SC agrees to list plea challenging Article 370 abrogation after Dussehra break

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September 23, 2022

Supreme Court, Bilkis Bano Case, Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir — Image: Agencies

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list after Dussehra vacation the pleas challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 which had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices Indira Banerjee and S Ravindra Bhat took note of the submissions of a counsel that the pleas were assured to be listed after the summer vacation but they could not be listed.

“We will certainly list that,” the CJI said.

On April 25 this year, a bench headed by the then CJI N V Ramana, since retired, had agreed to consider listing after the summer vacation the pleas challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370.

The pleas were then mentioned by interveners Radha Kumar (academic and author) and Kapil Kak (retired officer of the Indian Air Force).

The apex court will have to re-constitute a five-judge bench to hear the pleas after Dussehra vacation as the ex-CJI Ramana and Justice R Subhash Reddy, who were part of the five judge bench which had heard the pleas, have retired.

Besides the two former judges, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, B R Gavai and Surya Kant were part of the bench which, on March 2, 2020, had declined to refer to a larger seven-judge bench the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Several petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — were referred to a Constitution Bench headed by Justice Ramana in 2019 by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

By abrogating Article 370, the Central government had revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

NGO, People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, and an intervenor had sought referring of the matter to a larger bench on grounds that two judgements of the apex court — Prem Nath Kaul versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1959 and Sampat Prakash versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1970 — which dealt with the issue of Article 370 conflicted each other and therefore, the current bench of five judges could not hear the issue.

Disagreeing with the petitioners, the bench had said it was of the opinion that “there is no conflict between the judgements”.

PFI’s Kerala bandh tuns violent: Protestors pelt stones at buses, vehicles

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ANI

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September 23, 2022

Kerala Protest, Bus, Auto rickshaw, Stone Peddling — Image: ANI

A day after Popular Front of India leaders were arrested in a massive country-wide raid, the outfit’s dawn-to dusk hartal began on Friday and incidents of stone pelting and attack on vehicles including KSRTC buses by protesters were reported from various places in the state.

The shutdown in Kerala has been called by the PFI to protest the arrest of its members in nationwide raids by the National Investigation Agency yesterday. The hartal (strike) started at 6 am and will continue for 12 hours till 6 pm.

In various other parts of the state, the roads were seen deserted this morning with few of people on the roads.

According to the police, stone-pelting incidents were reported at various places in the state.

Two police officers were attacked earlier today by the hartal supporters at Pallimukku in the Kollam district. Visuals showed hartal supporters pelting stones at the Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus at Panamaram village in Wayanad district.

The bus was going to Kozhikode. KSRTC buses were also attacked in Kozhikode, Kochi, Alappuzha and Kollam. In the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, an autorickshaw and a car were seen in a damaged state after being attacked in Poonthura.

Releasing a statement, the PFI state committee said that it considered the NIA’s arrest of PFI national and state leaders “unjust” and “part of atrocities by the state”.

“A hartal will be held in the state on September 23, Friday) against the RSS-controlled fascist government’s move to use central agencies to silence dissenting voices,” it said.

The PFI also called upon the “democratic believers” to make success the strike against the “fascist regime that crush the civil rights”.

According to the police, stone-pelting incidents are being reported at various places in the state. Two miscreants on a bike at Pallimukku in the Kollam district abused police officials and hit them after they attempted to stop them, police said.

The injured police officials were identified as Antony and Nikhil have been admitted to the hospital. The police said the bike number of the assailants have been noted and they will be soon be taken into custody.

In Kottayam roads were seen deserted.

Earlier on Thursday, the PFI, while condemning the raids by the NIA and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against its leaders, stated that it will “never surrender” and alleged that the agency’s claims are aimed at “creating an atmosphere of terror”.

A total of 106 Popular Front of India (PFI) cadres were arrested yesterday in a joint operation conducted by the National Investigation Agency, Enforcement Directorate and state police forces across 15 states in the country’s multiple locations, according to the sources.

The states where the raids were conducted included Andhra Pradesh (4 places), Telangana (1), Delhi (19), Kerala (11), Karnataka (8), Tamil Nadu (3), Uttar Pradesh (1), Rajasthan (2), Hyderabad (5), Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar and Manipur.

The searches were conducted in connection with five cases registered by the NIA following “continued inputs and evidence” that the PFI leaders and cadres were involved in the funding of terrorism and terrorist activities, organising training camps for providing armed training and radicalising people to join banned organisations.

A large number of criminal cases have been registered in different states over the last few years against the PFI and its leaders and members for their involvement in many violent acts.

Earlier on Thursday, the PFI and SDPI workers staged a protest in Karnataka’s Mangaluru against the raids, following which they were detained by the state police. PFI workers sat on the road in protest against the NIA raid at the party office in Chennai.

The PFI was launched in Kerala in 2006.

Maharashtra Health department to use mobile application to bring transparency in staff transfer

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PTI

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September 23, 2022

Mobile Application, Health Department, Maharashtra — Image: PTI/ Image for representative purpose

The Maharashtra Public Health Department is developing a mobile phone application, which will be used in the transfer of its staff and medical officers, a minister has said.

Speaking on Thursday, state Health Minister Tanaji Sawant said the app will bring transparency in the transfer process.

“The public health department is currently developing an app for the transfer of its employees. All the staff – from grade A to grade D, from health directors to nurses and ward boys – will be transferred in a transparent manner once they complete their tenure in the current service,” he said.

Generally, a state health department employee is expected to occupy one post for three consecutive years, he said, adding that those who complete their tenure can fill their details on the app followed by submission of three choices for the transfer.

“Every employee will get a stipulated timeframe to fill such details from his or her own log-in ID for the transfer. The decision on the employee’s transfer will then be taken and it will be uploaded on the app,” Sawant said.

When asked about several posts in the health department lying vacant, the minister said, “The agencies that help at the national level for conducting recruitment exams such as TCS, Infosys and MKCL, will be deputed for carrying out a recruitment process in the state.” Nearly 10,000 posts in various sections of the health department are vacant, he added.

Policies of Thackeray controlled BMC force Marathi people to move our of Mumbai: Rane

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PTI

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September 23, 2022

Narayan Rane, Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena, BJP, BMC — Image: PTI

Union minister Narayan Rane on Thursday hit out at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, blaming him for “bringing down” the Marathi speakers’ population in Mumbai.

Speaking to reporters here, Rane said, “It was the policies of the Uddhav Thackeray-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that forced the Marathi people to leave the city. He is solely responsible for bringing down the Marathi percentage here.”

Rane was speaking a day after Thackeray lashed out at senior BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah at a public rally.

License of Maharashtra-based Laxmi Co-operative Bank has been cancelled by RBI

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ANI

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September 22, 2022

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Laxmi Co-operative Bank on the basis of weak financials.

The central bank also mentioned that the bank consequently ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from Thursday.

Maharashtra’s commissioner for cooperation and registrar of cooperative societies has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and to appoint a liquidator for the bank, the RBI said.

The central bank said it had cancelled the licence of the bank because the bank doesn’t have adequate capital and earning prospects, and added that the continuance of the bank is prejudicial to the interests of its depositors.

The bank in its current financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full, and public interest would be adversely affected if it is allowed to continue its business, it said.

On matters of liquidation, the RBI said every depositor would be entitled to receive deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakh from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), subject to the provisions of DICGC Act, 1961.

According to data given by the bank, over 99 per cent of the depositors are entitled to receive the full amount of their deposits from DICGC

As of September 13, the central bank said DICGC already paid Rs 193.68 crore of the total insured deposits under the provisions of Section 18A of the DICGC Act, 1961

Bombay HC allows Thackeray faction to amend petition over BMC’s decision on Dussehra rally

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ANI

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September 22, 2022

Hearing a petition of Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction seeking permission to hold the Dussehra rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, the Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed it to amend its petition to challenge the BMC’s decision refusing the nod and posted the matter for Friday.

Eknath Shinde faction’s MLA Sada Sarvankar made an intervention plea for the Dussehra rally and hearing on this will also take place tomorrow.

A division bench of Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka and Justice Kamal Khata heard the petition of the Thackeray faction seeking permission for holding the Dussehra rally.

Lawyers appearing for the Uddhav faction told the court they have got a letter from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that their application has been rejected and they want to amend their petition.

Lawyers for BMC also urged the court to defer the matter till tomorrow. The BMC has refused to give permission to the two factions for holding the rally, based on the local police’s report which said that the event may cause law and order problems in the area.

Shiv Sena has been holding the rally on Dussehra every year since 1966. The event is significant this year as Sena is now split up into two factions and the rally was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Uddhav Thackeray, in August, took a dig at Shinde, stating the party is not sure whether it will get permission for the event.

Thackeray went on to say that whatever happens, he will hold a Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park “Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally will be held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Shiv Sainiks from all over the state will reach for this rally. We do not know these technical things whether the government will give permission or not. We will hold the rally. It doesn’t matter to us whether others will hold rallies or not. Shiv Sena has grown not by traitors but by the blood of Shiv Sainiks,” Thackeray had said addressing workers of his party.

Uddhav had said that a lot is happening in Maharashtra about which he will talk speak at the Dussehra rally. Dussehra will be celebrated on October 5.

Belgium-based Ageas Insurance company has completed its majority stake in AFLIC; pays Rs 580 crore to IDBI Bank

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PTI

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September 22, 2022

Belgium-based Ageas Insurance International has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in its Indian joint venture Ageas Federal Life Insurance (AFLIC), picking up 25 per cent stake of IDBI Bank for Rs 580 crore.

With this, it has become the first foreign partner in the Indian life insurance sector to own a majority stake of 74 per cent.

In the non-life segment, it was Italy’s financial services major Generali which raised its stake in Future Generali India Insurance to 74 per cent in May this year.

Last fiscal, the Indian government allowed foreign players to raise their stakes in Indian joint venture insurance firms up to 74 per cent from 49 per cent earlier as a move to attract investment as well as to increase insurance penetration in the country. “Ageas completes the acquisition of a majority stake in the Indian life insurance joint venture Ageas Federal Life,” Ageas said in a release.

The global insurer said it has acquired the additional 25 per cent stake (from IDBI Bank) for a total cash consideration of Rs 5.8 billion (EUR 73 million). “With this transaction, Ageas increases its interest in the joint venture that it has operated to date together with IDBI Bank and Federal Bank to 74 per cent.” Ageas Federal Life Insurance said with the completion of the majority shareholding by Ageas, it is the first life insurer in India in which the foreign partner has acquired 74 per cent stake.

Domestic lenders IDBI Bank and Federal Bank along with Ageas had formed the life insurance joint venture named — IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company –in 2007 and commenced operations a year later in 2008. Their original stakes in the company stood at 25 per cent, 26 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively.

In May this year, LIC-controlled IDBI Bank had announced exit from the JV and entered into a pact with Ageas Insurance International NV to sell its entire stake of 25 per cent for Rs 580 crore.

Federal Bank continues to hold a 26 per cent stake in the joint venture which was renamed as Ageas Federal Life Insurance in December 2020. IDBI Bank exits as a shareholder but remains a distribution partner, said both the joint venture partners. Vighnesh Shahane, MD & CEO, Ageas Federal Life Insurance, said: “Despite the various challenges due to the pandemic as well as the prior uncertainty around the stake sale, we have consistently delivered superior results, achieved new milestones, and declared profit for ten consecutive years.” Ageas Federal recorded profit for ten consecutive years beginning FY13.

The company’s total premium rose by 13 per cent to Rs 2,207 crore in the fiscal year ended March 2022. It posted a net profit of Rs 94 crore during the year. Ageas said from Q4 2022, AFLIC will enter into the consolidation scope for both IFRS and solvency II.

Under IFRS, this transaction is considered a step acquisition, hence the previously held interest of 49 per cent is treated as if it had been disposed of and generates a non-cash capital gain of EUR 50 million, it added. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) refers to global accounting rules.

The financial statements under IFRS are consistent, transparent and easily comparable around the world. “The impact of the transaction on the Group’s solvency position is neutral,” Ageas said further. Solvency II is a harmonised, sound and robust prudential framework for insurance firms in the EU. It is based on the risk profile of each individual insurance company in order to promote comparability, transparency and competitiveness

Congress presidential poll: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot meets Rahul Gandhi at Kochi

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ANI

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September 22, 2022

Amid the ongoing speculation over Congress presidential poll, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is considered a top contender, met party leader Rahul Gandhi at Kochi on Thursday.

The closed-door meeting between the two leaders lasted for almost two hours. Gehlot also marched with Rahul Gandhi in his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gehlot arrived in Kochi in the afternoon and was present at the Adlux Convention Centre where Rahul Gandhi held a press conference. Significantly, at the press conference, Rahul Gandhi asserted that the one-person, one-post resolution of the party should be maintained with regard to the Congress president’s post as well.

The comment also has an important implication for Gehlot in case he contests the party presidential poll. A victory would mean that he would have to give up the chief ministership.

In that case, there is also a possibility that Sachin Pilot could be elevated in Rajasthan. Giving an indication of his willingness to contest the presidential election, Ashok Gehlot, who is considered to be a staunch Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist, had said on Wednesday that he is willing to accept any responsibility given to him by the party.

Gehlot had met party’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has already made known his intention to enter the fray while some other names are also doing the rounds.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi emphasised on the “one person, one post” norm and said he believes the commitment of party’s Udaipur declaration would be maintained in the election for the party’s topmost post.

Describing the post of Congress president as an “ideological post”, Rahul Gandhi said the position “represents a set of ideas and belief system and vision of India.”

Answering a question during a press conference on the 15th day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra here, Gandhi said, “You are taking on a position. It is a historic position that defines and has defined a particular view of India. It is not just an organisational post. The Congress president is an ideological post, it is a belief system. My advice would be whoever becomes the president should remember that he represents a set of ideas and a belief system and a vision of India.”

“What we had decided in Udaipur. ‘One person, one post’ is a commitment of Congress and I expect that commitment will be maintained (on party’s presidential post),” he added.

The Congress had decided on a set of organizational reforms during the Udaipur Chintan Shivir held earlier this year. The declaration said that the principle of “one person, one post” should be followed.

Rahul Gandhi is not likely to run for the presidential poll scheduled to be held on October 17. The results will be announced on October 19. Taking a veiled jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Gandhi today said that Congress is fighting a “machine” that has “captured the institutional framework” of the country.

“We are fighting a machine that has captured the institutional framework of this country and has unlimited money, unlimited ability to pressurize, buy and threaten people. The yatra is designed to tell the people of India that they need to be united and need to go back to an India that was loving and affectionate,” he said.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi will now come back to Delhi tonight. “Rahul Gandhi will be coming back to Delhi tonight as there is a halt in Bharat Jodo Yatra tomorrow. On September 24, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will rejoin the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” a source said.

The nomination process for the post of Congress president will begin on September 24 and conclude on September 30.

National Games 2022 Table Tennis: Gujrat win men’s gold, WB clinch gold in women final

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ANI

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September 22, 2022

Olympic athletes Mouma Das and Sutirtha Mukherjee assisted West Bengal in winning the gold medal at the National Games on Thursday, while Harmeet Desai, who won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, and Manav Thakkar, who won the bronze medal at the Asian Games, led Gujarat to victory in the men’s table tennis competition.

West Bengal overcame Maharashtra 3-1 in the women’s table tennis team final to clinch the gold medal at the National Games. Ayhika Mukherjee, who was part of the Indian team at the Asian Games 2018, beat Swastika Ghosh 3-0 in the first rubber of the final to give West Bengal an early lead in the five-match tie.

Reethrishya Tennison then led Maharashtra’s comeback, upstaging Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sutirtha Mukherjee 3-0 (9-11, 11-13, 9-11) in the second match.

Athens 2004 Olympian Mouma Das, 38, seemed to be struggling against 19-year-old Diya Chitale in the crucial third rubber after losing the first game.

Mouma Das, however, used her experience well to come from behind and defeat Diya Chitale 3-2 (6-11, 16-14, 10-12, 14-12, 11-6) and help West Bengal take the lead.

Sutirtha Mukherjee, part of India’s gold medal-winning team at Commonwealth Games 2018, put up a far better show in the reverse fixture against Swastika Ghosh to secure the title for West Bengal.

In the men’s table tennis event, Gujarat, the top-seeded table tennis team at National Games, did not lose a single rubber throughout the competition and beat Delhi 3-0 in the final to lift the title.

Gujarat’s Manav Thakkar, an Asian Games bronze medallist, dominated Delhi’s Sudhanshu Grover in the opening game. Gujarat’s captain Harmeet Desai, a two-time Commonwealth Games men’s team gold medallist, then defeated Payas Jain in the second rubber.

Manush Shah’s one-sided win over Yashansh Malik wrapped up the affair for team Gujarat. While Maharashtra and West Bengal took the men’s bronze medals, Tamil Nadu and Telangana claimed the women’s bronze medals.

The National Games 2022 was set to start officially on September 27. However, with the World Table Tennis Championships in China scheduled from September 30, the table tennis events at the National Games were brought forward to ensure the presence of India’s top players Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra.

The trio will be in action in the individual events, starting from Thursday. More than 7,000 athletes are competing in over 30 sports at the National Games 2022.

Now in its 36th edition, the National Games were first held in Lahore, British India, in 1924. It is being held after a gap of seven years.

leader of Imam organisation called RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat ‘Father of the Nation’

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ANI

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September 22, 2022

Mohan Bhagwat,RSS — Mohan Bhagwat, RSS | Image: ANI

Chief Imam of All India Imam Organisation Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi on Thursday called RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat the Father of the Nation after he visited a Masjid and Madarsa in Delhi today. “Mohan Bhagwat Ji visited on my invitation today. He’s ‘Rashtra-pita’ & ‘Rashtra-Rishi’. A good message will go out from his visit. Our ways of worshipping God are different, but the biggest religion is humanity. We believe country comes first”, tweeted Dr Ilyasi.

Earlier, after visiting a Masjid at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat went to the Azad Market Madrasa Tajweedul Quran in Old Delhi, interacted with the children and also had a piece of advice for them. Madarsa director Mahmudul Hasan, while talking to Agency said, “The chief stayed inside the Madrasa for about an hour and met the teacher and the children.” His visit to the Masjid earlier and to the Madarsa has grabbed eyeballs, as it is for the first time that he has been to a Madarsa. The RSS chief, who is engaged in a campaign to increase contact with Muslims, also met with Dr Imam Umair Ahmed Ilyasi, head of All India Imam Sangathan, on August 1 last month. Earlier, in the day he had also met with many Muslim intellectuals, including the Chief Imam, Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi.

As per sources close to the RSS, issues like the Hijab controversy, Gyanvapi and maintenance of peace and harmony among religions were discussed in the meeting. Other than Bhagwat, senior RSS members, including Dr Krishna Gopal, Indresh Kumar, Ramlal and Karish Kumar also participated in today’s meeting.