A court in Delhi has issued new death warrants for all the four convicts in the 2012 gangrape case. Convicts Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta will now be executed at 6 am on February 1.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad visited Jama Masjid in Old Delhi on Friday, hours after he was released from jail. He was arrested on December 21 on charges of instigating violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj locality.
The Union Home Ministry on Friday forwarded the mercy plea of one of the convicts, Mukesh Singh, in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, and advised him to reject it. Later in the day, Kovind rejected the plea, reports said. The Delhi government had on Thursday recommended to the Centre that it reject the plea.
Here are the day’s top stories:
Delhi Assembly elections: BJP announces first list of 57 candidates
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its first list of 57 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections, PTI reported. Polling will be held on February 8 and the results will be announced on February 11. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari announced the list on Friday. He said the party has so far fielded 11 Scheduled Caste candidates, including four women. Sitting MLAs Vijender Gupta, Jagdish Pradhan and OP Sharma have been fielded from their constituencies again.
Amazon promises to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025 day after Union minister snubs Jeff Bezos
E-commerce giant Amazon will create 1 million jobs across India by 2025, its chief Jeff Bezos claimed on Friday. The statement came amid strained ties between the Indian government and the company. “We will use Amazon’s global footprint to enable US$10 billion in exports of Indian products to the rest of the world by 2025,” Bezos said in a letter to Amazon’s customers, sellers and partners. It was posted on the homepage of Amazon.in on Friday. “Our investments in India will create an additional 1 million jobs across the country by 2025.”
Visva Bharati sets up three-member panel to investigate alleged heckling of BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta
The Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan, in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, has formed a three-member investigation committee to conduct inquiries into the protests faced by Bharatiya Janata Party MP and columnist Swapan Dasgupta at the institution on January 8. Dasgupta, who was at the university to address a meeting on the Citizenship Amendment Act, was allegedly confined in a room by protestors for several hours.
1993 Mumbai blast case convict Jalees Ansari arrested in Kanpur a day after jumping parole
Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday said it had arrested Jalees Ansari, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, a day after he went missing from his home in Mumbai. Ansari was released last month on a Supreme Court-sanctioned 21-day parole that was set to end on Friday. “Jalees Ansari was arrested when he was coming out from a mosque in Kanpur,” said state Director General of Police OP Singh. “He has been brought to Lucknow. It is [a] big achievement of UP Police.”
2012 Delhi gangrape convicts will be hanged on February 1 at 6 am, says Delhi court
The four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case will now be executed at 6 am on February 1 after new death warrants were issued on Friday. The new warrants were issued hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts.
Supreme Court allows Karti Chidambaram to withdraw Rs 20 crore he had deposited to travel abroad
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram to withdraw Rs 20 crore that he had deposited with the court registry as a condition for allowing him to travel abroad, PTI reported. The court had in January 2019 and May 2019 granted Chidambaram permission to travel to foreign countries after depositing Rs 10 crore each time.
Court tells vlogger to remove YouTube video criticising a brand of coconut oil
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered a video blogger to remove a YouTube video that contained alleged defamatory and disparaging remarks about Parachute Oil, a product manufactured and sold by Marico Limited. Marico Limited had filed a plea for the removal of the video and seeking damages last year.
2012 Delhi gangrape: ‘People playing with daughter’s death for politics,’ says woman’s mother
The 2012 Delhi gangrape case is being used to fulfill political agenda, said Asha Devi, the mother of the victim in the case. Her comments came after the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party engaged in a blame game for the delay in executing the four convicts in the case.
CAA: Bhim Army chief reads out Preamble at Jama Masjid before his deadline to leave Delhi expires
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who was granted bail by a Delhi court on Wednesday, on Friday reached the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, hours before his deadline to leave the city expired, News18 reported. Azad, along with other people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, read out the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.
‘Ready to hold referendum in PoK, let people of Kashmir decide what they want,’ says Pakistan PM
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said Islamabad is willing to hold a referendum in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to give people the right to decide whether they want to remain in the country or be independent.
Supreme Court refuses to hear plea seeking Bharat Ratna for Mahatma Gandhi
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a plea seeking that Mahatma Gandhi be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award. The court asked the petitioner to make a representation to the central government instead.
Rahul Gandhi takes dig at NIA chief, says Davinder Singh’s case will be ‘as good as dead’ under him
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a dig at the Home Ministry’s decision to ask the National Investigation Agency to look into the case of Jammu and Kashmir police official Davinder Singh, who was caught with militants last week. Gandhi said giving the case to an agency headed by YC Modi would be the best way to cover it up.
CAA: Meghalaya activists file PIL in Supreme Court, say law is a ‘blatant design’ to divide tribals
Two activists from Meghalaya have filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act. They argued that the amended law does not take into account the “lived realities of the inhabitants of border regions” and attacks the fundamental rights of tribal communities.
Russia says no need to visit J&K, ‘those who doubt India can go if they want’
Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev said on Friday that those foreign envoys who doubt India’s policies in Kashmir visited the Union Territory earlier this week. “Those who are concerned about the situation in Kashmir, those who put in doubt the Indian policies in Kashmir, they could travel if they wish,” Kudashev said. “We never had a doubt.”
After Kerala, Punjab moves resolution in Assembly to seek withdrawal of Citizenship Amendment Act
The Congress government in Punjab on Friday moved a resolution in the state Assembly demanding the withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act. If passed, it would be the second state after Kerala to make such a move to oppose the law.
Unnao rape case: Delhi HC asks CBI to respond to Kuldeep Sengar’s plea against his conviction
The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to respond to former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s plea challenging his conviction in the 2017 Unnao rape case, PTI reported. On Wednesday, Sengar had moved the High Court against the life term he has got for raping a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in 2017.
CBI books Adani Enterprises for alleged fraud in getting coal supply contract in 2010
The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked Ahmedabad-based company Adani Enterprises Limited and three former senior employees of the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India for alleged corruption in a contract for coal supply in 2010.
Indian businesses are fraught with micromanagement and suspicion, says Tata Sons chairperson
Tata Sons chairperson N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said obstacles to businesses must be removed to improve the country’s growth trajectory. He said India is fraught with micromanagement and suspicion, PTI reported.
2012 Delhi gangrape: President rejects mercy plea of one of the convicts, say reports
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, PTI reported, quoting sources. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier on Friday forwarded the mercy plea to Kovind, and recommended that he reject it. On Wednesday, the Delhi government had recommended that the mercy petition be rejected.
Hitler, Mussolini were ‘products of democracy’, says BJP leader Ram Madhav
Bharatiya Janata Party National General Secretary Ram Madhav said on Thursday that former German dictator Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini were the “products of democracy”, PTI reported. He made the remark at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi.
After DSP Davinder Singh’s arrest, Srinagar and Jammu airports to be brought under CISF cover
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has ordered that airports in Srinagar and Jammu are to be “immediately” brought under the security cover of the Central Industrial Security Force after the arrest of Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, PTI reported on Thursday.
Andhra Pradesh: BJP, Jana Sena announce alliance, to fight local, state and national polls together
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jana Sena announced an alliance in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, PTI reported. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and state BJP President Kanna Lakshmi Narayana announced the alliance at a press conference, after leaders of the two parties met for four hours in Vijayawada.
ISRO’s communication satellite GSAT-30 successfully launched from French Guiana
The country’s latest communication satellite, GSAT-30, was successfully launched by the European commercial launcher Ariane-5 at 2.35 am India time on Friday from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, Indian Space Research Organisation said.
Jalees Ansari, convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, goes missing a day before his parole ends
A convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Jalees Ansari, disappeared on Thursday from his home in Mumbai after being released on a 21-day parole, his son Zaid has told police. Ansari went missing a day before his parole sanctioned by the Supreme Court was to end.
Bhim Army chief released, says no unconstitutional law will be enforced till he is alive
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, arrested on December 21 on the charges of instigating violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj locality, was released from Tihar Jail on Thursday. He had been granted bail on Wednesday.
Bru refugees from Mizoram to now permanently reside in Tripura as Centre inks new pact
Over 30,000 displaced members of the Bru tribal community from Mizoram, who have resided as refugees since 1997, will be permanently settled in Tripura after an agreement was signed on Thursday. Representatives of the Bru community, the Centre, and Mizoram signed the agreement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Secretariat building in Delhi.
CAA protests: UP authorities acted with grave prejudice, unleashed violence, says people’s tribunal
The jury of the People’s Tribunal on State Action in UP, a group formed to look into the action taken against people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, on Thursday expressed concern on its findings that the state machinery had acted with prejudice against Muslims.
India has camps to tackle radicalisation among people, says Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that “de-radicalisation camps” are operating in India where those who have “completely been radicalised” can be taken. Rawat made the remarks at the panel discussion Raisina Dialogue 2020 in New Delhi.