Imran to take oath on August 18, ex-Indian cricketers invited
Islamabad, Aug 10: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan will take over as Prime Minister on August 18 and Indian cricket legends Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Navjot Sidhu have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony, a party spokesperson said on Friday.
Javed Khan, Additional Information Secretary of PTI, said the members of Imran Khan's 1992 World Cup winning team have also been invited to attend the ceremony.
A similar announcement regarding inviting Indian cricketers and celebrities to the ceremony had earlier been made by PTI Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry. However, it was later said that Khan had opted for an austere ceremony and decided against inviting foreign dignitaries and celebrities to the planned oath-taking.
President Mamnoon Hussain has summoned a session of the National Assembly for August 13 during which newly-elected members will take oath of their office. Elections for the speaker, deputy speaker and the Leader of the House will take place.
PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said: "Imran will be elected Prime Minister of the country within the first round of vote in the parliament." He further claimed that his party has the support of 180 members in National Assembly.
Meanwhile, parties allied against the PTI, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, have decided to field their own candidates for Prime Minister and National Assembly speaker.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
