The Good Word

Feb 28, in a major

breakthrough, just two

days after Kashmiri Hindu

Sanjay Sharma aged 40,

was killed in Pulwama,

the Kashmir police and

Indian army have

neutralized the murderer.

The eliminated terrorist

was identified as Aqib

Mustaq Bhat a A-category

criminal. A second

terrorist was also

eliminated in the

encounter. Two security

force personnel were also

injured in the gun-battle.

At: NRP, OpIndia, IT

Centre OK’s rename

of Aurangabad,

Osmanabad

Volume 7S-94| Pages 1

Modi, Sarma power BJP’s continued

sway in Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

Mar 1, the population of

tigers at the Sariska Tiger

Reserve (STR), Rajasthan,

touched a high of 27 after

eight-year-old tigress ST-

14 was captured with her

two cubs on a camera

trap. The count is the

highest in the last 50

years.

Born in 2014, the tigress

gave birth to cubs for the

third time. This tigress

was born to the first big

cat to join the reserve in

Alwar district after she

was flown in an Indian Air

Force helicopter from

Ranthambore in 2008. The

forest administration

Iran to probe

poisoning of 700

schoolgirls

Mar 1, nearly 700 girls

have been poisoned by

toxic gas in Iran since

November, in what

many believe is a

deliberate attempt to

force schools to shut.

No girls have died, but

dozens have suffered

respiratory problems,

nausea, dizziness and

fatigue.

‘It became evident that

some people wanted all

schools, especially girls'

schools, to be closed

down,’ the Deputy

Health Minister said.

However, he later said

that his remarks had

been misunderstood.

The prosecutor general

announced last week

that he was opening a

criminal investigation.

However, he said that

the available

information only

indicated the possibility

of criminal and

premeditated acts.

Meanwhile, public

frustration is continuing

to grow. At: BBC

Feb 27, Syed Khalid Raza

an ex- commander of

terror outfit Al Badr was

gunned down in what

police described as a

‘targeted attack’ by

unidentified assailants in

Karachi, within a week

after a top Hizbul

Mujahideen commander

was killed in similar

fashion in Rawalpindi.

Bashir Ahmad Pir of the

Hizbul which fought

Pakistan's proxy war

against India was killed

earlier. The killings are a

setback for the ISI. Swaraj

Second anti-India

terrorist shot

dead in Pakistan Mar 3, former-Attorney

General (AG) of India

Mukul Rohatgi

responded to the

Supreme Court's ruling

that the appointment of

the Chief (CEC) and

other Election (EC)

Commissioners will be

done by President on

the advice of a

committee comprising

the Prime Minister, the

Leader of Opposition in

Lok Sabha and the Chief

Justice of India.

He opined prima-facie

the Supreme Court had

overstepped its

jurisdiction. No such

committee was needed.

The Election

Commission has been a

highly credible body.

The doctrine of

separation of powers

stood violated. Rohatgi

explained that Article

324 of the Constitution

provided that the

President shall appoint

ECs and CECs. It omitted

the Parliament and the

‘President’ implied the

Government of India

(GoI). Hence the GoI

must appoint them.

At: Republic

Mar 2, the Tripura,

Nagaland and Meghalaya

election results have

underlined that the

Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) is now a force to

reckon with in the

Northeast.

Tripura was retained by

the BJP with the aid of a

carefully crafted politics

of ethnic polarisation

that ensured a late swing

of majority Bengali votes

towards the saffron

brigade as it promised to

block the proposal of a

separate state of

Twipraland that the TMP

had pitched for.

In Meghalaya and

Nagaland, the BJP had

the good tactical sense

to play the junior

partner's role to telling

effect. Despite its now-

hot, now-cold

relationship with

Meghalaya Chief

Minister (CM) Conrad

Sangma's NDP, Himanta

Biswa Sarma continued

to continuously engage

in dialogue. Congress

Sariska tiger count at a high of 27 with 2 new cubs

SC declines urgent

hearing for hijab

case of Karnataka

Ex-AG Rohatgi

calls out SC’s

overreach on CEC

Feb 28, Delhi Deputy

Chief Minister Manish

Sisodia has resigned the

day after his arrest by

the CBI over the alleged

liquor scam. Sisodia

held a total of 18

portfolios including

health, education,

home, tourism among

others.

Apart from Sisodia,

another jailed AAP

minister Satyendar Jain

has also resigned. Both

resignations have been

accepted.

Sisodia stepped down

just under an hour after

Supreme Court (SC)

refused to entertain his

plea challenging the CBI

arrest. The SC bench

headed by CJI DY

Chandrachud had

advised Sisodia's legal

counsel Abhishek Manu

Singhvi to approach the

Delhi High Court.

Feb 24, Maharashtra

Chief Minister (CM),

Eknath Shinde tweeted

that Union Ministry of

Home Affairs had given

the go-ahead to chnge

the names of Aurangabad

city to 'Chhatrapati

Sambhajinagar' and that

of Osmanabad city to

'Dharashiv. Deputy CM,

Devendra Fadnavis also

clarified that the process

of changing the district,

taluka, municipal

corporation and council

names will also start now

at state level. At: TOI, OpIndia

Mar 3, in an unexpected

turn of events in the

Umesh Pal murder case,

the Prayagraj Police has

employed bulldozers to

demolish the premises of

those accused, who are

said to be close

associates of gangster-

turned-politician Atiq

Ahmed.

After Uttar Pradesh (UP)

Chief Minister (CM) Yogi

Adityanath asserted his

government’s intention

to reduce mafias to dust,

bulldozers have been

sent in to demolish the

illegal structures built by

the accused connected

to the murder in

Prayagraj. The properties

of one Zafar Ahmed,

where Atiq Ahmed’s wife

lived were

razed. The following

day a two-storeyed

building in

Dhoomanganj owned by

Safdar Ali, an alleged

arms trader linked to

Ahmed, was flattened.

Friday, the Prayagraj

Development Authority

also leveled the house

of Mashookuddin, who

has dozens of cases

registered against him,

in Puramufti.

Ahmed, 61, lodged in

the Ahemdabad jail, has

moved Supreme Court

fearing he may be killed

in a fake encounter by

UP Police. He has also

claimed his two minor

sons have been

abducted and kept at an

undisclosed location.

At: MSN, DeviDiscourse, OpIndia

Image: Republic

World Wildlife Day, Mar 3 – image courtesy – GKBooks; Godhra Riots commemoration day, Feb 27 – image courtesy - OdishaSamay

Lokayutka seizes

₹ 6 crores cash from

BJP MLA’s son

Mar 3, Karnataka

Lokayukta raided the

home and offices of BJP

MLA M Virupakshappa’s

bureaucrat son Prashanth

Madal and found cash

worth ₹ 6 crores. Madal

was arrested while taking a

bribe of ₹ 40 lacs the day

before. Chief Minister

Bommai said the BJP had

established the Lokayukta

to curb corruption and the

ombudsman would

independently take the

probe to conclusion. At: Zee5

UP bulldozers annihilate

Atiq’s, mafia’s property

Kashmiri Hindu,

Sharma’s killer

shot dead in 2 days

Nepal

government faces

uncertainty

Mar 1, a difference over

the choice of Nepal’s

next President led Prime

Minister Prachanda to

part ways with his main

coalition partner, KP

Sharma Oli. Their

coalition with other

parties was formed in

Dec 2022, after the

general elections causing

unease in India as it was

seen as pro-China.

Prachanda faces a vote

of confidence within 30

days. At: SwissInfo, MoneyControl

India’s rooftop

solar power stands

at 8.8 GW now

Mar 1, India increased its

installed rooftop solar

power capacity by 1.6 GW

in the calendar year 2022.

Industrial installations

made up 42% of the

addition followed by

residential, 32% and

commercial, 25%.

While the increment is

marginally, 4%, lower than

2021 it takes India’s total

solar rooftop capacity up

to 8.8 GW as at Dec 2022.

At: MerCom

Feb 24, 2023 - Week 9

Mar 2, the NIA has

attached the property of

the chief of terror group

AUM, Mushtaq Zargar in

the Nowhatta area of

Srinagar. The Ministry of

Home Affairs has

designated him a terrorist.

Zargar was one of the

three terrorists released

in 1999 to free the

hijacked aircraft IC 814 at

Kandahar. At: Republic

Kandahar hijack

linked terrorist’s

house attached

AAP’s Manish Sisodia sent to 5-

day CBI custody; resigns with Jain

While Sisodia has been

jailed for the Delhi

liquor policy which he

implemented in Nov

2021, Power Minister

Jain was arrested in

May last year on the

charges of money

laundering based on the

FIR filed by CBI in 2017.

Whereas Sisodia is

accused of receiving

kickbacks from private

liquor vendors and

causing revenue loss of

crores of rupees, Jain

was accused of money

laundering by setting up

four shell companies.

His family was also

booked by the CBI as

they laundered ₹ 11.78

crore in 2011-12 and ₹

4.63 crore in 2015-16,

per CBI's complaints.

Sisodia is currently on a

five-day CBI remand in

the case.

At: Republic, Express Image: Rediff

attributed it the rise to a

successful village

relocation programme.

The reserve is spread

over an area of 1,281

Sqkm. In 2005 it had lost

all its tigers to poaching.

The rising count is very

heartening news for all

wild life enthusiasts.

At: MSN, Outlook Image: TripAdvisor

Mar 1, an NIA court in

Lucknow awarded the

death sentence to seven

ISIS-linked terrorists in a

2017 terror case. They

had collected illegal

weapons and explosives

helped fabricate an IED

that was planted in the

Bhopal-Ujjain passenger

train. NIA has a conviction

rate of nearly 94%.

At: OutlookIndia

NIA Court awards

death sentence to 7

IS-linked terrorists

Mar 3, the Supreme Court

(SC) turned down a plea to

immediately list the case

seeking permission to

allow students to appear in

annual examinations in

Karnataka's colleges with

their head scarf on. The

petitioners had submitted

that exams were to be held

in five days, earlier pleas

for urgent listing had been

denied and that some

students had already lost

one year and could lose

another year. The matter

will be heard after the Holi

vacation. At: DaijiWorld

TMC ate into each

other’s vote shares.

In Nagaland too CM

Neiphiu Rio's NDPP and

junior partner BJP

swept the hustings

against a debilitated

Congress-led alliance

incapable of contesting

in many seats. The Naga

voter wants to give Rio

and his friend Modi

another chance to pull

off the much-awaited

Naga political

settlement.

At: NewIndianExpress Image: Gov