CURRENT AFFAIRS
14 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) J&K will get back Statehood at an appropriate time, says Amit Shah.
Home Minister Amit Shah told Lok Sabha on Saturday that the government would restore full Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time, and claimed that the Narendra Modi government has done more for the Union Territory since Article 370 was read down in August 2019 than those who ruled it for generations. Shah was replying to a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Lok Sabha. He also criticised some Opposition members for their claim that the proposed law negates the hopes of the region of getting back its statehood. This legislation has nothing to do with statehood, and Jammu and Kashmir will be accorded the status at an appropriate time, Shah said. The J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill seeks to merge the all-India services J&K cadre with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre. He said the region’s union territory status was temporary, just as the Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir was supposed to be. Jammu and Kashmir has been a top priority for the current government since it took power in 2014, the Minister said. Decentralisation and devolution of power have taken place in the UT following the revocation of Article 370, Shah said, noting that panchayat elections saw over 51% voting. Panchayats have been given administrative and financial powers for local development, something they lacked earlier, he added. Now people chosen by the masses will rule Jammu and Kashmir, not those born to kings and queens, he said, attacking dynastic parties in the region. Even their rivals could not allege any wrongdoing in these polls, which were conducted fairly and peacefully, he added. Work on two AIIMS in the region has begun, and the Kashmir Valley will be connected to the railways by 2022, the Minister said. He assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that no one will lose their land, adding that the government has sufficient land for development works. Shah said the government expects that around 25,000 government jobs will be created in Jammu and Kashmir by 2022. National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi had, during the debate, advocated the restoration of statehood and advised the Centre to wait for the Supreme Court to deliver its verdict on the legal validity of the removal of special status from J&K before making massive administrative changes.
B) Farmer unions demand high-level judicial inquiry into R-Day violence, cases against farmers.
Protesting farmer unions on Saturday demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the violence that took place during the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26 and the alleged ‘false’ cases slapped on the farmers. Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders asked farmers who are getting police notices not to appear before the force directly and, instead, approach the legal cell constituted by the unions for any assistance. Kuldeep Singh, a member of SKM’s legal cell, alleged that a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Court should probe the incidents to unravel the conspiracy behind the January 26 violence and the alleged false cases against the farmers. According to SKM leaders, 16 farmers who had participated in the tractor parade are still untraceable. Another leader Ravinder Singh said that 122 farmers had been arrested by Delhi Police in connection with 14 of the 44 FIRs, adding that SKM will provide legal and financial aid to all the arrested farmers. The Morcha leaders claimed that false cases were being slapped on farmers, charging them with serious offences like attempt to murder to harass them. Singh said that the Morcha will provide ₹2,000 to every arrested farmer for spending in prison canteen. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points, demanding a repeal of the three agri laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP).
C) Supreme Court refuses to review order on Shaheen Bagh protests.
The Supreme Court refused to reconsider its judgment that the Shaheen Bagh protests, by a collective of mothers, children and senior citizens, against the Citizenship Amendment Act was inconvenient for commuters. The right to protest cannot be any time and everywhere. There may be some spontaneous protests but in case of prolonged dissent or protest, there cannot be continued occupation of public place affecting the rights of others, said a three-judge Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, declining the review petitions. The review hearing held in the judges’ chambers was published on Saturday. The original judgment of October 7 last year had declared the demonstrations and road blockades in the Shaheen Bagh area of the national capital as unacceptable. The Review Bench, which comprised the same judges who delivered the original judgment, said they did not find any error apparent warranting reconsideration in their verdict. On October 7, the court had concluded that protesters should express their dissent only in designated areas chosen by the administration. In the review petition, Kazi Fatima and 11 others said the protesters were not even heard by the court. The petitioners asked how the court could restrict expressions of dissent to certain designated areas. Restricting protests to designated areas upsets the very concept of dissent and protests. Protests are the only way for citizens in a democracy to show their dissent. Curb on this freedom leaves citizens with no report to voice their concerns, the review petition had said. The review petitioners had referred to how the police have in the recent past acted arbitrarily by beating students and protesters. The observation made by the court in the judgment clothes the police with an arbitrary discretion to attack any peaceful protesters. This would lead to a situation wherein the administration would never engage in dialogue with protesters, but instead take action against them, including their prosecution, the review petition had argued.
D) SC to examine contempt plea against CEC, political parties.
The Supreme Court has decided to examine a contempt petition filed by a lawyer against Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and leaders of prominent political parties for not fully adhering to an apex court order against allowing dreaded criminals to contest in the Bihar Assembly polls. A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman issued notice in the contempt case to Arora, Chief Electoral Officer for Bihar H.R. Srinivas, JDU general secretary K.C. Tyagi, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Bihar president Jagdanand Singh, Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Abdul Khalik, Congress party leader R.S. Surjewala and B.L. Santosh of the BJP. On February 11, the Bench allowed petitioner-advocate Brajesh Singh to argue his case in person. It scheduled the next hearing for March 9. The court said Arora and other political leaders, arraigned as respondents, need not be present during the hearing. Singh said the Supreme Court had on February 13, 2020 directed political parties to publish the criminal antecedents of their candidates in widely circulated newspapers, which was wilfully disobeyed by political parties in the elections. The lawyer said the court had ordered parties to publish on their websites the reasons for selecting such candidates and why those without a criminal record were not found better-suited to contest the elections. Singh said the parties published the details of their candidates in only one Hindi newspaper and gave similar reasons for their choice of candidates.
E) ‘Illegal detention’ of Nodeep Kaur: Punjab and Haryana HC issues notice to Haryana govt.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the Haryana government, asking it to explain the complaint filed against 23-year-old Dalit labour union activist Nodeep Kaur. The Court took suo moto cognizance of complaints of alleged illegal detention of Kaur, who was arrested on January 12. There have been allegations that she was sexually assaulted while in the custody of Haryana Police. Kaur was granted bail on Thursday in one of the three cases filed against her. Another case is up for hearing on Monday. Kaur’s arrest has drawn international censure, including from U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s niece, Meena Harris and British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, among others.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Tensions high as mass protests in Myanmar enter second week.
Opposition to Myanmar’s new military regime intensified on Saturday as spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Army takeover that brought a decade-old democracy to an end has unleashed a storm of anger and defiance, with huge protests bringing urban centres around the country to a standstill. Since taking Suu Kyi and her allies into custody, troops have stepped up arrests of civil servants, doctors and others joining strikes calling on the Generals to relinquish power. The junta on Saturday suspended laws constraining security forces from detaining suspects or searching private property without court approval and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests. The announcements bore echoes of the near half-century of military rule before reforms began. An order signed by military ruler Gen. eral Min Aung Hlaing suspended three sections of laws protecting the privacy and security of the citizens, which had been introduced during the gradual liberalisation. Those sections include the requirement for a court order to detain prisoners beyond 24 hours and constraints on security forces’ ability to enter private property to search it or make arrests. The suspensions also free up spying on communications. Crowds defied curfews to gather on the streets as night fell, hours after finishing a seventh straight day of rallies, following rumours that the police were launching a fresh wave of arrests. One group swarmed a hospital in Pathein on rumours that a popular doctor would be taken. More than 320 people have been arrested since last week, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.
B) Draghi sworn in as new PM as Italy hopes to turn the page.
Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was formally sworn in as Italy’s new Prime Minister on Saturday, against the backdrop of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a crippling recession. The appointment of the 73-year-old known as Super Mario capped weeks of political instability for the country still in the grips of the health crisis that has killed more than 93,000 people. He swear to be loyal to the Republic, recited Mr. Draghi, as he stood before President Sergio Mattarella in the ornate presidential palace in a televised ceremony. Members of his new Cabinet, who include technocrats, veteran politicians and Ministers held over from the previous government, each took the oath of office. Rudderless country Mr. Draghi was parachuted in by Mr. Mattarella after the previous centre-left coalition under premier Giuseppe Conte collapsed, leading Italy rudderless amid the worst recession since the Second World War. After assembling a broad-based coalition, on Friday night Mr. Draghi formally accepted the post of premier, publicly revealing the new Cabinet for the first time.
