QBullet: French Prez Macron Arrives; SC Upholds Passive Euthanasia
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1. SC Constitution Bench Holds Passive Euthanasia, Living Wills Permissible
In a historic decision, the Supreme Court on Friday declared passive euthanasiaand the right of persons, including the terminally ill, to give advance directives to refuse medical treatment permissible.
A Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, in three concurring opinions, upheld that the fundamental right to life and dignity includes right to refuse treatment and die with dignity.
The fundamental right to a "meaningful existence" includes a person's choice to die without suffering, it held.
Chief Justice Misra spoke about how societal pressure and fear of criminal liability by relatives and medical doctors ultimately led to the suffering and the undignified death of the patient. The court said it was time to dispense with such shared suffering and sense of guilt and face the reality.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. ‘Acche Din’ Will Boomerang on Modi Like ‘India Shining’ Did on Vajpayee: Sonia Gandhi
The Congress will return to power in 2019 and “Achhe Din” will be to this government what “India Shining” was to the previous NDA government (1999-2004), UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said on Friday, referring to the NDA’s surprise defeat in the 2004 parliamentary elections which paved the way for the UPA’s decade-long rule.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai, Gandhi lau-nched a blistering attack on PM Narendra Modi and his government, alleging the country was being led by a “regressive vision” and wondered if India was really a “giant black hole” till the BJP came to power at the Centre in May 2014, as has been claimed by the party and its supporters.
“Achhe Din will soon be India Shining,” she said. India Shining was the NDA’s platform ahead of 2004; Achhe Din was the NDA’s ahead of 2014.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. French President Macron Arrives for Four-Day India Visit
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the national capital on Friday, 9 March for a four-day visit and was received at the airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a special gesture.
Macron was accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, besides senior ministers from his Cabinet.
“Welcome to India, President @EmmanuelMacron! Your visit will add great strength to the strategic partnership between India and France. I look forward to our talks tomorrow,” Modi tweeted after receiving Macron at the airport.
During the visit, the two countries would look to boost ties, especially in the areas of maritime security and counter-terrorism.
An agreement on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, which is being built with French assistance, is expected to be signed during the visit, sources here said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Tripura Govt for Those Who Voted, Those Who Didn't: PM Narendra Modi
Minutes after Biplab Deb was sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of Tripura on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked across the stage to greet Manik Sarkar, the CPM leader who headed the state government for the last 20 years.
Later, Modi returned and walked Sarkar off the stage at the Assam Rifles grounds, all the while holding his hands. Right before Sarkar made his exit, Deb touched Sarkar’s feet, seeking his blessings. On the dais, the former chief minister was seated between the two veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
As these images, capturing the political transition in the northeastern state, played out on stage, thousands of BJP supporters gathered below burst into cheers.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. College Girl Murdered by Stalker in Broad Daylight in Chennai
In yet another horrifying case of stalking, a girl was murdered near her college in KK Nagar in Chennai on Friday, 9 March by a man who was known to her for some years.
The police said M Aswini, 20, of Madhuravoyal was a first year BCom student at the Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research. When she was walking to her relative’s place after college around 2:30 pm on Friday, Alagesan, 26, who was known to her since her school days, intercepted her and tried to force her to marry him.
In the heated argument that followed, Alagesan stabbed Aswini with a long knife, causing a grievous injury on her neck. Two college students rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead. Alagesan was carrying a can of kerosene apparently with an intention to commit suicide. However, passersby overpowered him and thrashed him. The police took him to a government hospital.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. BJP Spars With Cong Over Rahul Gandhi's Remarks on Modi, Govt in Singapore
The Congress and the BJP were locked in a slugfest on Friday over Rahul Gandhi’s address at a Singapore university where he assailed the saffron party of pursuing divisive politics.
After the BJP criticised Congress president Gandhi for “insulting” India abroad with his statement, the Congress hit back, saying it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who started it and “abused” the country’s 70-year-old history.
Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said Rahul Gandhi, as leader of the principal opposition party, “will continue to show the mirror of truth to an “arrogant and authorotarian” government.
He said, “Our country’s prime minister is such a person who abuses the country’s history of 70 years and says that he felt ashamed being an Indian till he became the prime minister. He had said that he claimed to be hiding from hunger and poverty.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Despite Casualties, Evacuations, Army to Keep Pakistan Under Sustained Pressure
India is not going to relax the military pressure being exerted on Pakistan through targeted fire assaults and covert tactical operations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir despite mounting casualties and displacement of villagers on both sides.
The Indian security establishment is of the firm belief that the Pakistan Army has to be "kept under sustained pressure" till it "visibly and concretely clamps down" on the terror emanating from its soil.
"Let's see how long Pakistan, which is clearly feeling the pain, is able to withstand the pressure. We are not interested in any face-to-face DGMO talks or any rapprochement as of now," said a top official on Friday.
(Source: Times of India)
8. Shami Booked for Murder Bid, Rape and Assault
Police have charged India pacer Mohammad Shami under several sections of the IPC, including the non-bailable ones of attempt to murder, rape, assault and criminal intimidation, on the basis of a complaint filed by his wife, alleging domestic violence and infidelity.
A senior officer said the police would soon send a notice under Section 41A of CrPC, asking Shami to present himself before investigators. Shami's mother Anjuman Ara Begum, sister Sabina Anjum, brother Mohd Hasib Ahmed and his wife Shama Parveen were also booked. Police filed the FIR on the basis of Hasin Jahan's complaint made late on Thursday.
"Kolkata police's detective department has already started an investigation. We will look into all the allegations and carry out a thorough probe," joint commissioner (crime) Praveen Tripathi said.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Vengsarkar's Claims on Kohli's Selection Completely False, Without Any Basis: N Srinivasan
Just a day after Dilip Vengsarkar alleged that N Srinivasan removed him from the position of Chief selector of the national selection committee for selecting Virat Kohli in the cricket team, the former BCCI chief said that the assertions made by the former Indian captain were “completely false, motivated and without any basis”.
“On whose behalf he is talking? What is his motive? Whatever it is, it is not fact. When a cricketer talks like this it is not good. His remark that I interfered in his not continuing is not a fact all. What is the point in saying it now? I didn’t interfere in selection matters. What is the interference he is talking of?” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“I have respected him as a cricketer and we treated him as a national hero. I am sorry that he talks like this,” he added.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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