1. Kashmir on Edge Ahead of Supreme Court Hearing on Article 35A Today
There was a widespread shutdown in Kashmir on Sunday, 5 August, in protest ahead of Monday’s hearing in the Supreme Court on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution that guarantees special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had called for a two-day shutdown across the state, blaming “the BJP and RSS of attempts to change the “demography” of the state.
On Monday, 6 August, the Supreme Court will hear a clutch of petitions against Article 35A, which empowers J&K’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to them. Political parties in the state had asked the Supreme Court to defer the hearing, citing upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Senior SC Judges Upset With Centre Over Altering of Justice KM Joseph’s Seniority
Several senior justices of the Supreme Court are upset with the Union government for altering the seniority granted to Justice KM Joseph while clearing his appointment as a top court judge last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The judges, who met informally to discuss the appointments, have decided to take the matter up with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Monday, 6 August, to urge him to try and remedy what they consider to be interference by the government in judicial appointments, added the people cited above.
“Judges of the top court met and discussed Justice Joseph’s matter and the government’s decision to alter his seniority by placing him below Justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran. Justice Joseph’s name was sent first and his name should have been first in the appointment notification. We have decided to take up the matter with the CJI,” a Supreme Court judge said on the condition of anonymity.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. NRC Issue: BJP-RSS Spreading Misleading Statements Against Supreme Court, Says Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, 5 August, attacked the central government over the NRC issue. In a series of tweets, the Bengal CM alleged that the combine of BJP-RSS was creating and spreading misleading statements against the Supreme Court and that the court never asked to delete names of Indian citizens from NRC list.
She said that even names of soldiers, former President’s family members, elected representatives, prominent members of civil society also found their names missing from the draft list.
Alleging that the core values of the country were being destroyed, the Bengal CM said, “Where is democracy? Where is secularism? Why are the core values of our country being destroyed? Why have 200 companies of central forces been sent to Assam? Every single action of the BJP-RSS is one of deliberate destructiveness and political vendetta.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Sunil Gavaskar on Attending Imran Khan’s Swearing-In: Will Take Government’s Advice
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, on 5 August, said he will take the government’s advice before deciding to attend his great cricket rival Imran Khan’s swearing-in as the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Gavaskar, along with former skipper Kapil Dev, have been invited to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Imran, who led Pakistan to its maiden World Cup title in 1992.
“I would like to take our government’s OK, take their view, opinion whether I should travel there even if there is a day when I am able to go,” Gavaskar told India Today.
Gavaskar is not certain as to whether he will be able to attend the ceremony as he has his other commitments.
“I just got the invite yesterday, and the invite was from his (Imran’s) office, his party. An official invite in a way hasn’t been there. I would like to travel but whether I would be able to travel is a different matter.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Amit Shah Meets MS Dhoni as Part of ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ Drive
As part of BJP's 'Contact for Support' campaign, party chief Amit Shah met cricketer MS Dhoni in New Delhi on Sunday, 5 August, and shared with him the work done by the central government in the past four years.
"As part of 'Sampark for Samarthan' initiative, met M S Dhoni, one of the greatest finishers in world cricket. Shared with him several transformative initiatives and unprecedented work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's govt in the last 4 years," Shah tweeted after meeting the World Cup winning captain.
Shah's outreach to Dhoni was the latest in a series of meetings he has had with leading figures from various fields as part of the BJP's mega public contact drive with Lok Sabha polls less than 10 months away.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. India Gives Request for Mehul Choksi Extradition to Antigua
India has handed over a request to Antigua for extradition of PNB fraud accused and fugitive economic offender Mehul Choksi, who has obtained citizenship of the Caribbean nation. According to people aware of the development, a team from India was sent to Antigua few days back to pursue the authorities there to extradite the Gitanjali Gems promoter.
“The team met the foreign ministry officials of the island nation yesterday and handed over the request to extradite Choksi to India,” said one of the people cited above.
Choksi is one of the alleged masterminds of the $2 billion fraud in state-run Punjab National Bank and uncle of fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi. He is wanted in India by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate probing the PNB fraud, the biggest banking scam in the country.
(Source: Livemint)
7. EC Fixing VVPATs to Avoid Glitch Repeats
Even as 17 parties discuss approaching the Election Commission to seek a return to paper ballots, the poll panel is done with over 50 percent of its preparations for Lok Sabha polls that include improvements in VVPAT design to rule out any malfunction on account of light-sensitivity or humidity.
The design was updated after nearly 11.6 percent of VVPATs deployed for Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls in May malfunctioned, with nearly 20 percent of machines needing replacement in Kairana and 19 percent in Bhandara-Gondiya parliamentary constituencies.
To ensure that the country’s first 100 percent VVPAT-based general elections remain glitch-free, the commission has decided to have all such machines under production fitted with a hood to protect them from overexposure to light.
The decision was taken based on findings of its technical committee which probed VVPAT and EVM malfunction in the May bypolls.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. 82 Killed as Magnitude 7 Earthquake Rocks Indonesia’s Lombok Island
A strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s popular tourist island of Lombok on 5 August, killing at least 82 people, one week after another quake in the same area killed more than a dozen.
The powerful quake triggered panic among tourists and residents, and was also felt on the neighbouring holiday island of Bali. On Lombok, thousands fled from their homes to gather for safety in open spaces.
Agung Pramuja, head of the Disaster Mitigation Agency in the West Nusa Tenggara province which includes Lombok and neighbouring islands but not Bali, told Reuters 82 people were confirmed dead, many from northern and western parts of Lombok. He said the agency was still collecting data on the injured.
(Source: The Hindu)
9. UIDAI Slams Vested Interests for ‘Fear-Mongering’, Says Helpline Number Cannot Steal Phone Data
The UIDAI, which came under fire after its old helpline number “inadvertently” surfaced in many cellular phones automatically, on Sunday, 5 August, condemned the “vested interests” who tried to spread rumours and create fear among people over the matter.
Noting that the technology giant Google had claimed responsibility for the act and had promised to fix it, the biometric ID provider appealed to people not to panic and assured that no harm will be caused because of the old and outdated helpline number.
The Aadhaar body had earlier clarified and emphasised that it had not asked any agency to include its helpline number in the mobile phones.
Earlier, Google had said that UIDAI’s old contact number 18003001947 was added by it “inadvertently” along with police/fire number 112 in 2014 and has since been continuing through sync mechanism.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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