QBullet: Sushma Swaraj Passes Away
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1. Sushma Swaraj, BJP Stalwart and Former External Affairs Minister, Dies at 67
Former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who extended a helping hand to many Indians in distress abroad and acquired a reputation as one of the most accessible ministers in the first term of the Narendra Modi government, died suddenly on Tuesday night after a cardiac arrest. She was 67.
Swaraj, who was India’s first full-time woman foreign minister (Indira Gandhi held additional charge of the ministry when she was prime minister) suffered cardiac arrest late in the evening and was immediately taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). She died after efforts to revive her failed.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Also Read : Swaraj – India’s ‘Best-Loved’ Leader Won Hearts Till the Very End
2. Lok Sabha Endorses Centre’s Decisions on Kashmir
The Centre’s decisions setting new terms of engagement with Jammu and Kashmir — by reorganising it as Union Territories, ending its special status under Article 370 and 35 (A) and extending to it all the provisions of the Constitution — were endorsed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a debate that lasted close to seven hours.
The Lok Sabha approved a resolution abrogating special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and a Bill for splitting the State into two Union Territories. The resolution was adopted by the House with 351 members voting in its support and 72 against it, while one member abstained.
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read : LS Nod to Revoking Article 370, Splitting J&K: All That Happened
3. Unnao Rape Case: Delhi Court Seeks Status Report on Victim’s Security
A Delhi court on Tuesday sought a status report from the CBI on steps taken to ensure the security of the Unnao rape victim, her family, and witnesses.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also sought a report on the boarding and lodging arrangements made for the family members accompanying the critically-injured woman, who was shifted to Delhi’s AIIMS Trauma Centre on the orders of the Supreme Court.
During the course of hearing, the judge asked the public prosecutor for CBI, Ashok Bhartendu, “What steps have been taken for witness protection?” Bhartendu said, “We don’t have a mechanism of our own…we are a small organisation.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
Also Read : Unnao Rape Survivor Critical, on Life Support: AIIMS Sources
4. Ayodhya Hearing: Nirmohi Akhara Seeks Control of 2.77-Acre Disputed Land
As day to day hearings on appeals challenging the September 2010 ruling of the Allahabad High Court on the Ayodhya dispute began in the Supreme Court Tuesday, the Nirmohi Akhara, seeking control of the disputed 2.77 acres, stated that Muslims had stopped offering Namaz at the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in 1934, and only Hindus had been allowed to offer prayers there.
The SC had ordered day to day hearing as its efforts to find an amicable solution to the dispute through mediation had failed to make any headway. The day’s proceedings began with the court rejecting a plea by former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya to allow audio recording of the hearing or prepare its transcripts.(Source: The Indian Express)
Also Read : Ayodhya Case: Hindu Party Seeks Control of Entire Land in SC
5. Imran Khan Warns of More Violence in Kashmir
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan criticised India’s decision to end Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and said this would lead to more violence. “They have gone against their Constitution, against the verdict of the Indian Supreme Court, against the verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, against 17 UN resolutions, against UN General Assembly resolutions, and against the Simla Agreement,” he said.
“They want to change the demography of Kashmir by revoking Kashmir’s special status. This is against Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention; this is a war crime. They have violated all international and local laws for their ideology.”
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read : ‘With BJP’s J&K Approach, Another Pulwama Bound to Happen’: Pak PM
6. Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate, Dies at 88
(Photo: AP)
Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, has died following a brief illness, her family said in a statement Tuesday. She was 88.
It is with profound sadness we share that, following a short illness, our adored mother and grandmother, Toni Morrison, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by family and friends," they said.
"Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life," the statement added, describing her as "the consummate writer who treasured the written word."
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Also Read : Nobel Prize-Winning Writer Toni Morrison Passes Away Aged 88
7. We Will Go to Court Against Govt’s Move on J&K: Farooq Abdullah
Comparing the revocation of Article 370 by the Centre as a “body being carved”, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said they will fight and go to court against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision.
In his first remarks since the Union government on Monday revoked provisions of Article 370 to take away the state’s special status, and proposed its bifurcation into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, Abdullah said a “dictatorial” authority has been invoked and not a “democratic” one.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Also Read : J&K Stayed With India Because it Was Secular: Farooq Abdullah
8. Petition Filed in Supreme Court Challenging Revocation of Special Status to J&K
A petition has been moved in the Supreme Court challenging the Presidential notification on the revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. The petitioner Advocate M L Sharma Tuesday claimed that the process adopted is unconstitutional.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday announced that the government had scrapped the special status granted to the state of Jammu and Kashmir by modifying Article 370 of the Constitution. With special provisions gone, Indian laws will now apply to the proposed Union Territories.
(Source: The Indian Express)
Also Read : ‘Aimed at Reducing Regional Disparity’: UAE Backs India on Art 370
9. Pakistan Army: Prepared to ‘Go to Any Extent’ to Help Kashmiris
A day after the government scrapped special status to Jammu and Kashmir by modifying Article 370, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said his troops were “prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfil our obligations to the Kashmiri people”.
In a series of tweets, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said the Army fully supported the Pakistan government’s “rejection of Indian actions” regarding Kashmir.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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