QBullet: Ram Rahim Sentence Today; 18 Parties ‘Declare War’ on BJP

The Quint’s roundup of headlines from national dailies.

After fifteen years, the law finally caught up with the Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

(Photo: YouTube Screenshot)

1. Ram Rahim Rape Verdict: Rohtak Turned Into a Fortress, Schools and Colleges to Remain Shut

Haryana and Punjab ordered schools and colleges shut, suspended mobile services, beefed up security and threw a five-tier cordon around a Rohtak jail, where on Monday a judge will hand out punishment to self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for raping two disciples.

The special CBI court will at 2:30 pm begin hearing arguments on quantum of punishment, which could range from seven years to life imprisonment, in the district jail at Sunaria where the flamboyant Dera Sacha Sauda chief is lodged.

Rohtak deputy commissioner Atul Kumar said miscreants who try to spread violence will be shot dead.

We requested 18 columns of army. It is on stand-by and will arrive within one hour of our request.

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read: Ram Rahim Conviction: The Beginning of the End of a Mighty Empire
Ram Rahim Case: Death Toll Rises to 38, At least 350 Injured

2. PV Sindhu Loses Close Final, Settles for Silver in World Badminton Championships

PV Sindhu’s dream of becoming a world champion was deflated by Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, who went on to clinch the marathon women’s singles final that lasted, and also will be remembered, for ages.

The summit clash lasted an unbelievable and incredible one hour and 50 minutes, and at the end, it was Nozomi who was the last woman standing as she overcame the Indian fourth seed Sindhu’s challenge 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 to take gold at the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow on Sunday evening.

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read:
World C’ships: PV Sindhu Goes Down Fighting in Gold Medal Match
“I Am Upset,” Says PV Sindhu After Losing Epic World C’ships Final

3. At Lalu Prasad Yadav's 'BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao' Rally, 18 Parties Declare War on BJP

Leaders of 18 opposition parties came together on RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s stage in Patna on Sunday to decry the “betrayal” by their former ally Nitish Kumar, and to declare war on Narendra Modi’s BJP.

The massive rally at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan also introduced Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav to national politics — the former deputy chief minister of Bihar announced himself with a call to the assembled crowd to “correct the mistakes of [the Lok Sabha election of] 2014”.

Holding Lalu in an embrace onstage was Sharad Yadav, the JD(U) rebel who declared, without naming Nitish, that the man who was once his “shadow” would now be punished for breaking the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar by a new grand alliance at the Centre.

Despite some 20 districts in Bihar being inundated by floodwaters, Gandhi Maidan, which can hold an estimated 7 lakh people, was almost half full for the “BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao” rally. 

Source: Indian Express

Also Read: Nitish Betrayed People of Bihar: Ousted Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav

4. Doklam Thaw at BRICS If Both Prepare Well: Shivshankar Menon

A breakthrough on the two-and-a-half month standoff between India and China at Doklam is possible during next month’s BRICS Summit in China but only if both sides prepare well, according to former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Menon, a former foreign secretary, also welcomed US President Donald Trump’s speech on Afghanistan, as it contained some positives, but said that India needed to follow its “own interests” in that country.

He further said that one of India’s biggest internal security challenges was “communal violence” and “polarisation” because “it leads to radicalisation and communities being alienated”.

Asked about the possibility of a breakthrough on Doklam at BRICS, Menon, who has also served as Ambassador to China, said that would happen but only “if the summit is prepared well by both sides, they actually talk about these issues before hand”.

The way Chinese and we have negotiated in the past, these things have always been carefully prepared, rather than done on the spur of the moment.

Source: Indian Express

Also Read: BRICS-Plus? Or a BRICS-Minus Modi Summit in Xiamen?

5. Two Lynched Over Suspicion of Cow Theft in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District

Two persons were lynched at a village in the Dhupguri block of West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district in the early hours of 27 August 2017 under suspicion of stealing cows. Police has lodged a murder case and no one has been arrested so far.

“Hafizul Sheikh of Dhubri district in Assam and Anwar Hussain of Patlakhawa village of Cooch Behar district were beaten to death by locals at the Dadon II gram panchayat area in Jalpaiguri’s Dhupguri block,” a senior district police official told The Hindu.

He also said the villagers noticed that a pick-up van carrying cows was aimlessly wandering around the area. When challenged by the villagers the van picked up speed and tried to escape, the official said.

Source: The Hindu

Also Read: The Complete List of Mob Lynchings in India Since 2015

6. Govt Mulling 2% Relief on GST for Digital Payments

You may soon need to shell out less if you pay digitally. The government is looking at giving a 2% incentive over the applicable GST tax rate in case of digital payments where the bill is up to Rs 2,000, in a move aimed at discouraging cash payments.

According to sources, the proposal – which may give the benefit in the form of a discount or cash-back – is being discussed between the finance ministry, RBI, cabinet secretariat and ministry of electronics and IT.

"The idea is to incentivise all kinds of digital payments, especially smaller transactions, in line with the government's plan of making India a less-cash economy," a source told TOI.

Source: The Times of India

Also Read: One Month in, a Pan-India Look at How the GST Regime Has Fared

7. Most Indian Homes Smaller Than Prison Cells

The majority of India's population, both rural and urban, lives in homes with space smaller than the minimum floor area per person recommended for prison cells. This shocking reality emerges from comparing the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) 69th round survey report on housing conditions with the Model Prison Manual 2016.

About 80% of the poorest rural households have an average floor area equal to or smaller than 449 sq ft. Since the average household size is 4.8 members in rural areas, this means 94 sq ft or less is available per person. 

This is smaller than the 96 sq ft of ground area recommended for prison cells. Of course, given India's overcrowded jails, prisoners may well have far less living space.

Source: The Times of India

Also Read: If Done Right, Tourism Can Help Alleviate Global Poverty
Childbearing Expenses Push 47% Of Indian Women Into Poverty

8. Police Admit Molestation Video Fake but 80-Year-Old Accused Is Still in Jail

A little over a month ago, a short video clip had gone viral on social media in Hindu-majority Hindoli. The clip, shot entirely from overhead, showed an old man in a skull cap and white kurta-pyjama molesting a child.

It was difficult to identify the two due to the angle of the camera as well as the poor recording quality, while there were no clues to make out the under-construction site where the attack took place.

However, by late July, word had spread that the old man “resembled” Abdul Ansari and that the young child looked like a Rajput girl from the neighbourhood.

Soon, protesters, including people the Ansaris had known for long, were on the streets, demanding Abdul’s arrest. The BJP, Bajrang Dal, VHP and Karni Sena held separate protests, with stones being pelted at the Ansari house, damaging the family’s car. Police have lodged an FIR in the case.

Since then, the Bundi Superintendent of Police has “conceded that police erred” and absolved Abdul Waheed Ansari of molesting a nine-year-old, a charge on which the 80-year-old has now been in jail for 27 days.

Source: Indian Express

9. Eight Indians Die in Worst UK Road Crash in 24 Years

Eight Indians, including two women, were killed on the spot, and four others injured in a horrific motorway crash in Britain in what is the worst road accident on a UK motorway in 24 years.

The crash happened on Saturday morning at Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire when a minibus carrying a group of Wipro IT professionals and their families collided with two lorries. 

Three of the Wipro employees were killed while a fourth, who is critically injured, is in a hospital. The driver of the bus, who died too, was an Indian.

Both the lorry drivers were arrested on the spot and taken into police custody. They have been charged with causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. One of them has also been charged with drunken-driving, and he will appear in a UK court on Monday.

Source: The Times of India

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