Khalistani terrorist Bhullar likely to be hanged secretly

April 15, 2013

New Delhi, Apr 15: While Tihar Jail authorities wait for Devender Singh Pal Bhullar to be shifted back to prison from the Institute of Human Behaviour Allied Science (IHBAS), intelligence assessments have started trickling in, warning of an adverse fallout in Punjab of his impending execution. Intelligence circles are already debating whether his hanging should be carried out in secrecy, as was done in the case of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru.

Khalistani_terroristAccording to a senior intelligence official, the likely spectre of trouble from radical fringe elements in his home state, Punjab, and possible attempts by inimical forces across the border to capitalize on his hanging to underline the alienation of Sikhs in India, may force the government to avoid his body's last journey to Bhatinda. Instead, his cremation may be carried out on the Tihar premises itself.

The bodies of Indira Gandhi's assassins — Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh — were also not handed over to their kin and cremated in Tihar after their execution in 1989.

Yet, mindful of the widespread criticism of its failure to inform Afzal's family ahead of its hanging, the government may be more sensitive this time to the concerns of Bhullar's kin. Care may be taken to keep the family in the loop on the execution of his death sentence, while also ensuring that secrecy is not compromised.

"The stress will be to convince the family of the inevitability of his hanging, underlining how all judicial avenues were allowed and exhausted. The family can be persuaded to put national interest over their personal loss, and cooperate with the authorities on averting any negative repercussions of his hanging on law and order," said a senior officer of the security establishment.

Though security analysts do not see any immediate law and order exigency in Punjab on account of the rejection of Bhullar's plea for commuting of his death sentence, they are watching with interest the political handling of the fallout in the Shiromani Akali Dal-ruled Punjab. With SGPC already questioning the judgment and calling it "biased against Sikhs", it remains to be seen how the radical elements and the powerful deras in Punjab react to the development.

Though analysts like former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Ajit Kumar Doval do not see Bhullar's judgment reviving the undercurrent of militancy, they are concerned that some dormant extremist elements may resort to mischief and sell the notion of alienation of Sikhs to unemployed and radicalized youth of Punjab. With some of the Sikh militancy leaders - Wadhawa Singh of Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Commando Force Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Tarsem Singh of the Khalistan Liberation Army - enjoying a safe haven in Pakistan for decades, their ISI mentors may step up pressure on them to use Bhullar's death sentence to paint India as an anti-Sikh nation.

However, not many think that this might revive militancy as a people's movement. "The Sikhs now no longer feel alienated and are involved in the political process. The people of Punjab have moved on, though fringe elements remain," former BSF director general UK Bansal told TOI. Doval, while pointing out that radicalized elements continue to enjoy support and funding from the Sikh diaspora, said this did not really point to return of militancy.

"The alienation caused by Bhullar's hanging will at most be a small contributory factor, apart from unemployment and poor political handling of the case's fallout. But, we should address these factors to avoid bigger problems," Doval added.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

New Delhi, Jan 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till June 12 its earlier order of May 15 asking the government not to take any coercive action against companies and employers for violation of Centre's March 29 circular for payment of full wages to employees for the lockdown period.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah reserved the verdict on a batch of petitions filed by various companies challenging the circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on March 29 asking the employers to pay full wages to the employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the top court said there was a concern that workmen should not be left without pay, but there may be a situation where the industry may not have money to pay and hence, the balancing has to be done.

Meanwhile, the apex court asked the parties to file their written submissions in support of their claims.

The top court on May 15 had asked the government not to take any coercive action against the companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centre also filed an affidavit justifying its March 29 direction saying that the employers claiming incapacity in paying salaries must be directed to furnish their audited balance sheets and accounts in the court.

The government has said that the March 29 directive was a "temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship" of employees and workers, specially contractual and casual, during the lockdown period and the directions have been revoked by the authority with effect from May 18.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

New Delhi, May 17: Eight of the 10 most valued domestic firms suffered a combined erosion of Rs 1,37,311.31 crore in market valuation last week, with Reliance Industries (RIL) taking the biggest knock.

Only Bharti Airtel and ITC from the top-10 list managed to close the week with gains.

RIL's market cap plunged Rs 65,232.46 crore to Rs 9,24,855.56 crore.

The market valuation of HDFC Bank declined Rs 22,347.07 crore to Rs 4,87,083.88 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever Limited tanked Rs 13,192.26 crore to Rs 4,77,458.89 crore.

ICICI Bank's market cap dropped Rs 9,770.06 crore to Rs 2,08,900.79 crore.

Infosys witnessed a decline of Rs 9,518.84 crore in valuation to reach Rs 2,77,814.09 crore while that of HDFC tumbled Rs 9,370.38 crore to Rs 2,83,293.70 crore.

The m-cap of Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped by Rs 7,805.2 crore to Rs 2,25,327.22 crore.

Tata Consultancy Services' market valuation dipped Rs 75.04 crore to Rs 7,10,439 crore.

In contrast, Bharti Airtel added Rs 13,147.89 crore to its valuation to stand at Rs 3,02,292.43 crore.

ITC's valuation also rose by Rs 7,744.11 crore to Rs 2,02,330.13 crore.

In the ranking of top-10 firms, RIL retained the number one spot, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, Airtel, HDFC, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and ITC.

During the last week, the Sensex declined 544.97 points or 1.72 per cent.

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News Network
July 11,2020

New Delhi, Jul 11: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday, saying this is time to fight the coronavirus not elections and that he should not endanger people's lives in a "hurry" to hold the assembly polls.

"The coronavirus situation in Bihar is worsening like it is in many other states of the country. But a big part of government machinery and resources are busy making preparation for the polls.

"Nitish Kumar ji, this isn't time to fight elections but the coronavirus. Don't endanger people's lives in this hurry to hold the polls," he tweeted.

Kishor, once a confidant of the JD(U) president before he turned a critic and was expelled from the party, joins leaders like LJP chief Chirag Paswan and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav in suggesting that the Bihar assembly polls should be deferred due to the pandemic.

Polls in Bihar are due in October-November but the Election Commission has so far not made any official announcement about its schedule.

The BJP and the JD(U) have been holding organisational meetings and said that they are ready for the elections.

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