Trinamool leader Derek O’Brien today maintained in Rajya Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is following on Twitter certain trolls who write “venemous, misogynist” stuff besides issuing “murdereous threats” and wanted to know if government sends advisory to such people occupying high offices.
Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, however, said no curbs can be imposed on anyone in a free country like India where there is freedom of speech and expression.
During the Question Hour, O’Brien said, “There are certain trolls on digital media who broadcast venemous messages, misogynist stuff and murderous threats on social media. The Prime Minister is following certain unknown people on digital media who broadcast such stuff, though Prime Minister is not writing anything wrong.
“Is the government sending an advisory to such high authorities not to follow such trolls who are speaking rape and misogynist threats under the guise of anonymity,” he said.
Responding to this, Ahir said, “India is a free country and there is freedom of speech and expression. There is no provision as per our Constitution to impose any curbs on anyone.”
After the Minister told him that government cannot curb the freedom of speech and expression of anyone, O’Brien said “none of us want that to be curbed” but he expressed dissatisfaction with the reply.
The Trinamool leader had made the same allegation last week also.
During supplementaries to a question on recent attacks on journalists across the country, the Minister dismissed suggestions that such attacks were on the rise in the country.
He informed the House that 114 incidents of attacks on journalists were reported in 2014 and in 2015, 28 cases were registered in this regard.
In his written reply, the Minister informed that data on attacks on media persons (under section 325, 326, 326A and 326 B IPC) is maintained by NCRB since 2014.
He also said that such issues are dealt with by the state governments and that the Press Council of India has powers to look into such issues.
Ahir said except for Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, all other states are providing information in this regard.
“In 2014, there were 63 cases of attacks on journalists in Uttar Pradesh. This year, there is only one such case registered. Whether all cases are registered, it does not look like. We have not received any report of attack on journalists from West Bengal. Except for two states, UP and West Bengal, all other states are informing us,” he said.
यूपी के विधानसभा चुनाव के पहले चरण का मतदान 11 फरवरी को होना है। गाजियाबाद जिले की पांचों सीटों पर भाजपा का बुरा हाल है। शुक्रवार से प्रथम चरण के चुनाव प्रचार पर रोक लग जाएगी इसके लिए सभी पार्टियां चुनाव प्रचार में तेजी दिखा रही हैं। जिसके लिए गाजियाबाद में बुधवार को भाजपा के पांच विधानसभा प्रत्याशियों के लिए पीएम मोदी जनसभा को सम्बोधित करेंगे। इसी बीच भाजपा द्वारा रालोद के प्रत्याशी को पैसे देकर मतदान से पहले बिठाने का मामला सामने आया है।गाजियाबाद शहर विधानसभा सीट से भाजपा के एक समर्थक ने रालोद प्रत्याशी को दो करोड़ रूपये का ऑफर दिया है। रालोद प्रत्याशी के पुलिस में शिकायत करने की धमकी और समर्थकों के हंगामे के बाद घबराहट में भाजपा प्रत्याशी ने माफी मांगी। डील सेट करने वाले प्रत्याशी की ऑडियो और वीडियो दोनों वायरल हो रहे हैं। वहीं भाजपा के वरिष्ठ नेता अभी इस पर कुछ भी बोलने से बच रहे हैं। इस मामले पर दोनों पक्षों से बातचीत की गई। इसमें रालोद प्रत्याशी ने स्वीकारा कि करोड़ों रूपये की ऑफर दी गई।
गाजियाबाद शहर विधानसभा सीट से भाजपा प्रत्याशी अतुल गर्ग के समर्थक और करीबी उमेश गर्ग ने रालोद प्रत्याशी सुलतान सिंह खारी को बिठाने के लिए करोड़ों रूपये का ऑफर दिया है। रालोद प्रत्याशी को बिठाने का मामला चर्चा का विषय बना हुआ है।
सुलतान सिंह खारी ने बताया कि सुबह साढ़े दस बजे उमेश गर्ग उनके पास में पहुंचे। कुछ देर तारीफ के पुल बांधने के बाद करोड़ों रूपये लेकर विड्रा करने की बात कही। इसके अलावा पीएम मोदी के स्टेज पर भी पहुंचाने की बात कही। इस पर जब विरोध जताया गया और पुलिस में शिकायत करने की बात कही तो माफी मांग ली। कुछ समर्थकों ने इसका वीडियो भी बना लिया।
इंदौर। झाबुआ की कोर्ट में तीन आदिवासी महिलाओं ने एक सरपंच की जमकर पिटाई कर दी। बता दें कि एक महिला डंडा लेकर उस पर टूट पड़ी, तो बाकि दो महिलाओं ने उसका शर्ट फाड़कर उस पर जमकर थप्पड़ बरसाए। ये सब होता देख लोगों ने बीच बचाव किया तो सरपंच बनियान में ही वहा से भाग निकला।
आपको बता दें कि झाबुआ की जिला अदालत में सुबह से तीन आदिवासी महिलाएं डेरा डाले हुए थीं। इनमें से एक महिला डंडा लेकर खड़ी थी, लोगों के पूछने पर इन्होंने कोई जवाब नहीं दिया। लेकिन थोड़ी देर बाद ग्राम पंचायत डूंगराधन्ना का सरपंच लिम्बा वहां पहुंचा। जैसे ही सरपंच वहां पहुंचा तो उसे देखते ही डंडा लेकर खड़ी आदिवासी महिला उस पर टूट पड़ी। महिला को अचानक लिंबा पर डंडे बरसाता देख आसपास मौजूद लोग हैरान रह गए।
इससे पहले की लोग कुछ समझ पाते दो अन्य महिलाओं ने लिंबा को घेर लिया। आदिवासी महिलाओं ने उसके शर्ट के बटन फाड़ तोड़ दिए और उसे थप्पड़ मारना शुरू कर दिया। मारते हुए तीनों महिलाएं उसे खूब गालियां दे रहीं थीं। थोड़ी देर तक लोग तमाशा देखते रहे फिर कुछ लोग लिंबा को बचाने आए। जब ये लोग महिलाओं को समझा रहे थे उसी बीच मौका देख लिंबा वहां से भाग खड़ा हुआ। किसी ने उसका शर्ट पकड़कर उसे रोकने की कोशिश की तो वह शर्ट उतारकर बनियान में ही भाग गया ।
बता दें कि महिलाओं का आरोप था कि सरपंच ने पुलिस के साथ मिलीभगत कर उनके घरवालों को लूट के मामले में पकड़वा दिया जबकि असल आरोपी कोई और ही है। आदिवासी महिला संगीता वालसिंह, वेस्ता पिता जुवानसिंह, वालसिंह पिता पीदू आदि ने टीआई आरसी भास्करे व एसआई एमएल भाटी पर 18 हजार रुपए रिश्वत लेने का आरोप भी लगाया।
यह था पूरा मामला मामला नेशनल हाईवे पर स्थित ग्राम मोहनपुरा में 31 जनवरी की रात कल्याणपुरा के व्यापारी के साथ हुई लूट से जुड़ा है। पुलिस ने इस मामले में तीन आरोपी मुन्ना वालसिंह कतिजा निवासी गड़वाड़ा, कमलेश उर्फ कम्मू पिता कलसिंह भाबर निवासी मोहनपुरा व मुन्ना पिता बाबू डामोर निवासी मोहनपुरा को गिरफ्तार किया था।
उन्हें न्यायालय में पेश किया गया। इस दौरान तीनों आरोपियों के घरवाले और ग्राम पंचायत डूंगराधन्ना का सरपंच लिम्बा बाहर खड़े थे। जहां से तीनों को जेल भेजने के आदेश हो गए। इस बात को लेकर आरोपियों के घर की महिलाओं ने अचानक सरपंच लिम्बा को पीटना शुरू कर दिया। उनका कहना था सरपंच की वजह से ही हमारे घरवाले फंसे। कोई कुछ भी आरोप लगा दे तो उससे क्या होता है। लूट की रकम, मोबाइल और जैकेट उनके पास से ही बरामद किया।
Having returned to academia after a controversy-ridden stint at the RBI, former Governor Raghuram Rajan feels “great to be back” riding his bike in Chicago and hopes to “do it as long as” he can.
“Taking my bike out and riding the bike path along Lake Shore Drive, that’s one of the great experiences in my life. And I hope to do it as long as I can. It’s great to be back,” Mr Rajan said in an interview with the media team of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Lake Shore Drive is an expressway running along the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois.
“This (Booth School of Business) has been my home for 25 years. It’s a great city. I have great colleagues. And it’s a wonderful school.
“It’s different every time you come back. If it wasn’t different, it wouldn’t be doing its job,” Mr Rajan said.
Mr Rajan was governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2013 to September 2016. His tenure was marked by both bouquets and brickbats but saw severe criticism from some political quarters towards the end, including personal attacks.
He was accused of refusing to lower rates to boost growth, though Mr Rajan often cited data to the contrary.
Previously, he served as the chief economist and director of research at the International Monetary Fund (from 2003 to 2006).
He is currently Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which he joined in 1991.
Asked what he is looking forward to most after returning to academic life, the former RBI Governor noted that one of the difficulties of a job in the “real world” is that one does not really get time to shut oneself off in a room and think.
“Now in academia,…if you are careful, you can spend four days in a room, sit looking at a piece of paper and struggling with a thought that refuses to come out.
“At the end of those four days, sometimes, you say, ‘Oh my God, how did I miss this?’ and it dawns on you. And that’s as close to bliss as you can get,” Mr Rajan said.
Talking about focus of his research, he said, “Research never really leaves you… While I was at the Reserve Bank, I published some papers, but you don’t get time to really reflect.”
Referring to the global financial crisis, Mr Rajan pointed out that the crisis essentially gave us research topics for the next 30 years.
“If you look at what happened, there are about 15 to 20 different stories now emerging,” he observed.
He also argued that more liquidity means more leverage, which in turn means more financial fragility.
जब मंगलवार को लोकसभा भाषण के दौरान पीएम मोदी ने राहुल गांधी और कांग्रेस पर निशाना साधते हुए भाषण दे रहे थे तो विपक्ष अपनी पैनी नज़र पीएम मोदी पर बनाए हुए था। इसी दौरान लोकसभा में बीजद सांसद तथागत सत्पति ने जाकर उनको भाषण में दी गई गलत जानकारी के बारें में बताया।
मीडिया रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक, पीएम मोदी के साथ खड़े हुए अन्य बीजेपी सांसदों को लगा कि वह भाषण समाप्त होने के बाद तरीफ करने आए है लेकिन बीजद सांसद तो सीधे पीएम के भाषण की आलोचना करने पहुंच गए।
पीएम मोदी ने मंगलवार का धन्यवाद प्रस्ताव का जवाब दिया और भाषण में अपनी सरकार की उपलब्धियां गिनाईं। जैसे ही पीएम मोदी भाषण खत्म हुआ, बीजू जनता दल सांसद तथागत सत्पति पीएम के पास पहुंचे। पीएम मोदी के पास लाइन में लगे हुए अन्य सांसदों को लगाा कि शायद सत्पति उनके भाषण की तारीफ करेंगे लेकिन हुआ इसका उल्टा।
उन्होंने पीएम मोदी से कहा, ”प्रधानमंत्री जी, आपको गलत जानकारी दी गई है।” मोदी ने तुरंत पूछा, ”क्या? क्या?” तब सांसद सत्पति ने कहा कि प्रधानमंत्री का बयान कि सभी कोयला खदान वाले इलाके अब रिटेल में कोयला बेचते हैं, गलत था। उन्होंने कहा कि यहां तक कि पावर स्टेशनों को पर्याप्त कोयला नहीं मिल पा रहा। सत्पति इतना कहकर वहां से चले गए और साथ मंे खड़े अन्य बीजेपी सांसद सोचते रह गए कि बीजू जनता दल सांसद क्या कह कर चले गए।
नई दिल्ली। दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय ने मंगलवार को महिलाओं के हित में फैसला सुनाया। बता दें कि उच्च न्यायालय ने एक पुजारी से पूछा कि मंदिरों में महिलाएं पूजा और ‘सेवा’ क्यों नहीं कर सकतीं। जस्टिस बीडी अहमद और आशुतोष कुमार की बेंच ने कहा, ”वक्त बदल चुका है, अब महिलाओं को भारतीय मंदिरों में प्रवेश से नहीं रोका जा सकता।”
बेंच ने कहा, ”यहां तक कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने हाल ही में कहा कि महिलाओं को पूजा के स्थान में प्रवेश करने से रोका नहीं जा सकता।” इसके बाद बेंच ने पुजारी से पूछा, ”हम ऐसा क्यों करना चाहिए?” अदालत ने यह टिप्पणी तब की जब पुजारी के वकील ने मामले की तत्काल सुनवाई की दरख्वास्त की क्योंकि ट्रायल कोर्ट ने पहले ही उसकी बहनों को कालकाजी मंदिर में ‘पूजा और सेवा’ करने तथा प्रसाद लेने की भी अनुमति दी है। पुजारी के वकील ने कहा कि चूंकि दोनों विवाहित बहनें विभिन्न परिवारों और गोत्र से ताल्लुक रखती हैं, उनका मंगलवार से शुरू हुई ‘पूजा सेवा’ करने का अधिकार नहीं बनता। पुजारी ने दिल्ली के मशहूर कालकाजी मंदिर में अपनी दो बहनों को ऐसा करने से रोकने के लिए न्यायिक आदेश मांगा था।
इस मामले पर पुजारी के वकील ने कहा कि 4 फरवरी को दिए गए ट्रायल कोर्ट के आदेश पर रोक लगाई जाए और उसकी बहनों को पूजा करने से रोका जाए। बेंच ने मंगलवार को उपयुक्त बेंच के सामने मामला सूचीबद्ध करने की इजाजत दे दी। जब जस्टिस जेआर मीधा के सामने मामला आया तो उन्होंने कहा कि प्रतिवादी को नोटिस दिए जाएंगे क्योंकि ट्रायल कोर्ट ने दोनों पक्षों को सुनने के बाद फैसला सुनाया था। अदालत ने कहा, ‘इसे कल के लिए लिस्ट कीजिए।’ हाई कोर्ट ने कहा कि वह ट्रायल कोर्ट के आदेश पर रोक नहीं लगा सकते।
दूसरी तरफ, याचिकाकर्ता के वकील ने कहा कि प्राचीन समय से परिवार के पुरुष सदस्य ही पूजा करने के अधिकारी हैं क्योंकि वही मंदिर में पूजा और अन्य रस्में निभाते आए हैं। पुजारी ने अपनी बहनों को ‘सेवा बारी’ के जरिए मिलने वाले प्रसाद के हिस्से पर दावा करने से रोकने की भी अपील की है। याचिकाकर्ता ने कहा कि कालकाजी मंदिर के इतिहास में कभी किसी महिला ने पूजा नहीं की है।
Meerut: All assembly constituencies of Meerut district are witnessing a tough political battle, with nopolitical party appears to be in the position of claiming victory. While Dalit voters, who are an important constituent of the caste calculus here, are rallying behind the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Muslims are indicating that they will vote for the candidate who can defeat the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP).
PM Modi’s recent rally had plenty of empty chairs
Here, we will try to make sense of the caste arithmetic of the western Uttar Pradesh district. The district, which is a business hub because of the flourishing ornaments, sports and musical instruments industries, has seven assembly segments – Meerut city, Siwal Khas, Kithore, Meerut Cantt., Hastinapur, Meerut South and Sardhana.
Meerut (city) Assembly Constituency The seat, which used to be considered a safe seat for the BJP because of a large concentration of the trading community, is witnessing a tough fight between Laxmikant Vajpayee, three-time MLA of the constituency and former chief of the saffron party’s UP unit, and Samajwadi Party’s Rafiq Ansari.
Muslims, who constitute around 1.25 lakh of the total voters (around 3.5 lakh), appear to be decisively voting in favour of the SP to keep the BJP at bay. This was evident from their high participation in the joint public address by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.
The constituency has around 40,000 Baniya (a trading community), 30,000 Sikh (Punjabi-Khatri), 30,000 Brahmin and 35,000 Dalit votes. Local voters say that following demonetisation, the traders’ community – which traditionally used to votefor the BJP – has now decided to change their preferences. The Sikh community has an alternative in Punkaj Jolly, a Sikh businessman who has been fielded by the BSP. Additionally, the city seat has small population of Valmiki voters – who are considered to be a “votebank of the BJP”. The community too have “decided to teach the BJP a lesson this election because of ignoring their concerns”.
“A meeting of our community was held recently at Ronakpura – a Valmiki settlement in Meerut –where we anonymously decided to vote for the BSP and create a history,” said Prem Nath Dhingra, a Valmiki leader.
But why? “Are you feeling comfortable here?” he asked standing near an open sewage drain which was emanating all-pervasive stench.
“The entire area where we live has overflowing garbage dump. Weare living in a hell despite supporting a party which has been ruling the Meerut civic body for the past 15 years,” he added.
Not only is the Valmiki community miffed with the BJP, the small and medium traders are also apparently unhappy with the saffron party because the demonetisation has “brought down their business by almost fifty percent”. “The traders’ community has now decided to shift their loyalty. We have an option (indicating thecandidature of BSP’s Pankaj Jolly) this election,” said a book shop owner in Subhash Bazaar refusing tobe named.
Though he agrees that it is not that the entire business community, who will go against the BJP, but confidently claims that the party has lost support of a major portion of the community. He said the majority of the Punjabi community’s votes will go in favour of Jolly.
If this happens and votes of the Baniya community also get divided, it is certainly not a good news for the BJP.
On the other hand, the SP candidate Ansari clearly enjoys the support of Muslims. He is likely to get support of a chunk of the Brahmin community because of the alliance with Congress. Therefore, he is apparently giving a tough fight to Vajpayee. Interestingly, experts also do not rule out the winning probability of the BSP candidate if he successfully fetches the Punjabi votes.
“The BSP already enjoys Dalit (35,000 votes) support. If it gets success in attracting Punjabi and Muslims votes, then the victory party is certain,” said Dr Satish Prakash, political analyst and associate professor at Lucknow College.
Sawalkhas Assembly Constituency It is a Jat dominated seat with around 60,000 votes of community. The number of Muslim votes in this constituency stands at around 1.25 lakh. The SP has fielded Ghulam Mohammad, who is a sitting MLA here, the BSP has given ticket to Nadeem Chauhan, the BJP and the RLD have chosen Jats as its candidates.
Though the SP’s candidate is strong here but he carries anti-incumbency. If the Muslim votes get divided between the SP and the RLD, then locals are of the view that that the RLD candidate will win. Asked what about the BJP candidate, who is also a Jat, they said that “Jats are extremely unhappy with the BJP because of the reservation issue and demonetisation which has affected their farming. We are not voting for the Congress and the SP either. Our support is first for the RLD and if not the RLD, then for the BSP”.
Kithore Assembly Constituency The seat has major share of votes of two communities – Gujjars (60,000) and Dalits (60,000). The SP has fielded Shahid Manzoor, who is a cabinet minister in the state, the BJP has given ticket to Satvir Tyagi , the BSP has tried luck with Gajraj Singh Nagar (a Gujjar) and the RLD has pitted Matloob Gaur.
Locals say that Matloob is a strong leader and giving a tough fight to his rivals. But despite the fact that he is socially well accepted, his contest is with a former minister who has his own support base.
“If theRLD candidate (Matloob) cuts into the Muslim votes, then his prospect is strong. Otherwise, the BSP will win the seat,” they added.
Meerut Cantt. Assembly Constituency Dalits have highest number of voters (70,000) here, Baniyas constitute around 60,000 of the total votes, the number of Jat votes stand at 30,000 and Muslims 15,000. Valmikis too have around 20,000 votes.The BJP has fielded Satya Prakash (three-times MLA from here), Congress Ramesh Dhingra (a Punjabi), BSP Satendra Solanki (a Jat) and RLD Sanjeev Dhama (a Jat).
It means, two Jats are in the fray. There is a triangular fight on this seat between the BJP, Congress and the BSP. Strong anti-incumbency was quite visible for BJP’s Agarwal. In addition, the BJP workers and leaders themselves were opposing his candidature. Dhingra is giving a tough fight to others because he is getting support of Punjabis (his own community) and Muslims (because of the alliance).
He is a popular leader in the constituency. He had secured 30,000 votes when he fought the last assembly elections on Congress ticket and lost to BJP’s Agarwal with a thin margin. But if you look at the trend of previous elections in the state, it suggests that the triangular fight always benefits the BSP.
Hastinapur Assembly Constituency It is a reserved seat for SCs. BSP’s Yogesh Verma, BJP’s Dinesh Khattik, SP’s Prabhu Dayal (who is the sitting MLA and belongs to the Valmiki community) and RLD’s Usha Rani are challenging each other. The constituency has around 60,000 Gujjar, 25,000 Jat, 65,000 SC, 5,000 Valmiki, 20,000 Baniya, 40,000 Punjabi and 15,000 Bengali (migrated Hindu Bangladeshis) votes.
BSP’s Yogesh Verma appears to be strong here because most of the Muslims this reporter spoke to favoured his candidature. In the last assembly elections, he had independently fought and secured 42,000 votes and lost by only 2,000 votes.
Meerut South Assembly Constituency The seat has around 75,000 Dalits votes, 1.25 lakh Muslim votes, 25,000 Gujjar votes 25,000 Baniya votes, 20,000 Jat votes and around 15,000 Brahmin votes.
The BSP appears to be strong here as its candidate Yaqoob Qureshi is a strong and popular leader among Dalit and Muslim communities. He shot to limelight after he had announced a prize money of Rs 51 crore to those who beheaded the Danish cartoonist who had stirred controversy after creating a caricature of Prophet Mohammad. He is a former minister too.
There is a direct fight between the BJP and BSP on this seat.
Sardhana Assembly Constituency BJP’s Sangeet Som is a star candidate here. He emerged as Hindu Hirdaya Samrat following the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots. He was booked under National Security Act (NSA), which was later revoked. He is a sitting MLA but faces anti-incumbency.
He belongs to the upper caste Thakur community and enjoys overwhelming support of youth but winning election this year does not appear to be a cake walk for him. The anger among Jats for the BJP is making the battle an uphill task for him.
BSP has fielded Imran Qureshi, son of Yaqoob Qureshi. Atul Pradhan, who is a popular Gujjar leader in the constituency, is the SP candidate. Again Muslim voters are present in sizeable number (around 1 lakh) here. Dalits have around 50,000 votes, Gujjars 20,000, Jats 25,000 and Thakurs 30,000.
Muslims appear to be confused between the SP and the BSP. However, the dominant theme was that they support whoever appears to be in a position to defeat Som.
Rahul Gandhi has hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of mocking the tragedy of Uttarakhand earthquake and insulting the freedom struggle, but not answering opposition’s questions on demonetisation. The Congress vice president also took a dig at Modi over his surgery remarks on economy, saying “a quack endangers life”.
“The Prime Minister mocks the tragedy of Uttarakhand and insults the freedom struggle but has no answers to the opposition’s questions,” he tweeted.
Gandhi said this after the Prime Minister took a jibe at him in Parliament, saying “the earthquake has finally occurred” while referring to Monday night’s tremors in Uttarakhand.
The Congress vice president had in December last said he possessed certain material against the Prime Minister, and if he spoke in Parliament, there would be an “earthquake”.
“The earthquake finally occurred. I was wondering how it happened. I had heard of the threat long back,” Modi said in the Lok Sabha, in an apparent reference to Rahul’s comments.
Gandhi’s quackery endangers life remarks came after the Prime Minister, while defending demonetisation in his speech in the Lok Sabha said, “When can you have an operation? When the body is healthy. The economy was doing well and thus our decision was taken at the right time.”
The Prime Minister was replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the beginning of the budget session.
Within hours of Rahul’s attack against Modi, social media users took to Twitter to launch a new hashtag #ModiInsultsDevBhoomi.
Uttarakhand, which is popularly referred as Dev Bhoomi because of several Hindu Holy places being there, goes to polls on 15 February. The BJP is desperately trying to dislodge the Congress-led government in the hilly state. However, Modi’s perceived insensitive remarks may not go down well with the voters here.
