The Good Word

Gujarat HC sticks to

promotion of judge

in Rahul verdict

Varanasi court allows plea for

full survey of Gyanvapi complex

Battle for Karnataka CM heats up,

Siddaramaiah vs DK Shivakumar

May 15, Manipur Chief

Minister N Biren Singh

said that the Centre has

assured him that there

will be no compromise on

the northeastern state’s

territorial integrity.

Singh’s statement comes

in the backdrop of ten

Manipur MLAs from the

Kuki tribe, including seven

from the ruling Bharatiya

Janata Party issuing a joint

statement on Friday

seeking separate

administration under the

Constitution for hill areas

where the Kuki, Hmar and

Zomi communities reside.

The CM had met Union

Home Minister Amit Shah

in the national Capital on

Sunday. The CM stated

that a joint monitoring

committee comprising

Indian Army and Manipur

Police have been

inspecting the designated

camps of militant groups

who are under suspension

of operations (SoO) and

the weapons were found

to be intact in the camps.

He said that it has been

confirmed that the SoO

Volume 7S-104 | Pages 1

BJP trounced in Karnataka Assembly

polls; retains vote share of 36%

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

May 16, with a domestic

box office collection of

₹147 crore in 11 days,

‘The Kerala Story’ has

become the highest

grossing female-led film.

Its collection has

surpassed the earnings of

Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai

Kathiawadi, Kangana

Ranaut’s Manikarnika and

others. The film is based

on Hindu and Christian

women from Kerala who

are forced to convert to

Islam and work for the

terror group ISIS.

At: HindustanTimes, OpIndia

Pakistan: State

protestors storm

SC; Army looms May 15, the 2023

Karnataka Assembly

Elections saw Congress

emerge victorious with

135 seats pushing the

BJP to a distant second

with 66 seats, in a 224

member House. The

verdict saw Congress

nearing a 43% vote

share while the BJP

managing to retain its

36% which it also

bagged in the 2018

Assembly polls.

Congress vote share

increased by about 5%

eating into JD(S)’ share

which fell about the

same percentage from

the last poll results.

‘40% commission

sarkara’, PayCM jibes

that Congress attacked

the BJP with stuck in

the minds of the

voters. The Congress

capitalized on the lack

of a strong state

leader with a clean

image of the likes of a

Yogi Adityanath or

Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The Muslims, who

constitute 13 % of

₹ 15,000 crore drug

haul in Kerala, the

biggest ever

Mushroom cloud

after Russia blasts

Ukraine arsenal

May 17, India has

accelerated the

development of short

and long ranged

conventional missiles

for large impact non-

nuclear strikes in

enemy territory.

The DRDO has

completed

development of Pralay

quasi-ballistic missiles

with a strike range of

150 to 500 kms. The

long range land attack

cruise missiles (LR-

LACM) and the

submarine launched

cruise missiles (S-LCM),

with ranges of 1000

kms, will be ready for

production in a couple

of years. These will join

the Brahmos supersonic

cruise missiles and

Pinaka multi-launch

rocket systems in a new

Integrated Rocket Force

(IRF) which is to be set

up in parallel with the

Tri-Service Theatre

May 13, BJP secured a

landslide victory in he

Uttar Pradesh (UP) civic

body polls emerging as

the undisputed winner. It

won all 17 municipal

corporation seats of the

state.

Elections for 199 nagar

palika parishads, 544

nagar panchayats, and 17

municipal corporations

were held in two phases

on May 4 and May 11

respectively. Out of the

4.32 crore eligible voters,

about 52% exercised

their right to vote in the

first phase of voting

while 53% did so in the

second phase.

The BJP also won 90

posts of municipality

chairman and over 600

wards.

Pokhran II Nuclear Detonation anniversary, May 11 – image courtesy WION, Mothers Day, May 14 – image courtesy TimesOfIndia

BJP sweeps UP Municipal

polls, wins all Mayor seats

May 15, 2023 - Week 20

May 13, The Narcotics

Control Bureau (NCB)

made the largest ever

drugs seizure of 2,500 kg

of high-purity

methamphetamine, priced

at about ₹ 15,000 crore,

off the Kerala coast. Three

boats were apprehended,

while two escaped under

the cover of darkness.

They were headed for Sri

Lanka. The seizure Is part

of Operation Samudragupt

targeting maritime drug

trafficking originating from

Afghanistan.

At: News18

Karnataka’s 65 million-

plus population, rallied

behind the Congress.

Only 2% voted BJP as

opposed to 88%, the

Congress according to

India Today’s exit poll.

The Congress also

promised a host of

freebies. BJP retained its

hold on the capital

Bangaluru winning 16 of

28 seats. Karnataka has

not voted back the ruling

party into power since

1985 but this result will

have the BJP introspecting.

At: Republic, BT, Twitter CommuneMag,

TMN Image: HT

May 17, the impasse in

choosing a Chief Minister

(CM) and forming a

government has taken

the sheen off the

Congress’ Karnataka

victory.

It’s not just the delay in

picking a candidate in the

face-off between former

CM Siddaramaiah or

Karnataka Congress

President DK Shivakumar

but also the perception

that the Congress

leadership is not in

control of matters.

Speculation is rife that

Siddharamaiah will

become CM while the

party will try to convince

DK Shivakumar to settle

for another post. If

matters deteriorate

however, it may result in

politics and defections

which could brighten

BJP’s prospects. DeccanHerald

Commands.

The Defence Acquisition

Council had approved the

induction of 120 Pralay

missiles into the Air Force

and 250 into the Army.

India plans to keep the

IRF and the Strategic

Forces Command (SFC),

which handles the

country’s nuclear arsenal,

as separate entities. The

SFC will continue to

command nuclear

capable Prithvi, Shaurya

and the Agni series of

missiles from Agni 1 to 5

with strike ranges of 350-

km to 5,000-km, nuclear

powered submarines

with nuclear tipped

missiles and fighter jets

that drop nuclear bombs.

With Pralay, India will

induct ballistic missiles

into use for conventional

war where earlier it used

them exclusively for

nuclear war.

At: TimesOfIndia, ANI

Image: Diplomat

militants were using

sophisticated weapons

illegally brought from

Myanmar.

The scale of poppy

cultivation in Manipur has

spread across 15,400

acres of land in the hills

between 2017 and 2023.

The Manipur government

has not targeted any

particular community in

its war on drugs.

Encroachers were evicted

from reserved and

protected forests across

the state.

The Supreme Court on

Wednesday directed the

Manipur government to

take steps to foster peace

in the state. The Kukis

have objected to an ST

status demand for the

majority Meiteis.

Currently, the Meiteis,

mostly Hindus settled in

the state capital Imphal

valley cannot buy land in

the tribal-majority hills,

while the tribals can buy

land in the valley. The ST

status would allow them

to buy land in the hills too.

At: EastMojo, HindustanTimes, NDTV

SC rejects review

plea on EWS quota

May 16, a Varanasi

court has agreed to hear

a plea to have the

Archeological Survey of

India to study the entire

Gyanvapi complex.

May 17, The Supreme

Court (SC) has dismissed a

batch of petitions seeking

a review of its verdict

upholding the 10%

reservation introduced in

2019 for the economically

weaker sections (EWS) in

educational institutions

and government jobs that

excluded the poor among

the SC/ST/OBC categories.

The SC said there was no

ground to reconsider the

verdict. It also rejected the

plea to for hearing it in

open court. At: IndiaToday

The outcome of the

urban local body polls

are particularly

important this year as it

is indicative of the

sentiment prevailing in

the masses before the

vital general elections

of 2024. In terms of

strategic significance in

national politics, UP is

the state with the most

representation in the

Lok Sabha, with 80

Members of Parliament.

CM Yogi Adityanath

held 50 rallies to

campaign for BJP

candidates in the

municipal elections. He

thanked the people of

the state for giving BJP

such an opportunity to

serve them.

At: OpIndia, HT, NDTV

Image: HindustanTimes

India inches closer to creating

new Integrated Rocket Force

The Kerala Story is

now a top grosser

female led film

May 14, dramatic

footage circulated on

social media showing a

massive explosion that

resulted in the

formation of mushroom

shaped clouds, rocking

the western Ukrainian

city of Khmelnytskyi

following a mass attack

by Russian drones on an

ammunition depot.

Ukraine’s Military

Administration

confirmed that "critical

infrastructure" had

been hit.

Russia fired 21 drones

of which four hit target.

The cloud fueled

speculation on social

media that the depot

could have contained

depleted uranium.

At: BusinessInsider, NewsWeek

May 17, party members

of the Pakistan’s ruling

coalition government

stormed the gates of the

Supreme Court (SC) as

battle over bail to

former Prime Minister

Imran Khan intensified.

Khan tweeted, ‘7000

leaders, workers and

women of Tehreek-e-

Insaf have been jailed.

Meanwhile, the security

agencies are busy

facilitating these thugs

in capturing the SC and

trampling the

constitution.’ Protesters

had forced entry into

the SC despite an

imposition of Section

144.

Khan's arrest by the

Pakistan Rangers at

court premises last

Tuesday had triggered

massive unrest in

Pakistan and led to

several deaths and

dozens of military and

state installations being

destroyed by the

protesters.

For the first time in the

country's history,

protesters stormed the

army headquarters

(GHQ) in Rawalpindi and

also torched the historic

Corps Commander's

House in Lahore.

On Wednesday the

Islamabad High Court

granted Khan a bail

extension until May 31.

The government has

declared that people

accused of attacking

army installations

during the violence

would be tried in

military courts and

attacks on the army

would tantamount to

sedition.

At: FreePressJournal, Reuters

May 16, The Gujarat High

Court (HC) reversed the

promotion of 40 judicial

officers but maintained

those of 21 others. The

decision followed the

Supreme Court's stay on

the promotion of officials

for failing to adhere to a

merit-cum-seniority

principle. Surat’s Chief

Judicial Magistrate HH

Varma who convicted

Congress leader Rahul

Gandhi in a defamation

case stands promoted. AM

May 15, Elon Musk

chose advertising head

of NBCUniversal, Linda

Yaccarino, to succeed

him as CEO of Twitter.

She uses the handle

@LindaYacc on Twitter.

At: TribuneIndia

Linda Yaccarino is

Twitter’s new CEO

Earlier the UP High

Court had ordered the

determination of the

age of the Shivling like

structure found in the

complex. At: DeviD Image: NC

Amit Shah-Manipur’s integrity

will not be compromised