QBullet: PM Announces Saubhagya Scheme; FIR Against BHU Students

Read The Quint’s compilation of all the top stories from across the country in QBullet.

PM Narendra Modi. 

(Photo: PTI)

1. PM Launches Rs 16,000-Cr Power Scheme to Light up 4 Cr Homes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 25 September he will not relent in his “battle against corruption,” even as he sharpened his government's development and welfarist image by announcing a mega scheme to provide electricity connections to four crore families deprived of regular power.

Modi launched a Rs 16,000 crore scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (shortened to Saubhagya, meaning good fortune) that he said will deliver free electricity connections by December 2018. However, they will have to pay the monthly power bill.

“Rs 16,000 crore will be spent to bring a monumental change in the lives of the poor,“ the PM said, while pointing out that a large number of people lacked electricity connections. Even 70 years after Independence, four crore out of 25 crore families did not have a power connection.

(Source: Times of India)

Also Read: PM Modi Launches ‘Saubhagya Yojana’: What Is It All About?

2. If we Listen to Every Girl, We Can’t Run University, Says BHU VC

The incident of sexual harassment that led to protests by students at Banaras Hindu University was “created by outsiders” with “vested interests” who had an eye on the Prime Minister’s visit to Varanasi, BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi has claimed.

Speaking to The Indian Express in an exclusive interview, Tripathi also said that while the campus has adequate security measures in place, “security for boys and girls can never be at par.”

Responding to question on the incident of sexual harassment, Tripathi said:

This (21 September) incident is very unfortunate.. I am very sad about it. But sometimes issues are there and some issues are created. This issue was created. I think this issue was created by outsiders and the shape it took is what is more unfortunate than the initial incident itself.

(Source: The Indian Express)

Also Read: Even We Aren’t Safe in BHU, All are Scared of the Boys: Woman Prof

3. BHU Violence: FIRs Against 1,000 Students

More than 1,000 unidentified students have been booked for violence, arson, disrupting government work on the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus where violence erupted on 23 Sepember night.

On 25 September, District Magistrate Yogeswar Ram Mishra initiated action against officials for failing to control violence on the campus.

Additional City Magistrate Manoj Kumar Singh was transferred.

Barring small groups of students staging protests, the campus wore a deserted look on 25 September amid heavy presence of security personnel. With university authorities deciding to advance festive holidays, most of the hostel inmates left the campus in the morning.

(Source: Times of India)

Also Read: We Have Simple Demands, Modi Ji: A BHU Student’s Open Letter to PM

4. 'Feeble no May Mean Yes' to Sex: HC Clears Farooqui in Rape Case

Farooqui was arrested in June 2015 after a US-based research scholar accused him of sexual assault in March 2015.(Photo: the Quint)

The Delhi High Court on 25 September acquitted Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui of raping a US citizen, setting aside a lower court verdict sentencing him to seven years in jail.

The court, in its judgment, said there were doubts whether such an incident took place in the manner alleged by the woman concerned. “And even if it did occur, (there is lack of clarity on) whether it was without the consent/will of the prosecutrix,” it added, ruling in favour of Farooqui.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar further recorded that the appellant “had no idea that the prosecutrix was unwilling, and there are instances when a feeble ‘no’ on the part of a woman may mean ‘yes’ during the course of a sexual act”.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Also Read: Can Consent in Sex Be Ambiguous? Delhi HC’s Comment Rages Debate

5. Rahul Gandhi Starts Gujarat Yatra, Welcomed by Hardik Patel

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi began on 25 September his Gujarat campaign with a three-day road trip through politically crucial Saurashtra, a Patidar community heartland that has been a stronghold of the ruling BJP for almost three decades.

Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who is spearheading the community’s demand for reservation in education and government jobs, welcomed the Congress leader to Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Congress ke rashtriya upadhyaksh Rahulji ka Gujarat mae hardik swagat hai…,” tweeted Patel, a bitter critic of the state’s BJP government.

Gandhi criticised Modi for demonetisation, introduction of GST, and the “Gujarat model” of development.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Also Read: ‘BJP Doesn’t Have Best Interest of Poor’: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat

6. ED Attaches Karti's Assets Worth Over Rs 1.16 Crore

P Chidambaram with son Karti.(Photo: PTI)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 25 September attached Karti Chidambaram’s assets worth Rs 1.16 crore in connection with its probe into the Aircel-Maxis case. The assets provisionally attached by the agency were in the form of fixed deposits and savings account deposits.

An ED statement said the agency attached “FD & balance in saving bank account worth Rs 1.16 crore of Karti P Chidambaram & Advantage Strategic in Aircel Maxis case.”

ED sources said that of the total assets attached, assets worth Rs 90 lakh belonged to Karti, while the remaining assets worth Rs 26 lakh belonged to Advantage Strategic Consulting, which both ED and CBI have maintained is controlled by Karti. They said while Advantage Strategic allegedly received Rs 26 lakh from Aircel, it received Rs 90 lakh from three subsidiaries of Maxis after FIPB approval was given to the Aircel Maxis deal.

(Source: The Indian Express)

Also Read: Karti Chidambaram Went Abroad to Close Bank Accounts: CBI to SC

7. Depressed IIT Alumnus Jumps to Death From Gurugram Flat

Image for representational purpose. (Photo: iStock)

A 26-year-old graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, allegedly killed himself by jumping to death from the 23rd floor of a posh apartment building on Golf Course road late 24 September evening. Police said he was grappling with depression for the last 16 months.

The deceased, identified as Ankit Wadhwa, allegedly jumped from his uncle’s apartment in DLF Magnolias as he was depressed and dissatisfied with his job.

Wadhwa hailed from Sriganganagar in Rajasthan and used to work in Mumbai. He was also planning to get a masters degree in business administration, said Gaurav Phogat, station house officer of Sushant Lok police station.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Also Read: The World’s Quietest Killer: Are You Misunderstanding Depression?

8. Eman, World’s ‘Heaviest’ Woman, Dies in Abu Dhabi

Eman Ahmed.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Eman Ahmed, the world’s heaviest woman who underwent a weight-loss surgery in Mumbai earlier this year, passed away in Abu Dhabi on 25 September morning, a week after celebrating her 37th birthday.

Officials from the Burjeel Hospital said numerous co-morbid conditions, including heart diseases and kidney dysfunction, resulted in her death.

Ahmed, a resident of Alexandria, Egypt, was brought to Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital for weight loss treatment and transferred to Burjeel Hospital on May 4 after three months.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Also Read: Eman Ahmed’s Medical History: Pros & Cons of Bariatric Surgery

9. Will Quit TMC, RS: Mukul Roy

Mukul Roy.(Photo: PTI)

Sidelined Trinamool Congress founder-member and once the party's second-in-command, Mukul Roy , resigned from the party's working committee on 25 September and said that he would give up the party's primary membership as well as his Rajya Sabha seat after Durga Puja, prompting the party to suspend him for six years.

TMC secretary Partha Chatterjee announced that the party suspended Mukul Roy for six years.

Mamata Banerjee has given him many important posts, but he is only thinking about his interests and he is damaging the party. The party has decided to suspend him for six years. I will say, don’t wait for Puja. Tender your resignation from all the posts now.

TMC secretary Partha Chatterjee

(Source: Times of India)

Also Read: Mamata-Mukul Fallout: What Happened & What It Means For The TMC

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