INDIA

A city sessions court in Ahmedabad acquitted two clerics from Kashmir who had been accused of spreading terrorism in a 2006 case, according to a report in The Indian Express. The duo were accused of having received training from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out "jihadi attacks" in response to the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Presided over by additional sessions judge Prashant Sheth, the court reached this decision after taking into account witness statements that did not corroborate the prosecution's allegations. The court found no evidence that these two clerics, in conjunction with others, were planning militant jihadi attacks or plotting a proxy war on behalf of the banned organizations LeT and SIMI. The two clerics, Bilal Ahmed (also known as Bilal Kashmiri), arrested in 2021,...

Ramesh Bidhuri, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from South Delhi on Thursday, 21 September hurled several  Islamophobic profanities at Bahujan Samaj Party (SP) MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha during the Special Session. The exchange took place while Bidhuri was addressing the House on the success of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission. Amid a heated exchange over PM Narendra Modi allegedly taking credit for the mission, Bidhuri used words like ugrawaadi (militant), aatankwadi (terrorist), Mulla (slur used for Muslims), Bhadwa (pimp), and Katwa (circumcised) for the BSP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha. While the ruckus over his remarks erupted, Bidhuri seemed unfazed and went on using derogatory language while former Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan could be seen smiling next to him. ...

On Wednesday in the Lok Sabha, the Central Government will attempt to win support for the Women's Reservation Bill. The measure will be presented by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal for discussion and approval. The Women’s Reservation Bill, formally known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was added to the Lok Sabha’s agenda on Tuesday. The measure calls for a reservation to last for 15 years and includes provisions for seats to be set aside for women from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). According to sources, its implementation during the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 seems improbable. It won't go into effect until the delimitation process is finished, which is anticipated to be around 2026. After each delimitation exercise, r...

South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People (SANDRP), a leading advocacy group, has accused the Sardar Sarovar dam operators of acting once more in an "unaccountable" way and causing "avoidable floods in downstream Gujarat." According to a thorough analysis by SANDRP, the upstream and downstream areas of the dam "could have been significantly lower and much less disastrous" if the authorities had acted on timely basis of actionable information available. On September 17, 2023, the water level at the Golden Bridge in Bharuch approached the highest flood level, but the authorities did not release water as they were busy celebrating the birthday of PM Modi. The dam authorities avoided a gradual and sustained release of water from the dam until the morning of September 17 in order ...

Amid speculations and rumors, today,  September 18, the 'special' session of Parliament has started. The central government has distributed lists of business, but when the opposition parties said the Centre would include unexpected features during the five-day session in the Parliament, rumors increased. Beginning with the formation of the Constituent Assembly, the opening day of the session will commemorate 75 years of the history of parliament. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will talk on the accomplishments, memories, experiences, and lessons learned throughout the last 75 years. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum advocated for the Women's Reservation Bill to be passed during the all-party meeting that took place prior to the session. Some opposition pa...

At least 175 people were killed, 1108 others injured and 32 were missing in Manipur since ethnic violence broke out in the state four months ago, Inspector General of Police (Operations) I.K. Muivaa said here on Friday. The official said that 4,786 houses were set on fire and 386 religious structures were destroyed or vandalised. IGP Muivah said that of the 386 religious structures destroyed or vandalised, 254 are churches and 132 temples. Of the weapons that have been “lost”, 1359 firearms and 15,050 various types of ammunition were recovered, the IGP told the media. Various reports, political parties claimed that during the ethnic riots, which broke out on May 3, over 4,000 different types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of different kinds of ammunition were looted from the p...

'Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal took a swipe at the government on Wednesday over a G20 booklet praising Mughal emperor Akbar, alleging that it has one face for the world and another for “India that is Bharat”. Sibal cited a G20 booklet titled “Bharat: The Mother of Democracy”, the 38th page of which talks about Akbar. “Good administration should embrace everyone’s welfare, regardless of religion. That was the kind of democracy the third Mughal Padishah Akbar practised,” the booklet said. In a swipe at the government, Sibal said on X, “G20 Magazine: Government hails Mughal emperor Akbar as proponent of peace and democracy! One face: For the world another: For India that is Bharat! Please inform us about the real mann ki baat!” The booklet said Akbar introduced the doctrine of “Sulh-...

Several Punjab-based leaders met Kashmiri students who have been protesting against the administration of Desh Bhagat University (DBU) for the past few weeks. Earlier The Kashmiriyat reported, that several students including Kashmiris allegedly assaulted at DBU. The students were assaulted during a protest against the University for illegaly transferring their admissions into another nursing college which lacks INC recognition. Guramneet Singh Mangat, who is secretary of Progressive Farmers Front, also met the students. While reacting over alleged Police action against students, Singh has lashed out on Punjab government for failing to take action against the university. “Reached @DBUIndia Mandi Gobindgarh where Kashmiri girls pursuing B.Sc Nursing were brutally Lathi-charged today...

The INDIA coalition has decided to not send its representatives to shows hosted by fourteen news anchors. The anchors listed by the bloc are those who have been accused of openly running the propaganda of the Bhartiya Janta Party and peddling fake news in favour of the incumbent government. Pursuant to the decision taken by the INDIA Coordination Committee in its meeting on September 13, 2023, the INDIA parties will not send their representatives on the shows and events of the 14 anchors including Arnab Goswami, Gaurav Sawant, Navika Kumar The others included in that list include Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, Anand Narasimhan, Ashok Shrivastav, Chitra Tripathi, Prachi Parashar, Rubika Liaquat, Shiv Aroor, Sudhir Chaudhary and Sushant Sinha. K.C. Venugopal, general secretary of IND...

The Karnataka Police have registered an FIR against a Hindi news channel and its Consulting Editor on allegations of spreading misinformation about a commercial vehicle subsidy scheme of the State government for minorities, officials said on Wednesday. The FIR was filed under Sections 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the Indian Penal Code against the channel and its Consulting Editor following a complaint by the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation (KMDC) Assistant Administrator Shivakumar at Seshadripuram police station here, they said. The complainant accused the Consulting Editor of spreading false news about the scheme offered by the corporation an...