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5 THINGS FIRST |
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi to hold meeting of the floor leaders of political parties ahead of the Budget Session; Supreme Court to resume hearing on the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University; National Conference on Strategic Trade Controls in Delhi; Chandigarh mayoral polls; Amit Shah to launch projects for rural economy
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1. Amid ED move, Kharge sees a ‘last chance’ for democracy |
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What
- Two senior INDIA leaders — RJD president Lalu Prasad and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren — faced ED heat on Monday, with the agency questioning the former in Patna and landing at the latter’s Delhi residence.
Lalu questioned
- The ED recorded Prasad’s statement in the alleged land-for-jobs scam. Prasad allegedly indulged in corruption for appointment of Group-D substitutes in the Indian Railways during his tenure as the railway minister in the UPA-1 government (2004-09).
- The ED case is based on a CBI complaint that the candidates were asked to “transfer land as a bribe” in return for jobs in the railways.
- Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav has been called for questioning in the case today in Patna.
Case against Soren
- It’s related to an alleged land fraud case in which the ED had questioned Soren on January 20 in Ranchi for over seven hours.
- The ED’s complaint says the case is linked to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand. More here
‘Like Putin in Russia’
- Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the 2024 Lok Sabha election would be the last opportunity to save democracy in India.
- “If Narendra Modi wins another election, there will be a dictatorship in the country. The BJP will rule India like Putin in Russia,” Kharge said.
- “Notices are being served to the leaders and ED & Income Tax has become weapons to grind the political opponents,” Kharge alleged.
A silver lining for Yatra
- Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra entered Bihar the day after his former INDIA ally Nitish Kumar jumped ship to form an NDA government there. Nitish blamed the Congress and RJD for his decision.
- The yatra will on Tuesday re-enter Bengal, where another ally Mamata Banerjee’s TMC has turned adversarial and decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls alone.
- But the CPI-M has decided to join the yatra in Bengal, giving the Congress leadership some relief.
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2. A ‘seven-day guarantee’ for CAA rollout |
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A CAA ‘guarantee’
- Union minister Shantanu Thakur stoked a political row on Monday by claiming that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be enforced within seven days. He had made similar comments on Sunday.
- “The CAA will be implemented very soon. It will be implemented within seven days. This is my guarantee,” said Thakur, a leader from the Matua community which has a sizeable presence in some West Bengal districts.
The timing
- In November and also in December, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the CAA’s implementation is inevitable as it is the law of the land.
- Thakur’s comment has come amid speculation that the CAA rules could be notified before the Election Commission announces, likely in March, the Lok Sabha election schedule.
The law and the delay
- Enacted in December 2019, the CAA faced stiff opposition in Bengal and Assam, and from various Muslim groups besides the BJP’s rival parties.
- The law provides for easy citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Muslim-dominated neihbouring countries.
- The manual of parliamentary procedures says that the rules for any legislation must be framed within six months of presidential assent. Else, the government has to seek an extension from the committees on subordinate legislation in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
- The home ministry has been taking extensions since 2020 from the parliamentary committees for framing the rules.
- And the politics
- For the BJP, the promise of implementing the CAA has served as a major electoral platform. The party believes that it played a pivotal role in the BJP’s rise in Bengal.
- The TMC has consistently opposed the CAA, with Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee alleging that the BJP is “exploiting” the citizenship issue for political gain.
The Matua connection
- Matuas, an SC community, who fled to Bengal during the 1950s to escape persecution in then-East Pakistan favour the CAA’s implementation.
- Since the 1990s, all political parties have actively sought their support in every Bengal election.
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3. What govt estimates say about India’s growth story |
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Growth at 7%
- India’s economy is estimated to grow by 7% in the 2024-25 fiscal year – from an estimated 7.3% in 2023-24, the government said in its latest review on Monday.
‘Robust demand’
- “The robustness seen in domestic demand, namely, private consumption and investment, traces its origin to the reforms and measures implemented by the government over the last ten years,” the review said.
Timing
- The estimates come days before PM Narendra Modi’s government presents its last budget before the country heads to a general election this summer.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget on Feb. 1, factoring in the growth projections.
What numbers say
- According to the government’s first advance estimates, India’s economy is seen growing at 7.3% in the current fiscal year, after growth of 7.2% in 2022-23 and 8.7% in 2021-22.
- S&P Global Ratings expects India tol remain the fastest-growing major economy for the next three years, putting it on track to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, overtaking Japan and Germany.
A good sign
- Sensex was up by around 1,240 points and Nifty by 385 points – to settle at 71,942 points and 21,737 points, respectively – giving a solid start to the budget week.
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4. Did Assam police plant a mole in ULFA(I)? |
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DGP denies charge
- A day after the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) or ULFA(I) released a “confession video” of an alleged police spy, the state’s police chief GP Singh said on Monday that the youth held captive by the outfit did not have the required educational qualification to become a sub-inspector (SI) as he claimed.
The allegation
- The ULFA (I) headed by elusive rebel leader Paresh Baruah had on Sunday released a 16-minute video, wherein a youth detained within its camp purportedly confessed to being a SI in the special branch of Assam Police.
- In the video, the youth, who identified himself as Manash Borgohain, admitted to being recruited by police in 2021 and underwent training, along with others, to infiltrate ULFA (I) and gather crucial information to disrupt its activities.
- According to the youth, this scheme was orchestrated by high-ranking officials of Assam Police.
Fake confession?
- DGP Singh said that the youth had made the claims under duress. “The youth passed Class 10 board exam in 2016. Later, he had taken admission in an engineering institute for a diploma course but did not complete the course,” he said.
- “Graduation is the minimum educational qualification to get recruited to the post of sub-inspector… So, it is clear there is no possibility of getting recruited in the police force,” he added.
- He also stressed that the Assam Police have not sent anyone to ULFA (I) camp for spying.
Need to know
- A bigger faction of ULFA led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa last month signed a peace accord with the Centre and the Assam government.
- But the Barauh-led faction continues to ignore the government’s appeal for talks, saying no negotiations would be possible unless the issue of Assam’s “sovereignty” is discussed.
- Earlier this month, the outfit provided what it claimed to be visual evidence of “drone attacks” on its camps in Myanmar by Indian security forces.
- Later, DGP Singh said that such attacks by “unknown elements” may serve as a wake-up call to the “boys and girls from Assam not to head to insurgent bases in Myanmar”.
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NEWS IN CLUES |
5. Identify this country |
Clue 1: The game of polo originated here Clue 2: It is the world’s largest producer of saffron Clue 3: Filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Majid Majidi belong to this country
Scroll below for answer
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6. Political row over Hanuman flag in Karnataka |
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The flag row
- The gram panchayat board of the Keragodu village in Karnataka decided to hoist a saffron flag bearing Hanuman’s image on a 108-foot-tall flagpole in the village on Sunday.
- Mandya district in-charge minister N Cheluvarayaswamy said permission had been obtained to hoist the national flag, which was done on Republic Day, “but it was replaced by another flag that evening”.
- The police pulled down the flag on Sunday itself, but the move prompted protests by local political workers. The police dispersed protesters and replaced the saffron flag with the national flag.
What protesters want
- Protesters from the BJP, JD(S) and Bajrang Dal protested the removal of the saffron flag and demanded it be hoisted again.
- The protesters marched to the deputy commissioner’s office in the district headquarters of Mandya city holding saffron flags as a mark of protest.
- BJP leaders and workers also held smaller protests at all district headquarters of the state
- BJP leader CT Ravi, who was part of the protest rally in Mandya, claimed the removal of the saffron flag showed “the Congress has hatred towards Hindus”
- “We will struggle till the flag is hoisted again,” he said.
Siddaramaiah unmoved
- Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah was unmoved by the protests. “It is not right to fly the saffron flag instead of the national flag. They should have hoisted the national flag,” he said.
- Siddaramaiah accused the BJP and JD(S) of trying to instigate people on the issue with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha election.
- Police said they have erected barricades around the contentious flagpole and CCTV cameras have been installed in the area to secure the place.
- PTI reported that most shops and establishments remained shut in the Keragodu village after protesters called for a voluntary shutdown.
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7. Maha Speaker gets another SC deadline |
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A new deadline
- The Supreme Court on Monday extended the deadline for Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the Sharad Pawar faction’s plea seeking disqualification of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators belonging to the bloc led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar till February 15.
Two cases
- The top court had on October 30 last year directed the speaker to decide the petition of Jayant Patil of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP seeking disqualification of the nine MLAs of the Ajit Pawar group by January 31, 2024.
- On the same day, it had also directed the speaker to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs by December 31.
- On January 10, Narwekar ruled that the Shiv Sena faction led by CM Eknath Shinde was the real Shiv Sena, citing how it had an overwhelming majority of 37 out of 55 MLAs when the rival factions emerged. But he is yet to take a call on NCP’s disqualification plea.
Why deadline was pushed
- The top court on Monday took note of a request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the speaker, seeking three more weeks for passing the order on the disqualification plea. Mehta referred to the recent order passed by the speaker on the disqualification petitions filed by the rival Sena factions and said the cross-examination of the respondents was yet to be completed.
- Mehta further said it will be over by January 31 and prayed for three weeks more to be granted for passing the order. The law officer said the speaker had been busy dealing with the petitions filed by the feuding Shiv Sena factions.
- Meanwhile, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Sharad Pawar faction, said the speaker can be granted one more week to complete the exercise instead of three being sought by him.
Background
- The rift in NCP came to the fore when a faction of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel rebelled against its patriarch Sharad Pawar and joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government.
- Ajit Pawar became the deputy chief minister and 8 MLAs of his camp were sworn as ministers in July 2023.
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8. Who is to blame for sinking Joshimath? GSI says… |
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A GSI report
- The Joshimath land subsidence of January 2023 was the result of unregulated development of high-rise buildings disturbing natural drainage systems, the Geological Survey of India said in its probe report.
- The GSI report says the unregulated development led to a sudden outburst of silt-laden water from Jaypee Colony in the town.
NTPC not guilty
- The report said the land subsidence did not happen because of the ongoing work on NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project.
- The report has recommended stopping the work of the widening of roads along the Joshimath-Auli road and new construction activities in Auli or the upper part of the hill slope.
- The GSI report has also divided the entire area into safe and unsafe zones.
Not the first report
- The GSI report is not the first to give a clean chit to the NTPC’s development work in the area amid concerns about instability in Joshimath.
- In 2010, an expert committee set up by the government said there was no ground evidence to say that the drilling of a tunnel for NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydel project was inducing instability in the Joshimath area project.
- The panel had been constituted — after people raised concerns over the water level sinking in the Selong area — to study the continued land subsidence in the pilgrim town of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district.
- The committee under Chamoli DM had experts from IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and the National Environmental Engineering Institute as members.
Also…
- The first committee to study the reasons for the instability of Joshimath was set up Under then Garhwal commissioner MC Mishra by the UP government after an instance of subsidence was reported for the first time in 1976.
- The Mishra committee described Joshimath as highly unstable because it lies in an ancient landslide zone.
- Another panel under DM Chamoli was set up in August 2022 to look into continued subsistence. More details here
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9. After fistfight, an impeachment move in Maldives |
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The impeachment move
- Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu might soon face impeachment proceedings after the main Opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which holds a majority in the country’s Parliament, said it has gathered enough signatures to submit the motion.
- The Maldives-based news portal Adhahdhu said a total of 34 members, comprising representatives from the MDP and Democrats, have expressed their support for the motion to impeach the president.
- According to Sun.mv, the Maldives Parliament recently amended its standing orders in order to make it easier for MPs to submit an impeachment motion.
- The MDP and Democrats have a total of 56 MPs — 43 of the MDP and 13 of the Democrats.
Ruckus in Parliament
- The impeachment move comes a day after a key vote to approve ministers to the Muizzu cabinet erupted in chaos with MPs coming to blows on the Parliament floor.
- The disruption was caused by MPs of the ruling coalition parties (Progressive Party of Maldives and People’s National Congress) after the MDP and the Democrats refused to approve the appointment of around four ministers.
- Another session was called later in the night, which also ended in a deadlock. The matter was put up to vote one more time early on Monday but no solution was reached.
- After the skirmish in Parliament, the MDP requested heavy police arrangements on the premises.
The India factor
- Muizzu, who came to power in November largely due to his ‘India Out’ campaign, has been pursuing a relentless pro-China policy.
- He has asked India to remove all its 88 military personnel from the island nation by March and has put under review dozens of pacts inked with New Delhi in the past few years.
- The starkly anti-India stance of the Muizzu government has come under increasing criticism from India-friendly Opposition parties, which recently labelled the shift in foreign policy as ‘extremely detrimental’ to the country’s long-term development.
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Answer to NEWS IN CLUES |
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Iran. Indian warship INS Sumitra on Monday ensured the safe release of an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel and its 17 crew members after it was hijacked by some pirates off the east coast of Somalia. The Indian Navy swiftly responded to a distress call from the vessel last night, officials told PTI. The fishing vessel had been boarded by pirates and the crew members were taken as hostages.
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Written by: Prabhash K Dutta, Abhishek Dey Research: Rajesh Sharma
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