Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi released from Mumbai jail

September 12, 2012

Aseem_walks_out_of_jail

 

Mumbai, September 12:  Aseem Trivedi, the cartoonist jailed on charges of sedition, has left a Mumbai jail. He emerged waving his fist in the air, wearing a button-down black shirt just like when he was taken into custody on Saturday.  He was granted bail last evening by the Bombay High Court.

Mr Trivedi headed first to a shrine for BR Ambedkar, down the road from the Arthur Road jail. "Even Gandhi and Nehru have been charged with sedition. Were they not patriotic? We have no politics. The entire country will now fight against the law on sedition. I will cooperate in all court cases," he told reporters there. A press conference is scheduled for later in the afternoon.  

The weekend arrest of the 25-year-old freelance cartoonist and anti-corruption campaigner sparked a domestic and international backlash against the government, which was accused by critics of using the colonial-era sedition law to crush dissent.   

Mr Trivedi's friends say he was targeted by the government because he is a member of India Against Corruption, the movement led by activists Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal.  His arrest was based on a complaint filed by a lawyer who said Mr Trivedi's cartoons lampooning corruption were offensive and disrespectful of national emblems and the constitution.

Mr Trivedi had originally refused to accept bail, stating he wanted the sedition charges against him to be dropped, but his associates later said that he plans to leave jail and campaign against an archaic sedition law.  The High Court will decide on September 14 whether the controversial charges should be removed. The Maharashtra government is also examining whether the removal of the charges is legally permissible.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders was among those calling for the immediate release of Trivedi, one of whose cartoons depicted the national parliament as a huge toilet bowl. Another replaced the three lions in the national emblem with bloody-mouthed wolves to indicate a country being devoured by graft.


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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Military commanders of India and China are scheduled to meet today at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), to discuss the ongoing dispute along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

The Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps of the Indian Army Commander Lieutenant Gen Harinder Singh will meet his Chinese equivalent Maj Gen Liu Lin, who is the commander of South Xinjiang Military Region of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to address the ongoing tussle in Eastern Ladakh between the two countries over the heavy military build-up by the People's Liberation Army along the LAC there.

The two sides have held close to a dozen rounds of talks since the first week of May when the Chinese sent over 5,000 troops to the LAC.

On Friday, officials of India and China interacted through video-conferencing with the two sides agreeing that they should handle "their differences through peaceful discussion" while respecting each other's sensitivities and concerns and not allowing them to become disputes in accordance with the guidance provided by the leadership.

In the last few days, there has not been any major movement of the People's Liberation Army troops at the multiple sites where it has stationed itself along the LAC opposite Indian forces.

India and China have been locked in a dispute over the heavy military build-up by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) where they have brought in more than 5,000 troops along with the Eastern Ladakh sector.

The Chinese Army's intent to carry out deeper incursions was checked by the Indian security forces by quick deployment. The Chinese have also brought in heavy vehicles with artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles in their rear positions close to the Indian territory.

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Agencies
January 15,2020

Mumbai, Jan 15: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday redistributed portfolios of Deputy Governors following the appointment of Michael Debabrata Patra to the post.

An official release said that NS Vishwanathan will handle co-ordination, Department of Regulation (DOR), Department of Communication (DoC), Enforcement Department, Inspection Department (ID), Risk Monitoring Department (RMD), and Secretary's Department.

BP Kanungo will look after Department of Currency Management (DCM), Department of External Investments and Operations (DEIO), Department of Government and Bank Accounts (DGBA), Department of Information Technology (DIT), Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (DPSS), Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), Foreign Exchange Department (FED), Internal Debt Management Department (IDMD), Legal Department (LD) and Right to Information (RIA) Division.

The release said that MK Jain will handle the Department of Supervision (DOS), Consumer Education and Protection Department (CEPD), Financial Inclusion and Development Department (FIDD), Human Resource Management Department (HRMD), HR Operations Unit (HR-OU), Premises Department (PD), Central Security Cell (CSC), and Rajbhasha Department.

Patra will look after the Monetary Policy Department including Forecasting and Modelling Unit (MPD/MU), Financial Markets Operations Department (FMOD), Financial Markets Regulation Department including Market Intelligence (FMRD/MI), International Department (Intl. D), Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR), Department of Statistics & Information Management (including Data and Information Management Unit) (DSIM/DIMU), Corporate Strategy and Budget Department (CSBD) and Financial Stability Unit.

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News Network
March 30,2020

Kochi, Mar 30: Kerala High Court on Monday granted interim bail to the under-trial prisoners and remanded accused in the state till April 30 in view of the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The court said that the accused should report to the local police station immediately after getting bail. Those released on bail must strictly follow the lockdown instructions, the High Court said.

"Those who have been convicted of imprisonment for less than seven years will get bail. Prison Superintendents will release the prisoners who are eligible. But regular offenders are not entitled to get bail," the court said.

After the bail period, the accused should appear in the respective trial courts, where a decision will be taken on their bail by the respective trial courts.

The Supreme Court had last week asked all state governments to release undertrial prisoners, who are facing charges attracting less than seven years imprisonment, to reduce overcrowding of jails amid the ongoing coronavirus scare.

So far, 194 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has claimed the lives of 29 people and infected a total of 1071 people as on Monday morning.

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