JD(U) president Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record ninth time on January 28, returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
Along with Nitish Kumar, BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Sinha, Samrat Choudhary and Prem Kumar took oath as Ministers in the new government.
JD(U) members Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Vijendra Yadav and Shrawan Kumar also took oath in addition to former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustan Awam Morcha’s Santosh Kumar Suman and independent legislator Sumit Singh.
Other members of the Council of Ministers will be decided in a day or two, sources said.
Earlier in the day, Kumar resigned as the CM, saying “things were not working well” for him in the Mahagathbandhan and in the opposition bloc INDIA, and staked claim to form a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.
BJP president J.P. Nadda and other senior party leaders were present at the swearing-in ceremony.
The JD(U)’s Mahagathbandhan allies RJD and the Congress boycotted the event. The Congress accused Nitish Kumar of political opportunism and changing “political colours like a chameleon”. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there were many “Aaya Ram-Gaya Ram” in the country’s politics.
CJI says it is time to begin ‘difficult conversations’ on the need for long vacations in the Supreme Court
Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on January 28 said the diamond jubilee year of the Supreme Court should be the time to recognise challenges threatening the relevancy of the court as an institution and begin “difficult conversations” starting with the necessity to continue with long vacations.
“Let us begin the conversation on long vacations and whether alternatives such as flexi-time for lawyers and judges is possible,” CJI Chandrachud said in his speech, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Supreme Court judges, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Bar leaders.
The Chief Justice said the “adjournment culture” should give way to a “culture of professionalism” in court.
He drew attention to how lengthy oral arguments, some of which usually go on for days on end, delay judicial outcomes. He also called for a level playing field for first generation lawyers.
The Chief Justice spoke of the changing demographics in the legal profession. “Men, women and others from marginalised segments who have the will to work and the potential to succeed,” he said. He highlighted how legal practice was once considered the exclusive domain of “elite men”.
“Women, traditionally underrepresented in the profession, now constitute 36.3% of the working strength of the district judiciary. In the recruitment examination for Junior Civil Judges conducted in several States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, HImachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, more than 50% of the selected candidates were women,” the Chief Justice said.
He said a record 11 women were conferred ‘senior advocate’ designation in one go in the Supreme Court recently. Before that, only 12 women were designated as senior advocates in the history of the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice extolled how the court had used the challenges of the pandemic to reinvent its way of functioning with the help of technology.
“We have dealt with over five lakh cases through hybrid hearings. The live proceedings of the Supreme Court Constitutional Benches are popular and speak to the genuine curiosity that people have towards our courts and procedures. More than 13 lakh legacy and live case records with approximately 10 crore pages have been digitised. Nearly 1.28 lakh e-filings has been done so far, with a consistent rise in the share of e-filings compared to physical filings. E-filings are available in 25 States. The Supreme Court is soon going to migrate its digital data to a safe, secure and sovereign cloud. As of today, 36,209 judgments are uploaded online on the e-SCR (Supreme Court Reports) portal in English, out of which about 36,000 judgments are translated in Hindi, and around 11,000 judgments in other languages,” the Chief Justice said, listing some of the achievements of the court.
AAP will contest all Assembly seats in Haryana on its own, Lok Sabha polls as part of INDIA bloc: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on January 28 said his party will contest all the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana on its own but the Lok Sabha polls will be fought as part of the INDIA bloc.
The Lok Sabha polls are due in April-May while the Assembly elections will be held later this year a few months after the general elections.
“Today people only have trust in one party, which is the Aam Aadmi Party. On one side, they see Punjab, and on the other, our government in Delhi. Today Haryana is seeking a big change. In Delhi and Punjab, people made this big change earlier and now people there are happy,” he said at his party’s ‘Badlaav Jansabha’ in Haryana’s Jind. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present at the event.
Kejriwal said Haryana was looking for a “big change” as the people were “fed up” with all the parties that have ruled.
Only the AAP can provide round-the-clock power supply and other facilities to people like it has done in Delhi and Punjab, he said.
Targeting the BJP-led Centre, Kejriwal accused it of using all its might to arrest him and said he was not scared of going to jail.
India is now cooperating on probe into Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing: ex-Canadian NSA
India is now cooperating with Canada in the ongoing probe into the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and bilateral ties are improving following months of tensions over the matter, former Canadian National Security Advisor Jody Thomas said, describing the changing relationship as an “evolution.” Thomas made these remarks during an interview with CTV on January 26.
She said India is now cooperating in the ongoing probe into the killing of Khalistani separatist and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year in the Canadian city of Surrey.
This is the first time a Canadian official has acknowledged that India has moved things forward following allegations of non-cooperation against India by Canada amid tensions over Nijjar’s killing.
“I would not describe them as non-cooperating,” Thomas said. During the interview, she described the changing relationship between Ottawa and New Delhi as an “evolution” and said Canada has “made advancements in that relationship.”
“My discussions with my counterpart in India have been fruitful, and I think they’ve moved things forward,” she said.
When asked whether Canada’s improved relationship with India was a result of the U.S. indictment against Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, in a murder-for-hire plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, Thomas said: “The two are connected for sure.”
“The information that they revealed supported our position and our assertions with India. India is working with us, and my counterpart, in particular, far more closely to resolve this,” she said.
Canada’s ability to function in the Indo-Pacific relies on having a healthy relationship with India. “And I think we are working back towards it,” she said.
One dead after armed assault on Catholic church in Istanbul
One man died after armed assailants opened fire in an Italian church in Istanbul during Sunday mass in an apparent assassination attempt that was swiftly condemned by Pope Francis.
The attack occurred at the Santa Maria church in the Sariyer district of Istanbul on the European side and was carried out by two masked men, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media.
Turkish officials said it looked like a targeted attack against one person rather than against the Catholic church.
The Minister said an individual identified only as C.T. — who was among those attending Sunday’s service — was the target of the gun attack and lost his life.
An investigation had been launched to find the attackers, Yerlikaya added, who fled the scene after the shooting. Local officials said around 40 people attended the mass.
Television images showed police and an ambulance outside the ornate 19th century church. Security footage ahead of the attack showed a pair of men wearing black snow masks with their hands in their pockets and one was seen wearing black sunglasses.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in the central Anatolian province of Eskisehir for his party’s rally ahead of March local elections, expressed condolences during a phone call with the priest of the Italian church and other local officials.
He assured that “necessary steps are being taken to catch the perpatrators as soon as possible”, according to his office.
Pope Francis expressed his support for the Catholic church after the attack.
“I express my closeness to the community of the Santa Maria” church in Istanbul, the Argentinian pope said at the end of his weekly Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also expressed his “condolences and firm condemnation” over the attack, and backed the Turkish authorities to find the killers.
Turkiye’s ruling AKP party spokesman Omer Celik said the attackers took aim at a citizen during the mass. Istanbul governor Davut Gul told reporters at the scene that there were no injuries. The motive for the attack was also not immediately clear.
In brief
Australian Open 2024 | Jannik Sinner rallies from 2 sets down to win men’s finals against Medvedev, clinches 1st major
Jannik Sinner rallied from two sets down to take the Australian Open final from Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday and clinch his first Grand Slam title. The 22-year-old Sinner was playing in a major final for the first time and got there by ending Novak Djokovic’s long domination of the tournament in a semifinal upset. He’s the first Italian to win the Australian Open title.
India v England 1st Test | England beat India by 28 runs in first Test
The pushback started by incandescent Ollie Pope was given its perfect conclusion by debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley whose soul-ripping spell fashioned England’s memorable 28-run win over India on the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad on January 28. India’s chase of 231 went horribly south once Hartley (7/62) spun into India’s top-order, igniting a rot that saw India getting bowled out for 202 in the final over of the day. England now lead the five-match series 1-0.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
