Rush Hour: X says India ordered blocking of Reuters handles, Bihar alters women's quota rules & more
Social media platform X said on Tuesday that the Indian government earlier this month directed it to block 2,355 accounts, including two handles of the Reuters news agency, in the country. Hours later, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology stated that it had not 'issued any fresh blocking order' and 'has no intention to block any prominent international news channels'.
X has stated that the Indian government asked it to block the accounts on July 3 'within hours'. The accounts of Reuters were blocked on the evening of July 5. 'After public outcry, the government requested X to unblock @Reuters and @ReutersWorld,' claimed the platform. 'We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders.'
X stated that it was limited by India's law in its ability to legally challenge orders to block accounts. 'We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts,' it added. Read on.
The Bihar Cabinet has made domicile status mandatory for candidates to avail of the 35% reservation granted to women in state government jobs. Until now, even those who are not residents of the state could also be beneficiaries of the quota.
The state government also announced the formation of a Bihar Youth Commission, a statutory body aimed at providing employment opportunities to the state's residents.
The decisions come ahead of the Assembly elections expected to be held in Bihar in October or November. Read on
Meat shops in Delhi will stay closed during the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra has said. In Uttar Pradesh too, Chief Minister Adityanath has directed officials to ensure that no meat is sold along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state.
'Most of these meat shops are illegal anyway and should not be operating as per law,' Mishra told reporters. 'But during the Kanwar Yatra, they will be especially kept shut.'
During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states. They mainly come from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The pilgrimage will take place between July 11 and July 23 this year. Read on
Two human rights organisations have alleged that Muslim residents of several villages in Maharashtra's Pune district were forced to flee their homes and shut businesses in the past two months amid boycott calls by 'majoritarian forces'.
The People's Union for Civil Liberties and the Association for Protection of Civil Rights have urged the Pune divisional commissioner to act against those creating a 'sense of insecurity' in Paud, Pirangut, Kolvan, Suatarwadi and the surrounding villages of Mulsi taluk.
The two groups had conducted a fact-finding exercise in the district on July 2 after reports emerged that residents of the villages were told 'not to allow any Muslim to work or employ him/her in any business or profession or allow them to stay as a tenant'. This came after a Muslim boy allegedly desecrated an idol of the Hindu deity Annapurna in Paud village on May 2, the groups said. Read on
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Hindustan Times
17 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
What is blood money and can it save Nimisha Priya from execution in Yemen?
The clock is ticking for Indian-origin nurse Nimishi Priya, who has been sentenced to death in Yemen for allegedly killing a Yemeni national. Nimisha Priya has been lodged in a jail in Yemen's capital city of Sana'a since 2017, when she was convicted of the Yemeni national's murder. (File Photo) Priya was sentenced to death in 2018 for the alleged murder of her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Yemen's President Rashad al-Alimi had given the nod for her execution in January this year. As Priya's family and the Indian government looked for options to save the Kerala native, the Islamic Sharia law presents one option that could get her death sentence cancelled - 'blood money' also known as 'diya'. What is blood money? Can it save Nimisha Priya? Under the Islamic Sharia law, blood money or 'diya' means that the accused provides financial compensation to the family of the victim in serious crimes such as murder. The law notes that murder is of two types: by intent, and the other is by mistake. The Sharia law states that the punishment for murder by intent is death or any other punishment proportionate to the nature of the crime. "But if it is not a willful murder but a murder by mistake, the punishment according to verse (4:92) is ransom money (blood money). But if a remission is made by the heirs of the slain out of their own goodwill, they are allowed to do so. In such a case, it is incumbent on the murderer to abide by what has been settled and pay it in a commendable manner," it reads. The option of blood money in this case gains significance as Yemen is a country that follows the Islamic Sharia law. The system of blood money leaves the fate of the offender in the hands of the victim's family. The Sharia law does not state a fixed amount for 'diya'. However, it can be negotiated by the victim's family. In the Quran, Islam's central religious text, Surah Al-Baqarah (2:178) says on 'diya': "O believers! The law of retaliation is set for you in cases of murder—a free man for a free man, a slave for a slave, and a female for a female. But if the offender is pardoned by the victim's guardian, then blood-money should be decided fairly and payment should be made courteously. This is a concession and a mercy from your Lord. But whoever transgresses after that will suffer a painful punishment." The payment of the blood money or 'diya' might prevent the execution of Nimisha Priya. Nimisha Priya's family The family of the nurse from Kerala's Palakkad have been struggling to save her, and had earlier also agreed to pay the blood money. They have been trying to negotiate with the victim, Talal Abdo Mahdi's family, to save Nimisha Priya from the death sentence. Her husband, Tomy Thomas, a daily wage labourer and driver, has reportedly been forced to send their daughter, a Class 7 student, to a hostel due to financial limitations. The family is carrying the weight of a ₹60 lakh debt, which it took in 2015 to help Priya set up a clinic in Yemen, which was shut down in 2017. Priya's mother, Premakumari, had also travelled to Yemen last year as part of the efforts to secure her release from the Yemeni prison. The 38-year-old nurse is currently lodged in a jail in Yemen's capital city of Sana'a, a region controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis. ALSO READ | Indian nurse Nimisha Priya faces execution on July 16: How Yemen civil war impacts her chances Earlier this week, news agency PTI reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that India is engaged in efforts to halt the execution of Nimish Priya. A government source reportedly told PTI, "We have been closely following the matter since then. We have been in regular touch with local authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance. We continue to closely follow the matter." New Delhi is reportedly undertaking efforts to prevent Priya's execution. However, it is encountering certain complications as the Indian side does not have any formal contacts with the Houthi rebels. SC to hear plea to save Nimisha Priya The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear a plea seeking a direction to the central government to engage diplomatic channels to save Nimisha Priya, who is set to be executed in Yemen on July 16. ALSO READ | Hectic efforts on to prevent execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen on July 16 A top court bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi listed the matter for hearing on July 10 after advocate Subhash Chandran KR said diplomatic channels needed to be explored as soon as possible. He also submitted before the SC that payment of blood money to Mahdi's family, according to the Sharia law, can also be explored. "Save Nimisha Priya - International Action Council", an organisation which extends legal support to assist the Indian-origin nurse, has filed the plea in the apex court.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Sensex, Nifty fall as IT stocks drag down market ahead of TCS Q1 results
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NDTV
19 minutes ago
- NDTV
Madhya Pradesh Minister vs Congress Over NDTV Report On Unclaimed Bodies
Bhopal: After NDTV's investigation revealed the chilling neglect of unclaimed bodies in Madhya Pradesh - buried in shallow pits, dragged like trash, sometimes gnawed by stray dogs - the political reaction has been swift, polarised, and charged with emotion. While the state's Social Justice Minister, Narayan Singh Kushwah, insisted that all procedures are being followed "as per the rules," senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh lashed out at the Shivraj-Mohan Yadav government, calling the revelations "a humanitarian disaster" and "a betrayal even in death." "Rules Are Being Followed," Says Minister Speaking to NDTV, Narayan Singh Kushwah, Minister for Social Justice and Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, said, "Whatever is being done is done as per laid-down norms. Sometimes, even when an unclaimed body is identified, no one comes forward to claim it. In such cases, we proceed according to protocol for cremation or burial." He added that the government offers Rs 3,000 under the Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana for the last rites of the poor, and that religious committees - Hindu or Muslim - are involved to ensure dignified final rites. "In many cases, photographs are taken and records are maintained. If someone is identified post-burial, we still document it properly. The process is systematic. If anyone is found involved in misappropriation - especially regarding kafans (shrouds) - action will be taken." But Digvijaya Singh, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and sitting Rajya Sabha MP, was far from satisfied. He said NDTV's report had exposed a "rotting system that neither values life nor honours death." "This is not mismanagement - this is moral decay. Even the dead are betrayed now. NDTV's report is heartbreaking. This is how neglected the poor are in this state." Slamming the government's "defensive and tone-deaf" response, he said, "You don't need a form to know that a dead body should be cremated or buried with dignity. What you need is conscience - and that is missing from this administration." Mr Singh was particularly furious over NDTV's revelation that free shrouds distributed by the Prerna Seva Trust inside Hamidia Hospital were being stolen and sold on the black market for Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. "Selling kafans - is there anything more disgusting? These people should not only be removed, they should be criminally prosecuted. This is not a scam; this is a sin." The Congress leader said he would be sending a formal letter to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the Chief Secretary, demanding urgent structural reform. "The Rs 3,000 funeral assistance is already in place. What's needed is the delegation of powers to local authorities, simplified processing, and accountability from top to bottom. How many unclaimed bodies come in a year? It's manageable. But no one cares - that's the real problem," he said. While Minister Kushwah maintains that "due process is followed," NDTV's 10-day ground investigation revealed that many unclaimed bodies are buried without religious rites, in shallow 1-ft pits, often stacked over earlier graves, with no official presence during the burial. Former cremation workers told NDTV that dogs and pigs have fed on human remains, and bone piles lie scattered around the Bhadhbhada Vishram Ghat. "This is not a cremation ground. It's a graveyard of shame," Digvijaya Singh said. Senior Congress leader and former union minister Arun Yadav said, "This isn't about caste or religion anymore. The poor have no identity in life, and now, not even in death. NDTV has done what the state should have done - investigate, expose, and demand dignity for all - even the forgotten." The state government has yet to announce any corrective action. Meanwhile, the bodies continue to arrive, the pits remain shallow, and the questions deeper than ever.
