Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asserted that India had made a strong recovery after the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic and was on course to become one of the three top global economies of the world by 2047.
“India is the fastest growing economy…A reshaped economic recovery is happening after the Covid-19 pandemic. By 2047, India will be among the top three economies of the world,” Singh said at an event at the Lucknow University here.
To achieve the goal to make India among the top three economies in the world by 2047, the Defence Minister said, all efforts are being made by the Central government.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target is to set India among the top three economies of the world, and we (the Central government) have been taking each and every step to achieve the goal in this direction.” Singh said India has achieved an export target of USD 418 billion this year.
Singh said the world did not take India as seriously on international fora earlier. “Now, the credibility of India has increased.”
“Earlier, India’s stance on world affairs was not taken seriously. But today, India has reached a level where the world listens to us carefully,” he said.
“If someone tries to hurt India’s honour, then we have the power to deal with it.”
“If you look at history, India is such a country which has never tried to attack any country or acquire their land,” he said.
The Minister said there should be social welfare departments in educational institutes. “Social Work department should be incorporated in education institutes so that it could be connected to the society,” said Singh.
Noting that he felt honoured while participating in events linked to freedom fighters, Singh said “We have got freedom. But, it was not the only dream of our freedom fighters. They wanted such a free India which is determined, strong and prosperous.”
Reminiscing how the decision to carry out cross-LoC surgical strikes was taken at an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after terrorists attacked Uri army camp, Singh said Indian Special Forces carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launchpads along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2016.
Referring to the Galwan Valley face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers, the Minister said, “We should proud of our soldiers how they showed exemplary courage during the India-China face-off. The whole country should proud of our forces.”
Salman Khan on Friday celebrated his 34th year in cinema by announcing that his latest film has been titled “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan”.
The actor shared the title and his look from the film on his social media pages along with a video thanking his fans for showering him with love for the past three decades.
“34 years ago was now and 34 years later is also now. My life’s journey began from nowhere made up of 2 words now and here.
Thank you for being with me then which was now and thank you for being with me now. Really appreciate it,” the message read. The makers are yet to announce the remaining cast and the director of the film.
Khan,56, was launched in Bollywood with 1988’s “Biwi Ho To Aisi” before making his debut as a lead with Sooraj Barjatya’s “Maine Pyar Kiya” (1989).
Since then, the actor has starred is many commercial hits and critically-acclaimed movies like “Hum Aapke Hain Koun…?”, “Khamoshi: The Musical”, “Andaz Apna Apna”,
“Mujhse Shaadi Karogi”, “No Entry”, “Wanted”, “Dabangg”, “Ek Tha Tiger”, “Sultan” and “Tiger Zinda Hai”. Khan’s last big screen release was “Antim”, in which he featured alongside brother-in-law Aayush Sharma.
His upcoming projects include “Tiger 3”, co-starring Katrina Kaif. He will also make a cameo appearance in Shah Rukh Khan’s “Pathaan”.
The outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Friday said that the end of his tenure just marks the end of his constitutional assignment but he will try to fulfil the constitutional vows till his last breath.
“The end of my tenure just marks the end of my constitutional assignment, however, I shall fulfil the constitutional vows till my last breath,” CJI Ramana said during a farewell function organised in his honour.
The farewell function was organised by Supreme Court Bar Association. During his speech, CJI Ramana said that he wants to be remembered as a Judge who heard the senior and the junior alike and wanted his name to be etched on the hearts of the people through his conduct and behaviour, rather than case law and journals.
“As a Judge, I always wanted my name to be etched on the hearts of the people through my conduct and behaviour, rather than case law and journals. I want to remain in those vibrant hearts which will give me warmth and keep me going forever. I have seen the flow of emotions in Courtroom No. 1 this morning,” CJI said.
CJI referred to emotions as a reflection of the strong sense of belongingness with the institution and said that he was touched by the display of emotions in particular by senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave.
“I may be judged as one who meticulously followed the rules of the game and did not trespass into provinces forbidden. More importantly, as one who recognized preliminarily the moral power of a Judge,” he said.
CJI Ramana also expressed his gratitude towards the nation and said that the country provided him with many opportunities and happiness and it was an honour to serve you all.
“Both your support and criticism have carried me this far,” he added.
CJI Ramana, also expressed happiness and thanks to his collegium judges and consulting judges, as in the last 16 months, they have appointed 11 judges to the Apex Court and out of the 255 recommended for the various High Courts, 224 Judges are already appointed.
“This amounts to nearly 20 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of the High Courts. Due to our concerted efforts, we could make considerable progress in appointing more women judges and promoting social diversity on the Bench. We got 15 new Chief Justices for various High Courts during the same period. This process is a reflection of the coherence and determination of the Judges to strengthen our institution, to further the goal of justice,” he said.
CJI also mentioned his choice of travelling across the country almost every weekend to speak to the public through various events and said that there is a popular perception that the Indian judiciary was alien and quite distant from the general public.
“My experience so far has convinced me that in spite of fulfilling its Constitutional mandate, the judiciary does not find adequate reflections in the media, thereby depriving the people of knowledge about the Courts and the Constitution,” he said and expressed his feeling that being a judge, his Constitutional duty to dispel these notions and bring the Court closer to the people, by way of generating awareness and building confidence among people about the judiciary.
“From what I get to hear from the common people during my visits, I am happy to note that people are able to engage with me on my subject in their language. I have actively tried to promote a sense of belongingness of the people with the system,” he said.
CJI Ramana said that his constant endeavour was to make the people aware, not just about their rights and obligations, but also about the Constitutional scheme and democratic values and institutions.
“As part of my public speaking engagements, I have focused on certain subjects of institutional importance. The focal point of any justice delivery system is “the litigant- the justice seeker”. But our system, practices, and rules, being colonial in origin, may not be best suited to the needs of the Indian population. The need of the hour is the Indianisation of our legal system. When I say Indianisation, I mean the need to adapt to the practical realities of our society and localise our justice delivery system,” he said.
“I have pushed for the modernisation of judicial infrastructure as a means for providing access to justice. I also tried to highlight the difference between the arrears and backlogs to put things in perspective. “Arrears” refer to delays that are unwarranted,” CJI Ramana said.
“Every delay is not an arrear. Some cases of delay might be due to valid reasons. On the other hand, “backlogs” refers to a situation where the number of cases instituted in a period is more than the number of cases disposed of in the same period,” CJI said.
CJI Ramana also mentioned some of the judgements where the top court restored what was taken away earlier and said “This institution never hesitated to remedy itself. Your hope upon the institution cannot be so weak that it is shattered with one perceived unfair judgment.”
“When it comes to an individual judge, the expectations are very high. In the game of cricket, the player is expected to hit every ball for a six. After all, everyone loves to hit a six and win accolades for himself and the team. But only a player knows how to deal with each ball, given the conditions of the pitch, the style of bowling and the placement of the fielders. At times, the circumstances may not allow him to score even a single run,” CJI said.
CJI Ramana also highlighted that from the date he joined the bench till he reached the highest possible position in the judiciary, he was subjected to conspiratorial scrutinies.
“My family and I suffered in silence. But ultimately, the truth will always prevail. Satyameva Jayate,” he said.
During his farewell speech, Justice UU Lalit, next CJI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Senior Advocates and Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh and Vice President Pradeep Rai also mentioned his popularity by citing crowds at Supreme Court Auditorium.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, while speaking on the farewell function of CJI NV Ramana, says a not single chair is vacant, and people waiting outside, and that is the judgement of the bar how popular is CJI SG Mehta praised CJI Raman for the appointment of various judges and said one-third of the judges’ vacancy was filled by the collegium led by CJI Ramana.
SG Tushar Mehta said that he has gathered information from reliable sources that CJI Ramana is passionate about Telugu literature and he is contemplating writing a romantic novel in Telegu.
However, CJI denied in his speech and said that he is not writing any romantic novel in Telegu but he may write something on literature.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh talked about CJI’s ambition in politics and said, “It is a loss of politics because if he will be there then, he will be probably Prime Minister of the country today. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh said that it is our good fortune that he chose the legal profession and it is the highest one can get into this profession.
An executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 28.80 lakh to give a work order for a project in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, an official said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Dineshkumar Budha Bagul (50), was trapped by an ACB team in the evening at the Tribal Development Department’s office in Nashik, around 200km from Mumbai, he said.
Bagul had demanded from a contractor 12 per cent amount of the Rs 2.40 crore construction work of a central kitchen in a hostel for girls and boys at Harsul, he said.
The contractor approached the ACB Nashik unit with a complaint against Bagul, following which verification was done, the official said.
A trap was laid and the executive engineer was caught while accepting Rs 28.80 lakh as a bribe from the contractor, he said, adding further probe was on.
Shinde-govt announces toll waiver on some road stretches for Ganpati festivities 8
The Maharashtra government on Friday waived tolls on Mumbai-Bengaluru and Mumbai-Goa highways as well as toll plazas of other Public Works Department roads from August 27 to September 11 in view of Ganpati festivities, an official said on Friday.
It would give relief to Ganpati devotees travelling from different parts of the state to the coastal Konkan belt of the state, he said.
A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said those wanting to avail of the waiver must approach the Regional Transport Authority (RTA).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a Branch Sales Manager of ICICI Bank and another person for demanding and accepting bribes in the national capital.
The accused were identified as Sonu Shikarwar, Branch Sales Manager with ICICI Bank at Bhuteshwar Branch in Mathura and Rishav Kumar, Sales Executive (an outsource Employee of ICICI Bank).
A case was registered against the accused on a complaint. It was alleged that the complainant had availed a home loan facility of Rs 10 lakh from the ICICI branch, Bhuteshwar wherein Bank had initially disbursed the first phase of a loan amount of Rs 3.04 lakh.
It was further alleged that the said Branch Sales Manager demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the complainant for further disbursement of the remaining loan amount and directed him to hand over the bribe to an outsourced employee working in the ICICI Branch as Sales Executive. CBI laid a trap and caught the accused while accepting the bribe of Rs.50,000. Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused which led to the recovery of incriminating documents Both the arrested accused were produced before the Special Judge, CBI Court in Ghaziabad and were remanded to 14 days of judicial custody
Several persons in the city including junior police officials recently received a fraudulent message seeking digital gift cards ”urgently” in the name of the Mumbai police commissioner, an official said on Friday.
The unidentified person or persons sending WhatsApp messages used police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar’s photo as the display picture (DP), he said.
The message asked the recipients to send 20 digital gift cards from e-commerce firm Amazon worth Rs 10,000 in total, the official said.
The city police have warned its officials not to fall for the fraud, he added.
”There is something I need you to please do for me urgently as I am currently attending a very crucial meeting with limited phone calls… There are some listed prospects I am presenting them to today. I can’t get it done myself due to meetings and I don’t have any of my cards with me. How quickly can you arrange these gift cards I need to send them out in less than an hour. I would provide you with the type of gift cards and the amount of each. I will reimburse you before the end of the day,” the message read.
Glee’ actor Heather Morris, who worked as a professional dancer for many years, has accused Jennifer Lopez of once cutting out dancers from auditions based on their astrological sign.
According to a Page Six report, Heather, while speaking on the ‘Just Sayin’ with Justin Martindale’ podcast said, “Thank you so much, you guys have worked so hard.
By a show of hands, if there are any Virgos in the room, can you just raise your hand?”
Heather then claimed that Jennifer Lopez then “whispered something to her assistant” and told the dancers who were Virgos, “Thank you so much for coming,” and saying that they “had to leave after a full day of auditioning for Jennifer Lopez.”
During his podcast, when host Justin Martindale asked her if the story was true, Heather joked that the anecdote was “hearsay.” Earlier in the clip, Morris emphasized
the difficulty of a dance audition and went on to highlight how ridiculous Lopez’s alleged reason for cutting people was cringe-worthy. Page Six reports that during the podcast she said, “You’re not getting paid, you’ve been there since 10 a.m. and you’re auditioning until 6 p.m…You’re not getting any money.
People judging you the whole time.” Well, it is unclear why Jennifer Lopez, who is a Leo, seemingly not a fan of Virgos.
Although, Page Six mentions that Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband Marc Anthony, whom she was married to from 2004 to 2014, is a Virgo.
Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi on Friday alleged that Congress is “in self-destruction mode” and targeted party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Bishnoi said senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who left the Congress on Friday was welcome in the BJP and he is willing to persuade him if the party so wants.
“It won’t be wrong to say that Congress is in self-destruction, suicidal mode. I suggest Rahul Gandhi sets aside his ego….Ghulam Nabi Azad is welcome in BJP. If the party asks me, then I can persuade him to join the party,” he said.
He alleged that Rahul Gandhi is surrounded by people who do not have any experience on the field and who have not ever fought any elections.
“This is not the same Congress, the party has strayed from its ideology. They no longer follow the ideology that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi used to…There is a coterie culture inside the party that lets them make decisions according to their own ease and benefits”
“I was suffocated when I was a part of Congress. I and my father were associated with Congress for more than 53 years. My father basically built Congress in Haryana and when I and leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, RPN Singh and now Gulam Nabi Azad can quit the party… this states that somewhere fault lies within the party and not with leaders,” he added.
Bishnoi had left Congress and joined BJP earlier this month. Bishnoi, who attended the last rites of late BJP leader Sonali Phogat here, said that the case should be handed over to CBI.
The Goa police on Friday arrested the two persons accused in connection with the alleged murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sonali Phogat.
The police have arrested Phogat’s PA Sudhir Sangwan and his associate Sukhwinder Singh and have taken them for a medical checkup.
The accused were arrested in the case earlier in the day after the police accessed the CCTV footage of the accused and the deceased partying at a club.
