Chief ministers cancel meeting with Pakistan High Commissioner following Gurdaspur attack
Following a 12-hour-long attack by three gunmen in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab on Monday, the chief ministers of at least two states cancelled their meetings with Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit. Officials from the offices of both Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that they had cancelled their meetings with Basit, which was due to take place in Chandigarh on Wednesday. While no official reason was given for the cancellation, an official in Badal’s office said that the decision to do so was taken keeping in mind the “situation after the terror attack”. Later, an official from the Pakistan’s High Commission said that Basit had cancelled his trip to Chandigarh following the two chief ministers’ decisions to call off their meetings with him. The official further said that India’s External Affairs Ministry had also given a delayed approval for the visit, leading to Basit’s decision.
Former President Kalam’s funeral to take place on July 30
Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s funeral will take place on July 30, a spokesperson from the Union Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. Kalam, the 11th President of India, had died due to a cardiac arrest in Shillong on Monday. The former President’s body was flown in on Tuesday morning from Guwahati to Delhi, where it was received by the three service chiefs of the Indian Armed Forces, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung. While top government officials including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Kalam, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to him. Members of the public were allowed to pay homage to him till the evening. A resolution passed by the Union Cabinet called Kalam “a visionary scientist, a true nationalist and a great son”. Kalam, a Bharat Ratna awardee, had also served as Chief Scientific Adviser to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Opposition parties call for withdrawal of proposed changes to Land Bill
Opposition parties including the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday called for the “total withdrawal” of all the changes to the 2013 Land Acquisition Act proposed by the ruling National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. In their list of suggestions for changes to the 2015 version of the bill submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining it, the parties sought the inclusion of measures to further strengthen the law in favour of farmers. They also rejected the government’s proposal to exempt certain projects from the consent clause of the Act, including projects for rural infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships. Separately, the Congress also sought a compensation rate of four times the market value of the land in both rural and urban areas. The suggestions were decided upon during a meeting of the parties held at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. The meeting was also attended by NDA ally Shiv Sena, which has previously opposed various amendments to the bill.
British MP calls for return of Kohinoor diamond to India
Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz on Tuesday called on the government of the United Kingdom to return the Kohinoor diamond to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London in September. Vaz welcomed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s speech at the Oxford Union which called for reparations to be made by Britain to India for the former’s colonial rule over the latter. “There is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Kohinoor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years,” Vaz said. “What a wonderful moment it would be, if when Prime Minister Modi finishes his visit, he returns to India with the promise of the diamond’s return.” Earlier, there were demands for the diamond’s return which were rejected by British Prime Minister David Cameron when he visited India in 2013. The diamond became part of British royal property in 1850, when it was presented to Queen Victoria.
Two-judge bench fails to reach common opinion
A three-Judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a plea filed by 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon against his death warrant, one day after the failure of a two-Judge bench of the court to form a common opinion on the matter. The two-Judge bench comprising of Justices AR Dave and K Joseph passed dissenting orders on various matters including a stay on Memon’s execution, which is scheduled for this Thursday, and the validity of the judicial proceedings against him. While Joseph decided to order a stay on the execution until further instructions, Dave refused to pass a “common order” on the same. Memon’s counsel later took the matter up with Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, who decided to form a larger bench to hear the plea. Dave later said that the two-Judge bench was “passing the buck” to the CJI. If hanged, Memon will be the first person to be executed for the 1993 blasts, which killed 257 people.
Following a 12-hour-long attack by three gunmen in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab on Monday, the chief ministers of at least two states cancelled their meetings with Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit. Officials from the offices of both Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that they had cancelled their meetings with Basit, which was due to take place in Chandigarh on Wednesday. While no official reason was given for the cancellation, an official in Badal’s office said that the decision to do so was taken keeping in mind the “situation after the terror attack”. Later, an official from the Pakistan’s High Commission said that Basit had cancelled his trip to Chandigarh following the two chief ministers’ decisions to call off their meetings with him. The official further said that India’s External Affairs Ministry had also given a delayed approval for the visit, leading to Basit’s decision.
Former President Kalam’s funeral to take place on July 30
Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s funeral will take place on July 30, a spokesperson from the Union Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. Kalam, the 11th President of India, had died due to a cardiac arrest in Shillong on Monday. The former President’s body was flown in on Tuesday morning from Guwahati to Delhi, where it was received by the three service chiefs of the Indian Armed Forces, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung. While top government officials including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Kalam, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to him. Members of the public were allowed to pay homage to him till the evening. A resolution passed by the Union Cabinet called Kalam “a visionary scientist, a true nationalist and a great son”. Kalam, a Bharat Ratna awardee, had also served as Chief Scientific Adviser to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Opposition parties call for withdrawal of proposed changes to Land Bill
Opposition parties including the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday called for the “total withdrawal” of all the changes to the 2013 Land Acquisition Act proposed by the ruling National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. In their list of suggestions for changes to the 2015 version of the bill submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining it, the parties sought the inclusion of measures to further strengthen the law in favour of farmers. They also rejected the government’s proposal to exempt certain projects from the consent clause of the Act, including projects for rural infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships. Separately, the Congress also sought a compensation rate of four times the market value of the land in both rural and urban areas. The suggestions were decided upon during a meeting of the parties held at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. The meeting was also attended by NDA ally Shiv Sena, which has previously opposed various amendments to the bill.
British MP calls for return of Kohinoor diamond to India
Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz on Tuesday called on the government of the United Kingdom to return the Kohinoor diamond to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London in September. Vaz welcomed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s speech at the Oxford Union which called for reparations to be made by Britain to India for the former’s colonial rule over the latter. “There is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Kohinoor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years,” Vaz said. “What a wonderful moment it would be, if when Prime Minister Modi finishes his visit, he returns to India with the promise of the diamond’s return.” Earlier, there were demands for the diamond’s return which were rejected by British Prime Minister David Cameron when he visited India in 2013. The diamond became part of British royal property in 1850, when it was presented to Queen Victoria.
Two-judge bench fails to reach common opinion
A three-Judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a plea filed by 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon against his death warrant, one day after the failure of a two-Judge bench of the court to form a common opinion on the matter. The two-Judge bench comprising of Justices AR Dave and K Joseph passed dissenting orders on various matters including a stay on Memon’s execution, which is scheduled for this Thursday, and the validity of the judicial proceedings against him. While Joseph decided to order a stay on the execution until further instructions, Dave refused to pass a “common order” on the same. Memon’s counsel later took the matter up with Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, who decided to form a larger bench to hear the plea. Dave later said that the two-Judge bench was “passing the buck” to the CJI. If hanged, Memon will be the first person to be executed for the 1993 blasts, which killed 257 people.
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