News Digest: Shut Down Schools That Don't Teach Marathi: Sena

Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India:

1.) Shut down schools that don't teach Marathi: Sena

Subhash Desai, senior Sena leader and Industries Minister has sent across an emphatic letter to the Education Minister Vinod Tawde, drawing atten tion to the fact that 33 schools across the city are in non-compliance with a 2009 state Government Resolution (GR) ­ they do not offer Marathi on their curriculum, The Mumbai Mirror reported.

Desai's official letter only states the fact that several of the city's elite institutions including Aditya Birla World Academy, American School of Bombay, Bombay International School, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Dr Pillai Global Academy, Edubridge International, Ecole Mondiale World School and 25 other educational institutes ­ do not offer the state government mandated subject. In his letter Desai has urged Tawde to action, while his own party diktat issued on his letterhead changes the pitch to a more aggressive register, saying, “French and other languages are taught but not Marathi."

2.) Students kidnap youth to fund parties, arrested

Like all college students, they loved to party, and frequently at that. Like all students, they lacked the money to organise their parties. They got past this hurdle by committing petty thefts in east and south Delhi. They might have evaded police scrutiny if they hadn't suddenly decided, while on a fund hunt, to go the whole hog and kidnap for ransom the 21-year-old son of a businessman in Anand Vihar. That and the fact that today's youth love posting photos on Facebook exposed them to the police.

By the time the police nabbed them, Yogesh Kumar, a law student, and his friends, Sushank Singh and Anuj, BA students in Ghaziabad, had spent part of the Rs 5 lakh ransom they collected from the family of the abducted Arjun on an iPhone 6 and to organise a raucous party in their hostel room, reports The Times of India.

3.) Sweet shop sends legal notice to SRK

Weeks after it’s release, Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Fan has run into legal trouble, with Delhi-based sweet shop ‘Ghantewala’ sending a legal notice to the producers and the star himself for allegedly using its brand name without permission.

The film shows the ‘fan’, Shah Rukh Khan’s Delhi-based character Gaurav, taking a box of sweets from ‘Ghantewala sweet shop’ to meet his favorite actor. In a later scene, the box of sweets falls on the ground in the commotion outside the actor’s residence.

The owner of the sweet shop, Sushant Jain, has sent a legal notice to Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra, director Maneesh Sharma, writers Habib Faisal and Sharat Katariya, and Shah Rukh Khan. He has asked them to remove the dialogues and scenes that “infringe the trademark” of the shop, The Indian Express reported.

4.) Consent no ground for unnatural sex: Court

"Consent is no ground for discharge in a case of unnatural sex,“ observed a trial court after hearing arguments on framing of charges in the case of a pilot charged with sexually assaulting a senior member of his cabin crew. The court added that prima facie several criminal charges have been made against the accused, a report in The Times of India said.

Apart from commenting on the offence under IPC Section 377 (unnatural sex), the court said that charges of ra pe and criminal intimidation can also be framed against the accused as he allegedly used his authority over the woman. Additional Sessions Judge Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj said that facts of the cases cited by the counsel for the defence cannot be applied to the present case since specific allegation of unnatural sex has been levelled against him for which consent cannot be ground for discharge.

5.) One in every three persons sentenced to death is eventually acquitted: Study

Out of every 100 death sentences that trial courts pronounce, less than five are upheld by higher courts. About 30% of the remaining prisoners are acquitted, and the sentence is commuted for the rest. What happens to all the people trapped in the maws of criminal justice system, condemned to death? No ministry or agency has a record of how many people India has executed since Independence.

The Death Penalty Project, launched by the National Law University, Delhi, is the first to look closely at life under the death sentence. Between July 2013 and January 2015, it compiled official data and interviewed hundreds of death row prisoners and their families, The Times of India reports.

6.) Harsher punishment, special courts to deal with trafficking

A new law on anti-trafficking, which was mooted by the ministry of women and child development, is currently with the law ministry for final clearance. If implemented, the law is likely to come up with stringent punishments for repeat offenders and offenders who traffick minors. The draft policy will be out in the public domain in a week or so, a report in the DNA said.

The national advisory committee, headed by the ministry of women and child development secretary V Somasundaran, held meetings with state representatives, and the draft policy will be vetted by the law ministry. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, WCD minister Maneka Gandhi said that an inter-ministerial committee was set up in November last year to discuss the issue.

7.) OROP won, veterans want medals back

Armed forces veterans, who had returned around 20,000 medals in the last eight years to pressurise the central government to implement the one rank one pension (OROP) scheme, now want their military decorations back. Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), an umbrella organization of veterans that fought for OROP, has written to the defence ministry asking for the medals, which are currently lying at the office of the President.

IESM chairman Lt Gen (retd) Raj Kadyan, who was the first veteran to return his medals to the President in 2008, said the present OROP scheme was diluted and the veterans would work to ensure that all their demands are met, but there was no reason to give up the proudly earned decorations, The Times of India reported.

8.) Differences stall Kashmiri Pandits' return plan

The State government has gone slow on procuring land for ‘composite townships’ for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley following differences between the coalition partners — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — on how the return of the migrant community should take place.

Sources told The Hindu that the coalition government had identified land in south Kashmir’s Vessu in Kulgam district, Qazigund in Anantnag and Khanpura in Baramulla. However, sources in the State’s Revenue and Home departments, said “the land procurement is very low for time being.”

9.) IIT innovator to ride solar-powered cycle across India

Sushil Reddy (26), an alumnus of IIT Bombay, will embark on a cycle journey of 7,000 kms from IIT Bombay on his electric cycle, powered by solar energy, to spread awareness on the energy crisis facing the nation and the answers solar power could give. The 70-day ride will cover Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi, The Indian Express reported.

Rajendra Bhaskar, a student from IIT Bombay will accompany Sushil on his normal cycle. The electric cycle is fitted with a motor that assists pedalling. To power the motor, energy will be generated from solar panels of 240 watts. The cycle can be used as a normal cycle as well.

10.) Campaigning for NOTA

A team of non-political youth from Salem district has taken up a campaign to sensitise voters about the importance of selection of right candidate for their Assembly constituency.

The state-wide campaign, which commenced at Salem on April 21, shortly after the Election Commission’s notification, will conclude in Chennai on May 10.

The youth who are office-bearers of the Tamil Nadu Makkal Urimai Katchi (TMUK), numbering 10, sensitise the masses through public address system about the importance of exercising their franchise, The Hindu reported.