The Evening Wrap: BRS writes to ECI to reconsider its decision on Rythu Bandhu disbursement

Taken aback by the unexpected decision of the Election Commission of India to withdraw the permission granted for the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu investment support for the ongoing Rabi/Yasangi season hours before the commencement of the process on Monday, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has requested the EC to reconsider its decision. In a three-page letter addressed to the EC and Chief Electoral Officer of the State, secretary-general of the party K. Keshava Rao and its general secretary S. Bharath Kumar stated that the Rythu Bandhu was an on-going scheme since May 2018 and it has been disbursed for 11 crop seasons already and under continuous implementation. They stated that the scheme was intended for farmers as investment support for their agricultural activities before the commencement of crop season twice a year – Kharif and Rabi seasons. An amount of ₹5,000 per acre was being given to all landholding farmers and for this Rabi season it was proposed to disburse it from November 24 by informing the same to the Election Commission by the State Government. The Election Commission had granted permission on November 25 with certain conditions. However, to their utter surprise, the no objection given was withdrawn on the ground that Minister of Finance T. Harish Rao had allegedly violated one of the conditions. The BRS leaders said Harish Rao had not made any such comment which would amount to the violation of the November 25 order and he merely thanked the EC for allowing the disbursement of the benefit. The BRS leaders reiterated that Rythu Bandhu was an ongoing scheme and that the farmers had legitimate expectation before the crop season. Besides, the Commission had allowed PM-Kisan to disburse similar benefit by crediting the amount to farmers’ bank accounts. There was no difference between the two schemes and the stoppage of disbursement would cause irreparable hardship to the farmers, the BRS leaders said and appealed to allow disbursement of Rythu Bandhu benefit as per the list available with the state government in the digitised land records system. Israel’s plan for more settlements ‘appalling’, says European Union diplomat Borrell The European Union’s (EU) top diplomat Josep Borrell has called the idea of Israel planning further illegal settlements in OccupiedPalestinian Territories “appalling” and Israel’s biggest security liability. He also called for an extension of the four day ceasefire due to expire after Monday (November 27). “I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli gov is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements,” Borrell wrote on Monday (November 27), on X, formerly Twitter. “This is not self-defence and will not make Israel safer,” Borrell said, adding that the settlements were a grave breach of international humanitarian law and Israel’s greatest security liability. Speaking at the Union for the Mediterranean conference in Barcelona on Monday (November 27), Borrell referred to a figure of $43 million that he said Israel planned to use for building new settlements. “The violence spread by extremist settlers in the West Bank, many times under protection from the Israeli police and military, does not make Israel safer,” he said. The Foreign Minister said the “indiscriminate brutality” of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 could not be justified. However, he said the death toll in Gaza, which included more than 5,000 children, was “highly disproportionate”. He described the four day Israel-Hamas ceasefire from November 24-27 as “an important first step”. “The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long-lasting while working for a political solution,” Borrell said. The EU is the largest foreign aid donor to the Palestinian Territories. The Barcelona meeting was attended by various foreign ministers from the EU, West Asia and North Africa, including the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki. Israel was not represented at the meeting. Borrell said he regretted Israel’s absence. CAA final draft likely to be ready by March 30, 2024: Union Minister Ajay Mishra Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra said that the final draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is expected to be ready by March 30 next year. The BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, while addressing a gathering of the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday, asserted that nobody can snatch citizenship rights from Matuas, who had fled religious persecution in Bangladesh. “The process to roll out CAA has gained momentum in the last couple of years... some issues are being sorted out. Nobody can snatch citizenship rights from the Matuas. By March next year, the final draft of the CAA is expected to be ready for coming into force,” he said to a thundering applause. Local BJP MP and Union minister Santanu Thakur was by his side. The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before December 31, 2014. Reacting to the claim, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, “The BJP remembers Matuas and the CAA only during elections. The saffron party will never be able to roll out CAA in West Bengal. The BJP’s false claims are becoming clear to the Matuas and others. The saffron party will be rejected by all in next year’s elections,” he said. Seven Kashmiri students charged under UAPA for raising pro-Pak. slogans during World Cup final The Jammu and Kashmir Police in Kashmir has filed a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against seven Kashmiri students for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during the Cricket World Cup final held recently. The police in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district filed a case under Section 13 (unlawful activity punishable with imprisonment) of the UAPA, and Sections 505 (inciting to commit any offence against any other class or community) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. All the seven students study at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Kashmir (SKUAST-K), in Ganderbal’s Shuhama. The police action followed a written complaint filed by a student from Punjab studying at the SKUAST-K. “After the match ended, they [Kashmiri students] started abusing me and targeting me for being a supporter of our country and also threatened me to shut up otherwise I would be shooted [sic],” reads the complaint of the student from Punjab. He alleged that the Kashmiri students shouted the slogan “Jeeve Jeeve Pakistan [Long Live Pakistan] which created fear amongst the students from outside the Union Territory of J&K”. Meanwhile, the J&K Students Association urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha to drop UAPA charges. “It is an unacceptably harsh punishment that could ruin their future. The UAPA charges will have serious consequences on the academic and future career of the students and should be immediately withdrawn. It may have serious repercussions both in the long term and short term,” Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the Association, said. He said the association also condemned the act and behaviour of the Kashmiri students “in the harshest of words”. “The issue should be resolved amicably, rather than taking it to the court and police station,” he added. Lightning strikes kills 24 persons in Gujarat as sudden rains and thunderstorms batter the State As many as 24 people were killed in lightning strikes, with unseasonal rains and hailstorms battering Gujarat since November 26. At least 25 others were injured and more than 70 animals also died in the havoc wrecked by the sudden thunderstorm in the more than 220 talukas where standing crops were damaged. According to State government sources, at least 24 people have died in lightning strikes in different areas across the State since Sunday morning. Union Home Minister Amit Shah condoled the deaths due to bad weather and lightning in various cities of Gujarat on Sunday and said the local administration was engaged in relief work. Four persons died in Dahod district, three in Bharuch, two in Tapi, while the remaining were from other districts. The rains and hailstorms have caused extensive damage to standing crops in Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions. Besides, the rainfall also affected the ceramic industry of Morbi district in Saurashtra region as factories were forced to remain shut. Paris Mayor says she’s quitting Elon Musk’s ‘global sewer’ platform X as city gears up for Olympics The mayor of future Olympic host city Paris says she is quitting X, accusing Elon Musk’s platform previously known as Twitter of spreading disinformation and hatred and of becoming a “gigantic global sewer” that is toxic for democracy and constructive debate. With its thousands of anonymous accounts and its troll farms, life on Twitter is the exact opposite of democratic life,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a long post titled, “Why I am leaving Twitter.” “I refuse to endorse this evil scheme,” she wrote. An Associated Press request for comment emailed to X got an automated reply, “Busy now, please check back later.” Hidalgo’s office said posts on November 27 in French and English that announced her departure from X would be the Socialist mayor’s last and that she will then close her account — which has 1.5 million followers — at the end of the week. Her office said that Paris City Hall is keeping its own separate account on X. Hidalgo’s withdrawal from X follows a fractious period for the mayor. She has faced criticism from political opponents over the expense and need for a trip she made in October to the French South Pacific territories of New Caledonia and Tahiti. The Olympic surfing competition next July is being held on Tahiti’s world-famous Teahupo’o wave. She also locked horns last week with government ministers over the French capital’s readiness for the 2024 Summer Games. Hidalgo said some transport options won’t be ready for the July 26-August 11 Olympics. Firing back, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said the mayor’s comments were a “shameful” attempt to divert attention from her Pacific voyage. Hidalgo’s office said her decision to leave X was not in response to the recent criticism but was thought-out over time. Musk took control of Twitter in October 2022 and has dismantled some of its core features. “We are dealing here with an utterly clear political project to push aside democracy and its values in favour of powerful private interests,” Hidalgo wrote. “This medium has become a gigantic global sewer, and we should continue to wade into it?” In Brief: Malaysia will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for Indian and Chinese citizens from December 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced, joining Thailand and Sri Lanka in recent weeks to offer such a facility to foreigners to promote tourism. Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkiye and Jordan. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 27 November 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]( BRS writes to Election Commission to reconsider its decision on Rythu Bandhu disbursement Taken aback by the unexpected decision of the Election Commission of India to withdraw the permission granted for the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu investment support for the ongoing Rabi/Yasangi season hours before the commencement of the process on Monday, the [Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has requested the EC to reconsider its decision](. In a three-page letter addressed to the EC and Chief Electoral Officer of the State, secretary-general of the party K. Keshava Rao and its general secretary S. Bharath Kumar stated that the Rythu Bandhu was an on-going scheme since May 2018 and it has been disbursed for 11 crop seasons already and under continuous implementation. They stated that the scheme was intended for farmers as investment support for their agricultural activities before the commencement of crop season twice a year – Kharif and Rabi seasons. An amount of ₹5,000 per acre was being given to all landholding farmers and for this Rabi season it was proposed to disburse it from November 24 by informing the same to the Election Commission by the State Government. The Election Commission had granted permission on November 25 with certain conditions. However, to their utter surprise, the [no objection given was withdrawn]( on the ground that Minister of Finance T. Harish Rao had allegedly violated one of the conditions. The BRS leaders said Harish Rao had not made any such comment which would amount to the violation of the November 25 order and he merely thanked the EC for allowing the disbursement of the benefit. The BRS leaders reiterated that Rythu Bandhu was an ongoing scheme and that the farmers had legitimate expectation before the crop season. Besides, the Commission had allowed PM-Kisan to disburse similar benefit by crediting the amount to farmers’ bank accounts. There was no difference between the two schemes and the stoppage of disbursement would cause irreparable hardship to the farmers, the BRS leaders said and appealed to allow disbursement of Rythu Bandhu benefit as per the list available with the state government in the digitised land records system. Israel’s plan for more settlements ‘appalling’, says European Union diplomat Borrell The [European Union’s (EU) top diplomat Josep Borrell has called the idea of Israel planning further illegal settlements in OccupiedPalestinian Territories “appalling”]( and Israel’s biggest security liability. He also called for an [extension of the four day ceasefire]( due to expire after Monday (November 27). “I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli gov is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements,” Borrell wrote on Monday (November 27), on X, formerly Twitter. “This is not self-defence and will not make Israel safer,” Borrell said, adding that the settlements were a grave breach of international humanitarian law and Israel’s greatest security liability. Speaking at the Union for the Mediterranean conference in Barcelona on Monday (November 27), Borrell referred to a figure of $43 million that he said Israel planned to use for building new settlements. “The violence spread by extremist settlers in the West Bank, many times under protection from the Israeli police and military, does not make Israel safer,” he said. The Foreign Minister said the “indiscriminate brutality” of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 could not be justified. However, he said the death toll in Gaza, which included more than 5,000 children, was “highly disproportionate”. He described the four day Israel-Hamas ceasefire from November 24-27 as “an important first step”. “The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long-lasting while working for a political solution,” Borrell said. The EU is the largest foreign aid donor to the Palestinian Territories. The Barcelona meeting was attended by various foreign ministers from the EU, West Asia and North Africa, including the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki. Israel was not represented at the meeting. Borrell said he regretted Israel’s absence. CAA final draft likely to be ready by March 30, 2024: Union Minister Ajay Mishra Union Minister of State for Home [Ajay Mishra said that the final draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is expected to be ready by March 30]( next year. The BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, while addressing a gathering of the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday, asserted that nobody can snatch citizenship rights from Matuas, who had fled religious persecution in Bangladesh. “The process to roll out CAA has gained momentum in the last couple of years... some issues are being sorted out. Nobody can snatch citizenship rights from the Matuas. By March next year, the final draft of the CAA is expected to be ready for coming into force,” he said to a thundering applause. Local BJP MP and Union minister Santanu Thakur was by his side. The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before December 31, 2014. Reacting to the claim, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, “The BJP remembers Matuas and the CAA only during elections. The saffron party will never be able to roll out CAA in West Bengal. The BJP’s false claims are becoming clear to the Matuas and others. The saffron party will be rejected by all in next year’s elections,” he said. Seven Kashmiri students charged under UAPA for raising pro-Pak. slogans during World Cup final The [Jammu and Kashmir Police in Kashmir has filed a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against seven Kashmiri students for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during the Cricket World Cup final]( held recently. The police in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district filed a case under Section 13 (unlawful activity punishable with imprisonment) of the UAPA, and Sections 505 (inciting to commit any offence against any other class or community) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. All the seven students study at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Kashmir (SKUAST-K), in Ganderbal’s Shuhama. The police action followed a written complaint filed by a student from Punjab studying at the SKUAST-K. “After the match ended, they [Kashmiri students] started abusing me and targeting me for being a supporter of our country and also threatened me to shut up otherwise I would be shooted [sic],” reads the complaint of the student from Punjab. He alleged that the Kashmiri students shouted the slogan “Jeeve Jeeve Pakistan [Long Live Pakistan] which created fear amongst the students from outside the Union Territory of J&K”. Meanwhile, the J&K Students Association urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha to drop UAPA charges. “It is an unacceptably harsh punishment that could ruin their future. The UAPA charges will have serious consequences on the academic and future career of the students and should be immediately withdrawn. It may have serious repercussions both in the long term and short term,” Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the Association, said. He said the association also condemned the act and behaviour of the Kashmiri students “in the harshest of words”. “The issue should be resolved amicably, rather than taking it to the court and police station,” he added. Lightning strikes kills 24 persons in Gujarat as sudden rains and thunderstorms batter the State [As many as 24 people were killed in lightning strikes, with unseasonal rains and hailstorms battering Gujarat since November 26](. At least 25 others were injured and more than 70 animals also died in the havoc wrecked by the sudden thunderstorm in the more than 220 talukas where standing crops were damaged. According to State government sources, at least 24 people have died in lightning strikes in different areas across the State since Sunday morning. Union Home Minister Amit Shah condoled the deaths due to bad weather and lightning in various cities of Gujarat on Sunday and said the local administration was engaged in relief work. Four persons died in Dahod district, three in Bharuch, two in Tapi, while the remaining were from other districts. The rains and hailstorms have caused extensive damage to standing crops in Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions. Besides, the rainfall also affected the ceramic industry of Morbi district in Saurashtra region as factories were forced to remain shut. Paris Mayor says she’s quitting Elon Musk’s ‘global sewer’ platform X as city gears up for Olympics [The mayor of future Olympic host city Paris says she is quitting X, accusing Elon Musk’s platform previously known as Twitter of spreading disinformation and hatred and of becoming a “gigantic global sewer” that is toxic for democracy and constructive debate](. With its thousands of anonymous accounts and its troll farms, life on Twitter is the exact opposite of democratic life,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a long post titled, “Why I am leaving Twitter.” “I refuse to endorse this evil scheme,” she wrote. An Associated Press request for comment emailed to X got an automated reply, “Busy now, please check back later.” Hidalgo’s office said posts on November 27 in French and English that announced her departure from X would be the Socialist mayor’s last and that she will then close her account — which has 1.5 million followers — at the end of the week. Her office said that Paris City Hall is keeping its own separate account on X. Hidalgo’s withdrawal from X follows a fractious period for the mayor. She has faced criticism from political opponents over the expense and need for a trip she made in October to the French South Pacific territories of New Caledonia and Tahiti. The Olympic surfing competition next July is being held on Tahiti’s world-famous Teahupo’o wave. She also locked horns last week with government ministers over the French capital’s readiness for the 2024 Summer Games. Hidalgo said some transport options won’t be ready for the July 26-August 11 Olympics. Firing back, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said the mayor’s comments were a “shameful” attempt to divert attention from her Pacific voyage. Hidalgo’s office said her decision to leave X was not in response to the recent criticism but was thought-out over time. Musk took control of Twitter in October 2022 and has dismantled some of its core features. “We are dealing here with an utterly clear political project to push aside democracy and its values in favour of powerful private interests,” Hidalgo wrote. “This medium has become a gigantic global sewer, and we should continue to wade into it?” In Brief: [Malaysia will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for Indian and Chinese citizens from December 1]( Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced, joining Thailand and Sri Lanka in recent weeks to offer such a facility to foreigners to promote tourism. Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkiye and Jordan. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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