News18.com Daybreak | Farmers' Fury in Mumbai; SC's Norms for 'Living Will' and Other Stories You May Have Missed
In case you missed it
In 2019, agriculture distress could be the nemesis of the BJP government at the Centre and in several other states, including Maharashtra.
Around 30,000 farmers, led by the All India Kisan Sabha, descended on Mumbai on Sunday afternoon to protest against the failure of the BJP-led government to address agrarian distress. The farmers will stage a protest outside the State Assembly on Monday, demanding fair remuneration and loan waiver.
As the sea of red neared Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appointed minister Girish Mahajan as the government’s representative to talk to the leaders of the march when they reach Vikhroli.
A massive forest fire broke out suddenly in a hill in Tamil Nadu on Sunday trapping 36 trekkers, most of them women, with 15 being rescued till late last night.
More than 1,700 sitting MPs and MLAs are facing trials in 3,045 criminal cases pending across the country, the Centre has told the Supreme Court. Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states with the highest number of legislators standing trials, followed by Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and West Bengal.
Bhaiyyaji Joshi was chosen as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's General Secretary or Sarkaryavah for a record fourth term. The septuagenarian, known to share an extremely close rapport with Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat, was unanimously chosen by the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, as per the RSS custom.
Sitting with his aunt in the spectacular Ujayanta Palace, the 40-year-old Tripura Congress president just received a ‘gift’ in disguise. Not only did his aunt, senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje, paid him a visit but the newly elected BJP government in state fulfilled his long-standing dream. After its first cabinet meeting on Saturday, the BJP-IPFT government announced that Agartala airport will be named after the last reigning king of Tripura, Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.
A life-size statue of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a prominent poet during the 19th century Bengal renaissance, was found defaced in Raniganj of West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, police and eye-witnesses said.
"Punish A Muslim Day" letters encouraging torture, acid attacks, arson of mosques and assault are being sent to families in East London, according to reports. The letter details a point system for each action and a reward. For example, pulling a Muslim women's hijab is 25 points, throwing acid is 50 points and burning or bombing a mosque is a whole 1,000 points.
While the horrific incident of rape and assault on 16 December 2012 in the national capital shook the entire country, multiple Dalit activists and social workers say that the lower caste women in India face multiple ‘Nirbhaya’ like situations, every day. Here are their stories.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has claimed to have extended its presence to 95% of India’s geography, more than the reach of the All India Radio which covers 92% of the country’s landmass.
A mother of three who was divorced twice through instant triple talaq has approached the Supreme Court to declare polygamy and Nikah Halala as unconstitutional among Muslims. One of the earlier such pleas heard and decided by the court was that of Shayara Bano who had approached the apex court to declare triple talaq as a violation of gender justice. A five-judge bench had declared instant talaq to be an un-Islamic practice and struck it down.
In election-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has fielded three Kannadigas in the Rajya Sabha polls by saying no to party high command suggested outsiders: Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi.
The Election Commission of India has filed an application in the Supreme Court, seeking that voter identification cards linking with Aadhaar be made mandatory. This a reversal from the institution’s earlier stand in the court where it supported the position that the Aadhaar linking process should be voluntary.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi opened up on the 1991 assassination of his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, saying he and his sister had "completely forgiven" his assassins. "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear,” he said.
Agree or disagree?
While the Devendra Fadnavis government claims it has delivered on its loan waiver promise and is doing more than what previous governments did for agriculture, why are farmers in Maharashtra angry? Ravaged fields, sluggish delivery of loan waiver, and the Economic Survey yield some answers. Vidarbha and Marathwada have seen an unprecedented devastation of cotton crop due to pink-worm attack — government’s estimates district to district hover between 30% and 70%. Like the rest of India, Maharashtra’s farm woes that are pushing farmers’ distress are structural and they need more than band-aids.
Much like what happens in Tamil cinema, some young men feel that they are well within their rights to expect reciprocal love from a girl. When this does not happen, the boys, like their screen idols, begin to stalk the girls, and when all efforts to win them fail, a knife or a bottle of acid or a can of kerosene becomes a weapon of death and destruction. Gautam Bhaskaran writes on slaying in the time of stalking, and screen heroes playing role models.
Permitting an individual to draft a ‘living will’ specifying that they not be put on life support if they slip into an incurable coma situation in future, and thereby recognizing a patient’s right to deny remaining alive on ventilator or an artificial system, is definitely a decision which makes us eligible to live in progressive society. Many people object to any step towards making living wills or granting permissions for passive euthanasia, expressing fear that it will be misused. It is a fact that there is no law, rule, regulation or provision of law which has never been misused. But if only on the basis of some negativity and fear, we stopped making laws, then social progress will stop. Living life is a very positive concept and every human being is eager to live life at fullest so this fear of misuse is not true and, hence, we must welcome the judgment given by the Supreme Court.
On Reel
India's favourite Bhabhi Ma, Renuka Shahane is making a comeback in Bollywood after 14 years. Here's what happened when News18.com caught up with the cast of 3 Storeys.