QBullet: PM Slams Kathua Rape at UK Event; Defence Panel Unveiled
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1. Don’t Politicise Rape: Modi in UK
The Kathua rape murder case echoed at PM Narendra Modi’s public programme in London on Wednesday, when he said there should be no politics over rape. He added that the recent incidents of sexual assault were a shame for the country.
“A rape is a rape. How can we tolerate this exploitation of our daughters? But can we compare the number of rapes in different governments? We can’t say there were this many rapes in our government and that many in yours. There cannot be a worse way to deal with this issue,” Modi told the Indian diaspora at an event, Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath, where he referred to the Kathua victim as the “eight-year-old-girl”.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Modi, May Talk Mallya, Terror in London Meet
The extradition of economic offenders such as Vijay Mallya and action against Pakistan-based terror groups topped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda as Brexit-bound Britain extended him royal treatment ahead of the Commonwealth summit.
During a breakfast meeting with Modi, Prime Minister Theresa May sought to address Brexit related concerns of Indian firms and investors by saying that their access to European markets will continue till 2020. Modi, in turn, assured May there would be “no dilution in the importance of the UK to India” after it leaves the European Union.
Modi raised the extradition of Indian economic offenders based in Britain, including Mallya, officials said. “The issue of economic offenders was raised and this was among a number of consular issues that were raised,” foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. New Superpanel for Defence Strategy
The Narendra Modi government has decided to create an overarching Defence Planning Committee (DPC) under National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that will drive the country’s military and security strategy, draft capability development plans and guide (and accelerate) defence equipment acquisitions, according to a defence ministry notification seen by Hindustan Times.
The move, which is a significant change in India’s defence strategy architecture, comes as the country faces several potential threats in a highly militarised neighbourhood; is trying to balance budgetary constraints with its need for arms; and is working on increasing its own expertise in manufacturing and exporting defence equipment. Until now, defence planning has been synonymous with hardware acquisition.
The DPC will be a permanent body chaired by the National Security Advisor and comprise the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, three service chiefs, the defence, expenditure and foreign secretaries.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Kathua Rape Shameful, Need to Introspect: President Ram Nath Kovind
Condemning the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua as “shameful (sharmanaak)”, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said there is a need to introspect “what kind of a society we are developing into”.
Addressing the sixth convocation of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University at Kakriyal near Katra, Kovind said: “Recently, one child became the target of a heinous and barbaric crime, which nobody could ever imagine… Such an incident taking place in any part of the country after 70 years of independence is really shameful.”
“The most beautiful thing in this world is the smiling face of a child, and the security of our children is the greatest success of our society… It is the responsibility of our society to give security and a sense of safety to them,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Taxmen Begin Raids on Hoarders of Cash as Centre, RBI Pump in Notes
Tax authorities have conducted 30-35 raids in Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh as part of a drive to smoke out cash hoarders, even as the government and RBI moved to pump in funds into some of the states facing a currency crunch.
In Bihar, for instance, Rs 800-900 crore has been pumped in through the ATM network with initial assessments suggesting that the shortage may be tackled soon.
But the problem is seen to be more deep-rooted in Andhra and Telangana, where the role of large contractors is under the I-T department’s lens.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Behind Shortage of Cash, Circulation of Rs 200 Fast, Rs 2,000 Slow: SBI Report
The ongoing currency crunch in at least half-a-dozen states could be because of the fast pace of circulation of Rs 200 notes, a sharp slowdown in circulation of Rs 2,000 notes, a rise in currency with the public as a percentage of the currency in circulation and declining “income velocity,” according to a research report from India’s largest bank, State Bank of India.
The income velocity of money is the frequency at which the average same unit of currency is used to purchase new domestically produced goods and services within a given time period. In other words, it is the number of times one unit of money is spent to buy goods and services per unit of time.
The SBI report, which estimates the shortfall at Rs 70,000 crore — a third of the monthly ATM withdrawals — says that declining income velocity indicates that the Rs 2,000 note isn’t getting adequately circulated in the economy.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Bring BCCI Under RTI, Says Law Commission
In a strongly worded report, the Law Commission has recommended to the Union Law Ministry that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) be brought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act because it “exercises state like powers” and “virtually acts as a National Sports Federation”.
The commission described the BCCI’s role “as monopolistic in regulation of the game of cricket”, which has “resulted in the Board flying under the radar of public scrutiny, encouraged an environment of opacity and non-accountability”.
“In the past this has probably given an impression in the minds of the general public that corruption and other forms of malpractices are adversely affecting one of the most popular sports played in India,” the commission said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. SC, Govt Now Differ on HC Judge Appointment
The appointment of a judge to the Punjab and Haryana high court has become the latest flashpoint between the Supreme Court and the government, with the SC collegium disagreeing with a move by the Centre to not approve the confirmation of Justice Ramendra Jain a day before he is due to retire.
The collegium, which is responsible for appointment of judges to the high courts and Supreme Court, on Tuesday reiterated his name for appointment as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court in response to a letter from the government to the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asking that justice Jain’s appointment be reconsidered as he was earlier supposed to be transferred out of the high court.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. No Toll Booths, Sand Mining, Contracts: TMC Pledge for Panchayat Candidates
“I pledge that if the Trinamool Congress nominates me or I am elected as a member of the gram panchayat or panchayat samiti, my family will not avail (government) schemes and farm equipment or use my influence without the party’s permission. I will not indulge in the private contractor business, toll booths or sand mining.”
This is part of a written undertaking that the TMC has made mandatory for all 322 party candidates in Goghat, Hooghly district before the West Bengal panchayat elections scheduled early in May. The TMC hopes to improve its image and weed out corruption after receiving several complaints that its panchayat members were involved in illegal sand mining and the toll booth business.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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