'If prices of everyday consumption don't come down, employment doesn't pick up, 2020 will not be a happy year for anyone but the super rich,' notes Sherna Gandhy.
Santosh Gangwar said that a hue and cry should not be created if one or two such incidents rake up in a big country like India.
The brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal girl has polarised the normally peaceful town of Jammu, with the local Bar association calling for a bandh against what it termed the "targeting of minority Dogras" while the state police had lodged a case against lawyers who allegedly tried to prevent it from filing a chargesheet against the accused.
The government has launched a rescue operation to ensure the safety of the border residents following spurt in the incidents of cross border firing from the Pakistani side along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Political and communal divide in Jammu and Kashmir has assumed such proportions that even the horrifying rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl is not bringing society together, writes Athar Parvaiz.
'She was just a little girl. She didn't understand religion. Who is Hindu, who is Muslim.' 'She was just 8! Why punish her?' The family of the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu's Kathua district say everything has changed since that horrific crime.
The court also said that under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, even intermediaries like social media platforms Google, Facebook and Yahoo could be held liable for penal action for display and circulation of photos and name of the victim by others.
The use of RDX in the explosion was confirmed by experts after samples from the scene were sent for examination. While one of the bombs was laced with 1.5 kg of RDX, the other contained nearly 1 kg of RDX, the officials said.
The Union cabinet also decided to put in place measures for speedy investigation and trial of rape cases.
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka had the most number of minor rape victims in 2016.
'This is obvious to everyone except those in denial; it is a national shame.' 'To that extent, blaming any particular government is an insufficient response,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
Lal Singh has alleged that Kashmiri journalists have created "an erroneous atmosphere"
'What if this was my child?' 'My 3 year old, my 8 year old, my 17 year old?' Would I be insular, silent?' 'Would I protect those who I so actively protect now?' asks Preeti D'Mello.
Since LeT is involved and the outfit is run from Pakistan, so in a way Pakistan's involvement cannot be ruled out, the police chief told reporters.
He asserted his force was as competent as the CBI to probe the Kathua rape and murder case.
Jammu and Kashmir high court has ordered the transfer of the Mobile Magistrate in connection with stopping an ambulance over using red beacon, which led to the death of a heart patient inside it due to delay in getting medical aid in North Kashmir.
'They have no other agenda, but to perpetuate hate.' 'They have destroyed the economy and polity and they survive only on hate.' 'They think through hatred, they can mobilise the large chunk of Hindu votes.'
The announcement by India and Pakistan to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and other sectors has rekindled hope for a peaceful future among border residents in Jammu and Kashmir who have been living under constant fear of firing and shelling.
Khandwa MP Nandkumar Singh Chauhan had also stirred up a controversy earlier this year when he claimed Pakistan's hand in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl at Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.
In case of rape of a girl under 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means jail term till the convict's "natural life".
The first batch of Amarnath yatris from outside the state was welcomed on Wednesday by the police and civil administration amid tight security arrangements at Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Act will further amend the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The IMF chief described the incident of rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in India as "revolting.
Investigations into the escape of dreaded Lashker-e-Tayiba terrorist Mohammed Naveed Jhatt from a busy hospital has brought to the fore lapses at different stages, especially the failure of the prosecution wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police as well as the state home department over hurriedly issuing orders for transfer of the accused to a central jail from Kathua in the Jammu region, it has emerged.
The 13,500-page chargesheet names Masood Azhar, his brothers -- Abdul Rauf and Ammar Alvi -- and his nephew Mohammed Umer Farooq, who had infiltrated into India in 2018 and was subsequently killed in one of the encounters in South Kashmir.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Masarat Alam Bhat, who had been in custody under the Public Safety Act since April 2015, was released from Kathua district jail but subsequently re-arrested in another case.
Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.
The NIA on Tuesday summoned the caretaker of a shrine in Punjab which a superintendent of police rank officer had claimed to have visited before being kidnapped by terrorists who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base hours later.
The Special Investigation Team of the Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday arrested three police officers, including a former district police chief, on the charges of tampering with evidence in a sensational murder case in Jammu last month.
'Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that by sidestepping the rule of law, justice has been served in this case because we have once again very conveniently and completely absolved society's responsibility in all of this,' says Neetika Vishwanath.
'The political leadership is not realising that it is dividing the uniform on the lines of religion.' 'This will lead to anarchy.'
In Jammu region, three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua are in red zone.
The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.
The police are yet to identify the girl.
The DCW chief had been demanding death penalty for rape of minors and setting up of fast-track courts across the country to try rape cases, along with other demands.
Surendra Singh said that children should not be given undue freedom and asked parents not to give mobile phones to them.
The search operation was carried out on Friday evening after a farmer claimed to have seen six suspicious persons who were carrying backpacks
'India needs offensive and defensive security measures to protect itself.'
Border Security Force has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan Rangers over ceasefire violation in forward areas of Poonch and Kathua districts along the Indo-Pak border, in which a BSF jawan and a civilian were injured.
According to sources, the NIA is trying to collect more information like Jaish-e-Mohammad as a terrorist organisation and its role in the attack.
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