Daily Bulletin: Pakistan bans JuD, detains Masood Azhar's son, brother; SC to hear Ayodhya, Rafale cases; day's top stories

Pakistan bans JuD, detains Masood Azhar’s two relatives Amid deteriorating India, Pakistan relation, a ray of hope emerged late on Tuesday night as Islamabad listed Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat ud Dawa and and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation as banned terror organisations as against its earlier stand of keeping them on the watch list. According to Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) list, which was updated on Tuesday, JuD and FIF were among 70 organisations proscribed by the Ministry of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.  Both JuD and FIF were placed on the watch list in January 2017. The Pakistan government on Monday also put out another order saying it has frozen assets of all UN designated organisations like JuD, FIF. [caption id=“attachment_6172821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Likewise, in a separate but related development, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar’s brother Mufti Abdul Rauf and son Hamaz Azhar have been taken into preventive detention amid mounting pressure from the global community to rein in the terror groups operating from its soil and curb their financing. The two are among 44 members of banned groups that have been detained. In view of Azhar’s declining health, Azhar is being seen as a likely successor. According to reports, he calls the shots in JeM in Azhar’s absence and is responsible for planning almost all the JeM attacks in India since the hijack of a commercial flight in 1999. The names of Rauf and Hamaz were mentioned in a dossier that was shared by India with Pakistan last week, news agency Press Trust of India quoted Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi as saying. Crucial hearing in the Ayodhya case  A Supreme Court Constitution Bench will decide today that whether that the Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid case should be referred to a court-appointed mediator or not. Earlier, the 5-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had supported mediation to reach a solution. Even if there is “one percent chance” of settling the dispute amicably, the parties should go for mediation, the bench, also comprising Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer, had observed.  While some of the Muslim parties agreed to the court’s suggestion on mediation, some Hindu bodies including the Ram Lalla Virajman opposed it, saying several such attempts have failed in the past. Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties – the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Supreme Court to hear review petitions against its Rafale order The Supreme Court will hear petitions seeking review of its 14 December judgment in the Rafale jet purchase deal giving a clean chit to the Modi government on acquiring the 36 Rafale fighter jets in a fly-away condition from French company Dassault Aviation. The top court had, on 14 December, 2018, dismissed four petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the purchase of the jet fighters, saying the decision-making process was not in doubt and that it cannot go into the question of pricing and the choice of offset Indian partner by Dassault. The plea for the recall of the judgment has been filed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, journalist-turned-politician Arun Shourie and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had filed the original petitions, and others. The matter will be heard in an open court. Amit Shah to launch BJP campaign in Telangana, Modi to flag off trail in Karnataka With the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates just days away, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in poll preparedness mode. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make an election pitch in Karnataka on Wednesday, launching a slew of programmes and addressing public meetings on Kalburg and Bidar. Meanwhile, BJP national president Amit Shah would launch the party’s campaign for the upcoming elections in Telangana with a meeting at Nizamabad. He will address Shakti Kendra Pramukh Sammelan today at 2 pm at Bhuma Reddy Gardens in Nizamabad. Indian shuttlers aim to end 18-year drought at All England Championships 2019 On Wednesday, the likes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will begin their campaign at the 2019 edition of the world’s oldest badminton tournament. The last Indian to win the All England Championships was Pullela Gopichand, whose iconic victory came eighteen years ago, in 2001. GoAir grounds seven planes for maintenance The Wadia Group-promoted GoAir has been operating with curtailed capacity as seven of its planes, including three A320 Neos, are out of operations for the past two-three weeks due to major repair work. All these aircraft are expected to be back into operations by the end of the month, helping the low-cost carrier meet the summer vocation demand beginning next month, a source said. The third largest domestic carrier with an 8.7 percent market share has 47 aircraft comprising 30 A320 Neos and the remaining A320 Ceos. “GoAir has taken seven planes–four A320 Ceos and three A320 Neos–for mandatory major maintenance work, considering the lean demand period, resulting in their grounding,” a source told PTI on Tuesday. Samsung Galaxy S10 India launch While Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S10 line made its global debut more than a week ago, the device is yet to make an official appearance on Indian shores. Samsung is set to remedy that at a launch event later today. Launch prices will range from Rs 55,900 to over Rs 1,17,000, depending on the variant.