Caught in the eye of a bitter storm over a ‘beef festival’ scheduled to be held on December 10, the Osmania University has finally called off the event, saying that the varsity is a ‘seat of learning’ and there is ‘nothing academic’ in the proposed event.

A release from the Public Relations Officer of the Osmania University said, “Primary objective of the University is purely academic and research oriented. It is therefore informed to all the concerned including the teachers, students and staff that activities such as beef festival, go-puja which are unrelated to the academics and research will not be permitted on the campus.”

The announcement was made by the authorities on Wednesday evening, making it clear that no “beef festival” would be allowed to be organised on the varsity campus.

In a judgement that will protect women in need of medical attention, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a husband cannot be allowed to separate from his wife if she is terminally ill.

According to the apex court ruling, the couple cannot be granted divorce even under mutual consent if woman partner is terminally ill.

The Supreme Court bench headed by MY Eqbal said the plea for divorce can be accepted only when the wife has recovered.

While passing the judgement, the court advised husbands to stand by their wives in their difficult times as in Hinduism, a wife considers her husband as God.

The court disallowed the divorce plea after it was informed that the wife was suffering from advance stage of cancer and needed immediate medical care.

The wife had, however, earlier given her consent for divorce after her husband agreed to pay Rs 12.5 lakh as alimony to her.

“Hindu marriage is a sacred and holy union of husband and wife by virtue of which the wife is completely transplanted in the household of her husband and takes a new birth. It is a combination of bone to bone and flesh to flesh. To a Hindu wife her husband is her God and her life becomes one of the selfless service and profound dedication to her husband. She not only shares the life and love, but the joys and sorrows, the troubles and tribulation of her husband and becomes an integral part of her husband’s life and activities” the bench said, as per The Times of India.

“It is evident that the wife needs sufficient amount of money for the treatment of breast cancer. Hence, it cannot be ruled out that in order to save her life by getting money, she agreed for a settlement of dissolution of marriage,” it said.

To prevent leakages in the MGNREGA programme, the government will introduce the system for electronic transfer of wages to the beneficiaries from January 1 next year in Kerala; Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

An additional Rs. 2,000 crore would be sought from the Finance Ministry towards ensuring that MNREGA wages are at par with the agriculture wages fixed by some states, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh said.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provides 100 days of employment to registered workers on their demand.

During Question Hour, Singh said electronic transfer of wages under MNREGA would be introduced in Kerala from January 1, 2016. “If it is successful, we will introduce it (e-transfer of wages) in other states,” he noted.

According to him, there are around 11 crore accounts and out of them, 65 per cent are in banks and the remaining in post offices.

Noting that MNREGA is a demand-driven wage employment programme, the Minister said various modalities have been put in place to prevent leakages in the scheme.

To avoid bogus attendance as well as instances of tampering and misuse of muster rolls, the e-Muster system has been introduced. For smooth fund flow, the electronic Fund Management System (e-FMS) has been made mandatory from April 1 this year, the Minister said.

Responding to a query about low wages being paid under MNREGA, Singh said the government wants the wage amount to be equal to that fixed by respective states. In this regard, the Ministry would seek Rs. 2,000 crore from the Finance Ministry, he added.

Pained at charges that he sought sexual favours in the Rs. 6 crore solar panel scam, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday said his “conscience is clear”.

Biju Radhakrishnan, prime accused in the scam, while testifying before the judicial probe committee, said on Wednesday that he had given Rs. 5.50 crore as bribe to Chandy.

He also said he was in possession of a video showing Saritha Nair, the second accused in the scam, in a compromising position with Chandy and another video of Nair, again in a compromising position, with two cabinet colleagues of Chandy.

The Left opposition led by senior CPI-M legislator E.P. Jayarajan raised the issue in the house on Thursday.

To this, Chandy responded: “My conscience is clear. I will not fall a victim to blackmail politics and I will walk with my head held high… it (the allegations) has pained me. I have done nothing wrong.”

He said the judicial commission was probing the scam which surfaced in 2013 and that he will take legal steps against the fresh allegations.

Chandy said there is no truth in the accusations made by Radhakrishnan, an accused in a murder case and in 58 other cases of cheating.

“Radhakrishnan is angry towards my government because we started a probe into the murder of his wife in which he (Radhakrishnan) is an accused,” Chandy said.

Soon, Labour Minister Shibhu Baby John was also on his feet and said he was hurt when his name was dragged in the scam.

“Yesterday, when my name came, it hurt me… I wish to place on record that if it’s proved that I have ever met this person (Saritha Nair) or even made a telephone call, I will resign as minister and quit public life,” he said.

When Speaker N. Sakthan disallowed an adjournment motion, the entire opposition was up in arms and trooped near the speaker’s chair, shouting slogans. The Speaker then adjourned the house for the day.

Former AAP leader Prashant Bhushan on Thursday took his fight against Arvind Kejriwal government’s Janlokpal Bill to veteran activist Anna Hazare, whom the AAP had approached earlier this week.

Both the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Swaraj Abhiyan, a group led by expelled party leaders Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, are hoping to get Hazare on their side to get an upper hand in the ongoing tussle.

Hazare has already supported the proposed legislation, which has been tabled by the Delhi government in the Assembly, albeit with riders.

The activist-lawyer met Hazare at the latter’s residence in Ralegan Siddhi. They were a part of the India Against Corruption forum of the 2011 anti-corruption Janklokpal movement.

Bhushan has been maintaining that the current Bill is a “diluted” version of the one that was tabled in 2014 in terms of several provisions including that in appointment, removal and jurisdiction of the ombudsman.

Hazare has suggested changes in the selection panel and in the removal process, which the government is likely to incorporate.