polls on 2 Sep: K Chandrashekar Rao
TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday, 13 August, announced that the party would declare the names of all Assembly and Parliament candidates on 2 September.
After a politburo meeting, Rao said the decision was taken to quell speculation about ticket allotment.
“There is speculation that TRS will drop 40-50 MLAs, or not renominate so many MPs. So to clear the air, we will announce names of all the candidates in September. It will also galvanise the party to start preparing for the forthcoming elections,’’ Rao said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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