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SC starts hearing on pleas against Section 377: As the Supreme Court started hearing petitions challenging the criminalisation of homosexuality Tuesday, CJI Dipak Misra observed, “You only have to impress on us that if Section 377 was to be enacted today, it would be struck down for violating fundamental rights.” His colleague Justice D.Y. Chandrachud remarked that one’s choice of “partner would include same sex partner too”, reports The Indian Express. However, the CJI added, “The question here is whether Section 377 is ultra vires or not. Let us get out of this maze. We cannot now give an advance ruling on questions like inheritance to live-in partners, whether they can marry, etc.”
Slain gangster’s wife seeks CBI probe: Accusing the UP government and officials of being part of the “conspiracy”, Seema Singh, wife of gangster Munna Bajrangi, said her husband was forcibly taken from Jhansi jail to Bagpat and had recently survived an attempted poisoning, reports The Hindu. Bajrangi was shot dead by a fellow gangster at Bagpat jail Monday morning.
HC orders 196 ‘grace marks’ in Tamil NEET, stays admissions: Lambasting the CBSE for framing inaccurate and wrong translations for 49 questions, each carrying four marks and totalling 196, the Madras High Court has ordered that as many “grace marks” be awarded to more than 24,000 students who wrote the NEET-2018 in Tamil for MBBS admissions, reports The Times of India.
SC cracks down on state governments over waste management: Slapping fines on 10 states and two UTs for not filing affidavits detailing their solid waste management strategy, the SC stated that though Delhi was getting buried under mounds of garbage and Mumbai sinking under water, the government was doing nothing. The court added that though interventions by the court may seem like “judicial activism”, it was forced to step in when the government didn’t do anything, reports The Tribune.
In repeat of 2014, Amit Shah scouts for allies in states: The BJP has begun the process of identifying new allies for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a strategy aimed at not only expanding its voter base but also countering the state-specific alliances being formed by opposition parties, Pragya Kaushika reports for ThePrint.
Ministry defends eminence tag for Jio varsity: Facing criticism over the grant of ‘institute of eminence’ status to the proposed Jio University of Reliance Foundation, the HRD ministry Tuesday said an “eminent panel had recommended the names and there was need to trust its judgment”, reports The Hindu.
Lok Sabha Speaker writes to MPs on Parliament disruptions: Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, in an “emotional letter” to MPs, expressed concern over the frequent disruptions of Parliament proceedings, saying divergence of opinion and dissent should be within established norms, reports PTI. The monsoon session of Parliament is set to start 18 July.
Indian warship is first-ever at Indonesia’s Sabang port: The Indian Navy patrol vessel, INS Sumitra, has become the first-ever warship to sail into the Indonesian port of Sabang, strategically poised at the mouth of the Malacca Strait, reports Business Standard. The journey comes soon after the announcement of an Indian-Indonesian joint task force to undertake projects for port-related infrastructure.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Vadodara’s old airport terminal now a site for film shoots, weddings: Last week, actors John Abraham and Jackie Shroff shot for their film RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter) at the terminal, which has hosted two other events and been booked for a wedding next February, reports The Indian Express. The building will soon be demolished.
Five years after Snoopy’s moon mission, he and NASA are collaborating again: Peanuts Worldwide and NASA announced Tuesday that they have entered into a multiyear space act agreement engineered “to inspire a passion for space exploration and STEM” education among students, according to Peanuts Worldwide, reports The Washington Post.
Business Class
The Axis Bank board has shortlisted three candidates as possible replacements for chief Shikha Sharma and is waiting for the RBI’s approval, reports Business Standard. Sharma’s term was to end in June 2021, but the board decided to get a new CEO in the wake of rising NPAs and misgovernance issues.
SEBI has declined LIC’s request for any relaxation in the takeover code, which means the insurer will have to make open offers to IDBI shareholders, reports Business Standard. LIC is set to acquire majority control of the troubled state-owned lender. Under SEBI rules, an “acquisition of more than 25 per cent in a listed entity is termed as control and requires an open offer”.
Point of View
The visit of the South Korean President is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. Analyst Brahma Chellaney, in his column in The Times Of India, writes, “There isn’t much room to expand Seoul’s already well-developed relations with China, Japan and the US. In fact, with new issues cropping up in ties with China and America, export-driven South Korea must find new markets to cut reliance on its top two trade partners.”
Is Jammu & Kashmir going to get a new chief minister soon? The noises in the PDP camp suggest so. The Indian Express, in its editorial, writes, “All players in J&K must act in ways that do not deepen people’s mistrust, (and) create conditions for a free and fair election.”
The SC will start hearing the case against female genital mutilation from 16 July. The Times Of India writes in its editorial, “With Supreme Court taking up female genital mutilation (FGM) and poised to examine other customs like nikah halala and polygamy, the gap between constitutional promises on female rights and ground realities can be substantially narrowed.”
Prime Time
Let’s talk about homophobia
As the Supreme Court hears petitions filed against Section 377, Arnab Goswami of Republic TV debated whether the central government should change its stand and oppose Section 377.
The founder of the NGO Garib Nawaz Foundation, Ansar Raza, said scrapping Section 377 will make India “impure” and “like Europe”. He said, “The one who destroys the culture of my country has no right to live here.”
LGBT activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi shot back, “As much as the country is yours, it is mine too!”
BJP leader Vaibhav Aggarwal refused to clarify the government’s opinion on Section 377 and said, “Let us understand this, the Modi government needs due time to be given by Supreme Court to come up with an argument on this.”
Passing the buck
Preeti Choudhry of India Today TV discussed the flood situation in Mumbai and asked the question: “Who is responsible for the Mumbai floods which take place every year?”
Congress leader Shama Mohamed blamed the current BJP dispensation, and said,”BJP cannot say there is no wrongdoing from their side. They have to take responsibility since they are an ally of the Shiv Sena (which runs the BMC).”
But the BJP spokesperson, Niranjan L. Shetty, passed the buck to the previous Congress government, saying, “What did the governments prior to the BJP government in Maharashtra do?”