The Evening Wrap: Union Cabinet reshuffle likely this week

The long anticipated reshuffle and expansion of the Union Cabinet is likely to take place this week, according to highly placed sources. The expansion, with 24 slots to fill and multiple ministries held by a single minister to be decoupled, has been talked about for a while now. The reshuffle is most likely to be announced either on July 7 or July 9. Several shoo-ins in the Union Cabinet — a leader from north-central India who is owed a ministerial berth as a political quid pro quo, and a leader from eastern India — have both cancelled their travel plans and have been asked to be in Delhi on those dates. Sources in the BJP said the Cabinet expansion will also affect the organisational appointments in the party as a senior general secretary of the BJP is expected to get a Cabinet berth. Government sources were largely mum but did say that inductions will be taking into account needs of States going to the polls in next year, including from Uttar Pradesh, where NDA ally Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal is likely to be inducted. "Multiple ministries are currently being handled by one minister or other — there are four such clusters of ministries that need to be redistributed and the Cabinet reshuffle exercise is likely to address that issue," said a source. According to the Constitution, the number of ministers in the Union council of ministers cannot exceed more than 15% of total Lok Sabha MPs. This puts the number of ministerial slots empty as of now at 24 — a sizeable number. Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fill the slots in one go or just restrict it to some necessary inclusions like that of Jyotiraditya Scindia who joined the BJP last year and helped topple the Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government, is yet to be seen. As of now Scindia and former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who gave way to Himanta Biswa Sarma after his government was voted back to power in Assam seem to be the strongest candidates in the list of inclusions. Release all 15 Bhima Koragaon case co-accused pending trial: UNHR chief All 15 co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case should be released pending trial, said the United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday, as she expressed concern over the death of 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal activist Stan Swamy in custody. The statement from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which follows similar concerns from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the European Union (E.U.) Human Rights Chief on Monday, said Bachelet was 'disturbed' and 'saddened' by the news of Swamy's death, and called on the Indian government "to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association". "High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and the U.N.'s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Father Stan and 15 other human rights defenders associated with the same events with the government of India over the past three years and urged their release from pre-trial detention," said the statement issued by the OHCHR spokesperson. "The High Commissioner has also raised concerns over the use of the UAPA in relation to human rights defenders, a law Father Stan was challenging before Indian courts days before he died," the rights agency said, making a particular mention of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), that allows authorities to detain suspects without charging them, and allows courts to hold them without bail. "In light of the continued, severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is even more urgent that States, including India, release every person detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views. This would be in line with the Indian judiciary's calls to decongest the prisons," the OHCHR statement said. Several international human rights agencies have expressed concern over the custodial death of Swamy and his treatment at the Taloja Jail, where he was kept despite suffering from the debilitating Parkinson's disease, and was shifted to hospital only on May 29 this year. His interim bail hearing was in progress in the Bombay High Court on Monday when news of his death was announced. Opposition writes to President seeking accountability for Stan Swamy's death Ten Opposition parties have urged President Ramnath Kovind to act against those responsible for foisting "false cases" on human rights activist Fr. Stan Swamy for his continued detention in jail and alleged inhuman treatment resulting in his death. The signatories to a letter to the President include Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader Deve Gowda, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, his West Bengal and Jharkhand counterparts Mamata Banerjee and Hemant Soren respectively, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, NC leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his CPI counterpart D. Raja. The Opposition parties said they were writing to express their "deep anguish" and to express "intense grief" and "outrage" at the death of Fr. Swamy, who was jailed last October under the UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act] in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest was working with Adivasis in Jharkhand. The Opposition pointed out that he was denied treatment for his various ailments, including Parkinson's. It was only after a nationwide campaign was conducted that even a sipper to drink liquids was made available to him in jail, they said. Numerous appeals made to shift him out of the overcrowded Taloja jail that had seen a huge rise in Covid-19 cases were not heard and his bail plea too was rejected. It was only on the intervention of the Bombay High Court that he was admitted to a private hospital, where his condition started deteriorating after he contracted Covid-19. And this step came too late, the Opposition alleged. "We are urging your immediate intervention as the President of India to direct 'your government' to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on him, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment. They must be held accountable," the letter said. The Opposition parties urged the government to release forthwith all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenues under 'politically motivated' cases "misusing draconian laws like UAPA and Sedition". Delhi HC gives Twitter two days to come up with timeline for appointing Grievance Officer The Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave two days' time to Twitter to come up with a specific timeline for appointing a Grievance Officer in compliance with India's new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021. "It's been more than two weeks...If the interim Grievance Officer ran away on June 21, the least Twitter was expected to do was to appoint a fresh officer in these 14 days before the matter came up today," Justice Rekha Palli remarked. Twitter admitted that it was currently not in compliance with the 2021 IT Rules as it was in the process of appointing its Grievance Officer and the Nodal Officer. "How long does the process of appointing a Grievance Officer take? If Twitter thinks it can take as much time as it wants in our country, I will not permit that," Justice Palli cautioned the micro-blogging site. Justice Palli directed Twitter's counsel to come up with a clear picture of the compliance timeline by July 8, the next date of hearing. "Otherwise you [Twitter] are in trouble," the judge warned. Amarinder meets Sonia amid infighting in Punjab Congress, says her decisions will be acceptable Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence here amid infighting in the state unit, and said whatever decisions she takes on changes in the organisation and the government will be acceptable to him, PTI reported. The meeting was part of the party leadership's efforts to end factionalism in the poll-bound state. It lasted around 90 minutes and the two leaders discussed governance and political matters. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was present during the meeting, along with senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who headed the party panel set up to resolve the in-fighting in the Punjab Congress. The meeting assumed significance as the party high command has been trying to resolve the internal rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress and there is talk of its revamp, with just months to go for the assembly polls. Congress leader and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, attacking him on issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters. After his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Singh told reporters, "Whatever decision the Congress president takes, we will implement it in Punjab. The decisions taken by the Congress chief on anything -- the party and the government -- will be acceptable." He said the party was all geared up for the assembly elections in the state, slated for early next year. Singh's meeting with Sonia Gandhi came days after Sidhu had met former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. CBSE to make 'surprise' inspections, verify schools' preparation of Class 10, 12 results to ensure there is no bias CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) officials will conduct surprise inspections of the school committees preparing this year's Class 10 and 12 results, and will inspect the Rationale document that is meant to ensure that the mark determination process is being done in an objective manner. CBSE's controller of examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj has written to all regional offices asking them to complete such inspections by July 12. In the letter sent on Tuesday, Dr. Bhardwaj asked senior officers of the CBSE's regional offices to visit schools under their jurisdiction as a "top priority" in order to "verify the work done by the schools" and ensure that the board's result tabulation policy is being "implemented effectively". "In order to have actual information of the result work of the schools, it may be ensured that while visiting the schools, no prior intimation be given to the schools and only sudden inspection is carried out," said the letter. "The official visiting the school may also sign on documents inspected, especially Rationale documents," it added. The CBSE Tabulation Policy for Class 12 marks gives a lot of discretion to school results committees to assign and even revise marks of individual students in order to ensure they align with the school's historical performance. In order to reduce the possibility of bias, each panel must include two external members and also record the justification for all its decisions in a Rationale document, Dr. Bhardwaj had told The Hindu. CBSE officials were being asked to take pictures of all the documents they inspected during their surprise visits and include it in a point-wise report to be submitted to Dr. Bhardwaj by July 12. Schools would be chosen for inspection so that all categories of schools -- government, private, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas -- were covered, said the letter. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,06,49,421 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,03,760. India has registered a decline of 13% in average daily new Covid-19 cases in the last week, said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Health Ministry on Tuesday, adding that "revenge tourism", which is being currently witnessed at India's hill stations where Covid-appropriate behaviour isn't being followed is a dangerous trend. "We have to be careful, responsible and cautious as the second Covid-19 wave is still on in some parts of this large country," warned Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), director general, Balaram Bhargava at a press conference. In Brief: Kashmir-based political parties and civil society groups have accepted the invitation of the J&K Delimitation Commission, headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, and will meet its members during their visit to the Valley on Wednesday. However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), headed by Mehbooba Mufti, has decided to stay away from the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission exercise, saying "there are apprehensions the outcome is pre-planned, it will further result in political disempowerment of J&K's people and is aimed at realising the political vision of a particular political party". Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in June fell to ₹92,849 crore from ₹1.02 lakh crore in May, marking the first time after eight months that indirect tax collections fell below the ₹1 lakh crore mark. While lockdowns aimed at curbing the second Covid-19 wave hit economic activity and moderated GST revenues in June, the Finance Ministry said that these collections were 2% higher than a year ago and will improve from this month. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

The Evening Wrap 06 JULY 2021

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Union Cabinet reshuffle likely this week The long anticipated reshuffle and expansion of the Union Cabinet is likely to take place this week, according to highly placed sources. The expansion, with 24 slots to fill and multiple ministries held by a single minister to be decoupled, has been talked about for a while now. The reshuffle is most likely to be announced either on July 7 or July 9. Several shoo-ins in the Union Cabinet — a leader from north-central India who is owed a ministerial berth as a political quid pro quo, and a leader from eastern India — have both cancelled their travel plans and have been asked to be in Delhi on those dates. Sources in the BJP said the Cabinet expansion will also affect the organisational appointments in the party as a senior general secretary of the BJP is expected to get a Cabinet berth.   Government sources were largely mum but did say that inductions will be taking into account needs of States going to the polls in next year, including from Uttar Pradesh, where NDA ally Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal is likely to be inducted. "Multiple ministries are currently being handled by one minister or other — there are four such clusters of ministries that need to be redistributed and the Cabinet reshuffle exercise is likely to address that issue," said a source. According to the Constitution, the number of ministers in the Union council of ministers cannot exceed more than 15% of total Lok Sabha MPs. This puts the number of ministerial slots empty as of now at 24 — a sizeable number. Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fill the slots in one go or just restrict it to some necessary inclusions like that of Jyotiraditya Scindia who joined the BJP last year and helped topple the Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government, is yet to be seen. As of now Scindia and former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who gave way to Himanta Biswa Sarma after his government was voted back to power in Assam seem to be the strongest candidates in the list of inclusions. Release all 15 Bhima Koragaon case co-accused pending trial: UNHR chief All 15 co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case should be released pending trial, said the United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday, as she expressed concern over the death of 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal activist Stan Swamy in custody. The statement from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which follows similar concerns from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the European Union (E.U.) Human Rights Chief on Monday, said Bachelet was 'disturbed' and 'saddened' by the news of Swamy's death, and called on the Indian government "to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association".   "High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and the U.N.'s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Father Stan and 15 other human rights defenders associated with the same events with the government of India over the past three years and urged their release from pre-trial detention," said the statement issued by the OHCHR spokesperson. "The High Commissioner has also raised concerns over the use of the UAPA in relation to human rights defenders, a law Father Stan was challenging before Indian courts days before he died," the rights agency said, making a particular mention of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), that allows authorities to detain suspects without charging them, and allows courts to hold them without bail. "In light of the continued, severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is even more urgent that States, including India, release every person detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views. This would be in line with the Indian judiciary's calls to decongest the prisons," the OHCHR statement said. Several international human rights agencies have expressed concern over the custodial death of Swamy and his treatment at the Taloja Jail, where he was kept despite suffering from the debilitating Parkinson's disease, and was shifted to hospital only on May 29 this year. His interim bail hearing was in progress in the Bombay High Court on Monday when news of his death was announced. Opposition writes to President seeking accountability for Stan Swamy's death Ten Opposition parties have urged President Ramnath Kovind to act against those responsible for foisting "false cases" on human rights activist Fr. Stan Swamy for his continued detention in jail and alleged inhuman treatment resulting in his death. The signatories to a letter to the President include Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader Deve Gowda, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, his West Bengal and Jharkhand counterparts Mamata Banerjee and Hemant Soren respectively, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, NC leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his CPI counterpart D. Raja. The Opposition parties said they were writing to express their "deep anguish" and to express "intense grief" and "outrage" at the death of Fr. Swamy, who was jailed last October under the UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act] in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest was working with Adivasis in Jharkhand. The Opposition pointed out that he was denied treatment for his various ailments, including Parkinson's. It was only after a nationwide campaign was conducted that even a sipper to drink liquids was made available to him in jail, they said. Numerous appeals made to shift him out of the overcrowded Taloja jail that had seen a huge rise in Covid-19 cases were not heard and his bail plea too was rejected. It was only on the intervention of the Bombay High Court that he was admitted to a private hospital, where his condition started deteriorating after he contracted Covid-19. And this step came too late, the Opposition alleged. "We are urging your immediate intervention as the President of India to direct 'your government' to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on him, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment. They must be held accountable," the letter said. The Opposition parties urged the government to release forthwith all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenues under 'politically motivated' cases "misusing draconian laws like UAPA and Sedition". Delhi HC gives Twitter two days to come up with timeline for appointing Grievance Officer The Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave two days' time to Twitter to come up with a specific timeline for appointing a Grievance Officer in compliance with India's new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021. "It's been more than two weeks...If the interim Grievance Officer ran away on June 21, the least Twitter was expected to do was to appoint a fresh officer in these 14 days before the matter came up today," Justice Rekha Palli remarked. Twitter admitted that it was currently not in compliance with the 2021 IT Rules as it was in the process of appointing its Grievance Officer and the Nodal Officer. "How long does the process of appointing a Grievance Officer take? If Twitter thinks it can take as much time as it wants in our country, I will not permit that," Justice Palli cautioned the micro-blogging site. Justice Palli directed Twitter's counsel to come up with a clear picture of the compliance timeline by July 8, the next date of hearing. "Otherwise you [Twitter] are in trouble," the judge warned. Amarinder meets Sonia amid infighting in Punjab Congress, says her decisions will be acceptable Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence here amid infighting in the state unit, and said whatever decisions she takes on changes in the organisation and the government will be acceptable to him, PTI reported. The meeting was part of the party leadership's efforts to end factionalism in the poll-bound state. It lasted around 90 minutes and the two leaders discussed governance and political matters. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was present during the meeting, along with senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who headed the party panel set up to resolve the in-fighting in the Punjab Congress. The meeting assumed significance as the party high command has been trying to resolve the internal rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress and there is talk of its revamp, with just months to go for the assembly polls. Congress leader and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, attacking him on issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters. After his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Singh told reporters, "Whatever decision the Congress president takes, we will implement it in Punjab. The decisions taken by the Congress chief on anything -- the party and the government -- will be acceptable." He said the party was all geared up for the assembly elections in the state, slated for early next year. Singh's meeting with Sonia Gandhi came days after Sidhu had met former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. CBSE to make 'surprise' inspections, verify schools' preparation of Class 10, 12 results to ensure there is no bias CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) officials will conduct surprise inspections of the school committees preparing this year's Class 10 and 12 results, and will inspect the Rationale document that is meant to ensure that the mark determination process is being done in an objective manner. CBSE's controller of examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj has written to all regional offices asking them to complete such inspections by July 12. In the letter sent on Tuesday, Dr. Bhardwaj asked senior officers of the CBSE's regional offices to visit schools under their jurisdiction as a "top priority" in order to "verify the work done by the schools" and ensure that the board's result tabulation policy is being "implemented effectively". "In order to have actual information of the result work of the schools, it may be ensured that while visiting the schools, no prior intimation be given to the schools and only sudden inspection is carried out," said the letter. "The official visiting the school may also sign on documents inspected, especially Rationale documents," it added. The CBSE Tabulation Policy for Class 12 marks gives a lot of discretion to school results committees to assign and even revise marks of individual students in order to ensure they align with the school's historical performance. In order to reduce the possibility of bias, each panel must include two external members and also record the justification for all its decisions in a Rationale document, Dr. Bhardwaj had told The Hindu. CBSE officials were being asked to take pictures of all the documents they inspected during their surprise visits and include it in a point-wise report to be submitted to Dr. Bhardwaj by July 12. Schools would be chosen for inspection so that all categories of schools -- government, private, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas -- were covered, said the letter. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,06,49,421 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,03,760. India has registered a decline of 13% in average daily new Covid-19 cases in the last week, said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Health Ministry on Tuesday, adding that "revenge tourism", which is being currently witnessed at India's hill stations where Covid-appropriate behaviour isn't being followed is a dangerous trend. "We have to be careful, responsible and cautious as the second Covid-19 wave is still on in some parts of this large country," warned Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), director general, Balaram Bhargava at a press conference. In Brief: Kashmir-based political parties and civil society groups have accepted the invitation of the J&K Delimitation Commission, headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, and will meet its members during their visit to the Valley on Wednesday. However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), headed by Mehbooba Mufti, has decided to stay away from the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission exercise, saying "there are apprehensions the outcome is pre-planned, it will further result in political disempowerment of J&K's people and is aimed at realising the political vision of a particular political party". Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in June fell to ₹92,849 crore from ₹1.02 lakh crore in May, marking the first time after eight months that indirect tax collections fell below the ₹1 lakh crore mark. While lockdowns aimed at curbing the second Covid-19 wave hit economic activity and moderated GST revenues in June, the Finance Ministry said that these collections were 2% higher than a year ago and will improve from this month. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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