The Evening Wrap: 37 dead, many missing after bus falls into canal in M.P.’s Sidhi district

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the biggest news stories of the day [The Hindu Logo](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link76) [Facebook](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link51) [Twitter](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link53) [Youtube](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link105) [Linkedin](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link74) [Instagram](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link73) Tuesday 16, February 2021 [alt_text](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link104) The Evening Wrap Here are the biggest news stories of the day [alt_text](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link97) Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. 37 dead, many missing after bus falls into canal in M.P.’s Sidhi district At least [37 people, including 16 women, died after the bus they were travelling in fell off a bridge](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link90) into a canal near Patna village in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district on February 16 morning, a senior official said, adding that search operations are still going on. After fishing out 18 bodies initially, rescuers have retrieved 19 more bodies until now, said Rewa Divisional Commissioner Rajesh Jain. “A total of 37 bodies, including 16 women, 20 men and a child, have been fished out of the Bansagar canal until now,” he said, adding that a magisterial probe has been ordered. Prima facie, 44 passengers were travelling on the bus at the time of the accident, which occurred around 8:30 a.m. “Seven persons managed to swim to the banks of the canal after the incident and 37 bodies have been recovered. The 44 passengers have been identified,” Jain added. Earlier in the morning, Inspector General (Rewa zone) Joga had confirmed the recovery of 18 bodies from the accident site. The bus landed in the canal near Patna village, around 80 km from the Sidhi district headquarter, around 8:30 a.m. The State government has cancelled the ‘grih pravesh’ or house-warming ceremony to be attended virtually by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in view of the bus accident. The cancellation of the event, which was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Minto Hall in Bhopal, was announced by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after he reached the venue. Amit Shah was scheduled to take part via video conferencing in this programme for the beneficiaries of over one lakh houses constructed in Madhya Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Disha Ravi arrest: Court asks Delhi Police to share FIR copy; DCW issues notice [Members of the All India Students’ Association protesting against the arrest of Disha Ravi. file photo MURALI KUMAR K]Members of the All India Students’ Association protesting against the arrest of Disha Ravi. file photo MURALI KUMAR K A [court in Delhi on Tuesday directed the Delhi Police to hand over to 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link84) a copy of the FIR related to her arrest for allegedly sharing a social media ‘toolkit’ on the farmers’ protest, PTI reported. The court also allowed her to speak to her family. Besides the FIR, the court also directed the police to provide her the copies of the arrest memo and remand paper which was placed to seek her custodial interrogation. The court also permitted her to get warm clothes, masks and books. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma allowed Ravi to speak with her family members over phone for 15 minutes a day and meet with her lawyer for 30 minutes a day, during the time she is in police custody. The court passed the order on an application filed by Ravi through her lawyer. The court had on Sunday sent Ravi to five day police custody after the agency said her custodial interrogation was required to probe an alleged larger conspiracy against the government of India and to ascertain her alleged role relating to the Khalistan movement. Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday issued notice to the Delhi Police over Ravi’s arrest. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the women’s panel in its letter to the police has sought reasons as to why a transit remand was not sought. “Please provide reasons for allegedly not providing a lawyer of her choice when she was produced before the court in Delhi,” the notice read. The DCW has also sought copies of the FIR and a detailed action taken report by February 19. DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said, “As per media reports, Disha Ravi was not given a lawyer of her choice neither were rules followed during her arrest. Police should inquire into the matter. However, it is extremely sad and unfortunate if Disha has been arrested because of her support for the protesting farmers.” Toolkit case: Activist gets temporary pre-arrest bail Environmental activist [Shantanu Muluk, a suspect in a case registered by Delhi Police in connection with the toolkit](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link91) shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg about the ongoing farmers’ protest, on Tuesday got temporary anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court. The high court on Wednesday will pass its order on another accused, advocate Nikita Jacob’s similar plea. Justice Vibha Kankanwadi of the Aurangabad bench of the HC granted Muluk, resident of Beed in central Maharashtra, ten days’ transit anticipatory bail to enable him to apply for protection before the appropriate court in Delhi. Muluk and Jacob had on Monday approached the high court separately seeking transit anticipatory bail, after a Delhi court issued non-bailable warrants against them. According to Delhi Police, the duo were involved in preparing the toolkit document and were in direct touch with “pro- Khalistani elements”. Jacob’s plea for pre-arrest bail was heard by Justice P D Naik at the high court’s principal bench in Mumbai, which said it would pass the order on Wednesday. The case has been lodged under IPC sections 124(a) (sedition), 153 (a) (promoting enmity among different groups) and 120 (b) criminal conspiracy. Senior counsel Mihir Desai, appearing for Jacob, argued that the alleged toolkit was prepared by a number of people and “only spoke of support to the protesting farmers”. ”It does not talk about any violence or about the January 26 incident at the Red Fort (when a tractor rally by protesters led to violence),” Desai argued. Advocate Venegavkar, however, claimed that the toolkit was created and authored by Disha Ravi and Jacob along with many others who were part of the Khalistan movement. He also contended that the HC does not have the powers to grant any relief when the matter pertains to another state. Meanwhile, sources in Delhi Police today said that US-based climate activist Greta Thunberg has been absolved of any criminality, as of now. OTT platforms: Explain action taken, SC tells govt [ ] The [Supreme Court on Tuesday remained unimpressed with the government’s submission that it is “contemplating”](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link93) regulations for OTT (over-the-top) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. “Everybody in the world can contemplate... You put it out in an affidavit what you are doing,” Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde addressed Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, for the government. The court issued notice on a plea filed by advocates Shashank Shekhar Jha and Apurva Arhatia seeking a proper board/institution /association for monitoring and managing the content of different OTT/streaming and digital media platforms. Initially, during the hearing, the court had asked the petitioners to approach the government with their representation. However, the court, later on, decided that the government should better file a written reply to the petition. The plea contended that there was no law or autonomous body governing the digital content to monitor and manage the content of OTT platforms made available to the public at large without any filter or screening, it said. “Lack of legislation governing OTT/streaming platforms is becoming evident with each passing day and every new case that is filed on these grounds... The government is facing heat to fill this lacuna with regulations from the public and the judiciary; still the relevant government departments have not done anything significant to regularise these OTT/Streaming Platforms,” the plea said. None of the OTT/streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, and Hotstar, have signed the self-regulation code provided by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting since February 2020, it alleged. However, last week, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had said that 17 platforms, including Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video, have adopted a ‘toolkit’ for effective implementation of the self-regulation code introduced in February 2020. The industry body added that it will also set up an ‘IAMAI Secretariat for the Code’, comprising representatives from the signatories to the Code as well as IAMAI. Withdraw ‘Modi tax’ on petroleum products immediately: Congress [ INC spokesperson Pawan Khera. File ] INC spokesperson Pawan Khera. File [Continuing to exert pressure on the Narendra Modi government over high excise duty on petroleum products](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link94), the Congress on Tuesday referred to it as “Modi tax” and demanded the immediate withdrawal of additional excise duty. At a press conference at party headquarters, spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Modi government has collected more than ₹20 lakh crore from additional excise duty collection. “We demand an immediate withdrawal of this additional ‘Modi Tax’ imposed over the last six years and eight months. This in itself will reduce petrol price to ₹61.92 per litre and diesel price to ₹47.51 per litre. Every common Indian deserves this relief immediately,” Khera said. “India deserves a government which works and thinks for every single Indian and not, to use the words of my leader Rahul Gandhi, just a government of ‘Hum do, Humare do’.” He said when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demitted office in May 2014, international crude oil price was $108 per barrel yet petrol was sold at ₹71.51 per litre in Delhi and diesel at ₹57.28. “As on February 1, 2021, international crude oil price was $54.41 per barrel, just half of May 2014, yet the price as of today of petrol is ₹89.29 per litre and diesel ₹79.70 per litre.” The Congress alleged the BJP and its eco system always keeps citizens engaged on emotive issues that generate “hatred, fear or anger to distract attention from its failure”. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India](nVB9HlHIB91HtGAABeY24b/link81) stood at 1,09,26,678 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,57,222. A few cases of the more infectious South African and Brazilian strains of the coronavirus have been detected in India and people flying in from those countries may be tested more aggressively, the government said on Tuesday. The South African strain of the coronavirus has been detected in four people in the country and the Brazil variant has been seen in one, according to top medical body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). All five have been quarantined. There are 187 cases of the UK strain in India, according to the ICMR, and all their contacts have been isolated and tested. In Brief: India is now back in contention for the World Test Championship (WTC) final following a series-levelling 317-run victory over England in the second Test in Chennai. They bowled out England for a paltry 164 on the fourth day. England was in pursuit of an impossible target of 482. This is India’s biggest win over the tourists in terms of runs. India have now risen to second in the WTC standings and need to at least win one more and draw another in the four-match series to make the cut for the final in June. The Supreme Court has registered a suo motu criminal contempt case against senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai for his August 2020 tweets criticising the judiciary. The case was registered despite the refusal earlier by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to grant consent for the initiation of contempt proceedings against Sardesai. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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