NEWS

The Supreme Court Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the recent Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which a total of eight people have died, four allegedly mowed down by a vehicle owned by Union Minister of State and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni.

A bench led by CJI N V Ramana will hear the matter on October 7.

The development came on a day when several Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, flocked to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the victims of the violence.

Earlier on Monday, the apex court had asked a farmer outfit, that approached it seeking permission to hold protests against the three farm laws at Jantar Mantar, what it wanted to protest against, given that the laws are not in force and have been stayed by it.

Undeterred by the opposition’s hardened stand on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that led to the death of eight people, including four farmers, UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said on Wednesday that the incident will not have an adverse fallout on BJP’s electoral prospects in any part of the state, including in the politically restive west UP region, in the run-up to polls early next year.

Speaking to media, Singh said the opposition was trying to turn a crisis into a political opportunity but “would not succeed” in denting BJP’s prospects. The state BJP chief said various pro-farmer policies framed by the Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in UP have benefited the farming community and brought it close to the ruling party.

Put under the pump following scathing criticism from the Supreme Court, the Centre, National Medical Commission and National Board for Education in medical sciences buckled and informed the court that the NEET-Super Speciality examinations will be as per the erstwhile pattern for the academic year 2021-22. The changed pattern will be applicable from the 2022-23 session onwards.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati for the Centre and senior advocate Maninder Singh for NBE informed that in deference to the SC’s views, it has been decided to implement the new pattern of question and subject-wise distribution of marks, implementation of which from current academic session was under challenge, from the following academic years. As of now, the court decided not to go into the correctness of the new examination pattern.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the beneficiaries of Svamitva (Survey of Villages And Mapping With Improvised Technology In Village Areas) scheme in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday via video conferencing. The event will take place at 12:30pm. He will also distribute e-property cards to 1,71,000 beneficiaries under the scheme on the occasion, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also be present during the event.

Svamitva is a scheme of the Union ministry of panchayati raj, which will pave the way for the use of property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits, like in urban areas, the PMO stated.