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1. Instant Triple Talaq Non-Bailable Offence, 3 Years Jail & Fine for Guilty, Says Draft Law
Over three months after the Supreme Court “set aside” the practice of instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat, the Centre has drawn up a draft law which makes it a “cognisable and non-bailable” offence, punishable with three years jail and a monetary fine.
The draft law — Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act — also allows a woman who has been given instant triple talaq to move court, seeking “subsistence allowance” for herself and dependent children, as well as custody of minor children. A Bill to this effect is likely to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament, highly placed government sources said on Friday, 1 December.
The proposed law, which empowers Muslim women, applies to instant triple talaq in “oral, written, electronic or any other form”. Any declaration of talaq-e-biddat by a Muslim man shall be “illegal and void”, says the draft law.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. UP Civic Polls: BJP Rides Winning Spree, Yogi Takes Dig at Rahul Gandhi
Eight months after sweeping the assembly polls with a two-thirds majority, the BJP continued its winning run in UP by claiming 14 of the 16 mayoral seats, including in Ayodhya and Mathura, in polls to municipal corporations, according to results announced on Friday, 1 December.
Mayawati’s BSP registered its presence in urban areas after a poor show in the assembly polls by wresting the mayoral seats in Aligarh and Meerut from the BJP. The main Opposition party SP, however, failed to win a single mayoral seat, losing the only mayor’s post it held in Bareilly to the BJP. The Congress was left red-faced after the BJP registered a sweep in Amethi, a bastion of the Gandhi family.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who launched the BJP’s campaign from Ayodhya and addressed over 30 public meetings, credited his party’s workers, and welfare schemes of the state and central governments, for the win.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. Obama Says There’s No Problem We Can’t Solve If India, US Come Together
There is no problem that can’t be solved if India and the United States work together, former US president Barack Obama said on Friday, 1 December, as he called for a more inclusive global order to address challenges such as inequality and terrorism.
The 44th US president unveiled a four-point agenda for the world order – tackling problems arising from the globalisation of economies, working multilaterally on issues such as climate change and terrorism, giving diplomacy its due for dealing with problems such as the North Korean nuclear crisis, and the right way of consuming information.
Arriving to a standing ovation from an exuberant audience at the 15th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Obama recalled his special fondness for fostering ties between the “world’s oldest and largest democracies” that he had described as the “defining partnership for the 21st century”.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. SC Junks Plea to Bar Convicted Netas From Heading Parties
The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea on Friday, 1 December, that sought to debar people who have been convicted in criminal cases and cannot contest elections from heading or floating political parties.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the petitioner, advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, “How far can the courts go? Let the government and Parliament look into this. Can we stop a convicted person from heading a political party? Will it not be incongruent with the right to free speech? Can the court restrain a convicted person from propagating his political views?”
The petitioner said at present a person convicted for serious criminal offences can form a political party and become party president even after being barred from contesting elections as a candidate. “For instance, Lalu Prasad, OP Chautala and Sasikala have been convicted of major criminal offences but still hold the highest post in political parties,” Upadhyay said.
(Source: Times of India)
5. Delhi Hospital Declares Twins Dead, Family Finds One Alive on Way to Last Rites
In a case of alleged medical negligence, one of infant twins – born pre-mature and declared dead by Max hospital in Shalimar Bagh – was found to be alive by parents who were on their way to perform the last rites.
The family has alleged that the hospital declared their alive newborn baby boy dead but they saw him move when they were going for the burial.
Praveen, the maternal grandfather of the infants, said his daughter Varsha was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. “Two days later, following a C-Section delivery around 7-30pm, she first delivered a baby boy and then a girl 12 minutes later,” he said.
Doctors later told the family that the girl had died and the boy was alive, but critical and needed ventilator support, added Praveen.
Later, the doctors told the family that the boy too had passed away and they handed over the bodies packed in plastic bags to the family.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Should Hear Demolition Case First, Then Title Suit, Says Ayodhya Probe Judge Liberhan
Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, whose commission of inquiry held that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 was “meticulously planned”, has said that the Supreme Court should have heard the Ayodhya title suit case only after the demolition case has been cleared.
His remarks come days before the Supreme Court starts final hearings in the title suit case from 5 December.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Liberhan, who submitted his report in June 2009 indicting Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, said: “The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal in the matter of the Ayodhya title suit (the decision of the Allahabad High Court in 2010) on a day-to-day basis from 5 December will adversely affect the demolition suit. What is the point of doing this? If it is decided that it is Wakf property, then one side is established as guilty of demolition. And if the Hindu sides get it, then the act of demolition becomes seen as ‘justified’ — to reclaim own property. This demolition is known to people alive and must be decided first. They can take a few weeks or months to do it.”
(Source: Indian Express)
7. NCRB Data, 2016: More Girls, Women Go Missing Than Boys, Men
Suggesting rampant trafficking, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows that minor girls are twice as likely to go missing than minor boys. According to the NCRB report for 2016, 60 per cent of the total missing people were females — about 24 per cent of these were girls (below 18 years), while 74 per cent were in the 18-60 years age group.
This is the first time that NCRB has collated data on missing people across the country.
While a total of 22,340 minor boys (below 18 years) went missing in 2016, the corresponding figure for girls was almost double at 41,067. In the 18-60 years age group, 84,852 men and 1,28,944 women went missing.
According to the data, 19 per cent of the total missing males were minor boys, and 60 per cent were in the 18-60 years age group.
(Source: Indian Express)
8. Delhi IIT Student Bags ₹1.4 Crore Offer From Microsoft
Microsoft emerged as the leading recruiter for US jobs on Day One of placements across IITs on Friday, 1 December.
The software giant is believed to have offered the highest package of Rs 1.4 crore, inclusive of bonuses and stock options, for profiles in their Redmond headquarters and picked about a dozen students from across campuses.
At IIT-Bombay, Microsoft shortlisted four to five candidates from the computer science and engineering department, but the final list will be out only on Saturday, 2 December.
At IITMadras and IIT-Kanpur, the firm picked four candidates each. Students from IIT-Delhi, IIT-Guwahati (2) and Roorkee, too, were hired for US profiles by Microsoft. The placement drive at IITDelhi started on a high note with a computer science student bagging the crore-plus offer from Microsoft. Though official data is not released, students claimed Microsoft (US) has been one of the highest paying firms this year.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Judiciary Must Leave Lawmaking to Parliament: Ravi Shankar Prasad
The judiciary must leave lawmaking to Parliament, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday, 1 December, calling upon judges to respect the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Prasad’s comments come in the backdrop of the government’s criticism of judicial activism, a point of friction between the executive and the judiciary.
“We are proud of the judiciary and are committed to its independence. If the executive makes a mistake, the judiciary must step in. But my problem is with governance. Governance and policymaking must be left to those who are entrusted with the task,” he said at the 15th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
The law minister also expressed concern over the time taken by the courts to decide cases and the problem of pendency of cases.
(Source: Livemint)
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