India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan and China over a proposed bus service set to be launched between Lahore and Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China’s far west that borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), calling it a violation of “India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
As per reports, state-owned media in Pakistan has reported that the bus service will be launched this week and a private transport company will run buses through Lahore and Kashghar 4-days a week, tickets for which are already being sold.
The project is scheduled to be launched soon under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The so-called ‘CPEC’ is a key project under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India has not joined the BRI on the grounds that it does not respect other countries’ territorial integrity and has put participating countries under debt traps and has openly declared not to endorse the project in many international platforms.
India has shown serious resentment over the fact that the route passes through Pok as it maintains that PoK is an Indian territory.
Pakistan doesn’t share a border with China. So, Islamabad’s only link to Beijing is through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, responded to the media by saying, “We have lodged strong protests with China and Pakistan on the proposed bus service that will operate through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.” He furthered, “It is the government of India’s consistent and well-known position that the so-called China-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ of 1963 is illegal and invalid, and has never been recognised by the Government of India.”
The Maharashtra wing of the All India Professional Congress (AIPC) has organized an AIPC interactive that will feature Retired Supreme Court Justice Chelameswar in conversation with Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha on the 2nd of November on the issue of dissent and democracy.
In January earlier this year, Justice Chelameswar along with 3 other judges of the Supreme Court had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and had held a press conference to communicate “their failed efforts” to convince the CJI to protect the institution.
The letter appeared to say that the established principle that the CJI is merely the first among equals and not a “superior authority”, has not been adhered to by the current CJI. The letter also indicates that judges should not “arrogate” i.e. claim unfairly, the authority to deal with cases, which ought to be handled by others. The letter also makes reference to the opaqueness of the current collegium system.
The unprecedented press conference had created a political storm leading various legal luminaries to slam the move. Justice Chelameswar had also met with CPI MP D Raja drawing interesting reactions from people across the political spectrum.
Not too long ago, Justice Chelameswar was embroiled in a head-on clash with the then CJI Dipak Misra after a 5 judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court (which consisted of the CJI himself) overturned Justice Chelameswar headed bench’s order in the Orissa HC judge bribery case.
On October 31, the Supreme Court sought some more information from the union government about the Rafale deal responding petitions filed against the deal. The Court has clubbed recently filed petitions by Prashant Bhushan and Arun Shourie with petitions that were already filed in the matter.
The court has asked the government to submit information regarding the deal to the court in a sealed envelope, and also said that non-confidential information should be given to petitioners.
The opposition is celebrating this order as some sort of big blow for the government, implying that this will ‘expose’ the scam in the deal. While the opposition and left-wing activists are celebrating this ‘victory’, the fact is actually different. This is not a defeat for the government, and this is not going to reveal which is already not known.
BJP Govt’s ‘boat of corruption’ will no longer ‘sail’,
Supreme Court orders will expose the ‘truth of Rafale’
Dear PM,
Pls explain to the ‘court of people’, why are you now shying away from JPC investigation?
Blow for govt on Rafale. Supreme Court hears Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan petition and orders govt to reveal details of the govt’s decision making on buying 36 Rafales, its cost, and selection of offset partner. Secrets must be certified as such on affidavit.
Bang !!! #SupremeCourt leapfrog..now asks the Govt to give details on pricing and strategic details of #Rafale deal. It is just about the decision making process anymore. Top court gets into the intricacies of the #Rafale deal. https://t.co/kCwKhYhYWr
This what the order of the 3 judge bench of the Supreme Court says actually:
While it is true that during the hearing the court had asked for the price and other technical details to be submitted at the court, it was immediately protested by Attorney General K K Venugopal, saying that these details are covered under the Official Secrets Act and they can’t be revealed. He informed that court that such information was not given to the parliament also. Responding to this, the court asked the government to file an affidavit stating that confidential information can’t be revealed.
The court has ordered the government provide the petitioners only those details which are not strategic in nature and can be made public, and asked the strategic information to submit in a sealed cover to the court.
This means, whatever information government will give to the petitioners, are already known in the public domain. In its earlier order, the court had asked the government to submit how the decision to purchase 36 Rafale jets was taken, and the government has already submitted that information in a sealed cover.
The court has asked the government to inform how the offset partners for the Rafale deal were selected. This is actually a victory for the government, not a loss. The government of India, apart from Dassault Aviation and the French government has been insisting that Reliance was chosen as an offset partner by Dassault on its own, and there was no pressure on them to do so.
Various spokespersons of the government are saying this on a regular basis, Dassault CEO himself asserted this multiple time, but the activists and opposition including Rahul Gandhi are ignoring those clarifications. Now, union government will mention in an affidavit submitted to the highest court of law that Dassault selected their offset patterners on their own. The government will also cite the relevant portions of the offset clause. These facts will form part of a Supreme Court documents, and to refute this, the opposition will have to bring credible proof.
Now, what is the proof that the deal was done to benefit Anil Ambani? The only proof that Rahul Gandhi has is that Anil Ambani accompanied Narendra Modi to Paris when the deal was first announced. That may be good enough proof for speeches and rhetoric, but unfortunately not good enough in a court. Dozens of other industrials were also part of that business delegation, and such delegations are a routine part of visits by heads of governments/states. No crime can be proved by such things.
Therefore, the petitioners are not going to get any new information that is already not in the public domain. The confidential information that does not come under the secrecy law will be submitted to the court in a sealed cover, and that will not include the price and technical details. And most important, the government will assert in its affidavit that it didn’t have anything to do with Reliance being chosen as an offset partner.
The petitioners also asked for a CBI investigation into the deal, but the court refused that. The court said they want to know the facts about the deal first before issuing any notice. So it is not sure why the opposition is celebrating the court order.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been suffering from pancreatic cancer and has been undergoing treatment for the same. However, the chief minister’s ailment has not stopped the opposition politicians from making crass comments.
Days after Congress leader asked the BJP to either ‘show Parrikar in person or conduct his Shraddh (death ceremony)’ Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba made an insensitive comment on his health. In a tweet which is now deleted, Lamba asked Parrikar to ‘disclose the truth’ about Rafale.
Alka Lamba’s tweet on Parrikar, now deleted
She asked Parrikar to not stay quiet. “You won’t believe how many blessings you will get,” she said. Citing a popular Hindi proverb, she said, “Jahan dawa kaam nahin aati, wahan dua zarur kaam aati hai.” Meaning, where medicines don’t work, prayers do.
Aam Aadmi Party leaders have a history of making morbid statements devoid of any sensitivity. While Lamba has displayed lack of remorse after stalling rescue operations during a fire at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, by laughing about it on Twitter, Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal had given a veiled threat to the Delhi LG Anil Baijal on Twitter. After her nephew Vinay Bansal was arrested in the PWD scam, Sunita Kejriwal had hit out on Baijal and asked him to stop ‘harassing’ her widow sister ‘besides the constant harassment of AAP government’ as the former Delhi LG Najeeb Jung is ‘suffering from severe illness and he regretted what he did with AAP government’. She had said that karma never leaves the karta.
But Lamba’s comments are not too surprising since Aam Aadmi Party and its members have a penchant for creating a nuisance. In June this year, during a protest march against the Delhi LG Anil Baijal carried out by Aam Aadmi Party supporters, a poster had reportedly been spotted which read as an ‘appeal’ by all Delhi citizens.
The insensitive poster appeared in a protest march carried out by Aam Aadmi Party.
‘Delhi demands before Atal, take away Anil’. The poster referred to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India, who was undergoing treatment. Vajpayee passed away on 16th August this year.
However, Aam Aadmi Party leaders are not the only ones to link Rafale with Parrikar’s health. Earlier, in a desperate measure, Congress had tried to float a conspiracy connecting Parrikar continuing as a chief minister despite his ailment to ‘Rafale secrets’. Before that, even as Parrikar continued to undergo treatment at AIIMS, Delhi, Goa Congress had approached Goa governor to stake claim to form a government.
After Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Statue of Unity, the ‘liberal’ ecosystem has been getting sleepless nights. From accusing BJP of trying to appropriate Sardar Patel’s legacy to asserting that the money spent on the statue could have been used to feed the hungry, Congress has tried every trick in the book to deride the tribute to one of the greatest leaders India has seen – Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
Now that the criticism is proving to be hollow, Congress seems to think that mocking and making crass comments on the Prime Minister might get their point across. Ahead in the race of making crass comments is Congress’ IT Cell head, Divya Spandana.
She tweeted a photograph of Prime Minister Modi standing besides the feet of the massive Statue of Unity and said “is that bird dropping?”. Divya Spandana was asserting that Prime Minister Modi looked like “bird dropping” standing next to that statue.
Her crass comment wasn’t missed by twitterati who called her out.
One Twitter user, Sharanya Shetty, responded to Divya Spandana saying that she was just another member of Rahul Gandhi’s party displaying ‘Congress culture’ and that the abuses hurled towards Prime Minister Modi is despicable.
So intelligent. So funny. Round of applause. Mosquito, scorpion to now bird dropping.. @RahulGandhi ‘s party members repeatedly displaying Congress culture. The name calling and abuses towards @narendramodi is despicable. https://t.co/uGDft1Mb5E
This is not the first time that Divya Spandana has indulged in such behaviour and has faced the ire for her comments. Recently, she had tweeted a photoshopped image of PM Modi with the word “chor” written on his forehead. Later, a case of sedition was filed against her by lawyer Syed Rizwan Ahmed. She has also been named in the chargesheet in the case of a Congress IT Cell member sexually harassing another Congress member. She had compared the RSS to Muslim Brotherhood and shared “news” from a dubious website in order to spread canards about the Rafale deal.
With the 2019 general elections drawing closer, the political mudslinging seems to have just started.
The Union government has decided to take over the ‘Herald House’ building in Delhi belonging to the Congress mouthpiece National Herald for violations of the specified conditions on which the land was allocated, reported Times of India.
The Congress party’s mouthpiece National Herald runs its offices at ‘Herald House’. The building was reportedly allocated to the promoters of the newspaper for installing a press to print ‘National Herald’ but the premises are not being used for any printing activity and most of it is rented out.
According to the Times of India report, a legal order has been already sent to the allottee regarding the cancellation of the specified allocation. “All due process has been followed. The order has been passed after following the norms, which included a ground survey and after going through their response to our notice,” said an official.
The Herald House is also not being used for the specified purpose of printing the newspaper, which was the primary condition of leasing the land to the publisher at a highly nominal rate. The publishers have reportedly violated the condition and misused the allotted land and accordingly, the authorities have decided to take it back.
The inspection team has also reportedly found unauthorised construction in the building. The team has also found similar violations in other premises on this stretch and issued notices to the official allottees for their response. “The National Herald case will be an example for other violators. There is an ongoing court case for another building on the same stretch,” the official added.
Manish Tewari, Congress spokesman reacted to the notice and reportedly labelled it as ‘politically motivated and biased order’. He said that the notice will be legally challenged in the courts.
It is notable here that the ‘Herald house’ building is situated in Delhi’s press enclave area and the land was reportedly allocated in the 1950s at a very nominal price to Congress for the printing of the newspaper. National Herald was also allocated lands at other locations like Lucknow, Patna, Mumbai and Panchkula too. It was reported by back in August that the respective state governments have been directed to investigate the land allocation and building usage details of National Herald in their cities.
National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as the Gandhis are directly accused. The Mother-Son duo of Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL), as assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi got unconditional bail in December 2015.
The inauguration ceremony of the ‘Statue of Unity’ was held at Kevadiya Colony in Narmada district of Gujarat, on the 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the tallest statue in the world in honour of the country’s first Home Minister, stating that “India will now meet the world on its own terms and is moving towards becoming an economic and military superpower.”
“India is moving ahead on the path guided by Sardar Patel. There was a time when we were seen as weak. But (Sardar Vallabhbhai) Patel turned those very weaknesses into our strength; he showed us the right path, added the Prime Minister.
The 182-metre bronze figure has been dedicated to the nation, as Modi mentioned that if we were connected from Rajasthan’s Kutch to Nagaland’s Kohima and Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil to Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari, it was because of Patel’s determination.
Paying a tribute to the Iron man of India, Modi remembered Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary today. “Today, the entire country is celebrating Rashtriya Ekta Divas to mark the birth anniversary of Patel. The youth is participating in the Run for Unity. I would like to congratulate them all. The patriotism is the foundation on which our culture is built,” he said.
During the inaugural ceremony today, the PM poured soil and Narmada water into a ‘kalash’ in order to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. He also did a virtual “abhishek” of the statue with the help of a lever.
The statue has taken 42 months to be constructed, with the height set to 182 metres to match the total number of Assembly constituencies in Gujarat.
The former Deputy Prime Minister played a major role in integrating over 550 princely states into the Indian Union after the partition of India in 1947. While Modi unveiled the statue that has been built on Sadhu Bet Island on Narmada river for Rs 2,389 crore, he mentioned that it is now world’s tallest statue – surpassing China’s Spring Temple Buddha that stands at 153 metres by 29 metres and nearly doubling the 93-metre Statue of Liberty in New York.
The Supreme Court, in a hearing held on Friday, stayed an order of the Delhi High Court that restricted the power of the Election Commission (EC) to act against paid news. The stay will allow EC to crack down on the instances of paid news in the five states going to poll next month.
The Election Commission had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court Division Bench order contending that motivated propaganda by politicians published in newspapers cannot be considered part of their fundamental right to free speech. The EC had petitioned that the order of the High Court should be limited only to the concerned case and it should be treated as a precedent,
A division bench of the Delhi High Court had set aside an Election Commission order which disqualified Narottam Mishra, an MLA from Datia constituency in Madhya Pradesh after it claimed to have established 42 cases of ‘paid news’ in the newspapers in the run-up to polls in 2008.
The division bench in its order said that the Election Commission was attempting to exercise indirect control over the freedom of speech of the candidates. Para 77 of the order read, “Election Commission’s remit cannot ordinarily extend to judging content of speech; it is only to adjudge whether the election expenses incurred by the candidate or someone on her or his behalf, under her or his authority have been accounted” for.
In para 76 of the order states that the EC had “erred in interpreting” various laws and failed to establish that Narottam Mishra, a BJP minister in Madhya Pradesh, was responsible for the publication of 42 offending articles/features/ election appeals.
“The content of a media article, or a news feature or series of features on particular candidates, should ordinarily not be regulated indirectly through the directives of the EC; they essentially fall within the domain of free speech. Any indirect control would impact a citizen’s right to free speech and expression. Such indirect control would chill the right and freeze all debates — essential to democracy,” the court observed.
The Supreme Court clarified that sections 76 and 77 of the High Court order are related only to the case of Narottam Mishra, and it does establish any precedent for other decisions of EC in the context of paid news.
The Supreme Court’s order on the Delhi High Court judgement is crucial in view of the upcoming elections in the five states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana.
The Supreme Court order can be accessed here [PDF].
India is doing remarkably well in the Ease of Doing Business Rankings which is published every year. Ranked 142 in the year 2014, India jumped to 100 last year, and according to the latest report published, India has now improved further and stands at rank 77.
Here are the salient points of the Ease of Doing Business, 2019 report with respect to India:
1. China and India—two of the world’s largest economies—are among the 10 top improvers with 13 reforms between the two nations.
2. The economies with the most notable improvement in Doing Business 2019 are Afghanistan, Djibouti, China, Azerbaijan, India, Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey and Rwanda.
3. India now ranks 77 in the EODB rankings with a score of 67.23 with an improvement of 6.63 points in its score. India has improved 23 ranks in the last one year and 65 points in the last 4 years. India emerged as the BRICS and South Asian country to be recognised as the top improver in consecutive years. India has also ranked 1st among South Asian countries compared to 6th Rank in 2014.
4. The areas of improvement seem to be rather uniform in case of India.
5. According to the report, “India also focused on streamlining business processes. Under its National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020, India implemented several initiatives that improved the efficiency of cross-border trade, reducing border and documentary compliance time for both exports and imports. Enhanced risk-based management now allows exporters to seal their containers electronically at their own facilities; as little as 5% of shipments must undergo physical inspections. India also invested in port equipment, strengthened management and improved electronic document flow. By implementing the Single Window Clearance System in Delhi and the Online Building Permit Approval System in Mumbai during the second half of 2017, India also continued to streamline and centralize its construction permitting process. Regarding getting electricity, newly-adopted regulations from the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission require that electrical connections be completed within 15 days of the application’s acceptance. To comply with this regulation, Tata Power Delhi Distribution deployed more personnel as well as tracking tools and key performance indicators to monitor each commercial connection”.
6. Although India jumped 30 ranks last year, as compared to 23 ranks this year, the Distance to Frontier score improvement shows that India has achieved more this year than last year. Last year, India’s score had improved by 4.71 points. This year, it has improved by 6.63 points. In fact, India is the 5th best-performing country based on DTF score improvement.
7. Djibouti and India are the only economies to make the list of 10 top improvers for the second consecutive year with India making 14 significant improvements in the same period.
8. India decreased border and documentary compliance time for both exports and imports.
9. In India the establishment of debt recovery tribunals reduced non- performing loans by 28% and lowered interest rates on larger loans, suggesting that faster processing of debt recovery cases cut the cost of credit.
9. The report mentions that research on electricity provision in India shows that the expansion of the electricity network boosts industrial development and increases the performance of smaller firms.
10. As one of the reforms, the report says that India (Mumbai) the Maharashtra Shops and Establishment Act, 2017, increased overtime hours and eliminated work restrictions on the weekly rest day while introducing a compensatory day off and a 100% wage premium for work on that day.
11. It also mentions how India has set a target of training 500 million people by 2022 to spur employment and national development.
12. The report says “India made starting a business easier by fully integrating multiple application forms into a general incorporation form. India also replaced the value-added tax with the GST (Goods and Services Tax) for which the registration process is faster. These reforms apply to both Delhi and Mumbai. At the same time, Mumbai abolished the practice of site inspections for registering companies under the Shops and Establishments Act”.
13. The report says that India has improved how it deals with construction permits. It says that India has streamlined the process of obtaining a building permit and made it faster and less expensive to obtain a construction permit. It also improved building quality control by introducing decennial liability and insurance. This reform applies to both Delhi and Mumbai.
14. The EODB has asserted that India strengthened access to credit by amending its insolvency law. Secured creditors are now given absolute priority over other claims within insolvency proceedings. This reform applies to both Delhi and Mumbai.
15. India has improved notably in 6 parameters. The improvements range from 132 ranks to 14 ranks in various parameters.
16. In all, India seems to be in an upword growth trajectory as far as business parameters are concerned. The sharp improvement is most evident from the graph tweeted by Minister Suresh Prabhu.
As Chhattisgarh heads towards assembly elections, many villages in the Naxal-infested areas such as Dantewada are witnessing installation of polling booths for the first time since India’s independence. As per an ANI report, Katekalyan’s Talem village of Dantewada is one of such villages to see polling booth set up for the first time.
Chhattisgarh: Polling booth set up for the 1st time post-independence in Katekalyan’s Telam village of naxal affected Dantewada.Villagers say ‘We will go to cast our vote’.Katekalyan police station incharge says “It’s challenging but we’re ready. Villagers are connecting with us” pic.twitter.com/3TVOaYnEkk
The locals of the area are particularly enthused by the latest development and have expressed their willingness to cast their vote. The police in charge at Katekalyan police station has expressed that the police force faces daunting challenges but said that they are ready. In a step forward, the villagers are also connecting with the police.
It is pertinent to note that the violence in the Naxal-infested Dantewada region has spiked after the announcement by the EC of conducting elections in the region and attempting to bring the tribals into the fold of mainstream.
Yesterday, the Naxals attacked a patrolling party in Anantpur area of Dantewada in which Doordarshan TV crew member Achutyananda Sahu lost his life and two CRPF personnel were martyred as well.
On Sunday evening, the Naxals barged into the BJP leader Nandlal Mudami’s house and grievously bludgeoned him. A day prior to that incident the Naxals ambushed a bullet-proof bunker vehicle killing 4 CRPF personnel and seriously injuring 2 others. Last month, the Naxals had issued a warning to the locals in their stronghold of Bastar and Kanker region to desist from voting in the upcoming assembly elections.
Chhattisgarh is slated to go to polls in two phases. The Naxal-affected areas are going to polls on November 12 and the remaining 72 constituencies will be polling on November 20. As the election date is approaching, there has been a marked buoyancy in the nefarious activities by the Naxals.
