The streaming service Netflix removed Annapoorani from its platform on January 11 amid allegations by the right wing groups that the movie has hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community, especially Brahmins.
Zee5, the producers of the film also gave a written apology to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an outfit of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, saying that they never intended to hurt the sentiments of the community and also that the film will not be re-released until edited.
Police in Jabalpur also lodged an FIR against actress of the film, Nayanthara and its director, debutant film maker, Nilesh Krishnaa, producers and writer. The FIR was lodged at Omti police station under section 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 3A.
In Krishnaa’s film, Nayanthara is portraying the character of as a daughter of a temple cook with a dream to become the best chef in the country. She goes against her family’s wish and make non-vegetarian food to prove her talent.
The film was released in the theatres on December 1 and was streaming on Netflix from December 29. The version on Netflix was approved by Censor Board’s Chennai regional office. The film is removed from the platform in all languages and all countries, even when the Hindi version had sparked anger among a section of Hindu community.
Hailing this as a victory of ‘Hindus’, spokesperson of the VHP, Vinod Bansal, on X (formerly Twitter), said, “on the complaint of VHP, the Zee Studios has now apologized. It is important to wake up on time and it is our compulsion to prevent attacks on the faith of Hindus.”
Minorities’ right to establish, administer institutions was not intended to make them insular: Supreme Court
The minority character of an educational institution is not lost if its founders, who belong to a particular minority community, chose administrators from other communities, including the majority group, to run the institution, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud observed.
The Chief Justice was heading a seven-judge Bench hearing a reference related to the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represents the AMU Old Boys’ Association, said whether or not an educational institution has minority character should be learnt from its genesis.
A five-judge Bench in S. Azeez Basha versus Union of India case in 1967 had held that the AMU was a central university and cannot be considered a minority institution.
The university, established in 1875, had got its minority status back when the Parliament enacted the AMU (Amendment) Act in 1981. In January 2006, the Allahabad High Court, however, struck down the provision of the 1981 law by which the university was accorded the minority status. The issue was referred to a seven-judge Bench in 2019.
In its written submissions, the Centre has contended that the AMU cannot be considered a minority institution given its “national character”. The government said the AMU was not and cannot be a university of any particular religion or religious denomination. It said a university declared as an institution of national importance cannot be a minority institution.
The university had contended that it was established by the Muslim community for educating and empowering the community.
Assam government denied nod for night halts at two places during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Congress
Addressing a press conference, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said the party is now looking for alternative arrangements of private farmlands for stationing the containers, where senior national leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, will halt for a night.
“We sought a school ground at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district for only the night stay by parking our container vehicles. The permission was initially given, but at the last moment it was withdrawn,” he said.
In a similar manner, a college in Jorhat district refused to allow us for one night at its playground, he said.
“The BJP is declining our democratic right to hold a march, which is not even a political programme,” Saikia alleged.
“We are not aware of the position in other districts as the application process was done online and we have not heard yet. We are now seeking support from individuals and private firms for using their grounds for night halts,” he added.
Without sharing details, the senior Congress leader said the party has finalised necessary grounds in Jorhat and Dhemaji districts for overnight halt of its leaders and workers.
The Yatra, to be led by MP Rahul Gandhi, will commence from Imphal on January 14 and culminate on March 20 in Mumbai. The Assam leg of the march is scheduled from January 18 to 25.
“The party which did not fight for India’s freedom is ruling the country now. They don’t want us to highlight people’s rights. Freedom is endangered by fascist and undemocratic BJP,” Saikia said.
The leader of the opposition along with other senior office bearers of the party released a booklet containing details of the entire march.
Trinamool, Congress spar over seat-sharing
The Trinamool Congress is willing to concede only two seats in West Bengal to its INDIA bloc ally, the Congress, to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Declining to participate in seat-sharing formula talks with the Congress’ National Alliance Committee, the TMC says it has already informed its ally about the “number of seats” it is willing to share and the “methodology” based on which it made the decision.
A senior Trinamool MP familiar with developments in the alliance said: “We have conveyed the methodology of how it should proceed. We wish the Congress leadership to acknowledge the reality and their limitations in Bengal. We have been very patient and very gracious in spite of many statements flying around.”
The TMC wants the seat-sharing formula to be based on parties’ performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and in the last West Bengal Assembly election. The Congress, TMC sources said, garnered a vote share of less than 5% in the State’s 39 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress has been arguing that two seats is a “humiliating” figure. The ball is now in TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s court on whether to concede an extra seat.
The TMC’s generosity in West Bengal will also depend on the Congress returning the favour in Meghalaya and Assam. The TMC has asked for one seat in Meghalaya and wants four seats in Assam, though it has not yet made its demand, claiming that it is trying to trim its expectations, in keeping with the INDIA spirit.
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, South Africa tells U.N. top court
South African lawyers said during the opening arguments that the latest Gaza war is part of a decades-long oppression of the Palestinians by Israel.
The two-day hearing is the public side of a landmark case, one of the most significant to be heard in an international court and which goes to the heart of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
South Africa is seeking binding preliminary orders to compel Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, in which more than 23,000 people have died, according to the Health Ministry which is run by Hamas.
Israel, however, says it is battling a fierce enemy in the Gaza Strip that carried out the deadliest attack on its territory, killing more than 1,200 people, since its creation in 1948. Israel says it is following international law and does its utmost to avoid harm to civilians. It blames Hamas for the high toll, saying its enemy embeds in residential areas.
South Africa turns a deaf ear to such arguments, insisting Israel committed genocide by design.
Ahead of the proceedings, hundreds of pro-Israeli protesters marched close to the courthouse with banners saying “Bring them home,” referring to the hostages held by Hamas since it attacked Israel on October 7.
At a separate demonstration nearby, pro-Palestinians protesters waved flags saying: “End Israeli Apartheid Free Palestine” and chanting “Netanyahu criminal” and “Ceasefire now!”
While Israel has vehemently denied the allegations, it is unclear whether it will heed any order from the court to halt operations. If it doesn’t, it could face U.N. sanctions, although those may be blocked by a U.S. veto. Israel’s lawyers will address the court Friday.
South Africa immediately sought to broaden the case beyond the narrow confines of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Maldives, China agree to ‘elevate’ strategic cooperation
“The two sides agree to elevate China-Maldives relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, better leverage the political guidance of high-level engagement, expand practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields, strengthen collaboration on international and multilateral affairs, enhance the well-being of the two peoples, and work toward a China-Maldives community with a shared future,” said the communiqué, issued on January 11, on the penultimate day of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s five-day state visit to China.
The move is among many initiatives the two countries announced, including Maldives’s participation in the Global Security Initiative, following Sri Lanka’s affirmation in October 2023. The two governments agreed to draw up an “action plan” for building a “China-Maldives Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership from 2024 to 2028.
President Muizzu’s visit coincides with a diplomatic row between Maldives and India, after three junior ministers in the Maldives posted controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to his recent trip to Lakshadweep.
Meanwhile, the Maldivian President made a significant pitch for the country’s tourism industry in his ongoing visit, urging Chinese tourists to reclaim their top spot in arrivals, effectively replacing Indian tourists holding the position for the last two years.
In his meeting with President Xi, the newly elected Maldivian leader hailed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and said his country looks forward to expanding new channels of cooperation and promote high-quality partnership in the construction of the Belt and Road, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China said it “respects and supports” the Maldives’s “exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions”, and “firmly opposes” external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives, according to the joint statement.
Two governments agreed to cooperate — the two leaders presided over the signing of 20 MoUs — in several areas including blue economy, digital economy, infrastructure development projects linked to the BRI, disaster and risk mitigation, and news cooperation, through an MoU between the Public Service Media of the Maldives and the Xinhua news agency of China.
Situation is sensitive but stable along Northern border: Army chief Pande
“The situation on the northern border is stable but sensitive. We continue to talk to find a solution to address and balance issues between the two sides. Operational preparedness is very high, and deployment is both- robust, and balanced...” Chief of Army Staff, Manoj Pande said.
“As far as the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the ceasefire understanding along the LoC continues to hold. Even though we see infiltration attempts, which we have been able to thwart... We have a strong anti-drone mechanism in place to stop the use of drones to smuggle weapons and narcotics.... The area of Rajouri Poonch has seen increased terrorist activities. Support infrastructure for proxy tandems in the Rajouri Poonch sector from across the border continues...” General Manoj Pande added.
General Pande said the State of Manipur has witnessed violence since May last year. With combined efforts of the State government, Army, Assam Rifles and other agencies we’ve been able to stabilise the situation to a large extent.
General Manoj Pande also highlighted that disruptive technologies have become the new arena of strategic competition. “National interests remain paramount and the relevance of hard powers has been established... Disruptive technologies have become the new arena of strategic competition.”
General Manoj Pande also said that the Army has inducted better vehicles, drones and counter-drone systems. “As part of emergency provisions, we have been able to induct some new technologies and address domains of warfare. We have inducted better vehicles, drones and counter-drone systems. We have terrain-specific electronic warfare systems.,” General Manoj Pande said.
In brief
Parliament’s Budget session likely between January 31 and February 9
A brief Budget session of Parliament is likely to be held between January 31 and February 9, sources said on January 11. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the two houses on January 31, they said. The government would present a vote-on-account or an ‘interim budget’ on February 1. The new government will present a full-fledged budget later.
Direct tax collections cross 80% of 2023-24 target
India’s net direct tax collections touched ₹14.7 lakh crore by January 10, meeting over four-fifths of this year’s target and reflecting a growth of 19.4% over the same period of 2022-23. The Central Board of Direct Taxes on January 11 said that provisional direct tax collections continue to register ‘steady growth’ with gross collections rising 16.77% to ₹17.18 lakh crore, led by a 26.11% rise in Personal Income Tax inflows. Corporate Income Tax or CIT collections grew at a relatively muted pace of 8.32%.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
