Shinde Led govt says “The name of Sambhajinagar is already there” on renaming Aurangabad

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July 15, 2022

Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Political Crises, Mumbai — Image: Agencies

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s decision to rename Aurangabad city when it had been reduced to a minority was illegal, and it will be ratified again in the next cabinet meeting.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government announced the renaming of Aurangabad in central Maharashtra as ‘Sambhajinagar’ — after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s elder son Chhatrapati Sambhaji — in its last cabinet meeting on June 29, hours before Thackeray resigned.

Shinde was sworn in as chief minister with the BJP’s support the next day, having split the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

“The MVA government took the decision to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar in its last cabinet meeting when it had been reduced to a minority government. Holding a cabinet meeting (in such a situation) was illegal,” the chief minister claimed at an event here.

Sena founder Bal Thackeray had announced that Aurangabad — which derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb — will be renamed as Sambhajinagar several decades ago, Shinde said. “The name Sambhajinagar is already there, we will ratify it in the next cabinet meeting,” he said, adding that this will make the decision legally safe.

He also said that he rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership to save the party and its workers. “We got nothing politically despite having our chief minister in the three-party dispensation.

We finished fourth in nagar panchayat elections,” said Shinde, who was a senior minister in the Sena-NCP-Congress government headed by Thackeray. People of the state accepted his decision to rebel as it was in the party’s interests, Shinde claimed. Meanwhile, Sena leader from Aurangabad and former MP Chandrakant Khaire, who has stayed loyal to Thackeray, warned that party workers would launch an agitation if the name of the city was not changed within a month.

The Shinde-led government stayed the renaming which was an insult to Chhatrapati Sambhaji, he said, speaking to PTI. “Why the BJP didn’t carry out renaming when it was in power from 2014-19? The BJP-led central government did not even pass the proposal to name the Aurangabad airport (for Chhatrapati Sambhaji),” he said, demanding that the airport too be named within a month. Aurangabad district Shiv Sena chief Ambadas Danve too said that the “staying” of the decision to rename the city was “unacceptable.”

Shiv Sena party is not expecting Murmu to visit ‘Matoshree’ in return while supporting as candidate

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PTI

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July 15, 2022

Draupadi Mirmu, Presidential Election, uddhav thackeray, Eknath Shinde, devendra fadnavis, BJP, Jharkhand, — Image: Agencies

The Shiv Sena which has declared support for the National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu did not expect her to visit Uddhav Thackeray’s residence ‘Matoshree’ here, the party said on Thursday.

Murmu arrived in Mumbai on Thursday evening to meet the MPs and MLAs of the BJP as well as MLAs of the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Though Sena chief Thackeray too has declared support for her, she was not slated to meet him. Sena MP Vinayak Raut had said earlier in the day that party MPs and MLAs (from Thackeray’s faction) would not be attending a meeting that Murmu was to address.

Asked about this, MP and Thackeray’s confidante Sanjay Raut said the party’s support of Murmu was not political. “We did not extend our support to her for visiting Matoshree. This is not political support, but it reflects our sentiments towards tribal communities,” he said.

In the past, the Shiv Sena had supported Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections even though it was part of the BJP-led NDA then, Raut said. Patil and Mukherjee, both Congress leaders, had visited Matoshree, he said, adding that this time the party broke ranks again (with allies Congress and NCP).

As for the first time a tribal woman leader was set to occupy the highest office in the country, many Sena legislators who have tribal roots or work in tribal areas felt that the party should back Murmu, Raut added. The Opposition has fielded Yashwant Sinha against Murmu for the July 18 election.

Alt news co-founder Zubair has been granted bail by the Delhi court says “dissent necessary for healthy democracy”

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ANI

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July 15, 2022

Mohammed Zuber, Alt News, — Image from Twitter zoo_bear

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Friday while granting bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case related to an allegedly objectionable tweet, observed that “the voice of dissent is necessary for a healthy democracy.

Therefore, merely for criticism of any political parties, it is not justified to invoke section 153A and 295A of IPC”. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangla said, “Democracy is a government by the people via open discussion.

Democracy can neither work nor prosper unless people go out to share their views. Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India gives freedom of speech and expression to its citizen. Undoubtedly free speech is the proper foundation of a democratic society.

A free exchange of ideas, dissemination of information without restraint, dissemination of knowledge, airing of differing viewpoints, debating and forming one’s own views and expressing them, are the basic indicator of a free society, the judge said. This freedom alone makes it possible for people to formulate their own views and opinions on a proper basis and to exercise their social, economic and political rights in a free society in an informed manner.

The court noted that the present case relates to the tweet of an image along with two words “Before 2014” and “After 2014”. It is stated by Delhi Police counsel for the state that the image tagged with a tweet has hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community and is sufficient to incite feelings of hatred among people which is punishable under Sections 153A and 295A Indian Penal Code(IPC).

It also noted the Special Additional Public Prosecutor for the state has also pointed out that the word “Before 2014” and “After 2014” is pointing toward the ruling political party to show the state of affairs in a prejudicial manner.

The Hindu religion is one of the oldest religions and most tolerant. The followers of the Hindu religion are also tolerant. Hindu religion is so tolerant its followers proudly name their institution/organization/facilities in the name of their Holy God or Goddess.

“A large number of Hindus proudly name their children in the name of their Holy God and Goddess. The website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India reveals that a number of companies are incorporated in the name of the Holy Hindu God or Goddess.

Therefore naming of an Institute, Facility or Organization or child in the name of a Hindu Deity on the face of it, is not violative of Section 153A and 295A IPC unless the same is done with malice/guilty intention. The alleged act would come into the category of offence only when it is done with a guilty intention,” said the court order.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangla on Friday granted bail to Zubair and directed him to deposit a personal bail bond of Rs 50,000 and one like amount surety.

Zubair was booked by the Delhi Police under sections 153A (promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Delhi Police said. Earlier on Monday, Zubair had moved a bail petition in Sessions Court seeking bail in the Delhi FIR registered against him in a case pertaining to an alleged objectionable tweet. On July 2, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) refused to grant bail while sending him to 14-days of judicial custody.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria dismissed the bail petition after hearing the submission of the defence counsel and special public prosecutor (SPP) Atul Srivastava for Delhi. In the order, the court observed that “since the investigation is at the initial stage and in view of the circumstances and gravity of the offence, no ground is made out for bail.

Application dismissed and the accused is remanded to judicial custody till July 16, 2022.” Delhi Police had also added three new Sections– 201 (for the destruction of evidence – formatted phone and deleted tweets), 120-(B) (for criminal conspiracy) of IPC and 35 of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, in the matter.

The FIR against Zubair was lodged on June 20 based on a complaint filed by the Duty Officer of the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell which tackles cyber crimes. Zubair was arrested and sent to one day of police custody after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him based on a Twitter posting, which another Twitter handle alleged “hurt Hindu sentiments.”

A warm welcome displayed by ladakhis to Dalai Lama

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ANI

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July 15, 2022

The 14th Dalai Lama who arrived in Leh on Friday was warmly welcomed by the people of Ladakh. A large number of civilians and monks gathered to accord a warm welcome to the Tibetian spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama arrived at Leh airport in the afternoon as he commenced his Ladakh trip.

He left for Ladakh after a stopover in Jammu where he had arrived on Thursday from his base in Dharamshala. “India and China are both competitive nations and neighbours, sooner or later you have to solve this problem through talks and peaceful means.

The use of military force is outdated,” the Dalai Lama told ANI. The Tibetan spiritual leader is on a two-day official visit to Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh.

This is the first official tour of the Dalai Lama outside his base in Dharamshala since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The visit also marks his first visit to the region since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

This visit is also taking place just three days before the 16th round of Corps Commander-level meetings between India and China, which according to sources is expected to start on July 17. Earlier talking to reporters in Jammu on Thursday, the 87-year-old spiritual leader said that the majority of people in China realise that he is not seeking independence within China but meaningful autonomy and preservation of Tibetan Buddhist culture. “Not Chinese people, but some Chinese hardliners consider me a separatist.

Now, more and more Chinese are realising that Dalai Lama not seeking independence but within China meaningful autonomy and to preserve Tibetan Buddhist culture,” the Dalai Lama said. The Tibetan spiritual leader was responding to a question about China objecting to his visit to Ladakh.

The Dalai Lama also said that more and more Chinese are showing interest in Tibetan Buddhism. “Some of the Chinese scholars have realised that Tibetan Buddhism is truly knowledge and tradition and a very scientific religion.”

The spiritual leader’s trip is likely to irk China as Beijing had recently criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending wishes to the Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday, stating that India should stop using Tibet-related issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs.

The External Affairs Ministry slammed China’s criticism and said that it has been a consistent policy of the government to treat the Dalai Lama as a guest in India. Beijing has always had an issue with the Dalai Lama since he took shelter in India. In the 1950s, when China illegally occupied Tibet, the Tibetan spiritual leader had to take shelter in India.

The Dalai Lama has tried to advocate for a mid-way negotiation with China to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet. India and China have been engaged in a standoff since April-May 2020 over the transgressions by the Chinese PLA in multiple areas including the Finger area, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, and Kongrung Nala. The situation worsened after violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020

Accused can’t be released as circumstances point to his guilt, says HC : Jhanvi Kukreja murder

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PTI

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July 15, 2022

A new year brings a chance to create dreams and is like a chapter waiting to be written, but the new year of 2021 landed a young man into a quagmire, the Bombay High Court noted while refusing bail to Shree Jogdhankar, an accused in the murder of Jhanvi Kukreja, who was found dead in a building in Khar on New Year’s Eve last year.

A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre had on July 7 rejected Jogdhankar’s bail plea. A copy of the detailed order assigning reasons was made available on Friday.

The court in its order said that the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution connects Jogdhankar (23) with the crime and that they “prima facie point to his guilt”.

Kukreja (19) was found dead in the staircase of a residential building in suburban Khar on January 1, 2021. Her friends Jogdhankar and Diya Padalkar were later arrested by the police.

“A new year brings a chance to create dreams; A new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. However, the new year of 2021 landed the applicant – Shree Jogdhankar, a young boy of 21 years, into a quagmire,” Justice Dangre said.

“He (Jogdhankar) is accused of murdering his close friend Jhanvi and in this act, it is alleged that he was assisted by another of his close friend Diya,” the judge added.

The court order noted that the three youngsters (Kukreja, Jogdhankar and Padalkar) were to usher the new year with a big bang celebration with their friends.

The prosecution’s case is that a scuffle took place between the deceased and Jogdhankar. The victim was brutally assaulted by Jogdhankar and was dragged from the 8th floor to the 2nd floor of the building’s staircase.

Considering the material compiled in the police charge-sheet and the gravity of the accusations faced by him, no case is made out for releasing Jogdhankar on bail, the court said.

The court further said that the witnesses in the case were all friends and hence there was every possibility that Jogdhankar would tamper with the evidence and pressurise the prosecution witnesses.

“In the wake of the overwhelming circumstance of the presence of the applicant (Jogdhankar) in the company of the deceased and they being last seen together and the deceased lying in a pool of blood with 48 injuries on her body, is sufficient to establish the case of the prosecution attributing the murder to him,” Justice Dangre said.

A brief on China’s role in Sri Lankan crisis

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ANI

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July 15, 2022

While Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, China has turned a blind eye to the crisis and shifted the blame to the borrower, a media report said.

Amid the pandemic, the country was trying to rebuild its economy, but the tourism industry was hit badly, an article in the Global Strat View think-tank read. Tourism in Sri Lanka supports 10 to 15 per cent of the economy.

The effect of the COVID-19 crisis, the loss of tourists, high government expenditure and tax cuts depleting state revenues, and the use of money for initiatives with minimal returns have all contributed to Sri Lanka’s economic meltdown. Russia is the third largest market for Sri Lanka’s tea exports.

As a result of the RussiaUkraine war, Russia was blocked from the SWIFT global payments system making the country unable to pay Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka turned to China for help and asked for USD 1 billion loan to meet repayments, and a USD 1.5 billion credit line to buy Chinese goods, however, no progress was attained even after months of negotiations.

The policies pursued by former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the mismanagement of the economy have contributed a lot to the present crisis in the country, however, they are linked to China.

The country provided aid to Sri Lanka to end the civil war, create infrastructure and ‘convert’ the island nation into another Singapore. China protected Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya who allegedly were charged with human rights violations during the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and provided assistance for economic development.

Mahinda Rajapaksa gave his approval for several Chinese infrastructure projects when he was in power from 2005 to 2015.

Citing the example of the Hambantota project, Global Strat View said the port developed with significant Chinese funding had no commercial viability, but China persuaded Sri Lanka to proceed with the project.

As the port struggled to gain momentum, Beijing wanted it as collateral, compelling the Sri Lankan government to hand over management to a Chinese corporation on a 99- year lease in 2017.

Sri Lanka has achieved economic growth through external borrowings for a very long time, and China has been one of the major creditors to the country.

China’s model of economic development adopted for Sri Lanka included a handful of Chinese companies investing in specific projects along with higher interest rates and agreements to govern such investments.

China’s blind eye to the economic and political condition of Sri Lanka allowed the spread of corruption and endemic borrowing, the publication said.

The country was made hostage to Chinese investments which worsened the structural weaknesses in the economy and contributed to the current crisis.

Delhi court grants bail to Mohd Zubair in objectionable tweet case

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ANI

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July 15, 2022

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Friday granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case related to an alleged objectionable tweet case in which he was arrested by Delhi Police last month.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangla on Friday granted bail to Zubair and directed him to deposit a personal bail bond of Rs 50,000 and one like amount surety.

He cannot leave the country without prior permission of the court, ASJ Devender Kumar Jangla added.

On Thursday, the court had kept the order reserved after the conclusion of the argument of both sides.

Delhi Police special public prosecutor Atul Srivastava, while opposing the bail plea of Mohd Zubair, submitted that the bail should not be granted at this stage as there is a violation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

Investigation in the matter is at a good pace without any bias, he said. Delhi Police said, “Rs 56 lakh were received by the organisation where he (Mohd Zubair) is a director violating FCRA.

We gave notice to the Razor pay. There is also a certain forgery in this case which may be done, we are looking at that.

The bank’s notice has already been issued.” The police alleged that it was done in a planned and clever way. “It is not as simple as Zubair’s lawyer has projected,” Delhi Police’s lawyer submitted. Atul Srivastava submitted before the sessions court that Zubair through tweets hurt the sentiments of a community. “Hanuman ji is Brahmchari and he through his tweets compared Hanuman ji with Honeymoon,” he said.

Advocate Vrinda Grover appearing for Zubair denied Delhi Police allegations of foreign funding.

She submitted, “No foreign contribution has been received by me, neither in my personal nor in the organisation’s account. We have invited people to donate to our organisation but it is boldly written that we don’t accept foreign funding…as we’re not registered under FCRA. Therefore we don’t take foreign remittances. Our receiving of the donations and funding are very transparent.”

Zubair’s lawyer, however, showed a screenshot of the Alt News portal which is clearly written that ‘donate now’ and was in the public domain.

“It is a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) under Pravada Media. He has not received any foreign contribution neither in the form of Indian currency nor in foreign currency,” the lawyer submitted.

Advocate Vrinda Grover further submitted, “The picture in question used in the said tweet…is from Kissi Se Na Kehna released in 1983. Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) gave the certificate. I haven’t edited the picture.”

Zubair’s lawyer Vrinda Grover showed the movie clip to the Judge and added that the people of the country were enjoying many freedoms including the freedom to crack a joke.

“Actor of the said movie Hrishikesh Mukherjee also did the same,” she said.

Zubair was booked by the Delhi Police under sections 153A (promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Delhi Police said. Earlier on Monday, Zubair had moved a bail petition in Sessions Court seeking bail in the Delhi FIR registered against him in a case pertaining to an alleged objectionable tweet.

On July 2, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) refused to grant bail while sending him to 14-days of judicial custody.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria dismissed the bail petition after hearing the submission of the defence counsel and special public prosecutor (SPP) Atul Srivastava for Delhi.

In the order, the court observed that “since the investigation is at the initial stage and in view of the circumstances and gravity of the offence, no ground is made out for bail. Application dismissed and the accused is remanded to judicial custody till July 16, 2022.”

Delhi Police had also added three new Sections– 201 (for the destruction of evidence – formatted phone and deleted tweets), 120-(B) (for criminal conspiracy) of IPC and 35 of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, in the matter.

The FIR against Zubair was lodged on June 20 based on a complaint filed by the Duty Officer of the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell which tackles cybercrimes.

Zubair was arrested and sent to one day of police custody after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him based on a Twitter posting, which another Twitter handle alleged “hurt Hindu sentiments.”

Man from MP threatened for supporting Nupur Sharma

By

ANI

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July 15, 2022

A man in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore was threatened for allegedly supporting Nupur Sharma who kicked off a controversy after her remarks against Prophet Muhammad. The police have booked five people after receiving the complaint in the matter.

Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that the accused persons have been arrested and directed the police to step up security around the area. “Nobody will be allowed to disrupt peace in the state.

I had directed the SP to take cognizance of the threats being received by a man who shared a post on social media in support of Nupur Sharma in Sehore. The people who threatened have been arrested after the registration of the case.

Dial 100 point has been set up near the house of the complainant. Patrolling is also being done,” Mishra said. Five accused have been under sections 294, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

NCP slams Maharashtra CM Shinde over clearances given to Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project

By

PTI

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July 15, 2022

Bullet Train, Representative Image,, Mumbai, NCP, — Image for representative purpose

The NCP on Friday criticised Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the clearances given to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project, saying he should focus more on issues concerning the state.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that Shinde had given all the clearances to expedite the project, which the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, had put on the back burner.

The NCP’s chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “The illegal government of Eknath Shinde has expeditiously given clearances to the bullet train project”.

Thane district, which Shinde represents, is the most urbanised district in the state, with the largest number or municipal corporations, he said.

“Shinde should focus more on issues concerning the state and Thane district to resolve the urban problems it faces, instead of bowing before neighbouring Gujarat,” Tapase alleged.

The estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is Rs 1,10,000 crore, of which Rs 88,000 crore are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Over 70 per cent land required in Maharashtra for the project has been acquired in Thane and Palghar districts.

HC grants bail to 72-year-old alleged Naxal operative accused in 2019 Gadchiroli blast case

By

PTI

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July 15, 2022

Bombay High Court, Sathyanarayana Rani, Naxal operative, — Image: Agencies

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to Sathyanarayana Rani, a 72-year-old alleged Naxal operative, who is accused in the 2019 Gadchiroli blast case.
Fifteen security personnel of the Quick Response Team (QRT) and one civilian were killed in an explosion on May 1, 2019 in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and V G Bisht granted bail to Sathyanarayana. A detailed order with reasons and conditions imposed would be made available later.

Sathyanarayana is currently lodged in the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai. His late wife Niramala Uppuganti was also named as an accused in the case. The duo was arrested in 2019. Uppuganti died of cancer in April this year.

Sathyanarayana, in his bail plea filed through advocates Yug Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy, said that there was no evidence against him and that he has spent almost three years in jail as an undertrial and deserved to be let out on bail.

While initially the Gadchiroli police was probing the case, it was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The NIA in its charge-sheet had claimed that Rani was a part of the conspiracy meeting held nearly a year before the attack and that this meeting was attended by around 300 Naxal members. The attack was allegedly planned to avenge the death of 40 persons by security personnel in 2018.

The accused in the case have been booked under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for murder and criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code.