1 killed, 2 hurt in violence on last day of nominations

Agencies Kolkata

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win more than 350 seats in next year’s Lok Sabha elections and it is people’s wish that Narendra Modi take oath as the prime minister for the third time, said Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday in Pune. Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of a press conference on ‘Nine Years of Modi’, Maurya said, “It is my wish as a soldier of BJP as well as of all the citizens of India that with more than 350 Lok Sabha MPs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi take oath for the third time.” the BJP MPs to get associated with various programmes and campaigns that are proposed to be organised in Ayodhya in the coming days.

He also described Ayodhya as a district that was not only heading towards the ‘Ram Rajya’ that once prevailed during the Treta Yug but also tended to inspire the entire country under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One person was killed and two others were severely injured in a fierce gun-battle between two groups at Chopra in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal on Thursday afternoon. Three persons were allegedly shot at in North Dinajpur when they were on their way to file nominations for the panchayat polls.

An All India Secular Front (AISF) candidate, Mohammad Mohiuddin Molla, was shot dead in South 24 Parganas district when he arrived at the block development office to file his nomination for the Panchayat polls. This was the second death on the same day over nomination-related violence. Earlier on Tuesday, CPI-M activist Mansur Ali was killed in cross-firing at Chopra in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district.

Violent clashes erupt in Bhangar during filing of nominations for Panchayat elections, in Kolkata on Thursday. ANI

Violence erupted at the Sainthia’s Block Development Office (BDO) in Birbhum’s Ahmadpur on Thursday, the last day to file nominations for the panchayat polls scheduled to be held on July 8. The visuals showed crude bombs were also hurled in the area. West Bengal is witnessing violence and clashes in certain parts of the state during the filing of nomination papers for panchayat polls.

ble of the Constitution.

Article 44 of the Constitution, part of Directive Principle of State Policy, provides that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a UCC throughout India.

The Centre has said in the affidavit that the expression “Uniform Civil Code” denotes the field of personal law relating to marriage, divorce, maintenance, custody and guardianship of children, inheritance and succession and adoption.

“This provision (Article 44) is provided to effect integration of India by bringing communities on the common platform on matters which are at present governed by diverse personal laws. This Article is based on the concept that in matters of inheritance, right to property, maintenance and succession, there will be a common law. Article 44 divests religion from social relations and personal law,” the affidavit has said.

PTI Panaji

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Thursday that longer and in-depth discussions in assemblies and Parliament lead to better legislations.

He was addressing an event on Vikasit Bharat 2047’ in the Goa Assembly. Opposition parties, however, skipped the event, with the Congress questioning why Birla was not giving a chance to party leader Rahul Gandhi to represent himself over his disqualification in a defamation case.

“It is always better that laws are passed after extensive and proper debates,” Birla told MLAs from Goa. He stressed that the debates in assemblies and Parliament

PTI

New Delhi

Their collective creative effort is in jeopardy and their names should be dropped from textbooks, 33 academicians have told the NCERT. The academicians were part of the Textbook Development Committee (TDC) of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The signatories to a letter sent to NCERT include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, a former JNU professor who currently serves as the vice dean at the National University, should be non-political and unbiased. “At times, I feel that in the legislative

Singapore, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a former vicechancellor of the Ashoka University, Rajeev Bhargava, a former director of CSDS, Niraja Gopal Jayal, a former JNU professor, Nivedita Menon, a JNU professor, Vipul Mudgal, the head of civil society watchdog Common Cause, KC Suri, a former professor at Hyderabad University, now associated with Gitam University.

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to clarify itself on the deployment of central forces in the panchayat elections. A petition was filed, seeking for a direction to the State Election Commission to implement the orders of the high court on PILs seeking deployment of central forces for free and fair panchayat elections in the state.

assemblies, rather than discussing people’s issues and finding the solution, there is a tendency to oppose everything,” he said.

Birla said agreement and disagreement are the essence of India’s democracy. “It is the speciality of our democracy that we can criticise the policies of the government,” he said, appealing to the elected members to ensure that discussions on the floor of the House represent the aspiration of the people. While passing laws, Birla said, there should be detailed and in-depth discussions and debates.

Agencies

Bengaluru

The Congress govt led by Siddaramaiah has decided to scrap the law against religious conversion — meeting its promise of reviewing and if necessary, scrapping all the laws made by the previous BJP govt in Karnataka. The changes approved by the state cabinet on Thursday also included history syllabus in schools and even a law on agricultural markets, said HK Patil, the state’s Law minister, after the cabinet meeting. The law against religious conversion through coercion, misrepresentation, or allurement, was adopted by many BJP-ruled states.

ANI Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday took a jibe at Former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh for his tweet related to Sanatan Dharma and definition of Jihad.

“How innocently Singh has said, and what a definition he has given. Has Digvijaya Singh ever explained this to PFI (Popular Front of India) and SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India)? Insulting Sanatan has become a habit of Digvijaya Singh,” Mishra told reporters.

Notably in a series of tweets, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday morning tagged RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).