(Clockwise) Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi; VK Sasikala paying floral tributes to J Jayalalithaa; Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka; and PM Modi at the inaugural session of Interpol’s 90th General AssemblyBreaking the Centre’s silence over the premature release of 11 men serving life sentences in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Tuesday defended the release of the convicts, saying it was done “as per the legal provision”.
The A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry which probed the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has indicted V K Sasikala, her close aide, and three others, including Jayalalithaa’s private physician Dr K S Sivakumar, then health secretary J Radhakrishnan and former health minister C Vijayabaskar. The report also underlined the need to probe certain aspects of the death, including an alleged delay in angio / surgery procedures, and accused the Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, Pratap C Reddy, of not conveying the real information on Jayalalithaa’s condition to the public during her admission there.
The Delhi High Court today dismissed the bail plea of activist Umar Khalid in connection with the case of the alleged larger conspiracy behind the Northeast Delhi riots in 2020, saying that it did not “find any merit” in it. The Delhi Police booked Khalid under several provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), The Arms Act, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. He was arrested on September 13, 2020, and has been in custody since.
The corrupt, terrorists, drug cartels, poaching gangs or organised crime cannot have any safe haven and the Interpol can help by speeding up the process of issuing Red Corner Notices against offenders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. Addressing the inaugural session of Interpol’s 90th General Assembly, Modi said, “Such crimes against people in one place are crimes against everyone, crimes against humanity.” The PM’s statement comes in the backdrop of the Interpol refusing to issue a Red Corner Notice against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is wanted in several cases of terrorism registered by the National Investigation Agency.
Political Pulse
Ahead of the Andheri (East) Assembly bypoll and the BMC elections that the BJP is focused on, the Congress has got a morale boost in Maharashtra. In the recently declared results for posts of chairperson and deputy chairperson of 13 panchayat samitis in Nagpur district, the Congress won nine of the chairperson posts and eight of the deputy chairperson posts. The NCP won three chairperson posts, and the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde one. While the BJP is at pains to underline that this is a very minor result, the fact that the Congress has scored in a district where the RSS is headquartered and from where senior BJP leaders hail is undoubtedly embarrassing for the party. Read Shubhangi Khapre’s report.
Express Explained
His website describes him as a “Booker-shortlisted writer of punchlines, manifestos, and calls-to-action. Failed cricketer, failed rockstar, failed vegan. Observer of people, machines and markets. Does not know how to use semi-colons; and unable to spell diarrhea without assistance.” But Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka will need to update that: the 47-year-old has won the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. He is only the second Sri Lankan to win the prestigious £50,000 after Michael Ondaatje in 1992 for The English Patient. Who is Shehan Karunatilaka and what is his novel about? Read here.
In Express Opinion today
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