Delhi: AAP refutes BJP’s claim that public schools are in poor state, says it is misleading people

The Aam Aadmi Party lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday after Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the condition of public schools in the national Capital run. Last week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had invited Shah to inspect the schools.

Delhi: Auto driver fined Rs 10,000 for ‘I love Kejriwal’ poster, High Court issues notice to police

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Aam Aadmi Party government, the police and the Election Commission after a petition was filed against a Rs 10,000 fine levied on an auto-rickshaw driver for displaying an “I love Kejriwal” poster on his vehicle, PTI reported.

Citizenship Act: Sedition case against Karnataka school after students perform play criticising law

A case has been filed against authorities at a school in Karnataka’s Bidar city for staging a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Bidar Police registered the case on Monday with several charges, including sedition, after a video of the play started doing the rounds on social media.

Narendra Modi destroyed India’s global image, is responsible for declining jobs: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for rising unemployment in the country and said he was responsible for destroying India’s image abroad, PTI reported. Addressing a youth rally in Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur, Gandhi claimed the prime minister had promised to create two crore jobs but instead, one crore people had lost employment last year.

Coronavirus: MEA seeks China’s help to evacuate stranded Indians, 13 more airports begin screening

The Ministry of External Affairs has made a formal request to China to facilitate the evacuation of Indians stranded in the country due to the outbreak of a coronavirus infection, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The evacuated people will be kept in quarantine for 14 days, the government said.

CAA: JNU student Sharjeel Imam arrested in Bihar on sedition charges

Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bihar’s Jehanabad district on Tuesday, three days after he was first booked for sedition. Since the first case was filed by police in Assam, four more states have charged Imam with sedition.

I was pushed, hit with chairs, says protestor who shouted anti-CAA slogans at Amit Shah rally

A 20-year-old protestor who shouted slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally in Delhi has alleged that he was pushed to the ground and hit with chairs by the people in the audience, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The incident took place in the Babarpur Assembly constituency in Delhi on Sunday evening. Harjit Singh shouted “take back Citizenship Act” during Shah’s speech.

‘Nation is watching’: PM Modi hits out at those ‘giving communal colour’ to his decisions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country was quietly watching the “real face” of those giving a communal colour to the decisions the government had taken to solve decades-old problems.

Gay couple from Kerala moves HC challenging ‘discriminatory’ provisions of Special Marriage Act

A gay couple on Monday filed a writ petition in the Kerala High Court challenging the provisions of the Special Marriage Act 1954. In their plea, the couple alleged that the Act was discriminatory as it does not permit the registration of marriages of homosexual couples. Justice Anu Sivaraman issued notices to the governments of Centre and Kerala, asking for their responses.

Sabarimala review: SC sets 10-day timeline to decide on matters related to religious discrimination

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a nine-judge Constitution bench would take not more than 10 days to wrap up proceedings in the matter related to the entry of women into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple and discrimination at other religious places.

Delhi gangrape: ‘Even president can make mistakes,’ convict tells SC on mercy plea rejection

The Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing an urgent plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, PTI reported. Singh had filed a petition with the court against the rejection of his mercy plea by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Appearing for Singh in front of a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, senior advocate Anjana Prakash referred to judgements on the death sentence and the power of the president to grant mercy. Prakash said that even presidential power is open to human fallibility, quoting a previous judgement by the Supreme Court in 1989.

Nagpur: Man arrested for raping unconscious teenager, torturing her with iron rod

A 52-year-old man from Gondia has been arrested for allegedly raping and torturing a 19-year-old girl in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district, the police said on Monday. The accused, Yogilal Rahangdale, worked as a supervisor in a spinning mill where the girl was employed as a labourer, PTI reported.

Law ministry allowed Centre to pass electoral bonds scheme illegally, bypassing Rajya Sabha: Report

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice approved the Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to hastily pass the electoral bonds scheme, bypassing the Rajya Sabha, despite putting on record that the government’s strategy was illegal and unconstitutional, HuffPost India reported on Tuesday. The news website said it has reviewed documents that were accessed by a Right to Information activist.

2002 Gujarat riots: SC grants bail to 14 convicts in Sardarpura massacre case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 14 convicts in one of the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, NDTV reported. The convicts were granted bail on the condition that they will not enter the state. However, according to PTI, bail was granted to 17 convicts.

Did not anticipate such anti-CAA protests, maybe we failed to convince people: Bihar deputy CM

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday said that the Narendra Modi-led government did not anticipate such nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “Maybe we were not able to convince people,” the Bharatiya Janta Party leader said in an interview to The Indian Express.

Court grants bail to Mysuru woman who held ‘Free Kashmir’ poster at CAA protest

A court in Mysuru on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Nalini Balakumar and another student who were arrested for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, reported Bar and Bench. Balakumar was charged with sedition for holding a placard that read “Free Kashmir” during an anti-CAA protest at Mysore University.

Chief justice says political parties sometimes use Supreme Court to settle scores

Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde on Monday acknowledged that political parties sometimes use the Supreme Court to settle scores, The Hindu reported. He made the remark while hearing a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gaurav Bhatia seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the deaths of three party workers – Shaktipad Sarkar, Tirlochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar – in West Bengal’s Purulia district.

Shaheen Bagh protestors will enter houses, rape sisters and daughters, claims BJP MP Parvesh Verma

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma on Tuesday claimed that Delhi voters must think hard about which party they choose in the upcoming election because “lakhs of protestors” gathering in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh locality to demonstrate against the Citizenship Amendment Act will enter their homes to “rape their sisters and daughters and kill them”, ANI reported.

“Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh],” Verma told ANI. “People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There’s time today, Modi ji and Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow.”

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee says government should reintroduce wealth tax

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on Monday suggested that the government should consider bringing back the wealth tax given the kind of inequality present in India. “In general, more redistribution makes perfect sense to me,” he said at the Kolkata Literary Meet, according to The Telegraph.

Wuhan coronavirus: Toll in China rises to 106; one case each identified in Sri Lanka, Canada

The toll in the Wuhan coronavirus reached 106 in China on Tuesday, as 26 more deaths were reported in the country, the South China Morning Post said. The number of coronavirus cases, on the other hand, rose to over 4,500, as Chinese authorities confirmed 1,771 new cases on Tuesday morning.

CAA protests: Advocate Indira Jaising denies receiving money from Popular Front of India

Senior advocate Indira Jaising on Monday issued a statement refuting claims that she had received money from the Popular Front of India in connection with the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “I completely and vehemently deny having received any money from PFI at any point of time, or receiving any money from any person or organization in relation to anti-CAA protests,” she said.

‘Do not make constitutional blunder of passing anti-CAA resolutions,’ Rajnath Singh tells Opposition

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hit out at the Opposition and said they should not make the “constitutional blunder” of passing resolutions in state assemblies against the Citizenship Amendment Act, PTI reported. So far, four states – Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal, Left-ruled Kerala and Congress-led Punjab and Rajasthan – have passed resolutions against the amended Act.

Jharkhand: 15 arrested for beheading seven villagers, police yet to confirm Pathalgadi link

Fifteen people have been arrested in connection with the murder of seven villagers in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district earlier this month, PTI reported on Monday. The villagers were allegedly decapitated on January 19, and differences over the Pathalgadi movement are suspected to be the reason.

Watch: Union minister Anurag Thakur encourages crowd to shout ‘shoot the traitors’ at Delhi rally

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office on Monday sought a report from the North West district’s election officer in connection with a rally by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Anurag Thakur where he encouraged the audience to shout an incendiary slogan, PTI reported. At the rally, Thakur, the minister of state for finance, shouted “desh ke gaddaron ko” and the crowd responded with “goli maaro saalon ko [shoot the traitors to the country]”.