The Evening Wrap: 5-judge Constitution Bench to decide if same-sex marriages can be legal

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud referred petitions to legally recognise same-sex marriages to a Constitution Bench of five judges of the Supreme Court. The Court listed the case for final arguments on April 18. The three-judge Bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, invoked Article 145(3) of the Constitution to refer the case to a Constitution Bench. Article 145(3) mandates that cases involving substantial questions and interpretation of the Constitution should be heard by a Bench of at least five judges. The hearing of the case would be livestreamed from April 18 in public interest. Chief Justice Chandrachud said the case involved an “interplay” between constitutional rights of life, liberty, dignity, equal treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community members and specific statutory enactments which considers only a married union between a biological man and woman. The petitioners argued that the Court’s judgment in Navtej Singh Johar in 2018, while decriminalising homosexuality, also upheld the individual right to family and choice of partners. In its affidavit, the Centre in the Supreme Court had frowned upon same-sex marriage while invoking the “accepted view” that a marriage between a biological man and woman is a “holy union, a sacrament and a sanskar” in India. The institution of marriage has a sanctity attached to it and in major parts of the country, it is regarded as a sacrament, a holy union, and a sanskar. In our country, despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman, marriage necessarily depends upon age-old customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos and societal values,” the Centre said in a 56-page affidavit filed on March 12. Supreme Court directs Defence Ministry to file note on arrears due under One Rank One Pension scheme The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to file a three-page note specifying the exact quantum of arrears due to be paid under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, while noting that it is “sad” that four lakh retired defence personnel have already died waiting for their pension. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud ordered the government to also detail the modalities of the payment of OROP and “prioritisation” of disbursement, that is, first to defence widows and the oldest of retirees, in the note. The note has to be filed before the next hearing on March 20. “Our concern is that our ex-service personnel get the money. It is sad that four lakh people have died,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked. The government, represented by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, has sought an extension of time to pay the entire dues. “You [government] seem to have enough money for other things, events and projects, but no money to pay pensioners… Four lakh pensioners have died during the pendency of this petition,” senior advocate Huzefa Ahmedi and advocate Balaji Srinivasan, for the pensioners, protested. “We are entirely with you. It is sad. The arrears will be paid to their families,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed Ahmedi. Venkataramani said the government cannot wave a “magic wand”. There were “operational concerns” involved. Digitalisation of information is on. “Let us understand the dimensions involved,” he said. “But when are you planning to pay?” the CJI asked. Venkataramani said the first instalment of ₹2,000 crore would be paid. He said he was supervising the issue to see “how we can push it”. The court, as in the previous hearing, took offence to the Ministry’s letter on January 20, basically informing that except in the case of family pensioners and gallantry awardees, the others would only get their OROP arrears in four equal half-yearly installments. The Ministry had not bothered to consult the court before issuing the letter. “You first withdraw the letter, then we will consider your application for extension of time,” the CJI said. The court, at one point, said that it would even ask the Defence Secretary to come and explain the letter unless it was withdrawn. On January 9, the court had given the Ministry three months, till March 15, to comply with its nearly a year-old judgment to pay the arrears in whole. Venkataramani said there was no “unilateral” move by the Ministry to alter the court’s decision of January 9. In the earlier hearing, the court had pointed out that its judgment had directed the government to pay the OROP arrears in three months, by June 2022. This deadline was extended by another three months in September last year. On January 9, the period had been further stretched till March 15, 2023. Major schemes of Labour Ministry have missed enrolment targets: Parliamentary Panel A Parliamentary panel has expressed dismay over the non-achievement of physical targets under the Labour Ministry’s major schemes like Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhaan Yojana in 2022-23. “The Committee are concerned to note that in case of major schemes, the Ministry has not been able to achieve the physical targets during 2022-23,” said Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textile and Skill Development in its 41st report on Demand of Grants (2023-24) of Ministry of Labour and Employment tabled in Parliament on March 13. It noted that physical targets for enrollments under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhaan Yojana (PM-SYM) were fixed at one crore new beneficiaries while the beneficiaries enrolled have only been to the extent of 2,63,971 as of February 13, 2023. Similarly, it observed that for the National Pension Scheme for Traders, shopkeepers and self-employed persons, the enrollments have been a miniscule 4,979 vis-a-vis the overall target of 25 lakh beneficiaries. In the case of the National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW), while the physical target was to register five crore unorganised workers, only 1.52 crore workers could be registered by February 7, 2023, it said. The low level of enrollments has been attributed mainly to the outbreak of COVID-19 and resultant lockdowns imposed across the country during the period; eligibility conditions in the case of NPS Traders; the presence of other pension schemes, etc. as a result of which registration/enrollments were much less than anticipated, the report noted. The constraints notwithstanding, the achievement recorded in regard to the target set for operationalising 59 Model Career Centres (MCC) has been to the extent of 100%, it added. Further, while 50 new MCCs were proposed to be established and operationalised, 177 MCCs were established and 2,400 SC/ST candidates were imparted vocational training/career counselling under Special Coaching Scheme as envisioned. The committee acknowledged the presence of bottlenecks/constraints encountered by the implementing agencies in the process of achieving the targets. It emphasised that now the effect of the pandemic has eased to a considerable extent and the Ministry needs to put in place a robust mechanism to ensure that the schemes regain momentum and shortfalls in achieving the targets are offset. Simultaneously, the review/revamp of PM-SYM and NPS-Traders may be undertaken on the basis of the third-party evaluation being conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), it suggested. 16 parties take part in Opposition party leaders’ meet led by Kharge Sixteen parties participated in the Opposition party leaders’ meeting chaired by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament on Monday. Indian National Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (United), Aam Admi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Communist Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League; Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Revolutionary Socialist Party; Rashtriya Janata Dal, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and the National Conference. Earlier today, a meeting of Congress MPs under the chairmanship of party president Mallikarjun Kharge was held at the party’s Parliamentary Party (CPP) office in Parliament to chalk out the strategy. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were present at the meeting. Congress Lok Sabha Sabha and Rajya Sabha members also participated in the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting to decide the strategy for the Budget session. Speaking to the media, Kharge said, “Opposition leaders will bring up every issue including unemployment, inflation, and raids by ED-CBI. We will take the opinions of all opposition leaders to form a strategy”. Kharge on Sunday met Vice President and Upper House Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar in the national capital on the eve of the commencement of the second part of the Budget Session and sought his cooperation. Kharge said that the Opposition parties are “keen to play” a constructive role in making the government accountable. The Budget session of 2023 resumed after a month-long recess. The recess was for enabling the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the demands for grants and make reports relating to their Ministries or departments. The focus of the second part of the Budget Session which resumed on March 13 will be on the demand for grants and passage of the Union Budget. The government is also likely to bring in legislation for passage in this part. As per the records, about 26 Bills are currently pending in the Rajya Sabha and close to 9 in the Lok Sabha for passage. Two Bills— The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 were referred to a Joint Committee by the government last Winter Session and they are currently being examined by the panel. It is known through sources that the CP Joshi-led panel discussing the Multi-State Cooperative Bill will be presenting its report in Parliament in the upcoming session. This panel has completed its discussion on the Bill and is likely to adopt its draft report on 13th March. The government will also list The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was scrutinised by a Joint Committee of Parliament. It is also known through the sources that the government may bring the keenly awaited Personal Data Protection Bill in the upcoming session. This Bill is likely to be cleared by the Union Cabinet soon. Amongst the Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha, three Bills have already been passed by Lok Sabha including The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022. Child rights panel summons MCD chief over stray dogs mauling two children in Delhi The National Child Rights Commission has summoned the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Delhi over the reported mauling to death of two children in the national capital, within a span of two days. Siblings Anand and Aditya, seven and five respectively, were allegedly attacked and killed by stray dogs in Delhi. The bodies were found in the jungle adjacent to the jhuggi or hutment, where the family lives in South Delhi. Taking suo moto cognisance of the matter, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the MCD Commissioner to appear before it on March 17, along with an Action Taken Report in the matter. The NCPCR is empowered to inquire into complaints and take suo-moto notice of matters relating to deprivation of and violation of child rights; non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children; non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare of the children thereby providing relief to them, or taking up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities. President Joe Biden says U.S. banking system ‘safe,’ but urges new regulations President Joe Biden on March 13, 2023 reassured Americans that their banking system is secure in the wake of the collapse of SVB and said he wants tougher regulations to prevent future crises. “Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them,” Biden said in televised remarks from the White House after Silicon Valley Bank’s failure and the federal takeover of a second bank. While the government is ensuring that SVB depositors get their money back, “no losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” Biden said. “The money will come from the fees that banks pay into the deposit insurance.” Biden challenged Congress to enact more stringent regulations, saying that “tough” safeguards brought in after the 2008 financial collapse had been undone under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. “I’m going to ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks to make it less likely this kind of bank failure would happen again,” Biden said. He made clear he expects the consequences to fall on the shoulders of those responsible and that the government’s rapid response over the weekend was not a bank bailout, as happened in 2008. “We must get the full accounting of what happened and why, (so) those responsible can be held accountable,” he said. Not only will taxpayers not be liable for covering the deposits, but “the management of these banks will be fired,” he said. Once a bank is taken over by the government, “the people running the bank should not work there anymore.” Biden stressed that investors who bought into SVB were not getting bailed out. “They knowingly took a risk and when the risks didn’t pay off, investors lose their money. That’s how capitalism works,” he said. In Brief: Oscars 2023: India’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins Best Documentary Short Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers, directed Kartiki Gonsdalves, has bagged the Best Documentary Short Award at the 95th Academy Awards. This makes it the first Indian production to win under the category. SS Rajamouli’s RRR became the first Indian feature film to win an Oscar, with the film’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ soundtrack by MM Keeravani bagging the Best Original Song Award. Composer Keeravani, along with lyricist Chandrabose, collected the award. IndiGo’s Delhi-Doha flight diverted to Karachi due to medical emergency An IndiGo flight from the national capital to Doha was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency onboard, the airline said on March 13. According to a statement, the flight 6E-1736 was diverted due to the medical emergency but “unfortunately, on arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team.” The flight was operating from Delhi to Doha in Qatar and was diverted to Karachi in Pakistan. The airline said it was making arrangements for transferring the other passengers of the flight, in coordination with the relevant authorities. More than 21,200 cases were pending before NCLT till January-end: Govt As many as 21,205 cases, including 12,963 cases under the insolvency law, were pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at the end of January this year, the government said on March 13. Currently, one principal bench and 15 other benches of NCLT are operational. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh said the benches of NCLT and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) are being set up in a phased manner depending on the quantum of workload and other factors. As of now, he said no proposal to set up any new bench of NCLT and NCLAT is under consideration. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 13 March 2023 [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]( 5-judge Constitution Bench to decide if same-sex marriages can be legal A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud [referred petitions to legally recognise same-sex marriages to a Constitution Bench]( of five judges of the Supreme Court. The Court listed the case for final arguments on April 18. The three-judge Bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, invoked Article 145(3) of the Constitution to refer the case to a Constitution Bench. Article 145(3) mandates that cases involving substantial questions and interpretation of the Constitution should be heard by a Bench of at least five judges. The hearing of the case would be livestreamed from April 18 in public interest. Chief Justice Chandrachud said the case involved an “interplay” between constitutional rights of life, liberty, dignity, equal treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community members and specific statutory enactments which considers only a married union between a biological man and woman. The petitioners argued that the Court’s judgment in Navtej Singh Johar in 2018, while decriminalising homosexuality, also upheld the individual right to family and choice of partners. In its affidavit, the Centre in the Supreme Court had frowned upon same-sex marriage while invoking the “accepted view” that a marriage between a biological man and woman is a “holy union, a sacrament and a sanskar” in India. The institution of marriage has a sanctity attached to it and in major parts of the country, it is regarded as a sacrament, a holy union, and a sanskar. In our country, despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman, marriage necessarily depends upon age-old customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos and societal values,” the Centre said in a 56-page affidavit filed on March 12. Supreme Court directs Defence Ministry to file note on arrears due under One Rank One Pension scheme The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to file a three-page note specifying the [exact quantum of arrears due to be paid under the One Rank One Pension]( (OROP) scheme, while noting that it is “sad” that four lakh retired defence personnel have already died waiting for their pension. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud ordered the government to also detail the modalities of the payment of OROP and “prioritisation” of disbursement, that is, first to defence widows and the oldest of retirees, in the note. The note has to be filed before the next hearing on March 20. “Our concern is that our ex-service personnel get the money. It is sad that four lakh people have died,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked. The government, represented by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, has sought an extension of time to pay the entire dues. “You [government] seem to have enough money for other things, events and projects, but no money to pay pensioners… Four lakh pensioners have died during the pendency of this petition,” senior advocate Huzefa Ahmedi and advocate Balaji Srinivasan, for the pensioners, protested. “We are entirely with you. It is sad. The arrears will be paid to their families,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed Ahmedi. Venkataramani said the government cannot wave a “magic wand”. There were “operational concerns” involved. Digitalisation of information is on. “Let us understand the dimensions involved,” he said. “But when are you planning to pay?” the CJI asked. Venkataramani said the first instalment of ₹2,000 crore would be paid. He said he was supervising the issue to see “how we can push it”. The court, as in the previous hearing, took offence to the Ministry’s letter on January 20, basically informing that except in the case of family pensioners and gallantry awardees, the others would only get their OROP arrears in four equal half-yearly installments. The Ministry had not bothered to consult the court before issuing the letter. “You first withdraw the letter, then we will consider your application for extension of time,” the CJI said. The court, at one point, said that it would even ask the Defence Secretary to come and explain the letter unless it was withdrawn. On January 9, the court had given the Ministry three months, till March 15, to comply with its nearly a year-old judgment to pay the arrears in whole. Venkataramani said there was no “unilateral” move by the Ministry to alter the court’s decision of January 9. In the earlier hearing, the court had pointed out that its judgment had directed the government to pay the OROP arrears in three months, by June 2022. This deadline was extended by another three months in September last year. On January 9, the period had been further stretched till March 15, 2023. Major schemes of Labour Ministry have missed enrolment targets: Parliamentary Panel A Parliamentary panel has expressed dismay over the [non-achievement of physical targets under the Labour Ministry’s major schemes]( like Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhaan Yojana in 2022-23. “The Committee are concerned to note that in case of major schemes, the Ministry has not been able to achieve the physical targets during 2022-23,” said Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textile and Skill Development in its 41st report on Demand of Grants (2023-24) of Ministry of Labour and Employment tabled in Parliament on March 13. It noted that physical targets for enrollments under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhaan Yojana (PM-SYM) were fixed at one crore new beneficiaries while the beneficiaries enrolled have only been to the extent of 2,63,971 as of February 13, 2023. Similarly, it observed that for the National Pension Scheme for Traders, shopkeepers and self-employed persons, the enrollments have been a miniscule 4,979 vis-a-vis the overall target of 25 lakh beneficiaries. In the case of the National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW), while the physical target was to register five crore unorganised workers, only 1.52 crore workers could be registered by February 7, 2023, it said. The low level of enrollments has been attributed mainly to the outbreak of COVID-19 and resultant lockdowns imposed across the country during the period; eligibility conditions in the case of NPS Traders; the presence of other pension schemes, etc. as a result of which registration/enrollments were much less than anticipated, the report noted. The constraints notwithstanding, the achievement recorded in regard to the target set for operationalising 59 Model Career Centres (MCC) has been to the extent of 100%, it added. Further, while 50 new MCCs were proposed to be established and operationalised, 177 MCCs were established and 2,400 SC/ST candidates were imparted vocational training/career counselling under Special Coaching Scheme as envisioned. The committee acknowledged the presence of bottlenecks/constraints encountered by the implementing agencies in the process of achieving the targets. It emphasised that now the effect of the pandemic has eased to a considerable extent and the Ministry needs to put in place a robust mechanism to ensure that the schemes regain momentum and shortfalls in achieving the targets are offset. Simultaneously, the review/revamp of PM-SYM and NPS-Traders may be undertaken on the basis of the third-party evaluation being conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), it suggested. 16 parties take part in Opposition party leaders’ meet led by Kharge [Sixteen parties participated in the Opposition party leaders’ meeting]( chaired by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament on Monday. Indian National Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (United), Aam Admi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Communist Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League; Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Revolutionary Socialist Party; Rashtriya Janata Dal, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and the National Conference. Earlier today, a meeting of Congress MPs under the chairmanship of party president Mallikarjun Kharge was held at the party’s Parliamentary Party (CPP) office in Parliament to chalk out the strategy. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were present at the meeting. Congress Lok Sabha Sabha and Rajya Sabha members also participated in the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting to decide the strategy for the Budget session. Speaking to the media, Kharge said, “Opposition leaders will bring up every issue including unemployment, inflation, and raids by ED-CBI. We will take the opinions of all opposition leaders to form a strategy”. Kharge on Sunday met Vice President and Upper House Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar in the national capital on the eve of the commencement of the second part of the Budget Session and sought his cooperation. Kharge said that the Opposition parties are “keen to play” a constructive role in making the government accountable. The Budget session of 2023 resumed after a month-long recess. The recess was for enabling the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the demands for grants and make reports relating to their Ministries or departments. The focus of the second part of the Budget Session which resumed on March 13 will be on the demand for grants and passage of the Union Budget. The government is also likely to bring in legislation for passage in this part. As per the records, about 26 Bills are currently pending in the Rajya Sabha and close to 9 in the Lok Sabha for passage. Two Bills— The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 were referred to a Joint Committee by the government last Winter Session and they are currently being examined by the panel. It is known through sources that the CP Joshi-led panel discussing the Multi-State Cooperative Bill will be presenting its report in Parliament in the upcoming session. This panel has completed its discussion on the Bill and is likely to adopt its draft report on 13th March. The government will also list The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was scrutinised by a Joint Committee of Parliament. It is also known through the sources that the government may bring the keenly awaited Personal Data Protection Bill in the upcoming session. This Bill is likely to be cleared by the Union Cabinet soon. Amongst the Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha, three Bills have already been passed by Lok Sabha including The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022. Child rights panel summons MCD chief over stray dogs mauling two children in Delhi The [National Child Rights Commission has summoned the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Delhi]( over the reported mauling to death of two children in the national capital, within a span of two days. Siblings Anand and Aditya, seven and five respectively, were allegedly attacked and killed by stray dogs in Delhi. The bodies were found in the jungle adjacent to the jhuggi or hutment, where the family lives in South Delhi. Taking suo moto cognisance of the matter, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the MCD Commissioner to appear before it on March 17, along with an Action Taken Report in the matter. The NCPCR is empowered to inquire into complaints and take suo-moto notice of matters relating to deprivation of and violation of child rights; non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children; non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare of the children thereby providing relief to them, or taking up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities. President Joe Biden says U.S. banking system ‘safe,’ but urges new regulations President Joe Biden on March 13, 2023 reassured Americans that their [banking system is secure in the wake of the collapse of SVB]( and said he wants tougher regulations to prevent future crises. “Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them,” Biden said in televised remarks from the White House after Silicon Valley Bank’s failure and the federal takeover of a second bank. While the government is ensuring that SVB depositors get their money back, “no losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” Biden said. “The money will come from the fees that banks pay into the deposit insurance.” Biden challenged Congress to enact more stringent regulations, saying that “tough” safeguards brought in after the 2008 financial collapse had been undone under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. “I’m going to ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks to make it less likely this kind of bank failure would happen again,” Biden said. He made clear he expects the consequences to fall on the shoulders of those responsible and that the government’s rapid response over the weekend was not a bank bailout, as happened in 2008. “We must get the full accounting of what happened and why, (so) those responsible can be held accountable,” he said. Not only will taxpayers not be liable for covering the deposits, but “the management of these banks will be fired,” he said. Once a bank is taken over by the government, “the people running the bank should not work there anymore.” Biden stressed that investors who bought into SVB were not getting bailed out. “They knowingly took a risk and when the risks didn’t pay off, investors lose their money. That’s how capitalism works,” he said. In Brief: Oscars 2023: India’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins Best Documentary Short Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers, directed Kartiki Gonsdalves, has bagged the [Best Documentary Short Award]( at the 95th Academy Awards. This makes it the first Indian production to win under the category. SS Rajamouli’s RRR became the first Indian feature film to win an Oscar, with the film’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ soundtrack by MM Keeravani bagging the [Best Original Song Award](. Composer Keeravani, along with lyricist Chandrabose, collected the award. IndiGo’s Delhi-Doha flight diverted to Karachi due to medical emergency An IndiGo flight from the national capital to Doha was [diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency onboard]( the airline said on March 13. According to a statement, the flight 6E-1736 was diverted due to the medical emergency but “unfortunately, on arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team.” The flight was operating from Delhi to Doha in Qatar and was diverted to Karachi in Pakistan. The airline said it was making arrangements for transferring the other passengers of the flight, in coordination with the relevant authorities. More than 21,200 cases were pending before NCLT till January-end: Govt As many as [21,205 cases, including 12,963 cases under the insolvency law, were pending before the National Company Law Tribunal]( (NCLT) at the end of January this year, the government said on March 13. Currently, one principal bench and 15 other benches of NCLT are operational. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh said the benches of NCLT and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) are being set up in a phased manner depending on the quantum of workload and other factors. As of now, he said no proposal to set up any new bench of NCLT and NCLAT is under consideration. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. First Day First Show Stay up-to-date on all things cinema with the "First Day First Show" cinema & entertainment newsletter. Every week, we bring you movie reviews, news from regional cinema, Bollywood, Hollywood, and beyond, as well as updates from the streaming platforms. Whether you're a cinephile or just looking for your next great binge-watch, we've got you covered. 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