The Evening Wrap: Anti-Agnipath protests continue for the third day

Massive protests demanding the rollback of the Agnipath scheme continued across the country for the third day on Friday. One protester was killed in police firing in Secunderabad and hundreds of people injured in various places in the violence that marked the agitations. Scores of people have been arrested or detained by the cops in various States. The Opposition parties, trade unions and student, youth and farmer outfits pledged support to the protests and demanded immediate reversal of the scheme. Trains and other public property remained the target of the protesters with over 340 trains getting affected on the day due to protests. One protester was killed and 13 others sustained injuries when police opened fire to quell a violent mob at Secunderabad railway station on Friday morning. About 1,000 Army recruitment job aspirants reached the railway station and made their way onto the railway platforms and started damaging railway property. The gathering was apparently mobilised using four WhatsApp groups created by these job aspirants. The vast majority of these protesters hailed from North Telangana districts. They said that they had appeared for the physical and medical tests and were waiting for the written exam, which was postponed on account of the pandemic. Bihar remained the eye of the storm of protests. Protesting aspirants attacked Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal’s home and business establishments in his home town Bettiah, set BJP office in Madhepura on fire. Over half a dozen trains and several vehicles across the State were burnt down. Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi had to put off her visit to Bettiah due to violent protest. They also vandalised the house of Ms. Devi Protests erupted in several districts of West Bengal too. Though there was no report on any violence, rail and vehicular movement was disrupted at various places in the State. Protests broke out in the Aligarh district in western Uttar Pradesh as hundreds of young men demonstrated against the scheme at the Khereshwar temple crossing in the Lodha area. At least two public transport buses were set on fire and several official vehicles were damaged. In the neighbouring Jattari, the vehicle of the Panchayat chairman was set on fire. The protesters tried to storm into the Panchayat office. Around half-a-dozen police personnel sustained injuries and police vehicles were vandalised in Haryana’s Jind amid statewide protests for second day in a row. The protesters and the police also clashed in Faridabad’s Ballabhgarh around noon. Seven persons were arrested and several rounded up across the State in connection with the First Information Reports registered for violence and blocking of highways during the protests over the past two days. Army, Navy, Air Force to kick-start Agnipath recruitment process by next week As protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme intensified, the Army, Navy and the Air Force on Friday announced that they will start the enrolment process under the new model by next week while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the youths wanting to join the armed forces to start preparing for the induction. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told PTI that the selection process by the Indian Air Force for recruitment under the new scheme will start from June 24 while the Army said it will begin the initial exercise within two days. While the Indian Navy said it will start the recruitment process “very soon”, a senior naval commander said the notification for the recruitment would be out within a week. The three services are planning to deploy the first batches of recruits under the new scheme both in operational and non-operational roles by June next year, senior military officials said. The officials also said the agitating youths are not fully aware of the benefits of the Agnipath scheme. In an attempt to pacify the protesters, the government on Thursday night increased the upper age limit for recruitment for soldiers under the Agnipath scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022. Defence Minister Singh, on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said the relaxation of the age limit indicates that the government cares for the youth and asserted that the model of recruitment is a “golden opportunity” for those wanting to join the country’s defence system. He said the Department of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the three services are committed to commencing the recruitment process at the earliest and invited the youths to join the Indian armed forces and “serve the nation through Agnipath”. Citing ‘overlap’, NCERT removes portions on 2002 Gujarat riots, Emergency, Mughal courts from class 12 books The NCERT has removed portions about the 2002 Gujarat riots, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement and Mughal courts from its class 12 textbooks as part of its “syllabus rationalisation” exercise. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has cited “overlapping” and “irrelevant” as reasons for dropping those portions from the syllabus. Many of these changes were announced earlier this year when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) rationalised its syllabi in April. Besides schools under CBSE, some state boards also use NCERT textbooks. Listing the changes, the NCERT, in a note, said, “The content of the textbooks has been rationalised for various reasons, including overlapping with similar content in other subject areas in the same class, similar content included in the lower or higher classes on the same subject. It also stated that difficulty level, content which is easily accessible to students without much intervention from teachers and can be learned by self-learning or peer-learning and content which is irrelevant in the present context have been removed. In class 12 political science textbook, pages on the topic ‘Gujarat Riots’ will be excluded from the chapter titled ‘Recent Developments in Indian Politics’. The mention of the National Human Rights Commission report on the 2002 violence and the “raj dharma” remark by then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee has been dropped from the textbook. Also, chapters on Mughal courts in a history textbook, a poem on the Dalit movement and a chapter on the Cold War, are among the exclusions from the political science textbook. In Class 10, the excluded chapters included verses of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the ‘Religion, Communalism and Politics — Communalism, Secular State’ section of the textbook ‘Democratic Politics II’. Also, chapters titled ‘Democracy and Diversity’, ‘Popular Struggle and movements’ and ‘Challenges to Democracy’ have been dropped. In the social science textbook of classes seven and eight, references to Dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki were removed. In the class seven textbook titled ‘Our Pasts-2’, the topic ‘Emperors: major campaigns and events’, has been removed. U.K. government approves extradition of Julian Assange to U.S., Wikileaks says he will appeal The British government has ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges. Wikileaks has responded, saying that Assange would appeal his extradition. Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the extradition order on Friday, her department said. It follows a British court ruling in April that Assange could be sent to the U. S. “Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle. We will appeal through the legal system,” a statement on the Wikileaks Twitter accounts said. The Home Office said in a statement that “the U. K. courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.” “Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the U. S. he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.” The decision is a big moment in Assange’s years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the U.S. — though not necessarily the end of the tale. Assange has 14 days to appeal. A British judge approved the extradition in April, leaving the final decision to the government. The ruling came after a legal battle that went all the way to the U. K. Supreme Court. The U. S. has asked British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago. American prosecutors say Julian Assange unlawfully helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk. Journalism organisations and human rights groups have called on Britain to refuse the extradition request. Supporters and lawyers for Julian Assange, 50, argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed U. S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case is politically motivated. Assange’s lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted in the U. S., though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower than that. Julian Assange has been held at Britain’s high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019, when he was arrested for skipping bail during a separate legal battle. Before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed. China blocks proposal to designate LeT deputy chief and Hafiz Saeed brother-in-law Makki as terrorist at UNSC India slammed China for blocking a proposal to list Pakistani terror convict and Lashkar-e-Taiba/ Jamaat-ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD) deputy chief Abdul Rahman Makki as a UN Security Council-designated terrorist. Calling the decision by China to place a “technical hold” on the listing requested by the United States and India this month “regrettable” and “extremely unfortunate”, India said that China’s actions ran counter to its claims of combating terrorism. It added that evidence against Makki was “overwhelming”. “China should reflect on its response that signals double standards on combating terrorism. Protecting well-known terrorists from sanctioning in this manner will only undermine its credibility and risk exposing even itself more to the growing threat of terrorism,” government sources said, pointing to a similar blocking by China of the UNSC terror designation proposal against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar for several years, until Beijing agreed to his designation in 2019. Defending its actions on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that it “opposes terrorism in all its manifestation”. In Brief Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday hinted at holding Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir “by this year-end”. Addressing a function in Jammu, Singh, who is on a two-day visit to the Union Territory, said the delimitation exercise was completed recently following which the number of seats has increased to 90 with Kashmir having 47 seats and Jammu 43. “By this year-end, there is a possibility that assembly elections can be held in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 17 JUNE 2022 [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]( Anti-Agnipath protests continue for the third day Massive protests demanding the rollback of the Agnipath scheme continued across the country for the third day on Friday. [One protester was killed in police firing in Secunderabad]( hundreds of people injured in various places in the violence that marked the agitations. Scores of people have been arrested or detained by the cops in various States. The Opposition parties, trade unions and student, youth and farmer outfits pledged support to the protests and demanded immediate reversal of the scheme. Trains and other public property remained the target of the protesters with over 340 trains getting affected on the day due to protests. [Smoke billows from a train coach after it was set on fire during a protest against the Agnipath in Secunderabad on June 17, 2022. ] One protester was killed and 13 others sustained injuries when police opened fire to quell a violent mob at Secunderabad railway station on Friday morning. About 1,000 Army recruitment job aspirants reached the railway station and made their way onto the railway platforms and started damaging railway property. The gathering was apparently mobilised using four WhatsApp groups created by these job aspirants. The vast majority of these protesters hailed from North Telangana districts. They said that they had appeared for the physical and medical tests and were waiting for the written exam, which was postponed on account of the pandemic. Bihar remained the eye of the storm of protests. Protesting aspirants attacked Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal’s home and business establishments in his home town Bettiah, set BJP office in Madhepura on fire. Over half a dozen trains and several vehicles across the State were burnt down. Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi had to put off her visit to Bettiah due to violent protest. They also [vandalised the house of Ms. Devi]( Protests erupted in several districts of West Bengal too. Though there was no report on any violence, rail and vehicular movement was disrupted at various places in the State. Protests broke out in the Aligarh district in western Uttar Pradesh as hundreds of young men demonstrated against the scheme at the Khereshwar temple crossing in the Lodha area. At least two public transport buses were set on fire and several official vehicles were damaged. In the neighbouring Jattari, the vehicle of the Panchayat chairman was set on fire. The protesters tried to storm into the Panchayat office. Around half-a-dozen police personnel sustained injuries and police vehicles were vandalised in Haryana’s Jind amid statewide protests for second day in a row. The protesters and the police also clashed in Faridabad’s Ballabhgarh around noon. Seven persons were arrested and several rounded up across the State in connection with the First Information Reports registered for violence and blocking of highways during the protests over the past two days. Army, Navy, Air Force to kick-start Agnipath recruitment process by next week As protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme intensified, [the Army, Navy and the Air Force on Friday announced that they will start the enrolment process]( the new model by next week while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the youths wanting to join the armed forces to start preparing for the induction. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told PTI that the selection process by the Indian Air Force for recruitment under the new scheme will start from June 24 while the Army said it will begin the initial exercise within two days. While the Indian Navy said it will start the recruitment process “very soon”, a senior naval commander said the notification for the recruitment would be out within a week. The three services are planning to deploy the first batches of recruits under the new scheme both in operational and non-operational roles by June next year, senior military officials said. The officials also said the agitating youths are not fully aware of the benefits of the Agnipath scheme. In an attempt to pacify the protesters, the government on Thursday night increased the upper age limit for recruitment for soldiers under the Agnipath scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022. Defence Minister Singh, on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said the relaxation of the age limit indicates that the government cares for the youth and asserted that the model of recruitment is a “golden opportunity” for those wanting to join the country’s defence system. He said the Department of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the three services are committed to commencing the recruitment process at the earliest and invited the youths to join the Indian armed forces and “serve the nation through Agnipath”. Citing ‘overlap’, NCERT removes portions on 2002 Gujarat riots, Emergency, Mughal courts from class 12 books The [NCERT has removed portions]( about the 2002 Gujarat riots, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement and Mughal courts from its class 12 textbooks as part of its “syllabus rationalisation” exercise. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has cited “overlapping” and “irrelevant” as reasons for dropping those portions from the syllabus. Many of these changes were announced earlier this year when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) rationalised its syllabi in April. Besides schools under CBSE, some state boards also use NCERT textbooks. [The mention of the National Human Rights Commission report on the 2002 violence and the “raj dharma” remark by then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee has been dropped from the textbook. Photo: ncert.nic.in/textbook.php?leps2=9-9] Listing the changes, [the NCERT, in a note]( said, “The content of the textbooks has been rationalised for various reasons, including overlapping with similar content in other subject areas in the same class, similar content included in the lower or higher classes on the same subject. It also stated that difficulty level, content which is easily accessible to students without much intervention from teachers and can be learned by self-learning or peer-learning and content which is irrelevant in the present context have been removed. In class 12 political science textbook, pages on the topic ‘Gujarat Riots’ will be excluded from the chapter titled ‘Recent Developments in Indian Politics’. The mention of the National Human Rights Commission report on the 2002 violence and the “raj dharma” remark by then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee has been dropped from the textbook. Also, chapters on Mughal courts in a history textbook, a poem on the Dalit movement and a chapter on the Cold War, are among the exclusions from the political science textbook. In Class 10, the excluded chapters included verses of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the ‘Religion, Communalism and Politics — Communalism, Secular State’ section of the textbook ‘Democratic Politics II’. Also, chapters titled ‘Democracy and Diversity’, ‘Popular Struggle and movements’ and ‘Challenges to Democracy’ have been dropped. In the social science textbook of classes seven and eight, references to Dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki were removed. In the class seven textbook titled ‘Our Pasts-2’, the topic ‘Emperors: major campaigns and events’, has been removed. U.K. government approves extradition of Julian Assange to U.S., Wikileaks says he will appeal  The British government has [ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States]( to face spying charges. Wikileaks has responded, saying that  Assange would appeal his extradition. Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the extradition order on Friday, her department said. It follows a British court ruling in April that Assange could be sent to the U. S. “Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle. We will appeal through the legal system,” a statement on the Wikileaks Twitter accounts said. The Home Office said in a statement that “the U. K. courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.” “Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the U. S. he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.” The decision is a big moment in Assange’s years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the U.S. — though not necessarily the end of the tale. Assange has 14 days to appeal. A British judge approved the extradition in April, leaving the final decision to the government. The ruling came after a legal battle that went all the way to the U. K. Supreme Court. The U. S. has asked British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago. American prosecutors say Julian Assange unlawfully helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk. Journalism organisations and human rights groups have called on Britain to refuse the extradition request. Supporters and lawyers for Julian Assange, 50, argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed U. S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case is politically motivated. Assange’s lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted in the U. S., though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower than that. Julian Assange has been held at Britain’s high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019, when he was arrested for skipping bail during a separate legal battle. Before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed. China blocks proposal to designate LeT deputy chief and Hafiz Saeed brother-in-law Makki as terrorist at UNSC India slammed China for [blocking a proposal to list Pakistani terror convict and Lashkar-e-Taiba/ Jamaat-ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD) deputy chief Abdul Rahman Makki]( as a UN Security Council-designated terrorist. Calling the decision by China to place a “technical hold” on the listing requested by the United States and India this month “regrettable” and “extremely unfortunate”, India said that China’s actions ran counter to its claims of combating terrorism. It added that evidence against Makki was “overwhelming”. “China should reflect on its response that signals double standards on combating terrorism. Protecting well-known terrorists from sanctioning in this manner will only undermine its credibility and risk exposing even itself more to the growing threat of terrorism,” government sources said, pointing to a similar blocking by China of the UNSC terror designation proposal against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar for several years, until Beijing agreed to his designation in 2019. Defending its actions on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that it “opposes terrorism in all its manifestation”. In Brief Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday [hinted at holding Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir “by this year-end”](. Addressing a function in Jammu, Singh, who is on a two-day visit to the Union Territory, said the delimitation exercise was completed recently following which the number of seats has increased to 90 with Kashmir having 47 seats and Jammu 43. “By this year-end, there is a possibility that assembly elections can be held in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow  Today’s Top Picks [[Covaxin demonstrates robust safety and immunogenicity in children 2-18 years: Bharat Biotech] Covaxin demonstrates robust safety and immunogenicity in children 2-18 years: Bharat Biotech]( [[GoM fails to reach consensus on GST rate rationalisation] GoM fails to reach consensus on GST rate rationalisation]( [[England hits ODI world-record 498-4 against the Netherlands] England hits ODI world-record 498-4 against the Netherlands]( [[Watch | Is this village in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh?] Watch | Is this village in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh?]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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