1. ‘Those Who Ruined Banking System in Jail Now’: PM Modi in Maharashtra
Addressing his last campaign rally for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 18 October, targeted Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram saying, “Those who ruined banking system are in jail now”. He also accused the previous Congress government of failing to act after terror attacks in Mumbai.
“We can’t forget the wounds of the Mumbai bomb blasts. The then government didn’t do justice with the victims’ families and the reason for such a stance is now becoming known,” Prime Minister Modi said at the rally.
“Instead of nabbing those responsible for the terror attacks, those in power then indulged in Mirchi business,” he added.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Abhijit Banerjee’s Thinking Left-Leaning, People Rejected It: Piyush Goyal
Taking a swipe at Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, Union Minister of Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal on Friday, 18 October, said although he’s proud that an Indian has been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics, he does not agree with Banerjee’s ideas because “his thinking is totally Left-leaning” and “people of India have totally rejected his thinking”.
At a press conference, when he was asked about criticism of the government’s handling of the economy by Banerjee and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Goyal rejected their evaluations: “Abhijit Banerjee has recently got the Nobel Prize and I congratulate him. His thinking is totally Left-leaning. He had supported the NYAY scheme (an electoral promise of the Congress during the Lok Sabha polls) and had praised NYAY heavily. People of India have totally rejected his thinking.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Ayodhya Case: 6 of 7 Muslim Appellants Reject Proposed Deal
Attempts to secure even a weak and partial mediation committee-led deal in the Ayodhya matter were dealt a blow as representatives of six of the seven appellants on the mosque side rejected the process and content of the mediation deal, as well as the circumstances and timing of the submission of the final report.
In a statement on Friday, they said they “do not accept the proposal made which has been leaked out to the press, nor the procedure by which the mediation has taken place, nor the manner in which a withdrawal of the claim has been suggested as a compromise”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. CJI Ranjan Gogoi Recommends Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as Successor
Following the rule of seniority to appoint his successor, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has recommended the name of Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde in a letter to the Centre. Justice Bobde is the seniormost judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Gogoi.
Conventionally, the outgoing Chief Justice sends the recommendation for his successor 30 days before he is to demit office, initiating the process of appointing the next CJI. With CJI Gogoi due to retire in a month, Justice Bobde is likely to assume office on 18 November.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. SC Moves out Assam NRC Chief, Gives Centre 7 Days to Shift Him to MP
The Supreme Court Friday directed the Centre and the Assam government to transfer the National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator Prateek Hajela “forthwith” to Madhya Pradesh for the maximum period possible. The bench, however, did not give a reason for passing the order.
People familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Indian Administrative Service officer placed a personal request for his transfer in view of threats he has received following the NRC exercise that has excluded 1.9 million people.
Hajela, from Madhya Pradesh, and a 1995 batch IAS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was appointed NRC coordinator by the top court in September 2013 to oversee the exercise of finalising the Assam NRC to weed out illegal immigrants in the state
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Global Anti-Terror Body FATF Gives Pakistan till February to Curb Terror Funding
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday, 18 October, warned Pakistan it would be placed on the multilateral watchdog’s blacklist if it fails to improve its counterterror financing operations by February 2020, highlighting the country’s failure to crack down on fund-raising by UN-designated terrorists.
The FATF concluded during its plenary meeting in Paris that Pakistan had failed to deliver on 22 out of 27 items in an action plan drawn up after the country was placed in the grey list in June 2018. Inclusion in the black list will entail harsher sanctions and greater global scrutiny of financial transactions, which could hit investments and business.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. ‘Already Burnt Our Fingers’: CBI Asks SC to Reject Chidambaram’s Bail Plea
The Supreme Court on Friday, 18 October, concluded hearing oral arguments on former finance minister P Chidambaram’s bail request in the CBI case against him in the INX Media case.
Chidambaram argued that he wasn’t a flight risk who would escape, asking the top court judges to consider the facts: That a lookout notice prevented him from travelling abroad and he had made no requests to travel out of the country.
In the course of Friday’s hearing that, on occasions, saw Chidambaram’s lawyer Kapil Sibal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was appearing for the CBI take digs at each [other], Mehta said the court should take the gravity of offences into account.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. No Separate National Flag or Constitution for Nagas, Says Interlocutor
The Centre will conclude the Naga peace process by October 31 and there will be no separate national flag or constitution for the Nagas, interlocutor RN Ravi told The Hindu.
Accusing National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) [NSCN-IM] of delaying the talks, Ravi said, “Endless negotiation under the shadow of guns is not acceptable.”
Ravi said the NSCN-IM, with which the Centre signed a framework agreement on August 3, 2015 to find a solution to the Naga issue, had adopted a “procrastinating attitude to delay the settlement, raising the contentious symbolic issues of separate Naga national flag and constitution.”
(Source: The Hindu)
9. RSS Expects Ayodhya Case Verdict in Favour of Hindus
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) expected the court verdict in the Ayodhya case to go in favour of Hindus, its Sarakaryavah Suresh Joshi said on Friday, 18 October.
“The Supreme Court has completed the hearing in the Ayodhya case. It has been our stand since long that all impediments for the construction of a Ram temple should go. There was a legal issue as to who owns the land. Now, we are waiting for the court to deliver its judgment and everyone is expecting the verdict to come in a month,” he said.
Joshi was addressing the media here at the end of a three-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) meeting, which was also attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
(Source: The Hindu)
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