Silchar Daily丨 News 丨18 JANUARY
1.The wait for Hardik Pandya & Rahul just got longer
NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court adjourning proceedings
on all BCCI matters fora week, the wait got longer on Thursday for suspended cricketers Hardik Pandya and K.L Rahul, hoping now for an early end to the furore over their sexist comments on TV.Called back midway through their tour of Australia, the two cricketers were left in Umboalter hairing was adjourned by the two-judge Bench of .Justices AM Sapre and SA Bobde following current amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium’s resignation on health grounds."Now that SC has taken cognisance of the case and already asked the new amicus to come back after a week, the CoA chief cannot appoint an ad-hoc Ombudsman as it will be contempt of court," a senior BCCI official said on Thursday.
The appointment of an ombudsman was sought by the Committee of Administrators
to investigate the duo’s comments on hookups with multiple women and being casual
about it with their families, on the show ‘Koffee with Karan’ with film maker Karan Johar.
With the Bench nominating former Additional Solicitor Genera] P.S. Narsimha as the
new amicus, the case of appointment of a permanent or ad-hoc ombudsman will only come up as and when the new amicus takes charge.Thursday's developments mean that the return of the two players, who have already missed the ongoing ODI series against Australia, could well be delayed beyond the New Zealand series which starts next week.
Asked what the way out was. the official said, “An ad-hoc ombudsman can still be
ajipointed but only after the former ASG decides to take up the assignment and he Is convinced that an ad-hoc ombudsman is a necessity for an early closure so that the cricketers can resume national duty." After the two players were showcaused for
their comments on the TV show. COA chief Vinod Rai had recommended a two-match ban
but his colleague Diana Edulji wanted a legal opinion from the BCG’s legal cell.
2.20 lakh B’deshi Hindus to become Indians if Bill is passed: KMSS
KMSS LEADER AKHIL G0G0I claimed that as per Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there are around 1.7 crore Hindus and if the Bill is passed, then it will pave the way for them to come to Assam
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS). which is spearheading the protests against the
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Thursday, claimed that around 20 lakh Hindu
Bangladeshis would become Indians if the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
2016 is passed.Addressing a press conference, KMSS Adviser Akhil
Gogoi slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led government for its attempt to get the Bill passed despite widespread protests across the North East.
"The BJP and Himanta Biswa Sarma arc saying that only eight lakh Hindu Bangladeshis, who are already staying here, will get citizenship. But our assessment is that 20 lakh people are present in Assam at this moment and they will get citizenship as soon as the Bill is passed." he added. Elaborating on his claim.the prominent RT1 activist said that a report of former Assam Governor Lieutenant General S K Sinha had mentioned that over one crore people have entered India. “When 1 met former Assam Assembly Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, who is from BJP, he said around 15-20 lakh Hindu Bangladeshis are in Assam. Himanta Biswa Sarma himself had said that out of the 40 lakh excluded from the complete draft of NRC (National Register of Citizens). 22 lakh were Hindus." he said.
“Saugata Roy had said in Parliament that 28 lakh Hindu Bengalis are excluded from
NRC. So. these different figures by various sources dearly say that around 20 lakh Hindus
from Bangladesh are living in Assam, not eight lakh as claimed by BJP," added Gogoi.
He further claimed that as per Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there are around
1.7 crore Hindus, which is10.7 per cent of that country’stotal population. "If the Bill is
passed, this will pave the ways for these 1.7 crore people in Bangladesh to come to Assam and get Indian nationality as there is no cut-off date in the Bill." he rued.
“So, there is a possibility that a total of 1.9 crore people are likely to get Indian citizenship in coming years," Gogoi said. He claimed that if that happens, the entire demography of Assam will change irreparably. Gogoi accused the BJP-led government for
garnering votes in the forth coming Lok Sabha polls by bringing in three sensitive
issues one after another. “Bill. Committee on Claused of Assam Accord and another committee on Scheduled Tribe (ST) status were brought at this time only for polarising the society on communal lines for the votes. That is why we all should resist it.We will shed our blood, but will not allow the Bill to pass. We will do everything possible to stop it.’’ he said.The Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8. provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Pars is from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document.A large section of people and organisations in the northeast
have opposed the bill saying it would nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985.
which fixed March 24.1971. as the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants irrespective of religion.
3. Navy divers find skeletons, not miners
SHILLONG: With more than a month gone in fruitless search, nobody honestly hoped
to see them alive. However, Navy divers and remote-controlled underwater vehicles have at last spotted some skeletons while looking for 15 men trapped in a rat-hole mine at Khloo Ryngksan in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district.
Senior officials, who didn’t want to be named, said high Sulphur content in the mines
may have led to speedy decomposition of bodies. Forensic experts, likely to reach on Thursday evening, will conduct DNA tests to identify and match the skeletal remains.
Rescue efforts involving local workers, NDRFand the Navy and equipment flown in from
outside die state are under way at the illegal mine, which got flooded on December 13. trapping the miners.Earlier in the morning, the remotely operated vehicles (ROV) spotted a body, which is yet to be taken out. “Yes. the Navy-operated ROV has found a body," said S.S. Syiemlieh. additional deputy commissioner, East Jaintia Hills.Confirming the find, the Navy tweeted. "The depth is 160 feet (and not 60 feet) and the body has been pulled up to the mouth of the rat-hole mine and shall be extracted out of the mine under the supervision of doctors. "At least 200 rescuers from the Navy. NDRF. the Odisha
Fire Service, the State Disaster Response team, the suite’s Fire Service and others from CIL and KBL are involved in the multi-agency rescue bid.
The Supreme Court last week pulled up the Meghalaya government for its failure to act against illegal miners while saying that rescue efforts must continue.The top court asked the Centre and the state to take help of experts and continue efforts to rescue the miners. ‘‘Carry on with your rescue efforts, what if all or at least some are still
alive? Miracles do happen," a Bench headed by Justice A.K. Sikri said.
4.Duo held with 42 ATM cards in Cachar
SILCHAR: Sonai Police arrested two thieves identified as Mithun Mazumdar (25) and Sanjib Paswan (25) and recovered 42 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and cash amounting to Rs 16,000. from inside an ATM counter at Nutanbazar in Cachar district on Wednesday evening. “The duo was spotted by the police inside the ATM counter and their body language seemed suspicious. On being searched, a total of 42 ATM cards of various banks, electronic gadgets and two registers containing bank account numbers and pin codes were recovered,” said a police source. Mithun learnt the techniques of stealing money from a customer who came regularly to a bar at Malad in Mumbai, where he worked.
5. Coal-laden trucks seized in Garo Hills
WILLIAMNAGAR: Joint operation teams comprising police officials from East Garo Hills in
Meghalaya, seized several coal-laden trucks which were transporting huge amount of coal illegally to other parts of the region on Thursday. It is to be mentioned that in the
wake of prohibition of coal mining in the state by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court’s order, East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Swapnil Tembe, had formed the joint operation teams in the district to check illegal coal mining, transportation of extracted coal without proper transit challans, and the like.
6.Filmmaker Rima Das feted, opposes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
NEW DELHI: Assamese filmmaker Rima Das of the ‘Village Rockstar’ fame added one more feather to her cap—Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) honoured her with ‘Northeast
Exclusive Award’ at a glittering programme in Delhi on Thursday. Das received the award from Assam Governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi. She dedicated this award to Rupkuwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala as January 17 is observed as'Silpi Divas.’On the sidelines of this programme. Das also shared her views on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. “The ongoing debate on citizenship bill has rattled the entire state. Like others, I am also opposing this bill. This bill is against the spirit of the Indian constitution. I would like to appeal to the government to withdraw this bill because if this passed, the future of Assam will be in jeopardy,” Das observed.
