The Evening Wrap: Congress says most Opposition parties to meet soon

Efforts to forge unity in the Opposition ranks gained momentum on May 22 with the Congress asserting that a “vast majority” of non-BJP parties will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told reporters that the venue and date of the expected meeting will be announced in a day or two. In a tweet, Kharge said, “The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country.” Kumar was accompanied by his Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh. After holding a meeting with the Congress chief last month, Kumar has met leaders of a host of regional parties in his bid to bring them together on one platform with the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The JD(U) leaders had met AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 21 at his residence here and extended “complete support” to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of Opposition unity. Some regional leaders, including Kejriwal and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, were not invited to the ceremony. Kumar, though, has been trying to bring them on board as well. Two houses torched in fresh violence in Manipur; curfew reimposed In fresh violence in Manipur, two houses were torched by a mob in Imphal East district after two armed miscreants forced people to shut their shops on May 22 afternoon, police officials said. However, no casualty was reported due to the arson. The mob also beat up one of the miscreants while the other managed to flee. The two were taken into custody. Armymen deployed in the area who rushed to the scene used force and fired teargas shells to disperse the mob resulting in minor injuries to a few people. Locals protested the incident by burning tyres on the road. Following the incident, curfew hours in Imphal East district which had earlier been relaxed were tightened. On May 21, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said it was time to move on from the violence and restore normalcy in the State. “Past is past. Our mission now is to restore normalcy. There was no fight between communities. It (fight) was with the government. When any government anywhere tries to do something, there will always be acceptance or resistance,” he said. Although Singh did not elaborate, his BJP-led government’s drives against alleged encroachment of forest land and poppy cultivation in the hills are said to be among the main reasons behind the violence that left more than 70 people dead and 35,000 homeless. The anti-encroachment drive was seen as targeting of the primarily hill-dwelling Kuki tribe by a government allegedly controlled by the majority non-tribal Meitei people. “Blame the government. We will rectify. Please do not make it an issue between communities,” Singh said. The Chief Minister also said the government would reach out to the 10 Kuki legislators, including seven from the ruling BJP, who had demanded a “separate administration” for their community. “The Kuki MLAs are a part of our family. Manipur is a small but unique State with 34-35 recognised tribes, including the Kukis. We are all brothers and sisters,” he said. Joint Parliamentary Committee needed to probe allegations against Adani group: Congress The Congress on May 22 alleged that the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee and the SEBI have “hit walls” while investigating the Adani group’s transactions and stressed the need for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe to unravel the truth in the matter. The Congress’ assertion comes after a report by the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee said it has found no evidence of stock price manipulation in Adani group companies, while a separate SEBI probe into alleged violation in money flows from offshore entities has “drawn a blank”. Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tagged a media report which claimed that the Registrar of Companies (Gujarat), in a ruling earlier this month, has held that Adani Power and its officials had violated provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, by not reporting related-party contracts and transactions in the register of contract. “As the Modani brigade desperately tries to spin the Supreme Court Expert Committee’s report as a ‘clean chit’ [it isn’t], more evidence emerges that Adani has engaged in multiple related-party transactions aimed at duping minority shareholders and unfairly enriching the promoters,” Ramesh said. ”The Registrar of Companies in Gujarat recently ruled that Adani Power had violated the Companies Act, 2013, by hiding related-party contracts and transactions. It imposed penalties on Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani and Vineet Jain,” he said. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court committee and even the SEBI have “hit walls” when investigating Adani group’s transactions, Ramesh claimed. “This is why we need a JPC to unravel the ‘Modani MegaScam’,” he said. The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani Group. The Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as baseless. 2019 Lok Sabha elections were fought on bodies of our soldiers: Satya Pal Malik Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik again attacked the government over the Pulwama attack issue, saying the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were “fought on the bodies of our soldiers”, and the then Home Minister would have to resign had there been a probe into the incident. He claimed he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the attack just after the incident but “he told me to keep quiet”. “Elections [Lok Sabha 2019] were fought on the bodies of our soldiers and no investigation was done. Had an inquiry been done, the then Home Minister [Rajnath Singh] would have to resign. Many officers would have been jailed and there would have been a huge controversy,” Malik said at an event in Bansur of Alwar district. Malik has been vocal about the issues related to Jammu and Kashmir where he was the Governor before the State was divided into the two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. He said during the event on Sunday that when the Pulwama attack happened on February 14, 2019, the Prime Minister was in a shooting at the Jim Corbett National Park. “When he came out from there I got a call [from him]. I told him that our soldiers have been killed and they got killed by our mistake. He told me to keep quiet,” Malik said. Malik was recently questioned by the CBI over his claim that he was offered ₹300 crore as a bribe to clear files related to an insurance scheme during his tenure as Jammu and Kashmir Governor between August 23, 2018, and October 30, 2019. He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Adani issue. Malik said Adani has created much wealth in just three years, and asked those present if they had been able to increase their wealth. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told Parliament that Adani had got ₹20,000 crore and asked the government ‘where did it come from’. “The Prime Minister could not answer. He talked for two days but could not answer one thing because he had no answer and I am saying that it is all his money,” Malik said. “They loot from their Chief Ministers and give it to Adani and he does business and he is sure that it is his money,” Malik said. “I was in Goa, I complained about the corruption of the Chief Minister there to the Prime Minister and the result was that I was removed as Governor and the CM continued on the post. That’s why I am sure that they do corruption right under his nose and has a share in it and the entire share goes to Adani,” Malik said. He urged people to change the government. “Because if you vote for them again, you will not get a chance to vote thereafter. After this he will not let you vote, he will say that every time only I win, then why spend on elections,” he said. Delhi HC summons BBC on defamation suit claiming its documentary cast slur on India’s reputation The Delhi High Court on May 22 issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit claiming its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the BBC (U.K.), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (U.K.) has released the documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has “defamed” India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the Prime Minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast a slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, “Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes” and listed it for further hearing on September 15. The court had earlier issued summons to the BBC, the Wikimedia Foundation and the U.S.-based digital library Internet Archive after BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh filed a suit seeking a permanent restraint order against the organisations from broadcasting the BBC series, ‘India – The Modi Question’. According to the complaint of Kumar, who is a State Executive Committee member of the BJP in Jharkhand, the BBC series has defamed organisations like the RSS, the VHP and the BJP. Counsel appearing for the BBC and Wikipedia informed the court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) Ruchika Singla that they are foreign entities who have not been served properly and are appearing under protest. They said they had never received the copies of the suit. In Brief: PM Modi leaves for Australia after concluding Papua New Guinea visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 22 left for Australia on the third and final leg of his three-nation tour after concluding his visit to Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the first FIPIC summit and met leaders from the Pacific Island nations to boost bilateral ties. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. He will also attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia’s dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora. “I thank PM James Marape for the warm welcome accorded. Now leaving for Australia to take part in various programmes in Sydney,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Facebook parent Meta hit with record fine for transferring European user data to U.S. The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine on May 22 and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decade long case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears. The penalty fine of €1.2 billion euros from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s €746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 May 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]( Vast majority of Opposition parties to meet soon: Congress after Nitish meets Kharge Efforts to forge unity in the Opposition ranks gained momentum on May 22 with the [Congress asserting that a “vast majority” of non-BJP parties will meet soon]( after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told reporters that the venue and date of the expected meeting will be announced in a day or two. In a tweet, Kharge said, “The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country.” Kumar was accompanied by his Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh. After holding a meeting with the Congress chief last month, Kumar has met leaders of a host of regional parties in his bid to bring them together on one platform with the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The JD(U) leaders had met AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 21 at his residence here and extended “complete support” to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of Opposition unity. Some regional leaders, including Kejriwal and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, were not invited to the ceremony. Kumar, though, has been trying to bring them on board as well. Two houses torched in fresh violence in Manipur; curfew reimposed [In fresh violence in Manipur, two houses were torched by a mob in Imphal East district]( after two armed miscreants forced people to shut their shops on May 22 afternoon, police officials said. However, no casualty was reported due to the arson. The mob also beat up one of the miscreants while the other managed to flee. The two were taken into custody. Armymen deployed in the area who rushed to the scene used force and fired teargas shells to disperse the mob resulting in minor injuries to a few people. Locals protested the incident by burning tyres on the road. Following the incident, curfew hours in Imphal East district which had earlier been relaxed were tightened. On May 21, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said it was time to move on from the violence and restore normalcy in the State. “Past is past. Our mission now is to restore normalcy. There was no fight between communities. It (fight) was with the government. When any government anywhere tries to do something, there will always be acceptance or resistance,” he said. Although Singh did not elaborate, his BJP-led government’s drives against alleged encroachment of forest land and poppy cultivation in the hills are said to be among the main reasons behind the violence that left more than 70 people dead and 35,000 homeless. The anti-encroachment drive was seen as targeting of the primarily hill-dwelling Kuki tribe by a government allegedly controlled by the majority non-tribal Meitei people. “Blame the government. We will rectify. Please do not make it an issue between communities,” Singh said. The Chief Minister also said the government would reach out to the 10 Kuki legislators, including seven from the ruling BJP, who had demanded a “separate administration” for their community. “The Kuki MLAs are a part of our family. Manipur is a small but unique State with 34-35 recognised tribes, including the Kukis. We are all brothers and sisters,” he said. Joint Parliamentary Committee needed to probe allegations against Adani group: Congress The [Congress on May 22 alleged that the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee and the SEBI have “hit walls” while investigating the Adani group’s transactions and stressed the need for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe]( to unravel the truth in the matter. The Congress’ assertion comes after a report by the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee said it has found no evidence of stock price manipulation in Adani group companies, while a separate SEBI probe into alleged violation in money flows from offshore entities has “drawn a blank”. Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tagged a media report which claimed that the Registrar of Companies (Gujarat), in a ruling earlier this month, has held that Adani Power and its officials had violated provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, by not reporting related-party contracts and transactions in the register of contract. “As the Modani brigade desperately tries to spin the Supreme Court Expert Committee’s report as a ‘clean chit’ [it isn’t], more evidence emerges that Adani has engaged in multiple related-party transactions aimed at duping minority shareholders and unfairly enriching the promoters,” Ramesh said. ”The Registrar of Companies in Gujarat recently ruled that Adani Power had violated the Companies Act, 2013, by hiding related-party contracts and transactions. It imposed penalties on Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani and Vineet Jain,” he said. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court committee and even the SEBI have “hit walls” when investigating Adani group’s transactions, Ramesh claimed. “This is why we need a JPC to unravel the ‘Modani MegaScam’,” he said. The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani Group. The Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as baseless. 2019 Lok Sabha elections were fought on bodies of our soldiers: Satya Pal Malik Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor [Satya Pal Malik again attacked the government over the Pulwama attack issue, saying the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were “fought on the bodies of our soldiers”]( and the then Home Minister would have to resign had there been a probe into the incident. He claimed he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the attack just after the incident but “he told me to keep quiet”. “Elections [Lok Sabha 2019] were fought on the bodies of our soldiers and no investigation was done. Had an inquiry been done, the then Home Minister [Rajnath Singh] would have to resign. Many officers would have been jailed and there would have been a huge controversy,” Malik said at an event in Bansur of Alwar district. Malik has been vocal about the issues related to Jammu and Kashmir where he was the Governor before the State was divided into the two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. He said during the event on Sunday that when the Pulwama attack happened on February 14, 2019, the Prime Minister was in a shooting at the Jim Corbett National Park. “When he came out from there I got a call [from him]. I told him that our soldiers have been killed and they got killed by our mistake. He told me to keep quiet,” Malik said. Malik was recently questioned by the CBI over his claim that he was offered ₹300 crore as a bribe to clear files related to an insurance scheme during his tenure as Jammu and Kashmir Governor between August 23, 2018, and October 30, 2019. He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Adani issue. Malik said Adani has created much wealth in just three years, and asked those present if they had been able to increase their wealth. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told Parliament that Adani had got ₹20,000 crore and asked the government ‘where did it come from’. “The Prime Minister could not answer. He talked for two days but could not answer one thing because he had no answer and I am saying that it is all his money,” Malik said. “They loot from their Chief Ministers and give it to Adani and he does business and he is sure that it is his money,” Malik said. “I was in Goa, I complained about the corruption of the Chief Minister there to the Prime Minister and the result was that I was removed as Governor and the CM continued on the post. That’s why I am sure that they do corruption right under his nose and has a share in it and the entire share goes to Adani,” Malik said. He urged people to change the government. “Because if you vote for them again, you will not get a chance to vote thereafter. After this he will not let you vote, he will say that every time only I win, then why spend on elections,” he said. Delhi HC summons BBC on defamation suit claiming its documentary cast slur on India’s reputation The [Delhi High Court on May 22 issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit claiming its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi](. Besides the BBC (U.K.), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (U.K.) has released the documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has “defamed” India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the Prime Minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast a slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, “Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes” and listed it for further hearing on September 15. The court had earlier issued summons to the BBC, the Wikimedia Foundation and the U.S.-based digital library Internet Archive after BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh filed a suit seeking a permanent restraint order against the organisations from broadcasting the BBC series, ‘India – The Modi Question’. According to the complaint of Kumar, who is a State Executive Committee member of the BJP in Jharkhand, the BBC series has defamed organisations like the RSS, the VHP and the BJP. Counsel appearing for the BBC and Wikipedia informed the court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) Ruchika Singla that they are foreign entities who have not been served properly and are appearing under protest. They said they had never received the copies of the suit. In Brief: PM Modi leaves for Australia after concluding Papua New Guinea visit Prime Minister [Narendra Modi on May 22 left for Australia on the third and final leg of his three-nation tour]( after concluding his visit to Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the first FIPIC summit and met leaders from the Pacific Island nations to boost bilateral ties. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. He will also attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia’s dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora. “I thank PM James Marape for the warm welcome accorded. Now leaving for Australia to take part in various programmes in Sydney,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Facebook parent Meta hit with record fine for transferring European user data to U.S. The [European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine on May 22 and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October]( the latest salvo in a decade long case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears. The penalty fine of €1.2 billion euros from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s €746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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