by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Atique Ahmed, who is contesting by-elections to Phulpur Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate being taken to be produced before a district court in Allahabad on March 9, 2018.
By Mohit Dubey,
Lucknow : In the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh, by-polls have never attracted so many eyeballs as the ones slated for Sunday when voters in Phulpur (Allahabad) and Gorakhpur cast their votes to send their representatives to the Lok Sabha.
There are two reasons for the curiosity and anxiety the polls have caused. One the one hand, while it’s a test of the almost one year of Maharaj-ji’s (Yogi) rule and on another a dry run for the coming together of the bua-babua (Mayawati-Akhilesh), not long ago sworn enemies.
First because the by polls are a big test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP) as these two seats were held by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy in the state government Keshav Prasad Maurya and the elections would also be a first major test of the popularity of the BJP or the lack of it in the run up to the 2019 general elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a second term.
Secondly, this is also the first electoral outing for hitherto arch rivals the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) when they are on one platform with an objective to “defeat a common foe”. The coming together of the bua-babua (Mayawati-Akhilesh) is no less that a miracle as both parties have been cursing each other since the SP party men led a murderous attack on the BSP supremo some 23 years back. Mayawati never forgot the attempt on her life and refused overtures by the then SP chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, with whom she briefly ran an alliance government in the 1990s.
Akhilesh played a doting son as far as the relationship with the BSP was concerned and in several measures like building a flyover just across Mayawati’s residence, ending her privacy in the walled Mall Avenue bungalow to shunting out her favorite officials in the previous government. Mayawati’s men in the bureaucracy reciprocated during their tenures when not only were SP cadres targeted but Shivpal Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav were manhandled by the police on more than two occasions. However, with their political existence at risk, the two have buried their differences and stitched a “temporary electoral understanding” for the by polls.
Mayawati has not put up any candidate in Phulpur and Gorakhpur and has asked her cadres to “be proactive, hold as many rallies and ensure the victories of SP candidates”. The narrative explained to the committed Dalit vote bank is that the Modi juggernaut is unstoppable and needs the SP-BSP to cement ties and give up differences. But while Akhilesh has also reciprocated the favour by thanking the Dalit leader for her gesture, the two parties have yet not shared the dais at any election rallies. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Ajit Singh has also extended its unconditional support to the SP-BSP combine.
For them to win or even pose a decent showing in the by-elections would open prospects of a possible ‘maha-gathbandhan’ in the 2019 elections but a loss could undo whatever rapprochement the two have achieved in this election. The BJP will then be able to tom tom the defeat of the opposition as a failed attempt to stop the BJP ‘vijay rath’ despite them coming together. UP Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Nandi is already taking potshots at the tie-up. A former BSP minister, he says that Mayawati will have to explain to her cadres what forced her to close ranks with the SP, a party during whose tenures the Dalits were the biggest sufferers.
“This is completely an unholy alliance, bereft of any ideology and it will come a cropper” he told IANS. Ashok Kumar Gautam, the zonal coordinator of the BSP for the region, however, differs and says the the “wild run of the BJP will be demolished in the Phulpur polls”. “Inke share samikaran dhwast ho jayenge is baar. Hum janata ko bata rahein hain ki inhone unke saath kya kya dhokhe kiye hain” (All their equations will fall flat this time, we are telling the people on how the BJP has cheated them with false promises) he added.
The opposition unity has been jilted with the Congress deciding to go alone and even going public with its disenchantment with the way the SP-BSP joined hands without even considering it as a “value addition”. UPCC chief Raj Babbar launched a broadside against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, accusing him of playing the spoiler in opposition unity. The SP has also hit back by saying that Congress is impractical and does not realise the ground realities.
The BJP, which faces the litmus test of not only retaining the two seats, is also closely watching the finishing line to see how the voting contours might change with the coming together of SP-BSP-RLD. “Though the verdict is certainly going to be in our favour, we are pertaining crossing our fingers on the number of votes the opposition polls…that would be crucial for us”, a strategist in the BJP camp told IANS.
In the past, Phulpur has seen interesting fights and many heavyweights of Indian politics — JawaharLal Nehru, Vijay Laxmi Pandit, Ram Manohar Lohia, V.P. Singh and Janeshwar Mishra have contested from this seat, which has about 50 per cent backward and Patel votes. While the final outcome will only be public on March 14 when the votes are counted, the fact that jailed mafia don-turned politician Atiq Ahmad is also contesting the polls in Phulpur is an interesting twist in favour of the BJP.
With Ahmad likely to divide the 15 per cent Muslim voters in Phulpur, the little dicey seat for the BJP, it is likely that the BJP candidate might cruise ahead of the opposition candidate here. In Gorakhpur, its is for the first time in decades that
anybody from outside the Gorakshnath temple is contesting the polls. First it was two terms of Mahant Avaidyanath and then since 1998 it is Yogi Adityanath who has won the seat.
While political observers feel that the BJP has no problems in “Maharaj-ji’s fiefdom” the number of votes polled in favour of BJP’s Upendra Shukla would certainly be of much interest and political currency. So, till March 14, all eyes are set on these two seats as the political establishment, both in Delhi and Lucknow await the verdict.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
New Delhi : In a bid to improve speed and line capacity, the Indian Railways is planning to implement Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system namely European Train Controlling System (ETCS) Level-II signalling on its entire broad gauge network of about 60,000 km, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
“Railways is planning to implement an advanced version of ETCS Level-II on its entire broad gauge network of 60,000 route km, which will enable continuous updating of movement authority in loco cab through wireless network,” the Lok Sabha was told in a written reply to a question.
“The continuous updating of movement authority will ensure improved speed and line capacity as compared to ETCS Level-I,” the government said.
The government also said that the railways have implemented ATP system conforming to ETCS Level-I on 342 route km in which movement authority (distance to travel) displayed in the loco cab is updated, whenever loco passes over a balise fitted on the track.
According to the railway officials, the system enables loco pilot to know the condition of signals ahead even when the visibility of signals is poor due to fog or any other reasons.
The government also said that a Global Positioning System (GPS) based ‘Fog Pass device’ has been developed which displays the name and distance of approaching signals and other critical landmarks like un-manned level crossings etc. in advance during poor visibility conditions.
“About 6,940 fog safe devices have been commissioned in six zonal railways — East Central, Northern, North Central, North Eastern, Northeast Frontier and North Western Railways — where the trains pass through fog-affected region,” the government added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : A Bill for setting up a National Medical Commission that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday by Health Minister J.P. Nadda.
The Bill would lead to the constitution of a National Medical Commission for development and regulation of all aspects relating to medical education, medical profession and medical institutions and a Medical Advisory Council to advise and make recommendations to the Commission.
As the Health Minister moved the Bill for introduction, opposition members said that the Bill should be sent to a Standing Committee.
Nadda, however, said that the Bill has been prepared based on the suggestions of a Parliamentary Committee, after which it was introduced.
The Bill would also lead to constitution of four Autonomous Boards.
These would include the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board to regulate medical education at undergraduate level.
The Post-Graduate Medical Education Board to regulate medical education at postgraduate level; the Medical Assessment and Rating Board to carry out inspections and to assess and rate the medical institutions.
Besides, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board to regulate professional conduct and promote medical ethics amongst medical practitioners and medical professionals.
It would also maintain a national register of all licensed medical practitioners and a national register of AYUSH practitioners, who have qualified the bridge course.
The Commission would also give recognition of medical qualifications granted by universities and medical institutions in India and outside India and qualifications granted by statutory and other bodies in India.
It would also hold a uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission for undergraduate medical education and the National Licentiate Examination for admission for postgraduate medical education.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ravi Shankar Prasad
New Delhi : The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill that criminalises instant divorce with three years of imprisonment for Muslim husbands after the government rejected an overwhelming demand from the Opposition to refer the legislation to a Parliamentary standing committee for detailed consideration.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 was passed by a voice vote after rejecting a resolution moved by Revolutionary Socialist Party member N.K. Premachandran that the legislation be circulated for public opinion.
Various amendments moved by opposition members, including Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and Premachandran, were negatived in divisions. The BJD and AIMIM later staged a walk out.
The government’s determination to get the Bill passed could be gauged from the fact that it was introduced in the morning and taken up for consideration in the afternoon by suspending relevant rules, and then passed in the evening by sitting late beyond the scheduled close of the House.
Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who introduced the bill and later piloted it in the Lok Sabha, said history was being created today.
He said the issue was not of religion or faith but of “gender justice and gender equality” and appealed to all the parties to rise above political considerations and politics of votebank. “Women are seeing that justice will be done to them. Let us speak in one voice that we are for gender justice and gender equity and pass the Bill unanimously,” Prasad said, winding up the discussion.
Opposition parties accused the government of bringing the bill with “ulterior political motives”.
Prasad said instances of instant triple talaq continue despite the Supreme Court ruling it as unconstitutional in August this year.
He said the government had hoped the situation will improve after the Supreme Court verdict. “We had hope. The judgment came on August 22. There were 300 triple talaq cases in 2017 of which 100 had taken place after the Supreme Court verdict. This raises a big question,” Prasad said.
He also referred to media reports on Thursday about an incident at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh in which a woman had been given talaq-e-biddat for waking up late.
The bill seeks to declare pronouncement of talaq-e-biddat (three pronouncements of talaq at one go) by Muslim husbands void and illegal in view of the Supreme Court verdict.
Prasad said while Justice Rohington Nariman and U.U. Lalit held in their judgment in August that instant divorce was unconstitutional and the government should look at bringing a law, Justice Kurian Joseph had observed that what is a sin in Islamic laws cannot be legal.
The Minister saw no justification in the demand for referring the Bill to a standing committee saying the affected Muslim women were crying for justice and were fully backing it. He said there was contradiction in members wanting it to be referred to a standing committee and some arguing why it was not brought earlier.
The Bill makes the act of pronouncing talaq-e-biddat punishable offence. There is provision for subsistence allowance from the husband for the livelihood and daily supporting needs of the wife as also of the dependent children. The wife would also be entitled to the custody of minor children.
Intervening in the debate, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar said time was now ripe for the passage of the legislation in the interest of Muslim women. He recalled an instance of a British journalist interviewing the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after the passage of the Hindu Code Bill when she asked when would the government introduce reforms in Muslim laws.
Nehru was not opposed to reforms of Muslim personal laws but merely said the time was not opportune then, Akbar said. “That time has come now.”
Though Opposition members, including from the Congress, supported the legislation, they wanted it to be referred to a parliamentary committee so that several lacunae can be removed and the provisions strengthened in favour of Muslim women. The law must ensure that subsistence allowance and maintenance to the women and the children was not stopped, they felt.
Some felt that the BJP government was in a haste to pass the Bill not because of its concern for Muslim women but because it sees this as a first step towards bringing in a Uniform Civil Code. They wanted the measure to be given up immediately.
During the debate, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi accused the Congress of appeasing Muslims and said there is a need for codification of Muslim personal laws in the country.
“They (Congress) always did appeasement politics for which the country has paid for 30 years and today we have this chance. If we lose this chance today we will not have another chance.,” she said.
“Codification of Islamic law is needed in this country. No one knows what is Sharia, Talaq-e-Biddat… No one knows the difference,” she added.
She also said that Muslim women need not be in any fear as they had a “brother” in Narendra Modi
Owaisi took several digs at the Modi government and also said those who “marry and abandon” their wives should be punished and the government should bring a law to this effect.
He termed the bill as “bad law”.
Prasad, who responded to the concern of opposition members about making triple talaq punishable, said such concerns were not raised when punishment was provided under Dowry Prohibition Act. He said the amount of subsistence will be decided by courts.
He said the bill was against those who seek to keep women in fear.
Sushmita Dev of Congress said the government was not legislating on the issue of marital rape citing that the law might be misused, and asked if the law on Talaq-e-Biddat may not be misused.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
New Delhi, (IANS) The Lok Sabha on Thursday gave its nod to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, that seeks to improve the ease of doing business in the country.
The measure seeks to overhaul the laws regulating insolvency amid a surge in bad loans. The bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha for its consent.
Piloting the legislation, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha called it “transformational” and one that will restore the balance of power between the promoters and creditors.
It also seeks to amend the laws, including the Companies Act, to become an overarching legislation.
Officials and experts say the passing of the legislation before May 31 can help India improve its rankings in the World Bank’s “ease of doing business index”.
At present on the parameter of resolving insolvency, India is ranked 136 among 189 countries.
Once it gets the Rajya Sabha nod, the new law will give the banks “more confidence” to lend for long-term projects such as roads, ports and power plants, officials said.
The new draft legislation contains amendments to the original Code introduced in December 2015 as suggested by a joint parliamentary panel.
The new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code aims to slash the time it takes to wind up a company or recover dues from a defaulter.
Bharatiya Janata Party sources told IANS that the bill will boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Made in India’ programme and attempts to improve the ease of doing business, as promised by the National Democratic Alliance dispensation to the foreign investors.
The new code seeks to replace the existing century-old bankruptcy laws and provide a time-bound process for resolving insolvency issues.
It will cover individuals, companies, limited liability partnerships and partnership firms.
The government expects the bill to get Rajya Sabha approval too since members from the upper house too were a part of the joint committee on the issue.
“There were 12 laws, some of which were more than 100 years old, to tackle insolvency and now there will be one law. We will be able to quickly move up the World Bank rankings,” Sinha said while replying to the debate.
The bill, after its introduction in December last year, was referred to a joint committee of both houses. The committee, which submitted its report last week, proposed a number of changes.
The parliamentary panel also recommended that money due to workers and employees from the provident fund, pension fund and gratuity fund should not be included in the assets of estates under liquidation.
Among others, Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev (Congress) and Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) also spoke on the issue.
The members underlined that the “implementation” of the new Code will be key to its success and future roadmap.
The members also suggested that the government will have to move faster to strengthen debt recovery tribunals and the appellate tribunals for effective implementation of the new law.
