Will Muslims be allowed on Hindu boards? Supreme Court questions Centre on Waqf Act
New Delhi: During the hearing of 73 petitions challenging the Waqf Amendment Act, the Supreme Court today posed sharp questions to the Centre regarding several provisions of the new law. The bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna along with Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Vishwanathan, focused particularly on the clause allowing non-Muslims on the Central Waqf Council.
In a pointed remark, the court asked, "If non-Muslims are to be included on Muslim religious boards, will the Centre also allow Muslims to be part of Hindu endowment boards? Say it openly."
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that several provisions in the new Waqf law violate Article 26 of the Constitution, which protects the right of religious denominations to manage their own affairs. He also raised concerns about the Collector being given quasi-judicial powers under the Act, calling it unconstitutional.
A major point of contention was the provision for ‘Waqf by user’ — where a property can be considered Waqf based on long-term religious or charitable use, even without documentation. The amended law now excludes properties under dispute or government land from this category, which has drawn criticism and protests across the country.
The court has yet to decide whether the matter should remain in the Supreme Court or be referred to High Courts for further adjudication.
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Earth observation mission could not be accomplished due to 3rd stage pressure issue: ISRO chief
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Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): ISRO's 101st mission from here, an earth observation satellite onboard the agency's trusted PSLV rocket, could not be accomplished on Sunday following a pressure issue in the third stage of the launch vehicle, the space agency said.
Although the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) made a textbook lift-off at the prefixed time of 5.59 am, the mission objectives, however could not be achieved.
"Today we targeted the 101st launch from Sriharikota, the PSLV-C61 EOS-09 mission. The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle and up to the second stage, the performance was normal. The third stage motor started perfectly but during the functioning of the third stage we are seeing an observation and the mission could not be accomplished," Narayanan said.
The third stage is a solid motor system.
"...and the motor pressure--there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case and the mission could not be accomplished. We are studying the entire performance, we shall come back at the earliest," Narayanan said post the unsuccessful launch.
EOS-09 is a repeat satellite similar to EOS-04 launched in 2022 that has been designed with the mission objective to ensure remote sensing data for the user community engaged in operational applications and to improve the frequency of observation.
The mission's payload, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which is inside the satellite is capable of providing images for various earth observation applications under all-weather conditions, day and night.
This all-weather, round-the-clock imaging is vital for applications ranging from agriculture and forestry monitoring to disaster management, urban planning and national security.
The mission was aimed to be a debris-free one.
According to scientists, a sufficient amount of the fuel had been reserved for de-orbiting the satellite after its effective mission life by lowering it to an orbit that ensures its decay within two years, towards ensuring a debris-free mission.
