QBullet: Guj, HP Poll Results Today; EC Withdraws Notice to Gandhi

The Quint’s roundup of headlines from national dailies.

Results for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls will be announced on Monday, 19 December.

(Photo: The Quint)

1. What the Election Results in Gujarat and Himachal Will Mean for BJP and Congress

After a long and gruelling campaign, India’s two biggest parties, the BJP and the Congress, await the outcome of Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Monday, 18 December.

The BJP will interpret a favourable outcome as reinforcing its political dominance and affirmation of PM Narendra Modi’s popularity. A win in both states will give the party power in 19 Indian states. For the Congress, a favourable outcome may mark the beginning of a process of political resurgence and provide the right morale-boosting start to Rahul Gandhi’s party presidency.

While exit polls have predicted a BJP win, both parties continued to project confidence over the weekend.

An upset win for the Congress in Gujarat will not only mark the revival of the party –which has continued to decline post its 2014 debacle – but also open up political possibilities, boost Opposition morale and weaken PM Modi in the run up to crucial state elections in 2018 and the general elections in 2019.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

2. EC Withdraws Notice Issued to Rahul Gandhi Over TV Interview

After the Election Commission of India withdrew notice given to Rahul Gandhi for violating the 48-hour ban on campaigning during Gujarat polls, the Congress questioned it asking whether it was a mere "ploy" to prevent their telecast or a justification for not taking any action against the Prime Minister.

The reaction came just after the poll panel withdrew the show cause notice to Gandhi for alleged violation of the model code of conduct, saying the provision under which it was issued is now under review.

In a letter addressed to the general secretary, Indian National Congress, the Election Commission said:

The Commission is of the considered view that due to multifold expansion of digital and electronic media, the extant Model Code of Conduct, Section 126 of the RP Act, 1951 and other related provisions require revisiting to cater to the requirement and challenges of the present and emerging situations.

Read the full story on The Quint.

3. Rajasthan Hacking: Regar Watched Hate Videos, Wanted to Kill JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed, Say Cops

Shambhulal Regar, who is in custody for killing a Muslim labourer from West Bengal in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand, has told police that he used to spend a lot of time on the Internet viewing videos of hate speeches against Islam, and wanted to kill Pakistan-based Jama’at-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed.

Regar told us, ‘Give me a chance even now and I will kill Hafiz Saeed.’ He showed no signs of worry about the fate of his family after his arrest.

Rajendra Singh Rao, Circle Officer, Rajsamand

“During our interrogation, we found that Regar had been brainwashed against Islam to an extreme extent. He would regularly watch provocative videos by Hindu fundamentalists with inflammatory, anti-Islam propaganda. He also keenly followed anti-Hindu propaganda made by Islamic fundamentalists by streaming many such videos on his laptop,” Rao said.

He is unrepentant and it seems that his mind is filled with prejudice and bias against Islam. He told us, ‘Kasab<i> ko toh chicken biryani khila sakte ho aur mujhe sookhi roti khila rahe ho</i>’… There’s no sign of mental illness and he speaks absolutely normally during interrogation.

Rajendra Singh Rao

(Source: The Indian Express)

4. Central, Western Railways to Fill Vacancies With Retired Employees Until New Recruits Join

The Railways, in an unprecedented move, is likely to hire retired employees in the Mumbai division of both Central Railway and Western Railway by next year. The employees would be taken to fill vacancies in technical and operations departments of until new recruits are appointed. At present, there are more than 10,000 vacancies in the division in different grades and cadres.

The move to rope in retired employees is considered to be an ad hoc measure to fill the absence of manpower in the required divisions, and comes after a Railway Board order on 16 October in this regard. The retired staff will be eligible to work till 65 years of age.

The divisional railway managers of both CR and WR are empowered to re-engage the staff, who are competent and suitable to work at vacant positions.

According to the board’s circular, the remuneration of retired employees hired for this purpose would subtract the pension amount from the last basic pay drawn. The remuneration would also include a payment of the required percentage of dearness allowance.

(Source: The Indian Express)

5. 4-Fold Rise in Green Solution to Burning of Paddy Stubble

For the past two years, Manoj Kumar Munjial hasn't set fire to a single straw of paddy residue in his fields sprawled over 45 acres at Taraori in Haryana's Karnal district. Instead, the young farmer uses the straw as an input for future crops.

Munjial is among a growing tribe of farmers in Haryana and Punjab who are using paddy residue for greener agriculture.

The technology has existed for years. But recent improvements, say experts, have made it a more viable and scalable solution to the vexed problem of stubble-burning. It registered an estimated four-fold increase this season, which is still less than 2 percent of the area under rice cultivation in northwest India.

According to estimates by the international non-profit research body, Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), the use of Happy Seeders increased almost four times this sowing season over the previous year, with an estimated 75,000 hectares coming under it in Punjab and Haryana.

(Source: The Times of India)

6. Hindus Not a Minority in J-K, Welfare Schemes Only for 'Needy': State Govt Tells SC

Jammu and Kashmir does not acknowledge Hindus as a “minority” in the state as it goes by the Centre’s national list of minorities, according to an affidavit filed by the PDP-BJP coalition government in the Supreme Court last week.

The state government told the top court that benefits of Central schemes would only be extended to “meritorious” and “needy” members of those communities that are notified by the Centre, suggesting that members of the Hindu committee would not be eligible.

The J&K affidavit referred to a Central government notification of 1993 that lists Muslims as a minority. The other minority groups, as per the document, are Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians. In 2014, the Jain community was added to this list.

The benefits flowing out of the scheme prepared by the Central government are targeted to the needy and meritorious beneficiaries of the minority community as notified by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Punjab and Lakshwadeep.

Affidavit

(Source: Hindustan Times)

7. Rs 167 Cr Deposited in Airtel Bank Without 'Consent' of 31L Users

As much as Rs 167 crore was deposited by 31.21 lakh customers in their Airtel Payments Bank accounts which were activated without their "informed consent", leading to suspension of Aadhaar-linked KYC verification of Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank.

The discovery that subsidy amounts for LPG were being deposited in these accounts has led to officials suggesting that it would be appropriate if the sums were returned to the customers. The amounts were collected in an improper fashion and in violation of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) norms.

The malpractice came to light after the UIDAI investigated a complaint from an individual who said Bharti Airtel not only opened a payments bank account without his permission but also linked it to receive LPG subsidy.

The amounts transferred from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was Rs 40 crore, from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Rs 39 crore and Indian Oil Corporation Rs 88 crore.

(Source: The Times of India)

8. Judges Lose 55% of Court Time in Admin Work, Hearings Take a Beating: Study

Up to 55 percent of court time is spent by judges each day on tasks such as reissuing summons, fixing dates for future hearings and case administration decisions rather than judicial functions such as hearings, a nationwide survey conducted by Bengaluru-based Daksh has found.

The study analysed over 91,000 court hearings involving over 6,000 cases across the country and argued that even without more manpower, the judiciary can enhance efficiency and double case disposal rate by delegating “non-substantive” work to court-appointed administrative officers rather than burdening judges.

The data analysed by Daksh also showed that an average 87 cases got listed each day before a subordinate court judge and about half were adjourned.

This is far too many, given that a judge sits in an open court for only about five-and-a-half hours. This means that on an average, judges have a little more than three-and-a-half minutes on each case.

Daksh

(Source: The Times of India)

9. Class 11 Student Held for Sexually Harassing Class 5 Girl in School Bus

A 16-year-old boy, a Class 11 student of a private school in Sector 62, Noida, was detained on Saturday, 17 December, for allegedly sexually harassing a Class 5 girl.

The girl also studies in the same school and the crime took place inside a school bus which was dropping kids home on the afternoon of 15 December.

An FIR was registered in Indirapuram police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl’s mother.

There were two boys, a conductor, a maid and the driver inside the bus. The accused boy asked my daughter to come to the rear seat of the bus. When she went there, he made her sit beside him. He then tried to force himself upon her.

Girl’s mother

On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was registered under Section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of IPC and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), Act 2012. The accused boy, whose father works in a private firm in Noida, was taken into custody from his home on Saturday.

(Source: The Times of India)

More from The Quint

Ex-Armyman Who Helped Nirbhaya Paid a Price for His Kindness
Minorities Rights Day: Is India Doing Enough to Protect Them?
If We Want to Talk Indo-Pak Relations, We Have to Talk About China