The Hindu's Evening Wrap May 3, 2025
India also has banned direct or indirect import of all goods from Pakistan with immediate effect in the interest of national security and public policy, following the Pahalgam terror attack last month in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed, according to a Government Order issued on Friday (May 2, 2025).The decision will completely halt all inbound shipments of goods from Pakistan to India. India's exports to Pakistan in April-January 2024-25 stood at $447.65 million, while imports were meagre $0.42 million.
A provision in this regard has been added in Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 'to prohibit direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan with immediate effect until further orders,' the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification dated May 2.
Rajnath Singh to skip Russia's Victory Day parade amid tensions between India and Pakistan
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to skip Russia's Victory Day parade, and his Deputy Sanjay Seth is likely to represent India at the event in Moscow this week, official sources said on Saturday. The move to send the Minister of State for Defence to the May 9 ceremony comes amid increasing tensions between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack.
Russia had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Victory Day parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Germany in the Second World War, but it was decided that Singh would attend the event.
Congress demands fresh Assembly election in Manipur to bring back peace
The Congress on Saturday (May 3, 2025) accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing to uphold rajdharma (the duty of a ruler)by not visiting the strife-torn State of Manipur in the past two years, and asked why the PM had such 'disdain' for the people of the State. State Congress chief K. Meghachandra Singh claimed that Manipur was still witnessing sporadic incidents of violence, and also demanded a fresh Assembly election to bring back peace and normalcy.
'So far, there is not much improvement even after [the imposition of] President's Rule, and the 'double engine' government is unable to bring peace and normalcy. They have failed....We want to have a fresh mandate,' Mr. Singh said, addressing a press conference along with Lok Sabha member and All India Congress Committee in-charge for Manipur Saptagiri Ulaka at the party headquarters here.
In a post on social media platform X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that, just two days ago, 25 people had been injured in a violent clash in Tamenglong district.
98% of ED cases involving politicians filed against opposition leaders: TMC's Saket Gokhale
Trinamool Congress leader Saket Mr. Gokhale on Saturday (May 3, 2025) said 98% of the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate against politicians were against Opposition leaders.
'The remaining two% are those who went and joined the BJP's 'washing machine,'' he said. Mr. Gokhale referred to Thursday's (May 1) statement of ED Director Rahul Navin, to claim that the surge in cases post-2014 was at the behest of Narendra Modi, who came to power the same year. Speaking at an event on ED Day, Mr. Navin said the anti-money laundering law had been 'largely ineffective' before 2014 and there has been a significant step-up in enforcement activity since then.In a post on X, Mr. Gokhale said, 'Yesterday, the head of central agency ED admitted that there's been a surge of cases filed after Modi Government came to power in 2014.' 'In the last 11 years, a total of 5,297 cases were filed by ED. How many were taken to court for trial? Only 47,' he said.
The TMC Rajya Sabha MP said the conviction rate in ED cases is only 0.7%.'That means out of every 1,000 cases filed, accused were found guilty in only seven cases,' he said.'Therefore, out of every 1,000 cases, 993 cases are filed by ED purely to keep a person in jail because getting bail under the draconian PMLA is almost impossible,' he said. According to the ED Director, 1,739 cases filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act are under trial at present. He said out of the 47 cases decided by courts, the conviction rate was 93.6% with only three acquittals.
One judge for 18.7 lakh people: vacancy, pendency crises plague High Courts
In a rare and candid observation, the Delhi High Court last week cited the 'acute shortage of judges' as a key reason for its inability to hear all cases listed in its daily cause list. The comment serves as a sobering reminder of the systemic challenges confronting the judiciary. The observation came during the hearing of a routine application by a man accused of cheating and forgery, who was seeking permission to travel abroad. Though incidental, the remark has drawn attention to a longstanding issue plaguing the judiciary — chronic judicial vacancies across India.
The Delhi High Court currently functions with only 36 judges, well below its sanctioned strength of 60. This means nearly 40% of judicial posts remain vacant. The court is simultaneously grappling with a staggering backlog of 1,34,090 pending cases.
According to the latest data from the Department of Justice, India's 25 High Courts have a combined sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges. As of now, only 769 judges are in position, leaving 345 posts, or over 30%, vacant. These 769 judges are responsible for clearing a backlog of 62,96,798 cases pending across High Courts.
All-party meet in Haryana asks Punjab govt to release water 'unconditionally'
The stand-off between Punjab and Haryana over water sharing intensified on Saturday (May 3, 2025) with an all-party meeting in Haryana calling on the AAP government in the neighbouring State to allow the release of water from the Bhakra dam unconditionally.
This came a day after an all-party meeting in Punjab backed the state government's refusal to release more water to BJP-ruled Haryana. The meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday, slammed the Punjab government's move, calling its move 'unconstitutional, illegal, inhuman and inappropriate'. The Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab was told to implement the decision taken by Bhakra Beas Management Board's technical committee here recently, as all major political parties in Haryana put up a united face over the issue.
'The all-party meeting decided that the Mann government should release water immediately and unconditionally,' Saini later said at a press conference in the presence of leaders from various parties who attended the meet.
Yunus-led Bangladesh government has targeted 640 journalists in eight months, says report released on World Press Freedom Day
The interim Bangladesh government headed by Muhammad Yunus has targeted 640 journalists in eight months to throttle media freedom, an Indian rights group said on Saturday.
The New Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) documented these cases in its report released to mark World Press Freedom Day 2025.The report said the Bangladeshi media had faced systematic and organised repression since the violent ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. This was evident from criminal cases filed against 182 journalists, acts of violence against 206 others, denial of accreditation to 167 more, and inquiries initiated against 85 senior journalists by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, the anti-terror and anti-money laundering arm of the Bangladesh government. The senior journalists are associated with 39 media houses.
'If these were not enough, journalists in Bangladesh have been sacked instantly on the whims and fancies of the leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement (ADSM), who have emerged as the holy cows in Bangladesh,' the RRAG report said.The ADSM, led by Hasnat Abdullah, not only attacked The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, two independent dailies, but also trespassed into Somoy TV and forced the owners to sack five journalists, the report said.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian Prime Minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years. Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday's election, saying, 'We didn't do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.'
'Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It's an historic occasion for the Labor Party and we recognise that,' he added.
The Australian Electoral Commission's projections gave Mr. Albanese's ruling center-left Labor Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments. Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.
In Brief
West Bank Palestinians losing hope 100 days into Israeli assault. On a torn-up road near the refugee camp where she once lived, Saja Bawaqneh said she struggled to find hope 100 days after an Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank forced her to flee. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced in the north of the territory since Israel began a major 'anti-terrorist operation' dubbed 'Iron Wall' on January 21, 2025. Bawaqneh said life was tough and uncertain since she was forced to leave Jenin refugee camp — one of three targeted by the offensive along with Tulkarem and Nur Shams.
A member of the Delhi University's Academic Council has raised concerns over what she described as undue scrutiny and interference in the psychology syllabus during a meeting of the university's Standing Committee on Academic Matters on Friday. No immediate response was available from the university. According to Monami Sinha, Associate Professor at the Kamala Nehru College and a member of both the Academic Council and the standing committee, several key areas of the syllabus were questioned, particularly for the inclusion of western perspectives and politically-sensitive topics.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
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