NATIONAL NEWS
Singhu murder: Congress questions Union Minister’s meeting with Nihang leader
Photographs of a meeting between Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar and Baba Aman Singh, leader of the ‘Nihang’ sect, whose members have confessed to killing a young man at the Singhu border in Haryana’s Sonipat, has created a flutter in political circles. The Agriculture Ministry, however, made it clear that the meeting that was held in July this year was not an official meeting and took place at the residence of Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary. The photographs of the meeting show Tomar, Choudhary, Gurmeet Singh Pinki — a Punjab police officer who was dimissed from service and convicted for murder — and Baba Aman Singh together. The photograph was taken at a meeting, which took place in July at Kailash Choudhary’s residence, it was a courtesy meeting… As a politician, Tomar meets with a lot of people and his doors are always open to religious leaders, a senior official told The Hindu. Asked whether the meeting was in relation to the farmers’ protests, the official denied any connection. With the photographs going ‘viral’ on social media platforms, the Congress hit out at the BJP, demanding an explanation. Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Tuesday said there appeared to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame the ongoing farmers’ agitation against Centre’s farm laws. Randhawa said the government will get to the bottom of the case and identify and expose the conspirators behind the incident. In view of the recent disclosures about one of the ‘Nihang’ leaders having already been in touch with the government of India, Minister for Agriculture N.S. Tomar in particular, the lynching incident has now taken an entirely different turn. The same Nihang leader is now defending the main accused for the killing of the victim (Lakhbir Singh). The victim belonged to village Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran and was very poor. We need to find out who lured him to Singhu border and who paid for his travel as he could not even afford his meals, said the Deputy Chief Minister. He added that he had instructed the local administration to find out under what circumstances Lakhbir was taken from his home to the Singhu border. Randhawa also asked in what capacity the Nihang leader had met the Minister and whether he was mandated to do so by the farmers’ organisations spearheading the campaign against three black farm laws. This has raised genuine doubts and suspicion among the minds of people, which will need to be cleared and the Punjab government will do everything to reach to the root of the conspiracy and expose and punish the culprits, he said. Incessant rain claims 11 more lives in Uttarakhand; Nainital cut off from rest of State. Eleven more deaths were reported in Uttarakhand on Tuesday as incessant rains continued to lash various parts of the state, especially the Kumaon region, razing houses to the ground and leaving many trapped in the debris. This takes the toll in rain-related incidents across Uttarakhand to 16, with five deaths reported on Monday. Nainital was cut off from the rest of the state, with three roads leading to the popular tourist spot blocked due to a series of landslides.
Sizeable number of eligible COVID-19 vaccination beneficiaries have not received their second dose, says Health Ministry
A good number of COVID-19 vaccination beneficiaries have not received their second dose and the States have been asked to focus on this, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said. He reviewed the progress of vaccination with senior health officials of States and Union Territories (UTs) earlier this week. The country launched the vaccination programme on January 16. Bhushan noted that the nation was close to administering a billion doses. Many States had adequate doses to vaccinate those awaiting the second dose. The Central Government is in a position to provide additional vaccine doses to the States/UTs so that they can complete the second dose vaccination. We also need to improve the momentum of the vaccination drive, he stressed. The Health Ministry stated that the government had advised the States and the UTs to identify and prioritise districts having low coverage for focused action and explore requirements for mobilisation efforts, address local challenges, look for the need for additional COVID-19 vaccination centres, and improve the access in rural areas. They were also requested to share their strategies to enhance second dose coverage. The Ministry pointed out that it was now in the process of reviewing international travel guidelines in consultation with all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bureau of Immigration, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs. The States and the UTs have been requested to share their suggestions or feedback.
Central Vista architect may be used by A.P. for tri-city spread
The Andhra Pradesh government is likely to rope in the architect of the Central Vista in New Delhi, Bimal Patel, for its tri-city spread of government offices and Assembly buildings, with the executive branch being settled in the port city of Visakhapatnam. The Andhra Pradesh government plans to shift its executive wing, including the Chief Minister’s Office, to Visakhapatnam. There is a court case with regard to some plans that need to be sorted out but the tri-city plans are still on, said a senior State official. The land acquired in Amaravati would be used to set up Assembly buildings and the Andhra Pradesh High Court would come up in Kurnool. The Andhra Pradesh government has shortlisted Bimal Patel’s firm for the project, as the company’s experience in public buildings is commendable, said the source. Speaking to The Hindu, Patel observed that as of now, we are doing a guest house project for the government of Andhra Pradesh. Government officials in Andhra Pradesh said court cases needed to be settled before anything could go ahead formally. Patel, a leading architect, especially in the space of public buildings and projects, is the man behind the Central Vista project redrawing the Parliament building and much of office space of the Central ministries. He had designed the Ahmedabad riverfront project, and is currently involved in the redevelopment of Sabarmati Ashram, which was established by Mahatma Gandhi. The capital of Andhra Pradesh had earlier been finalised as Amaravati and extensive land acquisition via land pooling had taken place. The election of Jagan Mohan Reddy as Chief Minister in 2019, however, led to a change of plans and a slew of legal challenges and counter challenges, including one on the new government’s plans to divide the capital into three areas. On the question of why Visakhapatnam was chosen by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government as the site of a new capital, a senior YSRCP leader said the city had both an airport and a seaport, offices of major Public Sector Undertakings and a potential to become a metropolis.
Worth a lesson for law students on how long a civil case could drag on, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has signed off a hard-fought, five-rounder litigation which dates back half a century regarding a debt of ₹3,000. We wish this will be the knock-out round, Justice V. Ramasubramanian, who authored the judgment for a Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta, conveyed the top court’s fervent hope in the very first paragraph of the 22-page verdict. The court compared the habit of the litigants to bounce back after every failed round to King Vikramaditya’s relentless pursuit to capture the ghost, Betal. Not to be put off by repeated failures, the appellants herein, like the tireless Vikramaditya, who made repeated attempts to capture Betal, started the present round and hopefully the final round, Justice Ramasubranian observed while tracing the labyrinthine history of the case. The dispute dates back to 1971 between Rama Rani Devi and Sasadhar Biswas before the Munsif court in West Bengal. The subject of their dispute was the ₹3,000 Biswas owed Devi. In 1974, the Munsif directed Biswas to pay Devi the amount in six equal installments. However, the Munsif’s decree was not honoured. Devi moved the court for execution of the decree through attachment and sale of 7,450 sq.ft. belonging to Biswas to realise her debt. The civil court agreed. However, Biswas challenged the sale proclamation of the land by the civil court, saying there was material irregularity and fraud in it. But his challenge was dismissed in 1975. An auction sale was held in 1979. Two brothers, Sachindra Nath Mukherjee and Dulal Kanti Mukherjee became the highest bidders. They deposited ₹5,500, as the highest bid amount, in court. Biswas, in July 1980, reached a compromise with the brothers, who agreed to revoke the auction provided he pay them their entire money by December 1980. Biswas deposited ₹3,700 but the brothers had paid ₹5,500 in the auction. The brothers and Biswas had a falling out. The former went to court against Biswas. After several twists and turns, the dispute reached the Supreme Court in 1992 and is dismissed against Biswas. Justice Ramasubramanian said the dispute had exhausted the gunpowder in this first round. But the litigants had no intention to stop. The second round was kick-started with a suit to declare the auction sale void. However, this effort was aborted later. The third round was concerned about the issuance of the sale certificate. This came to an end in 2001. The fourth round followed shortly when the auction purchasers moved the civil court for delivery of possession of the land. This round went on till 2006 until the Supreme Court put its foot down and dismissed a review petition challenging the delivery of the property. But it seems the litigants were in no mood to give up. In the fifth and present round, the Biswas family members raised the ‘bogey’ of jurisdictional error to avoid delivery of the property to the Mukherjees. It had been over four decades since the Mukherjee brothers paid ₹5,500 for the property in the auction held in 1979.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India, Israel, UAE, U.S. decide to launch quadrilateral economic forum
India, Israel, United Arab Emirates and the United States have decided to launch a new quadrilateral economic forum. Quadrilateral builds on ongoing cooperation between U.S., Israel and UAE after the Abraham Accords last year. This QUAD grouping had decided to establish an international forum for economic cooperation and discussed possibilities for joint infrastructure projects expanding economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia. India, the United States, Israel and the UAE have decided to form a forum for future economic cooperation and to explore possibilities of joint infrastructure projects in the fields of Transportation, Technology, Maritime security, Economics, Trade as well as for additional joint projects.
N. Korea test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile, S. Korea says
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, pulling Japan’s new prime minister off the campaign trail and overshadowing the opening of a major arms fair in Seoul. The U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command condemned the launch as destabilising, but judged it did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Pyongyang to comply with Security Council resolutions that ban ballistic missile launches. Deputy U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Gutierrez called for North Korea to swiftly resume diplomatic efforts for peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. South Korean and U.S. officials were investigating if the missile was a smaller, previously unseen version displayed last week at an exhibit in Pyongyang, a South Korean military source told Reuters, citing ongoing analysis. They were also examining whether the missile was fired from North Korea’s experimental Gorae-class submarine, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity. The launch, reported by officials in South Korea and Japan, followed a meeting of U.S. and South Korean envoys in Washington on Monday to discuss the nuclear standoff with the North. North Korea has persisted with military development despite international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched about 10:17 a.m. from the sea in the vicinity of Sinpo, where North Korea keeps submarines as well as equipment for test firing SLBMs.Our military is closely monitoring the situation and maintaining readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States, to prepare for possible additional launches, its statement said. It was not immediately clear if the missile was fired from a submarine or from a submersible test barge, as in most previous tests. A military source said it flew about 430 km to 450 km (267 to 280 miles) to a maximum altitude of 60 km (37 miles). North Korea’s last SLBM test was in October 2019, when a Pukguksong-3 missile was fired from an underwater platform, flying 450 km to a maximum altitude of 910 km
