QBullet: Pranab’s Speech at RSS Home; Abu Salem Gets 7 Years
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1. Soul of India Lives in Pluralism, Tolerance: Pranab Mukherjee at RSS Home
Former President Pranab Mukherjee, addressing RSS swayamsevaks at their headquarters in Nagpur on Thursday, 7 June, said “any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms of dogmas and identities of religion, region, hatred and intolerance will only lead to dilution of our national identity.”
Underlining that “multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special” and “we derive our strength from tolerance”, Mukherjee told the gathering which included RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat: “The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance… Secularism and inclusion are a matter of faith for us… India’s nationhood is not one language, one religion, one enemy. It is the perennial universalism of 1.3 billion people who use more than 122 languages and 1,600 dialects in their everyday lives, practice 7 major religions… live under one system, one flag and one identity of being Bharatiya and have no enemies.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Take Pranab's Sagacious Advice, Congress Tells RSS
With several Congress leaders having criticised former President Pranab Mukherjee's decision to address RSS cadres, the party said his speech is a "lesson in true Indian philosophy" and asked if the Sangh will accept the "sagacious advice" that pluralism is central to Indian nationalism.
Addressing a press conference after Mukherjee's speech, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala asked, "Does RSS now agree to follow constitutional patriotism, tolerance and secularism? Let RSS and BJP today publicly commit to change its character and thought process, and accept the sagacious advice of its guest."
Mukherjee's speech seemed to have come as a relief to Congress that has found itself embarrassed by the veteran leader's decision to accept RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's invitation. But while the party said he had shown the mirror to the RSS, comments by senior leaders even hours before the event betrayed consternation over the engagement.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. After Meeting Shah, Thackeray Signals All is Not Well Between BJP-Shiv Sena
A day after a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray signalled that his party could still contest the Lok Sabha elections on its own.
Thackeray, who addressed party workers in Talasari, 125 km from Mumbai, projected Srinivas Wanga as the Shiv Sena’s candidate for the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Palghar has been BJP’s seat and Wanga is the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanga, whom Sena inducted days ahead of the bypolls in the seat last month.
The Shiv Sena lost the bitterly contested bypoll. Thackeray reiterated on Thursday, 7 June, that he would not accept the defeat. He also signaled that despite the meeting with Shah, all was not settled between the allies. “The entire picture is yet to unfold, whatever is happening now is just drama (picture toh ab baaki hai). You are the hero in this picture of 2019,’’ Thackeray told Wanga through his address.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Seven-Year Jail Term for Abu Salem
A Delhi court on Thursday, 7 June, sent gangster Abu Salem to jail for seven years in an extortion case of 2002. The court had on 26 May held him guilty of demanding Rs 5 crore from Delhi businessman Ashok Gupta.
According to the complaint lodged by Mr Gupta at the Greater Kailash police station in South Delhi, he received two phone calls on 2 April, 2002, from Abu Salem who asked him to call back on three numbers in Dubai for further instructions.
Abu Salem also threatened the complainant that if he did not follow his instructions, he and his family would face dire consequences, the complaint said.
Rejecting counsel’s plea for a lenient punishment, additional sessions judge Tarun Sahrawat said: “The convict... deserves severe punishment of such a magnitude that the same should be a lesson for others.”
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Karnataka: Congress Plans to 'Rotate' Ministers to Placate Dissidents
Congress ministers in the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka will be replaced with new faces after two years, while non-performers will be dropped even earlier on the basis of an assessment every six months.
Congress has come up with this rotation plan to keep its ministers on their toes and send the message across that they will make way for others waiting in line. KPCC president G Parameshwara had announced a similar performance assessment for ministers in the previous Siddaramaiah government but it did not take off.
AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal, told TOI on Thursday, 7 June, that the party high command had worked out a three-point formula on the induction of ministers and their continuity.
"This is not the final Cabinet. The ministers' performance will be reviewed every six months and those not meeting targets will be asked to go. For the time-being, no first-time MLA will be inducted into the cabinet. The six berths which have not been filled will be kept on hold. The ministers' tenure is on a rotation basis for two years," Venugopal added.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. After Surcharge on Stamp Duty, Rajasthan Govt Mulls ‘Cow Cess’ on Liquor
Having had a moderate success in generating revenue for protection of cows by imposing a surcharge on stamp duty, the Rajasthan government is now considering levying a ‘cow cess’ on liquor too.
The proposal is still in the planning stage, government insiders familiar with the matter said. The government is yet to finalise the cess rate and the types of liquor on which it will be imposed. “Those buying liquor, however, will have to shell out more,” a government official said on the condition of anonymity.
The proposal comes even as the government is considering to double the surcharge on stamp duty for the protection of cows from the existing 10 percent to 20 percent. Rajasthan goes to elections later this year. Cow conservation and protection has remained a focus area for the BJP government led by chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Raje had in April last year imposed a 10 percent surcharge on all non-judicial instruments for the conservation and propagation of cows.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Talks Only With Right-Minded People in J&K, Says Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, 7 June, that the Centre is ready to hold talks with “right-minded people” in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan, but the neighbouring country should stop terror activities emanating from its soil.
He also said if Pakistan was unable to stop terrorism from its soil on its own, it should take India’s help.
Singh is on a two-day visit to the state, along with Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh and Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, to review the security situation.
“Dialogue can be held with everyone. It is not necessary to be like-minded to hold talks, but it is compulsory to be right-minded,” said Singh, offering an olive branch to the separatists.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Meteorologists Rule Out Repeat of 2005 Mumbai Rains, But Advise Caution
The ongoing spell of heavy pre-monsoon showers in Mumbai has raised fears of a repeat of the record-breaking showers that brought India’s financial capital to its knees in July 2005, when the city recorded 900 mm of rainfall in 24 hours.
However, meteorologists and experts said that the rainfall this time will be spread over 4-5 days and is likely to be less intense, covering a larger area.
“This time we expect 600-700 mm of rain over a few days,” Mahesh Palawat, of Skymet Weather, a private weather forecaster, said. “There is no need to panic, but there will be heavy rainfall so there is a need to plan accordingly and be prepared for water logging and flash floods.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Same Gun Used to Kill Gauri Lankesh and MM Kalburgi: Forensic Report
Kannada scholar and researcher MM Kalburgi and journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh were killed — two years apart — with the same 7.65 mm country gun, according to a forensic report placed before a Bengaluru court by a Karnataka Police Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The report, which was attached to the charge sheet filed by the SIT in the Lankesh murder case, is the first official indication by any government agency of the linkages between the two murders. The charge sheet was placed before the court of the third additional chief metropolitan magistrate on 30 May.
Police sources said the finding suggests that a common group of assassins shot both persons dead. Kalburgi (77) was killed on August 30, 2015, in Dharwad and Lankesh (55) on September 5, 2017, in Bengaluru.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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