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The music was vastly different from those of the previous performances that evening at the CIT Road ground in Calcutta. It was a song that re-energised the audience at the Carnival Against Fascism in January, which turned the protests against the new set of citizenship rules into a celebration of democracy and free speech. A music band that evening sang a Sylheti song – it took a while for the eager, young attendees to swing to the lyrics that sounded familiar and yet so alien. In the audience, I saw filmmaker Ronny Sen, who has roots in Silchar, run to the front of the stage. Whale In The Pond, a young band comprising of Sourjyo, Shireen and Deep took the stage towards the end of a long evening and turned the spotlight to the arrival of a fast train and a 1961 incident in Assam’s Barak Valley region. Let’s go back to that story. From the mid-1960s, Bengalis in Assam had risen in protest against the imposition of Assamese as the only official language of the state. For most Bengalis,

Kochi : P Parameswaran, one of the senior-most 'pracharaks' of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and former leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, passed away in the early hours of Sunday, Sangh Parivar sources said. He was 91. The founder director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram took his last breath at 12.10 am while undergoing Ayurvedic treatment at Ottappalam in Kerala's Palakkad district, according to the sources. Parameswaran, who had worked with leaders like Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani during the Jana Sangh days, was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award in 2018 and Padma Shri in 2004. Fondly called as Parameswar ji by Sangh Parivar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Parameswaran was a prolific writer, poet, researcher and a widely-respected RSS ideologue. He was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh's secretary (1967 1971) and vice president (1971 1977), as well as the director of t

Srinagar : The police have registered a case against banned JKLF for allegedly attempting to incite violence and disturb law and order situation in Kashmir. "Police has taken cognizance of the activities of banned organisation JKLF for their attempts to incite violence and disturb law and order situation in the Valley," a police spokesman said. He said the affiliates of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in the Valley have circulated statements calling for violence in the forthcoming days and are propagating the messages and activities of an unlawful organisation. "Such activities deteriorate the law and order situation and lead to violence. Accordingly, police have registered a case under relevant sections at Kothibagh Police Station," he added. The spokesman said further investigation into the matter is on. The JKLF had called for a strike on 9 February and 11 February to mark the death anniversaries of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and JKLF fo

New Delhi: A 60-year-old man died due to cardiac arrest outside a polling booth in Delhi's Hari Nagar area on Saturday, police said. The deceased has been identified by the police as Nitin, a resident of Hari Nagar. According to the officials, at about 10 am, the man fell unconscious outside booth number 127. He was taken to DDU hospital but was declared brought dead. "The cause of death is suspected to be cardiac arrest", the hospital said. On Saturday, the National Capital recorded 61.46 percent voter turnout, down from 67.47 percent in 2015 Assembly election. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/39nLw5k Press Trust of India

Kolkata : The West Bengal CID grilled BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ranaghat constituency Jagannath Sarkar in connection with its ongoing investigation into the killing of Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas, sources said. The BJP leader was grilled for nearly four hours on Saturday at Bhabani Bhaban, the CID headquarters in the city, they said. In January, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court granted Sarkar an interim protection from arrest till 28 February. The high court, however, while hearing his anticipatory bail plea, directed Sarkar to cooperate with the CID in its probe into the murder of Biswas. Satyajit Biswas, who was a TMC MLA from Krishnaganj Assembly Constituency in West Bengal's Nadia district, was shot dead during a cultural programme there in February last year. The family members of Biswas had lodged complaint against 43 people, including BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Jagannath Sarkar. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/37hkN96 Press Trust of

Pune : A 26-year-old man from Pune in Maharashtra, who recently returned from Philippines via Hong Kong and Singapore, was on Saturday evening admitted in the quarantine facility for suspected novel Coronavirus infection. The man developed symptoms like bodyache and weakness on 7 February, an official of the civic-run Naidu Hospital informed. "New admission after 7:00 pm. 26/m Pune resident who had stayed in Philippines for 28 days and transit at Hong Kong and Singapore before his arrival in India on 2/2/2020," reads a message sent to PTI by the official. Since 18 January, a total of 35 patients were admitted to isolation wards at hospitals in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar and a few other cities. Samples of 30 of these patients tested negative for the virus, while reports of five others were yet to be received from Pune-based National Institute of Virology, an official statement had said. Of the total 18,084 passengers screened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Internation

Islamabad: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said the Kashmir issue would continue to remain the "cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy". Chairing a meeting in Islamabad with the leaders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as a follow-up to Prime Minister Imran Khan's address to the PoK's Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad on 5 February, Qureshi said that a lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute was essential for durable peace and stability in South Asia region. "Kashmir would continue to remain the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy," Qureshi was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Pakistan's Foreign Ministry (FO). During the meeting, which was also attended by PoK leader Raja Farooq Haider Khan, the participants called for the complete removal of lockdown on communication and media in the Valley. India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August, 2019 that granted special status to

The words of the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, like the National Anthem, come easily to our lips. “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, and to secure to all its citizens: Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.” And yet, glibly though we pronounce these words, few among us have dwelt on and fully understood their meaning. A lecture series organised by the IIT-Bombay for Justice group between 16-26 January 2020 attempts to address just this gap. Even as the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India has shown up the faul

This story is part of a series on the  everyday heroes of rural Maharashtra . *** Ever since the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019, 73-year-old Narayan Gaikwad, a resident of Jambhali village in the Shirol taluka of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, has been on the move. He travels through villages in the region, spending up to four hours a day talking to farmers and agricultural labourers about the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC). “I’m a part-time farmer and full-time social worker,” Gaikwad says. The modest statement doesn’t tell the full story of Gaikwad’s days, which begin at 6 am, comprise seven hours of labour in the fields, and then a motorcycle ride to the neighbouring villages, for spreading awareness about government policies and the rights of the marginalised. In his signature white kurta-pyjama and Gandhi cap, Gaikwad’s is a familiar figure in the area. “Someone has to do the job of making people aware,” he sh

Pune : A 26-year-old man from Pune in Maharashtra, who recently returned from Philippines via Hong Kong and Singapore, was on Saturday evening admitted in the quarantine facility for suspected novel Coronavirus infection. Indian nationals who were airlifted from China's Wuhan undergo tests inside a quarantine facility set by up ITBP at Chhawla area of New Delhi. PTI The man developed symptoms like bodyache and weakness on 7 February, an official of the civic-run Naidu Hospital informed. "New admission after 7:00 pm. 26/m Pune resident who had stayed in Philippines for 28 days and transit at Hong Kong and Singapore before his arrival in India on 2/2/2020," reads a message sent to PTI by the official. Since 18 January, a total of 35 patients were admitted to isolation wards at hospitals in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar and a few other cities. Samples of 30 of these patients tested negative for the virus, while reports of five others were yet to be received from Pune-base

Kolkata : Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said the south and northeast of India will become "irrelevant" in comparison to the north, as the national narrative is increasingly becoming a Hindi-speaking one. File photo of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. PTI Tharoor, speaking at the Kolkata Literature Festival, said the idiom of the Indian narrative has "overwhemingly" moved to the north, "the so-called BIMARU states such as Bihar, MP, UP, moving from places like Bengal or Kerala". "The south and northeast will become irrelevant as compared to the north," he said. Referring to a "trivial fact," Tharoor said in Parliament, BJP ministers reply in Hindi to questions asked in English, as "this is their audience". "To create a primordially Hindu rashtra is a fundamental assault on the very basis of nationhood..." the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said during a session on 'Disorder, Darkness and the Tharo

Palghar : A case has been registered against owners of 17 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from where child pornographic videos were allegedly uploaded on a popular social media platform in Maharashtra's Palghar district between 23 April and 8 May last year, police said on Saturday. Representational image. Reuters Virar police registered the case under the section 67B of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, on the complaint forwarded by Facebook- the American social media and technology company- said Palghar Police PRO Hemant Katkar. "Child pornographic videos were posted on Facebook accounts of 17 IP addresses from the Vasai-Virar belt in Palghar district during 23 April and 8 May, 2019. The case under IT Act was registered on the complaint of Facebook," he said. The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. The IP Address ownership typically tells the name of the original organisatio

The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights criticised the Bidar district police for violating rules, including the norms of the Juvenile Justice Act, while questioning students in a sedition case against a school over an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) play. Asking the Bidar Police officials to stop questioning the schoolchildren, the Karnataka child rights body chairman Dr Antony Sebastian, in a letter to the superintendent of police and the deputy commissioner, stated that an "atmosphere of fear" was created at the Shaheen Urdu Medium Primary School due to the questioning of young students, including a nine-year-old. The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSPCR) noted that the police authorities had flouted the norms by sending the nine-year-old to be looked after by a neighbour without informing the local child welfare committee following the arrest of the child's single mother along with the school’s headmistress on 30

The Mumbai Police on Saturday served notices under Section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to those holding a protest against the amended citizenship law at Nagpada. The police served notices to several protesters, including women, under the provision which empowers police to take action to prevent a crime. The protesters also alleged that they were being denied access to lawyers and were made to sign the notices without legal consultations,  sources told Firstpost . A women's protest, on the lines of the ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, is underway on Morland Road since Republic Day against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protest has been termed as Mumbai Bagh. The notice states that the sit-in is being carried out without the requisite permission from the police and adds that the police have tried to warned the protesters verbally. However, the protesters  willfully ignored the verbal warnings and continued

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has slapped the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar, officials said on Saturday. File image of Naeem Akhtar. Facebook/Naeem Akhtar Akhtar became the sixth mainstream leader in Kashmir to be booked under the controversial PSA, which was enacted in 1978 to deal with rampant timber smuggling. While former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was booked under the PSA in September last year, two other former chief ministers — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti— were booked under the stringent law on Thursday. National Conference (NC) general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar and PDP leader Sarah Madni have also been detained under the PSA. Several mainstream politicians were taken into preventive custody ahead of the Centre's announcement on abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August last year. Over 20 leaders have either been released or shifted to their residences and put under

Guwahati: A magnitude-5 earthquake struck Assam and its neighbouring areas on Saturday evening, but there was no immediate report of any casualty or damage to property, police said. The epicentre of the quake was 16 km east of Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon district, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake also jolted a few districts of north Bengal, including Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar, sources said. The tremors were felt around 6 pm from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2tJLlC6 Press Trust of India

At least two people died in Punjab's Tarn Taran after firecrackers, being carried in a tractor trolley, exploded during a ' nagar kirtan ' (religious procession) near Pahu village. The explosion took place when sparks from the crackers landed on a tractor-trolley where the fireworks were stacked, people at the procession said. "Two people were killed and 11 injured in the explosion," Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dhruv Dahiya said. Soon after the incident, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot put out a statement on Twitter saying — Deeply saddened to know many people have lost lives in a firecracker explosion near a village in #Tarntaran district, #Punjab . My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayers for speedy recovery of those injured. — Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) February 8, 2020 With inputs from PTI from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2SaFSNY FP Staff

New Delhi : India on Saturday hoped that the Sri Lankan government will realise the aspirations of the Tamil community in the island nation as the issue figured prominently in wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa. In their talks, the two prime ministers deliberated on the entire expanse of bilateral ties and resolved to further deepen anti-terror cooperation and boost trade and investment ties. Rajapaksa's visit in Delhi assumed significance as his tenure as Sri Lanka's president from 2005 to 2016 saw expansion of China's footprints in the Indian Ocean island nation, triggering concerns in India. "Stability, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka is in India's interest, but also in the interest of the entire Indian Ocean Region," Modi said in his media statement. He said India has been a "trusted partner" in Sri Lanka's development and will continue to assist the country in it

Chandigarh: Several people are feared trapped in a three-storey building that collapsed in Punjab's Mohali district on Saturday, police said. The building, located on the Kharar-Landran road, came down when a JCB machine was digging its basement, they said. Several people are feared trapped under the debris, police said, adding that a rescue operation is underway. Two persons were rescued and four-five are still feared trapped under the debris, police said. "The commercial building collapsed after a JCB machine was digging an adjoining plot for construction of a basement," Kharar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Himanshu Jain said. Two persons, including the JCB machine operator, trapped under the debris are in touch with the rescue workers through mobile phones, he said. A team of the National Disaster Response Force has reached the site, Jain said, adding a rescue operation is underway. Senior officials of the district administration and police have also reached the spot

The Uber driver who took 23-year-old poet, Bappadittya Sarkar, to a Mumbai police station after he overheard the poet's phone conservation about anti-CAA protest was suspended for 72-hours, reports have confirmed.  While Uber suspended this account, Mumbai BJP president MP Lodha on Saturday felicitated the driver for reporting the poet to the cops. The cab aggregator temporarily blocked the account of the driver, Rohit Singh, while it investigates the incident further. Sarkar told  The Indian Express , “They (Uber) called me today and said the driver partner’s account has been temporarily barred. They are also waiving off the charge that was levied for the trip.” “Your safety is something we take seriously and we would not want you to pay for the inconvenience caused,” Uber told the poet. Meanwhile, a BJP MLA MP Lodha, conferred "Alert Citizenship Award" on Gaur at the Santacruz police station on Saturday. Lodha also accused the poet-activist of hatching an "anti

When 23-year-old poet from Jaipur Bappadittya Sarkar booked a cab at 10.40 pm on 5 February after a long, tiring day at an anti-CAA protest in Mumbai, little did he know that he would embark on a horrific journey back home. Soon after starting his trip on an Uber cab, while speaking to one of his friends over the phone, Sarkar was turned in to the cops by the cab driver over suspicions of him being a "communist" and indulging in anti-national activities. Bappaditya Sarkar was in Mumbai on an invitation to read his poetry at the Kala Ghoda festival. On Wednesday, late at night, after taking part in anti-CAA protests at Mumbai's Nagpada area (which has lately been christened ‘Mumbai Bagh’, inspired by Delhi's now-iconic protest venue, Shaheen Bagh), Sarkar booked an Uber cab from Juhu's Silver Beach to his accommodation in Kurla. "As I got in, I thought of calling a friend who had called me earlier in the day, but I couldn't talk to him because I was in

Thane : A fire broke out in a 21-storey building at Seawoods in Navi Mumbai on Saturday morning, an official said. Navi Mumbai: Fire fighting operation underway at high-rise apartment building at Sector 44 Nerul Seawoods. #Maharashtra https://t.co/F4hAHKWJY0 pic.twitter.com/bKpCPlzMQD — ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2020 The blaze broke out at 6.30 am on the 20th floor and spread to the top floor of the high-rise located on Palm Beach Road, chief of Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), Santosh Kadam, said. At least six fire engines from Nerul, CBD Belapur and Vashi fire stations are trying to douse the flames, he said. "No casualty has been reported so far and the cause of the fire is being ascertained," Kadam said. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2UzXJPT Press Trust of India

The words of the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, like the National Anthem, come easily to our lips. “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, and to secure to all its citizens: Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.” And yet, glibly though we pronounce these words, few among us have dwelt on and fully understood their meaning. A lecture series organised by the IIT-Bombay for Justice group between 16-26 January 2020 attempts to address just this gap. Even as the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India has shown up the faul

Jaipur : A 17-year-old Kashmiri boy, who worked at a catering firm in Jaipur, died after allegedly being beaten by his colleague over a petty issue, police said on Friday. An investigation into the incident was launched and the accused arrested, the police said. Representational image. Reuters Basit, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara, was thrashed by the accused, Aditya (24), while they were returning home from a wedding in a pick-up van on Wednesday night, said Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Srivastava. An argument broke out between the two after Aditya stopped Basit from tapping the windowpane of the vehicle. Aditya then thrashed Basit but other employees intervened and the two returned to their seats, the officer said. Basit reached his rented accommodation and complained of vomiting and his friends took him to SMS hospital in the morning, the commissioner said. Doctors performed surgery to treat Basit, but he showed no signs of improvement and died on Thursday

Mumbai: A case has been registered against the organisers and 300 women who are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Nagpada in central Mumbai for the past two weeks, an official said. A complaint was filed on Friday evening at the Nagpada police station by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) assistant commissioner. "The complaint stated that the civic body was not able to carry out construction work on the Morland Road as the protesters had set up a stage and put chairs on the road, and also obstructed traffic movement in the area," an official said. The police registered a case under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as section 313, 314 of the BMC Act, the official said. Hundreds of women have participated in the protest on Morland Road at Nagpada since Republic Day against the amended citizen

Kochi: Fifteen students from Kerala who were stranded in Hubei province of China following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus have landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited and undergone a thermal screening for the infection, airport officials said on Saturday. "The students travelled to Bangkok from Kunming Airport and then took an Air Asia flight to reach Kochi," they said. When the flight reached Kochi at 11 pm on Friday, they were directly taken to the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital in five sterilised ambulances. The students have been admitted to an isolation ward of the hospital, the officials said. Relatives of the students had reached the airport but, they were not allowed to meet them. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/31BvSQO Press Trust of India

Delhi Metro services started at 4 am on all lines on Saturday to facilitate the polling personnel and voters to reach their destinations on time in the poll-bound state. Usually, the metro starts running from 5.30 am on all the routes. "In order to facilitate the polling personnel and others to reach their destinations on time, Delhi Metro services will begin at 4:00 am, on 8 February 2020," Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted. Election Update In order to facilitate the polling personnel and others to reach their destinations on time, Delhi Metro services will begin at 4:00 AM on 8 February 2020. pic.twitter.com/hL5TYrcw2g — Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) February 6, 2020 The trains functioned at a frequency of 30 minutes on all the lines till 6 am. Post that, the metro services will resume the normal timetable through the day on all lines, DMRC said in a press release. Meanwhile, SpiceJet announced to offer "hundreds" of "free&q

New Delhi : A 26-year-old woman sub-inspector of the Delhi Police was shot dead near Rohini East Metro station on Friday night, officials said. The Sub-Inspector (SI), Preeti Ahlawat, was posted in Patparganj Industrial Area Police Station, police said. A call about the incident was received around 9.30 pm, they said, adding she received gunshot wounds on her head. "We have identified the suspects and CCTV footage of the area has been collected," said SD Mishra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Rohini). Three empty cartridges were found from the spot, the officer said, adding a case has been registered and a probe is on. Personal enmity is suspected to be the reason behind the killing, the officer said. Ahlawat joined the Delhi Police in 2018. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/374dMYR Press Trust of India

Delhi Assembly Election 2020: Delhi will vote for a new Assembly on 8 February (Saturday), with 668 candidates in fray for the 70 seats that are up for grabs. The election process officially begins at 7 am on Saturday, and polling concludes at 6 pm the same day. Over the years, the Election Commission has made several arrangements to simplify the polling process for voters. It also runs various awareness programmes to educate voters about the due diligence and requirements. However, the fact the polling process is completely electronic and the sheer confusion over division of districts into Assembly segments and various polling booths can be daunting for first-time voters. Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020  So,  Firstpost came up with a series of articles to simplify the process and aid citizens in exercising their democratic right. In this article, we will discuss in detail the process to find your name in the list of voters and how to locate

Delhi Assembly Election 2020 Voting Today: Voting for the Delhi Assembly election 2020 will begin at 7 am on Saturday (8 February), with the counting of votes and declaration of results scheduled for 11 February. There are 1,46,92,136 people who are eligible to vote. Before exercising their franchise, voters must check if their names have appeared in the voters' list, and download the voter slip, which needs to be presented along with a photo identity card at the polling station to vote in the upcoming election. Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020  The Election Commission offers voters the facility to check their name on the electoral roll and download their photo voter slip from the portal nvsp.in . Every voter is required to carry their photo voter slip along with their voter identification card (also known as Electors Photo Identity Card or EPIC or Voter's ID) that is issued by the Election Commission of India (EC) or other approved pho

Mumbai : A poet-activist, who was taken to a Mumbai police station by his cab driver after the latter overheard his phone conservation about anti-CAA protest, on Friday said that the driver's aggressive behaviour and violent language reflected the atmosphere prevailing in the country. Representational image. Reuters The 23-year-old poet, Bappadittya Sarkar, also said that despite the ordeal he faced due to the Uber driver's act, he will not lodge a complaint against him as it may ruin his career and life. Sarkar, a resident of Jaipur, who had arrived in Mumbai on 3 February for a poetry reading session at the Kala Ghoda Festival, had taken part in the ongoing anti-CAA-NRC protest at Nagpada in Mumbai. He took the Uber cab from Juhu to Kurla around 10.30 pm on Wednesday. During the journey, Sarkar was discussing with his friend on mobile phone people's discomfort with 'Laal Salaam' slogan at Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi. The driver, who was listening, stopp

Mumbai: A 22-year-old student on Friday approached Bombay High Court seeking pre-arrest bail in a sedition case lodged against them (their preferred pronoun) for allegedly shouting a slogan in support of jailed JNU student Sharjeel Imam at a LGBTQ event. Chudawala, who identifies themselves as ‘Kris’, approached the high court on Friday after a sessions court rejected their anticipatory bail plea on 5 February. Representational image. AFP Chudawala's lawyer, Vijay Hiremath, mentioned the plea before Justice SK Shinde who posted it for hearing on 11 February. The student was not granted interim protection from arrest by the sessions court to enable them to approach the high court. Chudawala is a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences in the city. According to police, during a rally of the LGBTQ community at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai last week, Chudawala shouted the slogan "Sharjeel tere sapno ko hum manzil tak pahuchaenge" (Sharjeel, we will realise your d

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University for allegedly sexually harassing a female student inside the varsity campus, officials said on Thursday. The accused has been identified as Raghvendra Mishra. A former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member, Mishra fought the last JNU Students' Union elections as an independent. The ABVP said Mishra has never been a member of the outfit and accused the Left student bodies of "spreading misinformation". In fact, the RSS affiliate claimed Mishra had contested against its candidate during the last JNU Students' Union elections. @abvpjnu condemns allegations laid upon by linking it to a JNU student on whom allegations of sexual harassment have been leveled.The said student has fought against ABVP in last JNUSU elections.We demand a thorough inquiry and if guilty the accused should be punished as per law pic.twitter.com/ACA9MBdSUF — ABVP JNU (@abvpjnu) February 6, 2020

The words of the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, like the National Anthem, come easily to our lips. “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, and to secure to all its citizens: Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.” And yet, glibly though we pronounce these words, few among us have dwelt on and fully understood their meaning. A lecture series organised by the IIT-Bombay for Justice group between 16-26 January 2020 attempts to address just this gap. Even as the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India has shown up the faul