Month: February 2022

The Rajya Sabha was on Friday adjourned to resume its second part of the Budget Session on March 14 after a recess of one month.

Deputy Speaker of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh adjourned the House after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the House on Union Budget 2022-2023 and concluded the discussion on the issue.

Soon after the Finance Minister completed her address, the Deputy Speaker took some special mentions and then announced the adjournment of the first part of Budget Session, saying “the House stands adjourned till March 14”.

Earlier, papers were laid on the table when the Upper House assembled for the day at 10 am followed by BJP Member of the House L Murugan made a statement regarding the status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Twenty-seventh Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Demands for Grants (2021-22) pertaining to the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

The Eighth Session of Seventeenth Lok Sabha commenced on January 31 with the President addressing both Houses of Parliament assembled together. The Union Budget was presented on February 1.

With the announcement of an adjournment of the House on Friday, there will be a recess from February 12 to March 13 during which the standing committees will examine the budgetary allocations for various ministries and departments and prepare reports.

Subject to exigencies of Government Business, the Session is likely to conclude on April 8 after the House will assemble for the second part of Budget Session on March 14. (ANI)

The changing India-US relationship has been a very defining development in this century, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday during bilateral talks with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

“Quad, we have progressed a lot and much of that is due to the fact that we’ve all devoted a lot of time, energy, attention to that. We have made it into concrete actionable propositions our teams have worked on…A big part of that is because we’ve strong bilateral relationships,” Jaishankar said on the sidelines of Quad Foreign Ministers’ in Melbourne, Australia.

“Certainly, for us, in this century the changing India-US relationship has really been a very defining development. So, I welcome the chance today to sit with you and look at our relationship and see how we can continue to take it forward in its positive trajectory, ” he added.

In an earlier meeting with the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Blinken had said Quad member nations are brought together not by what “we are against but what we are for.”

“What’s so striking to me as we get together is, that this is a group of countries brought together not by what we are against but what we are for. That quite simply is a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.

Australia is hosting India, Japan and the United States for the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Melbourne on Friday and the top diplomats are seeking to bolster cooperation in areas including economy, security, coronavirus pandemic and free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations, each of whom shares a commitment to openness, transparency and challenges coming out of the current global order.

This is the first time Quad Foreign Ministers are meeting since the two Quad Summits last year. They will be discussing ongoing Quad cooperation in their bilateral phone calls and meetings. (ANI)

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hit out at the Central government for not seeking the resignation of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

Notably, Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that took place last year on October 3, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.
“A Prime Minister has a moral responsibility towards the nation and it is his dharma to fulfil this responsibility. This dharma is above every dharma. Whichever politician, Prime Minister or government fails to do this, must be ignored,” Priyanka said while addressing a rally in Bilaspur city of Rampur district.

“Today, that man has got bail and soon, he would be roaming around openly, the man who mowed you down. But whom did the government save? Did it save the farmers? Where were the police and the administration when farmers were killed,” she asked.

The Congress leader alleged the police was nowhere to be seen at the time of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. However, they were present to prevent the Congress members who tried to visit the families, she added.

On October 3, eight people, including four protesting farmers, died after being mowed down by an SUV allegedly belonging to Ashish Mishra.

Later in the day, Priyanka Gandhi also held a door-to-door campaign with Congress leader Rizwan Qureshi in Moradabad. (ANI)

At least five people died in a blaze at a shoe shop in Nepal’s Tulsipur of Dang district on Friday.

Amongst the dead, four are below 15 years, police confirmed to ANI. According to DSP Shyamu Aryal of the Area Police Office, Tulsipur, all five people died of suffocation.

“The bodies of a female and four male have been recovered and taken to a hospital. The fire incident started at around 2 in the morning, we were able to retrieve the bodies only at around half-past-seven. 3 bodies were recovered from the second floor and 2 from the fourth floor,” Aryal told ANI over the phone.

The police have identified the deceased as 13-year-old Sajita Khatun, 14-year-old Hassan Baksh, 15-year-old Masin Baksh, 40-year-old Najardin Ali and 5-year-old Abiddin Ali.

Fire brigades of Tulsipur sub-metropolitan municipality, Ghorahi sub-metropolitan municipality, district police, armed police, Nepal Army and locals were mobilized to control the fire.

Police suspect a short circuit to be the reason for the blaze. (ANI)

India on Friday reported 58,077 fresh COVID19 cases, pushing the cumulative tally to 4,25,36,137 in the country, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The active COVID-19 cases in the country declined to 6,97,802, which accounts for 1.64 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
The top five states which have maximum active cases are Kerala with 2,33,747 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 74,108 cases, Tamil Nadu with 66,992 cases, Karnataka with 52,047 cases, and Andhra Pradesh with 40,884 cases.

The weekly positivity rate in the country currently stands at 5.76 per cent while the daily positivity rate is reported to be 3.89 per cent.

A total of 1,50,407 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 4,13,31,158.

Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 97.17 per cent while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

The country reported 657 deaths in the country in the past 24 hours, increasing the total reported death count to 5,07,177.

Also, the testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded with 14,91,678 tests being conducted in the last 24 hours. India has so far conducted 74,78,70,047 cumulative tests.

India has administered a total of 48,18,867 doses in the last 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 1,71,79,51,432. (ANI)

Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Balram Bhargava on Thursday hailed the 96 per cent nationwide COVID-19 vaccination coverage of the first dose and said that India is heading towards becoming a vaccine super-power.

The Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine is under phase 3 of clinical trials in India. This vaccine is expected to be of use in future for the treatment of other diseases as well.
Addressing a press briefing, Dr Bhargava said, “India is heading towards becoming a vaccine superpower. The fact is that these vaccines are going to be available for other diseases.”

“Because such a large proportion of our population has been vaccinated, we are not seeing such a disastrous third surge in terms of hospitalisations and mortality that protection has been provided by the extreme 96 per cent vaccine coverage first dose and that I think is a major strength of the nation,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of the mRNA vaccine, Dr V K Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said, “We need the mRNA platform because it’s the new platform. It has been shown that vaccines developed on this platform, at least for coronavirus, have been effective worldwide.”

“This platform of vaccine is an asset today in wake of COVID, Omicron. But also beyond it for other diseases for which the vaccines have been eluding us; it could be malaria, dengue or TB, there are so many diseases for which we are still hunting for affordable and effective lasting vaccines,” he added.

Praising the Pune based company Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, Dr Paul said, “We treasure this platform and we compliment the company and group that have gone into it so as a platform, it will continue to be important in the medium term or near future and beyond as an option in the fight for SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It remains relevant just as other so many vaccines are relevant in the world.”

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals has submitted phase 2 data of mRNA vaccine and has also completed recruitment for phase 3. (ANI)

As the first phase of the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly concluded on Thursday, the voter turnout for the Jat-dominant belt of western Uttar Pradesh was recorded to be nearly 60 per cent.

As per the Election Commission of India’s Voter Turnout application, the total voter turnout for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections was 59.87 per cent at the end of the session.

The districts which recorded the highest voter turnout were Shamli with 66.14 per cent, followed by Muzaffarnagar and Mathura at 65.32 per cent 62.90 per cent respectively.

Gautam Buddha Nagar reported only 54.38 per cent voter turnout till 7:55 pm.

Other than Gautam Buddha Nagar, the districts with the lowest reported voter turnout are Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra with 52.43 per cent, 60 per cent and 60.23 per cent respectively.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began today at 7 am.

This phase of polls covered 58 Assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state.

The voting, which concluded at 6 pm, will decide the electoral fate of 623 candidates.

In the Noida Assembly seat, Samajwadi Party’s Sunil Chaudhary contested against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh. Congress leader Pankhuri Pathak and BSP leader Kriparam Sharma were also in the fray from the same seat.

The police had sealed the borders of the state and strict vigilance is underway to maintain peace in 58 constituencies where elections are underway.

The second phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled for February 14. 586 candidates are in the fray for 55 Assembly Constituencies in the second phase, including nine reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The reserved seats include that of Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha (JP Nagar), Moradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, Sambhal (Bhim Nagar), Budaun and Shahjahanpur district.

Post the completion of the seven phased elections, the counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

Karnataka High Court, after the hearing of petitions challenging the ban on hijab in colleges, on Thursday asked students not to wear ‘religious things’ till the disposal of the matter.

A bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi of the High Court said that it will pass an order directing the reopening of colleges and asked students not to insist on wearing religious things till the disposal of the matter.

“Peace and tranquillity must be restored,” the court said while adjourning the matter for Monday.

Yesterday, a single bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit of High Court had referred the petitions filed by Muslim girl students to a larger bench while observing that important questions relating to Constitutional rights and personal law are involved.

The Hijab protests in the state began in January this year when some students at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in Karnataka alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Following this incident, students of different colleges arrived at Shanteshwar Education Trust in Vijayapura wearing saffron stoles. The situation was the same in several colleges in the Udipi district.

The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that students can wear only the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges.

Following these protests, a three-day holiday from February 9 has been declared in all the universities under the Department of Higher Education and colleges under the department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE).

On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court also appealed to the student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity while hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state. (ANI)

Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership over the remarks on dynastic politics, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said those who do not have families cannot understand the agony the migrant labourers went through during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Speaking to ANI, the SP chief said, “I want to say that only those who have families can understand the pain of a family, but not those who do not have a family. BJP should observe two minutes of silence for their last manifesto as they could not fulfil the promises made five years ago.

“We are proud to have families. A family person will not run away with jhola (bag) and leave family behind. During the lockdown, if the chief minister had a family, he would have understood the pain of labourers walking miles to reach their home,” Yadav added.

Lashing out at BJP on the ‘double engine’ slogan, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said this election is to save the Constitution and democracy. “Did corruption end during the Yogi government? Truth is double engine government means double corruption,” he said.

The SP chief raised concerns over the reports of EVMs not functioning properly at several booths during the polling.

“There were several reports that EVM was not functioning properly, voting was stopped for hours and people had to wait in order to cast their votes. The preparation for a fair election should have been done by Election Commission to ensure smooth voting,” he said.

Asked about the Allahabad High Courts granting bail to the prime accused in Lakhimpur Kheri violence Ashish Mishra, Akhilesh Yadav said, “Government should have ensured strict punishment, but it failed. The world has witnessed the incident that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri. Everyone is well aware of the fact that BJP was responsible for the death of the farmers.”

Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks came against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday making a scathing attack on “dynastic politics” saying “it is a big threat and biggest enemy of democracy” and severely compromises on the talent coming into a political party.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Prime Minister elaborated on his “fake Samajwadi” jibe at Samajwadi Party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and said these parties were concerned about “parivarvad”.

“The family runs the party, this is a big danger to democracy. The family-run parties are the biggest enemy of democracy as it negates the basic norms. Their goal is to save family whether there is any benefit of the country” PM Modi said.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began on Thursday at 7 am.

Covering the Jat-dominant belt of western Uttar Pradesh, the first phase of polls will cover 58 Assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state.

The voting, which will conclude at 6 pm today, is taking place at 25,849 polling stations and 10,766 polling centres. As many as 623 candidates are in the fray on 58 Assembly seats where polls are being held today.

Starting from today, the elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly are being held in seven phases this time. The other phases of polling will be held on February 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the last opportunity of two weeks to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to personally or through counsel present his stand in the contempt case against him and if he fails to do so the court will take the matter to a logical conclusion.

A bench headed by Justice UU Lalit adjourned the matter for February 24 while adjourning the contempt case.

The apex court accepted the contentions of amicus curiae and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, who was assisting the court in the matter, that on the issue of sentence Mallya should be given the last opportunity to make his stand in the case.

“In his (Gupta) submission matter may be adjourned for short time with an expression that this would be final opportunity and in case he choses to not remain personally present or advance submissions through counsel, court may proceed further with the matter. Going by submissions… we adjourn for 2 weeks. Respondent contemnor is at liberty to act in directions of November 30, 2021 order failing which matter shall be taken to logical conclusion and proceeded further,” the bench stated in its order.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta clarified that it is not the Government of India’s stand that something confidential is going on in the case in the United Kingdom but the Centre has been informed by the UK that there is something going on which can’t be shared.

Last year, the top court while saying that it has waited “long enough” and cannot “wait longer now” for Mallya to get extradited from the United Kingdom to India, decided to go ahead with the hearing on quantum of punishment in the contempt case against him.

The top court had held Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court’s order and sought his presence before it on various occasions.

Solicitor General Mehta appearing for the Ministry of External Affairs had furnished to the bench a statement of the Ministry.

After perusing the document of Deputy Secretary (Extradition) Ministry of External Affairs, the bench had said the proceedings for extradition of Mallya to India from the United Kingdom has attained finality but certain “confidential proceedings” are pending in the UK, details of which are not known.

The Centre also said that Mallya has already exhausted all his avenues of appeal in the UK.

The apex court had said it is up to Mallya to appear in person before it or advance arguments through his counsel. It had also appointed senior advocate Jaideep Gupta as an amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.

Earlier, the bench had rejected a request made by advocate EC Agarwala seeking his discharge as Mallya’s counsel in the case.

On the previous occasion, the Centre had informed the top court that legal complexities in the United Kingdom are preventing the extradition of fugitive Mallya, but the Government of India is making all efforts and doing its best to extradite him. It had said that some legal proceedings are still pending in the United Kingdom which is delaying the extradition and the under UK law, extradition can’t take place till legal issues are resolved.

The Centre had further said that extradition of Mallya was ordered by the highest court of the United Kingdom but it has not been put into effect. The government had said it is not aware of the “secret’ ongoing proceedings in the UK which are delaying Mallya’s extradition.

The apex court had earlier sought a status report from the Centre on the extradition of Mallya. It had directed for Mallya’s presence before it after dismissing his review petition against his contempt conviction.

Before that, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea filed by Mallya seeking a review of its May 2017 order holding him guilty of contempt.

Mallya is accused of a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and is presently in the United Kingdom.

The Supreme Court had issued its May 9, 2017, order on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), claiming he had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo to his children in “flagrant violation” of various judicial orders.

Earlier, the apex court had asked Mallya about the “truthfulness” of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

At that time, the top court was dealing with pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo to the banks respectively.

The banks had then accused Mallya of concealing the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in flagrant violation of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court. (ANI)