Junior Digest

Attorney General KK Venugopal on Monday told the Supreme Court that children who have been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam despite their parents finding a place in the list will not be sent to detention centers till the court decides a petition concerning the same.

“I cannot conceive children being sent to detention centres. Children whose parents have been included in NRC will not be sent to detention centres for now,” said Venugopal appearing for the Government of India.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace, which has sought directions to the state NRC coordinator to ensure that no child is left out of the NRC, especially in cases where the parents, guardians or caregivers are in the list.

A bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant recorded the submissions of the AG that children and asked the central and state governments and to respond to the plea within four weeks.

“Mr KK Venugopal, learned Attorney General for India, states that the children of parents who have been given citizenship through NRC, will not be separated from their parents and sent to detention centre in Assam pending decision of this application. In the meantime, Mr Venugopal, learned Attorney General for India, seeks four weeks’ time to file reply to the instant application. Time as prayed for is granted,” the SC order stated.

According to the petition filed by the NGO, following the publication of final NRC list on August 31 last year, specific categories of marginalized people were excluded. Many children were excluded from the final list of NRC even though their parents and relatives were included, the petition said. Orphaned children who did not reside in state orphanages or homes were also excluded from the NRC. Children from disconnected families and staying with close or distant relatives also did not find a place in NRC.

Exclusion of children from NRC even when their parents were included, the petitioner said, is in contravention of the state’s obligation towards children as envisaged under the Constitution of India, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

The petitioner also placed reliance upon the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by India, which makes it obligatory for all state parties to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations without unlawful interference. Article 9 of the Convention holds parties responsible for ensuring that a child is not separated from his or her parents against their will.

In a separate application filed by Jamiat Ulema I Hind, the top court sought an explanation from the Assam government regarding the communal posts allegedly made by Assam NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma on social media.

“He should not be saying all this. You have to explain this,” CJI Bobde remarked after senior counsel Kapil Sibal drew the attention of the court to the posts made by Sarma.

Sarma, a 1989 batch civil service officer, had succeeded former Assam NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela who was transferred to Madhya Pradesh by Supreme Court in October last year.

New Delhi, Dec 31 : Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on Tuesday said India plans to invest about Rs 105 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector in the next five years to achieve the GDP target of 5 USD trillion by 2024-25.
“Projects while worth Rs 102 lakh crore have already been identified, another Rs 3 lakh crore worth of projects will be firmed up in the next few weeks. We will get projects worth Rs 105 lakh crore in infrastructure,” Ms Sitharaman said.
“Infrastructure is a focus area for the government. This is the first time that we will have an infra pipeline. The task force,which held over 70 meetings with various stakeholders, has submitted its report in just 4 months,” the FM said at a press briefing.
The finance minister said that Rs 2.5 lakh crore port and airport projects, Rs 3.2 lakh crore digital infra projects, Rs 16 lakh crore irrigation, and rural, agri and food processing projects have been identified.
Over Rs 16 lakh crore infra projects including mobility projects have also been added to the pipeline.
It was also informed that private sector will share 22-25 per cent of NIP investments. The Centre and states will bear the rest of the cost equally.
She said nearly Rs 20 lakh crore road and nearly Rs 14 lakh crore railway projects have also been lined up under NIP. Nearly Rs 25 lakh crore energy projects are lined up under the national infrastructure pipeline.
Ms Sitharaman said that with the help of this massive inflow of investment, the government has kept its promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.
The FM also added that Annual Global Investors’ Meet will be organised in the second half of 2020. Also Centre and states will meet investors and talk on investment opportunities during the meet:

New Delhi,Jan 8: Trade unions INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC along with various sectoral independent federations and associations had adopted a declaration in September last to go on a nationwide strike on January 8, 2020.

Nearly 25 crore people are likely to take part in an All-India strike on January 8 to protest against the Modi government’s “anti-people” policies. Ten central trade unions (CTUs) announced the participation on Monday.

“We expect participation of not less than 25 crore of working people in the forthcoming National General Strike on January 8, 2020, to be followed by many more actions seeking reversal of the anti-worker, anti-people, anti-national policies of the Government,” the 10 CTUs said in a joint statement as cited by PTI.

“The Ministry of Labour has failed to assure on any of the demands of workers which called a meeting on January 2, 2020. The attitude of the government is that of contempt towards labour as we construe from its policies and actions,” the statement added.

MUMBAI,Dec6,2020:  The former chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry said on Sunday he would not seek to reclaim his board seats and position as executive chairman of the salt-to-software conglomerate after a company’s tribunal in December ordered he be reinstated.

“I will not be pursuing the executive chairmanship of Tata Sons, or directorship of TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), Tata Teleservices or Tata Industries,” he said in a statement.

Mistry was sacked in 2016 from the top job at the helm of the holding company after he fell out with group patriarch Ratan Tata over corporate governance issues at Tata group companies.

Since then he has been embroiled in a legal battle claiming minority shareholder oppression and mismanagement. Mistry’s family owns a sizable minority stake in Tata Sons, the group’s parent entity.

“I will however vigorously pursue all options to protect our rights as a minority shareholder, including that of resuming the 30-year history of a seat at the Board of Tata Sons,” he said.

The December order by National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) called the appointment of N Chandrasekaran, after Mistry’s removal, illegal and also asked Ratan Tata not to interfere with matters of the company.

Tata Sons appealed the NCLAT ruling in the Supreme Court this week. A handful of Tata group companies, including its crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services Ltd , have also appealed the decision.

“As an 18.37% shareholder, it is in our own interest to ensure the group’s long-term success,” Mistry said.

Tata Trusts, a group of public charities, owns a controlling 66% stake in holding company Tata Sons, and is chaired by Ratan Tata.

New Delhi, Jan 6,Dec2020: A group of unidentified masked goons on Sunday evening attacked students inside Jawaharlal University campus and in hostels wherein JNUSU president, general secretary and around twenty students got injured and taken to the AIIMS.

At least 20 persons, including JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured after violence broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.

All the injured teachers and the students were taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as chaos reigned on the campus for over two hours. The violence, which began Sunday evening, prompted the JNU administration to call in the police which conducted a flag march later in the day.

New Delhi, Jan 14 ,2020: The government on Tuesday appointed Michael Debabrata Patra as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Patra is currently an executive director at the RBI.
He has been appointed for three years, according to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
His appointment comes nearly six months after former deputy governor Viral Acharya’s pre-mature resignation.
Patra looks after the monetary policy department at the central bank.
He has been a part of Monetary Policy C Committee, since it’s inception.
A career central banker, Patra has a Phd in Economics from IIT Mumbai. He joined the RBI in 1985.
He is also a Fellow of the Harvard University, where he did his post doctoral research in the area of financial stability.

NEW DELHI ,Jan 15, 2020: Amazon.com Inc will invest $1 billion in digitizing small- and medium-businesses in India and expects to export $10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025, its founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday.

Amazon has committed $5.5 billion in India investments and sees the country as a key growth market.

Bezos’ visit, however, is likely to be marred by protests across India from small business owners who allege Amazon is driving them out of business by offering sharply discounted products and favoring select big sellers on its platform. The company denies the allegations.

Islamabad, Jan 14 ,2020:  At least 61 people were killed and scores of others trapped in separate incidents of avalanches in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Tuesday.

The Neelum Valley area is the worst hit where 57 people were killed, while four others were killed in Rawalakot and Kotli areas, Ahmed Raza Qadri, Xinhua quotes a disaster management official of the PoK as saying.

“I am on the way to the affected areas of Neelum Valley, and what I am seeing on the road is massive cover of snow everywhere. It has not only wreaked havoc on some of the residential colonies, but also blocked the main thoroughfares, making it hard for rescue teams to provide fast rescue and relief services to the trapped people,” Qadri said.

New Delhi, Dec 31: The Government on Monday announced outgoing Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat as first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
His appointment comes a day before his superannuation as the Army Chief.
“The government has decided to appoint Gen Bipin Rawat as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) with effect from December 31, 2019 and until further orders and extension in service of Gen Bipin Rawat with effect from December 31, 2019 and till such period he holds the office of CDS,” an official statement issued late night on Monday said.
Gen Rawat will now be the principal advisor to the government on defence issues while also being the Defence Advisor to India’s Nuclear Command Authority.
As CDS, he will also focus on integration and jointness among the three Services — the Army, the Navy and the Air Force — and will steer defence procurement.
Gen Rawat will be regarded as the first among equals and his office will be at South Block.
The government on Sunday amended rules putting the maximum age limit of 65 years for the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to serve in the post.
The changes have been made in the services rules of the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force for extension of retirement age of the Chief of Defence Staff to a maximum of 65 years if a service chief is appointed to the post, according to a notification by the defence ministry.
The Cabinet Committee on Security last week approved the creation of the CDS.

New Delhi, Jan 4: India on Friday condemned vandalism at the Gurudwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan and said the ‘reprehensible action’ followed the forcible abduction and conversion of Jagjit Kaur, the Sikh girl who was kidnapped from her home in the city of Nankana Sahib in August 2018.
“Members of the minority Sikh community have been subjected to acts of violence in the holy city of Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji. These reprehensible actions followed the forcible abduction and conversion of Jagjit Kaur, the Sikh girl who was kidnapped from her home in the city of Nankana Sahib in August last year,” an MEA statement said.
It further said: “India strongly condemns these wanton acts of destruction and desecration of the holy place”.
“We call upon the Government of Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure the safety, security, and welfare of the members of the Sikh community. Strong action must be taken against the miscreants who indulged in desecration of the holy Gurudwara and attacked members of the minority Sikh community.”
In addition, Government of Pakistan is enjoined to take “all measures to protect and preserve the sanctity of the holy Nankana Sahib Gurudwara and its surroundings”.
According to reports, a mob attack took place at the shrine where the Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev was born.

New Delhi , Jan 18,2020: The Department of Revenue (DoR) has revised its revenue collection aim for GST to Rs 1.15 lakh crore for each of next two months and Rs 1.25 lakh crore for the last month of the financial year 2019-20 with specific focus on fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) claims as found in data analytics review.
A high-level meeting was held in this regard which was attended by senior officials of CBIC and CBDT including both Board’s Chairmen and members to strategise the action plan and make the field functions more efficient to achieve the collection aims without any overreach.
According to informed sources, it is learnt that GST authorities would look into the mismatch of supply and purchase invoices, data analytics of mismatch in GSTR-1, GSTR-2A and GSTR-3B, failure of filing returns, over-invoicing, recuperation of fake or excess refunds availed beyond the permissible limits, patching the tax leakages, action on checking fake or huge ITC claims, and data analytic review of all the refund under inverted duty structure.
SMS and emails will be sent to all such fraudulent or excess ITC claimants, targeted defaulters, non-filers and those who provide mismatched information in their returns or over invoice or who have been identified through data analytics for tax evasion by duping the system through rogue modus operandi, according to an official release.
Taxpayers who have taken ITC wrongfully can voluntarily repay an amount equal to inadmissible credit before verification and punitive action is taken against them, sources informed.
It is further learnt that the electronic communications to such identified targeted taxpayers and fraudulent refund seekers and over-invoice users will be followed by visits from the GSTt field formations to make them abide by the law and pay due taxes in time. The field formations would be required to report on a daily basis, the statement said.
“Weekly high-level review of revenue augmentation measures and efforts made or actions taken against these targeted gamers, fraudulent ITC seekers and identified default taxpayers would be done by the Revenue Secretary,” it added.
Around 40,000 companies have been red-flagged for excess or fraudulent ITC availment and other tax-related wrongful issues through data analytics. Field formations have been directed to conclude ITC recuperation without any overreach but in a stipulated time frame.

Cable TV users could soon access more channels at a lower subscription price—a move that’s likely to affect broadcasters and distribution platforms. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in its latest tariff order that was posted on its website today, has increased the number of free-to-air channels, reduced pricing for pay channels and capped the number of bouquets of pay channels offered by broadcasters.

The telecom regulator has reduced the ceiling price of pay channels for inclusion in bouquets from Rs 19 to Rs 12. This means while broadcasters are still free to price the channel, if they seek to include them in a bouquet, their à la carte price will be capped at Rs 12 plus taxes.

Kota (Rajasthan), Jan 5: Criticising his government over the deaths of 107 children in Kota’s state-run JK Lon Hospital, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday said their response to the infant deaths could have been more sensitive.

Pilot said it was not a small incident and also stressed that accountability for the entire episode should be fixed.

As many as 107 children have died in the hospital. This is very painful. Our response to the entire matter was not satisfactory to some extent. The response could have been more sensitive and we should have been more compassionate, he told reporters.

Pilot, who is also Congress’ state party chief, had earlier visited some of the families who lost their children and also went to the hospital.

The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed the curative petitions filed by two of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

A 5-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana rejected the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma (26) and Mukesh Kumar (32).

The proceedings were conducted in-chamber. A curative petition is the last and final legal remedy available to a person.

The five judges were unanimous that there was no merit in the curative petitions filed by the two condemned petitioners.

“The applications for stay of execution of death sentence are also rejected. We have gone through the Curative Petitions and the relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra & Another, reported in 2002 (4) SCC 388. Hence, the Curative Petitions are dismissed,” the bench said.

The other members of the bench were Justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

Vinay and Mukesh had filed curative petitions on January 9.

A Delhi court had on January 7 issued death warrants against the four convicts and said they would be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail.

Two other death-row convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25), had not filed curative petitions.

A 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six people before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

The Supreme Court had in 2017 upheld the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court and a trial court.

One of the six accused in the case, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board and was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

On July 9, 2018, the apex court had dismissed the review pleas filed by three of the convicts in the case, saying no grounds had been made out by them for review of the 2017 verdict.

Bengaluru, Jan 17,2020:  India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-30 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours on Friday.
In a press release, ISRO, has stated that the launch vehicle ‘Ariane-5 VA-251’ was blasted off from Kourou Launch base, French Ginana at 0230 hours, carrying India’s GSA-30 and EUTELSAT KONNECT for Eutelasat, as per schedule.

The Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

With a lift-off mass of 3,357 kg, GSAT-30 will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites.

GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series and will replace INSAT-4A in orbit.

“GSAT-30 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage. The satellite will provide communication services toIndian mainland and islands through Ku-band and wide coverage covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia through C-band,” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.

Dr Sivan also said that “GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Television uplinking andTeleport Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications.”

ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-30 immediately after its separation from the launch vehicle. Preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal health.

In the days ahead, orbit-raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using its on-board propulsion system.

During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and the antenna reflectors of GSAT-30 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration.
The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.

Mumbai , Jan 5: As the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari gave his nod to the allocation of portfolios on the recommendation of the state Chief Minister, key Ministries like Finance, Home and Revenue were allocated to lawmakers from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Thackeray had on Saturday sent Governor the final list of ministers with the portfolios to be allocated to them for approval following which portfolio distribution in Maharashtra government was announced.
As per the portfolio distribution, NCP’s Ajit Pawar who was recently sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister will look after Finance and Planning, Anil Deshmukh will take care of Home department, Jayant Patil will look after Water Resources, Chhagan Bhujbal has been given charge of Food and Supply ministry whereas Nawab Malik is assigned with the charge of Minority welfare.
Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat has been allocated the Revenue department, Ashok Chavan with Public Works Department (PWD) while Varsha Gaikwad will look after School Education.
Among Shiv Sena leaders, first time MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who was also at the forefront of Aarey protest, has been assigned with the responsibility of Environment and Tourism.
Eknath Shinde will look after Urban Development Ministry, Ministry of Industry and Mining and Ministry of Marathi language has been allocated to Subhash Desai, Anil Parab is assigned the Transport department.
Party leader Sanjay Rathod has been assigned with the Forest portfolio while Uday Samant will look after Higher and Technical Education.
Dada Bhuse is assigned Agriculture, Sandeepan Bhumre Employment Guarantee, Gulabrao Patil – Water supply and Shankarrao Gadakh will be looking after the irrigation department.
The Maharashtra government which was formed after days of deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena had its cabinet expansion earlier this week.

Thiruvananthapuram Dec31,2019: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday moved a resolution in the state Assembly demanding the scrapping of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

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New Delhi, Dec 31 : On the eve of New Year 2020, the Indian Railways on Tuesday announced hike in passenger fares, with an increase between one paise per km to four paise per km.
According to a Railway circular, one paisa each will increase in fare per km for Second Class ordinary, Sleeper Class Ordinary, First class ordinary in Ordinary Non-AC trains.
In Mail and Express Non-AC trains, two paisa each will increase in fare for per km in Second Class, Sleeper Class and First Class.
Similarly, four paisa each will increase in fare for per km in AC Chair Car, AC 3-Tier, AC 2-Tier, AC First Class in AC classes.
The increase in fare will be effective from January 1, 2020.
“In case a ticket already issued at pre-revised rate, difference of fare on or after January 1, 2020, shall not be collected. However, any new tickets made by TTE or checking staff, in trains or at stations on or after January 1, 2020, shall be charged on revised fare”, the circular said.
According to the Ministry, existing fares of train services like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Mahamana, Gaimaan, Antyodaya, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Rajya Rani, Yuva Express, Suvidha and special trains on special charges, AC MEMU (Non-Suburban) and AC DEMU (non-suburban), will be increased.
“There shall be no change in charges for reservation fee, super fast surcharges. Such charges, wherever applicable, shall continue to be levied additionally”, it added.
It is learned that the Railway Board has already prepared a new tariff plan and got the green signal from the Prime Minister’s Office, however, it waited to complete the Jharkhand Assembly elections.
During the last few years, the Railways has not increased the passenger fare in any way, so as to improve it’s financial health.
It is believed that the increase in passenger fares will generate an additional income of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore annually in the treasury of the Railways.

New Delhi, Jan 7:  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the upcoming Assembly elections will be fought on the basis of the AAP government’s work and noted that his party will run a “positive” campaign.

At a press conference on Monday evening, Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi to “vote for us (AAP) only if you think we have done good work in the last five years”.

“We will run a positive campaign, will not abuse anyone,” he added.

Earlier, he said on Twitter that the election will be fought on the basis of the AAP government’s work.

The election to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will take place on February 8 and results will be declared on February 11, the Election Commission announced on Monday.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said the notification for the polls will be issued on January 14 while the last date of withdrawal of candidature will be January 24.

New Delhi, Jan 15 : Army chief Gen M M Naravane on Wednesday hailed the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 as a “historic step” and said the move has disrupted the proxy war by the “western neighbour”.

The armed forces have a “zero tolerance against terrorism”, he said in his address at the 72nd Army Day function in the Cariappa Parade Ground here.

“We have many options to counter those who promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to use them,” he said.