Supreme Court upholds Section 377 criminalizing gay sex

The high court ruling was strongly opposed by religious groups, particularly leaders of India’s Muslim and Christian communities, who argued that all homosexual acts were unnatural.New Delhi: In a big blow to gay rights in India, the Supreme Court upheld a law criminalizing homosexual sex on Wednesday, setting aside a landmark Delhi high court decision in 2009 which had overturned the colonial-era ban.A two-judge bench ruled that the courts should not intervene and that it was up to Parliament to legislate on the issue. “It is up to Parliament to legislate on this issue,” justice G.S. Singhvi, the head of the two-member bench, said in the ruling.A two-judge bench rul

In recent years, however, the country’s gay community has raised its profile, organizing gay pride marches in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, which activists say have helped create awareness and encouraged many to come out of the closet.

ed that the courts should not intervene and that it was up to Parliament to legislate on the issue. “It is up to Parliament to legislate on this issue,” justice G.S. Singhvi, the head of the two-member bench, said in the ruling.

The high court ruling was strongly opposed by religious groups, particularly leaders of India’s Muslim and Christian communities, who argued that all homosexual acts were unnatural.

They appealed the ruling to the apex court, which concluded hearings in March last year on the subject. Significantly, the government had not appealed against the high court verdict.

Gay sex has long been a taboo subject in conservative India, where homophobic tendencies abound with slapstick portrayals of same-sex couples and with many still regarding homosexuality as an illness.

 

pratima kumari

pgdm 1st sem

Vote on account in January, polls may be in March-April

NEW DELHI: The fractious 15th Lok Sabha, marked by UPA-opposition clashes over cases of corruption in high places like 2G, Commonwealth Games and Coalgate, will meet for the last time in mid or end-January to pass a vote on account, clearing the way for Lok Sabha elections by late March or early April.

Sources said the government is planning to take the vote on account next month, with January 13-17 being seen as a likely window. Polls can be held by late March or early April. The 2004 and 2009, elections were held between mid-April and mid-May.

The move to be done with the vote on account and set the stage for the next Lok Sabha polls comes in the backdrop of an increasingly dysfunctional Parliament and feverish lobbying for a no-trust motion submitted by six Congress MPs.

A sense of uncertainty and the perception that Congress's rout in four north Indian states has left the embattled Manmohan Singh government further enfeebled, encouraging the Seemandhra MPs to defy the party authority.

The assembly poll results rattled Congress and a review meeting on Monday saw functionaries point to high inflation — seen to be the Centre's failing — as an important reason for the debacle. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have agreed with the assessment

The no-confidence motion could not be taken up by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar due to lack of order in the House, but it continued to be intensely discussed with political parties weighing the merits of supporting the motion.

While Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee ruled out supporting the no-confidence move, Biju Janata Dal's 14 MPs will support the motion when the admission of the motion is considered.

As of now, the motion does not have the backing of 50 MPs that are required to rise in support when the Speaker seeks the opinion of the House and Congress managers are going all out to ensure that the move fizzles out.

While the motion has been submitted by Congress MPs, TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu contacted Opposition leaders like Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy also met several leaders, including Banerjee, to seek support for the no-trust motion submitted by Congress MPs from the non-Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

Banerjee told Reddy she did not see merit in a no-confidence motion as Congress would survive the vote with the support of outside allies like SP and BSP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati who have always bailed out the UPA.

Reddy did manage to get Yadav to submit an adjournment motion on Telangana on Tuesday but most leaders do not believe the SP chief will back a no-trust, particularly after the Muzaffarnagar riots.

Given reports of intense polarization on religious lines in western UP and BJP leader Narendra Modi's forays into Uttar Pradesh, the SP boss is unlikely to attract the charge that he weakened "secular forces" at the Centre.

But though the government is not considering curtailing the winter session, it seems clear that not much business is likely to be transacted going by current trends. The final session of the current Lok Sabha is likely to be convened ahead of the usual mid-February date so that elections can be called any time thereafter.

The 2009 Lok Sabha elections were held from April 16 to May 13 and the results were declared on May 16. In 2004, the results were declared on May 13 after elections were held from April 20 to May 10.

Government floor managers have so far been unable to persuade the Congress MPs who submitted the motion for a no-trust vote to withdraw their initiative. The MPs, driven by constituency concerns, have also been encouraged by the uncertainty and flux following the assembly polls.

MD NAUSHAD ALAM

PDGM 1 SEM.

7 things that ruin a perfectly fine relationship

From obsessing over your career to being the self-appointed change-maker in his life, you might be driving him to call it quits

There are dos and don'ts in a relationship. If you are finding the latter list of conventions more common in your behaviour, then you are most likely to meet a dead-end with your happily-everafter dream soon. Don't ruin your perfectly fine relationship with these repugnant ways.
Stop nitpicking This is the first relationship red flag. If you pick holes about everything from what he wears to how he speaks, bear in mind nobody wants to be around a nag, and not if she is a girlfriend, for sure. You will give him the impression that he winds you up more than soothes your nerves. You may argue that he is nice, but doesn't meet the criterion of the perfect guy you always dreamt of being with. That surely doesn't give you the licence to be the change maker in his life. Preventing him from hanging out with his crazy friends, or stopping his videogame sessions in an attempt to stabilise him will one day get the better of your relationship. We suggest, give him some space and enjoy yours.
Get a life So, your job is important to you. Good for you. However, don't let your business become the centre of all the conversation that you have with your man, unless you're facing a crisis at work and you want him to hear you out. Calling off dinner dates, being on a work call and attending to your mails while you are with your partner is extremely disrespectful. It shows that you probably are having a relationship with your job than with your guy. Relax, once you are through with the day's work, switch off. Enjoy your time with your man and maintain the sanity of your relationship.
Hold your horses It has been a while since the two of you are dating, and you have been waiting for him to propose marriage since the day you met him. Then, you would probably be waiting for the rest of your life. Hold your horses. Learn to go with the flow. Don't go about introducing him to your parents after the second date, and invite him for family dinners after the third. That said, don't be ambiguous too. If you are serious then let him know, or else let him go. Men can gauge the difference easily when the woman is playing hard to get, or when she is playing mean games.
Don't be silly It is okay to speak to yourself, or tell yourself that you are pretty in front of the mirror every day. But don't expose your eccentricities in front of the potential 'to-be' when you are only just six months into the relationship. You may scare him off for good. Give him the awkward gaze, but save those crazy eyes when you know him a lot better.
Learn to trust The basis of any healthy relationship, besides love, is trust. Don't be insecure. If you are constantly wondering whom he is with or speaking to, then you, perhaps, need a reality check. Walking on thin ice is unhealthy, and not when there are feelings involved. At that rate, you will reach the shrink before you make it to the marriage registrar's office.
Stop venting Your boss hates you, your friends envy you, your mum doesn't listen to you, you are fat, and your world is as crappy as it gets. Too bad, learn to deal with it. But don't make your partner your vent hole. No guy wants to sit with a girl and hear how round her tummy is. People want to be around happy and optimistic kinds, not someone who whinges the entire day. Before you know it, your guy will be complaining about you to his folks. And even before you realise, he probably has become the reason you are whining to others about. Stop playing the Moaning Myrtle. Occasionally, give him a patient ear too.
Move on If you are in love with someone else, then you certainly cannot give your new relationship all that it takes. Should you find yourself in a situation like this, step back and reason out. Make it clear to your partner that you are not just that into him. Better to let him go, than cling on to someone only to make yourself feel secure and wanted. It is not fair to your partner. Be true to yourself and your feelings. Move on, and allow him too.PRASHANT SHARMA                                                                                                                               PGDM-I                                                                                                                                                      SOURCE-TOI

Sumit Bose to be the new finance secretary

 

New Delhi: Revenue secretary Sumit Bose, an IAS officer of 1976 batch, will be the new finance secretary. 

 

“Sumit Bose, IAS, secretary, department of revenue, ministry of finance, designated as finance secretary,” said an official release on appointments cleared by the appointments committee of cabinet (ACC). 

 

Bose, a Madhya Pradesh cadre officer, is the senior most secretary in the finance ministry.

Arvind Mayaram (economic affairs) and Ratan P. Watal (expenditure) are the other two secretaries. ACC also upgraded V.R. Sadasivam as the additional secretary (finance) in the department of atomic energy. 

 

The post of the finance secretary fell vacant after R.S. Gujral, who was also looking after the expenditure department, retired last month. Watal took over as secretary in the expenditure department.

 

The Ministry of Finance is composed of five departments: the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Expenditure, the Department of Financial Services and Department of Disinvestment. Each of the departments is headed by a secretary. Each of the five secretaries directly reports to the finance minister.

The "Finance Secretary" (FS) is a tag given to one of the five secretaries. It only denotes a first among equals. The other four secretaries do not report to the FS; their files do not flow through him.
By default, the FS tends to be the senior most of the five, where seniority is defined by the year of entry into the civil service and not age. Sometimes, none of the five is labelled FS.



Most finance secretaries have been members of the Indian Administrative Service or IAS, but some of them have been career economists. The last finance secretary of India was Mr. Arun Ramanathan, an IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu Cadre. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Duvvuri Subba Rao, Bimal Jalan and Vijay Kelkar are some of the best known finance secretaries.



Edmund James Sinkinson BCS LLD born Kendal, UK, 16 July 1849, was Financial Secretary to the Government of India. He died at Darjeeling 1 Jan 1891 (see memorial window in Kendal Parish Church).

Rahul kumar Gupta

PGDM,1st Year.

Source:-Mint

AAP ready to offer ‘issue-based’ support to BJP, says Prashant Bhushan

New Delhi: Suspense over government formation has continued in Delhi ever since the assembly polls delivered a fractured mandate, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hinting that it could favour the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if its ‘demands are met’.

The BJP, which hoped to return to power in Delhi after being in the opposition for 15 long years, has called a meeting of its legislators Tuesday.

The one-year-old AAP continued its stance and categorically said it would prefer to be in the opposition or face the electorate again — if that would bring a clear result. AAP leaders like Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal said they would prefer a re-election than to side with either the Congress or the BJP and helm together an uncertain coalition. But later in the evening senior leader Prashant Bhushan showed what could be interpreted as a thaw in the party’s cold-shouldered-approach to its opponents.

Bhushan was quoted by reports as saying, "If the BJP agrees to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill by December 29 and set up jan sabhas and other things in Delhi as promised by the Aam Aadmi Party.....and is willing to give this to us in writing, then we may consider supporting the party."

Bhushan however followed this up quickly by saying this was his 'personal' view that was yet to be vetted by his party.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Dharmendra Koli accused of molestation, rioting

One in favour of an AAP-BJP alliance, activist and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, said the Delhi verdict was against the Congress and people had voted both for the BJP and the AAP. And so, the two parties should explore the possibility of forming a government on the basis of a common minimum programme, she suggested.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan however hadn’t warmed up to the idea until late Monday and said the party did not have the necessary support to form a government — it is four short of a majority (after the Akali Dal candidate's support is taken into consideration) — and he was not interested in talking to any other party.

But the positive hint from AAP failed to elicit any positive response from the BJP as the party’s CM candidate Harsh Vardhan said, “We don't have the numbers in Delhi, so we can't form the government.”

He categorically denied allying with anyone at this point in time and said, "We are not interested in talking to anyone. We are not in talks with anybody, nor are we interested." He also made it clear the BJP would not resort to wooing legislators of other parties.

Former BJP president and party’s Delhi in-charge, Nitin Gadkari, felt the ball was in Lt Governor Najeeb Jung’s court and he was waiting to hear from him. It was the saffron party's responsibility to give a popular government to the people of Delhi, he said, and added, "We will find a solution and try our level best to (form) a government.”

Meanwhile, union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Lt Governor would explore all options of forming a new government. "As of now, the home ministry has no role in it," Shinde told reporters.

The BJP Sunday won 31 seats in the Delhi assembly and has the support of a lone Shiromani Akali Dal member. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 28 seats in its maiden electoral debut. The Congress ended with just eight legislators.

A BJP rebel and a Janata Dal-United candidate also won. The latter has refused to back the BJP.

Outgoing Congress chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who herself lost to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, ruled out joining hands with the greenhorn party. She said the AAP had declared it didn't need any support.

Constitutional experts said convention demanded that Lt. Governor Jung ask the single largest party to try forming a government. If the BJP refused, then AAP could be given a chance, said former Lok Sabha secretary PDT Achary.

SK Sharma, a former secretary in the Delhi assembly, added that the house may be kept under suspended animation or may be dissolved if none of the parties formed a government.

Official sources said if no party is in a position to form a government, Jung would send a report to the home ministry.

They said if Jung suggests imposition of President's rule, the home ministry will move the cabinet which will take an appropriate decision.

If President's rule is imposed in Delhi, all executive powers will vest with the Lt Governor for six months until a new government is formed or a fresh election is held.


AARTI
PGDM III Sem

As Congress weakens, party MPs serve no-trust notice

NEW DELHI: The diminished authority of the Congress leadership in the wake of stunning poll reverses manifested itself on Monday in dramatic fashion with six party MPs submitting notice for a no-trust motion in Lok Sabha in protest over the decision to create Telangana.

The unprecedented move by the ruling party MPs, combined with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's comment attributing Aam Aadmi Party's spectacular debut in Delhi to Congress's "weak leadership" vividly brought out the atmosphere of political uncertainty gnawing at Congress MPs as they came to terms with the magnitude of the debacle as well as to figure out Rahul Gandhi's response to that. The consolation prize from Mizoram on Monday failed to assuage the worries.

The Seemandhra MPs are unlikely to get the support of 50 MPs on the floor of the House. BJP, which has consistently taken a pro-Telangana position, is unlikely to support the motion. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, whose support becomes crucial because of BJP's stand, is also learnt to have asked her MPs not to back the move.

However, the spectacle of its own MPs seeking to bring a no-trust motion embarrassed Congress no end, leading the party leadership to hold a meeting late in the evening to devise ways to quell any potential trouble. The discomfiture was more because of the move of Telangana MPs since it coincided with a jibe from an influential UPA ally, NCP boss Sharad Pawar. The Maratha, who has chaffed at the unilateral ways of Congress, chose his blog to blame the rise of AAP in Delhi on the "weak leadership" of the ruling party.

Though he ran down AAP as a collection of "pseudo-activists" with no connect with ground realities, his scathing assessment of the Congress leadership only served to rub in the humiliation the party was having to endure in the wake of an electoral mauling which has been ascribed by many to BJP, among other things, capitalizing on the "strong leadership" of its PM candidate Narendra Modi.

The palpable unease was aggravated because of the vagueness about who will hold the reins of the party when it has to deal with the challenge of Modi. Leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia have reacted to the rout by demanding that Rahul be declared the PM candidate. While Rahul seems to be the logical choice, there is no clarity on when the party would formally anoint him as its answer to Modi. Congress president Sonia Gandhi's statement, in response to a question, on Sunday that the party would take a call on the leadership issue at an "opportune moment" did not lift the veil on whether the announcement would be made before elections.

More important, to many partymen, Rahul's projection, irrespective of when it is done, could be fraught with the risk of upsetting the organizational applecart close to elections. The Congress vice-president, who has for all practical purposes taken charge of the party, has caused tremendous concern to his colleagues by openly expressing disdain for the way the party has been conducted. His remark on Sunday that he wants to carry on aggressively with his plan to transform the party and would take a few leaves from Arvind Kejriwal's script towards that end, only increased the concern about what this restructuring might entail.

Party leaders don't dispute the need for refashioning the party. Their concern is about the timing, with many holding that the fast approaching elections leave too small a window for the ambitious experiment that Rahul seems to fancy. Rahul's ways -- he alternately comes off as aloof and warm to his colleagues -- have contributed to the tension which have escalated considerably since the reports of the debacle came in.

Party sources agreed with the assessment that the defeat has reduced the government to a lame duck. There is little likelihood of Parliament functioning meaningfully as Tuesday is expected to witness major disruptions over the Telangana issue with Congress, TDP and YSR Congress planning to blockade proceedings.

A senior minister from an allied party said he did not expect the main opposition BJP to cooperate on any significant piece of legislation. He did not think the saffron outfit would be pleased if the Telangana bill was stalled as BJP has little reason to help Congress gain an upper hand on 17 Lok Sabha seats in the proposed state.

Similarly, the fate of the controversial communal violence bill seems all but sealed as there is no support for it not only from the BJP but most other regional parties like AIADMK, BJD and Trinamool Congress.

Congress MPs who submitted the notice on Telangana include L Rajgopal, V Aruna Kumar, Sai Pratap, Sabbam Hari, Harsha Kumar and R S Rao.

Congress managers did not see the proposed no-trust as a mere gimmick and pointed out that YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy was also planning an adjournment motion on Telangana, to be submitted by a party MP on Tuesday.

"We would like to see how Congress reacts to its own MPs wanting to move a no confidence motion against the party," Jagan said.

Jagan met leaders of other parties like BJD, Shiv Sena and AIADMK seek support for the adjournment motion. TDP MPs also submitted notice for a no-trust motion.
   ONIKA JAISWAL

PGDM 1ST YEAR 

2013-15

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IIT Kharagpur basks in alumnus Kejriwal’s glory

KOLKATA: At IIT Kharagpur, all eyes were on Ritesh Singh on Monday. The MTech student of computer science and engineering was surrounded by friends and swamped with congratulatory messages from those away from the campus due to the winter break. The campus had been celebrating since Sunday afternoon. Students donning Kejriwal-like caps came out in large numbers and engaged in animated conversations throughout the day. Ritesh has been an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) insider for the past one year, the only one on the campus. And AAP leader Arvind Kejrwal is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, being a mechanical engineering BTech of the 1989 batch However, not many on the campus showed interest in him at till the Delhi assembly election results started tumbling in on Sunday. "The Delhi elections were an acid test," Singh said. "The central party leadership had asked all of us to lie low till the results were declared. Now that we've been able to prove our point, we'll get instructions about the next course of action. Kolkata already has 3,000-plus enrolled AAP members who too are waiting, just like me, for the future course of action." Singh said Kejriwal is due to visit the city towards mid-January. "There are some cities like Mumbai where AAP already has some popular leaders like Anjali Daman and Mayank Gandhi," he said. "In Kolkata such leadership needs to emerge. Before the Delhi polls we were told never to discuss local issues elsewhere in the country. We were told that the local issues experiment is totally targeted for the Delhi polls." To celebrate AAP's success, the IIT Kharagpur community has floated three Facebook pages, which have already been filled with hundreds of congratulatory messages from students present and past. One page has been floated by the IIT Kharagpur alumni cell. A web poster designed by it — congratulating Kejriwal — has gone viral among the community. The other two pages, iitkgpaap and aamaadmikgp, have also seen fast and furious interaction since Sunday.

One message read: "Never underestimate power of a common man. Feeling proud being a small part of this political revolution....Congrats to all Kgp janta."

Photographs of students donning Kejriwal-like topis and celebrating were also posted on Facebook by IIT Kharagpur students. "It seems that AAP is the only solution to India's problems. We hope all the bright and promising students of the campus join the party because only they and not traditional politicians can make it to AAP," said Atal Ashutosh, a student who has already joined hands with Singh.

Though the faculty members could not openly flaunt their admiration for Kejriwal because their job does not permit it, many apparently discussed him through the day. Shankar Shome, the seniormost faculty member and Kejriwal's former teacher, said: "Indeed, he has made us proud. He has chosen the less-trodden path of social service and has my best wishes." Singh had opted out of placements last year so he could spend time in New Delhi and get to know the central AAP leadership. After his formal association was cemented, he returned to the IIT Kharagpur campus and enrolled for the MTech programme. As a national executive of the party, his job was initially to monitor the online portal of the party and design posters. His job now is to sensitise people about the principles of AAP   AKANKSHA SHANU  PGDM 1st SEM.