Today's major developments.
Evidence is clear, says former Pakistan investigator
A former Director of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency on Tuesday said that the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants who attacked Mumbai 2008 were trained on Pakistani soil. In an article published in Dawn, Tariq Khosa said that the investigation had established clear links to the LeT, such as the fact that the fishing trawler used by the gunmen to infiltrate Mumbai was traced to Pakistan. Welcoming Khosa’s article, former Indian Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh said that India now needed to bring up the points raised by the ex-FIA Director during National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s upcoming meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz. Ten gunmen infiltrated Mumbai from the Arabian Sea in November 2008 and killed 166 people.
Revoke suspensions, demands Opposition
Even as the Congress took out a march on Tuesday to protest against Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision to suspend 25 of its MPs from the House, other opposition parties called on the Speaker to revoke her decision. The Biju Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress asked Mahajan to reconsider her order. Officials from other parties, including Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiromani Akali Dal, said that the suspensions were an excessive punishment. Several opposition parties, including the Janata Dal (United), the Samajwadi Party and Left bloc, boycotted the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the parliamentary panel of the BJP passed a resolution declaring that the Congress had “abdicated its responsibilities of a constructive opposition”.
Tamil Nadu questions delay on Rajiv assassins
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday questioned the delay in executing the people convicted of assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Appearing before a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu counsel Rakesh Dwivedi noted that the previous United Progressive Alliance government had not hanged Gandhi’s assassins despite having been in power for ten years. Dismissing accusations that the Jayalalithaa-led government in the state had remitted the convicts' executions for political gains, Dwivedi said that the Congress had taken too long to dispose of their mercy petitions. The state’s arguments were made in response to a petition by the Centre challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release the convicts after the Supreme Court’s decided to commute their death sentences.
Government unblocks some websites
After reviewing its decision to ban 857 websites on the grounds of morality, the Central government on Tuesday unblocked some websites that were found not to contain any pornographic material. The decision was taken after Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad chaired a high-level meeting to review the order. Maintaining that the government was committed to the freedom of communication on the internet, Prasad said the order to ban the websites was issued after the Supreme Court asked his ministry take action on a list of websites provided by a petitioner. However, a government official later said that the ban would still be in effect on portals containing material such as child pornography.
Two trains derail in Madhya Pradesh
Several people were feared dead after two express trains derailed at the same spot while crossing a bridge in the Harda district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday night. Officials said that the Kamayani Express and the Janata Express were trying to cross a portion of the bridge submerged under water. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that emergency medical teams and relief personnel had been rushed to the site of the accident.
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