by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
NEW DELHI – Both Houses of the Parliament were adjourned till March 15 on Wednesday as little business could be conducted during the second leg of the Budget session amid the Opposition’s uproar over fuel price hike and farmers’ issues.
Addressing a press conference jointly, Congres leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma, Akhilesh P Singh, Deepender Hooda and Nasir Hussain alleged that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise the issues of public importance.
Deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma said, “This government is guilty of monumental mismanagement of the Indian economy. It is not allowing the normal functioning of the highest institution of Indian democracy. The opposition is being deprived and denied continuously of their right to raise issues, which concern the people of India.”
The Congress leaders said that they have a right to ask questions, alleging that they weren’t allowed to raise important issues even in the first leg of the Budget session.
“Parliament proceedings are not meant only for the transaction of government businesses. Notices are given under the rules, which have to be respected. We respect the rules, and had given the notices following them,” Sharma said.
The Congress leaders also alleged that bills were passed in violation of the established rules, as the Opposition was not allowed to speak.
The Congress leaders said that the government must change its attitute for the remaining part of the Budget session and hear the Opposition leaders, who are all public representatives, so that people can be reassured that the Indian democracy is functioning properly.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
The report claims freedom and fairness of elections (“Elections free and fair”) also was hard hit, under Prime Minister Modi’s reign but says “diminishing of freedom of expression, the media, and civil society have gone the furthest”
NEW DELHI — World’s Largest Democracy Has Turned into an electoral autocracy, a new report by V-Dem, a Sweden based democracy watchdog has declared.
According to the report, India, in the past 10 years, has followed the pattern of “Third Wave” in sliding towards “autocratization” with “a gradual deterioration where freedom of the media, academia, and civil society were curtailed first and to the greatest extent” making it one of the most democratic shifts among all countries.
It says most of the decline occurred following the victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 general election. Last year’s report had termed BJP a “typical governing party in an autocracy”.
The report claims freedom and fairness of elections (“Elections free and fair”) also was hard hit, under Prime Minister Modi’s reign but says “diminishing of freedom of expression, the media, and civil society have gone the furthest”.
Before Modi came in India would rarely use censorship, the report says, but by 2020 the censorship has become routine. “India is, in this aspect, now as autocratic as is Pakistan, and worse than both its neighbors Bangladesh and Nepal,” the report states underlining the increasing use of sedition and defamation laws by the Modi government against the critics.
The report also points out the use of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, amended in 2019, “to harass, intimidate, and imprison” political opponents, as well as people mobilizing to protest government policies and silence dissent academia.
The report says Citizenship Amend-ment Act (CAA), which excludes Muslims from the speedy process of naturalization, “arguably violates the constitution”.
The report also notes the muzzling of civil society through the use of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) which constrains foreign contributions to NGOs within India.
These develop-ments, the report says, are among the instances contributing to the descent of the world’s largest democracy into electoral authoritarianism.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
New Delhi: Following a spate of reactions from different sections of the community over the Jirga, former Chief Election Commission and retired IAS S.Y. Quraishi on Wednesday chose to distance from the controversial closed-door meeting held IIC in the national capital recently.
The meeting, dubbed “Jirga for stronger India”, was held on March 3 and after the day-long deliberations a committee was setup. It was headed by Supreme Court lawyer Mahmood Pracha and S. Y. Quraishi. Following the controversy generated in the community over Muslim Mirror’s coverage of the meet, former Chief Election Commissioner said he never joined the group.
“I never joined it. I never join any organisation. Someone made a wrong statement”, he told Muslim Mirror.
The committee was formed to the future course of action.
Besides Pracha and Quraishi, those who participated in person or through Zoom included Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner; Zafarul Islam Khan, former chairman, Delhi Minority Commission; Mufti Mukarram, Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Fatehpuri Masjid; Maulana Wali Rahmani, General Secretary Muslim Personal Law Board; Shia rligious leader Kalbe Jawad Naqvi; Syed Sarwar Chishti of Dargah Ajmer Sharif, Mufti Shoibullah Khan, Nazim, Masihul Uloom, Bangalore; Siraj Qureshi, president India Islamic Cultural Centre, Delhi, Malik Moatasim Khan, Jamaat Islami Hind, and others.
On the announcement of Quraishi, an analyst said it will further downgrade credence of the committee and meeting itself which attracted some prominent figures in the community.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
NANDIGRAM (WEST BENGAL) – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was allegedly attacked in Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram on Wednesday. Banerjee was rushed to Kolkata as she sustained leg injuries.
“There were about four five men who did it… See how it is swelling up…” she said while pointing at her legs. She also alleged that it was a “conspiracy”.
“Of course it is a conspiracy… There was no security men around me,” the Trinamool supremo added, when asked if it was a planned attack on her.
Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, who was here, as the Chief Minister’s scheduled visit was to continue till Thursday earlier, issued a statement.
“After widespread response from the people of Nandigram Block-1 yesterday (Tuesday), Mamata Banerjee visited several places of Nandigram Block II after filing nomination at Haldia. She offered Puja in one after another temple.
“There was a massive response from people everywhere. At about 6.15 p.m., when she was about to leave Birulia Anchal after performing puja in a temple, a few unknown persons pushed her to the car and forcibly shut the door, as a result of which she sustained injuries in her left leg and also suffered severe pain in the waist. She, thereafter, left for Kolkata to get proper treatment,” ray said.
She was scheduled to return to Kolkata on Thursday but was immediately rushed back to the state capital.
A dishevelled-looking Banerjee, sitting in the front seat of the SUV, spoke to the media just before her convoy left for Kolkata.
Earlier, after filing her papers for the Nandigram Assembly constituency seat, Banerjee took part in the two-km-long roadshow at Haldia. She was accompanied by party state president Subrata Bakshi.
Following the incident in Birulia Anchal, sources said that Banerjee was immediately taken to her temporary residence at Reapara, before heading back to Kolkata.
The Trinamool supremo had been contesting polls from her home seat Bhawanipore constituency, but this time chose Nandigram, a stronghold of Trinamool turn-coat Suvendu Adhikari who joined the BJP last year. A pitched battle was being expected from the word go.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, insisted that the issue is important since it concerns the common people, as everyone is affected due to the rise in the prices of auto fuel and LPG cylinders.
NEW DELHI — The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the second straight day on Tuesday after the opposition again pressed their demand for a discussion on fuel price hike, which was rejected by the chair.
Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, objected to the government’s move to take up bills, saying, “This House has a tradition that until the pending matters are resolved, no government business can be undertaken.”
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad then requested the opposition to allow a discussion on the Arbitration Bill, but the Leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, insisted that the issue is important since it concerns the common people, as everyone is affected due to the rise in the prices of auto fuel and LPG cylinders.
He said the prices of essential commodities have gone up due to the hike in diesel prices.
The House was earlier adjourned for the second time on Tuesday till 2 p.m. after the opposition created an uproar when the chair refused to allow a discussion on fuel price hike.
The opposition members resorted to sloganeering, but the chair maintained that they would get ample opportunity to discuss the issue later.
The House continued with the Question Hour for some time when it met at 12 noon, but due to continued pandemonium, it was adjourned till 2 p.m.
Earlier, the Rajya Sabha chair had rejected the suspension of business notice given for the second consecutive day by the opposition over fuel price hike under Rule 267.
Oil marketing companies (OMC) kept fuel prices unchanged for the tenth consecutive day across the four metros on Tuesday. In the national capital, petrol was selling for Rs 91.17 per litre.
Similarly, in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the fuel was priced at Rs 97.57, Rs 93.11 and Rs 91.35 per litre, respectively.
