Pune Jan 31 PTI Social activist Anna Hazare on Monday said it was unfortunate that the Maharashtra government was giving priority to liquor sale for financial gains days after the state government allowed sale of wine in supermarkets and walk-in shops Maharashtra Skill Development Minister Nawab Malik had last Thursday said the state cabinet took the decision to give a boost to fruit-based wineries which provide additional income to farmers Hazare in a statement on Monday said it is the governments duty to discourage people from drugs alcohol and addiction It is sad to see that decisions are being made to promote alcohol and addiction only for revenue generation he said The Maharashtra government recently decided to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets and grocery stores This decision is very unfortunate for the people of Maharashtra The state government said the decision was taken in the interest of farmers The state government also said wine is not alcohol The real question is where will such a decision take the state the activist asked While people of the state are protesting against the governments decision those in the government are supporting it he said It is unfortunate for the people of this state that the government has given priority to the sale of liquor in this way only to generate revenue Hazare said Talking about the interest of farmers he said the state and central governments should provide a fair price for what ordinary cultivators grow in their fields But what exactly the government wants to achieve by setting a target of selling 1000 crore litres of wine a year This means the government is okay with people getting addicted but it government will insist that its revenue should increase he said Hazare also said that in November last year the Maharashtra government reduced the Excise duty on imported Scotch whiskey by 50 per cent The government plans to increase the sale of such liquor and increase its revenue from Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore he added PTI COR GK GK

Pune Jan 24 PTI Social activist Anna Hazare has written to Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah demanding a probe by a retired Supreme Court judge into the alleged Rs 25000 crore scam in the selling of cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra and their purchase at throwaway prices In his letter to Shah Hazare requested that a high-power committee be set up under a retired judge of the Supreme Court to probe the alleged scam We have been agitating against the sale of sugar mills in connivance with politicians at the negligible value since 2009 and against irregularities in cooperative financial institutions In 2017 we had filed a complaint in Mumbai and one DIG-rank officer was appointed to investigate the complaint Hazare wrote He added that after two years a closure report was submitted saying no irregularities were detected If the Maharashtra government is not ready to act against a scam worth Rs 25000 crore then who will take the action the veteran anti-corruption activist questioned He said the Centre had set up the ministry of cooperation for the welfare of farmers and to improve the cooperative sector We are of the view that it would be a good example if the Centre probes the sale of sugar mills in Maharashtra by setting up a high-level committee he said Hazare didnt mention the names of any cooperative sugar mills in his letter PTI SPK NSK NSK

Kochi Dec 23 PTI Social media is good in the hands of the worthy but for some it is an unrestricted playground of their wildest predilections the Kerala High Court said on Thursday and added that while freedom of speech and expression was a valuable right some misuse it to the extreme The observations by Justice Devan Ramachandran came while referring to the social media posts of a former judicial officer who made disrespectful and vitriolic comments about the orders passed by the high court in relation to the investigation against self-styled antiques dealer Monson Mavunkal The former judicial officer had also made personal attacks against the judge the court noted Justice Ramachandran said subsequently he asked the former judicial officer to appear before the court and inform it where it was going wrong instead of immediately initiating action against him under the Contempt of Courts Act However the former judicial officer did not appear before the court prompting it to say during the hearing that he was a coward The tragedy with present days is that busy bodies feel that they can vitriolically say and comment about anything on social media under the impression that no accountability will come to them Social media is good in the hands of the good and worthy But for some it is an unrestrained playground of their wildest predilections the court said The high court subsequently in its order noted that after the former judicial officer was asked to appear before it he responded by again ridiculing the court and calling it fascist It also noted that the High Court Registry found that he had also put up posts projecting himself as a martyr and threatening to harm himself The scenario is thus clear The mindset of this individual is nihilistic and I therefore close this opportunity of hearing to him recognising that he will have nothing worthwhile to say Justice Ramachandran said He further said that free speech was a key to the intellect and the power of expression was the most valuable and powerful facet of human existence but a few misuse the freedom to its extreme The court said that it was the actions of such persons which compels even the right thinking citizens to seek regulation of the online space Justice Ramachandran said the only punishment he can offer the former judicial officer for his wanton utterances was to treat the same as inconsequential and deny him his 15 minutes of fame With these observations the court dismissed the summons it had issued to the former judicial officer and directed the High Court Registry to take requisite action as per law on the compilation made by it of his posts after obtaining necessary orders from the Chief Justice PTI HMP BN BN

Mumbai Dec 17 PTI Social media giant Twitter on Friday termed as frivolous and not tenable on facts or in law the suit filed by Narcotics Control Bureau NCB Zonal Director in Mumbai Sameer Wankhede and his wife against the company in a court here over some posts on its platform against the coupleWankhede and his actor-wife Karnti Redkar had approached a civil court in suburban Borivali last month seeking a direction to restrain social media giants including Twitter from publishing or displaying any malicious and defamatory content against the couple on their platformsThe duo has also sought interim and ad-interim reliefs till their application was decidedOn Friday Twitter filed its response before the court saying its an intermediary and not liable for content hosted on its platform under the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000It is entitled to statutory immunity If an intermediary is to regulate content which is available on its platform on its own it loses the safe harbor immunity provided to it under the scheme of the IT Act the reply saidTherefore the micro-blogging and social networking site cannot be held liable for any objectionable content being posted by its users on its platform it said The social media company further said the suit itself and the application herein is false frivolous and vexatious and is not tenable on facts or in law and deserves to be dismissedCiting provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC the company said the court doesnt have the jurisdiction to preside over the matterIt said the couple has sought to invoke the jurisdiction of this court based on their residenceHowever it is settled law that the place of residence of the plaintiffs is not relevant to determine the territorial jurisdiction in any suit the reply saidAs per the CrPC a suit can only be filed where the defendant resides or the cause of action arises The plaintiffs have failed to show how the action arose within the jurisdiction of this court it saidOn the interim relief plea the Twitter submitted that the prayer is overbroad and ex facie defective contrary to the settled principles of law and cannot be grantedNo content has been identified in the interim application which is allegedly defamatory it addedThe micro-blogging site claimed there cannot be a blanket take down of an account unless the court finds that all the tweets are defamatoryThis is more so because the plaintiffs have failed to make the account holder a party it addedIt also denied the allegation that gossip and rumour are blown out of proportion by various users of the social media companyThere is a legal mechanism to regulate content available on the platform However the plaintiffs prayers seek to circumvent that legal process the company told the courtBesides Twitter in the suit filed before the civil court the couple had sought permanent injunction against Google and FacebookThe suit claimed that sponsored misinformation is being spread on social media platforms by various unscrupulous elements at the behest of individuals against whom the NCB officer has actedIt is clear that the misinformation campaign is a consequence of vested interests that are affected by investigations carried out by the NCB official the plea filed through legal firm Rex Legalis has claimedGoogle and Facebook filed their replies on previous hearingThe matter will be next heard on December 21Wankhede and his family members had been locked in a bitter spat with Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik who over the last few months has made a series of allegations against them all denied by the NCB officer and his kinWankhedes father has also filed a defamation suit against the state minister in the Bombay High Court PTI AVI RSY RSY

Pune Nov 26 PTI Social activist Anna Hazare was on Friday discharged from a private hospital in Pune where he was admitted after he complained of chest pain the hospital authorities said The 84-year-old anti-corruption crusader was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic on Thursday for chest pain following which an angiography and other tests were conducted they said Hazare was discharged from the hospital today as he is fine now During the angiogram a minor blockage was detected There was no need for angioplasty or any surgery Following treatment at the hospital he was allowed to be discharged said Dr Parvez Grant chief cardiologist and managing trustee Ruby Hall Clinic According to Hazares office the social activist has been advised to take complete rest PTI SPK ARU ARU

Pune Nov 25 PTI Social activist Anna Hazare was admitted to a private hospital in Pune on Thursday following chest pain and later underwent angiography authorities at the medical facility saidThe anti-corruption crusader admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic is stable after a procedure done to remove a minor blockage in his coronary artery they saidThe 84-year-old social activist was admitted to the hospital after he complained of chest pain for the last two to three days He was thoroughly evaluated by a team of experts said a statement by Ruby Hall ClinicIt stated that an ECG electrocardiogram revealed minor changes following which two doctors - P K Grant and C N Makhale - conducted an angiography an imaging test that uses X-rays to check blood vessels on himThe angiogram revealed a minor blockage in his coronary artery The procedure was performed successfully and he is receiving the appropriate medical line of treatment He is stable and likely to be discharged in 2 to 3 days said Dr Grant chief cardiologist and managing trustee Ruby Hall Clinic PTI SPK RSY RSY

Kochi Sep 29 PTI Social evils pointed out by the church require a deeper study and serious enquiry instead of giving it a different hue and diverting it to other directions the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council KCBC said on Wednesday in an apparent reference to the love and narcotic jihad comment by the Pala Bishop that created widespread controversy in the state The Council in a release said that it rejects in unison all forms of interpretations which undermine religious harmony and weaken healthy co-existence in society by mischievously twisting the warnings of the pastors of this church We request that when we point out social evils a deeper study and serious enquiry be conducted in that regard and actions be undertaken thereto without giving a different hue to the matters diverting them to unintended directions The KCBC disapproves of any covert attempts to show that there exists disunity among the Churches The fundamental values of truth love and justice which the Catholic Church upholds constitute the basis of all inter-religious dialogue and harmony among religions it said in the release The Pala bishop had said that Christian girls were falling prey to what he claimed was love and narcotic jihad in Kerala and that wherever arms cannot be used extremists were using such methods to destroy the youth The comment had resulted in a verbal duel and blame game amongst the major political parties -- CPIM BJP and Congress -- in the state The Congress and BJP had also criticised the Left government and the Chief Minister for their silence on the issue Thereafter Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had on September 21 rejected outright the comments made by Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt saying the southern state is a firm terrain of secularism and society would take strong stand against those who try to upset it The KCBC said that the Catholic Church in Kerala has been working towards peaceful co-existence and harmony of religions and for the cultural development of society in the state through its varied services in the field of education and health-care as well as social and charitable actions The KCBC said it wants secularism and religious harmony always and vows to work for the same We wish to declare our earnest desire to work with other communities to oust social evils from our society the Council said in its release PTI HMP APR APR