HC seeks Delhi govt’s response to PIL against its education policy

The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the city government’s response on a petition filed in public interest challenging its education policy replacing languages like Sanskrit, Punjabi and Urdu with vocational subjects as the sixth compulsory discipline at secondary level. A bench of ccting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice Anu Malhotra also issued notice to the Centre and sought its stand on the petition.

Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh Delhi, a city based NGO, has claims that the policy decision, which would be applicable on government schools, would result in extinction of languages like Urdu, Sanskrit and Punjabi. It said the AAP government’s decision to substitute languages with vocational subjects was against the National Policy on Education.

It further contended that the action of the Delhi government would cause irreparable damage to Sanskrit, Punjabi and Urdu languages and Indian culture.

The petition also challenges a CBSE circular which has remodelled the scheme of assessment for Class 10 for schools enrolled under the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF).

In such schools, students have to compulsorily study a sixth subject, which would be a vocational subject, along with the five core subjects of two languages, social science, mathematics and science. The CBSE offers two streams in Class 10 — vocational and academic. HTC

“Modi charisma helped the BJP to beat anti-incumbency. The triangular contest proved crucial in the victory margin… In a triangular contest, any party that gets over 36% emerges victorious,” said Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

The Congress ended up third in the civic polls but made a sizeable gain in its vote share compared to its performance in the 2015 assembly elections.

Later in the day, Kejriwal congratulated the BJP for the victory.

“My govt looks forward to working (with) MCDs for the betterment of Delhi,” Kejriwal tweeted.

The results followed a spate of resignations.

AAP (Delhi convener), Dilip Pandey, put in his papers. Ajay Maken offered to resign as Delhi Congress chief taking moral responsibility for the loss.

The AAP’s humiliating defeat plunged the party into a crisis even as its top leadership put up a brave front suggesting the verdict was the result of tampering with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

“EVM tampering is the bitter truth of the country’s democracy. One can crack jokes on us initially, but fearing being made fun of, we cannot refrain from speaking the truth,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters.

However, the party seemed divided on the issue as water minister Kapil Mishra, in whose constituency the party managed to win two of five municipal wards, said, “It was a reality that people didn’t vote for AAP and all blame can’t be pinned on the EVMs”.

In an apparent dig at the AAP, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas

Social networking sites that have been suspended include QQ, WeChat, Ozone, Tumblr, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram, Reddit, Snapfish, YouTube (Upload), Vine, Buzznet, Xanga, and Flickr.

The government said the step was being taken because “... it has been felt that continued misuse of social networking sites and instant messaging services is likely to be detrimental to the interest of peace and tranquillity of the state”.

“Whereas anti-national and inimical elements largely succeed in transmitting unverified objectionable inflammatory material/content through the medium of these social networking sites and internet messaging services without any accountability, thereby endangering public life and property and causing unrest/disharmony in the state,” it added.

The government has also moved the Jammu and Kashmir high court and filed a caveat against any public interest litigation aiming to stop the ban.

“Any message or class of messages aimed at a person or class of people shall not be transmitted through any means in Kashmir for one month,’’ the state government said in the caveat.

Student protests have become a new challenge for the administration in Kashmir where the law and order situation has gone downhill after the killing of Hiz- bul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani last summer.

The situation has become more tense after several video clips, widely circulated on social media, showed alleged human rights violation by the armed forces.

Unprecedented student protests had erupted across the valley on April 17 against the alleged high-handedness of security forces in Pulwama Degree College in south Kashmir on April 15.

Following the April 17 clashes, the government had ordered the shutdown of classes in the institutions in an attempt to prevent escalation of law and order situation.

On Monday, 24 people, including 12 security personnel, were injured as students of Srinagar’s Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School and College clashed with police who used tear gas to disperse the protesters as colleges opened in Kashmir after a fiveday shutdown.

It was the latest outbreak of protests after a botched by-election in the summer capital in which at least eight people were killed.

The opposition, which has already demanded governor’s rule and the resignation of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, said the suspension will be a setback for students as well as the state’s economy. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said the ban will “play havoc with the state’s economy rendering thousands of youth unemployed’’.

Hidma is also known to be a shadowy figure who avoids media glare. A journalist who claimed to have met him several years ago said he came across as someone who was determinedly reticent.

Hidma’s inner circle consists of heavily-armed youths, mostly his childhood friends.

Besides seeking to pick up Hidma’s trail, police officials are also trying to find answers to repeated intelligence failures leading to such deadly attacks.

Officials said local Maoists had the benefit of intimate knowledge about Bastar’s difficult terrain. The fear of retribution by the Maoists also forced most villagers to clamp up, depriving security agencies of much-needed information on the insurgents.

“In the last 20 years, the Maoists have been pushed into a tight area and now that has become their core. Most of the families living in the area are under their influence and almost one person from each family is in their army,” said a senior officer.

Information on Maoist movements and plans has got increasingly scarce. Two months ago, Maoists killed Mandavi Dulha, the village head of Burakpal on the suspicion of being a police spy and other villagers have shut up since then. “There undoubtedly has been an intelligence failure this time. We suffer from lack of information in this region,” admitted a senior cop in the state capital Raipur. “We have no support from the villagers. Most Maoists are locals and villagers have an emotional connect with them,” explained another.

Officials also pointed to the tough challenge of keeping pace with the fleet-footed Maoists. “Actually about a dozen Maoists continuously roam in this region and assemble with local units at short notice to mount an ambush. It is difficult to ascertain their movements and plans,” the official said.

Tuesday’s ambush showed the degree of dangers lurking in Bastar’s forests for the security forces. Some 150-odd Maoists lay in wait for the CRPF patrol and none had any clue. The Maoists melted into the deep forests immediately after the attack, leaving security agencies looking for answers.

“They wish to travel to Pakistan to meet him and also to personally file the petition and the appeal. They have applied for necessary visas with the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi,” the external affairs ministry said.

After the meeting, Bambawale told reporters the appeal was filed in line with legal requirements within the stipulated time of 40 days. He expressed the hope that Jadhav would be released at the earliest.

This was the second time the Indian envoy met Janjua since April 14 to discuss the case of Jadhav, who was arrested more than a year ago. Pakistan has levelled seven specific charges against Jadhav, including fomenting unrest in Balochistan and Karachi and alleged involvement in a string of terror attacks.

Pakistan has so far not provided any evidence to back up these charges. Jadhav was awarded capital punishment by a military court following a secret trial and the sentence was confirmed by the Pakistan Army chief on April 10.

India has said if Pakistan goes ahead with the execution of Jadhav, it would be tantamount to premeditated murder. It has also said that Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistani authorities from Iran.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said judicial process was followed during Jadhav’s trial and he was provided a lawyer in accordance with relevant laws and the Constitution. The Pakistan Army also released what was described as a “confessional video” of Jadhav after his arrest.

The death triggered national outrage and a demand to rein in right-wing vigilante groups, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi had blamed last August for fomenting social tension and called for action against them.

Irshad said he was falsely implicated in Nuh’s Tawdu village when police caught a man for transporting cattle. The man was asked about the cattle’s owner and he gave Irshad’s name.

On basis of his statement, a case under the cow slaughter act of animal cruelty was registered against Irshad.

In Rohtak, Khan’s 24-year-old son was arrested with 50 people after buying bullocks at a local cattle fair in Rohtak.

“When we were bringing the bullocks along with several people from our village, men from Hindu outfits attacked us and police were informed. Police registered cases of animal cruelty against 51 of us, citing that we were walking the bullocks,” Irshad said.

A local court declared Irshad a proclaimed person in the case who could not be produced even after repeated warrants. Others accused in the case pleaded guilty for animal cruelty and they were released on probation after furnishing bonds of ₹30,000 each.

For slaughter, punishment under the cow protection act is jail and fine of up to five years and ₹5,000.

Police in Nuh and Rohtak said the cases were registered on complaints of cow vigilante groups.

Acharya Yogendra Arya, the president of a group in Haryana, blamed police inaction for letting the “culprits” off the hook. “Nothing happened in the case.”

The Rajasthan home minister’s statement on Khan’s criminal antecedent was from a report by Alwar police, which are investigating his death.

Kataria’s remarks came under fire from the Opposition, which said the BJP government was trying to turn the case against the victim, instead of catching the real culprits.

Police have not been able to arrest any of the six men named by Khan in his dying declaration. However, those identified from a video of the assault that went viral have been arrested.

CM Vasundhara Raje said on Tuesday that such incidents will not be tolerated and police were investigating the case. She did not respond to Kataria’s statement in the House.

While the S&P 500 gained 0.61% in overnight trading, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1% on Wednesday.

“Global growth outlook has improved, driving the risk appetite for investors. In India, cost of funds have dropped. India’s risk premium has come down, because the reforms process may go on, after the government won the UP elections,” said Gopal Agrawal, chief investment officer – equities, Tata Asset Management Ltd.

While foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have taken a breather in April — after infusing around $6 billion since the start of 2017, there is no let-up in domestic investment. Local institutions have bought ~7,118.9 crore of stocks this year. On Wednesday, they added another ~1,011 crore of stocks, provisional data showed.

The rupee, meanwhile, breached the 64 to a dollar mark before closing at a 21-month high of 64.11.

The buying has stretched already rich valuations. The Sensex, for instance, is trading at 17.74 times its estimated fiscal year 2018 earnings, at a nearly 20% premium to its five-year average of 14.8 times.

“Valuation is on the higher end, but I would refrain from calling it expensive at this point,” said Agrawal of Tata Asset Management. “The assumption here, however is earnings growth will follow. Will that materialise, though, is a big question? If it does materialise, the upside will continue.”

Even if there are short-term disappointments, the picture is still rosy from a longer-term perspective, others contend.

To be sure, current Sensex valuations are not high when compared to the peak of 21.4 times one-year forward earnings it hit in November 2007.

“Earnings will keep growing. So, while market may look frothy from a FY18 earnings perspective, it seems they are discounting longer period of earnings. From a long-term perspective, things definitely look good,” said Tushar Pradhan, chief investment officer at HSBC Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd.

“Of course, one needs to be careful at these levels,” he cautioned, adding that it was difficult to make any prediction from here on, and he presumes markets may be volatile in the near term.

However, others aren’t as convinced.

“We are unable to fathom the rapid changes in the prices of stocks without any major changes in their fundamentals,” wrote Kotak Institutional Equities analysts led by strategist Sanjeev Prasad in a 25 April note to clients. “It seems to us that the sole investment thesis in some cases is ’liquidity’, which is quite bizarre since ‘active’ investors should be deciding on the fundamental value of stocks rather than leaving it to a nebulous issue such as ‘liquidity’.”

Although the first crop of March quarter earnings have mostly beaten Street expectations, earnings downgrades continue. Consensus fiscal 2018 earn- ings for the Sensex have been slashed by 3.2% since February and almost 1% since April, show Bloomberg data.

Ashok and Ramashray fired nine rounds with their service revolvers, and five of them hit Nitin — in one of his legs, both arms and lower back. The one that caught his back did the maximum damage, and he slumped to the ground.

His associate, Salman, managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness, said Rishi Pal, the Rohini deputy commissioner of police.

Nitin was dashed to Ambedkar hospital where the bullets were removed in a long surgery.

“Doctors said he would survive but requires three or four units of blood,” said SS Rathee, the station house officer of Prashant Vihar police station.

Rathee volunteered to donate blood — a unit measures approximately 450ml — and requested his colleagues to join him.

Head constable Rajesh agreed immediately, as did constable Ashok, who was itching to return to his barracks when the call for help came.

Ashok had stayed awake all night and thought of resting in the afternoon. But in no time he was in the hospital; lying back and clenching his fist as the machine slowly drew his blood into a sachet.

Duty done, Ashok and Rajesh now have time to think what a close shave they had. They don’t know what to say to their families in Rajasthan and Haryana. Bullets from the two suspects could have caught them too.

Doctors said Nitin, a native of Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh, is out of danger.

A similar humanitarian story played out in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on March 18 when a doctor-turned-IPS officer, Abhishek Pallav, shot at a Maoist in a seven-hour shootout and treated the wounded man. “He is an Indian citizen and deserved treatment,” additional superintendent of police Pallav said.

THE GOVT HAS ALSO MOVED HIGH COURT AND FILED A CAVEAT AGAINST ANY PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION AIMING TO STOP THE BAN