Dalit business champ scheme: Orders on plea seeking CBI probe reserved
He said it was filed out of political animosity as the petitioner himself had stated that the petition was a retaliatory measure to the vandalisation of his house. CHENNAI: The Madras HC’s vacation bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan on Friday reserved orders on a PIL petition filed by YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar seeking a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in implementation of Annal Ambedkar Business Champion Scheme aimed at making SC/ST conservancy workers into entrepreneurs. During the hearing, Additional AAG J Ravindran, representing the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board, submitted that 213 eligible persons were selected adhering to eligibility criteria. Questioning the maintainability of the plea and taking it up as urgent matter during vacation, he raised doubts about the bona fide intent behind filing the petition. He said it was filed out of political animosity as the petitioner himself had stated that the petition was a retaliatory measure to the vandalisation of his house. The bench said it wouldn’t see who is the petitioner but only the contents of the plea. It questioned why a group management company was not established as per the requirement of the scheme. Representative of Gen Green Logistics, one of the parties impleaded, submitted that each member belonging to SC will be made a shareholder. Subsequently, the bench reserved the orders. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https://thenewindianexpress.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
‘Foreign policy has collapsed’: Rahul Gandhi asks EAM to explain three diplomatic shortcomings over Operation Sindoor; BJP hits back
NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday triggered a political war of words after claiming that India’s foreign policy had collapsed under the Narendra Modi-led government, and asked external affairs minister S Jaishankar to answer three questions regarding India’s global standing following Operation Sindoor and state of heightened tensions with Pakistan. “Will JJ explain: Why has India been hyphenated with Pakistan? Why didn’t a single country back us in condemning Pakistan? Who asked Trump to ‘mediate’ between India & Pakistan?” Rahul wrote in a social media post on X. — RahulGandhi (@RahulGandhi) “India’s foreign policy has collapsed,” he added. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party attacked Rahul and accused him of weakening India and the morale of the Armed Forces with his questions. “When Operation Sindoor is going on, Rahul Gandhi is giving careless statements. He is asking how many IAF jets are down. On May 11, during a press briefing, Air Marshal Bharti said, ‘We are in a combat scenario, it is not prudent for us to answer that question,’” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said. “Rahul Gandhi seems to be busy in conversations with Pakistan on how to weaken Indian and the morale of the forces… Today, a senior leader of Pakistan, Mariam Nawaz, gave a statement that on the night of May 6 and 7, and on May 9, Pakistan had to face a huge loss because of India’s action… At such a time, what is LoP and ‘Nishan E Pakistan’ Rahul Gandhi saying?” he added. Bhatia said that Rahul could have asked these questions in all-party meeting of the MEA briefing. He further accused the Congress leader of hating 140 crore Indians while hating Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “You can ask any question in an all-party meeting of the MEA briefing. Your questions can be answered. But such activities by Rahul Gandhi are not innocent. This cannot be neglected by calling it Rahul Gandhi’s childlike, for which he is known. When it is about the nation, every statement holds weight, and will be exposed if it causes harm to the country… Why has Rahul Gandhi started hating 140 crore Indians while hating PM Modi?” Bhatia said. “At Rahul Gandhi’s instructions, Mallikarjun Kharge said that Operation Sindoor is a small war. Looking at Congress’s character and careless attitude, it is not wrong to say that if anyone is betraying India, then it is Rahul Gandhi,” he added This comes after the Congress leader had claimed that the Centre informed Pakistan “at the start” of Operation Sindoor and said this wasn’t a “lapse”, but a “crime”. On May 17, Rahul had shared an undated video of Jaishankar, in which the minister is heard saying that “India had warned Pakistan before launching strikes” on terror infrastructure. Following Rahul’s remarks, the BJP slammed the Congress leader, calling his statements “sinister.” “Rahul Gandhi’s daftness is not merely incidental — it is sinister. He is speaking the language of Pakistan,” BJP’s Amit Malviya said in a post on X. The ministry of external affairs refuted Rahul’s claim, calling it a “misrepresentation of facts.” The MEA clarified that the government had warned Pakistan during the “early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement,” not before it began. It noted that Jaishankar had said, “We had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement.” “This is being falsely represented as a warning issued before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry added. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
‘Called Indira Ji Durga’: Harivansh slams Rahul Gandhi for remarks over Operation Sindoor, cites Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 1971 example
NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh on Friday advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to exercise caution in his remarks questioning the Centre and the armed forces over Operation Sindoor. Harivansh cited the example of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who did not protest against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war with Pakistan. “There cannot be a more shocking, sad, and uninformative statement than this. This is the time when we all should stand together,” Rajya Sabha deputy chairman said. “When the 1971 war took place, it was widely publicised that Atal Ji called Indira Ji ‘Durga’. The reality was that Atal Ji did not say that, but he also did not protest at that time. Today, the situation is such that the whole country has to stand united… Pakistan’s DGMO called our DGMO for a ceasefire. Pakistan’s DGMO surrendered, and we are not ready to listen to our army. Former NSA Shivshankar Menon’s book mentions that after the Mumbai attack in 2008, where 166 people were killed, there was silence—whose government was in power then?” he added. Harivansh also reminded Rahul that the UPA government allegedly hid the news of terrorists beheading a soldier near the Pakistan border, while then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama. “Brahma Chellaney wrote in 2013 that terrorists beheaded our soldiers in the Keran sector near the Pakistan border. At that time, the Prime Minister was in America and was to meet then US President Obama. This news was hidden from the country,” Harivansh said. “Do not go into the past, otherwise I will mention 2,500 incidents from 2004 to 2014. There were thousands of such occasions when you should have taken action, but did not,” he added. This comes after Rahul Gandhi, in a social media post, claimed that India’s foreign policy has collapsed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to explain why India has been hyphenated with Pakistan, and who asked U.S. President Donald Trump to “mediate” between the two South Asian neighbours. This follows Rahul’s claim that the Centre informed Pakistan “at the start” of Operation Sindoor and stated that this was not a “lapse” but a “crime.” On May 17, Rahul shared an undated video of Jaishankar in which the minister is heard saying that “India had warned Pakistan before launching strikes” on terror infrastructure. The MEA clarified that the government had warned Pakistan during the “early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement,” not before it began. It noted that Jaishankar had said, “We had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement.” “This is being falsely represented as a warning issued before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry added. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
‘There is nothing to conceal’: Karnataka deputy CM Shivakumar admits to donating Rs 25 lakh to National Herald
NEW DELHI: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Friday admitted to donating Rs 25 lakh to the National Herald, saying “there is nothing to conceal, it is a newspaper run by our party.” Shivakumar’s statement came after the ED named his brother DK Suresh and Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy in its chargesheet related to the National Herald case. Addressing reporters, Shivakumar said, “I donated Rs 25 lakh to the National Herald. It is a newspaper run by our party. My brother and I have given money to the publication. We have also given donations from our trust. We have given our hard-earned money; there is nothing to conceal,” Shivakumar told reporters.The National Herald newspaper is still under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of an ongoing probe involving senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi. The matter is linked to alleged financial irregularities in the transfer of a Rs 90.25 crore loan from the Indian National Congress (INC) to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald, and its subsequent assignment to Young Indian for a mere Rs 50 lakh. BRS working president K T Rama Rao (KTR) also posted on X, sharing newspaper report screenshots about the National Herald case. “Telangana has become an ATM for Scamgress and it’s been now corroborated by agencies As the ED charge sheets Telangana “Bag Man” in National Herald case, he is trying his best to distract the people’s attention from his corrupt practices The million dollar question is whether the NDA Govt will act this time or pardon Revant Reddy as they’ve done in the case of Amrut Scam, RR Tax and Civil supplies scam” he wrote on X. Earlier on Wednesday, the ED presented initial arguments at Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court regarding its complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in a money laundering case connected to the National Herald. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju told the court that the case involves proceeds of crime and ongoing criminal activity, which amounts to money laundering. Following arguments by ASG Raju and ED Special Counsel Zoheb Hosain, the court scheduled the next round of hearings from July 2 to July 8. The court scheduled the next hearing for July after the defence requested more time, citing the submission of a large number of documents totaling 5,000 pages. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
UP: 12-year-old Dalit girl raped by teenagers in Moradabad
The girl alleged the boys spiked her soft drink, raped her and made a video, which was circulated online. In a horrifying act, a 12-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped by five boys, all aged between 12 and 15, inside the principal’s office in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district. The incident took place on May 8. The girl alleged the boys spiked her soft drink, raped her and made a video, which was circulated online. It was only after one of her neighbours saw the video that the crime came out in the open. The Dalit girl’s mother immediately filed a complaint with the police and all five boys were arrested on May 20. According to the girl’s complaint, she knew the boys. They asked her to accompany them to a nearby school. Having known them, she agreed. One of the boys had the key to the school’s building and then took her to the principal’s office. “Once inside, they locked the gate and gave me a soft drink. After that, I lost consciousness. All five raped me and then made a video. When I came to my senses, they threatened to kill my parents if I mentioned the incident,” the Dalit girl said in her statement. Police said that all five have been arrested and sent to a juvenile facility. A case has been registered. Lakdikapul Gated CommunitySt JosephsGermanten Hospital Meanwhile, the girl is receiving counselling. Posted by Veena Nair Courtesy : TSD Note: This news is originally published on https://thesiasatdaily.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
Transgender woman wins Miss Universe Sikkim, to represent state in Miss Universe India
Girls aged between 17 and 29 with a minimum height of 5.2 feet can participate in the Miss Universe Sikkim contest Transgender woman Jackielynn Pradhan has won the Miss Universe Sikkim title and is set to represent the state in the Miss Universe India contest in a groundbreaking moment for the broader LGBTQ+ community. This is the first time a transgender person has won the title in the state. “This has been my dream for the past nine years. Miss Sikkim has turned into reality, and I am so proud of myself and my community (LGBTQ+),” Jackielynn told The Telegraph. A resident of Jorethang, Jackielynn continuously faced struggles in her life that also “affected my education”. “I used to be bullied in school a lot,” recounted Jackielynn. “But I never gave up. My parents, L.M. Pradhan and Pricella Gurung, always supported me. I also held on to a ray of hope. I would tell myself that I would become something in life,” said Jackielynn, who aspired to participate in a pageant and do modelling since 2016. Jackielynn, 21, beat 45 other contestants from the state to win the week-long contest on Sunday night. “Her participation conforms to the norms of the Miss Universe rules. She underwent a surgery two years ago and is considered a woman,” said Bijay Subba, proprietor of POSITUDE (positive attitude), an event management company that has been organising Miss Universe Sikkim since 2013. Girls aged between 17 and 29 with a minimum height of 5.2 feet can participate in the Miss Universe Sikkim contest. Transgender participation in Miss Universe contests is rare. Jackielynn joins Navya Singh, who last year became the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe India pageant. At the global stage, transgender women Rikkie Kollé, Miss Netherlands, and Marina Machete, Miss Portugal, had participated in the Miss Universe contest in 2023. The first transgender participant in the Miss Universe contest was Angela Ponce, who represented Spain in 2018. Despite the change in perception from marginalisation to greater acceptance and visibility, the LGBTQ+ community is still facing major challenges. “Even after winning the title, I am still being cyberbullied. I represent not just my community but the entire women from Sikkim,” said Jackielynn. On Wednesday, a meeting was held in Namchi for the formation of a transgender protection cell in Sikkim. Sources said the meeting aimed to implement The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights), Act, 2019, with a focus on safeguarding rights, streamlining registration processes, and ensuring prompt investigation and protection measures for the transgender community. Courtesy : Vivek Chhetri , The Telegraph Note: This news is originally published on https://thetelegraph.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
Private school principal gets one-year RI for misbehaving with minor Dalit student in Telangana’s Adilabad
The court cross-questions 17 eyewitnesses and examines pieces of evidence produced before it by public prosecutor Adilabad: A court here on Thursday sentenced a principal of a private school to one-year rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 9,000 for misbehaving with a minor Dalit student a year ago Additional district court principal judge Dr Shivaramprasad delivered the verdict awarding the term and fine on Phanimohan Rao of SR Prime School in Mavala for misbehaving with a minor girl from a weaker section by inviting her to his cabin on January 3, 2024. The court cross-questioned 17 eyewitnesses and examined pieces of evidence produced before it by public prosecutor B Praveen Kumar. Courtesy : Telangana Today Note: This news is originally published on https://telanganatoday.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
To address casteism, society needs to acknowledge it first
Our society, which allows the turpitude to divide communities by turning its face from it, needs to look at it in the eye and stare it down with a steely resolve Unlike in the rest of the country, casteism is usually a private affair in Kerala. One rarely gets to experience it in public spheres, thanks to the social revolutions the state has gone through. So when it recently raised its ugly head again, there was a furore across Kerala. It reminded us that the scourge still exists in deep layers among all the communities in the state. The Thiruvananthapuram police had, on April 23, registered a case for the “theft” of 18 grams of gold from a house where a Dalit woman worked as household help. She was summoned to the police station the same evening. There, she claimed, she was not given food or water through the night and was not even allowed to sleep. When she asked for drinking water, she reported she was told to get it from the toilet. The next day, she was released after the complainant informed police that the “stolen gold” had been found misplaced at home. The story shocked Kerala’s psyche. The government suspended the sub-inspector for lapses in taking the woman into custody without a preliminary probe. Two days later, an assistant sub-inspector was also suspended. In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the bastion of Dravidian politics, the principal of a school and two other employees in Pollachi were booked this week after a menstruating Dalit schoolgirl was forced to write her annual examination outside the classroom. Around the same time, three Dalit men died at a Tiruppur dyeing factory after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a sewage tank, an act proscribed by several laws and regulations. These recent cases in the two states stand out in their treatment of the marginalised. That such gross human rights violations are still happening in apparently progressive states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu is a bigger shame. Swift action by the authorities in the Thiruvananthapuram and Pollachi cases is welcome. But action against casteism does not stop there. Caste works in conscious and subconscious ways—and we can address it only when we acknowledge it. Our society, which allows the turpitude to divide communities by turning its face from it, needs to look at it in the eye and stare it down with a steely resolve. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https://thenewindianexpress.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
A 1st in 16 years in Punjab: No 5-marla plots for landless, Dalit group tries to take forcible possession
Bathinda: Punjab govt is planning to acquire 24,311 acres of land in villages around Ludhiana for developing urban estates, but the landless Dalits of the state have now been waiting for decades for the same govt to give them possession of their share of common village lands or those belonging to the erstwhile princely state of Jind. This demand for land reached a boiling point on Tuesday, when close to 350 Dalit activists, including women from a group called Zameen Prapati Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), were taken into custody over their call to take possession of 927 acres of land near Bir Aishwan sanctuary in Sangrur. Though contacted, police officers refused to comment on the arrests. The name of ZPSC translates to land possession movement committee. The call for action had come as continuous state govts in Punjab have been promising landless Dalits 5-marla (125-square-yard) residential plots out of their village’s common land, but none has acted on it. The land in Bir Aishwan initially belonged to the erstwhile Jind and Sangrur princely state, but it later came under the control of certain companies and individuals, apart from some under the control of the state govt. While making demands to distribute this land to the landless, ZPSC made a call to forcibly take possession of the land under the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972. The act was a reminder of what unravelled in 2008-2009, when Dalit labour group Mazdoor Mukti Morcha forcibly took possession of over 500 acres of land in various villages in Mansa and Sangrur districts. The state govt, after a few days, took back the land by arresting hundreds of activists. Apart from these two instances, Dalit organisations have been making efforts to get these lands vacated from panchayats or even taking possession on a small scale across Punjab over the decades. Lachman Sewewala from Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union said no govt in Punjab had implemented the land reform law, and no excess land permissible under the act was taken back from any person, nor was any land allotted to the landless under this law. “The govts or various authorities very conveniently prefer to avoid such issues,” he said. In their action at Bir Aishwan, ZPSC had planned to build Begumpura (a concept originating in social thought, envisioning a society characterised by equality, freedom from oppression, and free from the constraints of caste, class, and social hierarchies). However, police conducted raids at the houses of leaders before May 20. Though leaders evaded arrest, a large number of activists started moving towards Bir Aishwan, and many of them were taken into custody. Dalit organisations have opposed the move of activists being arrested, and a protest was organised at New Delhi’s Punjab Bhawan on Thursday to oppose the arrests. The protest was organised by the Delhi Committee of CPI(ML) New Democracy, attended by leaders from other left-leaning organisations, where some activists, including Aparna (President, National Committee, IFTU), Poonam (General Secretary, PMS, Delhi), and Rajesh (General Secretary, IFTU, Delhi), were detained. They demanded the immediate release of all ZPSC leaders and activists and the distribution of surplus public land in Sangrur to landless Dalits. Pendu Mazdoor Union president Tarsem Peter, general secretary Avtar Singh, and functionary Kashmir Singh Ghugsher said ZPSC was demanding the land originally owned by Jind State for the landless, but instead of listening to their voices, the state made the police conduct raids at the homes of leaders and arrested over 300 protesters when they tried to take possession of the land. “The govt should implement the land ceiling act and distribute surplus lands to the landless,” said Peter. They also described the decision of the state govt to acquire over 24,000 acres of land as an assault on agriculture and environment. They said the state can acquire such huge tracts of land for industry, but is not ready to provide land to the landless. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
Dalit groom ‘pulled off chariot over DJ music’ in Mathura
AGRA: A Dalit groom was allegedly dragged off his cha-riot and several wedding gu-ests were assaulted after a group of upper caste men at-tacked a wedding procession with DJ in Bhureka village of Mathura district, police said. The accused, allegedly enraged by the choice of mu-sic played by the DJ, and a ‘rath’, also issued death thre-ats to the groom and other guests if the procession con-tinued. DSP (Mant) Gunjan Singh, said an FIR has been filed and an investigation was underway. She, however, denied that the groom was forcibly pulled off. In his complaint to the po lice, the bride’s uncle, Puran Singh, named Krishna, Manish Kumar and Ankur all residents of Navali in Mathura as the main accused. He said, “Around 12.30pm on Wednesday, the three, along with 20-25 unidentified men, stopped the procession, hurled casteist slurs, and assaulted our family members with sticks. They asked us how we could dare to take out a wedding procession with a DJ and a rath in front of us. They pulled the groom off the buggy, stopped the DJ and told us they’d kill us if the procession wasn’t stop-ped. I called number 112 and police came to ensure proces-sion continued peacefully The wedding ceremony was later held at the banquet hall under police protection.” However, the mob allegedly returned on Thursday morning at around 8am on motorcycles, armed with sticks, pistols, and knives. They stormed the house and assaulted several members of the groom’s family. Singh said, “They abused them with casteist slurs and beat them up. They tore the wo men’s clothes and vandali-sed household items, inclu-ding cots and a motorcycle.” Another police officer said, “A case has been registered at Naujheel police station under several provisions, including BNS Section 191-2 (rioting) and the SC/ST Act. Other applicable sections include BNS 76 (as-sault or use of criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe or compel her to be naked) and 333 (house trespass after preparation for causing harm, assault, or wrongful restraint).” Similar caste-based at-tacks were reported in the district. In March, three men were charged for assaulting a Dalit groom and threate-ning to kill him if he didn’t dismount his horse. They allegedly hurled casteist slurs and smashed portraits of Dr BR Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha displayed in the pro-cession. According to the complaint, the groom and the baraatis were forced to walk while the band followed in silence. On April 16, another Dalit groom was allegedly pulled off his mare and thrashed by upper-caste men for playing loud music near their ho-mes. Armed with sticks and sharp weapons, the attack-ers injured several guests, including women and children. The baraatis switched off the music and lights and rushed to the venue in fear Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/ and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.