NATIONAL NEWS
Pegasus issue: SC agrees to Centre’s request to adjourn hearing of pleas for independent probe
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to the Centre’s request to adjourn the hearing of petitions for an independent probe into allegations of the government using Israeli-based Pegasus spyware to snoop on citizens. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana adjourned the hearing to September 13 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he could not meet with officials to discuss the issue. Mehta indicated that the government may be filing an affidavit in the case, and he needed time to meet with the officials concerned. Earlier, in August, the government had filed a two-page affidavit denying all and any allegations. Haven’t you already filed an affidavit? the CJI referred to the August affidavit. Mehta submitted that the court had left it open for the government to file another, detailed affidavit, if necessary. The court had issued pre-admission in the case on August 17. In fact, on that day, the government had argued against a public hearing of the case, citing national security concerns. The Centre had asked the court, instead, to allow it to form an independent committee of experts to look into Pegasus snooping reports. As a responsible government, we are submitting that we will form a Committee of neutral experts, whose report will be placed before the Supreme Court… I repeat, it is not my case that I will not divulge anything. All will be revealed before the Committee… Let me do that before a Committee… Permit us to form a Committee… We will place its report before the Supreme Court itself, Mehta had urged the court on August 17. The court had, however, made it clear that 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… We are extremely reluctant to say anything on that. 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? In the affidavit we don’t want a single word on any aspect that relates to the security of the nation… All we are saying is that we are issuing simple notice… Let the competent authority say to what extent what information can be disclosed, Justice Surya Kant had explained.
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s father arrested for ‘derogatory’ remarks against community
The Raipur Police have arrested Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s father, Nand Kumar Baghel, from Delhi in a case registered against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against a community, an official said here on Tuesday. After being brought from the national capital, Nand Kumar Baghel was produced in a local court which sent him to jail under judicial remand for 15 days, he said. The CM had strongly disapproved of the objectionable remarks allegedly made by his 86-year-old father and asserted nobody is above law. Nand Kumar Baghel was arrested and brought from Delhi to Raipur on Tuesday, Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police Tarkeshwar Patel said. He was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Janak Kumar Hidko, who sent him to 15-day judicial custody, he added. According to police, the octogenarian did not apply for bail. The case against Nand Kumar Baghel was lodged on Saturday night at the DD Nagar police station in Raipur on a complaint filed by the ‘Sarv Brahmin Samaj’ against him. He was charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 505(1)(b) (with intent to cause, or likely to cause, fear or alarm to public, or to any section of public whereby any person may be induced to commit offence against the State or against public tranquility), police had said. The outfit, in its complaint, alleged that the CM’s father recently made a controversial appeal to people to boycott Brahmins by calling them foreigners, and asked people to not let them enter their villages. The organisation also accused Nand Kumar Baghel of asking people to evict Brahmins from the country. The organisation had said a video of the purported comments of the CM’s father was available on social media platforms. According to the police, Nand Kumar Baghel reportedly made the remarks while addressing an event in Uttar Pradesh recently. After a controversy erupted over the alleged remarks of his father, the Chief Minister had said he was pained and asserted nobody was above law and police will take appropriate action in the matter. The remarks made by my father Nand Kumar Baghel against a specific class have come to my attention. The comments have hurt the sentiments of the class as well as (affected) social harmony and I am also pained by them, Bhupesh Baghel had said in a statement. Nobody is above law under my government even if he is the chief minister’s 86-year-old father, the Congress CM had added. The statement further reiterated that Chhattisgarh government respects every religion, caste and community and their sentiments, and gives equal importance to everyone.
Rona Wilson granted 14 days bail for father’s last rites
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday granted 14 days bail to activist Rona Wilson to complete his father’s last rites. Wilson, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, was arrested on March 6, 2018, and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail. He will be released on a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one or two sureties. Special Judge D.E. Kothalikar directed that Wilson be released from September 13 to September 27 so that he could go to his home in Kerala and attend a mass for his father scheduled on September 16. Wilson’s father passed away on August 18 and he moved the special court seeking permission on September 1 to go home. His plea, filed through advocate R. Satyanarayan, sought interim bail of two weeks on humanitarian grounds as meeting his family would bring him some solace. The court granted bail on condition that Wilson would submit details of travel to the NIA Superintendent with address of stay at Kerala; he would submit details of at least three blood relations with proof of residential and work addresses; he would surrender his passport before the court; he would mark his presence on September 14 and September 24; and he would surrender on September 27 at 6 p.m. The NIA opposed the plea and said, Neither is his [Mr. Wilson’s] presence necessary nor has he proved that the ceremonial mass at the church could not happen in his absence. He is simply creating a ground to be released.
Farmers gather in Karnal for mahapanchayat, talks with officials ‘fail’
Farmers gathered in large numbers in Karnal for a mahapanchayat as the local authorities braced themselves for a possible gherao of the district headquarters by protesters after talks between farm leaders and officials appeared to yield no result. Farmer unions had demanded action against officials over the lathicharge against protesters on August 28 in Karnal. Otherwise, they had threatened, farmers will lay siege to the Karnal mini-Secretariat. As farmers gathered for the mahapanchayat, an 11-member delegation was invited by the local administration to discuss their demands and dissuade them from marching towards the secretariat. The administration did not agree to our demands, Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union [Chaduni] leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni told reporters three hours after the talks began. He said the talks had failed to yield results. Now, the next course of action will be decided at the mahapanchayat, he said when asked if the protesters will go ahead with their plan to gherao the district headquarters, a few kilometres away. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters that they had demanded the suspension of the IAS officer who was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to break heads of protesting farmers if they crossed the line. Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Darshan Pal and Yogendra Yadav were among the senior Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders who had reached Karnal for the rally being held days after a huge mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting for months over the three farm laws enacted by the Centre, claiming that the legislation will lead to the erosion of the minimum support price (MSP) system.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Taliban disperse Kabul rally, arrest journalists
As many Afghans took to the streets staging small, isolated demonstrations in various cities, including the capital Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban on Tuesday fired shots into the air to disperse crowds. The protesters, mainly women, had gathered for an anti-Pakistan rally in the capital, the latest protest since the hardline Islamist movement swept to power last month. Tuesday’s demonstration comes after the Taliban claimed total control over Afghanistan a day earlier, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last holdout of resistance against their rule. The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), however, rejected their claim and said the NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight against the Taliban. Panjshir, which was the last hideout of the escapee enemy, is captured, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said in a press conference on Monday. However, Ahmad Massoud, son of a hero of the resistance to the Soviets and the Taliban, remained defiant and said that the NRFA is still fighting strategically and that the valley is still not captured by Taliban. Earlier on Monday, Taliban announced that Mullah Baradar, the militant group co-founder, would head the government. Hours after this announcement, however, the Taliban postponed the formation of the government by a week.
Germany protests to Russia over pre-poll cyberattacks.
Germany has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data from lawmakers in what it suspects may have been preparation to spread disinformation before the upcoming German election, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said that a hacker outfit called Ghostwriter has been Pcombining conventional cyberattacks with disinformation and influence operations, and that activities targeting Germany have been observed for some time. She said that, ahead of Germany’s parliamentary election on Sept. 26, there have been attempts – using phishing emails, among other things — to get hold of personal login details of federal and state lawmakers, with the aim of identity theft. These attacks could serve as preparations for influence operations such as disinformation campaigns connected with the parliamentary election, she told reporters in Berlin. The German government has reliable information on the basis of which Ghostwriter activities can be attributed to cyber-actors of the Russian state and, specifically, Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, Sasse said.
