Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday inaugurated an exhibition on the theme ‘Horrors of Partition’ at the Parliament Library Building.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy were among the leaders present.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last year announced that August 14 will be observed as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’ to remind the nation of the sufferings and sacrifices of Indians during the partition in 1947.
“Partition’s pains can never be forgotten. Millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence. In memory of the struggles and sacrifices of our people, August 14 will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day,” PM Modi had said.
An official release said that Ministry of Culture is organizing various events and activities across India in remembrance of tragedy of partition and it set up the exhibition in Parliament House Complex.
Over 47 hours of productive time was wasted due to interruptions and protests in the monsoon session of the Rajya Sabha that concluded on Monday even as business was conducted for more than 35 hours in its 16 sittings.
Taking note of the disruptions, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, in a statement, said the interruptions were a sad reflection on the functioning of the Upper House of Parliament.
Naidu, in his last speech in the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman, said the session was characterised by regular and continuous disruptions, which deprived Members of the opportunity to discuss matters of urgent public importance and seek the accountability of the executive through questions.
The Vice President, who completes his term on August 10, made these remarks while announcing the end of the session, which commenced on July 18. Out of the 235 Starred Questions admitted, only 61 could be answered orally and Question Hour could not be taken up on seven days, Naidu further said.
“Only 25 matters could be raised by Members with the permission of the Chair and only 60 special mentions could be made, during the entire Session,” said the Chairman.
The House discussed the issue of rising prices of essential items in the form of a Short Duration Discussion which lasted for over four hours in which 33 Members participated in the debate, he said.
Only four government Bills were considered and passed during the Session, said Singh adding 27 Private Members’ Bills were also introduced and only one regarding ‘Right to Health’ could be partly discussed during the entire Session.
“No Private Members’ Resolutions could be taken up.” Naidu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and leaders of various parties and groups and some members for offering their good wishes on completion of his tenure as the chairman of the House.
He also thanked the Leader of the Opposition, the Leaders of various parties and groups and the Members for the cooperation extended by them in the overall conduct of proceedings functioning of the House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked to usher in politics of performance in a scenario where politics of nepotism used to be the dominant practice, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday at a book launch event here.
At the launch of a book: ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery’, Shah said “Modi @ 20 means whatever Modi ji did to strengthen the democracy of this country for 20 years, from the time Modi ji became the Chief Minister of Gujarat (to the present).” “As soon as Modi ji took over as the Prime Minister of the country, he worked to find solutions to country’s problems and successfully established the country’s pride in the whole world, that saga is Modi @ 20,” Shah added. He further said, “I have been working with Modi ji for a long time.
Many a times I have seen Modi ji come out of the worst of times and staying hopeful even in adversity” Lauding the Prime Minister’s leadership skills, he said that PM Modi does not worry about anything except the goal, apart from the country, the pride and well-being of the country, thus he is an ideal leader.
PM Modi has worked to strengthen the roots of democracy in the country, he stated. “The politics of the country was afflicted by three factors.
Because of nepotism, no matter how much capacity someone had, he never got a chance.
Due to appeasement, a gap started to arise between many sections of society. Due to corruption, the economy of the society and the campaigns for social welfare were becoming hollow,” he stated.
“In these 20 years, Modi ji has done the work of ending nepotism from within democracy. Modi Ji has done the work of bringing politics of equality, politics of results and politics of performance in place of nepotism,” he further stated.
It may be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed 20 years in 2021 as the head of government from becoming Chief Minister to Prime Minister of India.
First, he became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 and remained in that post till he became the Prime Minister of India in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019.
Published by Rupa Publications India, the book is written by eminent intellectuals and writers like Nandan Nilekani, Sudha Murty, Sadguru, P.V. Sindhu, Amish Tripathi among others, the statement added.
The book is an anthology of chapters written by eminent writers elaborating and depicting the fundamental transformation that the country has gone through under the leadership of Narendra Modi as the head of the government in the last 20 years.
The book also elaborates on Modi’s model of governance which has touched the lives of a cross-section of the people of the society.
Dominant performance by Australia ended India’s Gold medal dream in hockey at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Australia won the match 7-0. Goals were scored by Blake Govers (9′), Nathan Ephraums (14′, 42′), Jacob Anderson (22′, 27′), Tom Wickham (26′) and Flynn Ogilvie (46′).
India came into the Final on the back of some fine performances in the group stage as they beat Ghana 11-0, drew against England 4-4, beat Canada 8-0 and Wales 4-1 followed by a 3-2 win against South Africa in the semifinal.
In the much-awaited final, Australia got off the blocks at a rampaging pace, pushing the Indian defenders from the word go.
Though India survived the onslaught in the initial few minutes, Australia was quick to snatch a 1-0 lead when they earned the third PC of the game in the ninth minute.
Blake Govers was on target this time, beating Sreejesh to the goal. The defending Champions extended the lead in the 14th minute when Nathan Ephraums scored a field goal.
While the Australian attackers displayed sublime form and coordination, their defence ensured India found no space in the circle to create any scoring opportunity.
Even as Indian attackers struggled to find a breakthrough, Australia went on to pump three more goals in the second quarter through Jacob Anderson (22′, 27′) and Tom Wickham (26′). Going into the half-time break, the Indian team were left staring at a massive 0-5 lead and had their task cut out for the third quarter when Australia returned with similar gumption as the first two quarters. Although India did not concede a goal in this quarter, they were denied any chance of scoring even though India forward Mandeep Singh and Abhishek worked some good variations but nothing came of it.
India also lost their Captain Manpreet Singh midway into the game, as he walked out of the pitch having dealt with a massive blow on his right shoulder.
With Manpreet back in the dugout retired hurt, the onus was on Hardik and Nilakanta who had to free up space in the midfield to help forwards surge ahead. But tactical defence by Australia put immense pressure on the youngsters.
Meanwhile, Australia pumped two more goals in the final quarter. It was Ephraums who scored in the 42nd minute followed by Flynn Ogilvie’s goal in the 46th minute. This is Australia’s seventh Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Chinese military has said it will continue drills near Taiwan focused on anti-submarine and air-to-ship strikes, state media reported on Monday.
This comes as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is conducting joint drills in at least six areas around the island from Aug 4 to 7.
China is conducting a number of military exercises in the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan which angered the Asian powerhouse. Beijing regards Taiwan as its breakaway province, which it intends to overtake if needed by force.
More than 100 Chinese warplanes and 10 warships have taken part in the live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan over the last few days.
Multiple Chinese planes and ships were detected around Taiwan Strait, simulating an attack on its main island
Sanjay Raut's daughter Purvashi is a pillar of strength for parents 8
While the entire media was focusing on the court hearing and Raut’s arrival, I was watching his daughter who stole my heart. When Raut came out of the court his daughter Purvashi was right there escorting her father towards the car. She was holding a bag and files and stood by him like a pillar of strength. Raut waved at those people, who were waiting for him outside the premises. He smiled and sat in his vehicle. He was trying to tell his people that everything is fine or maybe it was a message to the media that all is well. One cannot ignore the fact that the tiredness and discomfort was very much visible on his face. Whereas his daughter looked very firm and composed while being with her dad all these whiles.
When ED summoned Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut, his daughter Purvashi was seen accompanying mother along with her uncle Sunil Raut. Varsha Raut, a school teacher, simple woman and mother of two daughters, got caught in the controversy because the transactions were done in her bank account. Purvashi sat in the ED office until her mother came out. ED questioned Varsha Raut for more than nine hours in connection with the case and recorded her statement. Then Purvashi took her mom back home. She is striking a balance between both. Younger one Vidhita was very emotional the day ED took her dad’s custody; Raut’s brother Sunil was seen cheering her. Who says daughters are less than sons?
Surprisingly, none of the leaders from Maha Vikas Aghadi came in support of Sanjay Raut, no one gave media statements or expressed solidarity. Bunch of Shiv Sainiks gather around court and ED office the day his custody gets over and they bid goodbye when he goes back. There is absolute silence from all those leaders who once were vocal for Nawab Mallik and Congress’s Anil Deshmukh. Well! Rahul Gandhi and His sister Priyanka Gandhi expressed their concern for Raut. Uddhav Thackeray has denied any wrongdoing and called the ED case against him Raut “false”. But no other local leader spoke to the media, his brother Sunil Raut played his spokesman. He gave media statements; he was very prompt during all the on-going events.
A special court sent Raut to 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai ‘chawl’. This came after the ED prosecutor said that the agency no longer needed his custody for the probe. Raut was arrested by the central agency on August 1. Sanjay Raut, is taken to Arthur Road Jail.
His lawyer sought that Raut should be permitted to access home food, medicines and bed while in jail given his health condition. The court has passed an interim order allowing Raut home food and medicines, till a report is received from the jail superintendent and the chief medical officer of the jail on his health. The court said that his plea for a bed cannot be considered as adequate arrangement for a bed made by the jail SP in prison.
The ED prosecutor told the court that while his medical examination, mandatory as per law at least 24 hours before being produced in court, was done yesterday, Raut insisted that he be taken for the test today again before the hearing.
Meanwhile, Raut got caught in another storm; the ED is now looking into the editorial column published with arrested Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s byline in the party mouthpiece, Saamana, on Sunday. Sanjay Raut does not have permission from court to write editorials or columns while in custody. However, on Sunday, a column titled ‘Rokthok’ criticising Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for his recent statements, was published in Saamana under the Sena MP’s name. ED sleuths will be investigating several possible scenarios: if Raut wrote the column by his own hand, if he conveyed the details to someone meeting him while in custody, or if it was written by Saamana staffers in Raut’s name. Raut is allowed to meet his lawyer for one hour every day, as per court orders.
Earlier, three days after Raut was taken in custody, a letter was sent to various Rajya Sabha MPs belonging Opposition parties, in which the Sena leader thanked them for supporting him after his arrest by the ED.
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There is a need to bring in a new and comprehensive law to deal with child adoption that makes the process smoother as well as more accountable, a parliamentary panel that examined the sensitive subject has felt.
The panel, headed by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, observed that a unique situation prevailed in India, where on one hand a large number of families were finding it difficult to adopt children while on the other hand, a huge number of children were living as orphans or beggars on the streets.
The committee also noted with alarm that 762 children had died in Specialized Adoption Agencies between 2018-19 and 2021-22 and called for a third party study of all Child Care institutions.
In another pertinent observation, the panel also took note of the word ‘illegitimate’ used in some legislations to describe children and asserted that no child should be described in this manner.
The 118th report of the standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice was put before both Houses of the Parliament on Monday.
The committee looked at the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and Juvenile Justice Act and said both have their own virtues and shortcomings.
“While the adoption procedure laid down under HAMA is simple and takes less time as compared to that stipulated in JJ Act, adoptions made under JJ Act are transparent, accountable and verifiable,” the panel said in its 43-page report.
It, however, pointed out that the adoption regulations framed under Juvenile Justice Act provide for an elaborate and time-consuming and were beset with inordinate delays.
It is also observed that Specialized Adoption Agencies are also overburdened with procedural requirements and massive paperwork. “The Committee feels that there is a need to harmonise both the laws and bring out a Uniform and comprehensive legislation on adoption which is more transparent, accountable, verifiable, less bureaucratic and applicable to all irrespective of religion in order to make adoptions more easy and less cumbersome,” the panel said.
The panel also said that section 3(1) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act makes use of the term ‘illegitimate’ in reference to a child born out of wedlock.
The Committee strongly feels that the word ‘Illegitimate’ should be omitted as no child is illegitimate and the law should be the same for all children whether born within or out of wedlock, the panel said.
The committee also felt that the new law it has suggested should also cover the LGBTQ community “The Committee is of the view that the new law on adoption should provide for early de-institutionalization of the newborn as it is in the best interest of children. The Committee also opines that the adopted child should be entitled to a share in the property of his adoptive parents and not of his biological parents since adoption replaces biological parents with adoptive parents permanently,” said the panel.
In its report, the panel also called for creating an adoption register to keep record of authentic data. “The Committee takes note of the paradoxical situation where on one hand there are a large number of Parents willing to adopt a child, on the other, there are not many children available for adoption, all this while the 2020 World Orphan Report estimates number of orphans in India at 31 million.
Also, as per the information furnished by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, as per Census 2011 there are 55,258 child beggars in the age group of 0 to 19 years in the Country,” said the panel report.
The Committee also noted with concern that 762 children had died in Specialized Adoption Agencies between 2018-19 and 2021-22 which it called “alarming”.
The Committee recommends the Ministry to commission a third party study of all Child Care institutions.
The Committee also recommends the Ministry to investigate into the causes of child deaths in Specialized adoption agencies and furnish a brief note to the Committee within three months time, the panel said.
Indian paddler Sharath Kamal clinched the gold medal in the men’s singles final at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Monday.
Kamal defeated England’s Liam Pitchford 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 registering a 4-1 victory. Kamal defeated England’s Liam Pitchford 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8.
The first game of the match saw England paddler giving a tough fight to the Indian and he won the game 13-11. The ace paddler Kamal was at his best in the second game as he crushed his opponent 11-7.
The third game was even better as Kamal outclassed his opponent 11-2. Pitchford tried to claw back in the fourth game but the Indian paddler did not allow any slip-up and clinched the game by 11-6. Kamal kept up the momentum and won the fourth game 11-8.
Earlier, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won his first singles medal at the CWG. The Indian defeated England’s Paul Drinkhall 4-3 in the bronze playoff. Gnanasekaran won the hard-fought match 11-9, 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9. His match against Drinkhall was a tale of two halves. The 29-year-old had a wonderful start, winning the first three games.
However, Paul pulled things back by claiming three games in a row. But it was the Indian paddler who took the match. With the win, Sathiyan became India’s 58th medallist, and 23rd bronze medallist, at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Earlier, the Indian mixed doubles duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula bagged the gold medal in the mixed doubles final in table tennis.
The Indian table tennis duo of Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula registered a 3-1 win over the Malaysian pair of Javen Choong and Karen Lyne 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6.
Shuttler Lakshya Sen captures gold in men's singles 12
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen clinched the country’s second badminton gold of the day, defeating Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the final of the men’s singles category at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Monday.
Sen fought brilliantly on his way to victory. He won the match by 19-21, 21-19 and 21- 16. He took on the Malaysian challenge head-on and toiled his way towards the ultimate prize.
Sen and his Malaysian opponent started the opening game on a mostly even note. Sen gained a slight advantage with a 5-4 lead. But Tze Yong was not the one to give up and not only did he score points, but he also made Sen toil hard for his own points. Sen kept fighting and eventually made things 19-19. But Tze Yong secured the first game after outclassing the Indian by 19-21.
The next game also started off as a see-saw contest, with Tze Yong having a lead. Sen continued fighting hard for his points and made things 6-6. Lakshya’s perseverance eventually took him to a 11-9 lead halfway into the game, which eventually widened to 18-9. Sen won the second game by 21-9 to set up an exciting decider.
The decider game also started on an exciting note, with both players toiling hard for points. Sen was better this time. Halfway through the game, he had an 11-7 lead, which widened to 15-11. Sen eventually swung his racket to a win by 21-16 in the third game, which helped him seal the match and clinch the gold.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday extended his congratulatory wishes to newly-elected Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The 14th Dalai Lama in his letter to Dhankhar wrote, “Today, the international community is becoming ever more aware of the leadership role that India can play in contributing to the peace and development of all humanity. With your long and rich experience of public service, I am sure you will be able to serve this great nation and its people with success.”
The Tibetan spiritual leader said that India is the land of ‘ahimsa’ and ‘karuna’, ideas that can contribute much to the flourishing of humanity.
He expressed his commitment to moving forward to create awareness of this treasure. “Over the years, India has taken great strides in many fields, especially in science and technology. As someone who has lived here for most of my life, I consider myself very much part of Indian society. It is auspicious that you are taking up this position on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.”
“Mahatma Gandhi made the principle of non-violence spread across the world, and leaders from Dr Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela turned to ‘ahimsa’ to try to address long-standing differences and social problems. For my part, in addition to applying this principle wherever possible, I am deeply committed to trying to create greater awareness of this treasure, together with the power of compassion, among my Indian brothers and sisters and across the world,” he added.
Dalai Lama praised the traditional techniques of mental training in India, which include Yoga and meditation and said that they can benefit all human beings now and in future.
“I am proud to say that ancient India is the source of an understanding of the mind and emotions – as well as of its traditional techniques of mental training, such as meditation and yoga – that can be of benefit to all human beings, both now and in the future.’’
“I believe that it is most important to incorporate the study of India’s ancient knowledge into modern educational systems, purely from a secular and academic perspective.”
“India is uniquely well-positioned to combine these two essential bodies of knowledge. I am aware that such initiatives have begun in several states, and I very much hope that they will grow across the nation,” he added.
Dhankhar won the election by 346 votes after defeating Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. He got 528 votes against opposition candidate Margaret Alva who secured 182 votes.
The next Vice-President of the country will take the oath of office on August 11, a day after the term of the incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu ends.
