The Evening Wrap: PM Modi inaugurates Sri Ramanujacharya statue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated a 216-foot tall ‘Statue of Equality’, commemorating Sri Ramanujacharya who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living. Hailing Ramanujacharya’s message of equality of all humans, Mr. Modi said the saint has been an inspiration to the country's unity and integrity. Though he was born in the south, Sri Ramanujacharya’s influence spread throughout the country, he said. Mr. Modi, who is on a day's visit to Hyderabad, visited the Ashram of Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy where the statue was installed. The inauguration of the statue is part of the ongoing 12-day celebrations of his 1,000th birth anniversary. NEET issue | Tamil Nadu special Assembly session on February 8 Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu on Saturday evening announced that a special session of the Legislative Assembly would be held at 10 a.m. on February 8 to discuss the return of the Bill against NEET by Governor R.N. Ravi. He said the session would be held at the Legislative Assembly hall in Fort St George. Earlier in the day, addressing reporters after a multi-party meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Health Minister M. Subramanian said Mr. Appavu would decide the date for the special session. “We will discuss the objections raised by the Governor [to the earlier legislation] and adopt a Bill. We will send it to the Governor for him to forward it to the Union Government for Presidential assent,” he said. The Minister expressed the hope that even though the AIADMK boycotted Saturday’s meeting, it would attend the special session. Delimitation panel unveils new electoral map for J&K The Delimitation Commission has proposed an overhaul of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir in its draft report which has been handed over to five associate members from the Union Territory for their suggestions, officials said on Saturday. The voluminous report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division, they said. Many of the Assembly seats in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State have vanished that include Habba Kadal, a seat that was seen as a traditional bastion of migrant Kashmiri pandits. The report was sent to the five associate members — Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone (Lok Sabha MPs from the National Conference) and Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore (BJP MPs) — on Friday. They have been asked to submit their views by February 14 after which the report would be put in the public domain, the officials added. The report has ignored the objections filed by the National Conference on December 31, 2021 rejecting the proposal to increase six Assembly seats in the Jammu region as against just one in the Kashmir division. Lata Mangeshkar put back on ventilator The health of veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar, who has been admitted in a hospital in Mumbai for over a month now, deteriorated further on Saturday, her doctor said. “Lata Mangeshkar ji is in ICU and continues to be under aggressive therapy. Her condition is critical but she is tolerating and responding to the treatment,” Dr. Pratit Samdhani of the Breach Candy Hospital, where Ms. Mangeshkar is admitted, said. She is on ventilator support and her condition is critical. On Saturday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray visited the hospital but did not speak to the media. Mr. Thackeray shares family relations with the Mangeshkar family. The 92-year-old singer was admitted to the hospital on January 11 after testing positive for coronavirus. She was kept on ventilator but taken off it when she showed signs of improvement. People who left BJP are abandoning their old seats as they fear losing: Keshav Prasad Maurya Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya dismissed any suggestions that the exodus of 10 BJP MLAs, including three Ministers, to the Samajwadi Party would have an adverse impact on the party’s prospects in the Assembly polls currently under way in the State. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Maurya said, “Forget about hurting the BJP. Jahan yeh log gayein hain un partiyon main sar phutawval shuru ho gayi hai (these people are now creating problems for the parties they have joined after leaving the BJP). The people who left BJP are now changing the constituency from where they are fighting, they are abandoning their old constituencies as they fear losing. But wherever they fight from, they will lose and the lotus will bloom.” Mr. Maurya also played down suggestions that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had been having trouble keeping his flock together, terming all such speculation as emanating from the Opposition or media. Read the full interview here. Hijab row | Follow dress code prescribed by College Management Committees, says Karnataka Government Amidst the row over Muslim girl students wearing hijab being barred into pre-university classes in Udupi district, the State Government on Saturday issued an order stating that students have to comply with the uniform/dress code prescribed by College Development Committees. The order comes even as a few girl students from Udupi, on being denied entry into classrooms for wearing hijab, have approached the High Court over the issue. Five colleges in the district have witnessed a row over hijab-wearing Muslim girls and Hindu students who wore saffron shawls as a counter being denied entry to classrooms. The order said that some students following their religious tenets in the classrooms had adversely impacted “equality and unity” in colleges. It said that even in cases where the College Management Committees have not prescribed a uniform/dress code, students have to wear dresses that maintains “equality and unity and doesn’t hamper public order.” Though uniform is not mandatory in colleges, College Management Committees, often headed by local MLAs, have been insisting on a dress code, including banning hijabs, in Udupi and other districts. With this order, the government has upheld the authority of the CMCs on imposing a dress code in colleges. The government had recently announced an expert committee to look into the dress code issue in colleges. But the order issued on Saturday clearly sides with the CMCs. The preamble to the operative part of the order, issued under Karnataka Education Act, 1983, stated that a ban on hijab was not illegal. Quoting three orders from Kerala, Bombay and Madras High Courts, the government said in its order that the courts have in multiple cases held mandating students not to wear a headscarf or to come to classrooms without covering their heads was not a violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of India, that provides freedom of religion. The students denied entry for wearing hijab have contended that it is a violation. Meanwhile, Arvind Narrain, president, People’s Union of Civil Liberties, Karnataka, said that the Government order was discriminatory and will be challenged legally. “The Government’s order cannot violate Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution,” he said. While the Congress leaders backed the Muslim students, the BJP said it will not allow 'Talibanisation' of education institutions. Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has thrown his weight behind Muslim girls on their right to wear the hijab to educational institutions, accused the BJP and RSS of trying to create communal disharmony throughout the State in the name of hijab. Minister for Kannada, Culture and Energy V. Sunil Kumar challenged those speaking in favour of wearing hijab inside educational institutions, including Mr. Siddaramaiah, to fight for the entry of Muslim women into masjids (mosques). Ruling BJP's State president and Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel said the government will not allow hijab at educational institutions and will take strict measures to ensure that things go as per rules of the school, and won't let things be turned into "Taliban like". The Karnataka High Court on February 8 will hear the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in college. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country is robbing the future of its daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of their education. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,21,66,848 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,01,902. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 05 FEBRUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( PM Modi inaugurates Sri Ramanujacharya's 216-foot statue Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday [inaugurated a 216-foot tall ‘Statue of Equality’]( commemorating Sri Ramanujacharya who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living. Hailing Ramanujacharya’s message of equality of all humans, Mr. Modi said the saint has been an inspiration to the country's unity and integrity. Though he was born in the south, Sri Ramanujacharya’s influence spread throughout the country, he said. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the 'Statue of Equality, a 216-foot tall statue of 11th-century saint Ramanujacharya, in Hyderabad.]  Mr. Modi, who is on a day's visit to Hyderabad, visited the Ashram of Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy where the statue was installed. The inauguration of the statue is part of the ongoing 12-day celebrations of his 1,000th birth anniversary. [underlineimg] NEET issue | Tamil Nadu special Assembly session on February 8 Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu on Saturday evening [announced that a special session of the Legislative Assembly would be held at 10 a.m. on February 8]( to discuss the return of the Bill against NEET by Governor R.N. Ravi. He said the session would be held at the Legislative Assembly hall in Fort St George. Earlier in the day, addressing reporters after a multi-party meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Health Minister M. Subramanian said [Mr. Appavu would decide the date for the special session](. “We will discuss the objections raised by the Governor [to the earlier legislation] and adopt a Bill. We will send it to the Governor for him to forward it to the Union Government for Presidential assent,” he said. The Minister expressed the hope that even though the AIADMK boycotted Saturday’s meeting, it would attend the special session. [underlineimg] Delimitation panel unveils new electoral map for J&K The [Delimitation CommissionÂ]( [proposed an overhaul of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir]( in its draft report which has been handed over to five associate members from the Union Territory for their suggestions, officials said on Saturday. The voluminous report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division, they said. Many of the Assembly seats in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State have vanished that include Habba Kadal, a seat that was seen as a traditional bastion of migrant Kashmiri pandits. The report was sent to the five associate members — Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone (Lok Sabha MPs from the National Conference) and Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore (BJP MPs) — on Friday. They have been asked to submit their views by February 14 after which the report would be put in the public domain, the officials added. The report has ignored the objections filed by the National Conference on December 31, 2021 rejecting the proposal to increase six Assembly seats in the Jammu region as against just one in the Kashmir division. [underlineimg] Lata Mangeshkar put back on ventilator The health of veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar, who has been admitted in a hospital in Mumbai for over a month now, [deteriorated further on Saturday, her doctor said](. “Lata Mangeshkar ji is in ICU and continues to be under aggressive therapy. Her condition is critical but she is tolerating and responding to the treatment,” Dr. Pratit Samdhani of the Breach Candy Hospital, where Ms. Mangeshkar is admitted, said. She is on ventilator support and her condition is critical. On Saturday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray visited the hospital but did not speak to the media. Mr. Thackeray shares family relations with the Mangeshkar family. The 92-year-old singer was admitted to the hospital on January 11 after testing positive for coronavirus. She was kept on ventilator but taken off it when she showed signs of improvement. [underlineimg] People who left BJP are abandoning their old seats as they fear losing: Keshav Prasad Maurya Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya dismissed any suggestions that the exodus of 10 BJP MLAs, including three Ministers, to the Samajwadi Party would have an adverse impact on the party’s prospects in the Assembly polls currently under way in the State. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Maurya said, “Forget about hurting the BJP. Jahan yeh log gayein hain un partiyon main sar phutawval shuru ho gayi hai (these people are now creating problems for the parties they have joined after leaving the BJP). The people who left BJP are now changing the constituency from where they are fighting, they are abandoning their old constituencies as they fear losing. But wherever they fight from, they will lose and the lotus will bloom.” Mr. Maurya also played down suggestions that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had been having trouble keeping his flock together, terming all such speculation as emanating from the Opposition or media. Read the full interview [here](. [underlineimg] Hijab row | Follow dress code prescribed by College Management Committees, says Karnataka Government Amidst the row over Muslim girl students wearing hijab being barred into pre-university classes in Udupi district, the State Government on Saturday [issued an order stating that students have to comply with the uniform/dress code prescribed by College Development Committees](. The order comes even as a few girl students from Udupi, on being denied entry into classrooms for wearing hijab, have approached the High Court over the issue. Five colleges in the district have witnessed a row over hijab-wearing Muslim girls and Hindu students who wore saffron shawls as a counter being denied entry to classrooms. The order said that some students following their religious tenets in the classrooms had adversely impacted “equality and unity” in colleges. It said that even in cases where the College Management Committees have not prescribed a uniform/dress code, students have to wear dresses that maintains “equality and unity and doesn’t hamper public order.” Though uniform is not mandatory in colleges, College Management Committees, often headed by local MLAs, have been insisting on a dress code, including banning hijabs, in Udupi and other districts. With this order, the government has upheld the authority of the CMCs on imposing a dress code in colleges. [Students wearing sit outside their school after authorities denied entry for wearing a hijab, at Kundapura in Karnataka’s Udupi district on February 4, 2022.]  The government had recently announced an expert committee to look into the dress code issue in colleges. But the order issued on Saturday clearly sides with the CMCs. The preamble to the operative part of the order, issued under Karnataka Education Act, 1983, stated that a ban on hijab was not illegal. Quoting three orders from Kerala, Bombay and Madras High Courts, the government said in its order that the courts have in multiple cases held mandating students not to wear a headscarf or to come to classrooms without covering their heads was not a violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of India, that provides freedom of religion. The students denied entry for wearing hijab have contended that it is a violation. Meanwhile, Arvind Narrain, president, People’s Union of Civil Liberties, Karnataka, said that the Government order was discriminatory and will be challenged legally. “The Government’s order cannot violate Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution,” he said. While the Congress leaders backed the Muslim students, the BJP said it will not allow 'Talibanisation' of education institutions. Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has [thrown his weight behind Muslim girls on their right to wear the hijab]( to educational institutions, accused the BJP and RSS of trying to create communal disharmony throughout the State in the name of hijab. Minister for Kannada, Culture and Energy V. Sunil Kumar [challenged those speaking in favour of wearing hijab inside educational institutions]( including Mr. Siddaramaiah, to fight for the entry of Muslim women into masjids (mosques). Ruling BJP's State president and Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel said the government will not allow hijab at educational institutions and will take strict measures to ensure that things go as per rules of the school, and won't let things be turned into "Taliban like". The Karnataka High Court on February 8 will [hear the petitions filed by five girls]( studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in college. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said [the country is robbing the future of its daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of their education](. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 4,21,66,848 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,01,902. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [[‘Rocket Boys’ review: SonyLIV series hits it out of the orbit] ‘Rocket Boys’ review: SonyLIV series hits it out of the orbit]( [[‘Home Team’ movie review: Kevin James can’t save this mess masquerading as a ‘sports comedy’] ‘Home Team’ movie review: Kevin James can’t save this mess masquerading as a ‘sports comedy’]( [[‘Looop Lapeta’ movie review: A run-down adaptation] ‘Looop Lapeta’ movie review: A run-down adaptation]( [[Jehan Daruvala faces ‘make-or-break year’ in quest to reach F1] Jehan Daruvala faces ‘make-or-break year’ in quest to reach F1]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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