QBullet: Budget Aftermath, No Video of Kanhaiya’s Raising Slogans

Read the news and views from the papers across the country.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley (centre) and MoS Finance Jayant Sinha (second from right). (Photo: Reuters)

1. Aadhaar Project to be Given Statutory Backing

The Aadhaar scheme was back in limelight in the Budget delivered by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday. Jaitley declared that the Aadhaar card scheme, which has been stuck in the Supreme Court for several months, will be a gateway to get benefits in any government scheme, according to Livemint.

Arun Jaitley delivering Budget speech. (Photo: Lok Sabha TV)

Jaitley said the government will offer statutory backing to the Aadhaar Unique Identification (UID) scheme.

We will undertake significant reforms such as the enactment of a law to ensure that all government benefits are conferred upon persons who deserve it, by giving a statutory backing to the Aadhaar platform. Public money should reach the poor and the deserving without any leakage.

Arun Jaitley’s Budget Speech

If the law for Aadhaar’s statutory backing is introduced, it will also clear the decks for the so-called JAM trinity—Jan-Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile—which is aimed at expanding access to financial services.

Read the full story here.

2. No Video of Kanhaiya Raising Slogans, Delhi Police Tells HC

The Delhi Police has told the court that there was no specific video footage in which Kanhaiya Kumar can be seen shouting slogans. “There is a difference between being present and participation” commented the bench, after the Delhi Police added that they have independent witnesses who said that he was leading the mob shouting slogans, The Indian Express reports.

The police further said that another video was shot by a JNU employee on an iPhone6. The bench took notice of that and asked the police why the details were not made available even in the status report filed by the police. “Either don’t mention the document or give the details”, commented the bench.

Arrested JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar’s bail plea has been deferred to 29 February. (File photo: AP)

The court also asked the police how it was defining “sedition.’

Everybody says 124A is very serious. Do you know what it is? It can be punishable with less than three years imprisonment or only fine or can be very serious.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on the bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar till 2 March. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President was arrested on 9 February on sedition charges.

Read The Quint’s report here.

3. Indians Searched For Union Budget Over Oscars: Google Trends Data

Monday was the day of the Oscars as well as the Budget. Internet search by Indians show a tough battle between the 88th Academy Awards and the Union Budget 2016-17 presentation, reports Livemint.

Interest in the Oscars from Indians increased 70 percent year-on-year in terms of searches on Google. Even though this made up only 2 percent of those searching for the Oscars throughout the globe, India made it to the top 10 countries engaged in Oscar-related searches, according to data from Google.

However, in terms of real-time search interest, the Union Budget won over the Oscars on Google, with average search interest in the keyword “Budget” being 16, compared to nine for the keyword “Oscars”.

Search interest as measured by Google is the overall interest in a term, based on its popularity and not in absolute volume terms.

Also read: Priyanka was the Second Most Googled Celeb During Oscar 2016.

4. Supreme Court Notice to Centre on Triple Talaq

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to reply to a petition filed by a Muslim woman challenging the triple talaq provision in the Muslim personal law for grant of divorce, reports India Today.

The husband of the petitioner Shayara Banu had illegally divorced her after frequently subjecting her to cruelty during their marriage.

She has also sought a writ or order or direction declaring the practices of talaq-e-bidat (instantaneous triple-talaq), nikah halala (bar against remarriage with divorced husband without an intervening marriage with another man), and polygamy under Muslim personal laws as illegal, unconstitutional, and violative of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.

Also read: Talaq, Talaq, Talaq: The Islamic Legality Behind the Cliche

5. New Delhi Top Cop’s First Focus: Vehicle Theft Cases

Senior IPS officer Alok Kumar Verma (58) in his first instructions as the new Commissioner of Delhi Police asked all officers to start “solving motor vehicle theft cases”, apart from registering such cases, The Indian Express reports.

Verma succeeds BS Bassi, who was always known for his confrontations with the AAP-led Delhi government.

Outgoing Delhi CP BS Bassi receives a memento from his successor. (Photo: Twitter)

Delhi Police took to Twitter to welcome their new chief.

Verma too posted his maiden set of tweets after taking charge.

Verma held a meeting right after taking oath where he directed all district heads to activate their specialised units, especially the anti-auto-theft-squads (AATS) of their concerned district. After the launch of the Motor Vehicle Theft (MVT) app, the detection rate of these cases has dropped in the last two years.

Minutes after he took charge, Verma — a 1979 batch IPS officer — called a meeting of all special commissioners, joint commissioners, deputy commissioners at the conference hall of Delhi Police Headquarters.

Also read: Bassi Would Be Remembered for His Confrontations With AAP...Surely

6. Thane Mass Murder: ‘I Have a Surprise for You’ - Warekar’s Messge to Brother-in-Law

The alleged mass murderer in Thane had sent a WhatsApp text message to his brother-in-law Shaukat Khan which read like there was a surprise in store for him. Hasnain Warekar, 35, is believed to have 14 members of the family in the early hours of Sunday.

Shaukat Khan lost his wife Sabina, their daughter and two sons along with 11 other members of his family.

Hasnain Warekar. (Photo: ANI)

Khan told The Indian Express that there was no reason at the time to view the message with suspicion.

The weapon used in the Thane murders. (Photo: ANI)

I wish I had known this is what he was talking about.

Shaukat Khan, Hasnain Warekar’s brother-in-law

Read the full story here.

7. Budget 2016: PAHALa Pyar Seduces Farmers With Subsidies

The government is going to use PAHAL — the scheme to transfer cooking gas subsidy directly into consumers’ accounts — to put money into the hands of farmers in the hope of easing farm sector stress and reaping some political dividend, according to a report in The Times of India.

Pilot projects are being launched in several districts to transfer fertiliser subsidy directly to farmers instead of manufacturers. This coincides with estimates of a lower subsidy bill in 2016-17 for food, fertilisers and kitchen fuel, thanks to low oil prices.

The scheme is expected to improve “quality of service delivery” to farmers and save money by plugging leakages due to fudging of sale figures.

The total food, fertiliser and kitchen fuels subsidy bill has been estimated at Rs 2,31,781.61 crore, approximately 4 percent lower than the revised estimate of Rs 2,41,856.58 crore for 2015-16.

8. Farmer Suicide-Struck Marathwada Upset with Budget

The drought-hit Marathwada region reported as many as 168 deaths till Monday since January, this year. So Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s pro-farmer budget this year was not considered of much importance by the distressed families of the deceased farmers, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Did he say anything about our farmers loans? Did he say anything about our mounting debts? If he had so, I have not heard and neither have scores of farmers in our village.

<b> Shivaji Gajar, Cotton Farmer</b>

A farmer prays for rains. (Photo: AP)

Gajar (40), a resident of Gundewadi village of Jalna district has debts to the tune of Rs two lakh.

I am not the lone farmer who is burdened with debts. Like me, there are at least 400 farmers in our village of Gundewadi who have taken loans from banks and money-lenders and are now not in a position to repay. Because of our inability to repay, interest goes on piling up and there is constant pestering by banks and money-lenders to repay the loan.

<b>Shivaji Gajar</b>

Last year, eight districts comprising Marathwada region had reported as many as 1,130 suicides – described as the highest in last 10 years.

Also read:
Farmer Suicides in Drought-hit Marathwada Double From Last Year
Madhya Pradesh Must Act Fast To Save a Drying Bundelkhand

9. View From the Visitor’s Gallery: Jaitley Played the Shots Amidst Applause

When Finance Minister Arun Jaitley used lines of poetry to illustrate the philosophy of Union Budget 2016-17, a small smile played on the face of his son Rohan, seated in the visitors’ gallery, according to a report in Business Standard.

Tired and defeated, they handed the oars to us/we found ourselves in the midst of a tempest and a raging tide/but we did and we will any time/show that we too know how to conquer choppy waters.

<b>Jaitley’s Budget Speech</b>

His family — wife, Sangeeta; daughter, Sonali; son-in-law, Jayesh Bakshi; and son — were among the first to be seated in the Lok Sabha gallery. They were witness to the Congress’ attempts to raise the issue of a sedition case filed on Sunday against the party’s Vice-President Rahul Gandhi (and other Opposition leaders).

In this file photo, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is seen along with his family at his residence in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

But the cries died out as Jaitley moved ahead with the Budget speech. Rahul Gandhi could only manage a grimace.

The lawmakers reserved the loudest applause for his announcements on the farm sector.

After delivering a large part of the speech on his feet, the finance minister had to sit down, tired, but as the congratulations poured in afterwards, he seemed obviously happy and relieved.

Read the full coverage here.

From The Quint:

1. Budget 2016: Shifting Focus From Suit Boot to Aam Aadmi, Kisan
2. “I Respect My Brother’s Courage,” Says Umar Khalid’s Sister
3. Mahisasur-Durga in Parliament: Devas and Asuras Were All People
4. Marked by Caution, Budget 2016 Lacks Imaginative Initiatives