The Evening Wrap: Socialist icon Karpoori Thakur awarded Bharat Ratna

A day before the centenary celebrations of former Bihar Chief Minister and socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, President Droupadi Murmu on January 23 announced that the late socialist leader will be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. “The President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to Shri Karpoori Thakur (posthumously),” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that “this prestigious recognition is a testament to his enduring efforts as a champion for the marginalised and a stalwart of equality and justice”. Son of a marginal farmer from the Nai (barber) community, the socialist icon went on to serve twice as Bihar’s CM — first between December 1970 and June 1971 as part of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and later between December 1977 and April 1979 from the Janata Party. Named Jannayak, or People’s Leader, Thakur was a freedom fighter, incarcerated during the Quit India movement in 1942, and has been seen as the architect of much of the social justice plank in Indian politics. During Thakur’s Chief Ministership in 1977, the Mungeri Lal Commission submitted its report recommending that backward classes be reclassified as extremely backward classes (including weaker sections of Muslims) and backward classes. The report was implemented in 1978. Thus paved the way for 26% reservation for them in the government services in Bihar in November 1978. In Patna, CM Nitish Kumar expressed happiness the over the Bharat Ratna to Thakur saying it’s been a longtime demand of the JD(U). The Bihar BJP thanked PM Modi for honouring Thakur. Supreme Court takes serious note of non-listing of Adani Power case; Registry lists it for January 24 A case concerning Adani Power found a place in the list of cases scheduled to be heard by a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose on January 24, hours after its non-listing on January 23 due to unspecified reasons came under the spotlight in open court. Appearing before the Bench also comprising Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who appears for the opposite party in the case, Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, drew the court’s attention to the “very disturbing” absence of the case in the day’s list. Dave said the apex court Registry, on enquiring, had said they were “under direction not to list the case”. “Why? At whose behest? Directed by whom,” Justice Bose asked incredulously. Dave said he did not have an answer to that. “The court proposes, the Registry disposes. This cannot be done in the High Courts. When Registry defies court orders, should it not be viewed seriously? You should pass a judicial order,” Dave submitted to the Bench. Dave recounted how another Bench of the apex court led by Justice A.S. Oka had to recently issue notice to the Registry in a similar turn of events. “All this speaks very poorly of us as an institution… This case should be listed today itself,” the senior lawyer pointed out. The Bench had then assured Dave that the case would be listed on January 24. Kheda flogging | Do you have authority to tie up people and beat them, Supreme Court asks police, then stays contempt proceedings against them The Supreme Court on Tuesday orally observed the 2022 incident of four Gujarat Police officers publicly flogging Muslim men after tying them to a pole in Kheda district for allegedly disrupting a garba event amounted to an “atrocity”. “Did they have an authority in law to tie people to a pole and beat them,” Justice B.R. Gavai asked. “And take videos,” Justice Sandeep Mehta joined in. The police officers had appealed to the Supreme Court against a Gujarat High Court order in October sentencing them to 14 days’ imprisonment for contempt of court. The conduct of the four officers were found to be in contempt of the directions of the Supreme Court in the D.K. Basu judgment of 1996 against police abuse and custodial violence. The D.K. Basu jverdict had highlighted the deep concern in a free society for the protection of an individual from torture and abuse by the police and other law enforcing officers. “Police is, no doubt, under a legal duty and has legitimate right to arrest a criminal and to interrogate him during the investigation of an offence but it must be remembered that the law does not permit use of third degree methods or torture of accused in custody during interrogation and investigation with that view to solve the crime,” the D.K. Basu judgment had observed. Justices Gavai and Sandeep Mehta were not impressed by the argument raised by senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for the police officers, that there was no “willful disobedience” of the verdict by his clients. The Bench asked whether ignorance of law had become a defence in law now. “It is the duty of every police officer to know what is the law laid down in D.K. Basu,” Justice Gavai observed. The senior lawyer challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court to try the men for contempt. He said the officers were already facing criminal prosecution, departmental inquiry and proceedings by the National Human Rights Commission. The Bench admitted the statutory appeal of the police officers, A.V. Parmar, D.B. Kumavat, Laxmansinh Kanaksinh Dabhi and Rajubhai Dabhi. It also stayed the contempt action against them in the High Court. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stopped from entering Guwahati city, triggers clashes The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was stopped from entering Guwahati city on Tuesday, triggering protests from Congress workers who broke barricades and raised slogans. The police, which had set up barricades at two places to prevent the Yatra from entering the city limits, had to use force to stop the Congress workers. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said the Yatra would not be allowed to enter the city in order to avoid traffic jams. The Yatra, which entered Meghalaya on Monday, returned to Assam for its last leg and will travel through the outskirts of the state’s largest city Guwahati. Gandhi later addressed party supporters on the outskirts of the city, and said, “We have broken barricades, but will not break the law”. He was earlier accorded a boisterous welcome as he tried to enter Guwahati and addressed some varsity students on the way. Addressing supporters, he said while BJP president J.P. Nadda took the same route, they were not allowed to travel on it. “You should not think we are weak. We have broken the barricades,” he told his workers and supporters, calling them “babbar sher” (lion). “They have cancelled my programme at the university. My programme was cancelled, but the students heard me outside,” he said. “Congress workers do not fear anyone,” he said, adding that “we will defeat the BJP in Assam and form the Congress government soon.” He also lauded the police for doing their job well. “We know that police officers have done a good job and followed orders, with one person coming and lying down before the (yatra) bus. We are not against you. We are against the chief minister who is most corrupt. Our fight is with him,” Gandhi said. He said policemen were also clapping on his speech but hastened to add that they should not. “We have won as we have broken the barricades,” AICC in-charge for Assam Jitendra Singh said. Gandhi later proceeded from the designated route on the ring road. The Yatra would be in Assam till Thursday. Face-off between two IAS officers over closure of schools in Patna amid cold wave Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the Bihar Education Department K.K. Pathak and Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh are at loggerheads over the closure of schools in Patna district amid the cold wave. Last week, Pathak asked all district magistrates not to suspend the academic activities without seeking permission of the Education department. Despite the order of the Education department, Singh issued the order imposing Section 144 of Cr.PC and suspended the academic activities of class VIII, which include private and government schools, along with Anganwadis till January 23 amid the cold wave. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Singh pointed out that life came first and if anyone had problem with the order then they should read Cr.PC. “I have issued the order to deal with the emergency situation. The District Magistrate has the power to do so. The District Magistrate has been given the power as per the Act and there is an order of court as well. The health of children comes first and if there is a question of saving the life then yes, life comes first. The order has been issued as per the law,” Singh said. Singh added, “The temperature in Patna was less than 5.5 degrees on Monday, hence this decision was taken. If needed, further orders would be issued after seeing the weather condition. The order has been issued as the provision and law. Everyone has got their power and I have used mine. It is my duty and people should respect the orders.” The Patna Magistrate asserted that there was no need to seek permission from anyone to impose Section 144. Earlier, Pathak had expressed strong displeasure over the holidays being given to schools due to the cold wave. He had issued a letter on behalf of the Education department ordering withdrawal of the leave. The Education department had directed the District Education Officer of Patna to take action to open the schools on January 23. However, all the schools remained closed despite the order of the Education department in Patna. Today the minimum temperature was 7.2 degree Celsius and currently it is 12.6 degree Celsius with south-westerlies wind at the speed of 7.4 km/h. Singh late evening extended the suspension of all schools till class 8 up to 25 January. Classes from 9 above will be carried out till 3 p.m. This is for the first time Pathak has been criticised by an IAS officer of Bihar who is infamous for taking harsh decisions in the past. He had reportedly resigned from the post on January 9, however, after the intervention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar he returned to the department and within a week, the Minister of Education Department Chandra Shekhar was removed and Alok Mehta was made the new Minister of the department. Pathak was at loggerheads with the former Education Minister Chandra Shekhar too. Canada announces two-year cap on international student visas; move likely to impact Indians Canada has announced that it is imposing an immediate two-year cap on new international student visas to tackle a housing crisis and target institutional “bad actors”, a move that is likely to impact Indians planning to study in the country. Immigration Minister Marc Miller said as part of the cap there will be a 35% reduction in new study visas in 2024. The cap is expected to result in 3,64,000 new approved permits in 2024. Nearly 5,60,000 study visas were issued last year. The cap will be in place for two years and the number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year, he said. “To maintain a sustainable level of temporary residence in Canada, as well to ensure that there is no further growth in the number of international students in Canada for 2024, we are setting a national application intake cap for two years from 2024,” Global News quoted Miller as saying. The move comes amid pressure on the federal government from provinces on the increasing numbers of non-permanent residents entering Canada while the country struggles with a housing crisis, CBC News said. The move is expected to impact students from India who see Canada as a preferred destination for higher studies. India was the first among the top ten origin countries of study permit holders in 2022 in Canada, with a total of 3,19,000 students. Miller said that by imposing the cap, the federal government is taking action against some small private colleges. The move will help the government to target institutional “bad actors”, he said. “It’s unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Miller said. In briefBengaluru special court orders transfer of Jayalalithaa’s gold and diamond jewellery to Tamil Nadu government A special court in Bengaluru has directed the transfer of valuables seized from former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J. Jayalalithaa to the government of the neighbouring State. The Tamil Nadu Government will then take necessary action on the disposal of these gold and diamond jewellery, which were part of the material evidence in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa and others. The court had earlier held that the kins of Jayalalithaa were not entitled to the properties which are confiscated by the State. The Special CBI Court had thus rejected the petition filed by J. Deepa and J. Deepak, the niece and nephew of Jayalalithaa, respectively. Parliament security breach | 140 CISF personnel contingent deployed ahead of Budget session A contingent of 140 CISF personnel has been deployed at the Parliament complex as part of the new measure to frisk the visitors and their baggage from the Budget Session that commences from January 31, official sources said. The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned the strength after a comprehensive security review of the facility was undertaken in the wake of a breach by a few people, who entered the Parliament hall filled with MPs and sprayed coloured smoke canisters on December 13 last year. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 23 January 2024 [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]( Socialist icon Karpoori Thakur awarded Bharat Ratna, a day before centenary [A day before the centenary celebrations of former Bihar Chief Minister and socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, President Droupadi Murmu on January 23 announced that the late socialist leader will be awarded the Bharat Ratna]( India’s highest civilian award. “The President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to Shri Karpoori Thakur (posthumously),” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that “this prestigious recognition is a testament to his enduring efforts as a champion for the marginalised and a stalwart of equality and justice”. Son of a marginal farmer from the Nai (barber) community, the socialist icon went on to serve twice as Bihar’s CM — first between December 1970 and June 1971 as part of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and later between December 1977 and April 1979 from the Janata Party. Named Jannayak, or People’s Leader, Thakur was a freedom fighter, incarcerated during the Quit India movement in 1942, and has been seen as the architect of much of the social justice plank in Indian politics. During Thakur’s Chief Ministership in 1977, the Mungeri Lal Commission submitted its report recommending that backward classes be reclassified as extremely backward classes (including weaker sections of Muslims) and backward classes. The report was implemented in 1978. Thus paved the way for 26% reservation for them in the government services in Bihar in November 1978. In Patna, CM Nitish Kumar expressed happiness the over the Bharat Ratna to Thakur saying it’s been a longtime demand of the JD(U). The Bihar BJP thanked PM Modi for honouring Thakur. Supreme Court takes serious note of non-listing of Adani Power case; Registry lists it for January 24 [A case concerning Adani Power found a place in the list of cases scheduled to be heard by a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose on January 24, hours after its non-listing on January 23 due to unspecified reasons came under the spotlight in open court](. Appearing before the Bench also comprising Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who appears for the opposite party in the case, Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, drew the court’s attention to the “very disturbing” absence of the case in the day’s list. Dave said the apex court Registry, on enquiring, had said they were “under direction not to list the case”. “Why? At whose behest? Directed by whom,” Justice Bose asked incredulously. Dave said he did not have an answer to that. “The court proposes, the Registry disposes. This cannot be done in the High Courts. When Registry defies court orders, should it not be viewed seriously? You should pass a judicial order,” Dave submitted to the Bench. Dave recounted how another Bench of the apex court led by Justice A.S. Oka had to recently issue notice to the Registry in a similar turn of events. “All this speaks very poorly of us as an institution… This case should be listed today itself,” the senior lawyer pointed out. The Bench had then assured Dave that the case would be listed on January 24. Kheda flogging | Do you have authority to tie up people and beat them, Supreme Court asks police, then stays contempt proceedings against them [The Supreme Court on Tuesday orally observed the 2022 incident of four Gujarat Police officers publicly flogging Muslim men after tying them to a pole in Kheda district for allegedly disrupting a garba event amounted to an “atrocity”.]( “Did they have an authority in law to tie people to a pole and beat them,” Justice B.R. Gavai asked. “And take videos,” Justice Sandeep Mehta joined in. The police officers had appealed to the Supreme Court against a Gujarat High Court order in October sentencing them to 14 days’ imprisonment for contempt of court. The conduct of the four officers were found to be in contempt of the directions of the Supreme Court in the D.K. Basu judgment of 1996 against police abuse and custodial violence. The D.K. Basu jverdict had highlighted the deep concern in a free society for the protection of an individual from torture and abuse by the police and other law enforcing officers. “Police is, no doubt, under a legal duty and has legitimate right to arrest a criminal and to interrogate him during the investigation of an offence but it must be remembered that the law does not permit use of third degree methods or torture of accused in custody during interrogation and investigation with that view to solve the crime,” the D.K. Basu judgment had observed. Justices Gavai and Sandeep Mehta were not impressed by the argument raised by senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for the police officers, that there was no “willful disobedience” of the verdict by his clients. The Bench asked whether ignorance of law had become a defence in law now. “It is the duty of every police officer to know what is the law laid down in D.K. Basu,” Justice Gavai observed. The senior lawyer challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court to try the men for contempt. He said the officers were already facing criminal prosecution, departmental inquiry and proceedings by the National Human Rights Commission. The Bench admitted the statutory appeal of the police officers, A.V. Parmar, D.B. Kumavat, Laxmansinh Kanaksinh Dabhi and Rajubhai Dabhi. It also stayed the contempt action against them in the High Court. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stopped from entering Guwahati city, triggers clashes The [Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was stopped from entering Guwahati city]( on Tuesday, triggering protests from Congress workers who broke barricades and raised slogans. The police, which had set up barricades at two places to prevent the Yatra from entering the city limits, had to use force to stop the Congress workers. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said the Yatra would not be allowed to enter the city in order to avoid traffic jams. The Yatra, which entered Meghalaya on Monday, returned to Assam for its last leg and will travel through the outskirts of the state’s largest city Guwahati. Gandhi later addressed party supporters on the outskirts of the city, and said, “We have broken barricades, but will not break the law”. He was earlier accorded a boisterous welcome as he tried to enter Guwahati and addressed some varsity students on the way. Addressing supporters, he said while BJP president J.P. Nadda took the same route, they were not allowed to travel on it. “You should not think we are weak. We have broken the barricades,” he told his workers and supporters, calling them “babbar sher” (lion). “They have cancelled my programme at the university. My programme was cancelled, but the students heard me outside,” he said. “Congress workers do not fear anyone,” he said, adding that “we will defeat the BJP in Assam and form the Congress government soon.” He also lauded the police for doing their job well. “We know that police officers have done a good job and followed orders, with one person coming and lying down before the (yatra) bus. We are not against you. We are against the chief minister who is most corrupt. Our fight is with him,” Gandhi said. He said policemen were also clapping on his speech but hastened to add that they should not. “We have won as we have broken the barricades,” AICC in-charge for Assam Jitendra Singh said. Gandhi later proceeded from the designated route on the ring road. The Yatra would be in Assam till Thursday. Face-off between two IAS officers over closure of schools in Patna amid cold wave [Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the Bihar Education Department K.K. Pathak and Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh are at loggerheads over the closure of schools in Patna district amid the cold wave](. Last week, Pathak asked all district magistrates not to suspend the academic activities without seeking permission of the Education department. Despite the order of the Education department, Singh issued the order imposing Section 144 of Cr.PC and suspended the academic activities of class VIII, which include private and government schools, along with Anganwadis till January 23 amid the cold wave. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Singh pointed out that life came first and if anyone had problem with the order then they should read Cr.PC. “I have issued the order to deal with the emergency situation. The District Magistrate has the power to do so. The District Magistrate has been given the power as per the Act and there is an order of court as well. The health of children comes first and if there is a question of saving the life then yes, life comes first. The order has been issued as per the law,” Singh said. Singh added, “The temperature in Patna was less than 5.5 degrees on Monday, hence this decision was taken. If needed, further orders would be issued after seeing the weather condition. The order has been issued as the provision and law. Everyone has got their power and I have used mine. It is my duty and people should respect the orders.” The Patna Magistrate asserted that there was no need to seek permission from anyone to impose Section 144. Earlier, Pathak had expressed strong displeasure over the holidays being given to schools due to the cold wave. He had issued a letter on behalf of the Education department ordering withdrawal of the leave. The Education department had directed the District Education Officer of Patna to take action to open the schools on January 23. However, all the schools remained closed despite the order of the Education department in Patna. Today the minimum temperature was 7.2 degree Celsius and currently it is 12.6 degree Celsius with south-westerlies wind at the speed of 7.4 km/h. Singh late evening extended the suspension of all schools till class 8 up to 25 January. Classes from 9 above will be carried out till 3 p.m. This is for the first time Pathak has been criticised by an IAS officer of Bihar who is infamous for taking harsh decisions in the past. He had reportedly resigned from the post on January 9, however, after the intervention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar he returned to the department and within a week, the Minister of Education Department Chandra Shekhar was removed and Alok Mehta was made the new Minister of the department. Pathak was at loggerheads with the former Education Minister Chandra Shekhar too. Canada announces two-year cap on international student visas; move likely to impact Indians [Canada has announced that it is imposing an immediate two-year cap on new international student visas]( to tackle a housing crisis and target institutional “bad actors”, a move that is likely to impact Indians planning to study in the country. Immigration Minister Marc Miller said as part of the cap there will be a 35% reduction in new study visas in 2024. The cap is expected to result in 3,64,000 new approved permits in 2024. Nearly 5,60,000 study visas were issued last year. The cap will be in place for two years and the number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year, he said. “To maintain a sustainable level of temporary residence in Canada, as well to ensure that there is no further growth in the number of international students in Canada for 2024, we are setting a national application intake cap for two years from 2024,” Global News quoted Miller as saying. The move comes amid pressure on the federal government from provinces on the increasing numbers of non-permanent residents entering Canada while the country struggles with a housing crisis, CBC News said. The move is expected to impact students from India who see Canada as a preferred destination for higher studies. India was the first among the top ten origin countries of study permit holders in 2022 in Canada, with a total of 3,19,000 students. Miller said that by imposing the cap, the federal government is taking action against some small private colleges. The move will help the government to target institutional “bad actors”, he said. “It’s unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Miller said. In brief Bengaluru special court orders transfer of Jayalalithaa’s gold and diamond jewellery to Tamil Nadu government [A special court in Bengaluru has directed the transfer of valuables seized from former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J. Jayalalithaa to the government of the neighbouring State](. The Tamil Nadu Government will then take necessary action on the disposal of these gold and diamond jewellery, which were part of the material evidence in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa and others. The court had earlier held that the kins of Jayalalithaa were not entitled to the properties which are confiscated by the State. The Special CBI Court had thus rejected the petition filed by J. Deepa and J. Deepak, the niece and nephew of Jayalalithaa, respectively. Parliament security breach | 140 CISF personnel contingent deployed ahead of Budget session [A contingent of 140 CISF personnel has been deployed at the Parliament complex as part of the new measure to frisk the visitors and their baggage from the Budget Session that commences from January 31]( official sources said. The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned the strength after a comprehensive security review of the facility was undertaken in the wake of a breach by a few people, who entered the Parliament hall filled with MPs and sprayed coloured smoke canisters on December 13 last year. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[Arrested abroad? 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