QBullet: Rahul Ready To Take Charge; Indian ISIS Hostage Rescued

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File photo of Rahul Gandhi. 

(Photo: PTI)

1. All of India Runs on Dynasties, Why Single Me Out: Rahul at Berkeley

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's defence against the charge of being a dynast, saying this was true of other parties as well and was how India runs, set off a controversy on Tuesday, with BJP accusing him of being a "failed dynast" and the Congress saying political dynasties were commonplace.

"Akhilesh Yadav is a dynast, (M K) Stalin is a dynast, Dhumal's son (Anurag Thakur) is a dynast... even Abhishek Bachchan is a dynast. I mean that's how India's runs... So don't get after me as that's how the entire country is running," Rahul told an audience at the University of California, Berkeley, on 12 September.

Rahul did say that he was trying to change things and there were people without affiliations in his party, but rounded off by saying "but there are also people who had a father or grandmother or a great grandfather in politics. Not much I can do about it," in a clear allusion to his own political lineage.

Source: Times of India

2. Ryan Murder Case: Post-Mortem Report Rules Out Sexual Assault

Pradyumn Thakur, a Class 2 student of Ryan International School in Bhondsi, Gurugram, was found with his throat slit in the school washroom on 8 September. A bus conductor confessed to the killing, but many questions still remain unanswered and the school administration has faced serious flak over security lapse.

The victim’s parents have demanded a CBI probe into the murder and their petition was heard by the Supreme Court on 12 September.

Follow The Quint for more updates on the Ryan School murder case.

Also read: After Ryan Incident, Parents Rethink Safety Measures in Schools

3. Abducted Priest Tom Uzhunnalil Rescued from ISIS After 18 Months

In what comes as a great relief for his family and for the people of India, Father Tom Uzhunallil who was kidnapped by Islamic State terrorists in Yemen in April 2016, has now been released and has reached Muscat. The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that he will return to India later on 12 September night.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed on Twitter that the priest has been rescued.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who hails from Kottayam, was abducted in March last year by the ISIS, which attacked an old-age home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Yemen's city of Aden. He has made several appeals over the last 18 months to the Indian government to rescue him.

Read more on The Quint here

4. Rules Twisted to Favour Some for Medical Seats

Government-designated counselling authorities in states such as Bihar, Karnataka, Punjab and Puducherry allegedly adopted inconsistent norms to enrol students in the last round of admission to medical colleges for MBBS courses.

These norms contravened guidelines set by the Supreme Court, Medical Council of India and the Health Ministry.

For instance, Bihar opened the final counselling session at 5pm on August 31, the last day of admission, and asked candidates to bring demand drafts of more than Rs 10 lakh drawn in favour of colleges.

Source: Hindustan Times

5. AIADMK Drama: Sasikala Sacked, Jaya to Be ‘Eternal Gen Secretary’

Amid constant political turmoil, the AIADMK passed a resolution to boot out Sasikala as interim general secretary, and her nephew TTV Dinkaran as the deputy general secretary, in a party general council meeting held on 12 September.

The eighth resolution adopted by the general council (GC) declared that the post of temporary general secretary stands forfeited and Sasikala has been expelled as general secretary. However, the duo will continue to retain primary membership in the party.

The AIADMK GC, comprising of 2140 members and 290 Executive Council members, also decided that none of the appointments made by TTV Dinakaran would be binding on the party.

Read more on The Quint here

6. 6-Month 'Cooling off' Period for Granting Divorce Can Be Waived: SC

A Hindu married couple may not need to wait six months for a separation order in the case of mutual consent and the marriage can be legally terminated in just a week as the Supreme Court on 12 September held that the "cooling off" period in not mandatory and can be waived off.

The court ruled that the stipulation under the Hindu Marriage Act for a six-month wait could be done away with if all efforts for mediation and conciliation intended to reunite the parties had failed. The waiving off can be considered if the parties had already lived separately for at least a year. In such situations, the court could take a view that delay in proceedings will only prolong subsequent resettlement.

"The object of the provision is to enable the parties to dissolve a marriage by consent if the marriage has irretrievably broken down and to enable them to rehabilitate them as per available options. The amendment was inspired by the thought that forcible perpetuation of status of matrimony between unwilling partners did not serve any purpose. The object of the cooling off period was to safeguard against a hurried decision if there was otherwise possibility of differences being reconciled," it said.

Source: Times of India

7. In Loan Waiver Scheme, UP Farmer Gets Relief of 19 Paise

Ishwar Dayal, a marginal farmer of Bhartana in Etawah of Uttar Pradesh, was in for a shock when he was handed over by district officials a certificate saying his outstanding farm loan amounting to 19 paise has been waived.

He says he couldn’t believe that such a measly amount has been waived. Equally stumped were dozens of other farmers handed out similar certificates at a programme held in the district headquarters of Etawah on 11 September. Rama Nand got Rs 1.79 that he owed to the bank waived, while the certificate that Munni Lal Bholi got stated that his outstanding loan of Rs 2 had been waived.

Source: Hindustan Times

8. Rohingyas Threat to National Security: Rajnath Singh

Terming Rohingya refugees as a threat to national security, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on 12 September that the issue will be dealt with a firm hand.

"The illegal foreign immigrants will be strongly dealt with," Rajnath said in reply to a question about Rohingya Muslim refugees living in different parts of the country, including Jammu.

In August, the Centre had declared that the Rohingyas pose serious security challenges as they may be recruited by terror groups, and asked the state governments to identify and deport them.

Source: Times of India

Also read: Religion Not Only Reason Rohingyas Are Being Forced Out of Myanmar

9. To Open Coal Mining Sector, Govt Set to Auction 10 Mines

Breaking the 41-year-old stranglehold of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), the government has decided to offer 10 mines for auction as a first step in opening up India’s commercial mining market for coal. This comes seven months after the Centre had announced that the coal mining sector would be opened for commercial mining in 2017-18.

Four coal mines from Odisha are likely to be auctioned in the first phase — Chendipada, Chendipada-II, Mahanadi and Machhakata; four coal mines from Chhattisgarh — Shankarpur Bhatgaon II Extension, Durgapur II/Taraimar, Durgapur II/Sariya, Madanpur (North) — and one each from Madhya Pradesh (Dongri Tal-II) and Jharkhand (Mednirai). “The Centre is yet to decide the timeline to auction these ten coal mines,” sources said.

Source: The Indian Express