chennai l wednesday l december 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION hc judge deposes before sc collegium to present his case Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav met the Collegium members on Tuesday to explain why he made controversial statements at a recent VHP event SC panel to consider explanation given Justice yadav gets U.P. CM Yogi’s backing At the event on December 8, Justice Yadav said the Uniform Civil Code’s aim was to promote social harmony, gender equality, and secularism. He also allegedly made some communal remarks against Muslims. The SC Collegium asked him to put fourth his version on the remarks to satisfy the principles of natural justice, before any action is considered against him ■ ■ While the judge’s speech was panned for its communal undertones, it received the backing of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who said targeting the judge for merely expressing his opinion was wrong Justice Yadav had made the controversial remarks while addressing a provincial convention of the legal cell of the VHP at the Allahabad HC Dec 10 When the SC sought response from Allahabad hc on the judge’s remarks CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Congress misused Constitution: Shah RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi They (NehruGandhi family) considered not just the party as their private property, but also treated the Constitution as their ‘private fiefdom’ Amit Shah Jibe at Rahul Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah said: “The 54-yr-old who calls himself ‘yuva’, roams around with Constitution claiming that we would change it” Union home minister and the BJP’s principal strategist Amit Shah on Tuesday tore into the Congress, terming it an anti-reservation party that recklessly amended the Constitution of India to pander to its appeasement politics during its long stint in government. Replying to the discussion on the ‘Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India’ in the Rajya Sabha, Shah accused the grand old party of treating the Constitution as its private property and amending it frequently to appease its vote bank. “In 1953, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed to provide reservations to the OBC, but its report was nowhere to be found. Had the recommendations of the Commission been accepted, the Mandal Commission would not have been formed,” Shah said. He further said that the Mandal recommendations came out in 1980, but they could be implemented only after the grand old party was voted out of power in 1990. Noting that the Constitution is rooted with India’s culture and and social ethos, Shah said: “The Constitution is not a tool for misleading or creating confusion in rallies; it is a symbol of belief and faith that must be respected.” Targeting the Gandhi family, Shah cited several amendments allegedly done during the Congress rule to appease one community. On the other hand, the changes done during the BJP rule were aimed at providing justice, welfare, and empowerment to the people, he claimed. “Even before the first elections in the country , Jawaharlal Nehru effected the first Constitutional amendment to curtail the freedom of expression. The Congress considered the Constitution as ‘private fiefdom’ of one family and deceived Parliament,” he said. Now, NTA will manage only higher edu entrance tests K a v i ta B a j e l i - D at t @ New Delhi In a significant shift from its role, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will now focus solely on conducting entrance exams for admissions to higher education institutions. It means the agency will no longer oversee recruitment exams. Making the announcement, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday that the idea is to conduct error-free exams for which accountability will be fixed. He also said that the Central government is considering moving to computer-adaptive tests and tech-driven entrance exams soon. As the agency will be restructured next year, new posts are being created. “We have started the process of restructuring the NTA by creating new posts and appointing new officers. This will bring fresh energy the ,” minister said. The re-structuring of NTA, which conducts 10 major exams in India taken by an estimated 50 lakh candidates, is part of its reforms based on the recommendation of a high-level panel setup earlier this year following alleged leaks and malpractice in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) medical entrance exam as well as a series of cancellations of other exams due to suspected leaks and other glitches. On NEET-UG exams, Pradhan said they are in talks with Union health minister J P Nadda on whether to hold it as a computer-based test (CBT) or pen-paper format. “Two meetings have been held with the health minister. We will announce the modalities as early as possible,” he said. As part of restructuring, he said 10 additional NTA posts have been created. Hike NREGS wages, says House panel One Nation, One Election 269 198 Members In Favour Votes against the bill PREETHA NAIR @ New Delhi A video grab of proceedings of the Lok Sabha during the introduction of two bills on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, in New Delhi on Tuesday | PTI ‘One poll’ bill introduced in LS Draws fierce protest from Oppn; govt ready to send it to a joint parliamentary committee P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Amid fierce protests from the Opposition INDIA bloc, the government introduced two contentious bills on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday through a division of votes, with 269 ayes and 198 nays. While the Opposition termed it anti-federal and against the basic structure of the Constitution, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal defended the bill on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies across the country . Union home minister Amit Shah and Meghwal said that the government is willing to refer the bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further deliberations (JPC). “When the One Nation, One Election bill YSR Congress on board, BJD mum The YSRCP, which has four LS members, declared its support for the bill. The BJD is yet to reveal its cards — it drew a blank in the LS polls this year, but has seven members in RS. Kovind panel had said 32 parties were in favour of joint polls while 15 were against it was taken up in the Cabinet for approval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it should be sent to a JPC for detailed discussion. If the law minister is willing to send the bill to the JPC, the discussion on its introduction can end,” Shah said in the House. As the government failed to secure two-thirds majority in the introduction stage, the Opposition wondered if the ruling NDA had the requisite numbers to push them through to amend the Constitution. Speaker Om Birla allowed a e x p r e ss r e a d Unrest at Samsung, staff plan ‘canteen boycott’ Stalin announces ‘Home of Chess’ at event to felicitate champion Gukesh Chennai: Alleging harassment of 35 workers, who had played a key role in September stir, by the Samsung management, 1,300 members of the Samsung India Workers Union and CITU said they would not eat from the company canteen on Thursday | P5 Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin, during an event held on Tuesday to honour world chess champion D Gukesh with a cash prize of `5 crore, announced the establishment of Home of Chess, an academy under the SDAT to nurture future talent. Stalin lauded Gukesh’s hard work, confidence and perseverance, terming them inspirational qualities the youth of Tamil Nadu could emulate | P2 division of votes after Opposition members insisted on it. Taking potshots at the government, Congress MP Manickam Tagore wrote on X, “Two-thirds majority (i.e., 307) was needed out of the total 461 votes... but the government secured only (269), while the Opposition got 198. The ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal failed to gain two-thirds support.” The brief discussion on the bill saw uproar as a united Opposition, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party Trina, mool Congress and several other parties demanded its withdrawal. Leading the discussion from the Opposition side, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bills are an absolute assault on the basic structure of the Constitution and are beyond the legislative competence of the House. “ONOE bill gives illegal powers to Election Commission to advise the President,” said Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi. Opposing the bill, DMK member T R Baalu said, “As my leader M K Stalin said, it is antifederal. Electors have the right to elect the government for five years. This right cannot be curtailed with simultaneous elections.” TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said, “The proposed bill hits the basic structure of the Constitution, so it is ultra vires.” However, NDA allies TDP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) offered their unwavering support. FLAGGING concern over the low wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a Parliamentary Panel has recommended raising the wages of the workers. In a report submitted to Parliament on Tuesday the panel , said the amount is inadequate and not in consonance with the rising cost of living. “Taking up work under MGNREGA is a sort of last resort for many of the poor rural masses who do not have any other option of livelihood or job option to utilise but wages of such nominal nature sometime with delayed payment only discourage them and propel them to migrate and seek work in areas giving better remuneration,” said the panel headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka. It said the wages should be linked to an index commensurate with national inflation. The panel also said that the A a d h a a r- b a s e d p ay m e n t bridge system (ABPS) for making payments should not be made mandatory. 2024. “The problems relating to Aadhaar seeding have not been resolved,” it said. APBS is mandatory since January 1, 2024.