32: News18.com Daybreak | Maharashtra Bandh, Triple Talaq Bill Stalled in RS and Other Stories You May Have Missed

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A united opposition had a face-off with the government over the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha and stalled a debate on it insisting that it should be sent to a select panel, as the ruling BJP strongly sought its expeditious passage to stop the unlawful practice.

When Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Triple Talq Bill in the Lok Sabha last week, he emphasised upon a ruling by the Supreme Court, imploring upon the government to frame a suitable law within six months. But in doing so, one inalienable piece of truth might have become the casualty. The Law Minister, speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, said that those opposing the proposed law are 'disrespecting the Supreme Court order'. The directive by the judges is now being cited very often in support of the proposed law but the legal position and a body of judgments by the Supreme Court would make it clear that this order is not binding at all – neither on the government nor on individuals.

The posts on ‘Itihasa Paulkhuda’, a Marathi page on Facebook — known for posts on history — had set the tone of contestations over the history and memory of Bhima Koregaon, much before the clashes in Pune on Tuesday turned violent. In the countdown to the Koregaon clashes, the narrative on the online platform — managed by amateur 'historians' — made the rift between the Marathas and Dalits quite apparent.

A bandh called by Dalit groups brought them at loggerheads with dominant caste groups, mainly the Marathas, leading to widespread tension and violence. Trains were halted for brief periods in Virar, Goregaon, and Thane; Schools declared a holiday. People who had no option but to step out of their homes, took to Twitter to show what is happening on the streets of the Maximum City.

The fissures within the Aam Aadmi Party were out in the open when AAP leader Kumar Vishwas lashed out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the selection of candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. “A year-and-a-half ago in a meeting, Kejriwal smiled at me and said, we will hit you politically but ensure that you do not attain martyrdom. My only request is accept my martyrdom, and there is one rule for the martyrs, which is do not play with the dead body,” Vishwas said.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha candidate Sushil Gupta, who contested the last Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, claims to have come from a humble background. However, his 2013 election affidavit tells a different story. The affidavit shows that his individual worth was close to Rs 30 crore. His total assets were worth Rs 164 crore.

A Jet Airways flight carrying 324 passengers had a close shave after sources said two pilots fought inside the cockpit of a London-Mumbai flight.

In an attempt to further shame the beggars, the Telangana Prisons Department has started rewarding Rs 500 to citizens for spotting beggars on roads. Yep, you read that right.

Indian teams that have toured South Africa in the past have always found the going tough. There haven't been many happy occasions for the Indian batsmen on South Africa's pace friendly wickets, barring a few.

Cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh will soon display the newly-unveiled logo for Kumbh Mela, right after the national anthem is played, to make youths understand theimportance of the religious festival.

Agree or disagree?

The Bhima-Koregaon battle is more than a military victory, writes Anand Teltumbde, General Secretary, CPDR, Maharashtra. He says it signifies Dalit pride. “It was not just the end of Peshawai that Dalits would celebrate. They believed that it was brought about by their forefathers, the Mahar soldiers who fought gallantly against the Peshwas’ army so as to liberate their people from the oppressive rule. The obelisk erected by the British at the spot bears the names of 49 dead in the battle on 1 January, 1818 of which as many as 22 have been identified to be Mahars by the suffix ‘nak’ in their names.”

Now that India has entered election season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must go to polls seeking the moral mandate to permanently dismantle Congress’ ‘administrative state’. While the Congress is increasingly likely to mobilise social identities and make populist promises, Modi’s core pitch leading up to the 2019 elections must be made boldly and without apology: that this is a high-stakes battle for our souls, and only by dismantling the vicious grip of the administrative state on the economy can India be placed on a robust trajectory of double digit growth.

'Aam Aadmi' isn’t just about a ‘common man’. That’s what the Rajya Sabha nomination shows. Technicalities have always served political parties well – technically speaking, there are no dynasts in the Congress, no extremely communal elements in the BJP, no capitalists in the Left parties, no non-Dalits in the BSP, no non-tribals in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Why, for that matter, no non-Tamil has ever become chief minister of Tamil Nadu! And so, with Aam Aadmi Party too; except, perhaps, the definition of an “aam aadmi” is a’changin’…