CMYK Morning India ACTIONS HAVE TO BE TAkEN AGAINST THE ANTI-LABOUR POLICIES OF CENTRE OPINION Rs. 3 PATNA FRIDAY, 29 APRIL, 2022 PG-12, YEAR— 8, ISSUE—154 (RNI NO: BIHENG / 2014 / 59124) FIRST SONG FROm AAmIR'S 'LAAL SINGH CHAd d HA' RELEASEd, TITLEd 'kAHANI' SCREEN & CINEMA Centre vs Delhi: SC reserves order Russia-Ukraine conflict shows being self-reliant a necessity, says Rajnath on centre’s plea for larger bench AGENCIES AGENCIES NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on Centre's plea to refer its dispute with the Delhi government - on transfer and posting of officers in the national capital - to a five-judge constitution bench. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that once a constitution bench decides the matter, there is no point in referring back to it. In 2018, a constitution bench had ruled that police, land, and public order are the domain of the Centre, and the rest is under the Delhi government. Singhvi insisted that every slightest thing pointed out cannot be referred to the larger bench. The bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the issue is there were two parts of con- India reports over 3,000 Covid cases stitutional provision, and the problem arises when they refer to a provision but there's no conclusion, and in that scenario it becomes a necessity to refer the matter to a larger bench. To this, Singhvi replied that it is not necessary to refer the issue to a larger bench and the present three judge bench can also decide it. As the bench asked "What prejudice will be caused if referred?", he said the question is "Why should it be referred?" Singhvi added that a constitution bench reference arising from another constitution bench is rare, but added "I am not disputing your lordships' power to refer it." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that there was a finding that there's been no consideration and the judges asked the matter to be referred. Pressing for this matter to be referred to a larger bench, he said the earlier judgements of the five-judge bench did not give "any roadmap" to decide, whether the Central government or the Delhi government will have the competence to deal with the subject under dispute. During the hearing, the bench noted that if a constitution bench is constituted, it would want the hearing to conclude by May 15. Both sides agreed that hearing in the matter can be concluded before the summer vacation commences. After a detailed hearing in the matter, the top court reserved its decision on Centre's plea. The Centre moved an application seeking to refer the matter to a constitution bench for a holistic interpretation of Article 239AA of the Constitution. "The applicant submits issues involve a substantial question of law requiring interpretation of a provision of the Constitution and the key issues involved in the present matter cannot be determined unless the same is decided by a constitution bench in terms of Article 145 (3) of the Constitution," said the application. AGENCIES Efforts on to remove AFSPA from NE: Modi NEW DELHI: India on Thursday reported 3,303 fresh COVID-19 cases that took its tally to 4,30,68,799, while the active cases increased to 16,980, according to Union health ministry data. The daily cases crossed the 3,000-mark after 46 days. The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 5,23,693 with 39 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 701 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.66 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.61 per cent. cent decrease in violence in the region, there have been changes in the imposition of laws. The AFSPA was first revoked in Tripura and then in Meghalaya," he said. The previous governments in Assam in the last three decades had extended it again and again as there was no improvement in the law and order situation, Modi said. "Due to the proper control of the situation in the last eight years, the AFSPA has been removed from most parts of the state. We are trying to withdraw it from the remaining parts too. "The Act is applicable in some areas of Nagaland and Manipur, and we are working speedily to revoke it completely," he said. In a major outreach to the northeast region, the Centre had announced reduction of the disturbed areas imposed under the AFSPA in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur from April 1, after decades. PM Modi also said the effect of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s "double engine" government is evident in the return of permanent peace and speedy development in Assam. The term "double engine" is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state. The government has entered into peace agreements in Assam's Karbi Anglong and in Tripura, while efforts are on to ensure permanent peace and speedy development in the entire region, he said. "Several outfits of Karbi Anglong returned to the mainstream to march forward in the path of peace and development. The Bodo Agreement in 2020 paved the way for peace in the region and in Tripura, the NLFT also came forward for the peace, while the twoand-a-half decade long BruReang issue was resolved," he said. Commissioner, seem to be helpless. The State Election Commission has sought a report from the Deputy Commissioner about the problems being faced by people in filing nominations. The protesters are saying that till their demand of "selfrule" in tribal dominated areas is not accepted, they will not move from the collectorate. Hundreds of Tana Bhagat community members reached the district collectorate playing their traditional instruments on Tuesday at 10 a.m., forced the officials and staffers out of the office and locking it. The number of protesters increased on Wednesday. They have also taken control of the Latehar BDO office and forest department. Akhil Bharatiya Tana Bhagat Sangh Latehar district chief Parmeshwar Bhagat said that many tribal organisations have many times given applications to the district administration demanding self rule in the tribal dominated areas. "According to the Constitution and the law, in Jharkhand's tribal dominated areas, traditional system will run. Under such circumstances, by holding Panchayat elections, the government is violating the Constitution," Bhagat added. AGENCIES GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said efforts are on to remove AFSPA completely from the northeast region. Addressing a 'Peace, Unity and Development' rally in Diphu in Assam, he said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act could be withdrawn from various parts of the region as the law and order situation has improved in the last eight years. "As the (law and order) situation improved with 75 per Latehar collectorate under seige for 50 hrs AGENCIES RANCHI: Jharkhand's Latehar district collectorate has been closed for the past 50 hours after demonstrators, protesting against the Panchayat polls, locked it up. Hundreds of members of the Tana Bhagat community, who revere Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and walk holding the Tricolour in their hand, have laid siege to the collectorate since 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The demonstrators are demanding that the "traditional tribal self-government system" be restored in tribaldominated areas. As the collectorate is The demonstrators are demanding that the "traditional tribal self-government system" be restored closed, candidates are facing difficulty in filing nominations for the Panchayat polls. The officials on Wednesday accepted the nomination papers in another government building. All the officials of the district, including the Deputy NEW DELHI: The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has once again highlighted that being self-reliant without dependencies is a vital necessity, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday. Speaking during the Navy's Commander's Conference, Singh said that the Indian Navy, which has been at the forefront of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative of the government, must continue to lead the way and remain a necessary guarantor of India's maritime trade, security and national prosperity. "It is heartening to note that in consonance with the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative, the Navy has re-invested over 64 per cent of its capital budget into the economy. I am told that the percentage share of modernisation budget is bound to grow up to 70 per cent towards indigenous procurement in this current financial year," he said. The Defence Minister commended the Navy on the commissioning of major Naval units since the last Commander's Conference namely INS Visakhapatnam, the first ship of the P15B project, the fourth P75 submarine INS Vela and the Navy's second P8I squadron INAS 316 at INS Hansa, Goa. He also said that out of the 41 ships and submarines which are on order, 39 are being built in Indian shipyards. "While the Navy has been at the forefront of indigenisation, it is important for us to leverage on the momentum that we have gained thus far. "I urge the senior leadership to maintain their focus on futuristic capability development, to ensure that the nation's maritime power grows in tandem with our economic interests," he said. The delivery of first indige- nous aircraft carrier, Vikrant, would be another milestone event. "I am aware that the ship has successfully completed three sea trials. All-out efforts need to be made so that the ship is delivered and commissioned in the 75th year of our Independence. This would be a fitting tribute to the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' initiative," he said. Singh also said that Indian Navy has taken numerous initiatives to progress military diplomacy. These include gifting two fast interceptor craft to Mozambique, technical support towards refit of ships from friendly foreign countries, joint surveillance of exclusive economic zone of friendly nations and conduct of bilateral and multilateral exercises in the last six months.