Will Modi 3.0 also see theaterisation of India's armed forces?
The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the Centre's Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad had on December 15 last year reserved its verdict on the matter.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted two weeks' time to the petitioners to respond to the Centre's stand on the matter.
After the scheme was unveiled, protests erupted in several states against the scheme.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met Kirti Chakra recipient Captain Anshuman Singh's mother, who later spoke against the Agnipath scheme and urged the government not to divide the Army into two categories.
The top court said it is transferring the pleas as it would be appropriate if it has benefit of the Delhi high court's considered view on them.
Janata Dal-United parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha said that violence was 'deplorable' but hastened to add 'Besides making an appeal for peace, we can do little'.
'Till a few years ago, girls wouldn't take an autorickshaw alone. Now, things have improved.'
Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a 'Bharat bandh' called against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest.
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
Defence forces are the organisations that adopt the most transparent recruitment process, the Delhi high court on Tuesday orally observed while fixing July 20 to hear several pleas challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme.
The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that Agniveers are not "similarly situated" as regular soldiers and hence, cannot claim parity in pensionary benefits for their next of kin in the event of death in action.
The recruitment process in the Indian Air Force under the Agnipath scheme got underway on Friday with the opening of the registration window.
She also appealed to the youths protesting against the scheme to adopt peaceful and non-violent means to fight for their demands.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday defended the Agnipath scheme underlining that the future of youths joining as Agniveers would not be impacted, even as he said the government was 'open' to bring any change in it 'if required'.
Congress leader and MP Manish Tewari on Thursday said the new Agnipath scheme is a much-needed reform in the right direction while noting that the armed forces should not be an employment guarantee programme.
The move came amid violent protests against the scheme in different parts of the country since it was announced a few days ago.
An Agniveer, an Army recruit under the Agnipath scheme, was detained in Meerut for allegedly misbehaving with and assaulting police personnel while under the influence of alcohol. The incident, which occurred in the Kankarkheda police station area, led to an investigation and the accused being handed over to Military Police.
Singh said the Indian Army doesn't conscript soldiers and that aspirants can join of their own volition.
As violent protests against the new recruitment scheme Agnipath raged across several states, the government on Thursday issued a clarification, asserting that not only the new model will bring in new capabilities to the armed forces but will also open up avenues for youth in the private sector as well as help them in becoming entrepreneurs with the aid of the financial package.
Agniveers once enrolled into the Indian Air Force, will be governed under the Air Force Act 1950, for a period of four years.
'There is uncertainty regarding job opportunities for our children after they serve for just four years under the Agnipath scheme.'
The Delhi high court on Monday upheld the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces, saying it was made in national interest and to ensure that the armed forces are better equipped.
Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Friday termed the Agniveer model as the single biggest human resources management transformation in the Indian military and said that protests in parts of the country over the newly launched Agnipath scheme are happening due to misinformation and misunderstanding.
The Delhi high court on Friday said it will first hear the pleas directly challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme and then decide those concerning the recruitment processes for the armed forces under certain previous advertisements.
Durve argued that the word 'secret' is nowhere in the exemption clause under which information could be denied to an applicant.
Widespread violent protests spread to several parts of the country demanding that the Centre roll back its Agnipath scheme on Friday, June 17, 2022, the third consecutive day of the angry protests.
The Delhi high court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in armed forces.
The Delhi high court on Thursday refused to stay the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and asked the Centre to file a reply on a batch of petitions challenging it.
Gandhi launched the campaign on the eighteenth day of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bihar.
Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government had said the entry age for all new recruits will have to be between 17-and-a-half and 21 years.
Over 34 trains were cancelled and eight more partially cancelled on Thursday due to protests against the Agnipath scheme to recruit youngsters into the armed forces and delays in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday said it will hear on August 25 a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Agnipath Scheme as it is yet to receive the files of pleas transferred here by the Supreme Court.
People in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand say the Agnipath military recruitment scheme and the Ankita Bhandari murder case will have a bearing on the electoral prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party here as these issues weigh heavy on the minds of the electorate.
The Railways has also partially cancelled two mail/express trains, thus the total number of trains affected during the day is 371, the officials said.
They said members of Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party urged committee chairman Jual Oram to allow a discussion on the Agnipath scheme, arguing it has huge implications and required parliamentary scrutiny, but were denied from doing so.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed two pleas challenging a Delhi high court judgment that upheld the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment into the armed forces.
He said every individual who plans to join the three forces through the Agnipath scheme will have to give an undertaking that they were not part of any protest, arson or vandalism.
Armed forces veterans have expressed mixed reaction to the Agnipath scheme under which soldiers will be recruited in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, largely on a short-term contractual basis, with an aim to cut the ballooning salary and pensions bill.
