UNION CABINET CLEARS TRUST FOR RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYAThe Union Cabinet yesterday cleared the formation of a Trust for the Ramtemple in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in the Lok Sabha.The Trust, which is called the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, willinclude 15 members,.On November 9, the Supreme Court allowed the construction of a Ram temple atthe site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and ordered handing overanother 5-acre plot to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board for the mosque.In the Lok Sabha, Modi urged all members to support the construction of theRam Mandir, saying, "After the verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue cameout, the people of India displayed remarkable faith in democratic processesand procedures. I salute the 130 crore people of India." He added, "InIndia, be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Parsi or Jain,everyone is a part of one family. Development must take place for everymember of the family."A former Attorney General during the Congress government and the lead lawyerof the Hindu side in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, K Parasaran, will host thetrust. Parasaran, 92, served as Attorney General under two Congress PrimeMinisters Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi between 1983 and 1989.Clarifying that the PM's statement in the Parliament on the formation of atrust for the construction of a Ram temple in UP's Ayodhya doesn't violateModel Code of Conduct (MCC) guidelines, the Election Commission gave it aclean chit.Opposition parties were attacking the BJP and PM Modi after he made thestatement, many questioning the timing of his statement.The Uttar Pradesh government also allotted a 5-acre plot to the Sunni WaqfBoard for the construction of a new mosque in Ayodhya. The All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIMPLB) has urged the Sunni Waqf Board to reject theland.OPPON STAGES WALK OUT IN LOK SABHA DEMANDING RELEASE OF FAROOQ ABDULLAHRaising the issue of detention of NC leader Farooq Abdullah in the LokSabha, leaders from Opposition parties on Wednesday attacked the governmentfor "illegally" detaining an old leader and walked out of the House.Abdullah, the National Conference leader and former CM of J&K has been underdetention from August 5 last year since the abrogation of Article 370 and35A."Three former chief ministers ,including Farooq Abdullah, are languishing injails for the past six months, they have been put behind bars without givingany proper reason," Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, whiledemanding the release of the sitting member.Abdullah has been illegally detained, Chowdhury alleged.Later Congress members along with those of several other Opposition partieswalked out of theMeanwhile, senior politician and People's Conference chairman Sajjad Loneand PDP leader Waheed Parra, close aide of detained former chief ministerMehbooba Mufti, were released from preventive detention here on Wednesday,officials said.After the release of Lone and Parra, 13 political leaders now remaindetained at the MLA Hostel in Srinagar, which has been temporarily convertedinto a subsidiary jail.DON'T MEDDLE IN OUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS: NAIDU TO EU LAWMAKERSThe Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took note of foreign institutions, includingEuropean Parliament, meddling in India's internal affairs of law making,including enactment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act.Taking note of the issue of European Parliament action of tabling aresolution against the CAA which was raised by Shiv Sena member Anil Desaiin the House as a 'Special Mention', Chairman and Vice President VenkaiahNaidu underlined that Parliament was sovereign authority to legislate anylaw of the country.The interference by outside agencies was unwarranted and uncalled for, headded. "They have to take care of their own problems. What if we discussBrexit? How will they feel?" Naidu said, adding, "This message has to sentto the international community. We have to send the message".The observation of Naidu was acknowledged by the members cutting acrossparty-lines.'IS DESHBHAKTI EDUCATING KIDS OR DEBATING HINDU-MUSLIM?': ARVIND KEJRIWALUnder attack from the top BJP leadership, which has questioned hispatriotism, called him a terrorist and linked him to Pakistan, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday that "the time has come" forpeople to "choose what patriotism is", and that "21st Century India cannotbe a product of hatred among people".He said: "Is educating children patriotism (deshbhakti) or is it stressingon the Hindu-Muslim debate? Is providing affordable healthcare patriotism oris it Hindu-Muslim? Is improving electricity, water and roads patriotism oris it instigating riots and abusing?"Responding to the Delhi Police claim that Kapil Baisala, who fired two shotsin the air at Shaheen Bagh last week, had joined the AAP last year, Kejriwalsaid: "Send him to jail. If the jail term is two years, sentence him forfour years if he is connected with the AAP by chance. Forty-eight hoursbefore voting, his photos coming out are an obvious conspiracy. Nothingworked for Amit Shah ji. He first got all parties against me - LJP, JD(U),RJD, but that didn't work. Then he brought in 200 MPs but that failed, hegot 70 ministers but that failed, he got 11 chief ministers, which alsofailed. Then he abused me thoroughly, but that didn't work either. Then hestarted saying Shaheen Bagh, Shaheen Bagh, Shaheen Bagh, which failed again.Finally, Delhi Police is the last resort. They are going around with somephotos, but his (Kapil's) father has said that he isn't a part of AAP."He also said that the method of protest at Shaheen Bagh, of blocking theroad, "will not be acceptable in any democracy, any society. Gandhi ji wouldnot have accepted this either".Meanwhile, BJP's West Delhi star campaigner for Delhi Assembly elections,Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, has been banned for the second time, according toRanbir Singh, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer, over his remark calling ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal a "terrorist."NOT GUILTY: US SENATE ACQUITS TRUMP OF IMPEACHMENTPresident Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal Wednesday in the U.S.Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential trial in Americanhistory with votes that split the country, tested civic norms and fed thetumultuous 2020 race for the White House.A majority of senators expressed unease with Trump's pressure campaign onUkraine that resulted in the two articles of impeachment. But the finaltallies _ 52-48 favoring acquittal of abuse of power, 53-47 of obstructionof Congress' investigation _ fell far short. Two-thirds "guilty" votes wouldhave been needed to reach the Constitution's bar of high crimes andmisdemeanors to convict and remove Trump from office.The outcome Wednesday followed months of remarkable impeachment proceedings,from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House to Mitch McConnell's Senate, reflectingthe nation's unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trumppresidency.But in a stinging symbolic rebuke of the country's leader aimed at history,Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, brokewith the party and voted to convict Trump of abuse of power, saying that thepresident's pressure campaign on Ukraine was "the most abusive anddestructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine." He votedagainst the second article, but cast his first as a matter of conscience andbecame the first senator ever to vote to remove a president of his ownparty.No president has ever been removed by the Senate. Both Bill Clinton in 1999and Andrew Johnson in 1868 drew cross-party support when they were left inoffice after an impeachment trial. President Richard Nixon resigned ratherthan face revolt from his own party.Ahead of voting, some of the most closely watched senators took to theSenate floor to tell their constituents, and the nation, what they haddecided. Most Democrats said that Trump, if left unchecked, would continueto abuse the power of his office for personal political gain and try to"cheat" again ahead of the the 2020 election.CHINA VIRUS TOLL NEARS 500; CRUISE SHIPS, HONG KONG FLIGHTS HITThe death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China passed 490 on Wednesday,as two US airlines suspended flights to Hong Kong following the firstfatality there and 10 cases were confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined inJapan.China's National Health Commission said another 65 deaths were reported onTuesday, a new daily record bringing the toll on the mainland to 490, mostlyin and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan where the virus emergedlate last year.There have been two deaths outside mainland China. A 39-year-old man in HongKong with an underlying illness who had visited Wuhan city died on Tuesday.A man died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan, the firstvirus-related overseas fatality.Across mainland China, there were 3,887 new confirmed infections, bringingthe total accumulated number to 24,324.Ten people on a cruise liner under quarantine at the Japanese port ofYokohama tested positive for coronavirus. The 10 infected people will betransported to a medical facility, while the remaining around 3,700 peoplewill be quarantined on board the Carnival Corp ship Diamond Princess for 14days. There are now 33 cases in Japan.Carnival on Tuesday cancelled cruises scheduled to depart the Japanese portsof Yokohama and Kobe this week because of delays related to the coronaviruschecks.Another cruise ship, the World Dream operated by Dream Cruises, docked inHong Kong on Wednesday after being denied entry to Taiwan, with allpassengers and crew undergoing health checks.DELHI HC PULLS UP GOVT FOR EX-MPS RETAINING GOVT ACCOMMODATIONThe Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Union Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs for permitting 576 government accommodation units incapital to be illegally occupied by 11 former MPS and retired officials.The court directed the ministry to get them vacated within two weeks andinitiate proceedings to recover dues from the occupants.A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar also expresseddispleasure over the ministry's failure to initiate recovery proceedingsagainst the illegal occupants, some of whom have been overstaying for over adecade and have racked up dues of more than Rs 95 lakh till date.Hinting about FIRs against the official concerned, the bench orally observedthat "people are paying taxes and you are giving free housing, electricityand water to them (illegal occupants) for years". In some cases, theoriginal allottee has died and legal heirs are occupying the residence, thecourt noted. "This is nothing but your (ministry's) inefficiency," the benchobserved.EC CRACKS WHIP ON DELHI COP WHO SAID SHAHEEN BAGH SHOOTER WAS AAP MEMBERThe Election Commission of India on Wednesday acted against a Delhi Policeofficer who had claimed that the Shaheen Bagh shooter, Kapil Baisala, was amember of the Aam Aadmi Party.The EC directed that a warning letter be issued against DCP Crime BranchRajesh Deo and a copy of it be placed in his CR dossier, and that he be notassigned any work related to the Delhi elections.236 people are talking about thisThe Commission has sought a compliance report in this regard by 6pm today.DCP Deo had Tuesday said Kapil "confessed he joined AAP last year" andphotos found on his seized mobile phone established his links with theparty.The Commission said Deo's statements "referring to a political party at thisstage even as the investigation is still going on has the effect ofadversely impacting the elections.""This action was totally uncalled for. The conduct on the part of ShriRajesh Deo has consequences on the holding of free and fair elections," theEC added.On Saturday (February 1), Kapil was arrested for firing at least two shotsabout 50 metres from the stage at the Shaheen Bagh protest site. No one wasinjured in the incident, and he was caught by eyewitnesses. A country-madepistol was recovered from his possession.RAJINIKANTH THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND CAA, NPRSuperstar Rajinikanth on Wednesday threw his weight behind the contentiousCitizenship Amendment Act and asserted that the legislation did not pose anythreat to Muslims.In his first reaction after the amendment to the Citizenship Act andnationwide protests against it, the top actor wondered as to how Muslims,who chose to stay back in India following Partition, would be sent out ofthe country."CAA is no threat to Muslims; if they face trouble I will be the firstperson to raise voice for them," he told reporters hin Chennai.Alleging that some political parties were instigating people against CAA fortheir selfish interests, he also blamed religious leaders for supportingprotests against the law and dubbed it "very wrong".Backing the National Population Register exercise, he said the drive is"very, very essential", and added that the Congress-led government had doneit in the past.DELHI HC TELLS NIRBHAYA CONVICTS TO EXHAUST ALL THEIR REMEDIES WITHIN 7 DAYSPresident Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of Akshay KumarSingh, one of the four convicts facing death penalty in the December 16gangrape-murder case, the Home Ministry officials confirmed Wednesday.This is the third mercy plea that Kovind has rejected in the case. Singh hadfiled the mercy petition before the President a few days back, news agencyPTI reported. The mercy pleas of two other convicts - Vinay Kumar Sharma andMukesh Singh - already stand rejected by the President. They were scheduledto be hanged on February 1, but a Delhi court stayed the execution of theconvicts until further orders.Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court rejected the Centre's plea againstthe stay of execution the four convicts and asked the convicts to exhaustall their legal remedies available in one week, failing which theauthorities can take further steps.VIDEO OF SHUBHA MUDGAL PERFORMING AT SHAHEEN BAGH GOES VIRALDelhi's Shaheen Bagh has become the epicentre of protests against thecontentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act. People from various walks of lifehave expressed their solidarity with the protesters, who are on a sit-in forover 50 days against the new citizenship law. On Tuesday, popular singerShubha Mudgal performed at the venue. A short clip of her performance hasnow gone viral on social media.Since being shared online, the 20-second clip has been viewed over 43,000times and prompted many reactions. Mudgal's performance comes days afterseveral Indian comedians organised a charity show in Mumbai, extendingsupport to the nation-wide protests.Musician Prateek Kuhad, feature pop-star Anushka Manchanda, singer ShashwatBulusu, poets Sabika Abbas Naqvi and Amir Aziz are among the artistes whowill perform today at Shaheen Bagh.A delegation of Sikh farmers from Punjab joined ongoing protests at ShaheenBagh yesterday.GOVT OKAYS MAJOR PORT AT VADHAVAN IN MAHARASHTRAThe government yesterday approved a proposal worth Rs 65,544 crore toconstruct a new major port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra.The Vadhavan port will be developed on landlord model, an official statementsaid, adding that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) would also be formed withJawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner with equityparticipation equal to or more than 50 per cent to implement the project.In the statement, it said the SPV would develop the port infrastructure,including reclamation, construction of breakwater, besides establishingconnectivity to the hinterland, and all business activities would beundertaken under the PPP mode by private developers.CELEBRITY BRAND VALUE: KOHLI TOPS LIST FOR 3RD TIME, AKSHAY GRABS 2ND SPOTVirat Kohli is the shiniest star on the celebrity list as he holds on to thetop rank, third year in a row, in the latest brand valuation study by Duff &Phelps. Released on Wednesday, the report shows that Kohli has increased hisbrand value by 40 per cent to $237.5 million in 2019 and cracked a huge leadwith his closest rival, Akshay Kumar. The latter has climbed a rung up theladder to second spot, displacing Deepika Padukone,Barring this, the top five list remains largely unchanged. In a year whencouple endorsers have been popular, the title for the first such goes toPadukone and Ranveer Singh, who share the third spot. The brand value of thetop 20 celebrities in 2019 is estimated at $1.1 billion, an increase of 25per cent from last year, it said.Among the veterans Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan stayed the course, rankedat 5 and 6 respectively while rising star Alia Bhatt has improved herranking one notch to take the seventh spot. Surprisingly, MS Dhoni (Rank 9),who many had predicted would drop off the charts as his career wound downhas improved his ranking, going up three places from the previous year.1ST ODI: KIWIS COMFORTABLY CHASE DOWN INDIA'S 347Young batsman Shreyas Iyer's maiden ODI hundred went in vain as New Zealanddefeated India by four wickets in the series-opener, here on Wednesday.Producing a commanding batting performance, India posted a competitive 347for four but seasoned Ross Taylor anchored the Kiwi chase with an unbeaten109-run knock.The hosts overhauled the stiff target with 11 balls to sparewith the Indian bowlers struggling badly despite having a big total todefend.