QBullet: Union Budget Today; IAF Officer Detained For “Spying”
Here’s a roundup of the top stories of the day.
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1. Senior IAF Officer Detained for Leaking Info From HQ
The IAF’s counter-intelligence wing has detained a senior officer posted at Air Headquarters in New Delhi for allegedly leaking classified documents to a woman, among other people, in what is suspected to be an espionage ring being run from Pakistan.
The officer, a group captain (equivalent to a colonel in the Army), was allegedly using his smartphone to click pictures of classified documents at Air Headquarters and then using WhatsApp to transmit them to the woman, whose identity is not yet clear, said sources.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Best Pre-Budget Rally in 13 Yrs
Indian stock markets have posted their best one month pre-Budget gain in 13 years. Benchmark indices have gained 5.6 percent in the month to Thursday’s Union Budget, riding the coattails of a worldwide equities rally.
Abundant liquidity and expectations that the budget will boost the rural economy and revive private investment, without compromising on fiscal prudence, have aided the run-up.
The one-month gain has come despite a pullback in the last two sessions following a sell-off in US and Asian markets over concerns of high valuations. On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 68.71 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 35,965.02.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Accused in Kasganj Murder Held
A semblance of normalcy returned to Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj, near Aligarh in the western part of the state, and adjoining areas after police on Wednesday arrested Saleem Javed for the murder of Abhishek Gupta aka Chandan during a clash on Republic Day. The police also thwarted efforts by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) from carrying out so-called tiranga yatras (tricolour marches) in several towns in the vicinity.
Javed has been missing since the 26 January incident when Chandan, part of a tiranga bike yatra, was shot dead. The bikers, with national and saffron flags, wanted right of way through an area earmarked for a national flag hoisting ceremony in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Supreme Court Crisis: No CJI Meeting Held, Judges Propose Roster Reform Panel
A scheduled meeting between four senior judges of the Supreme Court, who went public with their criticism against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and the CJI did not materialise Wednesday with one of them, Justice J Chelameswar, on leave for the day.
Sources, meanwhile, said the crisis after the 12 January press conference by Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph remained unresolved. With Justice Chelameswar set to be away on Thursday, too, this makes the prospect of the meeting unlikely till next week.
Sources said that at the previous meeting, held last week, the moot point under discussion was a proposal from the Chief Justice that all five judges must come out together publicly and state that all issues were now being resolved. Sources say the four judges declined to do so until they saw visible and tangible progress on “issues” raised by them, and “as promised by the Chief Justice.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Deaths in Shopian: Army Files Counter Complaint, Toll Rises
The Indian army on Wednesday gave the Jammu and Kashmir police their version of the 27 January incident in Shopian in which three civilians were killed, and filed a compliant in response to a police case against the 10th Garhwal battalion.
The first information report (FIR), filed on Sunday, accuses the unit of murder, attempt to murder and endangering life under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
“We have received (the) army’s version of the complaint and it has been made part of the file,” Shopian’s senior superintendent of police Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Pehlu Khan’s Lynching Case: Alwar Police Charge all Victims With Cow Smuggling
A second chargesheet following the death of Haryana dairy farmer Pehlu Khan, names two of his companions as accused and concludes that all three had indulged in ‘cow smuggling’ under state laws.
The chargesheet was filed by Alwar police in the court of the Behror additional chief judicial magistrate on 24 January. Following Khan’s lynching on 1 April, police had registered two cases — one against Khan’s assailants for murder and another against Khan and his companions for ‘indulging in cow smuggling’.
The police had charged nine men with the murder of Khan after identifying them from video footage of the lynching. The case is being tried in the court, but another investigation in September last year had cleared six others who Khan named in the FIR as his assailants.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. India Cannot be World’s Refugee Capital, Says Govt on Rohingya Issue
India cannot become the refugee capital of the world, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case relating to the Rohingya crossing the border from Myanmar into India, even as the National Human Rights (NHRC) suggested that the rights of the refugees must be protected.
The Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of petitions seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting about 40,000 Rohingyas, who have fled alleged persecution in Myanmar.
The process of sending them back has been temporarily stopped on the court’s advice.
“We do not want India to become the refugee capital of the world. People from every other country will flood our country,” additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Govt Schools in 700 Districts Tested: Mathematics, Language Skills Dip as Kids Grow
Learning levels in mathematics and language show a progressive decline from lower to higher grades in the government school system, even as the country inches closer to achieving the target of universal enrolment for 6-14 year olds, according to the Centre’s first nationwide assessment of educational outcomes.
According to results of the National Achievement Survey (NAS), released by the HRD Ministry last month, an average of 67.7 percent of Class 3 students have performed well in language. This rate, however, drops to 58.4 percent in Class 5 and 56.7 percent in Class 8.
The drop in overall learning levels in mathematics is even sharper. In Class 3, it stands at 64.3 percent and falls significantly, almost by 10 percentage points, to 54.14 percent in Class 5. It is the lowest in Class 8 at 42 percent.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. ‘Devote Time to Sports’: PM Modi Inaugurates Khelo India
Urging the country’s youth to give sports a “central place” in their lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games (KISG) open at the Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
Amidst thunderous applause from Indian sportspersons and the KISG participants, Modi said the Khelo India movement was not only about winning medals, but an effort to give strength to a mass movement for playing more.
“India does not lack sporting talent. We are a youthful nation and we can do even better in sports. In your busy schedules, devote time to games and give priority to playing. Sports is an important means of personality development. We want to focus on every aspect that would make sports more popular across the nation,” Modi said.
(Source: The Times of India)
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