NEWS

A former Congress MLA has warned that Uttarakhand was heading towards a "constitutional crisis" as BJP chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat - who took the oath in March this year and needs to win an assembly seat by September 10 - cannot contest bypolls as per law since assembly elections are less than a year away. Uttarakhand is set to go to polls early next year.

According to Nav Prabhat, who was transport minister in the Harish Rawat government, provisions of section 151A of the Representation of the People Act mandate that a bypoll cannot be held in a situation where only a year is left for state polls. "The state is heading towards a constitutional crisis. CM Tirath Singh Rawat's six-month tenure ends on September 10, BJP will have no option but to name a new chief minister," Prabhat told media.

Catering to the post-pandemic media market, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS) has launched a post graduate diploma in media studies under Vivekananda Institute of Mass Communication (VIMC).

The formal Inaugural Ceremony of VIMC was held on Monday, June 21, 2021 by Prof Sidharth Mishra, Master Mentor of VIMC, in the presence of Dr. SC Vats, Chairman VIPS, Mr. Suneet Vats, Vice- Chairman, VIPS; and other dignitaries. 

The event commenced with a formal introduction about the institute by Ritu Singh, Bursar, VIMC. 

Prof Sidharth Mishra described the thought behind setting up VIMC and the programme, Postgraduate diploma in digital content creation and communication. He shared the reason behind choosing June 21 as the date for this inaugural. Prof Mishra shared the details about VIMC and the idea behind it. He threw light on how postgraduate mass communication courses are expensive and are not affordable; keeping this in mind, VIMC and this programme was introduced at a price of almost 1/6th of what other big institutes provide. 

The Calcutta high court on Monday dismissed the Bengal government's plea to recall its last week's order that directed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to set up a panel for examining all post-poll violence complaints on record.

A five-judge bench led by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal set aside the state's recall-modification plea. "The way the state was proceeding in the matter that required immediate action did not inspire confidence," the larger bench said while turning down the state's plea.

The state said it did not get an opportunity to probe the 3,423 complaints lodged with the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority and place a report before the court. "The court should have sent a copy of the complaints to the state before sending them to the NHRC," the state pleaded. It also urged the court to "expunge" the remarks made against it in the June 18 court order, which said the state's lapses would be taken "seriously" as contempt of court.

Uttar Pradesh Law Commission chairman Aditya Nath Mittal on Sunday said there should be a check on the increasing population as it is creating problems in the state.

Mittal said those who are helping and contributing towards population control in the state should continue to get the benefit of government resources and facilities. He also clarified that population control is different from family planning and it is not against any particular religion and human rights.

The Law Commission chairman's statement comes a day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced his government's proposed population control policy. However, the UP government has not issued any official confirmation on a law being formulated along the same lines.