National conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said the Supreme Court’s verdict on Article 370 was a defeat for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said it is a setback but the struggle doesn’t end. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. While speaking to the media on the top court’s verdict, former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it is a defeat for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said this is not a personal loss or a defeat for the National conference, but it is a collective loss. Abdullah added that in pror court judgements by 3-judge benches, the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and permanency of Article 370 was upheld. He said in the past they had convinced the Supreme Court, but this time they could’nt. He said it is a setback but the struggle does’nt end.

When he was asked about Union Home Minister’s claim that Article 370 incentivised terrorism in the valley, Abdullah said in that case terrorism should have started in 1947 and not in 1987. He further raised concerns over the deaths of army officers and police personnel in encounters with militants in the valley.

Omar Abdullah also questioned why the Supreme Court didn’t announce a timeline for statehood as they did for holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir. When Abdullah was asked about the positive changes in the last four years, since the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said the state had seen no economic growth and no inclusivity since August 5. He added other than the slight boost in tourism in some areas, there had been no economic growth since 2019. Omar Abdullah claimed they were put under house arrest by the police before the Supreme Court gave its verdict on pleas challenging article 370.

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The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday sought a timeframe for restoring statehood to Jammu-Kashmir from the Centre. The court was hearing petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370. On Thursday, the central government informed the apex court that it is ready for elections at any time in Jammu and Kashmir. However, it refrained from giving a specific timeframe for restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the government said that the process of updating the voter list is substantially over. He added that the legislative assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir are likely to be carried out after panchayat polls and municipal polls. However, it is for the State Election Commission and the Central Election Commission to decide which election should take place first.

Tushar Mehta told the five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud that there are three elections which are due. He added that for the first time a three-tier panchayat raj system was introduced. The first election would be for panchayats. District development council elections have already taken place, he continued. 

Meanwhile, the Centre has refrained from giving a specific timeframe for restoring statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. However, it clarified earlier that the Union Territory status is temporary. On Thursday, Tushar Mehta highlighted that terrorist initiated instances have declined by 45.2% and infiltration by 90.2% as compared to the situation in 2018. He underscored that the situation of stone pelting has reduced by 97.2% and casualties among security forces by 65.9%.

On the other hand, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud mentioned that the bench will deal with the legality of the abrogation of Article 370 on the constitutional grounds and that facts relating to election or statehood will not affect that determination.

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In association with the BALAJI Foundation, “Swadesh Conclave and Awards” is an innovative initiative of “APN News” that started in 2020. Initiated in 2020, the Swadesh Award salutes people, projects, and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation.

Hon’ble Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, and Eminent Speakers are invited to the conclave to share their vision of India.

APN News and India Legal editor-in-chief Rajshri Rai said the Swadesh Conclave and Awards are for everyone who has worked for the people of India. She added that the awardees are people who have worked for the 140 crore Indians.

DU to start course-based registration under NEP 2020 to allow students to choose subject of their own choice, says DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh

Delhi University’s Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said that DU is going to start course-based registration under the NEP 2020 which gives students the freedom to choose the subject of their own choice.

Singh said India will produce good students after the implementation of NEP 2020. The degree is just a piece of paper and your education is seen in your behavior, he added.

Bihar minister Shahnawaz Hussain says Bollywood has shown bad image of Bihar through movies like Apharan and Gangajal

BJP minister Shahnawaz Hussain said Bihar has a different image in the eyes of every individual.

Earlier, he said that Bihar was a soft target for the film producer. He also alleged that Bollywood had shown a bad image of Bihar through movies like Apharan and Gangajal. But today’s Bihar is Super 30 and not Apharan Bihar, he said.

Hussain also urged the people of the country to invest in Bihar to cut the transportation cost. The time of Lantern will never come back again in Bihar because the state is smoothly running under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale urges people to participate in Har Ghar Tiranga

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said Amrit Mahotsav does not belong to the government but to 134 crore Indian citizens. He urges everyone to participate in the mega festival of Har Ghar Tiranga.

Media should keep within its Lakshman Rekha, says Union Minister S.P. Baghel

Union Minister S.P. Baghel said media should stay within its Lakshman Rekha as the BJP government is not against elites because it has given room to oppressed communities for progress. Modi’s government has appointed an ST woman appointed as the president of India which indicates the seriousness of the ruling government, he said.

Baghel further said PMAY has given homes to the poor who had to share living space with their livestock. The availability of toilets in rural areas led to a decrease in the incidents of rape, he added.

India on its way to become Vishwaguru under PM Modi’s leadership, says Union Minister Ashwini Chaubey

Union Minister Ashwini Chaubey called Swadeshi (made in India) and Swablambi (self-reliance) the path of PM Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said leadership is the key for a nation to become a role model for the rest of the world. The visionary leadership of PM Modi has made us feel proud of our nation, he added.

Chaubey said The 21st century is India’s century. India will be Vishwaguru and take the world forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh says India will emerge as world leader in 2047

Read Also: Swadesh Conclave: Anurag Thakur speaks about the importance of 75 years of independence

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said India needs to look back at the last 25 years to think about the vision for the upcoming 25 years. India will emerge as the world leader in 2047, he said.

He said the government has not implemented new rules but scrapped old useless laws which were running for decades. In 8 years of the Modi government, every governance model turned out to be social reform. 1600 rules have been scrapped in the last 8 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

PM Modi has opened up areas to the youth of this country. He has the capacity to break taboos of the past, he said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur hails Commonwealth Games achievement, credits women athletes

Team India has so far won 55 medals, which include 18 gold, 15 silver, and 22 bronze.

The government is focusing on skill sets and sports in the NEP 2020, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur. NEP will be implemented after 34 years, he added.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur says there is no single incidence of violence in Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370

The Minister said nobody was talking about Kashmir during UPA in the Parliament. He had started the Yuva Sangharsh yatra from Calcutta to Kashmir in the memory of Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he added.

He further said there is not even a single incident of violence in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 where the stone pelting was normal.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur urges people to upload tiranga as their DP to strengthen India’s unity

Union Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur in a conclave said 75 years of independence is very important.

Har Ghar Tiranga is for everyone to buy and hoist flags at their homes. He also asked people to buy flags and not wait for someone to offer them one, he added. At the end of the conclave everyone will put tiranga as their DP, he said.

Thakur further said that it is not about just putting a flag at your home but tiranga has the power to strengthen the unity of the country.

Swadesh Conclave: BJP minister says India will become Vishwguru under PM Modi’s leadership

Yogi’s bulldozer brings down illegal structure of Shrikant Tyagi

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Referring to Afghanistan, where Taliban seized power forcing the powerful US forces to leave the country, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sounded a warning to the Central government to hold dialogue with Jammu and Kashmir and return its special status which was revoked in 2019.

Asking the Centre to learn a lesson from the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said that if the people of Jammu and Kashmir lose patience, the government will not remain and will be disappeared.

Citing the example of what happened in Afghanistan, the PDP chief warned the Central govt and said do not test the patience of the people of Kashmir.

Referring to US flee from Afghanistan, Mufti said such a big power — America — had to pack its bags and return to their home. The Centre still have the opportunity to restart the peace process now as Atal Bihari Vajpayee had done with respect to the Constitution. Restore Article 370 and return whatever the govt took away from the people of Kashmir, the PDP chief said.

Mufti was addressing a rally in the valley’s Kulgam district on Saturday. It was a rare public outreach by mainstream political leaders in the Valley since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and downgrading of the state into two Union Territories in August 2019.

Read Also: Kamala Harris kicks off Asia tour week after Kabul’s fall

The PDP chief also accused the BJP-led Central govt of misusing central agencies such as the NIA, CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to crush dissent and political opponents. Warning of communal polarisation, she said that if the BJP doesn’t mend its ways, India would break into many parts on communal and religious lines.

On the Afghanistan situation, Mufti urged the Taliban to not commit any act of violence against Afghan people that forces the world to go against them.

In other India News, Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh breathed his last on August 21 in Lucknow. 

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Despite interest and talk of interest from every corner of the country in buying properties in Jammu and Kashmir, only 2 non-Kashmiris have purchased 2 properties in the last two years in the now Union Territory since the abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state on August 5, 2019.

As per reports submitted by the UT government, two persons from outside Jammu and Kashmir have purchased two properties in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a widely-publicised pronouncement, the Centre had claimed the doing away of Article 370 would pave the way for people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to buy properties and usher in unprecedented growth by drawing in landbuyers and investment. Before the abrogation of Article 370, non-Kashmiris could not buy any property in Jammu and Kashmir.

The announcement of new rules had triggered a storm on social media platforms among Kashmiris. Facebook and Twitter were flooded with posts hitting out at the BJP for usurping the land of Kashmir.

Read Also: Anand Mahindra promises to gift XUV700 special Olympic edition to gold medallist Neeraj Chopra

India Today had reported that an SMS was shared widely on Twitter, that apparently asked people to book land in Kashmir just after the abrogation of Article 370 and the screenshot of the SMS had been shared several times on Twitter.

On the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP had then claimed that it was being done to ensure development, creation of jobs, women’s empowerment and transparency.

Addressing rallies in Jamui, Tarari and Paliganj assembly constituencies of Bihar during the Assembly election in the state, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had said that earlier a Bihari could not even think of owning property in Kashmir, the Congress had put in such a system but Narendra Modi and Amit Shah had changed all that.

The remarks had come at a time when there have been vociferous demands for ensuring jobs and property in Jammu and Kashmir.

Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been pushing for restoration of statehood as was promised by the Centre. But with the near non-existent response to buying land in Jammu and Kashmir would indicate the demand will continue to be on the backburner for a longer duration.

Or maybe the government needs to announce greater incentives for people to buy land there.

In other India news, a young boy from Chattisgarh Sahdev Dirdo became an internet sensation when a video of him singing Kamlesh Barot’s Bachpan Ka Pyaar which he pronounces as Baspan went viral on social media.

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Former Congress president Rahul Gndhi, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, on Tuesday hit out at the government and said a bit of Kashmiriyat still in his veins. Gandhi family lives in Delhi, before that in Allahabad and before that in Kashmir, he said.

On his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, Gandhi visited the Kheer Bhawani temple and Dargah Hazratbal shrine in Ganderbal before inaugurating a party office in Srinagar.

Gandhi was accompanied by the party’s general secretary organisation K C Venugopal and AICC incharge Jammu and Kashmir affairs Rajni Patil to the famous Ragnya Devi temple popularly known as Kheer Bhawani, a Congress leader said.

Gandhi also slammed the Centre for not allowing the Congress leaders to speak in Monsoon Session of Parliament. The Congress leaders wanted to raise issues such as Pegasus, unemployment, Kashmir, corruption but weren’t allowed, Gandhi said.

For the first time Gandhi shared the stage with Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the dissident of the G-23 group who had demanded to change the Congress’ Central leadership.

Azad, who flayed the Centre for the August 5 move, said 16,500 people were jailed; even former chief ministers were not spared. He also reiterated that elections could be held only after the statehood demand was met.

Addressing the party headquarters in Srinagar, Azad made it clear that the Congress don’t want an assembly like Delhi and Pondicherry in Jammu and Kashmir where the Lieutenant Governor runs the government.

Jammu and Kashmir is a border state which did not want 35A but its provisions. It needs a system like Himachal and Uttarakhand, under which employment should be for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

Azad said that the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are smaller than Jammu and Kashmir whose land rights were granted and ensured by Maharaja Hari Singh. Joblessness has peaked and industries have collapsed.

Read Also: With Taliban encircling Kabul, India urges its nationals to leave Afghanistan on special flight today

Three days remain for current Parliament session, Centre can make Jammu and Kashmir a state again by passing a bill and it will take five minutes, Azad said.

In August 2019, the Centre had abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the region into two territories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In other India News, A Gujarat petrol pump owner Ayub Pathan had offered free fuel upto Rs 501 to people named Neeraj in Gujarat in honour of Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold feat

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The first phase of District Development Council elections and by-polls to panchs and sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir began on Saturday, amid massive security arrangements in view of pandemic.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed its first-ever DDC elections as before the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre, Jammu and Kashmir did not have the three-tier Panchayati Raj system.

The election which began at 7am at various polling booths, forms the first test for Centre‘s move to restart the political process after the bifurcation of the state into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh last August.

The 20 districts in Jammu and Kashmir have overall 280 constituencies. The election of all of them are held in eight phases with ballot papers beginning today. Besides DDC elections, the by-polls of 1088 sarpanch and over 12000 panch positions are also being conducted simultaneously.

In the first phase of by-polls, nearly 7 lakh voters will decide the fate of 296 candidates in 43 constituencies today. While 124 candidates including 80 women are in the fray in 18 constituencies in Jammu division. The remaining 172 candidates, including 59 women are contesting the polls on 25 seats in Kashmir valley.

In the by-elections to 12,513 panchayat constituencies, the bypolls for 43 sarpanch and 368 panch constituencies are being held today. 

The DDC elections are essentially the contest between the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) , the BJP and the Apni Party run by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari.

State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said 2,146 polling stations have been set up for the smooth conduct of elections. Regarding the standard operating procedures related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the commissioner urged the people to follow the guidelines issued by the Election Commission, besides using face masks and maintaining social distance during the by-polls. 

All the arrangements including the election material and security arrangements have been completed, said Sharma, adding that candidates can campaign anywhere in view of the arrival of central armed forces along with UP police who have been deployed all over in Jammu and Kashmir.

Also Read: Bihar Assembly sees an angry Nitish Kumar count his favours for Lalu, Tejashwi Yadav

The DDC election and by-polls to the panchayat are being held from November 28 to December 19. The votes will be counted on December 22.

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