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Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the sub-committee is currently consulting and studying issues as raised in the plea and that no final decision on it has been taken.
New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) A sub-committee set up by the National Commission for Minorities will meet on June 14 to hear all stakeholders in connection with a plea seeking granting of minority status to Hindus in seven states and a Union Territory (UT).
Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the sub-committee is currently consulting and studying issues as raised in the plea and that no final decision on it has been taken. The three member sub-committee, headed by NCM vice president George Kurien, was formed six months ago. BJP leader Ashiwni Upadhyaya had approached the Supreme Court seeking minority status for Hindus in the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir and the UT of Lakshadweep.
The apex court had then asked him to approach the Minority Affairs Ministry and the Commission instead, NCM chairman Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said. “As part of the consultations, the sub-committee will hear petitioner Upadhyaya and other stakeholders. Following hearings, a report is to be submitted to the minority affairs and law ministries,” Rizvi said.
At present, there are six designated minority communities in the country — Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jain and Parsis. Jain community was the last one to be declared minority in January 2014.

The CoI proceedings against Major Gogoi were initiated shortly after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat assured an exemplary punishment if the former was found guilty.
SRINAGAR: A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered against Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi who has courted a fresh controversy after he was arrested from a hotel in Jammu and Kashmir with a woman. The CoI proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi were initiated shortly after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat assured an exemplary punishment if the former was found guilty. The two-member Court of Inquiry panel will probe the matter and recommend what action should be taken against Major Gogoi if he is found guilty of involvement in any unlawful activity.
”A Court of Inquiry against Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi has been ordered. The future course of action will be recommended after completion of the probe, ” army officials were quoted as saying by PTI.
General Rawat had said on Friday said that no officer at any rank in the force will be spared if they have done anything wrong. “If any officer of the Indian Army, at any rank, does anything wrong, appropriate action will be taken against them. If Major Gogoi has done something wrong, I assure you that strict action will be taken against them. And the action will be such that it will set an example for the future,” he said.
Major Gogoi along with the woman was taken to a police station from where he was handed over to his unit.
Police said that at 11 am they got a call from Hotel Grand Mamta about an altercation at the hotel. “A police party was deputed to the hotel and it surfaced that a woman (name withheld) and a man identified as Sameer Ahmed of Budgam had come to see some person,” a police statement said.
“But the hotel reception did not allow them to meet the person. Meanwhile, police reached the spot and got all the persons to the police station.
“Subsequently it was learnt that the woman had come to meet an Army officer. The identity and particulars of the Army officer have been collected by the police.
“The official was handed over to (his) unit after recording their statements. The statement of the woman is also being recorded,” the police said.
Major Gogoi is the same officer who had stirred a row in 2017 after photos had gone viral in which a local was tied to the bonnet of his vehicle in Badgam district to avoid stone pelting incident.

Issues like sensitisation of children through appropriate changes in school curriculum, a media campaign for raising awareness, checking proliferation of pornography materials and online contents would also be addressed, the statement said.
New Delhi: Months after Kathua and Unnao rapes that triggered a countrywide public ire, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday created a new division to deal with all issues of women safety in coordination with relevant ministries, departments and state governments.
The Ministry has appointed a 1993 batch AGMUT cadre officer, Punya Salila Srivastava, as Joint Secretary to head this division that will deal with crimes against women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; crimes against children, elderly persons; anti-trafficking cell; matters relating to prison legislation and prison reforms; all schemes under Nirbhaya Fund; Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network System; and National Crime Records Bureau.
Salila was earlier posted as Education Secretary in the Delhi government and was recently sent on central deputation to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“In order to address offences against women. particularly rape, in a holistic and time-bound manner, the new division would focus to enhance capacity of the existing administrative, investigative, prosecution and judicial machinery, along with appropriate measures for rehabilitation of victims and bringing attitudinal changes in society,” a Home Ministry statement said.
It said the division was considered to create a national mission for the safety of women, with participation of stakeholder ministries and departments, who would undertake specified actions in a time-bound manner.
These included setting up of special Fast Track Courts (FTCs), strengthening of forensic set up and building up of national registry of sexual offenders, appointing additional public prosecutors, and providing appropriate medical and rehabilitation facilities to victims.
Issues like sensitisation of children through appropriate changes in school curriculum, a media campaign for raising awareness, checking proliferation of pornography materials and online contents would also be addressed, the statement said.
The move is a way of the NDA government to convey the message that safety of women is its top priority. The Centre had even promulgated the Criminal Law Ordinance 2018 last month following the kidnapping and murder of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu.
The Ordinance provides for death penalty to rapists of girls aged below 12 years and other stringent penal provisions for rape. It also proposes to set up a National Registry for Sexual offenders, which was recently rolled out by the Home Ministry.
UPA-II had also introduced Criminal Law (amendment) 2013 following the December 2012 gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi.

Punjab has highest population of Dalits in percentage terms. Of party’s tally of 77 MLAs, 33 are SCs and BCs.
Chandigarh : The first note of dissent against the appointment of 28 new law officers has come from within the cabinet of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Technical education and employment generation minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday questioned why the list of 28 law officers engaged by the government on Thursday has no Dalit. Of the 28, one belongs to the backward caste and rest to the general category.
“The Congress is forgetting its ideology and the government its commitments made in the election manifesto,” Channi said.
The minister had sought reservation for Dalits when the Punjab Law Officers (Engagement) Act, 2017, was brought before the cabinet. “It was then agreed that a provision will be made in the Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006, to reserve 30% posts in all government appointments for the SCs. But the bill has not seen the light of the day. It is pending with the department for welfare of SCs and BCs. It is unfortunate that the community is being ignored from all sides,” Channi told HT on Friday.
The minister had expressed resentment in a cabinet meeting even when the first lot of 121 law officers were appointed, saying just five among them were Dalits. He had also led a delegation to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi last month after the cabinet expansion as none of the nine new inductees belonged to the Scheduled Caste or the backward class category.
Punjab has highest population of Dalits in percentage terms. Of party’s tally of 77 MLAs, 33 are SCs and BCs.
To buttress his claim on why Dalit law officers are needed, Channi points to the quota in promotion to SCs promised by the 85th amendment to the Constitution hitting a brick wall in Punjab. “The case was not argued well in the Punjab and Haryana high court by the state law officers. The facts and figures were not put before it. As a result, we lost the case,” he said.
Hailing from the Ravidassia community — the largest sub-caste among Punjab SCs — Channi was appointed leader of the Congress legislature party a year ahead of 2017 assembly polls.
Amritsar West MLA Raj Kumar Verka, who too had met Rahul over no representation to Valmikis in the cabinet, said he will bring the issue of no Dalits among new law officers to the notice of the CM when he (Amarinder) comes to Shahkot for a roadshow on Saturday.

At least 15 people were injured following in a blast that took place in an Indian restaurant in Mississauga city in Canada. The mishap occurred in Bombay Bhel located in Hurontario Street and Eglinton Avenue East at around 10.30 pm on Thursday.
OTTAWA: At least 15 people were injured following in a blast that took place in an Indian restaurant in Mississauga city in Canada. The mishap occurred in Bombay Bhel located in Hurontario Street and Eglinton Avenue East at around 10.30 pm on Thursday.
Three of those hurt have suffered “critical blast injuries” and were taken to a trauma centre in the neighbouring city of Toronto. A Peel Regional Paramedic Services spokesperson told Global News that the restaurant building appeared to be intact, but there was a lot of broken glass.
The cause of the explosion is under probe.

The floor test will bring an end to the 10-day political uncertainty in the state that began after the state gave a fractured mandate in the assembly elections.
BENGALURU: Newly sworn-in Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy will on Friday face a floor test on in the Karnataka Assembly to prove his majority in the House. Confident of having enough numbers on his side, Kumaraswamy said, “I have no tension. I am going to win clearly.” The 58-year-old Kumaraswamy was sworn in at a grand assembly of leaders of non-BJP parties on Thursday.
Before the floor test, Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the House. Karnataka Deputy CM G Parameshwara proposed KR Ramesh Kumar’s name which was seconded by Congress leader Siddaramahaih. The BJP withdrew the nomination of its candidate S Suresh Kumar giving Ramesh Kumar a walkover. Kumaraswamy congratulated Ramesh Kumar and hoped that the next five years pass on peacefully. “We are happy that you have been elected unanimously,” he said.
Yeddyurappa congratulated Ramesh Kumar and said that while they had nominated a member from their party, they decided to withdraw the name and give honour to the chair of the Speaker. “You have an experience as a humble and fair person. The Opposition will cooperate with you in every possible way,” Yeddyurappa said.
Ramesh Kumar is a six-time MLA and has been the Speaker of Karnataka Assembly twice during the HD Deve Gowda and JH Patel governments (1994-99). He was the Health and Family Welfare minister in the previous Congress government of Siddaramaiah. He won from Srinivasapur defeating JDS candidate GK Venkatashivareddy by over 10,500 votes in the recent Assembly elections.
The floor test, which will bring an end to the 10-day political uncertainty in the state that began after the state gave a fractured mandate in the assembly elections, is set to begin shortly. While the Congress has 78 MLAs, Kumaraswamy’s JDS has 37 seats, along with two independent candidates. Kumaraswamy had won from two constituencies.
Ahead of the floor test, Congress Legislative Party met at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single-largest party in the elections with 104 seats but fell short of a majority by 7 seats in the 225-member house. Despite the number crunch, the BJP staked claim to form government and BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister. Governor Vajubhai Vala gave BJP 15 days to prove their majority but the Supreme Court in an interim order cut down the timeframe drastically to 2 days. Within 2 days, Yeddyurappa had to step down from the post after he was unable to prove his majority in the House.
After Yeddyurappa’s resignation, Governor Vajubhai Vala invited Congress-JDS alliance to form government in the state and Kumaraswamy was sworn-in.

Congress Party has appealed to people at large to ‘save democracy’ and make financial donations to it.
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has backed his parties appeal asking people at large for financial contributions, saying that most opposition parties in the country – including his own – are facing ‘a bit of crisis.’
Congress, in a tweet on Thursday, had appealed people to ‘save democracy’ and make financial contributions to the party. Tharoor, a day later, backed the decision to go to people for money and said the party in power mostly always gets maximum political funding. “No doubt that BJP is soaking up most of the political funding, partly because money goes to those who are in power. As a result most of the opposition parties are facing a bit of a crisis – particularly the Congress which has a nationwide presence,” he told news agency ANI.
Moving forward, Tharoor sees crowdfunding as a viable option for both regional as well as national parties. “In Karnataka, while most candidates financed their own campaign, in one case we did crowdfunding effort and it was successful. It can be repeated in general elections,” he said.
It is has been widely known and reported on that while BJP has seen its income rise, Congress coffers have emptied. According to an April report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) – an NGO working for political and electoral reforms in the country, BJP declared an income of Rs 1,034.27 crore to the Election Commission – a rise of Rs 463.41 crore from the previous submission made. The same report noted that Congress has seen its income fall by 14%.
As for regional parties, an ADR report earlier this week outlined that the Samajwadi Party was the richest in terms of assets, followed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Built at a cost of Rs 25 crores, Bangladesh Bhavan is being regarded as symbolic of warm ties between India and Bangladesh.
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina – his Bangladeshi counterpart – inaugurated the Bangladesh Bhavan in Shantiniketan on Friday.
Bangladesh Bhavan showcases the close ties between India and Bangladesh, and has a museum which highlights ties between the two countries, the Liberation War of 1971 and Rabindranath Tagore’s close ties with Bangladesh. “India and Bangladesh are two separate countries, but our interests are connected. Be it culture or public policy, we learn a lot from each other. One such example is Bangladesh Bhavan,” PM Modi said here. “We are constantly working on helping students here and elsewhere in the country. You all have the blessings of Gurudev.”
Built at a cost of Rs 25 crores, Bangladesh Bhavan is being regarded as symbolic of warm ties between India and Bangladesh. In November of last year, a friendship train – Bandhan Express was flagged off by PM Modi and Hasina via video conference and have also worked on sorting out niggling border disputes.

The three accused allegedly travelled from Hyderabad and may have been tasked with handing over the bag to someone in Mumbai.
Mumbai: Three people were arrested from an upmarket Mumbai hotel on Thursday after they were found to be in possession of demonetised notes worth Rs 4.93 crore.
Mumbai Police received a tip-off regarding the possibility of at least three persons from Hyderabad in the city with high-value demonetised notes. Acting on the infromation, cops descended at Hotel Vits in Andheri’s MIDC area and knocked on the door of the room in which the suspects were at. When they got no reply, they forced their way in to discover the three men along with a bag full of cash. The notes inside were in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 – taken off circulation since November of 2016.
The cops have arrested all the three accused and say that they may have been in the city to hand over the cash to someone. It is also suspected that more people may have been involved in the entire operation and that interrogation of the three arrested could reveal further details.
While the three accused would be produced in court on Friday, cops are also trying to investigate who did the notes belong to and who was meant to take custody of it.

The boy was a sixth standard student who used to deliver newspapers in view of his summer vacations.
Hyderabad: A 12-year-old boy died after getting stuck in a lift in an apartment in Hyderabad. The incident took place on Wednesday when the boy who worked for newspaper delivery had entered the elevator to drop newspapers in an apartment complex at Barkatpura.
“It is suspected that after delivering the papers he came down and again went inside the lift from ground floor when he got stuck between the grill door and wall and sustained injuries in the incident and died,” a police official attached to Kachiguda police station said.
A police officer informed that the lift has two doors, one on the outside and a grill inside with a small gap between the two. He said that after closing the grill, the boy came out and then suddenly turned back to enter the lift again by attempting to open the internal grill. However, since the lift had already started moving up, he got stuck in the gap between the doors.
The boy was a sixth standard student who used to deliver newspapers in view of his summer vacations. He reportedly earned Rs 1,000 a month to help his parents who are daily wage labourers. A case has been registered against the newspaper agent for employing a minor boy.
The police have said that whether they will act against the owner of the apartment complex will be based on the outcome of further probe.
As per a report in the New Indian Express, the CCTV footage shows the boy coming out of the lift, delivering newspapers, and then returning to the machine. Moments later, the building watchman is seen rushing towards the lift to find the boy’s foot dangling from the first floor. His body had been crushed.
The boy was taken to Osmania General Hospital but was declared brought dead. A witness reportedly said that the police had to open the floorboard that closes the gap between the lift floor and the wall to get his body out.