GYANVAPI SUIT MAINTAINABLE, NOT BARRED BY PLACES OF WORSHIP ACT: VARANASI COURT

A Varanasi court on Monday held that a petition filed by five Hindu women seeking permission to perform daily worship of Hindu deities located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque was maintainable and it would go ahead with the hearing of the case.

District Judge A K Vishvesh – who was assigned the case by the Supreme Court -- dismissed the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and others challenging the maintainability of the petition seeking permission to perform daily worship at the contested site.

“I have come to the conclusion that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, Vishvesh said in his 26-page order.

The District Judge posted the matter for further hearing on September 22 to adjudicate on the petition seeking the right to worship deities on the outer wall of the mosque complex near the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The Muslim side’s counsel Merajuddin Siddiqui said he will move the Allahabad High Court against the district judge’s order.

BJP WELCOMES GYANVAPI ORDER, OPPN LARGELY SILENT, OWAISI REACTS SHARPLY

As BJP on Monday welcomed the Varanasi district court’s, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya hinted that next on the list could be Mathura. Meanwhile, party leaders in Delhi maintained a studied silence. Soon after the verdict, Maurya tweeted what was being seen as a larger message: “Karvat leti Mathura, Kashi! (Varanasi and Mathura are stirring).”

Another UP Deputy CM, Brajesh Pathak, said: “The UP government welcomes and respects the court order. We are alert. We will maintain the rule of law in UP; no one will be allowed to break the law.”

The Congress preferred silence after the Varanasi court’s order yesterday. Not just the Congress, almost all opposition parties preferred to maintain a calculated, and perhaps politically convenient, silence on the issue.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi reacted sharply. "I believe that after this order, the purpose of the Places of Worship Act 1991 will fail," he said. Further criticising the court order, the AIMIM chief said, "A destabilising effect will start after this. We are going on the same path as that of the Babri masjid issue. When judgement on Babri Masjid was given, I warned everyone that this will create problems in the country as this judgement was given on the basis of faith."

CONGRESS PUTS UP IMAGE OF KHAKI SHORTS ON FIRE

In a tweet on Monday, the Congress’s official social media handle shared a graphic of shorts resembling the RSS khaki knickers on fire, with text that read, “145 days more to go”. The party captioned the image: “To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal.”

The BJP hit back quickly, saying that it was the Congress that was “instigating violence”, “hurting nationalists”, and “lighting fires”, and that the post exposed the lies behind its Bharat Jodo Yatra.

At a press conference, senior leader and head of the Congress’s communication wing, Jairam Ramesh, said: “Those who stoke the fires of hatred, bigotry and prejudice, must be prepared to take some things back in the same coin…The RSS and the BJP are not used to aggressive responses from the Congress…If they are aggressive, we will be double aggressive, let’s understand this”.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma called the Congress tweet with the shorts on fire reflective of a “shameful mindset”. “Congress Party is not even hiding its true intentions. In the garb of ‘Bharat Jodo’, it is indulging in ‘Bharat Todo’. India will not forgive them for their intentions of hurting nationalists!” he tweeted.

The BJP’s I-T head, Amit Malviya, said, “The Congress has bared its fangs in just 5 days. A party that has thrived on organised violence, from Nellie to Bhagalpur, from Khairlanji to Godhra, from Hashimpura to the Sikh genocide, can never Jodo Bharat… Congress is evil. It deserves to be confined to dustbin of history.”

GOVT SEEKS MORE TIME TO FILE REPLIES, SC PUTS OFF CAA HEARING TO OCT 31

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on October 31 a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA. A bench comprising Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice S R Bhat noted the matter will be referred to a three-judge bench.

During the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that several issues have been raised in the petitions filed before the top court. "Our reply is filed so far as some amendments and challenge is concerned. In some of the matters, our reply is yet to be filed," he said.

The bench said the office of the solicitor general shall prepare a complete list of matters which shall be put in different segments depending upon the challenge raised in the petitions. "The Union of India shall thereafter file its appropriate responses with respect to these segments of challenges," the bench said, adding, "Let the needful in that behalf be done within four weeks from today."

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / Sep 12

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Sunday 5,217

Active Cases 44,591 (-769)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,28,165 (11)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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UKRAINE PUSHES BACK TO BORDER IN NE, CAPTURES SEVERAL POWs

Ukrainian troops reclaimed a wide swath of territory from Russia on Monday, pushing all the way back to the northeastern border in some places and capturing many Russian soldiers as part of a lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat.

A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence claimed that Russian troops were surrendering en masse as “they understand the hopelessness of their situation. ” A Ukrainian presidential adviser said the country was running out of space to accommodate the POWs.

As blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns, the Ukrainian military said it had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyiv’s forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to the British defence ministry. “In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation,” said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region.

A Russian-installed official in Kharkiv said that Ukrainian forces had outnumbered Russian and pro-Russian forces by eight times during the lightning counteroffensive. Speaking to state-run Rossiya-24 channel, Vitaly Ganchev said the situation is becoming more difficult by the hour”.

Ukraine presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich didn’t specify the number of prisone-rs but said the POWs would be exchanged for Ukrainian troops held by Moscow. Military intelligence spokesman Andrey Yusov said the captured troops included “significant” numbers of Russian officers, who he said would prove “very valuable in exchange negotiations. ”

Kremlin insisted on Monday it would achieve its military goals and President Putin maintained an air of business as usual as he chaired a meeting on the economy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer directly, when asked by a reporter if Putin still had confidence in his military leadership. Instead he repeated a familiar mantra. “The special military operation continues. And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved.”

So far Putin has not resorted to mobilising Russia’s reserves, who number around 2 million men. To do so would constitute an admission that what he has cast as a limited military mission is in fact a full-scale warand and that the war is going badly for Russia.

LONDON GRAPPLES WITH LOGISTICS FOR QUEEN’S FUNERAL

Britain’s government said Monday that travel plans for foreign leaders and their spouses to Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral “will vary” by country, following a report they will have to take special buses. “Arrangements for different leaders will vary depending on things like security risks, so we are providing guidance and information through embassies,” PM Liz Truss’ spokesman told reporters.

It follows news website Politico reporting that attendees have been told to take commercial flights and escorted private buses to reach the September 19 service at London’s Westminster Abbey. As well as being told not to use their own vehicles to reach the country’s first state funeral in nearly six decades, they have also been advised against travelling over London by helicopter, the website said. Instead, they will be transported by the buses to the abbey from a site in west London, Politico reported, citing an official protocol message sent to foreign embassies.

“Tight security and road restrictions” were cited by Politico as the reasons, but the purported stipulations have raised eyebrows, with one London-based foreign ambassador telling Politico: “Can you imagine Joe Biden on the bus?”

The state funeral, the first since that of former PM Winston Churchill in 1965, will be one of the biggest security and logistical operations Britain has ever staged.

THE REST

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CITING TAMILISAI’S ‘PLIGHT’, DMK MOUTHPIECE WARNS GOVERNORS OF ALL STATES

Days after Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said she was facing trouble reaching out to the people, and that among others she wasn’t even given the chance to unfurl the Tricolour or deliver a speech on Republic Day, DMK mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ on Monday published a column reminding all Governors that they should not go “too far” beyond their constitutional limits, or they will risk being treated the same way.

In its popular column “Silanthi”, the newspaper said the fate of Governors of other states would be the same as that of Soundararajan if they tried to interfere in policies and welfare programmes of the respective state governments.

“To keep the people and their interests from being hurt by the fight between the state government and the Governor, some state governments may be trying to find a middle ground for greater good. But if Governors keep getting in the way most of the time, they will end up in the same situation as Governor Soundararajan. So all self-styled Governors should realise this sooner than later,” the newspaper said.

18 DAYS FOR KERALA, HANDFUL FOR UP: CPM ATTACKS RAHUL YATRA PLAN

The CPI(M)’s surprise criticism of the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra Monday contrasting the days Rahul Gandhi will spend on his march in the Left-ruled Kerala with those in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh has brought the finer points of the Yatra into the spotlight.

The CPI(M) castigated the Congress over the Yatra. The Marxist party tweeted a caricature of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with a text asking if it was a “Bharat Jodo” or “Seat Jodo” campaign. “18 days in Kerala…2 days in UP. Strange way to fight BJP-RSS,” it read.

Senior Kerala CPI(M) leader M V Jayarajan said the time spent by Rahul in various states showed that the Congress was not ready to take on the BJP. “Rahul considers the Left as the main opponent. He and his party are running away from taking the Sangh Parivar challenge. He can’t see BJP as the main opponent. Congress cannot fight the policies of BJP,’’ he charged.

Hitting back, Jairam Ramesh, AICC general secretary in-charge of communications, tweeted: “Do your homework better on how and why yatra was planned the way it is. And silly criticism from a party that is the A team of BJP in the land of MunduModi.” Ramesh’s “Mundu Modi” was a jibe at Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan. The Congress party in Kerala has coined it to attack CM Vijayan’s functioning, alleging that the latter was a mundu (dhoti)-wearing Kerala version of Narendra Modi.

The Congress leaders said the CPI(M)’s criticism was unfounded. “By that logic, the Yatra will spend 21 days each in Karnataka and Rajasthan. The Congress is in direct fight with the BJP in these two states. It will spend 16 days in Madhya Pradesh. There also the Congress is fighting the BJP,” a leader said.

Sources in the Congress said the Yatra will in fact spend 5 days in Uttar Pradesh as against the earlier schedule of two days. They said the decision was taken a couple of days ago, before the CPI(M) took a dig at the march.

DISMISSING OPS PLEA, SC SAYS SEALING PARTY OFFICE HAS CONSEQUENCES

Stating that attaching the office of a political party has “extraordinarily far-reaching consequences…in a democracy”, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by former Tamil Nadu CM O Paneerselvam.

Paneerselvam had challenged Madras High Court’s order directing de-sealing of the AIADMK office and handing over the keys to rival Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

“You shall also bear in mind that attaching the office of a political party has extraordinarily far-reaching consequences. In a democracy, you are then not allowing a political party to effectively function,” a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said, upholding the HC order of July 20.

bike stunts on Chennai’s Anna Salai

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On July 11, supporters of the two leaders clashed after a general council meeting expelled Paneerselvam. An official attached the property following the clash. Both leaders challenged this before HC, which set aside the order.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT A BJP AD ON MUMBAI BUSES

In Mumbai, the BJP has placed an advertisement on the city's public transport BEST buses which says: 'Our government has come, the obstacles in the way of Hindu festivals have gone. Ganpati Bappa Morya.' The advertisements in Marathi have Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis's photographs.

In 2020, the festival came up after the first lockdown had just eased up, and many Ganpati mandals, including the biggest ones, voluntarily decided to cancel celebrations, wary of the new virus. Despite this, there was a surge of infections after the festival.

Last year, the festival came just as the fearsome Delta wave had subsided, and doctors were advising caution to prevent a third wave. The government imposed restrictions on the number of people who could participate in bringing the idol home, immerse it, and also on visitors to pandals.

Offended by the BJP's ads, some commuters have complained to the BEST, both in writing and orally.

College lecturer Shyam Pakhare sent off an e-mail to BEST GM Lokesh Chandra, wherein he described what he had seen: "a political advertisement of BJP with communal overtones." 'As a citizen of a secular country and regular traveller of BEST,' said his complaint, 'I found it very objectionable. It will lead to communal hatred in our society.' The complaint ended with a request to remove the ad immediately and ensure that such ads are not displayed on BEST buses in future.

Pakhare's complaint was followed by one from Jayant Dewan, trustee, Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal. "What kind of advertising is this?" Jayant says angrily. "When were obstacles ever placed in the way of Hindu festivals? This is nothing but an attempt to polarise." In his complaint to BEST, Jayant described the ad as one that 'spreads hatred. By implying that if the current government had not come, Hindus would have been in danger is a deliberate act of hatred. Putting such an ad on public transport is a misuse of our taxes.'

INFLATION RISES TO 7% IN AUG; ABOVE RBI'S COMFORT LEVEL

Retail inflation cut short its three-month declining trend and inched up to 7 per cent in August mainly due to higher food prices, according to official data released on Monday.

The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 6.71 per cent in July and 5.3 per cent in August 2021.

The Reserve Bank factors in retail inflation while deciding on its monetary policy. The government has tasked the Reserve Bank to ensure CPI inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on each side.

AKSHAY KUMAR’S AD ON ROAD SAFETY RECEIVES BACKLASH

Actor Akshay Kumar’s recent road safety campaign drew much ire as many alleged that the advertisement was promoting the practice of dowry.

In the video, the father is upset at his daughter’s farewell. Akshay Kumar, who plays the role of a policeman, takes a dig at the father for sending the newly married couple in a car that has just two airbags.

Slamming the ad, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “This is such a problematic advertisement. Who passes such creatives? Is the government spending money to promote the safety aspect of a car or promoting the evil& criminal act of dowry through this ad?”

One user wrote, “This ad is the pits. Lost the plot completely. Is this about the wedding, the bride or that dowry should be 6 airbag car-what is it? These govt ads are so puerile and ill conceived. They couldn’t talk about safety any other way?”

INDIA NAME 15-MAN SQUAD FOR T20 WORLD CUP 2022

The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Monday assembled for a meeting and revealed India’s squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. A fit-again Jasprit Bumrah and death overs specialist Harshal Patel are back in the side while Mohd. Shami has been named as standby along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Chahar. Ravindra Jadeja has not been included in the T20 World Cup squad as he’s still recovering from injury.

The ICC T20 World Cup in Australia will start from October 16.

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Before the World Cup, Team India will be locking horns against Australia in a three-match T20I series starting from September 20.Also, the home series against South Africa will start from September 28.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors. - Thomas Henry Huxley

OFF TRACK

The proud mother was showing off her new baby to her friend. "Doesn't he look just like his father?" asked the mother.

"Yes," replied the friend. "But I shouldn't worry too much - he'll probably change for the better as he gets older."