Author: Shivali Varshney, Vidhyarthi Darpan

NATIONAL NEWS 

Centre agrees to reinstate Justice Cheema as Acting Chairperson of NCLAT after Supreme Court threatens to suo moto stay Tribunals Reforms Act

After a brief impasse with the Supreme Court on Thursday, the Centre agreed, as a one-off measure, to reinstate Justice A.I.S Cheema as Acting Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) till the date of his retirement on September 20 so that he can pronounce judgments pending with him. The government blinked after the to and fro between the Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana and the government, represented by Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, reached such a pass that the court threatened to suo motu stay the Tribunal Reforms Act of 2021. The government made it clear that Justice Cheema’s reinstatement was after considering the peculiar circumstances of his case and should not be treated as a precedent. The reinstatement spells relief for Justice Cheema, who had challenged his premature and sudden removal from office as NCLAT Acting Chairperson on September 10. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, for Justice Cheema, had raised the point that this was no way to treat a former Bombay High Court judge who had been part of the legal profession for 40 years. Venugopal informed the court that Justice M. Venugopal, a former Madras High Court judge who was appointed the new NCLAT Acting Chairperson on September 11, would go on leave for the next few days till Justice Cheema completes his tenure on September 20. Chief Justice Ramana appreciated K.K. Venugopal’s efforts to resolve the brief stalemate between the court and the government on the issue. Datar also thanked the Attorney-General. However, the first half of the hearing witnessed a tense exchange between the Bench and K.K.Venugopal. It began with K.K. Venugopal placing on the table the offer that Justice Cheema would be treated as Acting Chairperson till September 20 and be paid his service benefits. The top law officer said it would be very awkward for the government to remove Justice Venugopal now. But the Bench said Justice Cheema still had to pronounce five judgments. The court said it was the government which had created the awkward situation. The court said if there was admittedly no doubt whatsoever about Justice Cheema’s integrity, why had the government stopped him from completing his term on September 20. Initially, K.K. Venugopal said the government would then argue the case on merits. However, the CJI decided to hear the case again after some time, giving K.K. Venugopal an opportunity to consult the government. Half an hour later, K.K. Venugopal conveyed to the court the government’s decision to reinstate Justice Cheema till September 20.

Cabinet clears ₹30,600-crore guarantee for bad bank 

The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to provide ₹30,600 crore government guarantee for security receipts issued by the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) as part of resolution of bad loans, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. The proposed bad bank or NARCL will pay up to 15% of the agreed value for the loans in cash and the remaining 85% would be government-guaranteed security receipts. The government guarantee would be invoked if there is loss against the threshold value. Briefing reporters on the decision, she said banks have recovered ₹5.01 lakh crore of unpaid loans in the last six years. Of this, ₹3.1 lakh crore has been recovered since March 2018.

New Gujarat Cabinet has no Minister who served in Rupani administration 

In an unprecedented move as expected, the new Cabinet sworn in by Governor Acharya Devvrat in Gujarat on Thursday has no Minister who served in the erstwhile Vijay Rupani administration as the ruling party has adopted a no repeat formula in the Cabinet formation. A total of 24 Ministers have been sworn in, including ten Ministers of Cabinet rank while 14 were of the rank of Minister of State. With Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, there are 25 members in the new Cabinet. The ruling BJP has decided to drop all former Ministers who were part of the Rupani government. Assembly Speaker during the Rupani administration Rajendra Trivedi and former State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani have been made Cabinet Ministers. Surat BJP leader and legislator Purnesh Modi, who has filed a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has also been made Cabinet Minister in the new administration that is taking over from Thursday. Out of a total of 25 members, including the Chief Minister, only a handful members have previous ministerial experience These include Rajendra Trivedi, who was a Minister in the Anandiben government, Kiritsinh Rana, who served in the government of Narendra Modi, and Raghavji Patel, who had served in the Shankarsinh Vaghela government in the mid-90s. Moreover, many of them are first-time legislators who have been tasked with ministerial responsibilities in the new administration just 15 months ahead of the crucial Assembly election.

ED conducts searches on premises linked to Harsh Mander 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 16 conducted searches on premises linked to former Indian Administrative Service officer and social activist Harsh Mander in connection with a money-laundering probe. The searches were carried out at Adchini, Mehrauli and Vasant Kunj in south Delhi, hours after Mander left for Germany along with his wife for a six-month fellowship programme at the Robert Bosch Academy. The ED investigation is related to a First Information Report [FIR] registered by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing in February, said a senior agency official. The police instituted the case against two children’s homes and their parent body, Centre for Equity Studies, of which Mander is a director. It was based on a report submitted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) last year, highlighting alleged financial irregularities. Mander’s name is not there in the FIR. In February, the Mehrauli police registered an FIR under various provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code on a complaint from the NCPCR Registrar alleging violations. NCPCR teams, in October 2020, conducted an inspection of children homes Umeed Aman Ghar and Khushi Rainbow Home in south Delhi. In a statement, the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) confirmed the ED searching its office, Umeed Ghar and Mander’s residence. This is a continuation of harassment and coercion of CES and Harsh Mander for being an outspoken and passionate defender of human rights, it alleged. The organisation said that over the past several months, it had been subjected to raids, investigation, and inquiries by different government agencies, including the Delhi Police and the NCPCR. The searches triggered sharp reactions from politicians. 

Government terms New York Times article on COVID-19 response ‘provocative, attention seeking’ 

The government called the recent New York Times article on India’s COVID-19 response a provocative, attention seeking piece that comes at a time when the country is doing well in tackling the pandemic. The article claimed that the ICMR tailored its findings to fit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s optimistic narrative despite a looming crisis. Responding to a question at a press briefing, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava said, This is a provocative, attention seeking article published at a time when India is doing good and our vaccination is excellent and it is diverting attention. All the issues raised are dead ones and probably do not merit any attention. We greatly value journalistic and editorial freedom and at the same time we must also realise that all of us — Union government as well as the State governments — are fully engaged in fighting a pandemic and all our energies and time is devoted to that, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

Hyderabad girl rape and murder: Suspect Raju found dead on railway track 

Pallakonda Raju (30), the only suspect in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl at Saidabad, was found dead on the railway tracks near Station Ghanpur in Jangoan district of Telangana, 130 km from here. Confirming the development to The Hindu, a senior police officer said that on Thursday morning they found Raju’s mangled body on the tracks while searching for him, as he was absconding for a week now. We suspect he ended his life…, the officer said. According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place around 8.40 am when Raju came under Hyderabad-bound Konark Express. The victim’s mother suspected Pallakonda Raju to be the culprit as he was missing from his house. Just been informed by @TelanganaDGP Garu that the beast who raped the child has been traced & found dead on a railway track at station Ghanpur, IT Minister KT Rama Rao tweeted. A massive manhunt was launched for Raju and the Hyderabad city police have also announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of the former. As part of the massive manhunt, posters declaring Raju a ‘WANTED’ man were pasted on auto-rickshaws, buses, at toddy compounds, wine shops and all public places across the State. On September 9, the minor had gone missing from her home in Saidabad, and hours later, her body was recovered from Raju’s house, who was her neighbour. The autopsy at Osmania General Hospital has confirmed that she was ‘sexually assaulted’ before she was strangled to death. The victim’s mother suspected Raju to be the culprit as he too was missing from his house. The heinous incident has triggered widespread outrage in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State with various political parties and youth groups staging protests demanding justice for the minor girl.

Virat Kohli to quit as T20 captain after World Cup 

Virat Kohli on Thursday announced he will step down as India’s T20 captain after the T20 World Cup in UAE but will continue to lead the side in ODIs and Test cricket. I’ve decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October, Kohli said in a statement posted on his Twitter page. For some time, there has been speculation about Kohli’s future as white-ball captain, especially in the backdrop of Rohit Sharma’s brilliant track record of winning five IPL titles for Mumbai Indians. Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket, Kohli said in a statement on his Twitter page. I have given my everything to the Team during my time as T20 captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 team as a batsman moving forward, he further added. The decision, Kohli said, was taken after consulting head coach Ravi Shastri, his heir apparent Rohit, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah. The T20 World Cup starts on October 17.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Russia-led bloc to hold military drills on Afghanistan border. 

A Russia-led security bloc said on Thursday that it planned to hold large military drills in Tajikistan next month, amid what it described as a deteriorating situation in neighbouring Afghanistan. Moscow has moved to cement its positionasa key player in the region after the United States’ hasty retreat from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. The general secretary of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Stanislav Zas said the group would hold several largescale exercises in the ex-Soviet state. Tajikistan is the only country out of the six-member bloc led by Russia that shares a border with Afghanistan. The series of drills will include our largest exercise this year, Mr. Zas said. The group has taken collective measures to ensure Tajikistan’s security in case of an aggravation on its border with Afghanistan, he added. The CSTO said in a joint statement that it was alarmed by the deterioration of security in Afghanistan. Mr. Zas announced the drills after Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov put the Taliban on notice on Wednesday, noting that Moscow was monitoring the group’s fulfilment of promises to prevent radical groups from launching attacks on Afghanistan’s neighbours.

China fully vaccinates more than 1 billion people

China has fully vaccinated more than one billion peopleagainst the coronavirus 71% of its population – official figures showed on Thursday. The country, wherethe viruswas first detected, has mostly curbed the virus within its borders, but is racing to get the vastmajorityof its population vaccinated as a new outbreak flickers in the southeast. As of September 15, 2.16 billion vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, said National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng at a press briefing. The Chinese health authorities said late last month that 890 million people in the country had been fully vaccinated, and two billion doses administered.The government has not publicly announced a target for vaccination coverage, but top virologist Zhong Nanshan said last month that the country is likely to have 80% of its population inoculated by the end of the year, reaching herd immunity.China is currently battling an outbreak of the Delta variant in the southeastern province of Fujian that has infected almost 200 people so far in three cities, dozens of whom are school children. The Fujian cluster is the biggest rebound in weeks and comes after the country declared the Delta variant under control, in a test of China’s zero-case approach to the coronavirus pandemic.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Supreme Court gives government two weeks to make appointments to all tribunals, accuses Centre of ‘cherry-picking’ names

The Supreme Court on Wednesday accused the Centre of cherry-picking names for appointments to tribunals groaning under a backlog and left almost defunct by long-pending vacancies. A Special Bench of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao held its hand on initiating contempt proceedings against the government and allowed the latter two weeks to make appointments to all the tribunals. If the government does not act, we will pass orders, the CJI said. Chief Justice Ramana termed the state of tribunals and the thousands of litigants waiting for justice pitiable. Cases were adjourned for months. There was no manpower to form Benches. Litigants were made to travel to other faraway States where there were at least some tribunal members available to hear their cases. The Bench addressed Attorney General K.K. Venugopal about how the government pulled the rug from underneath the hard work of the search-cum-selection committees headed by sitting Supreme Court judges tasked with interviewing and shortlisting suitable candidates for the tribunals. The government picked a few names from the final ‘select’ list prepared by the committee and then moved on to appoint a few other names from the ‘wait’ list, the Chief Justice said. I have seen the selection list of National Company Law Tribunal. The selection committee recommended nine judicial members and 10 technical members. The appointment letters indicate cherry-picking of three names from select list and others from the wait list, ignoring others in select list. In service law, you cannot go to wait list ignoring the select list. What kind of appointment is this, Chief Justice Ramana asked the Attorney General. But doesn’t the government have the power to choose someone, Venugopal asked. Justice Chandrachud highlighted the case of debt recovery tribunals which had become almost non-functional under the weight of their vacancies. When a bank decides to recover debt on a house or a factory, the debtor has no remedy. The High Court refuses to hear his case… There is no recourse to justice, Justice Chandrachud said. In one of the tribunals, the Bench said, the selection committee interviewed 534 candidates for judicial members and another 400 for technical members. A list was given. But the government picked a few from the select list and some others from the wait list. Chief Justice Ramana referred to how a Supreme Court judge, who headed a selection committee for a tribunal, travelled across the country to conduct interviews for appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, no appointments were made by the government. We wasted so much time, the CJI chided the government side. The CJI pointed out that as per the latest appointment orders, the judicial members would only have a tenure of one year. Which High Court judge will go for a one-year tenure, the CJI asked.

NCLAT acting chief exit case concerns ‘premature’ replacement: CJI 

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana on Wednesday requested Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to get instructions from the government and be present when the court takes up a petition on September 16 regarding the exit of Justice A.I.S. Cheema as Acting Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Senior advocate Arvind Datar had orally mentioned the issue before the CJI Bench on September 14. Addressing the Attorney General, Chief Justice Ramana said the case concerned the premature replacement of Justice Cheema as Acting Chairperson of the NCLAT days before the end of his tenure on September 20. The CJI said it appeared as if the government department concerned had acted hurriedly. I do not how this is happening… he observed. Justice M. Venugopal, a former Madras High Court judge, replaced Justice Cheema as Acting Chairperson of the NCLAT with effect from September 11. Justice Venugopal, a judicial member at Chennai Bench of the NCLAT, is the third Acting Chairperson of the Tribunal since the retirement of the regular NCLAT Chairperson, Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, in March last year.

Cabinet approves relief package for telecom sector 

The Union Cabinet has approved nine structural reforms and five process reforms for the telecom sector, aimed at giving relief to companies such as Vodafone Idea that have to pay thousands of crores in unprovisioned past statutory dues. The wide set of measures proposed entail reforms for the ailing sector by way of granting moratorium on unpaid dues, redefining adjusted gross revenue (AGR) prospectively, and cut in Spectrum Usage Charges. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said non-telecom revenue will be taken out of AGR. PM took a bold decision over AGR (adjusted gross revenue) today. A decision has been taken to rationalise the definition of AGR, he told the media after the Cabinet meet. The regime of penalty and interest on various license fees and charges has been rationalised with penalty being removed completely and interest has been reduced. Future spectrum auctions will be for 30 years, as against the present 20 years. The Ministry will also allow companies to surrender spectrum after paying a fixed charge in case of change in business environment. Spectrum sharing has been allowed completely. The Union Cabinet has also approved 100% foreign direct investment through automatic route in the telecom sector. The government has approved four-year moratorium for dues of telecom service providers. They will, however, have to pay interest. Vaishnaw said the reforms are applicable from October 1 and none of them are with retrospective effect. There will be further reforms when 5G spectrum is auctioned, he added. The relief package for the telecom sector will come as a breather to the three private players at a time when Vodafone Idea is confronting an existential crisis.

NCRB report finds 28% jump in registration of cases in 2020

There was a 28% increase in the registration of cases in 2020 compared to 2019, primarily owing to the violations of COVID-19 norms across the country. An almost 21-fold jump was recorded in cases of disobedience to the order duly promulgated by public servant, and over four times in cases involving violations of other State local laws, according to a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. Crimes against Scheduled Castes, with a total of 50,291 cases, showed an increase of 9.4%. Simple hurt with 32.9% (16,543) formed the largest chunk, followed by cases under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act with 8.5% (4,273), and cases under criminal intimidation with 7.5% (3,788), the report said. In all, 8,272 cases were instituted for offences against Scheduled Tribes: an increase of 9.3% over 2019. Simple hurt (2,247) accounted for 27.2%, followed by rape with 13.7% (1,137), and assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty with 10.7% (885). The cases of sedition declined from 93 in 2019 to 73 last year, with Manipur reporting 15 cases, Assam 12, Karnataka eight, Uttar Pradesh seven, Haryana six, Delhi five and Kashmir two cases. A total of 66,01,285 cognisable crimes, comprising more than 42,54 lakh Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences and over 23.46 lakh Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes, were registered in 2020, said the report. Effectively, there was a decrease in registration of traditional crime by about two lakh cases. It shows an increase of 14,45,127 (28.0%) in registration of cases over 2019 (51,56,158 cases). Crime rate registered per lakh population has increased from 385.5 in 2019 to 487.8 in 2020. During 2020, registration of cases under IPC has increased by 31.9% whereas SLL crimes have increased by 21.6% over 2019, said the report. As the country remained under complete lockdown from March 25 to May 31 last year during the first wave of COVID-19, cases of crime against women, children and senior citizens, theft, burglary, robbery and dacoity declined. Cases of murder showed a marginal increase of 1% to 29,193. Various kinds of disputes were found to be the motive in the majority of murder cases, followed by personal vendetta or enmity and gain.

NTA announces 87.89 as cut-off score for JEE Advanced 2021

Students who achieved a score of above 87.89 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) will be eligible to apply to write the entrance test for admission to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology, the National Testing Agency announced on September 15. The Common Rank List cut-off score for general category students is lower than the 90.37 cut-off last year. Among the 44 students who achieved a 100 percentile score, seven each were from Telangana and Delhi. Using the tie-breaker rules, 18 students were determined to share the top rank this year, including four from Andhra Pradesh, the highest among States. Overall, 9.39 lakh students wrote the examination, almost a lakh fewer than the 10.23 lakh who appeared last year. This year’s examination was marred by an alleged cheating scandal at a centre in Sonepat, Haryana, where computers were hacked to provide illegal assistance to students who paid up to ₹15 lakh. So far, 11 people have been arrested and a CBI probe is on. On account of using unfair means, a total of 20 candidates have been debarred from appearing in future examinations for a period of three years. Their results have also been withheld, said the NTA statement. JEE Main is used as an entrance test for admission to undergraduate engineering programmes at the National Institutes of Technology, and several other Central, State and private institutions. The top 2.5 lakh ranked candidates are also eligible to appear for JEE Advanced, which is the admission test for the elite Indian Institutes of Technology, and will be held on October 3. Registrations for JEE Advanced will open on September 15. This year’s Common Rank List cut-off score of 87.89 is more than two points below last year’s cut-off of 90.37. For students from economically weaker sections, the cut-off is a score of 66.22; for those from Other Backward Classes, it is 68.02; for those in the Scheduled Caste category, it is 46.88; and for those from Scheduled Tribe communities, it is 34.67. Cut-offs for all these categories are significantly lower than last year. Students can check their scores as well as the final answer keys at https://jeemain.nta.nic.in/. This year, the computer-based examination was offered four times, with the last two sessions postponed due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were allowed to attempt the examination as often as they wished, with their best score being used for ranking purposes. More than 2.5 lakh chose to attempt all four sessions. Of the total 9.39 lakh students who wrote the examination, 70% were male.

Financial bids received for Air India disinvestment; Tatas among suitors 

The government today said it has received multiple financial bids for buying national carrier Air India. Meanwhile, a Tata Sons spokesperson told PTI that it has put in a bid for the airline. Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. The government is seeking to sell 100% of its stake in the state-owned national airline, including Air India’s 100% shareholding in AI Express Ltd and 50% in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd. The stake sale process, which began on January 2020, faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, the government asked potential bidders to put in financial bids. September 15 was the last day for putting in financial bids. Tata Group was among the multiple entities that had put in initial expression of interest (EoI) in December 2020 for buying the Maharaja. With previous attempts since 2017 failing to get any significant interest and after receiving feedback from potential investors, the government had in October last year sweetened the EoI clause relating to transfer of Air India’s debt to the new investor, giving bidders flexibility to decide on the quantum of humongous debt they want to absorb. As per the Air India EoI floated by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in January 2020, of the airline’s total debt of ₹60,074 crore as of March 31, 2019, the buyer would be required to absorb ₹23,286.5 crore. The rest would be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle. Air India has been in losses ever since its merger with domestic operator Indian Airlines in 2007. The airline, which was formed by the Tatas as a mail carrier in 1932, will give the successful bidder control of 4,400 domestic and 1,800 international landing and parking slots at domestic airports, as well as 900 slots at airports overseas. Besides, the bidder would get 100% of the low-cost arm Air India Express and 50% of AISATS, which provides cargo and ground-handling services at major Indian airports.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Johnson demotes Foreign Minister in Cabinet rejig

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday appointed a new­look Cabinet to revamp his Brexiteer go­ vernment after controversies over COVID­19, Afghan­ istan and taxes, demoting his under­fire Foreign Secretary. Dominic Raab was moved to the lesser role of Justice Secretary but will retain the title of Deputy Prime Minister, Downing Street confirmed. The former lawyer, who deputised for Mr. Johnson when he was in intensive care with COVID­19 in April last year, has faced sustained criticism for his handling of the Afghan crisis. He was replaced by Inter­ national Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who has brokered a series of deals since Britain’s full exit from the European Union in January. She became only the second women foreign secre­ tary in British history. Among the other leading offices of state, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak — who has overseen big­spending economic support during the pandemic — and hard­ line Interior Minister Priti Patel both retained their roles. Gaffe­prone Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, meanwhile, was sacked, tweeting that it had been a privilege to serve in his role since 2019 when Mr. Johnson on took office on a vow to get Brexit done.

 

India, U.K. to begin FTA talks from November 1

Formal negotiations for a proposed India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would begin on November 1, with an interim ‘early harvest’ agreement to be completed by March 2022, the government said today. The interim trade pact would involve early tariff or market access concessions on certain key ‘high priority products and services’, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement following Minister Piyush Goyal’s meeting with his British counterpart, International Trade Secretary Elizabeth Truss on monday. The U.K. government, in a separate statement, noted that the two Ministers agreed on the steps to get ready to launch negotiations ‘later this year’, including a series of trade working groups from September to help both sides better understand each other’s position on potential chapter areas in any trade deal including tariffs, standards, IP and data regulation. The International Trade Secretary reaffirmed her ambition to negotiate a trade agreement that delivers results for the British people and businesses including those in digital and data, tech and food and drink, the U.K. statement highlighted, indicating its priority areas. The proposed FTA would unlock the ‘extraordinary’ business opportunities and generate jobs, Goyal stressed. He emphasised the need to strike a balance between commitments and concessions in goods and services. Discussions to finalise the terms of reference for the FTA negotiations would begin on October 1, he observed.

 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Bhupendra Patel becomes new Chief Minister of Gujarat

Bhupendra Patel, a protege of UP Governor Anandiben Patel, was made the new Chief Minister of Gujarat on Sunday. Bhupendra Patel is an MLA from Ghatlodia seat earlier held by Anandiben Patel. Bhupendra Patel has been chairman, Standing Committee of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and also Chairman, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). He is a first-time MLA. Earlier, he served as municipal councillor in Ahmedabad. Bhupendra Patel had won by a margin of 1.17 lakh from Ghatlodia in the last Assembly polls. The Gujarat BJP legislature party met earlier at the party headquarters in Gandhinagar to elect a new leader to replace Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, following his sudden resignation on September 11. The party high command deputed two Central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and Pralhad Joshi who conducted the legislature party meeting in which a new leader would be elected to the Chief Minister’s post. He will be sworn-in on September 13. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the oath-taking ceremony at Raj Bhavan. On Saturday, Rupani suddenly submitted his resignation along with his Council of Ministers, paving the way for a long expected change of guard in the State. Among the names doing the rounds as a likely replacement for Rupani were outgoing Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Administrator of Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep Praful Patel, and outgoing Cabinet Minister and former State party chief R.C. Faldu. The State BJP president C.R. Patil’s name also figured among the probables but in a video statement he ruled himself out stating that he was not a Chief Ministerial candidate. There was a strong buzz in the party about a likely Patidar face as the new Chief Minister before the next year’s Assembly election. All top contenders, including Mandavia and Faldu, are from the Patidar community. In Gujarat, the Patidars are a dominant caste having a sizeable control over the political economy with its hold over the lucrative cooperative sector, education, realty and construction, and small and medium enterprises. The Patidars form the backbone of the BJP in Gujarat as the party’s first Chief Minister in 1995 when it came to power for the first time was Keshubhai Patel, a Patidar leader from Saurashtra region. However, there was also another theory that the new Chief Minister could be from the OBC community but there was no prominent leader in the party who could be chosen for the post ahead of the crucial elections next year. Insiders in the party contended that the high command wanted to go to the electorate with a fresh face in order to dilute the anti-incumbency factor after the pandemic in which the State administration under Rupani often floundered.

Trinamool criticises U.P. govt for using photo of Kolkata flyover in its advertisement 

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for running an advertisement in an English language publication with photographs of a Kolkata flyover. A number of TMC leaders took to social media accusing Adityanath of stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal. Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial’s leadership and using them as his own! Looks like the ‘DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL’ has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all!, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted. A number of Ministers of the West Bengal government, including Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, said that Maa Flyover, which had been represented in the advertisement, was the pride of Kolkata and completed under the Trinamool Congress regime. Previously BJP used photos from failures of law & order of their states to spread misinformation about West Bengal. Now they use photos of the flyover built under the leadership of #MamataBanerjee and under my chairmanship of KMDA to advertise for the development in UP, Hakim said. Senior TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee and Lok Sabha MP Mohua Moitra also took to social media highlighting the issue and tearing into the Uttar Pradesh government for the advertisement. The advertisement Transforming Uttar Pradesh Under Yogi Adityanath carried on Sunday in an English language publication has a cutout of Adityanath with a flyover that resembles Kolkata’s Maa flyover that connects the central part of the city with Salt Lake and Rajarhat located in the northeastern fringes of the city. The image also has Kolkata’s iconic yellow taxi and a high rise that resembles a five-star hotel in the city next to the Maa Flyover. As the controversy picked up on social media, the publication that carried the advertisement admitted the error and added that the image had been removed in all digital editions of the paper. A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted, and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper, a tweet by the publication said.

Delhi High Court questions West Bengal over handling of requests of AIS officers seeking transfers 

The Delhi High Court has questioned West Bengal over its handling of the requests of All India Service (AIS) officers seeking inter-cadre transfer to other States. A bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh said that the West Bengal government was trotting out shortage of officers as the reason for rejecting the request of inter-cadre transfer, without placing the relevant material on record. We are noticing that, this approach has been taken, in matter after matter, by the petitioner (West Bengal government) where officer(s) have sought inter-cadre transfer to other State(s) on account of their marriage, and which has been refused on a similar ground, the high court remarked. Unless the reasons set out in the order of refusal for inter-cadre transfer are backed by relevant material, it cannot pass muster of this Court, it added. The high court’s remark came while dismissing the West Bengal government’s appeal against an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal directing it to relieve a 2013 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of West Bengal cadre. The IAS officer, in her application filed over five years ago on April 5, 2016, had sought transfer to Uttarakhand as she had married an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 2012 batch of Uttarakhand Cadre on November 26, 2015. Citing this development, she submitted representation to the Central government on April 5, 2016, with a request to change her cadre from West Bengal to that of Uttarakhand. The IAS officer stated that the Uttarakhand government expressed its no objection for the transfer and the Department of Personnel & Training (DoP&T) was waiting for the consent of the West Bengal government. However, on November 30, 2016, the West Bengal government rejected her request stating the ground of shortage of IAS officers. On her appeal against this rejection order, the Tribunal on July 22, 2021 set aside the November 30, 2016 order of the West Bengal government. The Tribunal, additionally, ordered the West Bengal government to pass necessary orders on the IAS officer’s transfer request within six weeks. In case the applicant is not relieved by that time, she shall be deemed to have been relieved on expiry of six weeks, the Tribunal had ordered. The inter cadre transfer of AIS (All India Service) officers on the grounds of marriage is not something new…On certain occasions, the States from whose cadre the transfer is sought, pleaded the ground of shortage of officers. The Supreme Court held that such grounds cannot constitute the basis to deny the right of an officer to seek transfer in terms of the rules, the Tribunal had remarked. The high court concurred with the Tribunal’s decision, noting that the IAS officer was entitled to seek inter-cadre transfer, in terms of Rule 5(2) of the Indian Administrative Services (Cadre) Rules, 1954, which provides for change of cadre.

Trust youth to check deviations in society’s journey towards peace and progress, says CJI Ramana

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Sunday said the unity and sacrifice of young people across faiths, beliefs and communities, who took to the streets to challenge authoritarian figures, gave the country democratic rights which were being taken for granted today. The democratic rights that we take today for granted are a result of the struggles of thousands of young people who took to the streets fighting authoritarian figures either during the Freedom Struggle or the dark days of Emergency. Many lost their lives, sacrificed lucrative careers, all for the greater good of the nation and society. Trust the youth to check the deviations in a society’s journey towards peace and progress, Chief Justice Ramana said in his address on the 128th anniversary of the historic Chicago address of Swami Vivekananda. The CJI, quoting Swami Vivekananda, said the youth did not tolerate injustice, either to themselves or against others. They did not compromise with their ideals, come what may. They were not only selfless but were also adventurous. They were willing to sacrifice for the cause they believed in. It is these unadulterated minds and pure hearts which formed the backbone of our nation. The CJI said it was necessary for youth to be aware of social realities and challenges. Remember, any change in the nation’s trajectory always stems from its youth and their participation. It is for you to build the ideal nation and society that you desire to witness, Chief Justice Ramana said. The CJI’s words have significant import even as the past few years have seen young activists, academicians and journalists being jailed for sedition and students chased and beaten up by the police in university campus.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid says he lived in Kabul right under nose of his adversaries Taliban’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who appeared before the media for the first time in a decade at a press conference after the insurgent group seized Kabul last month, said that he lived in the Afghan capital right under the nose of his adversaries who considered him a ‘ghost-like’ figure during the war. Mujahid, who operated in the shadows for years, also admitted that he studied at the Haqqania seminary in Nowshera in northwest Pakistan, which has also been dubbed the Taliban University or the ‘University of Jihad’ internationally. They (US and Afghan National Forces) used to think I did not exist, Mujahid told The Express Tribune newspaper in an interview. I escaped so many times from their raids and attempts to capture me that they seriously considered that ‘Zabiullah’ was a made-up figure, not a real man who exists, the 43-year-old spokesman said. And yet, I managed to move about Afghanistan freely. I think this perception helped with that, he explained. I lived in Kabul for a long time, right under everyone’s noses. I roamed the width and breadth of the country. I also managed to have first-hand access to the frontlines, where the Taliban carried out their actions, and up to date information. It was quite puzzling for our adversaries. Due to his shadowy appearance for years, there was speculation as to whether the faceless spokesman might actually be more than one person. The US forces would often pay off locals to obtain some information about my whereabouts. Using that information, like I said, they must have launched dozens of intelligence-based operations hoping to find some trace of me, he said. But I never left or tried to – even think about try to leave Afghanistan. Mujahid, who was born in the Gardez district of Paktia province sometime in 1978, said that he specialised in Islamic jurisprudence from the Haqqania seminary in northwest Pakistan. The Taliban government’s acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Water and Energy Minister Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, and Telecommunication minister Najibullah Haqqani – all on the UN blacklist — and Education Minister Maulana Abdul Baqi Haqqani studied at the Haqqania seminary, which has regularly received grants from successive governments in Pakistan. Mujahid said he became the spokesman of the Taliban following the arrest of his predecessor. He also said that he had never seen the Taliban founder Mullah Umar. But I have worked with Sheikh Mullah Mansoor, and Sheikh Hebatullah, he said, referring to Mullah Omar’s successors.

Taliban: women can study in gender-segregated varsities. 

Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban’s new Higher Education Minister said on Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country’s Education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about bringing an end to mixed sex classes. We have no problems in ending the mixed-education system, he said. The people are Muslims and they will accept it. The Taliban announced earlier this month that women could still study at university if they wore an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, with classes segregated by sex or at least divided by a curtain. Haqqani said that the education system had changed greatly since the Taliban’s last time in power, when women were barred from schools and universities. Compared to the past the number of eeducational Institutions have increased dramatically, he said. This gives us hope for a future, prosperous and selfsufficient Afghanistan … we will continue from where they were left. Some fear the new rules will exclude women because the universities do not have the resources to provide separate classes. But Haqqani insisted there were enough women teachers and, where they were not available, alternatives could be found without breaching rules. It all depends on the university’s capacity, he said. We can also use male teachers to teach from behind a curtain, or use technology. The Taliban say they want to distance themselves from the harsher policies of old, when half the population was excluded from work and education.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Rupani steps down ahead of Assembly polls in Gujarat

Whether it was a sign of the BJP national leadership’s increasing dissatisfaction with the Gujarat Chief Minister or the practical necessities of a State that will be facing Assembly elections next year, Vijay Rupani has stepped down paving the way for  a change of guard in the state. His replacement will be in place soon. BJP general secretary B L Santosh is understood to have held meetings at the State party headquarters during the day. Rupani met the Governor Acharya Devrat and submitted his resignation. I have resigned after conveying my wishes to the party leadership to let me work in the organisation, Rupani said. For quite some time now speculative theories have been doing the rounds of a possible  change of guard in the state. A journalist even faces the sedition charge for a news item suggesting CM Rupani could be asked to step down! The ruling party had been contemplating to effect a change of guard in Gujarat given the apparent lacklustre administration of C M Rupani, whose performance was not as per the expectations of the party high command. Some political observers have also pointed out to the manner in which the chief minister handled the Covid-19 pandemic leading to many deaths in the state. Rupani took over the reins of the state in August 2016 after the sudden resignation of the then chief minister Anandiben Patel who stepped down following her inept handling of the Patidar agitation that rocked the state. Patel is currently the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Editors Guild expresses concern on attacks on press freedom

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Saturday expressed concern over Income Tax department officials seizing journalists’ data from the offices of news websites Newslaundry and NewsClick and passing them off as surveys conducted by the agency.  The IT raid on NewsClick comes close on the heels of a recent directive from the Delhi HC asking the Enforcement Directorate to act with caution. In a statement, the EGI said it was disturbed by what were called ‘surveys’ by the I-T officials. Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri, however, said in a statement the visit was an attack on press freedom. It is learnt that the I-T team made clones of Sekhri’s mobile and laptop, as well as some other office machines, and no hash value was given to them. This is clearly beyond the mandate of surveys as defined under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act, which only allows data pertaining to the investigation to be copied, and certainly not personal and professional data of journalists, the EGI said. It said the seized data could include information about sources and ongoing reporting. The EGI also raised the issue of raids by the Enforcement Directorate at the office of NewsClick recently. Both NewsClick and Newslaundry have been critical of policies and functioning of the Union government. The dangerous trend of government agencies harassing and intimidating independent media must stop as it undermines our constitutional democracy, it said.  The EGI said such investigations should be handled with great care and sensitivity so as not to undermine the rights of journalists and the media.

I have been placed under house arrest in Srinagar, says Mehbooba Mufti 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday claimed that she had been put under house arrest in Srinagar, a day after she alleged that the police had shown disrespect to the body of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. GOI [Government of India] expresses concern for the rights of Afghan people but willfully denies the same to Kashmiris. I’ve been placed under house arrest today because according to administration the situation is far from normal in Kashmir. This exposes their fake claims of normalcy, she said in a tweet. The former Chief Minister after a party meeting in Srinagar alleged ‘maltreatment’ of the body of Geelani on September 2. Meanwhile, mobile Internet was restored in Srinagar and Budgam districts on Tuesday, six days after Geelani’s death. Train services also resumed.

With eye-banking services badly hit by Covid-19, AIIMS study to ascertain its presence in various parts of eye 

The R. P. Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS is conducting a study to ascertain the presence of the coronavirus in various parts of the eye of those who have died due to the infection, the centre’s chief J. S. Titiyal said on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference on the 36th Eye Donation Fortnight celebration by the National Eye Bank (NEB), he said that five eye balls have been collected for carrying out the study. The research study will help ascertain the presence of the coronavirus in the cornea, optic nerve and retina of Covid-19 infected deceased, Titiyal said. These eye balls will be subjected to various molecular tests to detect presence of the coronavirus in these tissues and also look for genetic evidence, he said. Namrata Sharma of the R. P. Centre said that there is no proven evidence so far which establishes any direct link between Covid-19 leading to blindness. Because of Covid-19, cases of conjunctivitis have been reported but that does not lead to vision loss. Covid-19 leads to mucormycosis and there have been cases where it has impacted vision and lead to blindness, she said. There have been isolated cases of retinal and Venus blocks which may lead to sudden diminishing of vision due to thromboembolism . But there has been no proven cause and effect relationship between them so far, Sharma said. Tissue retrieval is performed only from presumed Covid-19 negative donors, according to established eye banking guidelines, she said. To ensure maximum safety we perform a post-mortem nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR testing for all our potential donors. Of the tissues retrieved by us between July 2020 and July 2021, we found that 5.5 per cent of the presumed Covid-19 negative donors tested RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV2, Sharma said. The tissues from these donors were not used for corneal transplantation and were subjected to further microbiological analysis, she said. Eye banking services have been one of the worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Titiyal said. Corneal tissue retrieval activities by the NEB, which remained suspended from April 2020 to June 2020 during the nationwide lockdown, were restarted through the hospital cornea retrieval program (HCRP) from July 2020 onwards.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Remembering 9/11, 20 years on

Twenty years after the world was upended, the day marking the grim anniversary of 9/11 was observed in the U.S.. The anniversary comes at a particularly difficult time for President Joe Biden, who has been criticised in recent for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which ended a U.S. presence that began less than a month after the September 11 attacks; left the country in chaos and achieved little. The Taliban captured Kabul even before the withdrawal of U.S. from the country. In a video released on the eve of the 20th anniversary, the President paid tribute all those who who lost their lives. We honour all those who risked and gave their lives in the minutes, hours, months and years afterwards, Mr Biden added, speaking of the emergency workers who responded to the attacks. In his address on Friday, he said: No matter how much time has passed, these commemorations bring everything painfully back as if you just got the news a few seconds ago. President Joe Biden (C) waves as he is joined by (L-R) former President Bill Clinton, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, First Lady Jill Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11, 2021 in New York.  The attacks, which were planned by al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, saw four U.S. passenger jets hijacked by suicide attackers — two of which were rammed into the Twin Towers. Another plane struck the Pentagon, just outside the U.S. capital, Washington D.C., and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said pn Friday that the perpetrators of the attack had failed to destroy Western values. We can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they (the jihadists) failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy, he said in the message delivered ahead of the anniversary on Saturday. They failed to drive our nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear, Johnson said as reported by the BBC.

 

Pakistan resumes flights to Kabul

After the visit of Pakistan’s intelligence chief Faiz Hameed’s to Kabul, a day marked by protests in the country, and after the Taliban announced a news government and invited China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Qatar to the inaugural, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced that it will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month. Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 1,20,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of U.S. forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with Qatari technical assistance. We have got all technical clearances for flight operations, PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told AFP. Our first commercial plane… is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13, Khan said adding that the service would depend on demand. We have received 73 requests which is very encouraging… from humanitarian relief agencies and journalists, he said. In the last two days Qatar Airways has operated two charter flights out of Kabul, carrying mostly foreigners and Afghans who missed being taken out during the evacuation. An Afghan airline resumed domestic flights last week.

NATIONAL NEWS

Restore J&K’s Statehood before announcing elections, says Farooq Abdullah 

Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said the Centre must restore Statehood before announcing elections and pledged to continue the fight for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Whenever elections are held, we won’t shy away and rather participate and win as well. The Centre must first restore Statehood before holding polls, Dr. Abdullah said. He was speaking during a commemoration function held in Srinagar on the 39th death anniversary of party founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. He said his party remained firm on the demand of restoration of Article 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution and Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. To a question on Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and its likely impact, Dr. Abdullah said, Afghanistan is a separate country. They [Taliban] must protect human rights in Afghanistan and follow Islamic principles in spirit. Taliban must build good relations with rest of the world.

Mamata starts campaign from Bhabanipur for bypoll

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday began her campaign for the Bhabanipur bypoll by addressing a meeting of party supporters in the constituency. She targeted the BJP for allegedly indulging in political vendetta. Just after the bypoll dates are announced, Trinamool Congress [TMC] leaders are being summoned by Central agencies. Notices are being sent to Abhishek [TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee] and Partha [TMC leader Partha Chatterjee), she said. She dared the agencies to probe the allegations against Bbanerjee. Her remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate served a second notice to Banerjee in a coal pilferage case. The Chief Minister has to face the bypoll as she lost the poll at Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. I have to contest a poll again due to a BJP conspiracy. We have gone to court over the issue. If there is no merit in the petition, the court would not have accepted it, she stated. Referring to the recent polls in which the TMC registered a convincing victory over the BJP by winning 213 seats in the 294-member Assembly, she asserted that the Centre, all its agencies and ‘money power’ and ‘muscle power’ of the BJP could not defeat her. There was a planned attack on her in Nandigram in which she suffered a foot injury and had to be confined to a wheelchair during the poll campaign, she observed. The Chief Minister noted that she was happy to contest from Bhawanipur, her home constituency from where she got elected in 2011 and 2016. Not only the Assembly polls, but for the six times I contested the Lok Sabha poll from South Kolkata, people of Bhabanipur supported me, she said. She announced that she would file her nomination papers on September 10. The constituency will go to the polls on September 30. Banerjee assured Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who resigned from Bhabanipur to pave the way for the bypoll, that he would also contest a bypoll and remain a Minister. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the real contest at Bhabanipur would be between the TMC and the BJP. There can be any number of candidates in bypolls, our voters are with us. The CPI(M)-Congress announcing or not announcing their candidates is not a factor in West Bengal polls; they didn’t get entry into the Assembly in the last polls. We’re ready, he added. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate for the Bhabanipur bypoll.

TN passes Bill seeking to dispense with NEET, to admit students based on qualifying exam marks

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a Bill to enact a law seeking to dispense with the requirement of qualifying in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission into undergraduate medical degree courses in the State. The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, further sought to provide admission to these courses on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination [Plus Two marks] through normalisation methods as was done prior to 2017. The Bill, moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin contended that admissions to medical education courses were traceable to entry 25 of List III, Schedule VII of the Constitution of India and the State was competent to regulate the same for underprivileged social groups. The Bill said it aimed to ensure social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated against and bring them to the mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn, to ensure robust public healthcare across Tamil Nadu, particularly the rural areas. A high-level committee headed by retired High Court judge A.K. Rajan had, in its report to the State government, said that the NEET clearly undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies favouring mainly the affluent segment of the society, while equally thwarting the dreams of pursuing medical education by underprivileged social groups, the Bill said. The NEET does not seem to ensure merit or standard of the students being offered MBBS under its purview. The findings [of the Committee] indicate that the NEET has only enabled and empowered comparatively the low-performing (in NEET scores and HSc scores) students to get admission to MBBS. Therefore, the question of NEET ensuring quality and merit of the students is to be ruled out, the Bill said. Among others, the Committee recommended that the State government pass an Act similar to that of the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006 indicating the need for elimination of NEET at all levels of medical education and get the President’s assent for the same. This will ensure social justice and protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated in admission to medical education programmes, it said.

Pegasus case: SC to pass interim orders

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to pass interim orders after the government refused to respond, through a detailed affidavit, to allegations that it used Israeli-based Pegasus software to spy on citizens. The government said such an affidavit in the apex court would be too public and compromise national security. The petitioners demanded that either the Cabinet Secretary file an affidavit or the court itself form a committee led by a sitting judge to probe the snooping controversy. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said there cannot be any beating around the bush in the issue. The CJI said the court had given the government a fair opportunity to file a detailed affidavit in order to get a clear idea of its stand in the Pegasus case. We thought the government would file a counter-affidavit now we will pass our interim orders, he remarked. However, after reserving orders, the court told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the government, that he could mention the case if there were any second thoughts in the next few days before the pronouncement of the order. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, said the government’s refusal to file a detailed affidavit was unbelievable. Mehta reasoned that a public discourse on whether a particular software was used or not would alert terrorists. He urged the court to allow the government to form a committee of domain experts who would look into the allegations of snooping orchestrated against citizens, including journalists, activists, Ministers, parliamentarians, among others. He assured the court that the committee members would have no relationship with the government and would place their report before the Supreme Court. The committee report will have to withstand the Supreme Court’s judicial scrutiny… I am not averse to an enquiry. The government takes individuals’ plea of violation of their privacy seriously. It has to be gone into, it must be gone into… It is the feeling of the government that such an issue cannot be placed on affidavit. It has to be gone through by a committee. It concerns national security, he submitted.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden vax order : ‘ We are in the tough stretch.  

In his most forceful pandemic actions and words, President Joe Biden ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for as many as 100 million Americans, private-sector employees as well as health care workers and federal contractors, in an all-out effort to curbthe surging Covid-19 delta variant. Speaking at the White House Thursday, Biden sharply criticised the tens of millions of Americans who are not yet vaccinated, despite months of availability and incentives. We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us, he said, all but biting off his words.The unvaccinated minority can cause a lot of damage, and theyare. Republican leaders, and some union chiefs, too, said Biden was going too far in trying to muscle private companies and workers,a certain sign of legalchallenges to come. Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina said in a statement that Biden andthe radical Democrats (have) thumbed their noses at the Constitution,while American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley insisted that changes like this should be negotiated with our bargaining units where appropriate. On the other hand, there were strong words of praise for Biden’s efforts to get the nation vaccinated from the American Medical Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable, though no direct mention of his mandate for private companies. The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workersat health facilities that receive federalMedicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Spread of Delta Covid-19 knocks windout of UK economy in July. 

Britain’s economy unexpectedly slowed to a crawl in July as the Delta variant of Covid-19 spread rapidly after lockdown restrictions were eased and as a pingdemic’ kept many workers at home self-isolating. Economic output rose just 0.1% in July, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday, the smallest monthly increase since January when Britain went into a new national lockdown. Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected month-on-month growth of 0.6% in gross domestic product. Only two of the 26 analysts had expected such a weak reading. Finance minister Rishi Sunak said he was confident that the economy would continue to recover from the pandemic. But the slowdown in growth may bolsterthe case of Bank of England officials ital Economics consultancy. Britain saw a sharp increase in Covid19 cases in July as the Delta variant spread rapidly, leading to hundreds of thousands of workers being ordered to stay at home underself-isolation rules which have been relaxed. The ONS said some businesses had complained of staff being unable to come to work because they were required to selfisolate, the so-called pingdemic and a fall in construction output was linked to post. Who think it is premature to talk about withdrawing stimulus, despite growing inflation pressure. Earlier this week, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said he saw a levelling-off in the recovery taking place, with labour shortages, global supply chain problems and Brexit disruption combining to stunt the economic rrecovery Stalling GDP and rising inflationwill leave a whiff of stagflation in the air,said Lockdown problems in global supply chains. The dominant services sector was flat in July from June with output in consumer-facing services falling for the first time since January, driven mostly by a drop in the retail sector. Industrial output grew by 1.2%, boosted by the return to production of an oil field, but manufacturing was flat. Construction output fell by a monthly Paul Dales, chief Ukeconomist at the Cap- 1.6%.