Newsletter 10 Feb

Top 5 of the Day

1- Supreme Court upholds the constitutional validity of SC/ST Atrocities Act
2- As per a study, India stand at 17th rank, among most prone to importing coronavirus
3- SC Says Reservations For Jobs, Promotions Not A Fundamental Right
4- Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on 4 days visit India
5- Gujarat ATS arrested 1993 Mumbai international airport serial blasts accused

Tweet of the Day..

Final evening in Shopian had to be this beautiful, The Starry Night. This place gave me lessons and friends for life. Will join as SSP Anantnag tomorrow. Second consecutive assignment in South Kashmir.

National

Supreme Court upholds the constitutional validity of SC/ST Atrocities Act

SC upholds the constitutional validity of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 that ruled out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

The new provision stated Section 438 (pre-arrest bail) of the CrPC would not apply to a case under the Atrocities Act, notwithstanding any judgment or order or direction of any court.

On Mar 20, 2018, SC virtually diluted provisions of arrest under the SC/ST Act. Later SC on April 3, 2018, refused to stay its earlier order. Hearing a review petition filed by the Centre seeking a stay on its ruling that changed certain provisions of the SC/ST Act, the apex court refused to stay its Mar 20 order.

The amendment was brought in to nullify the effect of the judgement which had put in certain safeguards like preliminary inquiry before registering FIR and prior approval of the authorities before the arrest of the accused in cases registered under the Atrocities Act in view of “rampant misuse” of the law.

This verdict had led to massive protests across the country, and a huge political furor. Then, the Parliament had to pass the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, to counterbalance the judgment, on Aug 9, 2018, to overturn the apex court judgement of Mar 20, 2018.

“Those agitating on streets may not have even read our judgment. Vested interests are also involved sometimes. We are only concerned about innocent people being put behind bars. We are not against the Act at all. But innocents can’t be punished on unilateral version. Why does government want people to be arrested without verification,” the SC observed.

On Oct 1, 2019, the top court had recalled the Mar 20, 2018 judgement, saying the directions issued by a two-judge bench amounted to “encroaching on a field which is

reserved for the legislature” and “would cause several legal complications”, besides delay in timely completion of the investigations”.

However, two PILs, filed by Prathvi Raj Chauhan and Priya Sharma, had remained pending.

Reserving its judgement on Oct 3, 2019, the bench had said, “We are not diluting provisions. We will not pass any long order.” At the same time, the bench said preliminary enquiry can be undertaken in certain cases as those stood in terms of Lalita Kumari judgement (2013).

“We cannot curtail rights guaranteed under Article 21 (Life and Liberty) of the Constitution. Those are related to questions of individual liberty,” the bench also said.

While ruling that there would be no mandatory arrest of an accused on a complaint under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the apex court by its March 20 judgement had directed

“…in absence of any other independent offence calling for arrest, in respect of offences under the Atrocities Act, no arrest may be effected” without the permission of appointing authority in case of public servant or that of Senior Superintendent of Police in case of general public”.

BJP has issued a whip to its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the house tomorrow for the passage of the Union Budget 2020-21.

At 17th rank, India among most prone to importing coronavirus: Study

Researchers from the Humboldt University and Robert Koch Institute in Berlin have developed the model that analyses air transportation pattern to calculate the relative risk for the 30 most vulnerable countries (excluding China) of importing cases of the viral disease.

India ranks 17th among the list of countries most likely to import cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a global import risk assessment model has found.

Outside China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea are the most likely to import the infections, the model shows.

In India, the Delhi airport is the most likely to get infected people, followed by Mumbai and Kolkata.

One of the scientists on the team that developed the model, however, said that the system cannot be used to make quantitative predictions.

“This is not so much a tool for making quantitative predictions. Public health officials and policymakers have to develop an intuition because this virus is something unknown. Models can help you develop an intuition,” Humboldt physicist Dirk Brockmann told Science Magazine. Brockmann led the modelling team.

So far, laboratories of the Indian Council of Medical Research have tested 1,486 samples. Of these, all but three tested negative.

The first three Indians who tested positive for 2019-nCoV have recovered, health ministry officials said on Saturday. The three will continue to be in isolation for 28 days, the officials said.

Meanwhile, 15 students from Kerala, who were stranded in Hubei in China’s Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, reached Kochi on Friday night onboard an Air Asia flight. The students were screened at the airport and taken to the Kalamassery Medical College hospital in sterilized ambulances.

“They will be quarantined and tested just like any other persons travelling from China. They will be discharged if their tests come back negative,” said a senior health ministry official, on condition of anonymity, as per media.

The government has screened 176,703 people aboard 1,636 flights from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand at 21 airports. Almost 8,000 people with history of travel to China are also being monitored at the community level.

Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on 4 days visit India

Indian PM Modi has met his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa in New Delhi on Sat. its 1^st official visit to any foreign country of Rajapaksa in this term.

“The stability, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka is in India’s interest, but also in the interest of the entire Indian Ocean Region,” Modi said in his media statement.

“We have decided to deepen cooperation to combat terrorism,” Modi said.

On the long-pending Tamil issue, Modi was confident that the Sri Lankan government will realize expectations of equality, justice, peace and respect of the Tamil people.

Referring to the fishermen issue, Modi said both sides have decided to adopt a humanitarian approach in dealing with it.

“It will be necessary to implement the 13^th amendment of (Sri Lankan) Constitution and take forward the reconciliation process at the same time,” Modi said.

India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13^th amendment which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987 which envisaged devolution of powers to the Tamils.

Rajapaksa said a part of the discussions centered around ensuring security for both the countries, and expressed gratitude to India for helping his country in countering terrorism.

Rajapaksa also met S. Jaishankar, Min Foreign Affairs.

Officials said a number of issues relating to defense, security and trade figured in the meeting between the Sri Lankan prime minister and.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the older brother of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

After his official engagement in Delhi, Rajapaksa will travel to Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya and Tirupati.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also visited India in Nov which was also his first official overseas trip after taking charge of the top office.

India had announced a financial assistance of USD 450 million to Sri Lanka, including USD 50 million to fight terrorism, during the visit of the country’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in November.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as president saw China expanding its footprints in the Indian Ocean island nation, triggering concerns in India.

In June 2018 The New York Times reported that President Rajapaksa, during the 2015 presidential campaign and elections received large payments from the Chinese port construction fund that flowed directly into campaign aides and activities.

Rajapaksa had agreed to Chinese terms and was seen as an important ally in China’s efforts to tilt influence away from India in South Asia. The payments were confirmed by documents and cash checks detailed in a government investigation seen by The New York Times.

During the final months of the election, the ambassador of China to Sri Lanka had lobbied voters, “even caddies at Colombo’s premier golf course”, to support Rajapaksa over the opposition, which was threatening to tear up economic agreements with the Chinese government.

With the election coming around large payments started to flow toward the president’s circle. Affiliates of Rajapaksa’s campaign received at least $7.6 million that was dispensed from China Harbor’s account at Standard Chartered Bank.

A sum around $3.7 million was distributed in checks with 10 days to go before polls opened: $678,000 to print campaign T-shirts and other promotional material and $297,000 to buy supporters gifts, including women’s saris. $38,000 was paid to a popular Buddhist monk who was supporting the Rajapaksa campaign, while two checks totaling $1.7 million were delivered by volunteers to Temple Trees.

A sub-account controlled by China Harbor, named “HPDP Phase 2,” shorthand for Hambantota Port Development Project was where most of the payments came from.

Rajapaksa responded in the Colombo Telegraph by calling the article “part of a political mudslinging campaign”.

In July 2018 Joint Chinese-Sri Lankan company Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT) confirmed paying nearly 20 million Sri Lankan rupees as a donation to the Pushpa Rajapaksa Foundation, a private fund meant to build houses for the poor. Pushpa Rajapaksa is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s sister in law, wife of Basil Rajapaksa, who was also his economic development minister. CICT did not say how the money was used.

NC MP Mohammad Akbar Lone's son Hilal Lone booked under PSA

Hilal Lone had been under preventive detention since August 5 last year when the Centre announced the abrogation of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state’s special status besides its bifurcation into union territories.

CAA uproar Continue and will be for quite some time ….?

Delhi: Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) protest march from Jamia to Parliament, against CAA, NRC, and NPR. Special forced deployed to handle situation.

Jamia Millia Islamia Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmad: I request both students and police to deal with the situation in a calm manner. I appeal to students to move back.

Karnataka: Women protest against CAA, NRC and NPR near Bilal Masjid in Bengaluru.

People under the banner of Anjuman-e-Islam, protest against CAA, NRC AND NPR in front of ‘mini-Vidhana Soudha’.

SC issues notice to Centre and Delhi government on suo moto cognizance to a letter by a Bravery Award winner to stop children and infants’ involvement in demonstration and agitations, in wake of the death of a 4-month infant of a Shaheen Bagh protestor.

“We have the highest respect for motherhood, highest concern for children and they should not be treated badly”, said CJI Bobde to lawyers who say they are appearing for mothers of children sitting in protest at Shaheen Bagh.

National Human Right Commission (NHRC) issues notice to UP Chief Secretary, on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s complaint over alleged brutal conduct by police, during demonstrations against CAA & NRC. NHRC has sought a detailed and specific report within 6 weeks.

Intel input claims RSS offices, leaders can be attacked by global terror groups with IEDs, VBIEDs

Offices of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as well as their leaders, are under the threat of being targeted by global terror organizations, which could use IEDs or vehicle-borne improvised IEDs (VBIEDs) to carry out the attack, as per a recent input of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The attack can take place in Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, etc, it claims.

The latest input issued this month claims that ‘unknown individuals, possibly linked to Global Terror Groups are planning to target RSS offices/ leaders and Police Stations, possibly using IEDs and/or VBIEDs in the coming days.’

Sources have claimed that alert asked all concerned state governments to take appropriate steps to beef up the security.

A top government official claimed that security has been beefed in states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Assam and security of office bearers are also under review. (PTI)

There have been multiple instances of reports on the attack on RSS workers.

Last month, Bengaluru Police arrested six accused for attempting to kill an RSS activist who went to attend a rally in support of the CAA in Dec. Deceased Varun Bopala was stabbed multiple times but he managed to survive.

Accused identified as Mohammad Irfan, Syed Akbar, Syed Siddique Akbar, Akbar Basha, Sanaulla Sharif, and Sadique Ul-Ameen had hatched a bigger conspiracy, police had claimed.

Rafale half-a-generation ahead of Chinese, Pakistani machines, says former IAF Chief BS Dhanoa

Former IAF Chief BS Dhanoa on Sun said the Rafale fighter jet that India is buying from France is half-a-generation ahead of aircraft in the inventories of two of India’s adversaries, China and Pakistan.

India is buying 36 Rafale jets from France and the first batch of four planes would start arriving in May this year.

“As I earlier said, Rafale is 0.5 generation ahead of aircraft that are there with two of our adversaries,” he said while addressing a gathering in Ahamdabad.

Referring to the aerial skirmish between Indian and Pakistan on Feb 27 last year after Balakot airstrike, Dhanoa, who was heading the IAF then, said: “The combat of 27 (Feb 27)…it was Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat.

In BVR combat, the most important thing is to look first and shoot first. For that your sensors, your data fusion, how is the capability of your air-to-air missile…can you shoot first? In that, Rafale gives you a distinct advantage.”

Political

Rahul Gandhi: BJP & RSS’s ideology is against reservations. They never want SC/STs to progress. They’re breaking the institutional structure. I want to tell SC/ST/OBC and Dalits that we’ll never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it.

States

Gargi College Sexual Assault Case Updates: Women's Panel Team Visits Gargi College, Delhi Police Orders Probe

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken cognizance of alleged sexual assault on students of Delhi’s Gargi College for women by some unidentified men during their annual cultural fest last week. A team of the Commission visited the college on Monday amid the protest rally by the students.

A group of drunken men reportedly entered the college affiliated to Delhi University and manhandled the students.

FIR registered 4 days later.

Few students from the all-girls college alleged that they were sexually assaulted on campus during their annual cultural fest, ‘Reverie’, this week by men who forced their way in while security guards, while the police posted in the area did nothing.

Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal: We have launched an initiative ‘Reading Mission-Haryana’ to promote reading habits among students in higher educational institutes. Under this initiative, time will be allocated for discussion on book reviews and reading of newspapers and books.