The Evening Wrap: All parties favour U.P. polls to be held on time, says CEC

All political parties in Uttar Pradesh were in favour of conducting the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election as per schedule following COVID-19 protocol, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has said. However, guidelines on how big election rallies would be managed or whether digital communication would have to be increased, would be issued after the election schedule was announced, he said. Mr. Chandra was speaking at a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday after review meetings with representatives of various political parties and top officials in Uttar Pradesh.“All parties told us elections should be held on time following COVID-19 protocol,” said Mr. Chandra, adding that some parties suggested restricting the number and size of rallies. Amid rising cases of COVID-19, the Allahabad High Court had recently appealed to the ECI as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties and consider postponing the Assembly election, stressing that it was more important to save lives. Centre extends AFSPA in Nagaland for six more months The Union Home Ministry has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the whole of Nagaland for another six months. In a notification, the Ministry said “the Central government is of the opinion that the area comprising the whole of the State of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary.” It added that in exercise of powers conferred under Section 4 of the Act, “the Central government hereby declares that whole of the State of Nagaland to be ‘disturbed area’ for a period of six months with effect from 30th December, 2021, for the purpose of the said Act”. The last time such an extension was made was on June 30. The Act, which has been in force in the northeast since 1958, gives unbridled powers to the armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant and protection from prosecution and legal suits without the Central government’s sanction. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on December 26 announced that the Union Home Ministry had constituted a committee to look into the withdrawal of the Act in Nagaland. The State has erupted in protests since December 4 when 13 civilians were killed in a botched operation by the Army near Oting in Mon district. GST Intelligence body dismisses reports saying cash recovered in U.P. raid will be treated as turnover of company The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Thursday described as “purely speculative” reports, which suggested that it had decided to treat the ₹197.47 crore cash recovered from Uttar Pradesh businessman Piyush Jain as the turnover of the manufacturing unit and that it had agreed with the deposition of Mr. Jain and finalised his tax liabilities as ₹52 crore. The DGGI clarified that the total amount of cash recovered from the residential and factory premises had been kept as case property in the safe custody of State Bank of India pending further investigation.Tax officials recovered the cash, 23 kg of gold with foreign markings and unaccounted perfumery raw material worth ₹6 crore from the business and residential premises of Mr. Jain in Kanpur and Kannauj. Mr. Jain, who deals in compounds for perfumes, was arrested on December 26 for offences under section 132 of the CGST Act. A local court remanded him in 14 days judicial custody on December 27. Hyderpora encounter victim’s father seek return of son’s body The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in an encounter in Hyderpora area of Srinagar in November, on Thursday filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking the return of the body of his son, maintaining his "innocence" and the family's long contribution in the fight against terrorism. The 18-page petition was filed by Amir's father Mohd Latief through his lawyers Deepika Singh Rajawat and Mohd Arshad Chowdhary. The move came two days after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police probing the Hyderpora encounter claimed that while one civilian was killed by a foreign terrorist, two others, including a local "militant" (Magray), died in crossfire after being used as human shield by the hiding terrorist. A Pakistani terrorist and three other persons were killed in Hyderpora on November 15 and the police claimed that all the slain men had links to militancy. The families of the three, alleging foul play, had claimed that they were innocent, prompting the police to order an inquiry. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. "...That being close to Amir, the petitioner knew everything good and bad about him, thus can state on oath that his son was never involved into any anti-national activities or was associated with any such outfit that conspires to bring harm to the nation," Mr. Latief, a resident of Gool area of Ramban district, said in his petition. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The government on Thursday said that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat are emerging as States and UTs of concern on the basis of weekly COVID-19 cases and positivity rate. It said that eight districts are reporting over 10% weekly positivity, while 14 districts are reporting between 5-10% positivity. India's R naught value, which indicates spread of COVID-19, is 1.22 so cases are increasing, not shrinking, the Government said. Also on Thursday, senior Union Health Ministry officials said the ‘precaution’ dose that is scheduled to be available to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those over 60 with co-morbidities may not necessarily be a repeat dose. The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,48,25,982 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,80,884. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 30 DECEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( All parties favour U.P. polls to be held on time, says CEC All political parties in Uttar Pradesh were in favour of conducting the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election as per schedule following COVID-19 protocol, [Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has said](. However, guidelines on how big election rallies would be managed or whether digital communication would have to be increased, would be issued after the election schedule was announced, he said. [Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra addresses a press conference at Yojna Bhawan in Lucknow on December 30, 2021.]  Mr. Chandra was speaking at a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday after review meetings with representatives of various political parties and top officials in Uttar Pradesh.“All parties told us elections should be held on time following COVID-19 protocol,” said Mr. Chandra, adding that some parties suggested restricting the number and size of rallies. Amid rising cases of COVID-19, the Allahabad High Court had [recently appealed to the ECI as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi]( to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties and consider postponing the Assembly election, stressing that it was more important to save lives. [underlineimg] Centre extends AFSPA in Nagaland for six more months The Union Home Ministry has [extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the whole of Nagaland]( for another six months. In a notification, the Ministry said “the Central government is of the opinion that the area comprising the whole of the State of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary.” It added that in exercise of powers conferred under Section 4 of the Act, “the Central government hereby declares that whole of the State of Nagaland to be ‘disturbed area’ for a period of six months with effect from 30th December, 2021, for the purpose of the said Act”. The last time such an extension was made was on June 30. The Act, which has been in force in the northeast since 1958, gives unbridled powers to the armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant and protection from prosecution and legal suits without the Central government’s sanction. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on December 26 announced that the Union Home Ministry had [constituted a committee to look into the withdrawal of the Act]( in Nagaland. The State has erupted in protests since December 4 when 13 civilians were killed in [a botched operation by the Army near Oting in Mon district](. [underlineimg] GST Intelligence body dismisses reports saying cash recovered in U.P. raid will be treated as turnover of company The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Thursday [described as “purely speculative”]( reports, which suggested that it had decided to treat the ₹197.47 crore cash recovered from Uttar Pradesh businessman Piyush Jain as the turnover of the manufacturing unit and that it had agreed with the deposition of Mr. Jain and finalised his tax liabilities as ₹52 crore. The DGGI clarified that the total amount of cash recovered from the residential and factory premises had been kept as case property in the safe custody of State Bank of India pending further investigation.Tax officials recovered the cash, 23 kg of gold with foreign markings and unaccounted perfumery raw material worth ₹6 crore from the business and residential premises of Mr. Jain in Kanpur and Kannauj. Mr. Jain, who deals in compounds for perfumes, was arrested on December 26 for offences under section 132 of the CGST Act. A local court remanded him in 14 days judicial custody on December 27. [underlineimg] Hyderpora encounter victim’s father seek return of son’s body The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in an encounter in Hyderpora area of Srinagar in November, on Thursday filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court [seeking the return of the body of his son]( maintaining his "innocence" and the family's long contribution in the fight against terrorism. The 18-page petition was filed by Amir's father Mohd Latief through his lawyers Deepika Singh Rajawat and Mohd Arshad Chowdhary. The move came two days after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police probing the Hyderpora encounter claimed that while one civilian was killed by a foreign terrorist, two others, including a local "militant" (Magray), died in crossfire after being used as human shield by the hiding terrorist. A Pakistani terrorist and three other persons were killed in Hyderpora on November 15 and the police claimed that all the slain men had links to militancy. The families of the three, alleging foul play, had claimed that they were innocent, prompting the police to order an inquiry. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. "...That being close to Amir, the petitioner knew everything good and bad about him, thus can state on oath that his son was never involved into any anti-national activities or was associated with any such outfit that conspires to bring harm to the nation," Mr. Latief, a resident of Gool area of Ramban district, said in his petition. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The government on Thursday said that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat are [emerging as States and UTs of concern on the basis of weekly COVID-19 cases and positivity rate](. It said that eight districts are reporting over 10% weekly positivity, while 14 districts are reporting between 5-10% positivity. India's R naught value, which indicates spread of COVID-19, is 1.22 so cases are increasing, not shrinking, the Government said. Also on Thursday, senior Union Health Ministry officials said the ‘precaution’ dose that is scheduled to be available to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those over 60 with co-morbidities [may not necessarily be a repeat dose](. [A mega vaccination drive in progress, in New Delhi on December 30, 2021.]  The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 3,48,25,982 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,80,884. 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