The Evening Wrap: Varanasi court to hear plea seeking worship of ‘shivling’ in Gyanvapi mosque

A Varanasi fast-track court on November 17 ruled that an application filed by the Hindu plaintiffs seeking to bar Muslims from entering the Gyanvapi mosque premises was maintainable, thereby rejecting the application of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee. The application sought the possession of the Gyanvapi premises on behalf of the deity Lord Visheshwar Virajman. It also sought unfettered right for Hindus to perform worship activities there and sought a prohibitory injunction against the Masjid panel and any of its members or agents from interfering in these activities. The application also sought that the structure currently standing at the site be “removed”. This comes even as the Supreme Court had last week extended interim orders directing that no Muslims should be prevented from offering prayers at the Gyanvapi mosque and to protect the site of dispute until further orders. Fast track court Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey found the petition filed by Kiran Singh worth hearing and fixed December 2 for taking up the matter, Assistant District Government Counsel Sulabh Prakash said. COP27 draft text omits India’s proposal of phasing down all fossil fuels The United Nations published a first draft of the climate deal on Thursday and it doesn’t mention a phase down of all fossil fuels, a proposal that was put forward by India and supported by the European Union and many other countries. The draft encourages “the continued efforts to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalise inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, in line with national circumstances and recognising the need for support towards just transitions”. Nearly the same language was used in the Glasgow Climate Pact last year. When contacted, a spokesperson of the Environment Ministry said the Indian negotiators do not wish to comment “as negotiations are going on”. The cover text also doesn’t mention when a loss and damage finance facility will be launched and what its contours will be. Poor and developing countries have demanded that the COP27 concludes with a decision to launch a fund to address loss and damage — a term used for irreparable destruction caused by climate change-fuelled disasters. The text “stresses the importance of exerting all efforts at all levels to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. The 20-page document, described as a ‘non-paper’ by the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, is 8,400 words long as compared to the Glasgow pact, which was around 4,600 words and was in itself one of the longest cover texts in the history of U.N. climate summits. India had proposed on Saturday that the talks wrap up with a decision to “phase down” all fossil fuels and not just coal. EU Vice President Frans Timmermans told the media on Tuesday that the bloc would support India’s proposal “if it comes on top of what we already agreed in Glasgow”. Citing the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Indian negotiators had told the Egyptian COP27 presidency that meeting the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement “requires phase down of all fossil fuels”. “Selective singling out of sources of emissions, for either labelling them more harmful, or labelling them ‘green and sustainable’ even when they are sources of greenhouse gases, has no basis in the best available science,” they said. Savarkar petition row: Uddhav Thackeray disagrees with Rahul Gandhi remarks, but questions BJP, RSS claims While stating that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) did not agree with Congressman Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Hindutva ideologue V. D. Savarkar, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), remarking that its expressions of love and respect for Savarkar were “laughable” given that the BJP’s parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had no contribution towards the Indian freedom struggle. Thackeray, whose party is in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the State, disagreed with Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar’s mercy petitions during the British Raj even as the latter said he stood by his remarks on the Hindutva ideologue. “We [the Shiv Sena (UBT)] have great love, respect and affection in our hearts for Veer Savarkar which no one can erase even if they try to do so. While we disagree with Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar, it is laughable that the offspring [the BJP] of those [RSS] who had no connection with the freedom movement, are claiming to love Savarkar. They have no right to speak on Veer Savarkar,” said Thackeray, speaking at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on the occasion of the tenth death anniversary of his father, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Thackeray was responding to the criticism of BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after the latter censured Gandhi’s comments on V. D. Savarkar made during the course of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The BJP and its ruling ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, are using Gandhi’s criticism of V. D. Savarkar as a pestle to bludgeon Thackeray’s faction – given that his son Aaditya Thackeray had recently participated in the Congress MP’s Yatra. Justifying his decision to stay allied to the Congress, Thackeray said that his party, the Congress and others had come together to preserve this hard-won freedom that had been secured by Veer Savarkar’s sacrifices and to oppose the prevailing ‘dictatorship’ of the BJP. “They [Fadnavis and BJP] should first question the contribution of the RSS to the freedom struggle. How many times did RSS leaders go to jail during Independence? We [Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and other parties] have come together to precisely to preserve this freedom and oppose the ‘dictatorship’ that we are heading towards…the BJP should stop asking us such questions,” Thackeray said, questioning why the BJP had not yet been able to award the Bharat Ratna to V. D. Savarkar despite being in power at the Centre for eight years. Meanwhile, speaking in Akola, Gandhi said he remained firm on his remarks that Savarkar helped the British while furnishing a copy of V. D. Savarkar’s mercy petition. “He [Savarkar] wrote in it [petition] to the British authorities: ‘I beg to remain, sir, your most obedient servant.’ I am clear that Savarkar ji helped the British. If Mr. Fadnavis wants to see this, he is welcome,” said the Congress leader. Gandhi further dared the Shinde-Fadnavis government to try and stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra if it wanted to. Protests by the BJP and Shinde-faction workers against Gandhi erupted across Pune, Kolhapur, Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra following his comments against V. D. Savarkar. “I strongly doubt whether Balasaheb would have approved of his grandson hugging Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra given the latter’s insulting remarks against Veer Savarkar,” said Maharashtra Minister and Shinde camp spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar. Criticising Gandhi’s poor study of history, BJP MLA Ram Kadam alleged the Congressman was trying to make headlines by slandering V. D. Savarkar. “Unfortunately, while the late Balasaheb Thackeray never tolerated any insult on Savarkar ji, his grandson Aaditya Thackeray is hugging Rahul Gandhi who insulted the revolutionary. What kind of ideology does Uddhav Thackeray espouse?” said Kadam. Meanwhile, Savarkar’s grandson, Ranjit Savarkar said he would be filing a police complaint against Gandhi for repeatedly defaming his grandfather during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Rahul Gandhi first ought to study history before making such false and misleading statements about Veer Savarkar. The usage of ‘your obedient servant’ was commonplace at the time when one gentleman wrote to another. Even Mahatma Gandhi wrote this after his letters. By that measure, I too can say that he was beholden to the British. In fact, in one of his letters to the British authorities, Gandhiji says that no Indian has cooperated with you for 29 years as I have…based on what Rahul Gandhi is saying, does this mean the Mahatma was close to the British?” said Savarkar, calling the Congress MP’s criticisms of V. D. Savarkar “utterly pointless.” Meanwhile, condemning Gandhi’s remarks, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has said it would be protesting the Congress MP’s rally in Shegaon (in Buldhana district) on Friday by showing black flags. Company tasked with renovating Morbi bridge reopened it without informing municipality, sans approval: Civic body tells HC The Morbi municipality has told the Gujarat High Court that the company tasked with renovating the bridge, which collapsed killing 135 people, reopened it without any prior approval and without informing the civic body about the repair work carried out. The municipality also informed the court on November 16 that as per a 2022 agreement between the civic body and the firm, it was for the Ajanta company to “appropriately renovate” the bridge and only then open it for the public. The civic body submitted the affidavit before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri which is hearing a suo motu (on its own) case on the collapse of the bridge. The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, five days after it was reopened following renovation, killing 135 people. The HC had sought to know the reasons for allowing Ajanta Manufacturing Private Ltd. (OREVA Group) to use the bridge despite there being no approval for utilisation. The Ahmedabad-based Oreva group had been maintaining and managing the ill-fated suspension bridge. The Morbi municipality in its affidavit said as per a condition in a new agreement made on March 8, 2022 between the civic body and Ajanta Manufacturing, the latter was required to “appropriately renovate” the bridge before opening it for the public at large. Even when the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Rajkot Collector (when Morbi was part of Rajkot) and the company had expired on August 15, 2017, the suspension bridge continued to be maintained and managed by the company, “in the absence of there being any new agreement”, till it was closed for repair on March 8, 2022 when the new agreement was signed, the civic body said. The agreement said that “it is for Ajanta [OREVA Group] to appropriately renovate and it is only thereafter that they would open the same for the public at large, which would take minimum 8 to 12 months from the date of the agreement”, the civic body informed the court. The company had started reminding the civic body of renewing the terms since January 2020 when it said it would “completely close down the suspension bridge from January 26, 2020 and thereafter, the company would not be responsible for any unfortunate accident with reference to the said suspension bridge”, the affidavit stated. The bridge continued to remain in operation and on December 29, 2021, the company informed the then chief officer of Morbi municipality that the condition of the suspension bridge was “critical”, while requesting it to take a decision on the renewal of the 2007 MoU which expired way back in 2017, the affidavit said. “On October 26, 2022, without any prior approval, the company reopened the suspension bridge for the public at large and that too without informing the Morbi Nagarpalika know about the kind of repairing work which was stated to have been carried out by the company, as well as without providing any independent third party certificate/s relating to material testing, structure fitness, holding capacity and its stability,” the affidavit said. While continuing to manage the bridge despite the expiry of the MoU terms on August 16, 2017, the company had flagged the issue of its condition, the civic body said. In a communication dated January 9, 2020, the company intimated the authority that they would completely close down the suspension bridge from January 26, 2020 and thereafter, “the company would not be responsible for any unfortunate accident with reference to the said suspension bridge”, it said. The company also expressed its readiness to continue to manage the bridge and wrote to the Morbi Collector on five occasions that it would “not start the permanent repairing work of the suspension bridge” unless the agreement is executed, the civic body said. “On December 29, 2021, the company informed the Chief Officer of Nagarpalika, that the condition of the suspension bridge is critical and hence, request was made to take a decision at the earliest,” stated the affidavit. The Morbi municipality’s then Chief Officer S.V. Jhala executed an agreement dated March 8, 2022 with the company, entrusting them “the entire management of the suspension bridge for a period of 15 years”, it said. On October 30, 2022, due to the Diwali holidays, the company had issued tickets to many visitors during the day. Out of them, about 300 people were reportedly allowed by ticket window operators and security personnel of the company to visit the said bridge around 6.30 pm from both the ends, it added. India has evidence of social media platforms using crowdfunding to fund terror activities: NIA chief India has evidence of social media platforms using crowdfunding measures to fund terror activities, Dinkar Gupta, Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Thursday. The chief of the federal anti-terror agency said the misuse of social media platforms was an issue that needed to be discussed at the third “No Money for Terror Conference” (NMFT) which India would be hosting from November 18-19. Gupta, while sharing the details of the conference that is to be attended by representatives of 78 countries, said Pakistan and Afghanistan were not attending the event while a confirmation from China was awaited. The Hindu reported on November 15 that the use of crowdfunding platforms to finance terrorist activities and weak control mechanisms of social media platforms were one of the four main agendas to be discussed at the conference. Gupta said the aim was to build an integrated approach to countering terrorism. Ministers from 20 countries had confirmed participation and there would be 450 representatives in all, including representatives from Interpol, Europol and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be inaugurating the session on Friday. The meet will build on gains and learnings of previous two conferences (held in Paris in April 2018 and in Melbourne in November 2019) and will work towards enhancing global cooperation to deny finances to terrorists and access to permissive jurisdictions to operate from. “Terrorism is an important topic for India. Almost all countries will get an opportunity to present their points. There will be no limitations,” Gupta said, adding that there had been a considerable reduction in number of terror incidents in all areas. When asked if Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terror in India would be addressed at the conference, Gupta said, “discussions not revolved around a particular country, wherever the threat is coming from, will be discussed.” Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs said that NMFT was a complementary platform to discuss terrorism-related matters while the FATF also had money laundering as a vertical. He added that India and Russia had a joint working group on counter-terrorism and currently the membership of Russia to the global body was suspended. In Brief: A Delhi court on Thursday permitted the city police to question Mehrauli killing accused Aftab Amin Poonawala for five more days in its custody and also allowed his narco analysis test to be conducted to unravel the case. Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla passed the order while allowing police plea in the matter. Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled Shradha Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 17 NOVEMBER 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]( Varanasi court to hear plea seeking worship of ‘shivling’ in Gyanvapi mosque complex A Varanasi fast-track court on November 17 ruled that an application filed by the Hindu plaintiffs seeking to bar Muslims from entering the Gyanvapi mosque premises was maintainable, thereby rejecting the application of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee. The [application sought the possession of the Gyanvapi premises on behalf of the deity]( Lord Visheshwar Virajman. It also sought unfettered right for Hindus to perform worship activities there and sought a prohibitory injunction against the Masjid panel and any of its members or agents from interfering in these activities. The application also sought that the structure currently standing at the site be “removed”. This comes even as the Supreme Court had last week extended interim orders directing that no Muslims should be prevented from offering prayers at the Gyanvapi mosque and to protect the site of dispute until further orders. Fast track court Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey found the petition filed by Kiran Singh worth hearing and fixed December 2 for taking up the matter, Assistant District Government Counsel Sulabh Prakash said. COP27 draft text omits India’s proposal of phasing down all fossil fuels The United Nations [published a first draft of the climate deal]( on Thursday and it doesn’t mention a phase down of all fossil fuels, a proposal that was put forward by India and supported by the European Union and many other countries. The draft encourages “the continued efforts to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalise inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, in line with national circumstances and recognising the need for support towards just transitions”. Nearly the same language was used in the Glasgow Climate Pact last year. When contacted, a spokesperson of the Environment Ministry said the Indian negotiators do not wish to comment “as negotiations are going on”. The cover text also doesn’t mention when a loss and damage finance facility will be launched and what its contours will be. Poor and developing countries have demanded that the COP27 concludes with a decision to launch a fund to address loss and damage — a term used for irreparable destruction caused by climate change-fuelled disasters. The text “stresses the importance of exerting all efforts at all levels to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. The 20-page document, described as a ‘non-paper’ by the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, is 8,400 words long as compared to the Glasgow pact, which was around 4,600 words and was in itself one of the longest cover texts in the history of U.N. climate summits. India had proposed on Saturday that the talks wrap up with a decision to “phase down” all fossil fuels and not just coal. EU Vice President Frans Timmermans told the media on Tuesday that the bloc would support India’s proposal “if it comes on top of what we already agreed in Glasgow”. Citing the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Indian negotiators had told the Egyptian COP27 presidency that meeting the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement “requires phase down of all fossil fuels”. “Selective singling out of sources of emissions, for either labelling them more harmful, or labelling them ‘green and sustainable’ even when they are sources of greenhouse gases, has no basis in the best available science,” they said. Savarkar petition row: Uddhav Thackeray disagrees with Rahul Gandhi remarks, but questions BJP, RSS claims While stating that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) did not agree with Congressman Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Hindutva ideologue V. D. Savarkar, Sena (UBT) chief [Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)]( remarking that its expressions of love and respect for Savarkar were “laughable” given that the BJP’s parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had no contribution towards the Indian freedom struggle. Thackeray, whose party is in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the State, disagreed with Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar’s mercy petitions during the British Raj even as the latter said he stood by his remarks on the Hindutva ideologue. “We [the Shiv Sena (UBT)] have great love, respect and affection in our hearts for Veer Savarkar which no one can erase even if they try to do so. While we disagree with Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar, it is laughable that the offspring [the BJP] of those [RSS] who had no connection with the freedom movement, are claiming to love Savarkar. They have no right to speak on Veer Savarkar,” said Thackeray, speaking at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on the occasion of the tenth death anniversary of his father, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Thackeray was responding to the criticism of BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after the latter censured Gandhi’s comments on V. D. Savarkar made during the course of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The BJP and its ruling ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, are using Gandhi’s criticism of V. D. Savarkar as a pestle to bludgeon Thackeray’s faction – given that his son Aaditya Thackeray had recently participated in the Congress MP’s Yatra. Justifying his decision to stay allied to the Congress, Thackeray said that his party, the Congress and others had come together to preserve this hard-won freedom that had been secured by Veer Savarkar’s sacrifices and to oppose the prevailing ‘dictatorship’ of the BJP. “They [Fadnavis and BJP] should first question the contribution of the RSS to the freedom struggle. How many times did RSS leaders go to jail during Independence? We [Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and other parties] have come together to precisely to preserve this freedom and oppose the ‘dictatorship’ that we are heading towards…the BJP should stop asking us such questions,” Thackeray said, questioning why the BJP had not yet been able to award the Bharat Ratna to V. D. Savarkar despite being in power at the Centre for eight years. Meanwhile, speaking in Akola, Gandhi said he remained firm on his remarks that Savarkar helped the British while furnishing a copy of V. D. Savarkar’s mercy petition. “He [Savarkar] wrote in it [petition] to the British authorities: ‘I beg to remain, sir, your most obedient servant.’ I am clear that Savarkar ji helped the British. If Mr. Fadnavis wants to see this, he is welcome,” said the Congress leader. Gandhi further dared the Shinde-Fadnavis government to try and stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra if it wanted to. Protests by the BJP and Shinde-faction workers against Gandhi erupted across Pune, Kolhapur, Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra following his comments against V. D. Savarkar. “I strongly doubt whether Balasaheb would have approved of his grandson hugging Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra given the latter’s insulting remarks against Veer Savarkar,” said Maharashtra Minister and Shinde camp spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar. Criticising Gandhi’s poor study of history, BJP MLA Ram Kadam alleged the Congressman was trying to make headlines by slandering V. D. Savarkar. “Unfortunately, while the late Balasaheb Thackeray never tolerated any insult on Savarkar ji, his grandson Aaditya Thackeray is hugging Rahul Gandhi who insulted the revolutionary. What kind of ideology does Uddhav Thackeray espouse?” said Kadam. Meanwhile, Savarkar’s grandson, Ranjit Savarkar said he would be filing a police complaint against Gandhi for repeatedly defaming his grandfather during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Rahul Gandhi first ought to study history before making such false and misleading statements about Veer Savarkar. The usage of ‘your obedient servant’ was commonplace at the time when one gentleman wrote to another. Even Mahatma Gandhi wrote this after his letters. By that measure, I too can say that he was beholden to the British. In fact, in one of his letters to the British authorities, Gandhiji says that no Indian has cooperated with you for 29 years as I have…based on what Rahul Gandhi is saying, does this mean the Mahatma was close to the British?” said Savarkar, calling the Congress MP’s criticisms of V. D. Savarkar “utterly pointless.” Meanwhile, condemning Gandhi’s remarks, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has said it would be protesting the Congress MP’s rally in Shegaon (in Buldhana district) on Friday by showing black flags. Company tasked with renovating Morbi bridge reopened it without informing municipality, sans approval: Civic body tells HC The Morbi municipality has told the Gujarat High Court that the company tasked with renovating the bridge, which collapsed killing 135 people, [reopened it without any prior approval and without informing the civic body]( about the repair work carried out. The municipality also informed the court on November 16 that as per a 2022 agreement between the civic body and the firm, it was for the Ajanta company to “appropriately renovate” the bridge and only then open it for the public. The civic body submitted the affidavit before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri which is hearing a suo motu (on its own) case on the collapse of the bridge. The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, five days after it was reopened following renovation, killing 135 people. The HC had sought to know the reasons for allowing Ajanta Manufacturing Private Ltd. (OREVA Group) to use the bridge despite there being no approval for utilisation. The Ahmedabad-based Oreva group had been maintaining and managing the ill-fated suspension bridge. The Morbi municipality in its affidavit said as per a condition in a new agreement made on March 8, 2022 between the civic body and Ajanta Manufacturing, the latter was required to “appropriately renovate” the bridge before opening it for the public at large. Even when the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Rajkot Collector (when Morbi was part of Rajkot) and the company had expired on August 15, 2017, the suspension bridge continued to be maintained and managed by the company, “in the absence of there being any new agreement”, till it was closed for repair on March 8, 2022 when the new agreement was signed, the civic body said. The agreement said that “it is for Ajanta [OREVA Group] to appropriately renovate and it is only thereafter that they would open the same for the public at large, which would take minimum 8 to 12 months from the date of the agreement”, the civic body informed the court. The company had started reminding the civic body of renewing the terms since January 2020 when it said it would “completely close down the suspension bridge from January 26, 2020 and thereafter, the company would not be responsible for any unfortunate accident with reference to the said suspension bridge”, the affidavit stated. The bridge continued to remain in operation and on December 29, 2021, the company informed the then chief officer of Morbi municipality that the condition of the suspension bridge was “critical”, while requesting it to take a decision on the renewal of the 2007 MoU which expired way back in 2017, the affidavit said. “On October 26, 2022, without any prior approval, the company reopened the suspension bridge for the public at large and that too without informing the Morbi Nagarpalika know about the kind of repairing work which was stated to have been carried out by the company, as well as without providing any independent third party certificate/s relating to material testing, structure fitness, holding capacity and its stability,” the affidavit said. While continuing to manage the bridge despite the expiry of the MoU terms on August 16, 2017, the company had flagged the issue of its condition, the civic body said. In a communication dated January 9, 2020, the company intimated the authority that they would completely close down the suspension bridge from January 26, 2020 and thereafter, “the company would not be responsible for any unfortunate accident with reference to the said suspension bridge”, it said. The company also expressed its readiness to continue to manage the bridge and wrote to the Morbi Collector on five occasions that it would “not start the permanent repairing work of the suspension bridge” unless the agreement is executed, the civic body said. “On December 29, 2021, the company informed the Chief Officer of Nagarpalika, that the condition of the suspension bridge is critical and hence, request was made to take a decision at the earliest,” stated the affidavit. The Morbi municipality’s then Chief Officer S.V. Jhala executed an agreement dated March 8, 2022 with the company, entrusting them “the entire management of the suspension bridge for a period of 15 years”, it said. On October 30, 2022, due to the Diwali holidays, the company had issued tickets to many visitors during the day. Out of them, about 300 people were reportedly allowed by ticket window operators and security personnel of the company to visit the said bridge around 6.30 pm from both the ends, it added. India has evidence of social media platforms using crowdfunding to fund terror activities: NIA chief India has evidence of social media platforms using crowdfunding measures to fund terror activities, Dinkar Gupta, Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Thursday. The chief of the federal anti-terror agency said the [misuse of social media platforms was an issue that needed to be discussed]( at the third “No Money for Terror Conference” (NMFT) which India would be hosting from November 18-19. Gupta, while sharing the details of the conference that is to be attended by representatives of 78 countries, said Pakistan and Afghanistan were not attending the event while a confirmation from China was awaited. The Hindu reported on November 15 that the use of crowdfunding platforms to finance terrorist activities and weak control mechanisms of social media platforms were one of the four main agendas to be discussed at the conference. Gupta said the aim was to build an integrated approach to countering terrorism. Ministers from 20 countries had confirmed participation and there would be 450 representatives in all, including representatives from Interpol, Europol and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be inaugurating the session on Friday. The meet will build on gains and learnings of previous two conferences (held in Paris in April 2018 and in Melbourne in November 2019) and will work towards enhancing global cooperation to deny finances to terrorists and access to permissive jurisdictions to operate from. “Terrorism is an important topic for India. Almost all countries will get an opportunity to present their points. There will be no limitations,” Gupta said, adding that there had been a considerable reduction in number of terror incidents in all areas. When asked if Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terror in India would be addressed at the conference, Gupta said, “discussions not revolved around a particular country, wherever the threat is coming from, will be discussed.” Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs said that NMFT was a complementary platform to discuss terrorism-related matters while the FATF also had money laundering as a vertical. He added that India and Russia had a joint working group on counter-terrorism and currently the membership of Russia to the global body was suspended. In Brief: A Delhi court on Thursday permitted the city police to [question Mehrauli killing accused Aftab Amin Poonawala for five more days]( in its custody and also allowed his narco analysis test to be conducted to unravel the case. Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla passed the order while allowing police plea in the matter. Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled Shradha Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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