Unaware of Karnataka BJP’s politics, President of India praises Tipu Sultan

Aurangabad, Jan 29: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities in the country, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was adding fuel to the fire.

He was speaking at a rally held on Tuesday at Pathri in Parbhani district of Maharashtra against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It was organised by NCP MLC Abdullah Durrani.

"Modi and Shah used to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims during the Gujarat elections. Now they are adopting the same strategy in the country," Kumar alleged.

Citizens should keep the religious conflicts aside and question the present government about unemployment and the poor state of the economy, he said.

"Through the CAA, the government is adding fuel to the fire, which is already raging in the country," he alleged.

When anyone questions the government about the problems existing in the country, it in turn asks him about his citizenship, the former JNUSU leader alleged.

New Delhi, Jan 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the plea by Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi said that expeditious disposal of mercy plea by the President doesn't mean non-application of mind by him.

The court also said that alleged sufferings in prison can't be grounds to challenge the rejection of mercy petition.

The bench said all relevant material including judgments pronounced by trial court, high court and Supreme Court were placed before the President when he was considering the mercy plea of the convict.

The bench also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna rejected the contentions of the counsel appearing for Singh that entire materials of the case were not placed before the President when he was considering his mercy plea.

The bench, while referring to two files placed before it by the Centre on Tuesday, said that as per the January 15 covering letter which was sent by the Delhi government to the Ministry of Home Affairs, all relevant documents were sent.

The bench noted that detailed judgements of trial court, high court and the Supreme Court, curative petition filed by Singh, his past criminal history and his family background were sent to the Home Ministry by the Delhi government.

"All the documents were taken into consideration by the President while rejecting the mercy petition," the bench said.

The bench also dealt with submissions advanced by the convict's counsel, who had argued that the mercy plea was rejected at "lightning speed".

The bench said that if a mercy petition is expeditiously dealt with, it cannot be assumed that it has been adjudicated upon in a pre-conceived mind.

New Delhi, Apr 15:  Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said that both Maharashtra and Karnataka are in a bit of trouble due to spike in COVID-19 cases.

"Bihar is not in so much trouble right now, but definitely, Maharashtra is in a bit of trouble, particularly Mumbai and as well as Karnataka," said Vardhan in a video conference meeting while speaking about surge in COVID-19 tally in the country.

"But I was happy to see the confidence of 3 secretaries more particularly when Maharashtra Secretary said with confidence 'we will take care of it'," he said.

According to the ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with 2,687 cases of which 259 patients have recovered/discharged while 178 patients have lost their lives due to the virus.

Karnataka has confirmed 277 positive COVID-19 cases, including 75 cured and discharged and 11 deaths.

India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,933, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

Out of the total tally, 10197 cases are active while 1344 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated and 392 people have succumbed to the virus.