QBullet: Pak Pushes for UN Debate on J&K; Setback for Chidambaram
Here are the top stories of the day.
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1. Pak Battles to Push for UN Debate on Kashmir Amid Lack of Support
With Pakistan getting no traction for its efforts to raise the Kashmir issue at least four times at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Islamabad is at its wit’s end about forcing an urgent debate or introducing a resolution at the session in Geneva.
Diplomats based in Geneva and New York said, barring China, other countries in the 47-member UNHRC haven’t expressed a demand for a debate on Kashmir while European nations have maintained radio silence on the issue.
Pakistan, as a coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), issued a joint statement that claimed all 58 members were supporting Islamabad and standing against New Delhi for revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. While OIC members haven’t castigated the coordinator for issuing a statement on their behalf or challenged the document, an influential section of the grouping has made it privately known to Indian counterparts that it has little to do with the statement.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. In Setback to Chidambaram Plan to Exit Tihar, Court Won’t Tell ED to Arrest Him
Former finance minister P Chidambaram’s request to let him surrender before the Enforcement Directorate and face questioning by the federal investigating agency in the INX Media case has been rejected by a Delhi court.
The Enforcement Directorate had opposed Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail application in the Supreme Court earlier this week to insist that the agency needed to arrest him. But it hasn’t made its move yet.
The unusual attempt by Chidambaram to force the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, to arrest him was first made on 5 September, hours after the Supreme Court declined to protect him from arrest by the ED.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. IAF Seeks Rs 40,000 Crore to Acquire New Equipment
Grappling with a spending crunch that could hit its modernisation efforts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has sought additional money from the government to buy new equipment and also pay for weapons and systems it has already contracted to purchase, two senior IAF officials said on condition of anonymity.
The capital expenditure of Rs 39,300 crore earmarked for IAF in this year’s budget is not enough to upgrade capabilities and more money needs to be pumped in to avoid a funding crisis, said one of the officials cited above. IAF requires at least Rs 40,000 crore more to pursue its modernisation, he added.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Get Back Compensation Paid to Dalits: Gujarat Judge to Govt in Three Cases
In three separate judgments since 2018, a Special Judge in Banaskantha district of Gujarat has directed the state Social Welfare Department to recover compensation paid to Dalit complainants in cases filed under provisions of the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The judgments have left the Gujarat government in a bind with the Social Welfare Department determining that there is no legal provision in the Atrocities Act under which compensation once disbursed can be recovered. The government has, however, decided to file appeals in the Gujarat High Court.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Supreme Court Weighs in on Civil Code: Founding Fathers Wanted, No Bid so Far
Underscoring that the founders of the Constitution had “hoped and expected” a Uniform Civil Code, the Supreme Court Friday said there has been no attempt at framing the same despite the “exhortations of this court”.
“It is interesting to note that whereas the founders of the Constitution in Article 44 in Part IV dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policy had hoped and expected that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territories of India, till date no action has been taken in this regard,” a bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said while deciding the case of succession of a Goan settled outside the state.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Odd-Even Back in Delhi From 4 November to Counter Stubble Burning: Arvind Kejriwal
Over three years after it was last implemented in the National capital, the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme will make a comeback in Delhi from 4-15 November, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday, 13 September.
Speaking at the Delhi secretariat, Kejriwal said smoke from stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab veers over to Delhi around 1 November, creating smog over the city and turning it into a “gas chamber”.
“The Centre, and Haryana and Punjab governments are making efforts to control stubble burning. We will help them, and keep writing and engaging with them on this, but in the meantime, we can’t just wait,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. UP Ministers to Start Paying Tax, Four-Decade-Old Practice Ends
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday, 13 September, decided that ministers will start paying their own income tax, ending a four-decade-old practice of the state exchequer shelling out the amount annually for them.
The direction follows criticism in the media of a law enacted in 1981 which ensures that the state's chief minister and ministers don't pay any income tax themselves.
Instead, their share is shelled out by the state government under the Uttar Pradesh Ministers' Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Act, 1981.
(Source: NDTV)
8. Cigarette Butts Among 12 Plastic Items That Could Be Banned By Centre
The central government, which has waged a war on single-use plastic, is planning to impose a ban on 12 items, including small plastic bottles used for beverages, thermocol (polystyrene) used for decoration and cigarette butts.
The central government has expressed its intention to completely ban single-use plastic but has not come up with a timeline to enforce it. On Thursday, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told NDTV that it will be banned in a phased manner.
The government has compiled a list of items which will be presented to the Central Pollution Control Board for banning.. The list includes: Thin carry bags (less than 50 microns), non-woven carry bags, small wrapping/packing films; straws and stirrers; cutlery: foamed cups, bowls and plates; laminated bows and plates; small plastic cups and containers (less than 150 ml and 5 grams); plastic sticks for ear buds, balloons, flags and candies; cigarette butts; expanded polystyrene; small plastics for beverages (less than 200 ml) and roadside banners (less than 100 microns).
(Source: NDTV)
9. ‘DK Shivakumar's Health First Priority’, Says Court, Extends Enforcement Directorate Custody
Congress leader DK Shivakumar's Enforcement Directorate custody has been extended till Tuesday by a court in Delhi, with a disclaimer: The former Karnataka minister's health should be the first priority for the probe agency.
"His medical condition should be taken care of before questioning him," the judge told the Joint Director of the Enforcement Directorate.
Mr Shivakumar's lawyer, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had cited his high blood pressure in court, seeking bail after his nine-day Enforcement Directorate custody ended today.
The probe agency had asked for Mr Shivakumar's custody to be extended for five days, claiming in court that he had been giving "evasive replies" during questioning.
(Source: NDTV)
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