QBullet: India-US to Sign 5 MoUs; Pro-Pak Slogan Gets Sedition Tag
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1. Trade to Security: Five Key Pacts May Be Inked During Donald Trump Visit
India and the US are discussing at least five MoUs (memoranda of understanding) on issues ranging from trade facilitation to homeland security that are expected to be finalised during President Donald Trump’s visit to the country next week alongside some defence deals.
Despite their inability to finalise a limited trade package before the stand-alone visit during 24-25 February, the two sides are looking at the trip to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and ramp up cooperation in counter-terrorism, defence, security, trade and energy.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a news briefing that the two sides are discussing at least five memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on matters such as intellectual property, trade facilitation and homeland security. He said some announcements are also expected on defence deals but declined to give details.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Student Raises Pro-Pak Slogans, Asaduddin Owaisi Disowns Her Remarks
Bengaluru police on Thursday filed a case of sedition against a student activist who allegedly raised “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans at a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) attended by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
Amulya Leona, a student of a south Bengaluru college, raised the slogan on the stage of an anti-CAA protest at Freedom Park, Bengaluru. After she raised the slogan a few times, the organisers snatched the microphone from her.
Soon after the slogans were raised and Leona was detained, AIMIM chief Owaisi addressed the rally. “My dear friends and elders, we have no connection with the words uttered here. We have no connection with this — neither me nor my party have any connection to this. As long as we are alive we will shout the slogan of Bharat Zindabad. We have no connection with Pakistan and will never have.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. ‘Sent Her Back With Respect’: Government on British MP's Deportation
British MP Debbie Abrahams, a vocal critic of India's policies on Jammu and Kashmir, was deported "with a lot of respect", the foreign ministry said today, adding she did not have a valid visa when she landed in Delhi last week.
"She (Debbie Abrahams) didn't have a valid visa, so we sent her back 'badi izzat se' (with due respect) from the Delhi airport," foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters during his briefing this afternoon.
Mr Kumar added that there is a "sustained campaign" from Ms Abrahams side against India. "We believe that her statements and ideology are anti-India," he said.
(Source: NDTV)
4. 20 Killed in Tamil Nadu After Truck Rams Into Bus
At least 20 passengers were killed when a speeding container truck entered the wrong lane (and the wrong side) and collided head-on with a Thiruvananthapuram-bound Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus carrying 48 people at Avinashi in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district on Thursday
“It was a high-speed collision. The truck lost control. We do not know if the driver dozed off or the tyre burst. The truck entered the wrong lane and crashed into the KSRTC bus coming from the opposite direction,” said Palakkad (Kerala) police superintendent Siva Vikram. He added the bus was on its way to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. SC Order on Permanent Commission for Women Enabling, Gives Clarity: Army Chief
Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict on permanent commission for women in the Army and for them to be considered for command posting, Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane on Thursday said that it is a “very enabling judgment and gives us clarity”.
The verdict brings out a “sense of clarity and purpose to gainfully employ officers for better efficiency”, he said.
Calling the Army a “champion of gender equality”, Gen Naravane said: “Indian Army does not discriminate any soldier based on religion, caste, creed, or even gender. The outlook of Indian Army has been throughout like this; that is why we started inducting Women Officers as early as in 1993.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Nirbhaya Convict Has Head Injury, Can't Recognise Mother, Claims Lawyer
One of the four Nirbhaya case convicts to be hanged on March 3, Vinay Sharma, was injured after he reportedly banged his head against the wall of his cell at Tihar jail in Delhi. He has approached the court for high level medical treatment for "grievous head injury, fracture in his right arm, mental illness and schizophrenia."
A jail official said Vinay Sharma, 26, had attempted to hurt himself by banging his head against a wall on Sunday afternoon. Security personnel saw him and stopped him. He suffered minor injuries.
His lawyer claims he has been unable to recognise people, including his mother. He has also asked for Vinay Sharma to be referred to the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences hospital.
(Source: NDTV)
7. Day 2 of Shaheen Bagh Talks Inconclusive Again
The second round of talks between protesters at Shaheen Bagh and Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors ended inconclusively on Thursday after the demonstrators said they would not leave the protest spot until the Citizenship Amendment Act is repealed.
Two senior lawyers — Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — visited Shaheen Bagh for the second time on Thursday to hold dialogue with protesters after the Supreme Court ordered to find a “balance” while hearing a PIL on the blockade of Road 13 A that connects Delhi with Noida .
Upon being told by protesters that there were several alternative routes that were blocked by police authorities, the two senior lawyers visited the spots later Thursday evening.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Two Dalit Youths Beaten, Tortured for ‘Theft’ Bid in Rajasthan, 7 Held
Two Dalit youths were allegedly assaulted and tortured by some employees of a motorcycle service agency in Karnu village, under Panchodi police station area, in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. While police said the incident occurred on February 16, five persons were arrested on Wednesday and another two on Thursday after videos of the assault were circulated on social media.
In the videos, a group of men can be seen thrashing two persons with rubber belts. One of the victims is stripped and held down, and a screwdriver dipped in petrol is inserted into his anus. The accused can be heard laughing in the background.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Leadership Debate On, Congress Hits Out at Tharoor, Dikshit
Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday renewed his call for leadership elections in the Congress, a day after former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit’s son and ex-MP Sandeep Dikshit argued that the biggest challenge faced by the party is the “leadership question” and accused senior leaders of failing to find a new president because they are “scared who will bell the cat”.
Dikshit and Tharoor were rebuffed by the party even as a senior leader asserted that Rahul Gandhi, who had stepped down as Congress president following the party’s Lok Sabha election defeat, is set to return to the helm “very soon”. “There is no other leader to lead the party at this juncture… no other leader to fight the BJP… we will be expediting his return,” the leader said without giving a time frame.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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Published: 21 Feb 2020,07:07 AM IST