Daily Bulletin: Mallya to challenge extradition order; Mamata's dharna enters Day 3; SC to hear plea against Rajeev Kumar; day's top stories

UK orders Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India The UK Home Secretary has approved the extradition of businessman Vijay Mallya, accused of defrauding banks and money laundering, to India, the British government said on Monday. This comes as a major blow to the former liquor baron but gives a boost to India’s efforts to bring back the fugitive businessman. On 10 December, 2018, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London had found that the 63-year-old business tycoon had a case to answer before Indian courts. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the chief magistrate’s verdict was sent to Home Secretary Sajid Javid because only he was authorised to order Mallya’s extradition. Mallya has confirmed that he will file an appeal against the extradition order. Mamata Banerjee’s dharna enters Day 3 A political firestorm raged on Monday as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s sit-in protest against CBI’s bid to question the Kolkata police chief in chit fund scams entered the second day. The chief minister had declared that her agitation to “save the Constitution and the country” will continue till 8 February and she was ready to face the consequences. Virtually all Opposition parties rallied behind Mamata’s direct confrontation with the Narendra Modi government, even as the BJP called it an “alliance of the corrupt”, and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a “breakdown of the Constitution”. [caption id=“attachment_4258345” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of liquor baron Vijay Mallya. AP[/caption] The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata Police on Sunday at the Kolkata Police commissioner’s house echoed in Parliament on Monday and led to a washout of the proceedings following Opposition protests. Supreme Court to hear CBI’s plea against Rajeev Kumar The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear the CBI’s application alleging that Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar had destroyed evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI alleged that it has moved the application as an extraordinary situation has arisen, in which the top police officials of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata. The bench declined the plea of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to hear the two applications on Monday in the post-lunch session on an urgent basis and scheduled the hearing for Tuesday. Priyanka Gandhi back in India, meets Rahul The newly-inducted Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, returned to India on Monday. Soon after arriving in New Delhi, Priyanka met her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his Tughlaq Road home. Other Congress leaders were present during her meeting at Rahul’s house, where they discussed the strategy for Uttar Pradesh East. She is likely to take charge of her post on Tuesday. Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh West Jyotiraditya Scindia was also present at the meeting. Priyanka and party leaders in Uttar Pradesh are expected to hold another meeting at Rahul’s house on Tuesday. ‘Only 2 women of menstrual age visited Sabarimala’ Days after courting controversy over a list of 51 women who had purportedly entered the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala government on Monday said only two women of menstrual age had visited the shrine since the Supreme Court removed the bar on their entry. In a written reply in the state Assembly, the government also said the visit of a Sri Lankan woman in early January has yet to be confirmed. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, in response to an unstarred question, said two women had offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine, according to the report of the temple executive officer. The CPM-led state government had filed an affidavit in the apex court on 18 January, saying 51 young women had entered the temple during the recently concluded annual pilgrimage. AIADMK-BJP alliance may be on the cards ahead of Lok Sabha elections The AIADMK on Monday asserted that it will lead a coalition of parties in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It said “anything can happen in politics”, apparently not ruling out a tie up with the BJP. This comes even as the DMK and Congress have virtually agreed to continue their alliance for the general elections. Senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar made it clear that his party will be the senior partner in a tie-up, saying “we will lead the alliance”. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had, on Sunday, said the AIADMK was holding talks with regional, national and friendly parties, and the permutation of the alliance would be made known after a clear picture emerged. Reports also said that talks between the AIADMK and BJP are already on to seal a deal. Indian government comes up with rules to regulate content on Chinese apps like TikTok The Centre has come up with a set of draft regulations designed to force Chinese social media apps like TikTok to moderate content. The rules require any app that has more than 5 million users set up a local office and have a senior executive in India who can be held responsible for any legal issues. The draft says these app developers must deploy automated tools for “proactively identifying and removing or disabling public access to unlawful information or content”.