In the hustle and bustle of the day, it is only natural to miss some of the biggest developments that impact the nation. The OpIndia Evening Dispatch will catch you up on the day’s event even if you have been busy thus far.
Here is what made it to news today:
1. ‘Stooping so low as to make a false statement raises questions about purpose of your visit’, Manohar Parrikar to Rahul Gandhi in a scathing letter
Reacting to comments made by Rahul Gandhi on his meeting with Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, the former defence minister has sent a strongly worded letter to the Congress president. Yesterday Rahul Gandhi had met Parikar in Goa. Talking about the meeting later at a rally, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that Parrikar had told him that Parrikar had “nothing to do with the new Rafale deal orchestrated by Mr Narendra Modi to benefit Anil Ambani”.
Reacting to that statement, Manohar Parrikar says in the letter that he feels let down that Rahul Gandhi has used the visit for his ‘petty political gains’. He says that “in the 05 minutes you spent with me, neither did you mention anything about Rafale, nor did we discuss anything about/related to it”.
Also Read: Before the letter by Parrikar, Goa Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar had said that the Rafale deal were not even discussed during the Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Manohar Parrikar. But later Rahul Gandhi had claimed that it was discussed.
Additional reading: Leave Manohar Parrikar alone, Rahul Gandhi.
2. Telangana: Congress candidate loses Panchayat elections, husband demands bribe money back from voters
In a bizarre incident in Telangana, the husband of a Congress candidate who lost in the recent Panchayat elections went back to voters demanding the return of money they had received as bribes before the election, reported Times Now.
The incident took place in Jajireddy Gudem village in Suryapet district of Telangana. On January 25, polls were held to elect the sarpanch and Prabhakar’s wife, Uppu Hymavathi had also contested for the post, while ending up with just 24 of the 269 votes in the village.
3. Child right body writes to Arvind Kejriwal, says poll campaigns in schools a bad influence on children
Reminding the AAP government that poll campaigning in schools is ‘bad influence’ on children, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote a letter to Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government a day after the Delhi Chief Minister and his deputy Manish Sisodia campaigned for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at a school event for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The letter from the Child right body came following a complaint received from the president of Delhi Parents Association, Aparajita Gautam, about the ill effects of such unannounced “election campaigns”, hampering children’s tutelage.
4. Congress leader O M George booked under POCSO for sexually assaulting a minor Adivasi girl for over 2 years
In a shocking incident that has come to light, a senior Congress leader from Kerala, O MSFI leader Nazeem who assaulted Kerala traffic cop being shielded by Communist leaders? George has been booked for alleged sexual assault of a minor 17-year-old Adivasi girl for a period of almost 2 years. Reportedly, O M George, the Congress leader is now absconding.
5. CJI Ranjan Gogoi warns Karti Chidambaram to not play around with the law, says will come down heavily on him if he does not cooperate
Coming down heavily on Karti Chidambaram, who is accused in money laundering case, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi gave a stern warning to former Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s son to not “play around with the law”. He further said that if Karti does not cooperate, the Supreme Court will come down heavily on him.
The Supreme Court also directed Karti Chidambaram to appear before the Enforcement Directorate for interrogation with respect to his role in the Aircel-Maxis deal and INX Media case in March.
6. Uttar Pradesh: Noida police arrests a police inspector and three journalists in connection with extortion case
In a trap laid by the Superintendent of police (SSP) Noida team, a Station house officer (SHO) of sector 20 police station, Manoj Pant was arrested along with three Noida based journalists Sushil Pandit, Raman Thakur and Udit Goyal for extorting Rs 8 Lakh from a Call Center in that area.
According to the charges, the accused were caught while extorting money from a call centre owner for removing his name from an FIR, which was registered against him in November last year.
7. ‘Without my integrity, my profession would be over’: Vivek Doval records statement in defamation case against Caravan and Jairam Ramesh
Vivek Doval, son of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval appeared before the court today to record his statement in connection with a criminal defamation case Vivek Doval had filed against the controversial left-wing magazine The Caravan and Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh, reported Bar and Bench.
Vivek Doval appearing before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal on Tuesday said that the allegations put forward by the magazine Caravan in its article titled ‘The D-Company’ were completely baseless and false.
8. Government rubbishes media speculations about full budget, clarifies it will be presenting Interim Budget
Putting the speculations about the kind of budget the union government will be presenting, today the Finance Ministry clarified that it will be ‘Interim Budget 2019-2020’. The ministry has issued a one-line clarification saying, “This Budget will be called Interim Budget 2019-20 and therefore, don’t have any confusion on this issue.”
For the last several weeks, there was intense speculation in media that the Modi government will be presenting a full budget instead of an interim budget.
9. Tickets for sale: AIADMK tells party leaders to pay Rs. 25,000 as ‘application fees’ if they want to contest 2019 Lok Sabha elections
Following Punjab Congress’ footsteps of charging the ticket aspirants for the Lok Sabha elections, a fee to get the party’s nomination, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has told their party leaders that whoever are “willing” to contest parliamentary polls, have to pay Rs 25,000 when they submit their application forms for the same.
According to news agency ANI, the AIADMK has announced that party workers who are willing to contest in Lok Sabha elections can apply from February 4 to February 10 after paying Rs 25,000. All 40 constituencies (39 Tamil Nadu and 1 Puducherry) have been listed for sending applications.
