When around two months back farmers began indefinite blocking of railways in protest against central agricultural laws it was breakdown of law and order and a fit case for imposition of President’s Rule. Central Government did not act. Farmers said they will allow goods trains, will not allow passenger trains. Railway Ministry said either both…
Bihar Elections 2020
Bihar Elections are over. NDA headed by Nitish Kumar is back in power. Grand Alliance did not win enough seats to come to power. RJD emerged as the largest party with 75 seats. Congress got 19, CPI 12, CPI (M) 2, CPI (M-L) (L) 2, GA total 110 seats. BJP got 74, JD(U) 43, HAM…
Parliament House 2020
There is a plan to have a new Parliament House. The construction is set to begin in December this year and is expected to be completed by October 2022. Estimated cost is 971 crore rupees.
The plan is to have a triangular building with seats for 888 Lok Sabha members and 384 Rajya Sabha members besides Constitution Hall, committee rooms, offices, dining areas, library and so on.
New Parliament House should be rectangular.
As per 2011 census India’s population was 121 crores. Now it must be some crores more than that. Next year we have census. India’s population is growing and is set to grow for some years though total fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. There should be at least one representative for a million people in Lok Sabha. India’s population is expected to stabilise in 2045. Considering these factors Lok Sabha Hall should have seats for at least 1,600 members.
Great Barrington Declaration
On 4/10/2020 Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor at Harvard University, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, authored and signed a declaration in Great Barrington, USA, known as the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD). These three doctors are epidemiologists with other qualifications. It has 42 medical and public health scientists and medical practitioners as co-signers. Many of them are epidemiologists and some are doctors in other fields. The declaration can be read and signed in many languages, most of them European. Urdu is the only Indian language in the list.
The doctors recommend Focused Protection.
No Right to Protest
There is no right to protest.
Article 19 of the Constitution under Right to Freedom mentions the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. This is not the right to protest but is interpreted as the right to protest.
On 7/10/2020 Supreme Court gave its judgment in Civil Appeal No. 3280 of 2020, Amit Sahni versus Commissioner of Police and & Ors case. The bench consisted of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose, and Krishna Murari.
The case was about blocking of Shaheen Bagh road to public traffic from 15/12/2019 onwards by people protesting against Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. The petitioner had filed Writ Petition (Civil) No. 429/2020 on 14/1/2020 at Delhi High Court to clear the encroachment. Delhi High Court on the same day disposed of the petition directing the respondent authorities to look into the grievances of the petitioner and at the same time keep in mind larger public interest and maintenance of law and order. Nothing changed. The petitioner moved Supreme Court.
Kashmiris and India
Farooq Abdullah in an interview to Karan Thapar on The Wire on 23/9/2020 said Kashmiris do not feel Indian. They prefer Chinese rule. He wants restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and statehood. Kashmiris are angry about new domicile law which they think is intended to create Hindu majority in Kashmir. Kashmiris are treated like…
Corona Parliament
Parliament is in session. Rajya Sabha meets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lok Sabha meets from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Members wear masks and observe social distancing. As per Article 85 of the Constitution six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first…
Prashant Bhushan Guilty
On 14/8/2020 Supreme Court declared Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his two tweets; first about CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde and second about last 4 CJIs. The Bench consisted of Justices Arun Mishra, Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Krishna Murari. First tweet was on 29/6/2020. “CJI rides a 50 Lakh motorcycle belonging to a…
Map Wars
On 4/8/2020 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan released a new map that showed Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Sir Creek and Junagadh as Pakistani territories. India did not deal suitably with Nepal when it changed its map to include Indian territory. Now Pakistan has done the same. The map mentions Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh under…
Ministry of Education
The old order changes giving place to a new one. The more things change the more they remain the same. What is new today becomes old tomorrow. What is old today becomes new tomorrow. Ministry of Education is back. Ministry of Human Resource Development is gone. Web site name has to change. At present it…