1. J Dey Verdict: Chhota Rajan Gets Life Sentence, Journalist Jigna Vora Acquitted
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday, 2 May, sentenced underworld don Chhota Rajan and eight others to life imprisonment for killing senior journalist Jyotirmay Dey seven years ago.
The court acquitted journalist Jigna Vora and Paulson Joseph, a member of Rajan’s gang, in the murder case.
Other than Rajan, those convicted earlier in the day include Rohit Thangappan alias Satish Kalia, Anil Waghmode, Abhijit Shinde, Nilesh Shedge, Arun Dhake, Mangesh Agawane, Sachin Gaikwad, Deepak Sisodia and Vinod Asrani, who died during the trial.
Dey, who was Editor (Investigations) of Midday, was shot dead on 11 June 2011, when he was on his way home in Powai.
According to the prosecution, gangster Chhota Rajan’s men followed Dey from his mother’s house and shot him.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Cambridge Analytica, at the Centre of Facebook Data Breach, Shutting Down: WSJ
The Cambridge Analytica consultancy at the centre of this year’s Facebook privacy row is closing, the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported the founder of the firm’s UK-based parent as saying.
SCL Group founder Nigel Oakes confirmed that both companies were closing, the WSJ said.
The newspaper added, citing an unnamed source, that the decision was taken because the companies were losing clients and facing mounting legal fees in the Facebook investigation.
The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The row over the improper use of data on 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica in President Donald Trump’s 2016 U.S. election campaign, has hurt the shares of the world’s biggest social network and prompted multiple official investigations.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. EPFO Suspends CSC Services Even as Govt Denies Data Leak Report
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Wednesday, 2 May, said it has discontinued services provided through Common Service Centre “pending vulnerability checks”, but ruled out any data leak. “There is no need to panic. Data is absolutely secure,” said a senior official, adding the problem was noticed in March and the service discontinued on 22 March.
Officials also suggested that services related to Aadhaar, which were being undertaken through CSC, may not be resumed as data entry was no longer an issue given that employers were seeding data and it could be done directly on the EPF portal.
EPFO’s statements come amid reports suggesting theft of data of subscribers by hackers from ‘aadhaar.epfoservices.com’, a website operated by CSC that comes under the ministry of electronics and IT.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Collegium Defers Decision on KM Joseph's Elevation, CJI Suggests Other Judges Be Considered
The Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday, 2 May, unanimously agreed to defer by a week a decision on whether to recommend the name of Uttarakhand chief justice KM Joseph once again for elevation to the top court, after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra suggested that the names of more judges be considered.
CJI Misra was of the view that judges from the high courts of Rajasthan, Calcutta and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana should be considered along with the proposal to elevate Justice Joseph, the person said on condition of anonymity.
Members of the collegium, which comprises the five senior-most Supreme Court judges and decides on appointments to the higher judiciary, then deferred the decision on the elevation of Justice Joseph.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Supreme Court Questions Private Companies Using Aadhaar, Says It Goes Beyond Mandate of Law
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 2 May, questioned the use of Aadhaar by private companies, saying that if the 12-digit biometric number was meant for disbursing welfare benefits to the underprivileged, to allow non-state entities to utilize it for offering services to citizens would be beyond the mandate of the underlying law, the Aadhaar Act .
A constitution bench led by chief justice Dipak Misra made the remarks during the hearing of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar Act and around 40 government notifications.
Other judges on the bench are justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. The remarks do not constitute a final opinion of the top court in the case.
Justice Chandrachud wondered whether the use of Aadhaar by private companies would be in sync with the objective of the law.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. High Court Pulls up CBI in Unnao Rape Case, Says Unhappy With Probe
The Allahabad high court on Wednesday, 2 May, pulled up the CBI for its work in the Unnao rape case, faulting the agency for not recording the statement of the victim.
“We are unhappy with the progress in the case. We asked for a status report just to see what you are doing. Why do you wait for our orders to proceed?” the court said.
“Do whatever you can by using your power. The court cannot direct you at every stage of investigation,” the court told the CBI’s lawyer.
The CBI took over the case from the Uttar Pradesh Police on April 12 after allegations that the state’s BJP government was shielding party lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the main accused.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Two Students Injured as Stone-Pelters Attack School Bus
Two school-going children were injured, one of them critically, when stone-pelters attacked a school bus carrying 50 students in Shopian on Wednesday, 2 May.
Separately, three tourists were injured in other stone-pelting attacks on tourist vehicles in south Kashmir and in Memander village, a mob lobbed a petrol bomb at the house of PDP MLA Mohammad Yousuf Bhat. The MLA was not present at the time and no casualty was reported.
SSP Shopian Shalender Kumar Mishra told TOI that the school bus of Rainbow International educational institute was attacked by a mob with stones near Zawoora village in Shopian district at about 9.25 in the morning. The stones hit the children as the glass windows of the bus were mostly open.
Of the two children who sustained injuries, 6-year-old Rehan Gorsai, a class II student, was hit in the head.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Home Ministry Told to Avoid Needless Objections to FDI
The government has asked the home ministry to stick to its remit while clearing foreign investment proposals after it came to light that several unsubstantiated concerns had been expressed by low-ranking officials, which delayed decisions.
With the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the interministerial agency for foreign direct investment (FDI), proposals were expected to be cleared quickly. But in sectors such as telecom and I&B, proposals were taking longer to clear, which was initially blamed on the administrative ministries.
But later, it turned out that comments from the home ministry were resulting in proposals getting held up. Under the current regime, a security clearance is needed from the home ministry.
In several cases, it was found that the home ministry’s comments were not backed by sufficient proof, said a source.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Violence at AMU Over Jinnah Portrait, University Registers Complaint Against Hindu Yuva Vahini Activists
Police on Wednesday, 2 May, lobbed teargas shells to disperse the students of Aligarh Muslim University demanding the arrest of outsiders who had barged into the campus, shouting slogans demanding removal of the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah from students’ union office.
District magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said two youths were injured in the police action.
Earlier, members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a right-wing organisation, entered the campus in afternoon and clashed with university students. They were then taken away to a police station from where they were later “rescued” by other protesters, AMU student union members said.
Meanwhile, the university has registered a complaint against activists belonging to the Hindu Yuva Vahini for raising ‘objectionable slogans’ against the university near the administrative block.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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