QBullet: SC Decriminalises Gay Sex; Telangana to Go to Polls
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1. ‘I Am What I Am’: SC’s Verdict on Gay Sex Paves Way for a More Equal India
It’s no longer a crime to be a homosexual in India. The Supreme Court on Thursday, 6 September partially struck down the 157-year-old British-era law that penalises consensual gay sex between adults, declaring that an individual’s sexual orientation is a matter of privacy and also an essential facet of one’s dignity. The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community possesses the same human, fundamental and constitutional rights as other citizens, the court said.
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was arbitrary and unconstitutional to the extent that it punishes consensual intercourse between adults irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
SC held that section 377 infringed upon the fundamental rights of LGBTQ persons, who ought to be treated equally before the law, enjoy dignity and freedom of expression and not face discrimination.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. J&K Police Chief SP Vaid Removed
SP Vaid, former Director General of the J&K Police has been transferred out of office, following kidnappings of close relatives of ten personnel of the J&K Police who were abducted by militants on 1 September. Even as the relatives of the police personnel were later released, the situation raised an alarm throughout the Valley, and left the top brass of the police embarrassed.
Vaid, a 1986 batch IPS officer, has been posted as Transport Commissioner J&K, headquartered in Jammu. DGP Prisons, Dilbagh Singh will take his place till a new appointment is made. Vaid served as Director General of the J&K police from March 2016, until now.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Polls Expected in November: KCR
In the list of Telangana Rashtra Samiti candidates Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced on Thursday, 6 September, he dropped two sitting MLAs and said he would make up his mind in respect of another five MLAs after a relook at their candidature.
Barring them, he renominated all TRS MLAs in 105 constituencies and hoped to announce candidates for the remaining 14 seats in a week or 10 days.
Rao told the media he expected the election at the earliest along with polls to the Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram Assemblies.
“The election notification is expected in the first week of October, polls in November and results in December.”
(Source: The Hindu)
4. ‘Bharat Bandh’ Gets Tepid Response in North Indian States
The call for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ by some upper caste and OBC groups against the recent amendment approved by Parliament to overturn a Supreme Court judgment on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act witnessed a lukewarm response on Thursday. The protests were largely peaceful in most north Indian states despite some scattered incidents of violence being reported from Bihar and UP.
Shops, schools and other commercial establishments were closed in parts of Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In Bihar, train services were affected in Rajgir and Patna’s Rajendra Nagar terminus when some protestors delayed the movement of trains for about 30 minutes, PTI quoted officials as saying.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. US Asks Pakistan to Act Against Culprits of Uri, Pathankot, Mumbai Attacks
A joint statement issued by India and the US after the two-plus-two talks in New Delhi on 6 September, mentions Pakistan twice in the context of “cross border terrorist attacks”, and even refers to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, raising the hope that Trump administration will walk the talk on ramping up diplomatic pressure on India’s neighbour to rein in terrorist outfits.
The two-plus-two dialogue between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their US counterparts Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N Mattis saw the two countries strongly urging Pakistan to take various measures to stop cross border terrorism. “India supports President Trump’s South Asia Policy. His call for Pakistan to stop its policy of supporting cross-border terrorism finds resonance with us,” Swaraj said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Kolkata Bridge Collapse Toll Now 3; SIT to Probe Incident
Two days after Majherhat Bridge collapsed, the death toll rose to three on Thursday, 6 September, after the body of a 45-year-old man was recovered in the morning. Police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident.
A senior police officer said rescue operations were underway at the time of filing this report.
The deceased, Goutam Mondal, was a resident of Tetulia area of Murshidabad. The body was recovered at 6:30 am and sent for autopsy to SSKM hospital, Kolkata. “Total three people have died so far, 27 persons were injured in the incident out of which 13 are still at the hospital. Eleven of them have been discharged,” a senior police officer said, adding that they were still removing debris from the site. “It is unlikely that we will find anyone trapped.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Fuel Prices Hiked Again; Petrol Now Costs ₹86.91/Litre in Mumbai
After holding on for a day, the State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) again increased the price of petroleum products such as petrol and diesel in the country on Thursday, 6 September.
The prices of petrol and diesel touched a new high on Thursday with Mumbai paying the maximum among the four metros. While petrol costs Rs 86.91 a litre, diesel is priced at Rs 75.96 a litre in Mumbai.
In Delhi, the petrol price has risen to a record Rs 79.51 a litre, while diesel price has been increased to Rs 71.55 a litre, which is also at a record high, according to the daily price notification issued by OMCs.
In Kolkata, the price of petrol has been increased to Rs 82.41 per litre while the diesel price has gone up to Rs 74.40 per litre. Similarly, petrol is being sold for Rs 82.60 per litre in Chennai and the diesel retail price is Rs 75.61 per litre.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. CBI Arrests Five in Gutkha Scam Case
The AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu came under fire from the Opposition DMK on Thursday, 6 September, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested five people including two government officials in connection with the multi-crore rupee gutkha scam.
A CBI court in Chennai has remanded the accused to the judicial custody till 20 September.
The arrests came after massive search operations by CBI at 35 places in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. On Wednesday, the CBI aided the houses of Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijaya Bhaskar, Director General of Police TK Rajendran, and former Chennai city police commissioner S George.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Gavaskar Hits Back at Shastri
Current India head coach Ravi Shastri's claims that Virat Kohli's boys are better travellers than other Indian teams of the last 15-20 years has been criticised by former captain Sunil Gavaskar.
Gavaskar has reminded Shastri that India had won Test series in West Indies and England.
"All I can say is that no Indian team had won in Sri Lanka for a long time. But we have won in the West Indies, in England, Test matches in Australia and South Africa," Gavsakar, a former teammate of Shastri, told India Today on Thursday.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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