QBullet: Anthem Not Must in Theatre; PM Modi Takes a Dig at China
Here’s the news roundup of top headlines of the day.
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1. Anthem Not Must but Stand If Played
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that cinemas need not compulsorily play the national anthem but if they did, everyone in the audience except the physically challenged must stand up.
The apex court modified its own order issued in 2016 after the Centre, in keeping with its altered stand that was articulated on Monday, said the earlier directives on the national anthem had been abused and they could be misused in "thousands" of inconceivable ways.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud modified the interim order of 30 November 2016, that had made it mandatory for movie halls to play the anthem.
"Playing of national anthem prior to screening of a cinema is not mandatory," the bench said. "However, people in the audience are bound to rise from their seats whenever a cinema hall plays the national anthem."
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. We Shattered BJP's Arrogance in Gujarat: Jignesh Mevani in Yuva Hunkar Rally
Launching a tirade against PM Narendra Modi and the BJP, newly-elected Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, on Tuesday said, “Alpesh Thakor, Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani jointly shattered BJP’s arrogant claims of 150 seats and reduced it to 99, which is why we are being targeted.”
The Dalit leader was addressing the second Yuva Hunkar rally that was held in New Delhi. Assam farmer activist Akhil Gogoi, student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Shehla Rashid and senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan were present in the rally. Held at Parliament Street, despite repeated speculations of being cancelled, the rally was attended by hundreds of members from Dalit community, activists, students and youth.
The rally was organised to raise the demand of releasing Chandrashekhar Azad, the founder of Dalit outfit Bhim Army.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. ‘We Don't Covet Others' Territory’: PM Modi's Dig at China
In a subtle dig at China's One Belt, One Road project, Prime Minister Modi said on Tuesday that India didn't covet any other country's resources or territory, and that its external policies were based on human values and not on the notion of profit and loss.
After inaugurating the first-ever conference of parliamentarians and political leaders of Indian origin from across the world, Modi said the world's perception of India had changed in the past three to four years, adding that "reform to transform" was his government's mantra.
"Our development aid is not based on the give-and-take model. Rather, it depends on the needs and priorities of those countries. We have no intention of exploiting their resources and we don't eye their territory. Our focus has always been on capacity-building and resource development," Modi said.
(Source: Times of India)
4. Kamala Mills Fire Tragedy: Police Arrest Hotelier Vishal Karia, Car Owned by Another Accused Recovered From Him
The Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested hotelier and alleged cricket bookie Vishal Karia in connection with the Kamala Mills fire after reportedly finding an Audi car belonging to wanted accused Abhijeet Mankar, co-owner of the 1Above pub, at his residence. Karia was arrested by the N M Joshi Marg police station under Section 216 of the Indian Penal Code (harbouring offender who has escaped from custody or whose apprehension has been ordered).
“Karia was quizzed on the car and why was it found at his place, but has failed to give any satisfactory explanation,” said a senior official.
Meanwhile, Crime Branch officials investigating the Kamala Mills fire fear that the three owners of pub 1Above, Jigar Sanghvi, Kripesh Sanghvi and Abhijit Mankar, may have fled to Dubai.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Rs 1.5 Crore Scam in BSF Welfare Schemes, FIR Registered in Delhi
Funds meant for the welfare of Border Security Force personnel were allegedly siphoned off to different bank accounts in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana, the BSF has informed Delhi Police seeking a probe into the alleged scam.
According to a letter by a BSF commandant to Delhi Police, at least Rs 1.5 crore from the Seema Prahari Beema Yojana(SPBY) and Golden Jubilee Seema Prahari Kalyan Kawach (GJSPKK) fund were embezzled from the BSF headquarters account in Delhi. The two funds are related to welfare and insurance of BSF personnel across the country. It is an internal insurance run by the paramilitary force.
Delhi Police registered an FIR at the Lodhi Colony police station on Friday last week and have launched a probe. Police are yet to arrest anyone.
Senior BSF officials refused to comment.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Verdict in Cauvery Water Dispute in Four Weeks, Says SC
The decades-old Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka may finally come to an end after the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would pronounce its verdict on the matter in four weeks.
“Enough of confusion has been there for past two decades. Any forum can touch the matter after the verdict is delivered in the issue. We will give the verdict in four weeks,” PTI quoted a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud as saying.
Cauvery is an inter-state basin that originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu on to Puducherry and finally into the Bay of Bengal.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Shut Madrassa Boards, Says Shia Waqf Head
Claiming that madrassas were producing “more terrorists than civil servants,” Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abolish madrassa boards across the country and re-categorise them as “schools” with a common, secular education policy.
Rizvi suggested that madrassas be registered under various State education boards, CBSE or ICSE with a common education policy. Religious education should be kept optional in these schools and those madrassas functioning without registration should be shut down immediately, Rizvi said in his letter to Modi.
He addressed a similar letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Two Lalu Aides Got Arrested to Serve Him in Jail, Claim Cops
Two aides of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad have been lodged in Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail after they surrendered in an allegedly false case on the same day their boss was convicted of corruption and sent to prison, police said on Tuesday.
Sources said the two plotted to "land in trouble", get themselves incarcerated in the same prison as Lalu, and serve him there. Madan Yadav, an entrepreneur who owns two cowsheds, a big house and a high-end SUV, is in jail on charges of snatching Rs 10,000 from Sumit Yadav, a Ranchi resident.
He was allegedly helped by his friend Laxman Yadav, who too is in the same jail. Interestingly, the RJD, while refuting that Laxman and Madan were Lalu aides, admitted both are RJD workers. "Police should probe how the two got jailed. Laluji never asked anyone to go to jail," said RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Surge in Chinese Transgressions, Faceoffs on Line of Actual Control
There was a marked increase in the number of Chinese transgressions into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the year the Indian and Chinese armies were involved in a 73-day faceoff at Doklam on the Sikkim-Bhutan border. The number of faceoffs on the LAC also shot up by 48 percent last year.
According to official data accessed by The Indian Express, there were 415 transgressions by Chinese soldiers into the Indian side of the LAC in 2017 — as against 271 transgressions in 2016.
The number of faceoffs — when military patrols of the two countries come face-to-face in territory claimed by both countries — also shot up to 216 in 2017 from 146 in 2016.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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