Lucknow: Eight years after his death, clashes broke out between two student groups at Lucknow University over an event to commemorate the death anniversary of Rohith Vemula.

The two student organisations got into a heated argument and raised slogans against each other. However, the police and the university administration intervened and separated both the groups.

Rohith Vemula, a Dalit Ph.D scholar, hanged himself in his hostel room on January 17, 2016, 12 days after he was expelled from the hostel.

He was one among the five research scholars suspended by the Hyderabad Central University administration. All five of them were accused of assaulting an ABVP student leader.

His death triggered widespread protests across India as a case of discrimination against Dalit students.

The student groups, belonging to different ideologies, clashed when one group blamed the other for driving the Dalit student to end his life.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Aligarh: The Jammu & Kashmir students association (JKSA) in Aligarh has also written to Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding a ‘time-bound inquiry’ into the repeated attacks against Kashmiri students to ascertain “facts and nefarious designs” behind the harassment.

Nasir Khuehami, convenor of JKSA, said, “The AMU administration needs to initiate criminal proceedings against those who are indulging in targeted harassment of Kashmiri students.”

On Tuesday, a purported video surfaced showing Kashmiri students being attacked by a group of men. In the clip, one of the attackers is seen brandishing a pistol.

Aligarh SSP Kalanidhi Naithani, said, “There has been no complaint so far. No one has been found to be injured and the university administration is looking into the matter.”

Deputy proctor of AMU, Syed Ali Nawaz Zaidi, said, “The matter is being probed. Action will be taken against those seen handling weapons and creating disturbance on campus. The allegation that Kashmiri students are being targeted is wrong.”

According to the Kashmiri students, “This is the fourth such attack on students from Kashmir this month. There are over 1,400 students from Kashmir at AMU and we frequently face harassment. On minor issues, students barge into rooms of the Kashmiri students and beat us up.”

Students from Kashmir at the Aligarh Muslim University have been protesting for three days against the alleged harassment faced by them on campus.

The protests started after a December 25 incident when a Ph.D scholar from Kashmir was allegedly thrashed by other students for requesting them not to play badminton at 1 a.m. on the hostel premises.

A delegation of Jammu & Kashmir students association (JKSA) met Aligarh MP Satish Gautam and demanded “safety and security”.
 

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Colombian singing sensation Shakira on Sunday highlighted that Iran’s footballer Amir Nasr is facing the death penalty over participation in an anti-hijab row.

Minutes before the beginning of the FIFA world cup final match, Shakira wrote, ‘Today at the final of the World Cup, I only hope the players on the field and the whole world remembers that there’s a man and fellow footballer called Amir Nasr, on death row, only for speaking in favor of Women’s rights.’

Today at the final of the World Cup, I only hope the players on the field and the whole world remembers that there’s a man and fellow footballer called Amir Nasr, on death row, only for speaking in favor of Women’s rights. pic.twitter.com/VdMicGVaml

— Shakira (@shakira) December 18, 2022

Earlier, she declared her support for the footballer and said, ‘The fight for equality and human rights should be praised not punished, I stand in solidarity with Amir Nasr’.

The fight for equality and human rights should be praised not punished, I stand in solidarity with Amir Nasr. https://t.co/QkqC9fgymX

La lucha por la igualdad y los derechos humanos debe de ser reconocida y no castigada. Me uno en solidaridad con Amir Nasr.

— Shakira (@shakira) December 17, 2022

Why Amir Nasr faces death penalty?

The 26-year-old Iranian football player Amir Nasr-Azadani is facing the threat of execution because of his association with the ongoing protests movement in the country following the death of Mahsa Amini.

He was sentenced to be hanged to death for allegedly killing Colonel Esmaeil Cheraghi and two Basij members on November 17.

Protests after death of Mahsa Amini

Since September 16, Iran is witnessing violent protests due to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died three days after the morality police detained her in Tehran because of the country’s strict dress code.

As per Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 502 protestors lost their lives from September 17 to December 18. Those who died also includes 69 children.

Daily Statistics on Iran Protests#Iran#IranProtests

For details and more statistics, read HRANA’s report:https://t.co/AO1LLop5by pic.twitter.com/0RA4pxv7xW

— HRANA English (@HRANA_English) December 18, 2022

In the protests, a total of 144 universities and 161 cities are involved.

Who is Shakira?

Born and brought up in Colombia’s Barranquilla, the 45-year-old pop singer is referred to as the “Queen of Latin Music”.

It is due to her fifth album Laundry Service that was released in 2001, she entered the English-language market.

One of her songs that become popular all over the world is “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”. This song was the official song of the FIFA world cup 2010.

As both Shakira and Amir Nasr are associated with football, she highlighted the death penalty ahead of FIFA world cup 2022.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Gonda: In a shocking incident, an 18-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly abused and brutally thrashed for touching the food during a wedding function.

The incident took place in Wazirganj and the police said that an FIR under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been lodged and a probe was underway.

Renu, a resident of Naubasta village, said her younger brother, Lalla, 18, had gone to attend a wedding in the village and the feast was arranged at the house of one Sandeep Pandey.

As soon as Lalla picked up a plate for himself, Sandeep and his brothers abused him and thrashed him. When Lalla’s elder brother Satyapal tried to save him, they also beat him up and damaged his motorcycle.

“We took up the case with the gram pradhan and elders in the village about the conduct of Sandeep and his brothers. When the accused got to know about it, they barged into our house, thrashed Lalla again and indulged in vandalism,” Renu alleged.

ASP, Gonda, Shiv Raj said an FIR had been lodged for rashly or negligently endangering human life or personal safety of others, criminal intimidation and rioting against the accused persons, Sandeep Pandey, Amresh Pandey, Shravan Pandey, Saurabh Pandey, Ajit Pandey, Vimal Pandey, and Ashok Pandey.

“They have also been charged under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. We are probing the case and statements of eyewitnesses will be recorded,” he said.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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New Delhi: The investments of 125 of the world’s richest billionaires yield an annual average of three million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, more than a million times the average for someone in the bottom 90 per cent of humanity, according to a new report by non-profit group Oxfam.

These super rich people have a collective USD 2.4 trillion stake in 183 companies.

Their investments in polluting industries such as fossil fuels and cement are double the average for the Standard and Poor group of 500 companies, said the report titled “Carbon Billionaires: The investment emissions of the world’s richest people”.

Cumulatively, these 125 billionaires fund 393 million tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per year, which is equal to the annual carbon emissions of France, a nation of 67 million people.

To put things into perspective, each of these billionaires would have to circumnavigate the world almost 16 million times in a private jet to create the same emissions, the report said.

It would take 1.8 million cows to emit the same levels of CO2e as each of the 125 billionaires. Almost four million people would have to go vegan to offset the emissions of each of the billionaires, it said.

“The major and growing responsibility of wealthy people for overall emissions is rarely discussed or considered in climate policy making. This has to change. These billionaire investors at the top of the corporate pyramid have huge responsibility for driving climate breakdown. They have escaped accountability for too long,” said Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India.

Often the high-profile commitments made by corporates do not stand up to scrutiny. The flurry of net zero goals that depend on offsetting are at best a distraction from the need to take short-term measures to reduce corporates’ emissions and have the potential to derail climate action, Oxfam said.

In 2021, Oxfam revealed that using land alone to remove the world’s carbon emissions to achieve net zero’ by 2050 would require at least 1.6 billion hectares of new forests, an area equivalent to five times the size of India.

“We need COP27 to expose and change the role that big corporates and their rich investors are playing in profiting from the pollution that is driving the global climate crisis.

“They can’t be allowed to hide or greenwash. We need governments to tackle this urgently by publishing emission figures for the richest people, regulating investors and corporates to slash carbon emissions and taxing wealth and polluting investments”, said Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Lead at Oxfam International.

Oxfam also estimated that a wealth tax on the world’s super-rich could raise USD 1.4 trillion a year, vital resources that could help developing countries – those worst hit by the climate crisis – to adapt, address loss and damage and carry out a just transition to renewable energy.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), adaptation costs for developing countries could rise to USD 300 billion per year by 2030. Africa alone will require USD 600 billion between 2020 to 2030.

Oxfam also called for steeply higher tax rates for investments in polluting industries to deter such investments.

“The super-rich need to be taxed and regulated away from polluting investments that are destroying the planet. Governments must also put in place ambitious regulations and policies that compel corporations to be more accountable and transparent in reporting and radically reducing their emissions,” said Behar.

The 27th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) to UNFCCC opened Sunday at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Negotiations are scheduled to come to a close on November 18.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday posted for hearing on December 6 a batch of petitions challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019.

A bench of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi granted two weeks to Assam and Tripura governments to file their responses on the pleas.

It also appointed two lawyers as nodal counsel in the batch of cases challenging the validity of the Act.

Advocate Pallavi Pratap, advocate for petitioner Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and advocate Kanu Agrawal, counsel for the Central government, were nominated as nodal counsel to prepare a compilation of all relevant documents.

At least 220 petitions against the CAA were filed before the top court.

CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and it was met with protests all across the country. The CAA came into effect on January 10, 2020.

A Kerala-based political party Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Congress leader and former union minister Jairam Ramesh, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, Assam Advocates Association, and law students among others had filed a plea before the top court challenging the Act.

In 2020, the Kerala government also filed a suit in the apex court becoming the first state to challenge the CAA.

The law fast-tracks the process of granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.

The top court had earlier issued notice to the Centre and refused to pass an interim order staying the law without hearing the Centre.

The Centre had filed its affidavit before the apex court saying that the CAA Act is a “benign piece of legislation” which does not affect the “legal, democratic or secular rights” of any of the Indian Citizens.

The CAA does not violate any fundamental right, the Centre had said while terming the legislation legal and asserted that there was no question of it violating constitutional morality.

The petitions contended that the Act, which liberalises and fast-tracks the grant of citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, promotes religion-based discrimination.

The amendments have also been challenged on several other grounds, including violation of secularism, Articles 21 (right to life), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) and 19 (right to freedom), as well as provisions on citizenship and constitutional morality.

The plea filed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said that the Act is a “brazen attack” on core fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution and treats “equals as unequal”.

The 2019 Act amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, which makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship if they (a) belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities, and (b) are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan. It only applies to migrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. As per the amendment, certain areas in the Northeast are exempted from the provision.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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New Delhi: Come Tuesday, the Supreme Court will begin live streaming its Constitution bench proceedings, which can be accessed at: webcast.gov.in/scindia/

The apex court will live stream three separate five-judge Constitution benches.

A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit will continue to hear petitions challenging the validity of 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) in jobs and education. Another bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will hear a matter related to control of services in an ongoing dispute between Delhi and the Central government. Also, a five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul would hear the validity of the All India Bar Examination.

Recently, senior advocate Indira Jaising wrote to the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court to begin live streaming of proceedings of matters of public and constitutional importance, and also to keep a permanent record of the arguments by counsel on all sides along with the proceedings of the court.

Jaising said a number of matters of national importance, which includes petitions challenging the EWS quota, hijab ban, Citizenship Amendment Act, are being heard by the apex court and urged it to allow live streaming of cases as per 2018 judgment, as a part of the fundamental right of every citizen to freedom of information and also the right of access to justice.

“There is no substitute for first-hand knowledge, especially in the era of what has come to be known as ‘fake news’ and hence, there is an urgent need for real time information. Since the judgement was pronounced, I have made repeated requests to the Hon’ble court to commence live streaming cases of national importance,” she said.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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New Delhi: Aiming for reforms and transparency in donations received by political parties, the Election Commission has proposed reducing anonymous political donations from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000.

Sources said that the poll panel wrote a letter to the Union Law Ministry recommending various amendments in the Representation of the People Act.

Recently, the Commission delisted 284 non-compliant registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs), declaring more than 253 of them inactive. Earlier, the Income Tax Department raided a number of such entities across the country on charges of tax evasion.

Currently, political parties have to disclose all donations above Rs 20,000 through their contribution report that is submitted to the EC.

Sources said that the Commission has proposed lowering the threshold limit for cash donations made to political parties from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000. In case the proposal gets approved, all donations above Rs 2,000 will be part of the contribution report which is submitted to the Commission.

There are a few political parties which have shown contributions above Rs 20,000 as nil, while their audited accounts statement showed receipt of huge amounts – all less than the limit of Rs 20,000.

The poll panel has also proposed to limit cash donations at 20 per cent or at a maximum of Rs 20 crore to cleanse election funding of black money.

Sources said that the proposed amendments will also lead to maintaining a separate account for receipt and payments related to elections by the candidate and the same has to be transparently disclosed to authorities as election expenditure.

Moreover, the Commission also wants every candidate to open a separate bank account for poll purposes which will have all the details related to all expenses and receipts as part of the election expenditure.

Sources said that electoral reforms proposed by the Election Commission also include segregation of foreign funds from the funds of the parties for more transparency into funding to political parties.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Chandigarh: Protests rocked the campus of Chandigarh University in Punjab’s Mohali Saturday night over allegations that objectionable videos of several women students were recorded by a hosteller, following which Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ordered a probe.

The protests continued on the campus till late Sunday night with senior officials from the district administration, police and university trying to pacify the students.

After a preliminary investigation, police arrested a woman student, while a 23-year-old youth, stated to be her boyfriend, was held in Himachal Pradesh and handed over to the Punjab Police.

The Himachal Police also detained another 31-year-old man in connection with the case.

Punjab’s Additional Director General of Police, Gurpreet Deo, who reached the Chandigarh University campus to take stock of the situation after the Saturday night protests, told reporters that the woman student appeared to have shared a video of herself with the youth and no objectionable video of any other student was found.

University authorities also rejected as “false and baseless” reports that claimed videos of several women students in the varsity hostel were made and leaked on social media and that distraught students had attempted suicide.

During the Sunday evening protest by a large number of students, including male, many accused the university authorities of “suppressing facts” related to the alleged videos and ‘”suicide attempt” by a student. Some students claimed that videos were leaked.

Most of the protesters were dressed in black clothes and chanted “we want justice” in the presence of police. They raised slogans against police as well.

Tension prevailed on the campus as protesting students confronted university and police officials, questioning “if nothing had happened on the campus”, why the university on Sunday evening declared September 19 and 20 as “non-teaching days”, thus a holiday for students.

They demanded an apology from the police and district administration for calling the objectionable videos of some students as “rumours”. They claimed the accused woman had admitted she had made the videos. Despite repeated efforts by the university authorities to end the fresh protest, students continued with it.

The university authorities even sought a list of their demands to end the stalemate. There was heavy deployment of police on the campus.

Students demanded that the statements of those female students whose videos, they alleged, got leaked, be recorded before representative of students.

Several students individually put forth their demands before the university authorities on many issues including changing hostel wardens, relaxation in timings for hostel entry, and safety issues.

A student claimed the videos were made which were later deleted and the accused student’s phone was also broken.

Another student claimed more than 10 girls women students suffered panic attacks Saturday evening fearing that MMS videos of “50-60 girls had” been leaked by the arrested student to her boyfriend over phone.

She claimed that the boy’s hostel had been converted into a girl’s hostel recently and lacked facilities, while even CCTV cameras had not been installed in every corridor.
Some students also alleged that the university was trying to enforce a dress code for female students. “We want that all investigation should be held with transparency,” said a protesting woman student while also demanding that “hostels should not be made jails”.

Deputy Inspector General of Police G PS Bhullar and Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar told the protesters that a Special Investigation Team headed by a senior woman IPS officer will be formed for an in-depth investigation.

“It is our duty to clear every apprehension of the children,” said Bhullar.
Dr Arvinder Singh Kang, Director, Students Welfare of the University, tried to pacify the protesters. A student was also brought before them and she claimed that she was fine and no one had attempted suicide.

Mohali’s SSP Vivek Sheel Soni faced the ire of agitated students after he told reporters that the protests occurred after “rumours” that videos of several women students had been made and leaked.

Soni said the arrested student’s mobile phone has been seized for a forensic analysis and added that no suicide attempt by any student or death has occurred.
An FIR under IPC section 354-C (voyeurism) and the IT Act has been registered in the matter and further probe is on, officials said.

Chief Minister Mann ordered the probe into the incident, saying strict action will be taken against those found guilty. “Our daughters are our honour… a high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident.”

“I am in touch with the administration, said Mann, who is in Germany, appealing to people not to believe rumours.

The incident sparked a flurry of reactions from political parties and the central and state women’s rights organisations too stepped in.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said those involved in the incident will get the “harshest punishment”.

Punjab State Women Commission Chairperson Manisha Gulati visited the university campus.

In a statement, the National Commission for Women (NCW) said its chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police of Punjab to deal with the matter strictly and without any laxity.

The victims must be given proper counselling and their safety and security must be ensured, the NCW said.

The women’s rights body has also written to Vice Chancellor, Chandigarh University to take stringent action against the culprits in accordance with the law and investigate the matter extensively.

Opposition leaders including Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, former chief minister Amarinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa demanded a free and fair probe and exemplary punishment for the guilty.

Badal said authorities should make all facts public and not try to suppress anything.

Following accusations of students that they were lathi-charged on Saturday during their protest, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar told them a magisterial inquiry will be conducted into it.

University authorities said that the demand of protesting students regarding relaxing hostel timings has been agreed to.

The university management and the police suggested that a students’ committee be formed to hold further talks with the university administration regarding their various other issues.

DC Talwar also assured the students that no protesting student will be rusticated from the college.

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, DGP Sanjay Kundu said the state police reacted to the request of Punjab Police with sensitivity and professionalism and nabbed a 23-year-old man from Rohru in Shimla in the case.

Kundu in a tweet further said, “If any collateral evidence comes our way, we will take action as per law.” He further said a 31-year-old man, a resident of Tehsil Theog, was detained at Dhalli in Shimla, adding that he was taken by the Punjab Police to inquire his involvement in the case.

Briefing reporters at the university campus, ADGP Deo, who also holds the charge of women and child affairs, said many rumours about the case were circulating on various social media platforms.

“There are 4,000 girl students who live in the hostel. One has been arrested by police. Her phone has been taken into police possession and state cyber crime is conducting its analysis”.

Deo said that three to four girl students spotted the accused student in the common washroom where she was taking some pictures with her phone “which they thought she was taking from underneath the bathroom door… They then reported the matter to the warden and subsequently the police were informed”.

“I want to clarify after interaction with the group of girls they are happy that their concerns have been addressed. Their concern was if there is any video of other girls on her phone. Prima facie we did not come across any video of other girls,” ADG DEO said.
In a statement here, Chandigarh University Pro-Chancellor R S Bawa said there are rumours that girls have committed suicide whereas the fact is that no girl has attempted any such step. No girl has been admitted to hospital in the incident, he said.

Bawa said, “There is another rumour which is circulating through media that an objectionable MMS has been found of different students. This is totally false and baseless.”

Mohali SSP Soni said, “If you look at the sequence of events so far now, in our investigation it has come to notice that the video was only of herself. Apart from this, there is no video of any other (student).”

In a video that surfaced on social media, a few students were purportedly seen confronting the student who is accused of making the videos. They ask her to tell the truth.

Referring to a video of a student being taken in an ambulance, the SSP Soni said she had some anxiety problems and was fine.

Replying to a question on the hostel warden, the SSP said she questioned the woman student, who was later arrested, to find information on whether she had made a video of any other student.

Notably, in a video, the warden is purportedly seen asking the woman student, “Who told you to record the video?..You will be suspended”.

The warden is then seen pointing towards some other women students who are also present, and could be heard saying, “Don’t these girls have honour? At whose behest did you do this? Who told you to make it?”

Courtesy: The Siasat Daily

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Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister, Giriraj Singh has demanded a survey of madrasas and mosques in Bihar similar to that in Uttar Pradesh.

“We demanded from the Nitish Kumar government to conduct survey on the madrasas and mosques of Bihar, especially in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region. We must have data about who are running madrasas and mosques in these regions and who are staying in them,” Singh said.

“The Yogi Adityanath government has taken the right decision and is conducting the survey of madrasas and mosques in Uttar Pradesh. We need the approach in Bihar as well to check at least those who are taking shelters in madrasas and mosques,” the Union MInister added.

Seemanchal region of Bihar is considered Muslim dominant area of Bihar where more than 60 per cent population belongs to Muslim community. Moreover, a large number of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals are also residing there illegally.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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