Newsletter 27 Jan

Top 5 of the Day

1. India snubs EU Parliament over anti-CAA resolution, says matter is internal.
2. Centre to give political, economic benefits to Bodos by signing a tripartite agreement
3. Govt offers Air India with loan against aircraft of Rs 23,286 Cr
4. Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 Referred to Joint Parliamentary Committee
5. Govt offers Air India with loan against aircraft of Rs 23,286 Cr

Tweet of the Day..

National

INC leader Kapil Sibal received money from PFI for anti-CAA protests, say sources

New Delhi: Congress leader Kapil Sibal received money from radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) for anti-CAA protests, media sources.

Among other beneficiaries, noted SC lawyer Indira Jaising, Dushyant A Dave and Abdul Samand are said to have received the fund.

The source said that senior Congress leader Sibal received 77 lakh while Jaising received 4 lakh. Rs 11 lakh was transferred into the bank account of Dushyant A Dave and Rs 3.10 lakh to Abdul Samand.

The transaction worth Rs 120 crore is said to have taken place in a total 73 bank accounts by the PFI, said the sources.

As per media, 9 offices have also been opened in the Shaheen Bagh area to fund the ongoing protest.

A state based party, SP Chief Akhilesh Yeadv, who is from UP itself, questioned why Govt failed to check transections?

Enforcement Directorate has sent a note to the MHA, mentioning there is direct link between anti-CAA protests in UP and the PFI. ED has drawn correlation between dates of money deposits in bank accounts and dates of anti-CAA protests.

Later, a clarification has come from Kapil Sibbal Sibal says, he received payment for Hadiya case between 2017 and 2018 only for professional services.

After news flashed in media BJP asked ‘Congress is attempting to divide India! Congress must come clean on PFI link.’

Laws Min RS Prasad to media said, “Law enforcement agencies are doing their job. But if there is suspicious nature of transaction on a particular day then obviously it raises serious apprehension and protests that are organized don’t look voluntary.”

Centre to give political, economic benefits to Bodos by signing a tripartite agreement

New Delhi: The GoI is all set to sign a tripartite agreement with all factions of banned insurgent organization National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) today.

MHA, Amit Shah, in a press briefing along with representatives of the NDFB and the Assam Govt, CM of Assam S Sonowal, after signing the accord, made it clear that the Centre would not make the state’s Bodoland territorial district into a Union Territory.

HM said in briefing, 1550 cadres along with 130 weapons will surrender on 30th Jan. he added “I want to assure all representatives that all promises will be fulfilled in a time-bound manner.”

HM, Amit Shah and representatives of Bru refugees had on Jan 16 signed an agreement to end the long-pending crisis of Bru refugees and for their settlement in Tripura in presence of Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga.

NDFB is an armed separatist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Bodo people. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the GoI, 2018.

Objectives of  NDFB

The main grievances of the group are the under-development in the region and the influx of immigrants. It aims to address these issues by seceding from India, and establishing a sovereign Boroland. The NDFB

constitution, adopted on 10 March 1998, lists its objectives as the following:

·      Liberate Boroland from the Indian expansionism and occupation;

·      Free the Boro nation from the colonialist exploitation, oppression and domination;

·      Establish a Democratic Socialist Society to promote Liberty, Equality and Fraternity; and

·      Uphold the integrity and sovereignty of Boroland.

·      The promotion of the Roman script for the Bodo language is also a significant objective of NDFB and are against the use of Devanagari script for the language.

NDFB signed a ceasefire with the Indian authorities in May 2005.

The general assembly of the outfit held on 14 and 15 April 2015 has vowed to revamp their national struggle and declared that the former interim national council of NDFB led by Songbijit is dissolved and a new national council was formed to fight for the liberation of sovereign, independent Boroland

CAA Row...

Delhi Police books Sharjeel Imam, an activist who came in limelight during ongoing protest in Shaheen Bagh, for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches against amended citizenship act and NRC: Officials

WB: a special session of assembly called today to passed a Resolution against CAA

Delhi: INC leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi arrive at National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) office to file a complaint ‘against the action of the state police on the protesters during demonstrations against CAA.

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal: By the year 2024, we expect the entire Indian railway to be run on 100% electricity. It will be the first railway network in the world to be run on 100% electricity. By 2030, we plan to make the entire railway network a net-zero emission network

Aligarh: Hundreds of AMU students overnight blocked traffic on the main Aligarh-Moradabad Highway demanding release of a student who was held for allegedly heckling the AMU Vice Chancellor during his Republic Day speech, a university official said on Monday. The blockade, which started on Sunday evening, continued till 2 am, the official said.

Govt offers Air India with loan against aircraft of Rs 23,286 Cr

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri: The newly constituted Air India mechanism, headed by Home Minister, has approved to invite expression of interest from the interested bidders for a strategic disinvestment of Air India.

Due to its accumulated debt of around Rs 60,000 Crores the financial position could be described as very fragile and Air India can only be described as being under a debt trap.

The government is offering 100% of the airline, while reducing the debt of the company to Rs 23,286 crore.

The government today has invited bids to sell 100% stake in Air India for the second time after a failed attempt in 2018. The last date for submission of bids for the national carrier will be March 17, 2020.

The Govt, however, has sweetened the deal this time by offering 100% in the airline as well as reducing the debt of the company to about Rs 23,286 crore from Rs 62,000 crore.

As per media, the government will take away liabilities due to the Income tax department, against customs duty, service tax due to the government of India and guarantee fee or penal charge due to the government of India.

Puri added employees dues with arrears will be paid by the Air India assets holding company before the closing of the proposed transaction.

Delhi Court extends the interim bail of six bureaucrats in the INX Media case. Court extended bail till Feb 18th. They  were a part of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) which granted approval to INX Media during P Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister

 

Corona Virus Row

Telangana: 3 persons from Hyderabad who returned from China, have been suspected of being infected with Corona Virus. Dr. Shankar, Superintendent, Govt Fever Hospital, Hyderabad says, “We have got 3 patients admitted in the hospital. As of now, no symptoms of Corona Virus found”.

Scientists at Imperial College London have estimated that each person infected with the Wuhan coronavirus has gone on to infect two to three people, according to a report released Sat.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan writes to PM Modi over the Outbreak in Wuhan province of China. Writes ‘It may be appropriate to consider operating a special flight to Wuhan/a nearby functional airport & airlift the Indian nationals stranded there and bring them back to India.’

Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 Referred to Joint Parliamentary Committee

·         Draft Bill empowers the government to ask companies including Facebook, Google and others for anonymized personal data and non-personal data.

·         The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, which was introduced in Lok Sabha by Union Law Min in the winter session last year, has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of both the Houses. The JPC has been constituted under the chairmanship of New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi for examination and report.

“By this data protection, we (government) is safeguarding the rights of Indians. As per the architecture of the Bill, if data is taken without consent of the individual, you will suffer a penalty,” Prasad said.

International

India snubs EU Parliament over anti-CAA resolution, says matter is internal: Sources

The formidable number of 626 of the 751 members of the EU Parliament has come out in a scathing denouncement of not only the CAA but also the issue of Kashmir in its draft resolutions (numbering from B9-0077/2020 to B9-0082/2020).

GoI’s sources said the EU Parliament should not take actions that call into question the rights and authority of democratically elected legislatures.

“We hope sponsors and supporters of the draft will engage with us to get a full and accurate assessment of the facts before they proceed further. As fellow democracies, EU Parliament shouldn’t take actions that call into question the rights and authority of democratically elected legislatures in other regions of the world,” they added.

Vice President, Naidu expresses concern over trend of foreign bodies interfering in matters ‘completely within purview of Indian Parliament and govt’

A total of 6 resolutions have been tabled by groups within the EU, including the

·   Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D),

·   Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (PPE),

·   Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Verts/ALE),

·   European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR),

·   Renew Europe Group (Renew) and

·   European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group.

This Anti CAA resolution, tabled by European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group, is set to be debated on Wed and voted upon the day after. It made a reference to –

The Charter of the United Nations, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

On Republic Day, India gifts 30 ambulances, 6 buses to Nepal. (For detail see weekly sat letter).

·      The India-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan signed in Nov 2005,

·      And to the EU-India Thematic Dialogue on Human Rights.

‘Some MEPs were surprised when Shaffaq Mohammed (Pak origin EU MP) introduced this matter. We will definitely vote against it’, says Tomáš Zdechovský.

It says “Instead of addressing concerns, offering corrective action, calling for security forces to act with restraint and ensuring accountability, many government leaders have been engaging in efforts to discredit, rebuke and threaten the protesters.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during her visit to India last year, had also raised concerns regarding the situation in Kashmir, calling it “not sustainable” and “not good”, following which there have been discussions on the issue at the EU.

In afternoon a statement came from Delegation of European Union to India on draft resolution on CAA: The European Parliament is an independent institution, sovereign in the organization of its work and in its deliberations. The text referred to are draft resolution by political groups in the European Parliament.

As per media, for France, a founding member of EU, the CAA is India’s internal political matter. We have stated this on several occasions.

Ahead of EU debate on CAA, Cong accuses govt of internationalizing issue.

Mehbooba Mufti, Former CM of JnK and presently detained ‘relieved’ at EU Parliament’s CAA resolution; seeks sanctions against India.

Article 15, UNHRC says:

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

A passenger plane from Afghanistan’s Ariana Airlines has crashed in a Taliban-held area of Ghazni. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

Pakistan: Hindu woman abducted from wedding, forcibly converted, married off

Kishore Das, the father of Bharti Bai, said his daughter’s marriage ceremony was underway when the kidnapper named Shah Rukh Gul came with several men along with policemen and took his daughter away in broad daylight.

In Sindh province, only 215 km away from the provincial capital Karachi, where several cases of abduction, conversion and marriage of young Hindu girls have been reported in the recent past, another case surfaced on Sun.

As per her National Identity Card, details of which were shared in the documents, her permanent address is in Hala. However, her temporary address is of Gulshan Iqbal area in Karachi, which may be taken as her current area of residence.

As per an article published in NYT, on Oct, which entitled “Hard Times Have Pakistani Hindus Looking to India, Where Some Find Only Disappointment” mentioned only one percent Hindus are remain.

A member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan claimed in 2010, though without official record, that around 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community, along with people from other minorities like Christians, are abducted every month and forcibly converted. A Pak Daily Newspaper.

This will go in support of Indian Govt to CAA.

Army, BSF sound red alert along LoC, JnK border against air-intrusion by Pakistani drones

intrusion by Pakistani drones

BSF troops guarding over 180 kms of IB with Pakistan have strengthened their observation posts and “listening posts” to keep a close watch against any intrusion by drones.

Taking serious note of Pakistan using Chinese drones to airdrop weapons in Punjab, the Army and BSF has sounded an all-out alert along the entire Indo-Pak border and LoC and have asked border-guarding troops and observation posts to keep a “hawk’s eye” over similar air-intrusions in future.

Previously also, GPS-fitted drones capable of lifting up to 10 kg of weight flew in from Pakistan seven to eight times to airdrop several caches of arms, ammunition and fake currency, which were seized in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, the ongoing probe by the Punjab police has revealed.

On Sept 17, last year, the Punjab Police claimed to have busted a terror module of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by a terror group based in Pakistan and Germany. It said that the terror group was conspiring to unleash a series of strikes in Punjab and adjoining states.

“It is a new modus operandi of Pakistan to smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives in India for triggering terror. We have activated our forces to keep a hawk’s eye on movement of drones along the IB,” BSF officials said.

Political

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, INC: Modi ji was shedding tears for Muslim sisters at the time of Triple Talaq legislation. He should now go to Shaheen Bagh where those mothers and sisters have been agitating for the last couple of weeks, if he is honest.

INC attacked on ‘tukde tukde’ attack on the NDA Govt. ‘The real tukde tukde gang is the ruling party,’ says P Chidambaram.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in tweet, “People are facing problems due to closed road in Shaheen Bagh. BJP doesn’t want that the road should open and is doing dirty politics. BJP leaders should immediately visit Shaheen Bagh, talk and get the road re-opened.”

But His own Min has already visited there and expressed their support to them.

Padma Shri to Adnan Sami an insult to 130 crore Indians: NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.

Yesterday, INC also questioned to awarding Pdama award to Adnan Sami, as his father was in Pak’s army.

This today countered by BJP by giving multiple examples.

States

UP

Greater Noida: SDM Gunja Singh injured in a clash which broke out between a group of locals and the district administration when the latter had gone to take transfer of the acquisition of land for the proposed Jewar Airport.

DM, BN Singh: There have been a total of 7 acquisitions till date, in these 7 months there was not even one incident. So I believe that people are handing over their plot of land willingly. This was an exception, police will do their job.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that “No power can now stop Kashmiri Pandits from going back to Kashmir”

He further added that the Congress should not forget duty towards nation just because it is in opposition: Rajnath Singh on criticism against CAA

Pakistan can no longer dare to raise Kashmir issue at international forum after abrogation of Article 370 provisions: Rajnath Singh

India in International Frame

BBC
Air India: Can the national carrier finally find a buyer?
Aljazeera
Limited internet restored in Kashmir, no access to social media
CNN
Deradicalization camps for Kashmiris? That’s just absurd, experts say

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