COURT GRANTS DISHA BAIL, CALLS TOOLKIT PROOF ‘SCANTY, SKETCHY’

In a blow to Delhi police, a trial court Tuesday granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a “toolkit” on social media related to the farmers” protest, terming evidence produced by police as “scanty and sketchy”.

Disha Ravi was released from Tihar Jail in the evening.

The court said there is nothing on record to establish any direct link between Ravi and pro­Khalistan activists of ‘Poetic Justice Foundation’ (PJF) and also there is not even an iota of evidence brought connecting the perpetrators of the violence on January 26 with the PJF or her.

Creation of a WhatsApp group or being editor of an innocuous Toolkit is not an offence, says court

Further, it observed that there is nothing on record to suggest that the activist subscribed to any secessionist idea and there is absolutely no link established on record between her and banned outfit Sikhs for Justice.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana, who granted relief to Ravi on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of like amount, noted that the accused had “absolutely no criminal antecedents”.

“Considering the scanty and sketchy evidence available on record, I do not find any palpable reasons to breach the general rule of ‘Bail’ against a 22 years old young lady, with absolutely blemish free criminal antecedents and having firm roots in the society, and send her to jail,” the judge said.

The judge said perusal of the said ‘Toolkit’ reveals that any call for any kind of violence is conspicuously absent. “In my considered opinion, Citizens are conscience keepers of government in any democratic Nation. They cannot be put behind the bars simply because they choose to disagree with the State policies. The offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of the governments,” the court said.

The court said the difference of opinion, disagreement, divergence, dissent, or for that matter, even disapprobation, are recognised legitimate tools to infuse objectivity in state policies.

“An aware and assertive citizenry, in contradistinction with an indifferent or docile citizenry, is indisputably a sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy,” the court said.

“The right to dissent is firmly enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution. In my considered opinion the freedom of speech and expression includes the right to seek a global audience. “There are no geographical barriers on communication. A citizen has the fundamental rights to use the best means of imparting and receiving communication, as long as the same is permissible under the four corners of law and as such have access to audience abroad,” the court said.

The court directed that Ravi shall continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigations and shall join the investigation as and when summoned by the Investigating officer and not leave the country without the permission of the court. The court noted that more than hundreds of persons involved in the violence have been arrested and interrogated by the Delhi Police but no evidence connecting the accused with the actual perpetrators of the violence has been brought forth on record by the prosecution till date.

RAHUL SAYS KERALA VOTERS DIFFERENT FROM NORTH, GO INTO ISSUES; BJP TEARS INTO HIM

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi found himself under BJP attack on Tuesday after he compared voters in Kerala with those in the north, praising the southern state for being “interested in issues”.

Addressing a public gathering in Thiruvananthapuram, Rahul said, “For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north, I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues, and not just superficially, but going into detail.”

Several BJP leaders and Union ministers hit back, calling Rahul an “opportunist” and accusing him of belittling North Indians. In a tweet, BJP president J P Nadda said, “A few days back he (Gandhi) was in the Northeast, spewing venom against the western part of India. Today in the South he is spewing venom against the North. Divide and rule politics won’t work, @RahulGandhi Ji! People have rejected this politics. See what happened in Gujarat today!”

The BJP on Tuesday swept elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat by winning 483 of the 576 seats, the results coming as a relief for the party amid the ongoing farmers’ agitation and issues like rise in fuel prices and unemployment. The Congress won only 55 of he 576 seats.

Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani called Rahul “ungrateful”. Irani had defeated Rahul from his family bastion Amethi in the last general elections, and he made it to Parliament from the second Lok Sabha seat he contested, Wayanad in Kerala.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, “The man who ran to Kerala to save his Lok Sabha seat questions the intelligence of North Indians, including those who faithfully voted for his family for generations! Fact is… he was forced to run because of non-performance and lack of development.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “I hail from the South. I am an MP from a Western state. I was born, educated and worked in the North. I represented all of India before the World. India is one. Never run down a region; never divide us.”

CAN’T EQUATE TERROR VICTIMS & PLOTTERS, INDIA TELLS UN BODY

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pointed out at the high-level segment of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the most severe challenges the human rights agenda faces are from terrorism.

The High Commissioner of UN Human Rights office, Michele Bachelet, had been frequently critical of the lockdowns and Internet shutdowns in Kashmir as also the application of force against anti-CAA and farmer protests.

Jaishankar pointed out that human rights issues are best pursued through dialogue, consultation and cooperation amongst states as well as technical assistance and capacity building. The MEA has also in the past raised the absence of dialogue by Bachelet which, it says, has led to half-baked observations.

“Our approach to the UN Human Rights Council is guided by our spirit of engagement, dialogue and consultation,” Jaishankar observed.

But it is terrorism that violates the most fundamental human right — ‘the Right to Life’, he said.  “This is possible only when there is a clear realisation, including in bodies dealing with human rights, that terrorism can never be justified, nor its perpetrators ever equated with its victims,” said the minister.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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IN BLOW TO OLI, NEPAL SC ORDERS PARLIAMENT TO BE REINSTATED

In a big setback for K P Oli, Nepal’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of parliament, two months after the Prime Minister dissolved the House and called for an early election. After months of infighting in the ruling Nepal Communist Party fanned by his rivalry with former PM P K Dahal Prachanda, Oli had dissolved the parliament on December 20 in a move described by many as unconstitutional.

The ruling means Oli, who was elected in 2018 following his party’s landslide win in an election in 2017, faces a no-confidence vote once parliament re-sits.

Oli’s decision to dissolve the House had come in the middle of an outreach to India that also saw his foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali visiting New Delhi in the middle of the political uncertainty in Kathmandu. Unlike China, though, India has kept away from the ruling party crisis, calling it Nepal’s internal matter. There was no reaction from India on Tuesday on the latest development.

A five-member constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher termed the dissolution of the House “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days.

FACEBOOK STRIKES DEAL TO RESTORE NEWS SHARING IN AUSTRALIA

Facebook said on Tuesday it will restore Australian news pages after negotiating changes with the government to a proposed law that forces tech giants to pay for media content displayed on their platforms.

Facebook last week blocked Australian users from sharing and viewing news content on its platform, drawing criticism from publishers and the government. But after a series of talks between treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a concession deal has been struck.

Australia will offer four amendments, which include a change to the proposed mandatory arbitration mechanism used when the tech giants cannot reach a deal with publishers over fair payment for displaying news content. Facebook said it was satisfied with the revisions, which will need to be implemented in legislation currently before the parliament.

The government had up until Monday maintained it would not change the legislation.

JAPAN APPOINTS MINISTER OF LONELINESS AS COVID DRIVES SUICIDE RATES UP

Japan has appointed its first Minister for Loneliness this month after the country’s suicide rate increased for the first time in 11 years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to The Japan Times, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga added a minister of loneliness to his Cabinet earlier this month, following the example of the UK, which in 2018 became the first country to create a similar role. Suga tapped minister Tetsushi Sakamoto, who is simultaneously in charge of combating the nation’s falling birth rate and revitalizing regional economies, for the new portfolio.

In his inaugural press conference, Sakamoto said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appointed him to address national matters “including the issue of the increasing women’s suicide rate under the pandemic,” according to CNN.

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UTTARAKHAND FLASH FLOODS: 134 STILL MISSING TO BE PRESUMED DEAD, SAYS GOVT

The Uttarakhand government has issued an order for issuance of death certificate for those who are missing a fortnight after the flash floods in Chamoli district. According to authorities, the 134 people still missing in all likelihood have died in the disaster but their bodies have not been found will be presumed dead.

The move to declare missing people as presumed dead will expedite the process of distribution of compensation among the affected families, according to officials.

DGP Ashok Kumar said that even after issuance of death certificates, search operation for the missing people will continue.

REPEAL AGRI LAWS OR FARMERS TO GHERAO PARLIAMENT: TIKAIT

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said on Tuesday that if the Centre does not repeal the three new agriculture laws, the protesting farmers will gherao Parliament.

He appealed to farmers to be ready as the call for 'Delhi march' can be given at any time.

Tikait was addressing the Kisan Mahapanchayat of United Kisan Morcha in Sikar, Rajasthan Tuesday.

"This time the call will be for Parliament gherao. We will announce it and then march towards Delhi. This time 40 lakh tractors will be there instead of four lakh tractors," he said.

Tikait said the protesting farmers would plough the parks near India Gate and grow crops there. Leaders of the United Front will decide the date to gherao the Parliament, he added.

He also said there was a conspiracy to malign the country's farmers on January 26, when violence had broken out in the national capital during their tractor parade. "The farmers of the country love the tricolor, but not the leaders of this country," he said.

Tikait said farmers are openly challenging the government that if it does not repeal all three contentious agricultural laws and does not implement the MSP, then the farmers of the country will also demolish the godowns of big companies.

The United Front will also give a date for this soon, he said.

AAP EMERGES SECOND IN SURAT AFTER BJP, NO SEATS FOR CONG

Surat Voters proved themselves outliers yet again as they not only brought the BJP back, but decimated the Congress and brought in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to second the position in the elections to the Surat Municipal Corporation.

In the results to the 120 seats across 30 wards, declared on Tuesday, BJP won 93 and AAP got 27 seats, with Congress unable get a single seat– a fall from the 36 seats it won in the 2015 civic body polls . Taking responsibility of the defeat, Surat city Congress president Babu Rayka resigned from the post.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who congratulated the people of Gujarat on Twitter for “the beginning of a new politics”, is expected to arrive in Surat to participate in a victory rally on February 26.

TWO NEW VARIANTS IN MAHARASHTRA, KERALA, BUT NOT LINKED TO FRESH SPIKE

The government on Tuesday reported two new variants of Covid-19 causing Sars-Cov2 virus in Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana, but said these did not cause the recent surge in the states.

Terming the spike in new cases in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and J&K a “concern”, the Health Ministry said it had sent Central teams in these areas to investigate the cause behind the rising cases.

The PM’s Office, meanwhile, reviewed the Covid status and vaccination coverage today with top Central experts. After the meeting, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “The mandate of the Central teams is to investigate the reasons behind case surges in the five states.”

Member, Health, NITI Aayog VK Paul informed about new mutations N440K and E484Q in Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana but said these did not cause a surge.

There are now 187 cases of UK strain, six of the South African variant and one of the Brazilian strain in India.

A BENGAL BJP LEADER IS ARRESTED INA DRUGS CASE

The Kolkata police Tuesday arrested Rakesh Singh, West Bengal state committee member of the BJP and convenor of the party’s basti (slum) cell, from Galsi in Purba Burdwan district in connection with a case in which 23-year-old Pamela Goswami, one of the state secretaries of the BJP Yuva Morcha, was arrested for allegedly possessing 76 gm of heroin.

A day after her arrest on February 19, Pamela Goswami had alleged that Rakesh Singh had hatched a conspiracy to frame her and also named a senior BJP leader. “I have been framed by BJP leader Rakesh Singh, who is close to a senior BJP leader. I want CID to probe this. I have all the evidence,” she said when she was being taken to the NDPS court in Alipur.

FARM ACTIVIST WITH ₹1L BOUNTY TURNS UP AT PUNJAB PROTEST

Gangster-turned-activist Lakhbir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, who is wanted by Delhi police and carries a reward of Rs 1lakh for his alleged role in the Republic Day violence, attended a rally at Mehraj village in Punjab’s Bathinda district on Tuesday.

Lakha, along with Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, has been booked for sedition and various other charges for hoisting the Nishan Sahib flag at Red Fort. He has been evading arrest for close to a month. During this period, he has posted videos a couple of times on social media, but appeared in person publicly for the first time on Tuesday.

Lakha attended the rally around 1.50pm. He left after some time but returned in 30 minutes. He got a roaring applause from thousands of youngsters at the rally.

In a nearly 15-minute address, he said: “I will not get arrested. If the Delhi police come to arrest me or other youths in Punjab villages, the youths in large numbers should come forward to gherao the police. If the police arrest anyone, then the Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will be responsible for it.” He said more rallies will be organised and he’ll address them.

RIL HIVES OFF OIL-TO-CHEMICALS BIZ

Reliance Industries (RIL) will transfer its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) operations to a wholly owned subsidiary for a $25-billion loan, besides $12-billion equity. Consideration for the transfer of the O2C assets, which includes the operating team and 12 manufacturing facilities, will be funded by a $25-billion loan from the parent, the company said in a presentation filed with the stock exchanges.

RIL has been in discussions with Saudi Aramco to sell a 20% stake in the O2C unit for more than one and a half years. The deal, if successful, could lead to further deleveraging of RIL. RIL will retain management control of the O2C company. The separation will also not dilute earnings or restrict cash flows for the parent, according to the company’s presentation.

TIGER WOODS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CALIFORNIA CAR CRASH

Golf star Tiger Woods was injured Tuesday in a vehicle rollover in Los Angeles County.

Woods had to be extricated from the vehicle with the “jaws of life” tools, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Woods was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries. The vehicle sustained major damage, the sheriff’s department said.

CAPTAIN KOHLI REVEALS HIS PINK-BALL PLAN AHEAD OF MOTERA TEST

Virat Kohli wants India to approach the pink-ball Test against England like a normal five-day match but with the sessions reversed, the home captain said on the eve of the third match in Ahmedabad from Wednesday.

The 32-year-old remembers his lessons from that day-night contest in Kolkata 15 months ago and wants his team to apply them in the third Test against Joe Root's men.

"Last time we experienced that the first session is probably the nicest to bat, when the sun is out and the ball doesn't do much," Kohli told a video conference on Tuesday. "But when it starts to get dark, especially during that twilight, it gets very tricky. The light changes and it's difficult to sight the ball. And then under the lights, it's like playing the first session in the morning in a normal Test match. The ball does tend to swing a lot. So I think it's a reversal of roles and something that you need to adjust to quite quickly as a batsman."

Every batsman, however set he might be, must 'start from scratch' in the evening, he said.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect; it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

OFF TRACK

Pehla Padosi: Yaar tere ghar se roz hansi ki awaz aati hai. Is khush haal zindagi ka raaz kya hai?

Doosra Padosi: Meri Biwi mujhe jooton se maarti hai, Lag jaay to wo hansti hai, Na Lage to main hansta hoon. Uppar wale ka shukar hai, hansi khushi zindagi guzar rahi hai.