Shiv Sena Slams Dissenters Over Feud On Cabinet Berths

Amid speculations of dissent in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra over cabinet expansion, the Shiv Sena on Thursday slammed dissenters for creating alleged unrest over non-allocation of cabinet birth while asserting that an experienced and strong cabinet was on place and it should be allowed to work.

In its mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena on Thursday highlighted how Maharashtra Congress legislator Sangram Thopat’s supporters allegedly vandalised Congress office after the Cabinet expansion following discontent over non-inclusion in the state cabinet.

It also stated that the supporters of Praniti Shinde wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with blood as they were not happy with Shinde’s name not being included in the Cabinet.

It also outlined that NCP and Congress have not ‘paid much attention’ to their constituent parties whereas Shiv Sena did so.

“There are three parties in the coalition hence there is a limit of making promises. It does not look like Congress or NCP pay attention to its constituent parties. However Shiv Sena did it”, the editorial read.

Shiv Sena mouthpiece also mentioned that no promises were made to certain individuals of the party for making them ministers and the decision of Uddhav Thackeray remains final in this regard.

The Maharashtra government which was formed after days of deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena had its cabinet expansion earlier this week.

On November 28, Uddhav Thackeray took oath as Chief Minister bringing an end to weeks of political instability in the state’s politics after Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress stitched a post-poll coalition as Maha Vikas Aghadi. Along with the Chief Minister six other ministers — two each from NCP, Congress, and Shiv Sena took the oath of office.

On December 30, a total of 36 leaders from Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, including Ajit Pawar and Aaditya Thackeray, took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra government.

(ANI)

Shaina Acid Attack

‘Tardy Justice Breeds Calls For Extra-Judicial Killings’

Shaina, 33, a resident of Loni area in Delhi-NCR, was returning from college on August 11, 2009, when she was attacked with acid by a jilted lover. An activist for women’s rights, she demands speedy justice in crimes against women and death penalty for rapists.

I cannot forget that day. It was a beautiful evening. I was feeling a cool breeze after a spell of rain. I was returning from my college classes unaware of how things would change for me from that day onward. A man had been stalking me for several months and had proposed me time and again for marriage. That day he was on a two-wheeler with an accomplice. As soon as he came in front of me, I thought he would try to convince me once again. I was wrong. Angered by taking a no to his moves, he had carried a bottle of acid with him, which he threw on my face.

The pain was unbearable. Even while in pain, I tried to catch hold of him but he escaped. I felt my skin was melting and I cried for help. The passers-by were also shocked as they be seeing such a horrific incident in person for the first time.

They took me to the hospital but by that time, my face was had been severely damaged. The treatment was long and costly and even though I survived, I could not find the courage to see my face in mirror.

I fought a long legal battle and today both the attackers are behind the bars, serving life imprisonment.

That incident happened more than a decade ago. But when I look at social scenario today, not much has changed in these ten years. Like me, all the women who faced similar or more heinous crime, have to wait for years to get justice. Families of those who were raped and killed, like Nirbhaya, have to live often with disgrace, agony and pain. Laws after laws are being passed but the prevention of crime against women is not possible with a tardy justice system.

This is why most people, including me, feel that the Hyderabad Police is probably right in having killed the rapists and murderers of Dr Reddy, even though it has set a wrong precedent. What will the policemen do if the judicial system takes so long to hang such monsters?

The rapists and murderers of Nirbhaya are still in jail for years even after being awarded the capital punishment. One mercy petition after another is being filed for them to buy time. How long the parents of Nirbhaya seek justice? There has to be an end. There has to be a fear of law among such criminals. Without eminent threat of death, such heinous cases are hard to be prevented. 

Not only the justice system but the police too needs to act fast on such complaints. There should be no laid back attitude by the agencies and immediate disciplinary action must be taken against those officers who are delaying investigation.

Today my life’s only aim is to fight against atrocities against women. I know I have lost a lot of things in life but the acid attack has given me a new motive to carry on. I am working with the Delhi Commission for Women as a Mahila Panchayat member and giving strength and providing all possible aid to women who face violence and sexual assault. Hope the governments work together in strengthening of laws, courts and police for effective action and quick justice in all such cases.

Internet Restored In J&K Health Institutions

The internet facilities were on Thursday restored in health institutions across Jammu and Kashmir while the connection at rest of the place is also being restored on a “war footing”.

“Internet Facilities has been restored in health institutions [in] J-K. Rest are also being restored on war footing,” Jammu and Kashmir’s Department of Information and Public Relations stated in a tweet.

Earlier on Thursday, Kashmir Zone Police stated that broadband high-speed internet connectivity has been restored at 80 government hospitals, including the health centers and offices linked to the Department of Health, across the Kashmir valley.

This came after SMS services were restored in the Kashmir Valley from midnight on December 31. Earlier on October 14, postpaid mobile services were also restored.

All mobile networks and landline connections were suspended across Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, in view of security concerns in the region following the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile State.

The Central government had abrogated Article 370 and also bifurcated the former State into Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The new UTs came into being on October 31.

(ANI)

Delhi Air Quality In ‘Severe’ Category Again

People in Delhi are still gasping for a breath of fresh air as the air quality of the national capital and its adjoining areas remained in the ‘severe’ category on Thursday.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was 426 with PM10 docking at 407 and PM 2.5 at 276 at 9 in the morning today.

In Noida also, the air quality was not satisfactory in the morning as the AQI at PM 10 was 359 and PM 2.5 at 424.

According to SAFAR, “Under the influence of approaching western disturbance, increased surface winds and improved ventilation, AQI is forecasted to improve to the higher-end of the very poor category by the January 2.”

Further significant improvement in AQI towards the middle-end of very poor to poor category is expecting by January 3. The organisation further predicted that tomorrow’s (Friday) top three air pollution hot spots of the capital are likely to be Vinobapuri, Okhla and Bawana.

In an advisory, SAFAR has advised citizens to avoid physical outdoor activities including morning walks. “Stop any physical activity if you feel unusual coughing, chest discomfort, breathing difficulty or fatigue,” it said.

It has also advised people to keep windows of their houses closed and asthmatics to keep medicines handy. (ANI)

New CDS Has A Dual-Hatted Role & Multiple Challenges

Amidst so much ongoing controversy and toxic debate in India, one decision of the Narendra Modi Government to receive universal welcome is that of the appointment of the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) at the top of three pyramids of the armed forces.  

Appointed to the post is General Bipin Rawat, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC. Age 61 and commissioned in 1978, his three-year tenure as the 27th Chief of Army Staff concluded over the year-end.   

His appointment fits into the current dispensation’s muscular approach to security-related issues. Some of it has stridently entered the political arena and public discourse (read Pakistan), dividing people, but also capturing popular imagination.

But that does not diminish the CDS’ importance as a reform in management of military affairs at the top and for the vital military-civil synergy.

India was the only large democracy without a single-point military advisor with all P5 countries having one, till Modi announced the intent during his Independence Day speech in August 2019. His government stands out, like the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government did, for taking long-pending security related decisions on which the past Congress-led governments were extremely cautious. After years of debating, the Vajpayee regime had appointed a National Security Advisor. Today the NSA has Cabinet rank in the government.

The status of the CDS, of course, will be below that. He will be heading a new Department of Military Affairs within the Ministry of Defence. As the name indicates, it is envisaged as the principal focal point for military affairs within the civilian set-up.

This has been long awaited by the military, albeit with silent reservations in its top echelons, depending upon individual and institutional preferences. But this military super-boss should certainly cause deep consternation among the civil servants.

On Independence, India inherited British-trained military forces whose top officials took orders from civilians who in turn enforced what London desired. The new leadership, concerned about the role the military was playing post the World War II, particularly in Asia and in its immediate neighbourhood, consciously enforced civilian supremacy. As a result, India became a democracy, howsoever chaotic, while the military seized power for long years in the next decade or so, in Pakistan, Myanmar, Indonesia and elsewhere. 

Also Read: We Stay Away From Politics: CDS Rawat

This political supremacy and civilian control over the military in India has, in effect, meant overriding powers for the bureaucrats who have kept the military way down in parity. The CDS’ appointment tweaks this arrangement a bit, gently introducing into the room a man in uniform. At the same time, the CDS has been assigned no command function, which means the three Services Chiefs are free to run the day-to-day affairs.

By assigning the CDS a key role in planning, procurement, tri-service institutions, defence diplomacy and quality assurance, the government could simultaneously unleash a host of critical reforms that have been unheard of until now.

Past records show that the idea of creation of such a post goes back seven decades to Lord Mountbatten, India’s last British Viceroy. As Army Chief, General KV Krishna Rao had advanced creation of the post of CDS in 1982.

It was formally envisaged after the Kargil war in 1999, but was put on the back-burner, despite authorities recommending the need for creating a post for a single command centre in matters of warfare and nuclear weaponry.

The Kargil Review Committee, Report of Task Force on National Security (Naresh Chandra Committee), and the Committee of Experts on Enhancing Capability and Rebalance Defence Expenditure (General Shekatkar Committee) had chalked out a strategy for higher defence management.

In 2017, intelligence and security officials and analysts had said that the absence of a CDS was hampering India’s combat capabilities. With an ongoing proxy war with Pakistan and a stand-off with China on Doklam plateau, many security officials said a single chain of command was imperative to strengthen India’s collective defence might.

About the CDS’ positioning, veteran security analyst Commodore (rtd.) Ranjit observes: “History needs to be heeded as access to the Prime Minister in India as head of the Cabinet matters as India runs on Cabinet Control. President is Commander-in-Chief only formally. The PM retains the real power.” Hence, personality of the Chief matters.”

He recalls: “In 1971 General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw set a bench mark as the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) to act like a CDS with direct access to the Defence Minister and Prime Minister. This instilled confidence and ensured effective preparations for the impending war that followed in 1971. It took months to get the machinery going for that victory, something we ought not to forget.”

But Manekshaw did not make it to the CDS post. He “almost became CDS but then IAF Chief ACM Pratap Lal had objected (as per Lal’s autobiography).”

Rai offers another recall: “When the Navy Chief, Admiral S M Nanda was told by the Defence Secretary on phone that Manekshaw was going to be the CDS, he remarked, ‘make any one anything as long as you do not remove a star from me’, or words to that effect.” Years later, Admiral Sushil Kumar could not become the CDS due to the Air Chief’s objection.

Indeed, several Chiefs of one Service or the other have objected to having a super-boss. If the Army is oldest and many times larger than the Navy and the Air Force, goes the argument, the latter two are more technical in tune with modern times and in no way less in strategic terms. 

The Modi Government has ignored/over-ridden such a possibility. But issues could arise in the future. To avoid such situations, Rai strongly recommends, “the CDS will have to bring in Jointness and many challenges will then ease in his big task of tri-Service training and procurement and operations.”

As an aspiring regional power jointmanship is the way forward for India, like the United States, China, the UK and Australia. It may not be easy since the Services Chiefs have had no experience of working under a single, unified command. On the other hand, given the way the system works in India, there is fear that this may end up as another layer, like an onion peel in the multilayered and often opaque decision-making apparatus.

While the Department and the Defence Ministry shall remain intact in its original form, the CDS will be the single-point advisor to the Defence Minister. But that the three Service Chiefs will continue to remain advisors to the Defence Minister about their own Services seems contradictory.

As Lt. Gen. (rtd.) Prakash Menon puts it, in essence, the CDS “is dual-hatted and will have to adjudge contentious issues initially at the inter-service level as Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (PC-COSC), and thereafter as CDS at the departmental level.”

This “dual-hatting” is better explained by the need for the CDS to act as a bridge between the political leadership and the military instrument, which has to encompass the shaping of the military through long term plans that are guided politically.

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

We Stay Away From Politics, Very Far: CDS Gen Rawat

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday refuted allegations about him being politically inclined, and asserted that the services work on government directions.

“We stay far away from politics, very far. We have to work according to the directions of the government in power,” General Rawat said during a media interaction when his reaction was sought on allegations about his political inclination.

On December 26, then Army Chief General Rawat had said that leading masses and crowds to carry out arson and violence in cities and towns is not leadership, in a reference to the countrywide anti-CAA protests. “Leaders are not those who lead people in an inappropriate direction,” he had said.

Several leaders across the political spectrum had taken exceptions to his statement and condemned the then Army chief’s remark.

Communist Party of India (CPI) released a statement on General Rawat’s remark, accusing him of violating Section 21 of the Army Act. The remark violated service rules which prohibit him from making any kind of comment unrelated to Army matters, it said.

Taking a dig at him, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had said, “Leadership is knowing the limits of one’s office. It is about understanding the idea of civilian supremacy and preserving the integrity of the institution that you head.”

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had also expressed similar sentiments. “I agree [with] General Saheb but also leaders are not those who allow their followers to indulge in the genocide of communal violence. Do you agree with me General Saheb?” he questioned.

Several parts of the country witnessed a spate of protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), many of which turned violent. (ANI)

Centre Has Approved Chandrayan-3 Project: ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr K Sivan on Wednesday said that the central government has approved Chandrayan-3 and the project is ongoing.

“The government has approved Chandrayan-3, the project is ongoing. The land acquisition for a second spaceport has been initiated and the port will be in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu,” said Sivan.

He also recalled the achievements of ISRO in the year that passed and outlined the focus areas of 2019.

“In 2019 our strategy mainly was the expansion program, we wanted to expand ISRO horizontally. The second strategy adopted in 2019 was the capacity building sn outreach program. The third one is reduction of the physical work in ISRO. We have also constituted Gaganyan advisory committee,” Sivan said.

ISRO Chairman further added that a second vehicle building has also been inaugurated to increase the number of launches and stated that ISRO is expanding its horizon of activity.

“We brought the high school children to ISRO to train them for two weeks on space, Science and technology. Another major activity we initiated is that we want the PSLV to be produced by the industry,” said Sivan.

(ANI)

Net Direct Tax Collections

December GST Collections Jump By 16%

Gross revenue on account of Goods and Services Tax (GST) totalled Rs 1.03 lakh crore in December, up 16 per cent in the year-ago period, the government said on Wednesday.

Of this amount, the Central GST was Rs 19,962 crore, State GST Rs 26,792 crore and Integrated GST Rs 48,099 crore (including Rs 21,295 crore collected on imports) and cess Rs 8,331 crore (including Rs 847 crore collected on imports).

The total number of GSTR 3B returns filed for the month of November up to December 31 is Rs 81.21 lakh, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The IGST collected from imports, the total revenue during December 2019, increased by 9 per cent in comparison to the revenue during December 2018.

During the month, the IGST on import of goods saw a negative growth of 10 per cent but marked an improvement over minus 13 per cent in November and minus 20 per cent in October.

The government settled Rs 21,814 crore to CGST and Rs 15,366 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by the Centre and state governments after regular settlement in December is Rs 41,776 crore for CGST and Rs 42,158 crore for the SGST.

(ANI)