NEW DELHI, Aug 29: The Centre sought more time from the Supreme Court on Monday to hold meetings with states and Union Territories on the issue of identification of religious minorities, including Hindus, at the state level.
In a status report submitted to the court in response to a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Ministry of Minority Affairs said comments/views of the State Governments including those of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and UT of J & K have not been received as on date.
“A reminder was sent to these states requesting them to furnish their comments/views. Further, comments of states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are also awaited. In these states, the issue may have wider ramifications. The Ministry proposes to hold meetings in the ensuing weeks with the remaining State Governments/Union territories in order to have their views on the matter also.
“That in view of the position stated above, it is humbly submitted that this Hon’ble Court may kindly consider to defer the hearing and allow more time for holding meetings with other State Governments/Union Territories, and also to enable the State Governments/Union Territories and stakeholders with whom the consultative meetings have already been held, to finalise their considered views in the matter,” the ministry said.
The apex court is scheduled to hear the PIL, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, on Tuesday.
The top court had earlier expressed displeasure over the Centre taking different stands on the issue of identification of minorities, including Hindus, at the state level and directed it to hold consultations with states on the issue within three months.
In supersession of its earlier stand, the Centre had told the apex court that the power to notify minorities is vested with the Union government and any decision in this regard will be taken after discussion with states and other stakeholders.
The Centre had in March said it was for the states and Union Territories (UTs) to take a call on whether or not to grant minority status to Hindus and other communities where they are less in number.
The apex court had earlier granted time to the Centre to respond to a plea seeking directions for framing guidelines for identification of minorities at the state level, contending that Hindus are in minority in 10 states.
Upadhyay had challenged the validity of section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act, 2004, alleging that it gives unbridled power to the Centre and termed it “manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and offending”. Section 2(f) of the Act empowers the Centre to identify and notify minority communities in India. (Agencies)
Identification of minorities: Centre seeks more time from SC to hold meetings with states
Life adversely affected in Jammu city by bandh call
Jammu, Aug 29: Life was adversely affected in Jammu city on Monday by the Bandh call given by the Jammu High Court bar association, Chamber of commerce and industry and Yuva Rajput Sabha.
Shops were closed in many areas of the city. Lawyers stayed away from the courts and members of the Jammu chamber of commerce and industry stayed away from business activities.
Although the transporters had announced that they would not join the strike, at many places protesters were seen stopping public transport vehicles forcing them to join the strike.
The authorities have imposed restrictions under section 144 CrPc along all the major bridges in the city. Protesters were seen defying these orders. The situation was peaceful in the city as police did not intervene to restrain the protesters.
Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA) has given the bandh call in support of their demand to house all courts to function from one complex in the city for the facility of advocates and general public.
Yuva Rajput Sabha has demanded that Maharaja Hari Singh’s birth anniversary date of September 24 be declared a annual holiday in the state. (Agencies)
Baldev Raina elected as chairperson FADA Kashmir
Srinagar: Baldev Singh Raina, MD & CEO, Peaks Group of Companies, Jammu & Kashmir, was elected as the State Chairperson of the FADA Kashmir Chapter for the years 2022–2024 at the 58th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).
As per the statement, Raina was elected unanimously as FADA Kashmir Chapter State Chairperson for the years 2022–24.
The Apex National Body of the Indian Automobiles Retail Industry, or FADA, was established in 1964 and is involved in the sale, service, and spare parts of 2/3-wheelers, passenger cars, SUVs, commercial vehicles, including buses, lorries, and tractors. FADA India covers the whole auto retail industry on behalf of more than 15,000 auto dealers with 26,500 dealerships, as well as other associations of car dealers at the regional, state, and local levels.
Together, FADA employs 45 lakh individuals in auto dealerships and service centres, continuously retraining and up-skilling them without evicting them from their current residences.
An accomplishment recognised by Maruti Suzuki India Limited is Raina’s opening of more than thirteen Maruti showrooms in less than 15 years. Maruti Suzuki India Limited has recognised the workshop established at Akhnoor Road as one of the best workshops in the nation. In less than two years after joining the Tata commercial vehicle dealership, he quickly expanded into various Kashmiri locations. In J&K, his organisation now has a 40% market share. The Interlaid Peaks Group has grown to be a major employer in J&K, providing a living for more than 5000 direct and indirect associates.
Vinkesh Gulati, President of FADA, congratulated Baldev Singh Raina on his appointment as State Chairperson for Kashmir Chapter welcomed him on board and showed his confidence in his leadership to drive the FADA Movement in Jammu and Kashmir.
Outsiders in J&K electoral rolls: PAGD to hold another all-party meeting in Jammu next month
SRINAGAR, Aug 29: In an attempt to garner the support of more political and social parties against the inclusion of “non-locals” in Jammu and Kashmir’s electoral roll, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is holding an all-party meeting here next month.
Senior CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami on Monday said the meeting will take place under the leadership of PAGD president Farooq Abdullah at his Jammu residence and is scheduled for 2 pm on September 10.
“The all-party meeting is part of the ongoing consultations to come out with a joint strategy to stand united against any move to include outsiders in the electoral rolls in a bid to influence election results,” Tarigami, who is also PAGD’s convener and spokesperson, said.
The alliance had convened a similar meeting in Srinagar on August 22, which was attended by the Congress, Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal (Mann), besides all of its constituents.
However, the Sajjad Lone-led People’s Conference and Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party had stayed away.
“Any decision to include non-locals in electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and will be contested by all means, including in court,” Abdullah, the National Conference (NC) president and a former chief minister, had said after the meeting.
Abdullah, who chaired that meeting, had said they were united against the move to extend the voting right to “outsiders” as it would rob Jammu and Kashmir of its identity.
“The state’s identity is about to end. The Dogras, Kashmiris, Paharis or Gujjars or Sikhs, who reside here, will lose their identity. The assembly will be in the hands of the outsiders. We all oppose it,” he had said.
PAGD, an amalgam of five political parties – NC, PDP, CPI(M), CPM and Awami National Conference – is campaigning for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status within the Indian Constitution.
Tarigami, who is in Jammu for the past couple of days, said invitations will be forwarded to all parties except the BJP to attend the “important meeting”.
The BJP has been critical of the PAGD and has accused the NC, Peoples Democratic Party and other parties of spreading “propaganda” to poison the minds of the people over the issue of “inclusion of non-local voters” in the revised electoral rolls.
“There is no issue of ‘locals or non-locals’ as the Constitution gives all citizens the right to vote in the country after attaining the age of 18.
The Representation of the People Act was implemented across the country in 1950 and was extended to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 (in August 2019),” BJP president Ravinder Raina had said, adding the revision of electoral rolls was taking place in accordance with the Act.
However, senior AAP leader and former minister Harsh Dev Singh had accused the BJP of misrepresenting and misinterpreting the law to justify the inclusion of non-local voters in the Union territory.
The controversy erupted after Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar said the Union territory is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls, which are being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration, however, had issued a clarification, saying the reports were a “misrepresentation of facts by vested interests” and the increase in numbers will be due to the voters who would attain the age of 18 years by October 1, 2022.
Dissatisfied with the clarification, the NC and other parties claimed the administration has not addressed their main concern on whether “outsiders” ordinarily residing in Jammu and Kashmir will be allowed to enrol as voters. (Agencies)
Taliban says US drones entering Afghanistan through Pakistan
The Taliban’s interim Defence Minister Mullah Yaqub on Sunday has claimed that the US drones were entering the war-torn country through Pakistan, the media reported.
While narrating the one-year performance of the ministry alongside the Army Chief Mullah Fasih Uddin and the spokesperson of the ministry at a press conference in Kabul, Yaqub said: “We hadn’t caught all routes of the drones but our intelligence reported that the US drones were entering through Pakistan.”
“We demand that Pakistan does not allow its air space, to be used by the US he said, adding that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) radar system was destroyed when the Americans evacuated the country last year in August,” Express Tribune reported citing Yaqub.
The defence minister also stated that the number of IEA’s national army reached 150,000 soldiers with eight border groups and each consisting of 3,000 personnel.
Yaqub further demanded all neighbouring countries return their helicopters and aeroplanes and also added that no one would be allowed to station their defence items on their soil.
While answering questions he said that the investigation of the killing of Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman-al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a CIA drone strike in Kabul on July 31, is still underway and is yet to be concluded.
“The US is grossly violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty and the Doha agreement,” he added, Express Tribune reported.
Previously, the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told the media that the war-ravaged country had registered its protest with the US government against using their drones in Afghanistan’s airspace.
The Al-Qaeda chief’s killing in a US drone strike indicates that the US has over the horizon capability to take out high-value targets and importantly without having any US footprints on the ground in Afghanistan.
His killing has raised questions about how the CIA executed the operation. The CIA after the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces has no basis inside Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan, where the US operated after the 9/11 attacks.
Floods inflict $10bn loss on Pakistan
The devastating flash floods in Pakistan have inflicted a loss of at least $10 billion on different sectors of the countrys struggling economy, according to Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail.
Miftah said these were the initial assessments that might escalate after conducting surveys on the ground, The News reported.
The Minister however, did not have the details of the losses faced by each sector of the economy at the moment.
Asked whether the country had taken the donors into confidence on the initial assessment of damage, he replied in the negative.
Top official sources said Islamabad would first seek financial assistance from the international community and then it might assess the damages separately or jointly with the donors to work out the exact figures, but first of all the government would focus on all-out relief efforts in order to rescue the victims.
In the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods, Pakistan and donors assessed the losses caused to different sectors of economy and then the donors helped Islamabad during the reconstruction phase after relief and rehabilitation, The News reported.
Now the same strategy would be adopted.
Initial assessments show that more than 1,000 people and millions of livestock have died in different parts of the country besides damage to an untold number of houses, hotels and roads in major flood-hit areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Since the continued torrential rain and subsequent floods started in June, at least 1,000 people have died and 1,527 people others injured, while 949,858 houses were partially or fully destroyed in the calamity, rendering millions of people homeless in the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in its latest update.
According to the NDMA, the victims include 348 children and 207 women.
Sindh province remained the worst-hit area during the ongoing monsoon, where 347 people were killed and 1,009 others were injured in various accidents.
About 3,451 km of roads, 149 bridges, and 170 shops were swept away by flash floods across the country.
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway blocked at Ramban
JAMMU, Aug 28: The Jammu Srinagar National Highway has been closed for vehicular traffic due to shooting stones and landslides at Ramban, officials said on Sunday.
“Jammu Srinagar National Highway blocked due to continuous shooting stones and mudslide at Cafeteria Mehad Ramban,” Jammu and Kashmir Traffic police said.
The highway is the lifeline of Kashmir valley and is the main road link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country.
Kashmir bound trucks laden with essentials and other vehicles pass through the highway and trucks carrying fruit from Kashmir head for rest of the country through this road.
Indi records 7,591 new COVID cases, 30 deaths
New Delhi, Aug 29: With 7,591 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,44,15,723, while the active cases declined to 84,931, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The death toll climbed to 5,27,799 with 30 new fatalities. Besides 15 deaths have been reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.19 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.62 per cent, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.58 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.69 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,02,993, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry, 211.91 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.
The 30 new fatalities include five each from Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, three each from Mizoram and West Bengal, two from Kerala and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Manipur, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa. (Agencies)
NIT Srinagar Asks Students Not To Watch Today’s India-Pakistan Cricket Match In Groups
SRINAGAR, Aug 28: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) here has asked its students not to watch Sunday’s India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket clash in groups or post anything related to the match on social media platforms.
In a notice issued by the dean of students’ welfare, the institute administration has asked the students to remain in their allotted rooms during the match.
“Students are aware that a cricket series involving various nations is going on in the Dubai International Stadium. Students are hereby directed to take sports as a game and do not create any kind of indiscipline in the institute/hostel,” the notice read.
During Sunday’s match, the students have been directed to remain in their allotted rooms and not allow other students to enter their rooms and watch the match in groups, it said.
“If there is a group of students watching the match in a particular room, then the students to whom that particular room is allotted will be debarred from the institute hostel accommodation and a fine of at least Rs 5,000 will be imposed on all the students involved,” the NIT said.
The students have also been directed to avoid posting any material related to the match on social media platforms. Furthermore, they have been instructed not to step out of the hostel rooms during or after the match.
In 2016, clashes broke out at the institute between outstation and local students following India’s defeat to the West Indies in the T-20 World Cup semi-final, leading to a closure of the NIT for days. (AGENCIES)
