Tag: REET

NATIONAL NEWS

India airlifts 392 from Afghanistan amidst reports of Pakistani presence among Taliban

India on Sunday airlifted 392 individuals from Kabul in an operation that covered Indian citizens as well as Afghan nationals, including Sikhs and Hindus of Afghanistan. The people airlifted were flown in three aircraft that included a heavy-lift C17. Air India and Indigo operated two flights via Tajikistan and Qatar, completing the airlift operation that is expected to continue over the coming days. Apart from workers and engineers employed at various India-backed projects, Sunday’s evacuation also included an infant Iknoor Singh, the youngest person to be evacuated so far from Kabul. A number of Indians from Darjeeling who were stuck in Afghanistan were also among those airlifted on Sunday. West Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee had earlier urged the central government to help in bringing back those workers.  The Hindu has learnt that the largescale evacuation carried out on Sunday was facilitated by a small multi-agency Indian team that has found base in Kabul airport. The cell has taken charge days after Government of India evacuated the India-based staff from the embassy in Kabul. Initial reports suggested that the team consists of seven officials drawn from different sections of the government and are led by Indian diplomats in the US-controlled airport.  Among those evacuated was Narender Pal Singh Khalsa, a member of Afghanistan’s Parliament who maintained that the Taliban have been undependable since they took over Kabul. They came to my office on Saturday and took away my computers, official vehicles and other personal vehicles. They claimed that they were there to take away my official car that was given to me because of my status as an MP but ultimately took away many personal items, including three watches, said Khalsa, who maintains that there are a large number of Pakistanis among the fighters. I found that those who came to my house could not speak Farsi and spoke in Urdu. There were some who spoke a language that I could not even understand. It’s quite clear that they were either from Pakistan or some other country, said Khalsa, who said that he had not seen the Afghan Taliban among those who were present in Kabul, saying, In my 36 years, I have never seen such Taliban fighters. Khalsa is the son of Avtar Singh Khalsa, a dynamic Sikh politician of Afghanistan who was assassinated in Jalalabad in a suicide bomb attack in 2018. Apart from Singh, Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, the only female Sikh MP of Afghanistan, was also among those who were airlifted to Hindon air base. Hundreds of others, however, are left behind, and they need to be airlifted in the coming days even as the security situation in Afghanistan is expected to deteriorate fast because of the growing military tension between the Taliban leaders and the Tajiks of Panjshir Valley led by the faction of Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh. A spokesperson for the Resistance on Sunday told The Hindu that they require support of allies to take on the Taliban. Taliban are trying to send delegations and also use Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Hamid Karzai to mediate with the Resistance Leaders in Panjshir. The stance of the Resistance is clear. We have a legitimate Caretaker President Amrullah Saleh who enjoys people’s support from Republic’s side, said Homayon Ahmadi, their spokesperson.   Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, who was appointed by the government of President Ashraf Ghani also on Sunday called for international support and said the suffering of Afghanistan is man-made. In a message posted on social media, Ambassador Farid Mamundzay said, The avoidable suffering of Afghanistan is man-made and at a scale beyond all civilised contemplation. Afghanistan is going through a difficult time, and only good leadership, compassionate attitude and international support to the Afghan people would somewhat bring an end to these miseries.  

FinMin summons Infosys CEO over I-T portal glitch.

With the new Income Tax filing portal becoming completely inaccessible over the weekend and yet to become fully functional 77 days after its launch, a furious Finance Ministry summoned Infosys managing director and CEO Salil Parekh to explain the mess to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in person on Monday. Ministry of Finance has summoned Shri Salil Parekh, MD & CEO @Infosyson 23/08/2021 to explain to hon’ble FM as to why even after 2.5 months since launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved. In fact, since 21/08/2021 the portal itself is not available, the Income Tax Department stated on Sunday. And just hours after the summons, the Income Tax portal became accessible again late on Sunday. The emergency maintenance of the @IncomeTaxIndia portal has concluded and the portal is live. We regret any inconvenience caused to taxpayers, Infosys tweeted at 8.52 p.m. The Ministry launched the taxpayer friendly portal developed by Infosys on June 7, promising immediate processing of Income Tax returns to issue quick refunds to taxpayers, and a host of other features. However, many critical functionalities were nonstarters from day one, and problems continued to fester despite a claimed course correction. On Saturday afternoon, Infosys said the portal was currently inaccessible due to planned maintenance. On Sunday, the company switched from the planned maintenance argument to say that the portal continues to be under emergency maintenance.

Assam moves to ease fresh row with Mizoram.

Authorities of Assam’s Hailakandi district returned some seized construction material to their counterparts in Mizoram’s Kolasib district on Sunday to ease fresh tension brewing on the inter-State border since August 20 afternoon. The police in Kolasib’s border town Bairabi had filed a case of theft against some unnamed Assampolice personnel after the latter stopped work on a bridge Mizoram claimed was on its territory. The Assam police team also seized – stole, according to the Mizoram police – TMT bars being used for the bridge. Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H. Lalthlangliana said his Hailakandi counterpart Rohan Kumar Jha had 5 quintals of iron rods returned around 6 p.m. on Sunday, more than 24 hours after he was intimated about the theft case. The case filed at the Bairabi station against the Assam police personnel will be withdrawn, he told The Hindu. Kolasib Superintendent of Police Vanlalfaka Ralte said the Mizoram police team withdrew from the disputed site after the return of the construction material.

I-T portal glitch: Finance Ministry summons Infosys CEO Salil Parekh

The Finance Ministry has summoned Infosys MD and CEO Salil Parekh on August 23 to explain to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman why even after 2.5 months since the launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved. The Income Tax department has said that in fact, since 21/08/2021 the portal itself is not available. On August 16, the Finance Minister had said glitches on the new Income Tax portal were expected to be fixed entirely in the next 2 to 3 days. I have been reminding Infosys constantly… and Nandan Nilekani has been messaging me with assurances that they will sort it out, the Minister had said. Since its launch in early June, many critical functionalities of the income tax portal have been non-starters, and the Minister had admitted that there are ‘still some issues’ with it. Revenue Secretary [Tarun Bajaj] has been neutrally monitoring the progress on fixing the portal on a weekly basis, Sitharaman had said, stressing that she had been pushing Infosys ‘not to let the taxpayers down’ with constant reminders. The Ministry’s latest statement on August 22 suggests the situation has got worse instead of improving, with the income tax portal becoming inaccessible since August 21.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

G7 to discuss Afghanistan on Tuesday, says U.K. PM Boris Johnson 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had called a G7 leaders’ meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan and urged the international community to find ways to prevent it from escalating. Taliban militants seized control of Kabul last weekend in an upheaval that sent civilians and Afghan military allies fleeing for safety. Many fear a return to the austere interpretation of Islamic law imposed during the previous Taliban rule that ended 20 years ago. Western governments are discussing how to handle the situation in Kabul where thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan have descended on the airport after the Taliban seized control of the country. It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years, Johnson said on Twitter on Sunday. Britain currently holds the rotating leadership of the G7, which also includes the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Canada.

 

Amid Afghan debacle, Harris begins Asia trip. 

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris began a trip to Asia on Sunday where she will offer reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region after the chaotic U.S. pullout from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover. The hardline Islamists’ swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast another shadow over the U.S.’ status as a global superpower. But on her visit, Ms. Harris will seek to allay concerns about U.S. dependability. The Vice-President will make clear throughout the trip that we do have an enduring commitment to the region, said a senior U.S. official. Ms. Harris landed in Singapore on Sunday. The crisis has prompted comparisons with the trauma of 1975 Saigon, when U.S. helicopters ferried final evacuees from the Embassy roof, as Viet Cong troops advanced. U.S. officials say the trip was planned long before the Afghan debacle, however and insist Ms. Harris is focused on Washington’s broader strategic goals in Asia.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Indians detained on way to Kabul airport, released later: reports

For 150 Indians it was an anxious and a nervous wait to return home since the Taliban took over the reins in Afghanistan leaving the country in chaos and mayhem. As developments of the day brought the news that they had been picked up by the Taliban, they were released eventually. It is learnt they are inside the Kabul airport waiting to be airlifted out of the conflict zone. As they were being taken to a nearby police station for verification of their travel documents, local media reported that they had been abducted by the Taliban. The news came hours after an Indian Air Force transport aircraft managed to evacuate around 85 Indians from Kabul; the plane has landed safely in Dushanbe in Tajikistan. As the Government doubles up its efforts to bring in, and that includes setting up of a special cell to address and expedite visas for Indians, sources said that the government is trying to bring as many Indians as possible into the airport at Kabul to keep them safe while it works out the evacuation logistics. India has evacuated all embassy staff but an estimated 1,000 citizens remain in several cities in the war-torn country, and ascertaining their location and condition is proving to be a challenge, a Home Ministry official had said, since not all of them registered themselves with the embassy. Among those are around 200 Sikhs and Hindus who have taken refuge at a gurudwara in Kabul. A spokesperson for the Taliban – since the takeover of the nation the dreaded organisation has gone on a PR offensive convincing the world that the outfit has changed with the times — released a video statement of the gurudwara head saying he had been assured of their safety. Meanwhile, Reuters, reported an official of the Islamist group as saying that the Taliban will be accountable  for its actions and will investigate reports of reprisals and atrocities carried out by members. The organisation will be also coming out with a model to govern the country.

Militants killed in Pulwama

Three unidentified militants were killed in an encounter in a forest area of Pulwama’s Tral in South Kashmir in the morning taking the toll of militants killed in the last 24 hours to five in the district. An official said the militants, associated with the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), were encircled in Nagbaeran area of Tral in Pulwama. On being encircled by the security forces, the militants opened fire and were killed in the subsequent encounter, the police said, as reported in The Hindu. The encounter with militants poses a concern for India as terrorists of banned outfitsLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who had been fighting alongside the Taliban against the U.S led forces in Afghanistan for the past several years, may soon intensify efforts to infiltrate into the Indian territory, according to the latest assessment of security agencies. As reported in The Hindu, a government official told the newspaper, Carrying out terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir has been the primary goal of these outfits. Over the years, they have extended active support to Taliban. JeM has been deploying senior commanders and trained cadres for Taliban operations. LeT has also been a major source of armed men fighting along with Taliban and Haqqani Network. They share the same ideology. The official said: However, after things settle down a little in Afghanistan, their focus would again shift to their main objective. Among the hundreds of prisoners released from Afghan prisons, many were from LeT and JeM. Since January, 95 terrorists have been neutralised in Jammu & Kashmir and 18 of them were Pakistani nationals, officials claimed. JeM has an organic link with Taliban. In the past, it has also provided refuge to their cadres following Taliban takeover, the JeM chief on August 16 congratulated his followers through a message titled ‘Manzil Ki Taraf (Towards the Goal)’, he said. This apart, as per a UNSC report in June, based on the Monitoring Team’s observations, Taliban and Al-Qaeda continued to be closely aligned. Al-Qaeda elements were said to be residing in at least 15 Afghan provinces.

Supreme Court nod for ‘equivalent qualification’ for jobs

In an important decision the Supreme Court veering away from the norm that an aspirant should have the requisite qualification at the time of notification of job vacancy, said an equivalent qualification at the time of application will do equally well. The judgment was based on appeals filed by two applicants to the posts of High School Assistants in Kerala. The question before the court was whether their B.Ed. degrees were in the subjects fulfilling the eligibility criteria for the job notified by the State Public Service Commission in 2012. The job required a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree in the subject of Natural Sciences. The principle of service jurisprudence that a candidate must possess the requisite qualification for a post on the date of issue of employment notification cannot be applied in the appellants’ cases, as in our view, they possessed equivalent qualifications when they applied for the posts, a Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose said in a recent judgment. The appellants, Praveen Kumar and P. Anitha Devi, represented by advocate Sarath S. Janardanan, had B.Ed degrees in Biological Science from the University of Mysore and the Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, respectively. Their degrees in Biological Sciences were considered equivalent to Natural Sciences’ degree from a varsity in Kerala. They were both shortlisted and even allowed to participate in the job interview. However, their candidatures were put on hold after an objection came up on the ground that they were not qualified in the concerned subject for which the job was notified. The judgement is likely to inform decisions on eligibility of candidates for jobs in the future.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Taliban co founder in Kabul for talks to form government. 

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks on establishing a new inclusive government in Afghanistan, a senior official said. It comes after other senior Taliban leaders were seen in the capital in recent days, including Khalil Haqqani – one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty on his head. A senior Taliban official said that Baradar would meet jihadi leaders and politicians for an inclusive government set-up. Hours later, pro-Taliban social media accounts showed Haqqani announcing that Ahmad Massoud the son of Afghanistan’s most famed anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah for talks at the country’s second-biggest city Kandahar – the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace. Within hours of his return, the group announced its rule would be different this time. But they have given few details about who would form their government. Arrested in Pakistan in 2010, Baradar was in custody until pressure from the U.S. saw him freed in 2018 and relocated to Qatar. He was appointed head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where he oversaw the signing of the agreement last year that led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces and an end to their 20-year campaign. On Friday, Haqqani – the uncle of Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani wasseen leading prayers at a mosque in Kabul.

 

Hundreds held in Australia after clashes over lockdown. 

Hundreds were arrested after violent clashes between anti-lockdown protesters and police in Australia’s two largest cities on Saturday as the country recorded its sharpest rise in daily COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. Sydney’s State of New South Wales posted 825 infections – a record for the entire country – a day after authorities extended the city’s lockdown until at least September to try to head off the Delta variant. No matter how hard we work, no matter if 99% of people are doing the right thing, there’s an element of Delta that nobody can control, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told media. The best way we can look forward to freedom is by making sure that we get vaccinated. An increasing outbreak in Melbourne’s State of Victoria also prompted stay- at home orders to be extended across the State on Saturday. But Melbourne’s public health orders didn’t deter thousands from venting anger in a march against the lockdown rules, with police using pepper spray in violent clashes with protesters. Seven officers were injured and more than 200 people were arrested in the violent and unlawful protest, Victoria Police said in a statement. While there were some peaceful protestors in attendance, the majority of those who attended came with violence in mind, they said. In Sydney more than 1,500 police flooded the city, setting up roadblocks and making dozens of arrests as around 250 gathered there, NSW Police said. Large crowds were also reported at an anti-lockdown rally in Brisbane. Sydney’s outbreak has also been linked to a case that sparked a national lockdown in New Zealand.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Arrest is not always a must, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that merely because the law allows arrest does not mean the State can use the power indiscriminately to crush personal liberty. We may note that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made, a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it, it noted. If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating Officer has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact, throughout cooperated with the investigation, we fail to appreciate why there should be a compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused, the court observed in its recent order. The order was passed in a plea for anticipatory bail filed by businessman Siddharth, represented by senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey and advocates Ravi Sharma and Rahul Shyam Bhandari. The Allahabad High Court had rejected his bail application in July. The case concerns an FIR registered against him for allegedly entering into a conspiracy and criminal breach of trust involving former ministers and high-ranking officials in relation to a project initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2007 to build parks and museums, including the Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Asthal, Kashiram Smarak Asthal Gautambudh Nagar Upvan Echo Park and Noida Ambedkar Park. The FIR alleges a loss of ₹ 14,000 crore to the public exchequer. Dubey argued that his client had joined the seven-year-old investigation. There was no need for his custodial interrogation. There was no apprehension that he would abscond or tamper with evidence. The police were in the process of filing a charge sheet. Dubey said Section 170 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been wrongly interpreted by the police and trial courts to make arrest of the accused mandatory at the time of filing of the charge sheet. He argued that the word custody in Section 170 had been wrongly interpreted as ‘arrest’. Agreeing with the senior lawyer, the Supreme Court clarified that the word ‘custody’ appearing in Section 170 does not contemplate either police or judicial custody but it merely connotes the presentation of the accused by the Investigating Officer before the court while filing the charge sheet. The trial courts are stated to be insisting on the arrest of an accused as a pre-requisite formality to take the charge sheet on record in view of the provisions of Section 170 of the CrPC. We consider such a course misplaced and contrary to the very intent of Section 170 of the CrPC, the court said, laying down the law.

 

Must systematically plan to give a govt which believes in principles of Constitution: Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on August 20 urged opposition party leaders to work together and plan systemically for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, saying the goal is to give the country a government that believes in the principles of the Constitution. Addressing a virtual meeting of various opposition parties, she said, Despite our compulsions, the time has come when interests of our nation demand that we rise above them. Leaders of 19 political parties participated in the virtual meeting convened by Gandhi, amid efforts to boost opposition unity and evolve a common strategy against the NDA government. Of course, the ultimate goal is the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for which we have to begin to plan systematically with the single-minded objective of giving to our country a government that believes in the values of the freedom movement and in the principles and provisions of our Constitution, she said. This is a challenge, but together we can and must rise to it because there is simply no alternative to working cohesively together. We all have our compulsions, but clearly, a time has come when the interests of our nation demand that we rise above them, Gandhi said. Among those who participated in the meeting were NCP supreme Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterparts from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Uddhav Thackeray and M.K. Stalin. Parties such as the TMC, NCP, DMK, Shiv Sena, JMM, CPI, CPI(M), NC, RJD, AIUDF, VCK, Loktantrik Janata Dal, JD(S), RLD, RSP, Kerala Congress (Mani), PDP and IUML took part in the meeting. Leaders of AAP, BSP and SP were not present at the meeting.

After Twitter, Facebook takes down post by Rahul Gandhi 

Social media giant Facebook has removed the post by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi that identified the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi as it violated the platform’s policies. The social media giant informed Gandhi, as well as the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), of the removal of the posts from Facebook and Instagram. In an emailed reply to a query, a Facebook spokesperson said, We have taken action to remove the content as it was in violation of our policies. According to Facebook, in this case, the family has pleaded for their safety in the court, and in view of their safety and to maintain the dignity of the victim, the company decided to take down the content from its platform. Earlier this week, sources said, Facebook had written to Gandhi asking him to remove the said post from Instagram, Facebook’s photo-sharing platform. The social media company’s action followed the NCPCR’s direction to Facebook to take appropriate action against Gandhi’s Instagram profile over the violation of provisions of Acts such as the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Indian Penal Code. Earlier, on August 7, Twitter too had locked Gandhi’s account, and subsequently several other handles associated with the Congress, for posting/sharing a photograph of the parents of the 9-year-old victim. A week later, on August 14, Twitter restored Gandhi’s account, after the company claimed that the Congress leader had submitted a consent letter from the victim’s family. However, Gandhi is yet to use the platform since. His last tweet from his verified @RahulGandhi handle was on August 6, when he shared a Hindi couplet on the farmers’ agitation. Meanwhile, photographs of his public interactions during a recent visit to his constituency have been shared on the handle for his constituency, @RGWayanadOffice. On Friday, he chose Facebook to share his thoughts on the 77th birth anniversary of his father and former Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi. A secular India alone is an India that can survive, Gandhi wrote, quoting his father. Remembering Shri Rajiv Gandhi ji on his birth anniversary.

 

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,23,66,382 with the death toll at 4,34,265. American pharma major Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has applied for permission to conduct clinical trials of its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine on adolescents aged 12-17 years in India. The company has moved an application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) seeking approval. The coronavirus vaccine developed by J&J has demonstrated 85% efficacy in staving off severe Covid-19 disease in its phase 3 trials. Meanwhile, the Drug Controller General has granted emergency approval to the Zycov-D, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadilla group, making it the first vaccine in India that can be administered to adults as well as those 12 and above. It’s also the only DNA-based vaccine in the world and can be administered without a needle, purportedly minimising chances of reactions.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban are rounding up Afghans on blacklist, says private intel report 

The Taliban have begun rounding up Afghans on a blacklist of people they believe have worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.S.-led forces that supported it, according to a report by a Norwegian intelligence group, Reuters reported. The report, compiled by the RHIPTONorwegian Center for Global Analyses and seen by Reuters, said the Taliban were hunting individuals linked to the previous administration, which fell on Sunday when the Islamist militant movement took Kabul. Taliban are intensifying the hunt-down of all individuals and collaborators with the former regime, and if unsuccessful, target and arrest the families and punish them according to their own interpretation of Sharia law, said the report, dated Wednesday. Particularly at risk are individuals in central positions in military, police and investigative units. The non-profit RHIPTONorwegian Center for Global Analyses, which makes independent intelligence assessments, said the Afghanistan report was shared with agencies and individuals working within the United Nations. This is not a report produced by the United Nations, but rather by the Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, said a U.N. official, when asked for comment. A Taliban spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Since seizing Kabul, the Taliban have sought to present a more moderate face to the world, saying they wanted peace and would not take revenge against old enemies. The four-page report reproduced a letter it said had been written to one alleged collaborator who was taken from his Kabul apartment this week and detained for questioning over his role as a counter-terrorism official in the previous government. The letter, dated Monday, from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Military Commission, noted that the detainee had travelled to the UK as part of his role which indicates you have had excellent relations with the American and British. If you do not report to the commission, your family members will be arrested instead, and you are responsible for this. You and your family members will be treated based on Sharia law, the letter said, according to a translation given in the report. Separately, a senior member of the security forces of the ousted administration sent a message to journalists saying that the Taliban had obtained secret national security documents and arresting former intelligence and security staff. Meanwhile, more than 18,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital, a NATO official said on Friday, pledging to redouble evacuation efforts as criticism of the West’s handling of the crisis intensified. Thousands of people, desperate to flee the country, were still thronging the airport, the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters, even though the Taliban have urged people without legal travel documents to go home. The Taliban called for unity ahead of Friday prayers, the first since they seized power, calling on imams to persuade people not to leave Afghanistan amid the chaos at the airport, protests and reports of violence. Residents in Kabul and four other major cities said prayers appeared to have passed off with incident, though attendance was low. A witness told Reuters several people were killed in the eastern city of Asadabad on Thursday when Taliban militants fired on a crowd demonstrating their allegiance to the vanquished Afghan republic, as the Taliban set about establishing an emirate, governed by strict Islamic law. Kabul has been largely calm, except in and around the airport where 12 people have been killed since Sunday, NATO and Taliban officials said.

 

China formally passes three-child policy into law.

China’s legislature on Friday formally amended the country’s family planning rules to allow couples to have three children, also announcing a number of policy measures aimed at boosting declining birth rates. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, or Parliament, passed an amendment to the Population and Family Planning Law, state media said, adding that the amended law calls on the authorities to take supportive measures, including those in finances, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to reduce families’ burdens as well as the cost of raising and educating children. The ruling Communist Party announced in May that couples in China would for the first time be allowed to have a third child in a relaxation of family planning rules. In 2016, a two-child policy was introduced that largely failed to boost birth rates. China’s regulators in recent weeks have taken drastic measures to reduce education costs – cited in many surveys as a main reason why many couples prefer to have only one child – including by overhauling the booming private education industry, which may be ordered to go non-profit according to reports in the Chinese press. The changes come in the wake of China’s once-in-ten year population census that recorded rapidly declining birth rates over the past decade. The National Bureau of Statistics said on May 11 that 12 million babies were born last year, the lowest number since 1961. The census said China’s population was 1.41 billion in 2020, an increase of 72 million since the last census in 2010. The census recorded 264 million in the age group of 60 and over, up 5.44% since 2010 and accounting for 18.70% of the population. Those in the 1559 age group were 894 million persons, down by 6.79% since 2010 and accounting for 63.35% of the population. China’s workforce in the 15-59 age bracket peaked at 925 million in 2011, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said previously. That number was down to 894 million in this census and would drop to 700 million by 2050. Huang Wenzheng, a fellow at the Center for China and Globalisation, in Beijing, told China Global Television Network (CGTN), an official broadcaster, following the release of the census that the ageing crisis might be the biggest challenge the Chinese nation faces in the next century.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Afghan protests spread to Kabul in early challenge to Taliban

Protests against the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan spread to more cities on Thursday, including the capital Kabul, and a witness said several people were killed when the militants fired on a crowd in Asadabad in the eastern province of Kunar, Reuters reported. Our flag, our identity, a crowd of men and women waving black, red and green national flags shouted in Kabul, a video posted on social media showed, on the day Afghanistan celebrates independence from British control in 1919. A witness reported gunshots near the rally, but they appeared to be Taliban firing into the air. Marchers chanted ‘God is greatest’. At some protests elsewhere, media have reported people tearing down the white flag of the Taliban.  Afghans celebrate the 102th Independence Day of Afghanistan with the national flag in Kabul on August 19, 2021.  In Asadabad, several people were killed during a rally, but it was unclear if the casualties resulted from Taliban firing or from a stampede that it triggered. Protests also flared in the city of Jalalabad and a district of Paktia province. Salute those who carry the national flag and thus stand for dignity of the nation, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who is trying to rally opposition to the Taliban, said on Twitter. Saleh said on Tuesday he was the legitimate caretaker president in Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani fled. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, based in an old anti-Taliban stronghold northeast of Kabul, called for Western support. U.S. President Joe Biden said the Taliban must decide if they want international recognition. I think they’re going through a sort of existential crisis about. Do they want to be recognised by the international community as being a legitimate government? I’m not sure they do, Biden said in TV interview. Kabul has been generally calm, but 12 people have been killed in and around the airport amid chaotic scenes, a NATO and a Taliban official said. The deaths were caused either by gun shots or stampedes, according to the Taliban official.  In one incident captured on social media, a small girl was hoisted over the airport’s high perimeter wall and handed to a U.S. soldier, underlining the desperation many people feel.  Gunmen fired into the air on Thursday at several entrances, scattering crowds including women clutching babies. It was not clear if the men firing were Taliban or security staff helping U.S. forces inside the airport. The Taliban are keeping their word by providing foreign powers with support in evacuating their nationals, a Taliban official said. We are facilitating safe exit passage not just for foreigners but also to Afghans, the official told Reuters. U.N. agencies and international aid groups appealed for $800 million more in humanitarian funding. About 8,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since Sunday, a Western security official said. Biden said U.S. forces would remain until all Americans were evacuated, even if that meant staying past an August 31 U.S. deadline for withdrawal.

China for adoption of cultural symbols, language in Tibet. 

A top Chinese official said on Thursday that all-round efforts are needed to ensure Tibetans speak standard spoken and written Chinese and share the cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation. Wang Yang made the remarks before a handpicked audience in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the home of Tibet’s traditional Buddhist leaders, at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Chinese invasion of the vast Himalayan region. China’s ruling Communist Party says it peacefully liberated Tibetan peasants from an oppressive theocracy and restored Chinese rule over a region under threat from outside powers. Critics say such moves toward cultural assimilation spell the demise of Tibet’s traditional Buddhist culture and that Tibet was effectively independent for most of its history. China has highlighted its efforts to boost the economy in the region and condemned the exiled Dalai Lama as a separatist. Mr. Wang, who is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee – the apex of party power – and who oversees policy toward ethnic minorities, said separatist and sabotage activities committed by the Dalai (Lama) group and hostile external forces have been crushed. Mr. Wang said Tibetans had been included in representative bodies. The region hosted close to 160 million tourists last year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Only by following the CPC leadership and pursuing the path of socialism, can Tibet achieve development and prosperity, Mr. Wang was quoted by Xinhua as saying. Judging by developments in Tibet over the past 70 years, the Tibetan people have no cause for jubilation, as Chinese policies have turned Tibet itself into an open-air prison with restrictions on all aspects of Tibetan life, the U.S .- based International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement. After 70 years of oppression, the only thing the Tibetan people need ‘peaceful liberation’ from today is China’s brutality, the group said. As China tightens its hold over Tibet, questions are arising over the future of its diaspora community.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Over 3.86 crore people didn’t get 2nd dose of Covid vaccines within stipulated time: Govt

Over 3.86 crore people did not get their second dose of anti-Covid vaccines Covishield and Covaxin within the stipulated period of time, the government said in response to an RTI query. Activist Raman Sharma had filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking to know from the government the number of people who had received the first dose of vaccines Covishield and Covaxin but did not take the second within the stipulated time period. In response to the query, the Covid-19 Vaccine Administration Cell of the Union Health Ministry said that it is recommended that the second dose of Covishield be taken within 84-112 days after the first, while in case of Covaxin, the gap should between 28-42 days. The total number of vaccinees (beneficiaries) who got their first dose of Covishield Vaccine but did not get their second dose within stipulated period of time as prescribed by the Govt. of India as per the Due Report in the Co-WIN portal is 3,40,72,993 (data as on 17th August 2021), the response said. It further said that the total number of beneficiaries who got their first dose of Covaxin vaccine but did not get their second within the stipulated period of time as prescribed by the government as per the due report of in Co-WIN portal is 46,78,406 (data as on 17th August 2021). It is recommended that vaccinees who got their first dose of vaccine get their second dose in the stipulated period. There is no recommendation for such vaccinees who got their first dose of COVID Vaccine but did not get the second dose within the stipulated period as prescribed by Government of India to get their first dose again, it said. In the Frequently Asked Questions sections on the website, the government recommends that both doses of vaccine should be taken for realising the full benefit of vaccination.

Gujarat HC stays some sections concerning interfaith marriages in anti-conversion law 

In an interim order, the Gujarat High Court on Thursday stayed some sections pertaining to interfaith marriages of the newly enacted anti-conversion law in the State. A division bench of the court stayed the implementation of several sections of Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021. The bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav passed the interim order, saying it was meant to protect people from unnecessary harassment. Gujarat’s anti-conversion law was amended in 2021 to bring in new sections that penalise forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage and the law was notified by the government on June 15.  The law, the government contended, was meant to stop religious conversion through interfaith marriages. On Thursday, while passing the interim order, Chief Justice Vikram Nath said, We are of the opinion that pending further hearing, rigors of section 3,4, 4a to 4c, 5, 6, and 6a shall not operate merely because the marriage is solemnised by a person of one religion with another religion without force, allurement or fraudulent means and such marriages cannot be termed as marriage for the purpose of unlawful conversion. He stated, This interim order is to protect the parties which solemnised interfaith marriages from unnecessary harassment. The court acted on a petition filed by the Gujarat chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind challenging the constitutional validity of some of the amended sections. On Tuesday, advocate general Kamal Trivedi told the court that there was no ban on interfaith marriages in the State. He defended the new anti-conversion law, saying marriages cannot be tool for forceful conversion.  Advocate General Kamal Trivedi submitted that there should be no fear about the provisions of the law. Why this fear? So long as genuine conversion is there, people need not worry. Interfaith marriage per se is not prohibited in this law. It only prohibits forcible conversion by marriage. He, however, contended that The law says no person shall be converted by use of force, allurement, fraudulent means or by marriage for the purpose of conversion. In the petition, it has been argued that the amended law goes against basic principles of marriage and the right to propagate, profess and practice religion as enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution. 

Calcutta HC orders CBI, SIT probe into West Bengal post-poll violence 

A five-judge Bench of Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal  government to hand over complaints of post-poll violence to the CBI. The Central agency will  probe allegations of murder, rape and unnatural deaths. The Court also directed to set up a Special Investigation Team consisting (SIT) of three IPS officers of West Bengal to probe other offences relating to post-poll violence. The probe will be monitored by a retired judge of the Supreme Court. In the order, the five-judge Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh l. Bindal directed the State to immediately process applications for compensation of victims. The CBI and SIT were directed to submit a status report within six weeks. While hearing several writ petitions on post-poll violence, the High Court, in June 2021,  had directed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to set up a committee  to look into allegations of post-poll violence. The NHRC had submitted a report to the Court on July 13 directing that the probe be handed over to the CBI. People from West Bengal taking refuge in Dhubri district of Assam following the post-poll violence. The Court in its order on Thursday had pointed out that allegations of bias raised by the West Bengal government against the NHRC committee does not stand. The development assumes significant ramifications for West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had refuted allegations of post-poll violence. Banerjee had maintained that there was no violence after she was sworn as the Chief Minister on May 5 for the third consecutive time. The BJP leadership has welcomed the order and said that it proves that allegations of post-poll violence were true. The matter will come up for hearing in the first week of October 4. 

13 years on, SC acquits family that was sentenced to life after being framed by police acting under political pressure 

The Supreme Court has acquitted three members of a family, framed by the police acting under political pressure and sentenced to life imprisonment by the courts, after they complained about their relative’s murder over a ₹250 debt 13 years ago. A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V. Ramasubramanian, in a judgment, said the police, instead of proceeding in pursuit of the truth, tried to bury it many fathoms deep in a case which is a shocking reminder of police docility to political influences, and lack of proper legal representation in courts and judicial oversight. In May 2008, a grievously injured Nand Kishore was rushed to the hospital by Madhav. Kishore was the brother of Raju Yadav. Yadav was married to Madhav’s sister, Sahodara Bai. But Kishore was declared dead on arrival. He had suffered a brutal beating with sticks and lathis. Bai informed the police. The three of them named two men, Ruia and Kailash, in the FIR as the culprits. However, the case took a bizarre turn. The Madhya Pradesh Police turned on them. Instead of investigating the FIR, the police arrested the three family members of the dead man. They charged them with his murder. The trial court convicted all three and sentenced them to life in prison. During trial, they realised that the two men they had named in the FIR for the murder of Kishore were arraigned by the police as star witnesses. It was a case in which the informant turned into the accused and the accused donned the roles of witnesses. The State High Court went on to confirm their punishment. We are conscious of the fact that at times persons who commit a crime, themselves make/lodge the first information so as to create an alibi of innocence. But even in such cases the investigation would normally proceed first against those named as accused in the FIR, and thereafter, the needle of suspicion may turn against the informant himself, Justice Ramasubramanian, who authored the judgment for the Bench, reasoned. The apex court concluded that a close scrutiny of the sequence of events from the date of occurrence of the crime, on May 13, 2008, revealed that the probe in the case instead of proceeding in pursuit of truth, had proceeded towards burying the truth. We are clearly of the view that the investigation in this case was carried out by prosecution witness 14 (Investigating Officer) not with the intention of unearthing the truth, but for burying the same fathom deep for extraneous considerations, and that it was designed to turn the informant and her family members as the accused and allow the real culprits named in the FIR to escape, Justice Ramasubramanian wrote. The apex court was appalled by the fact that both the Sessions Court and the High Court overlooked crucial admissions during trial even to the extent that the police faced political pressure when they tried to arrest Ruia and Kailash. Besides, Justice Ramasubramanian wondered why both the courts found nothing amiss in the prosecution version that a murderer would rush his victim to the hospital in an autorickshaw. The normal human behaviour in such circumstances will be either to flee the place of occurrence or to go to the police station to surrender, except in cases where they are intelligent and seasoned criminals. Neither did happen, Justice Ramasubramanian observed. Besides, the apex court said the police story that the brothers fought over Kishore’s debt of ₹250 to Ruia was unbelievable. The reason why the Investigating Officer did not even suspect the role of Ruia and Kailash Yadav in the commission of the crime remains unexplained, Justice Ramasubramanian observed. The Bench said neither the trial court nor the High Court had discharged their duties properly in the case. The apex court also noted that the three family members did not have competent defence lawyers in the case. They were ordered to be released immediately.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Former Afghan president Karzai meets Taliban faction chief

A Taliban commander and senior leader of the Haqqani Network militant group, Anas Haqqani, has met former Afghan President Hamid Karzai for talks, a Taliban official said on Wednesday, amid efforts by the Taliban to set up a government, Reuters reported. Karzai was accompanied by the old government’s main peace envoy, Abdullah Abdullah, in the meeting, said the Taliban official, who declined to be identified. The Haqqani Network is an important faction of the Taliban, who captured the capital, Kabul, on Sunday. The network, based on the border with Pakistan, was accused over recent years of some of the most deadly militant attacks in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it has accepted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his family for humanitarian considerations. Ghani fled Afghanistan just as the Taliban approached Kabul. The statement, carried by the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency on Wednesday, did not say where Ghani was in the country. In this handout photograph released by the Taliban, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center left, senior Haqqani group leader Anas Haqqani, center right, Abdullah Abdullah, second right, head of Afghanistan’s National Reconciliation Council and former government negotiator with the Taliban, and others in the Taliban delegation, meet in Kabul, in Afghanistan, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021.  In another development, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, on the situation in Afghanistan and they agreed to hold a virtual G7 leaders’ meeting next week to discuss a common strategy and approach, the White House said. The two leaders discussed the need for continued close coordination among allies and democratic partners on Afghanistan policy going forward, including ways the global community can provide further humanitarian assistance and support for refugees and other vulnerable Afghans, the White House said in a statement. The decision by U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to stick to the troop withdrawal deal struck by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump has stirred widespread criticism at home and among U.S. allies. The United States and Western allies resumed evacuating diplomats and civilians on Tuesday, the day after scenes of chaos at Kabul airport as Afghans thronged the runway. As they rush to evacuate, foreign powers are assessing how to respond to the transformed situation on the ground after Afghan forces melted away in just days, with what many had predicted as the likely fast unraveling of women’s rights. A Downing Street spokesperson said Johnson in the call with Biden stressed the importance of not losing the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, of protecting ourselves against any emerging threat from terrorism, and of continuing to support the people of Afghanistan, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

China to curb ‘excessive income’ in push for common prosperity

In the wake of regulatory crackdown targeting alleged monopolistic behaviour of some of China’s biggest private sector companies, China’s Communist Party leadership has signalled that next in its sights are the country’s wealthy. Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping said measures will be introduced to curb excessive incomes and promote common prosperity, following a meeting on Tuesday of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, which he heads. Observers noted the timing of the meeting held particular significance, as the first notable public appearance of the leadership and the first major political announcement following the annual secretive retreat of top present and past leaders in the town of Beidaihe, believed to have taken place in early August. Mr. Xi was quoted as saying by official media that common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism. Specific measures were not mentioned but an adjustment to the taxation structure is one possibility, analysts said. A readout of the meet said rather than being egalitarian or having only a few people prosperous, common prosperity refers to affluence shared by everyone, both in material and cultural terms, and shall be advanced step by step. Mr. Xi said common prosperity would be essential to strengthen the foundation for the party’s long term governance ahead of the second centenary goal, referring to 2049 when the People’s Republic of China turns 100. Ending absolute poverty was the party’s goal for the first centenary, marked this year when the party turned 100. The meeting called for establishing a scientific public policy system and a reasonable distribution system. The readout said China’s reform and opening period saw the party summarize both positive and negative historical experiences, referring to the turmoil of the Mao years, realizing that poverty is not socialism and allowing some people and regions to get rich first. Since the 18th Party Congress in 2012, the party placed greater importance on gradually achieving common prosperity for all people, the readout said. It also called for implementing the requirements of strict governance across the board and to enhance the supervisory capacity of the financial system, suggesting that the regulatory crackdown of the past year is set to continue.

NATIONAL NEWS

CJI hits out at ‘speculative’ reports on Supreme Court Collegium recommendations 

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Wednesday voiced in open court his extreme displeasure over speculative reports in certain sections of the media about the Supreme Court Collegium having recommended nine names for judicial appointments to the top court. The CJI said the reports were irresponsible and counter-productive. Today’s reflections in some sections of the media, pending the process, even before formalizing the resolution is counter-productive. There were instances of deserving career progression of bright talents getting marred because of such irresponsible reporting and speculation. This is very unfortunate and I am extremely upset about it, Chief Justice Ramana said. The CJI was heading a Ceremonial Bench convened on the occasion of Justice Navin Sinha’s retirement. The CJI said Collegium meetings were going on. The process of judicial appointment is a sacrosanct function of the Collegium. The media should not harm the integrity and dignity of the process by indulging in speculation. You are all aware we need to appoint judges to this court. The process is ongoing. Meetings will be held and decisions will be taken. The process of appointment of judges is sacrosanct and has certain dignity attached to it. My media friends must understand and recognise the sanctity of this process. As an institution, we hold the freedom of media and the rights of individuals in high esteem, Chief Justice Ramana said, urging the media to report with a certain sense of responsibility and maturity. The CJI also commended journalists who had shown restraint. I must also place on record the tremendous amount of maturity and responsibility displayed by the majority of senior journalists and media houses in showing restraint and not speculating on such a serious matter. Such professional journalists and ethical media are the real strength of the Supreme Court in particular and democracy in general. You are part of our system. I expect all the stakeholders to uphold the integrity and dignity of this institution, the Chief Justice said.

 

Samajwadi Party MP booked on sedition charge for comments on Taliban 

Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Shafiqur Rahman Barq was booked on sedition charges for allegedly drawing a parallel between the struggle of freedom fighters during India’s Independence and the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, police said on Wednesday. Dr. Barq was also charged with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and promoting enmity between different groups. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Rajesh Singhal, reportedly a BJP leader, but described as a private person by the police. SP Sambhal Chakresh Mishra said Dr. Barq’s comments were inflammatory. On Monday, the five-time MP from Uttar Pradesh said that the Taliban wanted to run Afghanistan themselves as per their will. He further said that when India was fighting for Independence against the British rule, the entire country came together. Similarly, he said, the Taliban wanted to free their country that was captured by the U.S. and, earlier, Russia. Taliban is a force there.They want to run the country themselves as per their ways, said Barq, who also described it an internal matter of Afghanistan. Mishra said two others, Faizan Chaudhary and Mohammad Muqeem, who allegedly posted comments in support of the Taliban, were also booked in the FIR. They made inflammatory statements regarding the Taliban, said the SP. A private person Rajesh Singhal in a written complaint said that in a media briefing Dr. Barq compared the Taliban to the freedom fighters in India and rejoiced over their victory, he said.

 

Shashi Tharoor cleared of all charges in Sunanda Pushkar death case 

A Delhi court on Wednesday discharged Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from all charges, including abetment to suicide, in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in January 2014. The accused (Mr Tharoor) is discharged, said Special Judge Geetanjli Goel while asking the MP from Thiruvananthapuram to furnish a requisite bond. Most grateful, your honour. It’s been seven-and-half years of absolute torture. I really appreciate it, said Tharoor, who was present during the video conferencing hearing, immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict. Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. The Delhi Police’s charge sheet had named Tharoor as an accused for alleged offences under Sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code (abetment of suicide). Tharoor was granted anticipatory bail in the matter by a Sessions court on July 5, 2018. Following that order, a magisterial court converted the anticipatory bail into regular bail after he appeared before it on July 7 in pursuance to the summons issued by the Metropolitan Magistrate in the matter. Earlier, Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tharoor, had argued that the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) completely exonerated his client of all the charges levelled against him. The senior advocate had asked to discharge Tharoor in the case as there was no evidence against him to prove the offences of cruelty or abetment of suicide. Later, Tharoor issued a statement thanking the judge and his lawyers. I would like to express my humble thanks to Judge Geetanjali Goel for her orders today, discharging me from the charges levied by the Delhi police, which I have consistently described as preposterous, Tharoor said. This brings a significant conclusion to the long nightmare which had enveloped me after the tragic passing of my late wife Sunanda. I have weathered dozens of unfounded accusations and media vilification patiently, sustained by my faith in the Indian judiciary, which today stands vindicated, he said.

 

Supreme Court pulls up Army for ‘regressive mindset’, allows women, as interim measure, to take NDA exam

The Supreme Court pulled up the Army for its regressive mindset while allowing women, as an interim measure, to take the National Defence Academy (NDA) examination on September 5. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy found it absurd that women were not allowed to appear for the NDA even after the apex court, in a judgment, directed Permanent Commission for women in the Army. Why are you continuing in this direction? Even after Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s judgment expanding the horizons and extending Permanent Commission in the Army to women? This is unfounded now! We are finding it absurd! Will the Army only act when a judicial order is passed? Not otherwise? Justice Kaul asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati. Senior advocate Chinmoy Pradip Sharma and advocates Mohit Paul and Sunaina Phul appeared for the petitioners. Bhati said she had, as a private lawyer, represented the women officers who fought for Permanent Commission, in the apex court. She argued that it was a policy decision not to allow women to take the NDA exam while they were permitted entry through the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and the Officers Training Academy (OTA). The court asked why co-education is a problem in the NDA. The policy decision is based on gender discrimination, it observed, asking the Army and the government to take an expansive and constructive view on the issue. It asked the UPSC to give maximum publicity to its interim order. It said it would consider the larger issue of admission of women to the NDA as a policy later on.

 

NHRC expert group concerned over slow pace of criminal justice reform 

A group of experts under the National Human Rights Commission (NJRC) on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over the slow pace of reforms in the criminal justice system to ensure speedy justice, an NHRC statement said. The NHRC core group on the criminal justice system held its first meeting on Wednesday where experts said the delay in disposal of cases was leading to human rights violations of the under-trials and convicts. NHRC member Justice (retired) M.M. Kumar, who chaired the meeting, said despite the Supreme Court directions on police reforms, there had been hardly any changes on the ground. He said special laws and fast-track courts could replace certain offences under the Indian Penal Code, in order to reduce the piling up of cases at every police station.  NHRC chairperson Justice (retd.) A.K. Mishra said not only were trials getting delayed, but court orders convicting a person also take years to implement. He said digitisation of documents would help in speeding up investigations and trials.  According to estimates, there were about 4.4 crore pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and district courts, NHRC secretary general Bimbadhar Pradhan said. Among the suggestions that came up during the meeting were increasing the awareness of laws among police personnel, increasing the number of police personnel and stations in proportion to the number of complaints in an area, and including social workers and psychologists in the criminal justice system.

 

Supreme Court dismisses Maharashtra govt plea against CBI probe into transfer, posting of police by Anil Deshmukh 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea of the Maharashtra government seeking to set aside two paragraphs related to transfer and posting of police officers and reinstatement of an officer from the CBI’s FIR against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said it is not inclined to interfere with the July 22 order of the Bombay High Court and dismissed the petition. The top court said it cannot dilute the direction of a constitutional court ordering a CBI probe by drawing a line for the agency on which aspect the investigation should be done. CBI has to investigate all aspects of the allegations and we cannot limit them. This will be like denuding the powers of a constitutional court, the bench said. It said that an impression is being created that the state is trying to protect the former home minister by not allowing the probe on the aspect of transfer and posting of police officers and reinstatement of additional police inspector Sachin Waze. Advocate Rahul Chitnis, appearing for the Maharashtra government, said the state has withdrawn consent for the CBI probe and the High Court direction for a probe was limited to allegations of collection of money from bars and restaurants and not on transfer, posting of police officers and reinstatement of Waze into the police force. On July 22, the Bombay HC said the CBI can inquire into the transfer and postings of police personnel and the reinstatement of Waze in the Mumbai Police force so far as this has a nexus with Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh and his associates.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government.

The Taliban declared an amnesty across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed. Following a blitz across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without a fight, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed a brutal rule in the late 1990s. But many Afghans remain skeptical. Older generations remember the Taliban’s ultraconservative Islamic views, which included severe restrictions on women as well as public stonings and amputations before they were ousted by the U.S-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The capital of Kabul remained quiet for another day as the Taliban patrolled its streets and many residents stayed home, fearful after the insurgents’ takeover saw prisons emptied and armories looted. Many women have expressed dread that the two-decade Western experiment to expand their rights and remake Afghanistan would not survive the resurgent Taliban. Germany, meanwhile, halted development aid to Afghanistan over the Taliban takeover. Such aid is a crucial source of funding for the country, and the Taliban’s efforts to project a milder version of themselves may be aimed at ensuring that money continues to flow. The promises of amnesty from Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, were the first comments on how the Taliban might govern on a national level. His remarks remained vague, however, as the Taliban are still negotiating with political leaders of the country’s fallen government and no formal handover deal has been announced. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with full dignity and honesty has announced a complete amnesty for all Afghanistan, especially those who were with the opposition or supported the occupiers for years and recently, he said. Other Taliban leaders have said they won’t seek revenge on those who worked with the Afghan government or foreign countries. But some in Kabul allege Taliban fighters have lists of people who cooperated with the government and are seeking them out. A broadcaster in Afghanistan said she was hiding at a relative’s house, too frightened to return home, much less return to work following reports that the insurgents are also looking for journalists. She said she and other women didn’t believe the Taliban had changed their ways. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety. Samangani addressed the concerns of women, saying they were the main victims of the more than 40 years of crisis in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to provide women with the environment to work and study, and the presence of women in different (government) structures according to Islamic law and in accordance with our cultural values, he said. That would be a marked departure from the last time the Taliban were in power, when women were largely confined to their homes. Samangani didn’t describe exactly what he meant by Islamic law, implying people already knew the rules. In another sign of the Taliban’s efforts to portray a new image, a female television anchor on the private broadcaster Tolo interviewed a Taliban official on camera Tuesday in a studio an interaction that once would have been unthinkable. Meanwhile, women in hijabs demonstrated briefly in Kabul, holding signs demanding the Taliban not eliminate women from public life. Talks continued Tuesday between the Taliban and several Afghan government officials, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council. Discussions focused on how a Taliban-dominated government would operate given the changes in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, rather than just dividing up who controlled what ministries, officials with knowledge of the negotiations said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential details of the talks.

Islamic State, JeM, LeT fighters have entered Afghan capital, say sources on the ground.

A large number of fighters belonging to the Islamic State (IS), Jaish e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have entered the Afghan capital Kabul in the last few days, sources on the ground have informed. The Taliban leadership is aware of the presence of these foreign terrorists, who entered the city carrying the Taliban flag. It is understood that the groups are operating in different parts of Kabul city and are not under the control of the Taliban. Under the agreement with the United States, the Taliban are committed to prevent terrorist groups from operating in Afghanistan and are expected to evict these groups from Kabul in the next few days. An Afghan human rights worker who works closely with the Taliban political office in Doha said that the next few days are going to be critical as the groups may indulge in operations on their own in violation of the orders of the Taliban leadership. Taliban leaders are trying to mobilise themselves to prevent the foreign fighters from finding a base in Kabul and some developments in that direction took place late on Monday with the arrival of Mullah Yaqub, son of the late Mullah Omar, founder of the Taliban. Yaqub arrived from Quetta, where the Taliban leaders have been based for decades. He is the ‘Chief of Operations’ of the Taliban forces, and it is expected that he will soon begin firming up Taliban’s rule over Kabul. There are concerns about possible clashes that may take place between these terror groups and the Taliban if the latter try to dislodge them militarily. Irrespective of the threats, the Taliban have asked them to leave Afghanistan and they will have to obey the orders, said the human rights worker over phone from a location in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already engaged former President Hamid Karzai, Tajik leader and former CEO of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah, and Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar seeking support in forming the next government of Afghanistan. The transition can begin once the political leadership arrives from Qatar. As of now, it appears that the arrival of the political team has been delayed because of the chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport, which remains under the control of the U.S. government. Ensuring security of Kabul will be a major challenge for the Taliban in the first phase of their government. The international community will be keenly watching the Taliban’s commitment to ensure Afghanistan remains free of terror elements such as IS or Daesh, JeM and LeT. Sources said that in the absence of effective police forces on the ground, there is a high probability of violence by these terror outfits that may also secure enclaves in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Pegasus case: Supreme Court issues pre-admission notice to Centre on pleas

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued pre-admission notice to the Central government on petitions seeking an independent inquiry into the allegations that the government used Israeli-based Pegasus spyware to snoop on citizens. The court made it clear to the government that none of us want to compromise the defence of the nation… but there are citizens, some of them persons of eminence, who have complained of hacking of their phones. After issuing notice, a Bench of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, and Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose said it would consider the further course of action, including the formation of a committee to inquire into the allegations, in due time. The court listed the case for hearing after 10 days. The notice was issued after the government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, stood firm by its two-page affidavit denying all and any allegations. Mehta said any revelation about any software allegedly used by the government to counter terrorism would compromise national security. They [petitioners] want us to say whether Pegasus was used or no Softwares are used. They want to know which software is used… No government will say which software is used because if we divulge, terrorists may take advantage. Which software is used or not is a matter of national security. It cannot be a matter of public debate, Mehta stated at the start of the virtual hearing. He clarified that the government was not refusing to reveal anything to anybody at all. We are just saying we will not reveal it publicly, he observed. The government had agreed in court to form a committee of experts to inquire into the reports of Pegasus snooping, he noted. Justice Kant said there was no question of compromising national security. We are not going to ask you to divulge anything that will harm the defence of the nation… But the question here is that there are some persons of eminence who have come here, saying there has been interception of their phones. That can be done, but with the permission of the competent authority. What is the problem if that competent authority filed an affidavit before us? he explained. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for veteran journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, said The security of the State is as important to the citizen as it is to the State. On Monday, Sibal rebutted the affidavit on five points. One, he said it was filed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and not the Ministry of Home Affairs which authorised surveillance under the law. Secondly, the affidavit skipped the part on whether the government or its agencies used Pegasus at all. Thirdly, he stated that if the government did not get the time to study the petitions and reply to them, then the court should give them the time. Fourth, he countered that the affidavit did not even say whether the facts and contentions in the petitions were right or wrong. Finally, and most importantly, we do not want a government who might have used Pegasus, to form a committee of experts to inquire into the issue. As far as I am concerned, the issue is simple. If the government says they have used the Pegasus, there is no need for a committee. If the government says they have not used the Pegasus, then too, there is no need for a committee, Sibal had reasoned.

 

Congress counters ‘oil bonds burden’ argument on fuel prices

The Congress party on August 16 accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of falsely citing the oil bonds issued by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as the reason for not reducing fuel prices. The Finance Minister ruled out a cut in the excise duty on petrol and diesel for now, saying that the government has to pay for the oil bonds issued by the UPA in the past. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said oil bonds of ₹1.3 lakh crores are not even due for payment so far and that the government has collected much more revenue in seven years. Don’t lie. Oil Bonds of ₹1.3 lakh crore are not even due for payment so far, he said on Twitter. Till April 2021, payment made on oil bonds is ₹3,500 crore only, yet you falsely hold UPA responsible, Surjewala said. Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, please stop falsehood or dare to contradict… BJP raised central taxes on petrol and diesel by ₹23.87 and ₹28.37 per litre in seven years. Modi Government collected additional ₹17.29 lakh crore, he added. He also alleged that the government has extorted ₹22,33,868 crores by levying excise on petrol and diesel in the last seven years. The Congress leader said that in 2020-21 alone, Modi Tax on petrol and diesel was ₹4,53,812 crore. He also listed other taxes imposed and total revenue collection from the petroleum sector to support his claim. His remarks came after Sitharaman said if she did not have the burden to service the oil bonds, she would have been in a position to reduce excise duty on fuel. A significant amount is going for interest payment and principal repayment. What unfair burden on me, she said, adding, previous government has made our job difficult by issuing oil bonds. Even if I want to do something I am paying through my nose for the oil bond.

 

India evacuates all Kabul embassy personnel

After a tense day when diplomats were turned back from travelling by Taliban guards, 140 Indians, including about 120 Indian embassy staff and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, 16 civilians, and four media persons flew back to Delhi on board a special military flight on Tuesday. The flight, a C-17 Globemaster, was one of the two aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force for bringing home all Indian personnel from the embassy. However, the government maintained that it has not abandoned Afghans, and launched a new e-visa category especially for Afghan nationals wishing to come to India. We were a very large mission of 192 personnel, who were evacuated from Afghanistan within a period of three days in a very orderly fashion in two phases, said Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, during a refuelling stopover in Jamnagar on Tuesday, where he thanked the Air Force for the evacuation effort. On August 16, another C-17 flight brought back about 40 diplomats and other personnel, after the others were turned back from driving to the airport by Taliban guards in Kabul, who stopped their convoy, confiscated some equipment and forced them back to the embassy. According to sources, some difficult and uncertain hours followed, as Indian diplomats, led by Tandon, coordinated with the new militia now in control of the capital and other diplomatic missions to ensure the safe passage of the convoy out of Kabul, and then to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, currently under the control of U.S.-led NATO troops. After spending the night at the airport, all Indians were boarded around 6 a.m. According to flight tracker data, both the flights took a long and circuitous route, avoiding Pakistani airspace and minimising travel through the Afghan airspace, to fly over Iran and returned to India over the Arabian Sea, and back over Gujarat. In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson tweeted, announcing the evacuation, but did not clarify whether the India’s diplomatic presence in Afghanistan has ended. Government officials also clarified that they would open visa applications of Afghans of all religions, including Hindus and Sikhs, that they had earlier issued statements about. On Tuesday, the MEA set up a MEA’s 24×7 Special Afghanistan Cell for all those needing evacuation once commercial operations begin on Tuesday. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs introduced a new category of electronic visa called e-Emergency X-Misc Visa to fast-track the visa applications of all Afghans wishing to travel to India, which will be a six-month visa that will be granted online. The return of all staff means that the Indian diplomatic mission in Afghanistan is at least, temporarily, closed. India closed its missions in Jalalabad and Herat last year and the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar e Sharif ast month. The government will now have to decide on the nature of relations with the Taliban government in Kabul, once it is formally announced, and whether to even maintain a basic engagement in order to continue flight operations into Kabul to evacuate more civilians.