Trinamool MP Yusuf Pathan declines government's Operation Sindoor delegation invite
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan, who was named by the government to join an all-party parliamentary delegation for the 'Operation Sindoor' diplomatic outreach, is reportedly set to skip the initiative.
The government included his name without consulting the Trinamool Congress, although the government had reached out to the MP directly, India Today quoted party sources as saying.
The former cricketer-turned-politician has conveyed that he will not be able to join the delegation.
According to the report, Pathan was invited to be part of the team led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, which is set to visit Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore as part of the government's diplomatic mission.
Objecting to the Centre's choice of MP to represent the Trinamool Congress, the party's National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee questioned, “How can the Union Government decide on the representative of Trinamool?” He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should have held discussions with the opposition to decide which representative a party will send.
Meanwhile, a senior Trinamool Congress leader pointed out that foreign policy comes under the Union government’s domain and it should take complete responsibility of such matters.
"We believe that the nation is above all, and we pledged our support to the Union government to take whatever action needed to protect our great nation. Our armed forces have made our nation proud and we are forever indebted to them. Foreign policy is entirely within the domain of the Union government. Therefore, let only the Union government decide our foreign policy and take complete responsibility for it," the TMC leader said.
The government recently announced that seven all-party delegations will be sent to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism.
A statement by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said, "The all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism."
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ADM responds in Hindi: U'khand HC asks if person who can't speak English control executive position
Nainital, Jul 26 (PTI): The Uttarakhand High Court has asked two top officials of the state to find out whether an officer who has no knowledge of English can effectively control an executive position after an additional district magistrate responded in Hindi during the hearing of a PIL.
When the division bench of Chief Justice Guhanathan Narendar and Justice Alok Mahra asked why he chose Hindi instead of English, the official said while he could understand the language he was unable to speak it fluently.
At this, the bench asked the State Election Commissioner and the Chief Secretary to find out whether an officer of ADM (Additional District Magistrate) level, who has no knowledge of English, can effectively control an executive position.
The ADM concerned is also the electoral registration officer of Nainital.
The high court asked the state election commissioner and the Chief Secretary to appear before it via video conferencing at the next hearing of the PIL on July 28 to respond to the query.
The situation arose during the hearing of the PIL questioning the inclusion of names of outsiders in the voter list for panchayat elections in Budhlakot gram sabha of Nainital district.
Taking a strict stance on the issue, the high court questioned the State Election Commission on the criteria used for the inclusion of such individuals in the voter list.
The court asked on what basis these individuals were identified as residents of the area.
The election officer, who appeared personally before the court, informed that the names were identified based on the family register.
However, the court observed that under the Panchayati Raj Act, birth and death certificates are considered more important documents than the family register.
So far, more than 25 petitions challenging various issues related to the panchayat elections have been filed. Notably, Akash Bora, a resident of Budhlakot, filed the PIL stating that 82 names in the village's voter list belonged to people from outside the area, most of whom are from the state of Odisha and other places.
When he complained to the SDM, a fact-finding committee was constituted, which found that 18 individuals listed were indeed outsiders.
However, even after the final voter list was released, the names of these 18 individuals were not removed.
After filing the PIL, the petitioner also submitted a list of 30 more such individuals to the court.
However, despite repeated complaints, no action has been taken, the PIL said.
The list includes names of outsiders from places such as Haldwani, Nainital, Odisha, Delhi and Haridwar.
