1. As Riot Toll Climbs to 53, Videos Emerge of Mob Targeting Cops
The toll in the north-east Delhi riots rose to 53 on Thursday, 5 March, as more victims died of their injuries in hospital. According to officials, so far 44 deaths have been reported from GTB Hospital and five from Ram Manohar Lohia. Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital has reported three deaths and Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital one.
“Around 298 patients have been treated so far at GTB and around 100 have gunshot injuries,” said an official.
Meanwhile, two new mobile videos have emerged showing the mayhem in the Chand Bagh area during riots on 24 February. The videos show a mob of over 2,000 anti-CAA protesters attacking badly outnumbered policemen, throwing stones at them and even firing, as they are huddled over the divider, trying to escape the fury of the mob.
(Source:The Times of India)
2. Seven Congress MPs Suspended Amid Parliament Ruckus
The Lok Sabha, on the basis of a voice vote, suspended on Thursday, 5 March, seven Congress members for disrupting proceedings of the Lower House of Parliament during the second half of the ongoing Budget Session that began Monday. The suspension is to last for the remaining duration of the ongoing session.
The move came two days after Speaker Om Birla warned both the treasury and the opposition benches for entering the Well of the House.
The suspension of members from the House is rare, although not unprecedented.
The seven suspended Congress MPs are Gaurav Gogoi (Kaliabor, Assam), Maickam Tagore (Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu); Gurjeet Singh Aujla (Amritsar, Punjab), TN Prathapan (Thrissur, Kerala); Behanan Benny (Chalakudy, Kerala), Rajmohan Unnithan (Kasaragod,Kerala) and Dean Kuriakose (Idukki, Kerala).
This is the first such suspension in the 17th Lok Sabha.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. RBI Supersedes Yes Bank Board, Caps Withdrawals at Rs 50,000
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday, 5 March, superseded the board of directors of troubled Yes Bank for a period of 30 days “owing to serious deterioration in the financial position” of the bank and capped deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per depositor.
The central bank said: “This has been done to quickly restore depositors’ confidence in the bank, including by putting in place a scheme for reconstruction or amalgamation.” The RBI appointed Prashant Kumar, former Deputy Managing Director and CFO of State Bank of India, as the administrator of the private sector bank.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Elizabeth Warren Drops Out of US Presidential Race
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Thursday, 5 March, dropped out of the race after disappointing Super Tuesday results in which she failed to win a single state, not even her home state of Massachusetts.
In a call with campaign staff, Warren announced the decision to drop out of the race. Warren has not indicated who she will endorse in the race which has now come down between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
"I want to start with the news. I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: Today, I’m suspending our campaign for president," she told her campaign staff.
(Source: DNA)
5. Freedom in the World 2020 Report Ranks India Among Least Free Democracies
India has become one of the world’s least free democracies, according to a global survey, which warned that “the Indian government’s alarming departures from democratic norms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could blur the values-based distinction between Beijing and New Delhi.”
The Freedom in the World 2020 report ranks India at the 83rd position, along with Timor-Leste and Senegal. This is near the bottom of the pile among the countries categorised as “Free”, with only Tunisia receiving a lower score. India’s score fell by four points to 71, the worst decline among the world’s 25 largest democracies this year.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Nirbhaya Convicts Will be Hanged on 20 March
A Delhi court on Thursday, 5 March, issued fresh death warrants for execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case for 20 March at 5.30 am.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed 20 March as the new date of execution after it was told by the Delhi government that the convicts have exhausted all their legal remedies.
The lawyer for the four death row convicts also told the court that there was no legal impediment for court in proceeding to fix the date of execution.
“The morning of March 20 will be the morning of our lives,” said Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi after a Delhi court Thursday fixed the new date of execution of the four death row convicts for her daughter's gang rape and murder in December 2012.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
7. Authorities Restore Broadband Services in Jammu and Kashmir
A day after ban on social media sites was revoked temporarily, Jammu and Kashmir administration Thursday restored broadband services in the Valley seven months after the Center stripped the region of its statehood and special status under Article 370.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) BSNL, Masood Bala said the broadband internet service has been restored across the Valley with authorities deciding not to charge consumers for the suspended period.
“The charges for the suspension period to the consumers have been waived off and the services have been restored,” he said.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
8. Delhi Riots: Stop Massacre, Says Iran’s Spiritual Leader
Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, 5 March, joined the growing chorus of concern across the world at the Delhi riots and the immediate trigger for last week’s violence — the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a tweet that minced no words. The tweet carried the hashtag “IndianMuslimsInDanger.’’
He tweeted both in English and Persian; the latter with the now widely circulated photograph of a boy crying beside the body of a loved one killed in the riots.
(Source: The Telegraph)
9. On His Farewell, Justice Muralidhar Clears Air on Transfer to Punjab and Haryana HC
Justice S Muralidhar on Thursday, 5 March, cleared the air over the controversy on his transfer from the Delhi High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying he had replied to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde's communication that he was fine with the proposal and had no objection.
The controversy erupted after the Centre issued Justice Muralidhar's transfer notification close to midnight of 26 February – the day a bench headed by him had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the recent violence in northeast Delhi.
Justice Muralidhar (58), who received a grand farewell on Thursday from a huge gathering including judges and lawyers amid a big round of applause, said he wanted to clear the confusion on his transfer and narrated the sequence of events from the time he received CJI's communication till 26 February.
(Source: The Tribune)
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