The Evening Wrap: SC to hear on Mar 20 Telangana’s plea over Governor’s delay in giving Bills assent

The Supreme Court on March 14 agreed to urgently hear a petition filed by Telangana Government against Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for creating a “constitutional impasse” by refusing to act on several Bills passed by the State legislature. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud assured senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the State, that the case would be listed next week on March 20. Dave submitted that the Bills have been pending since September 14, 2022, awaiting the assent of the Governor. “In a parliamentary democracy, the Governor has no discretion to delay necessary assent as required on the Bills. Any refusal on the part of the Governor, including delay, will defeat parliamentary democracy and will of the people,” the State said in its petition filed through advocate S. Udaya Kumar Sagar. “Several Bills are stuck,” Dave pointed out during the mentioning of the case before the CJI Bench for early listing. The State urged the court to “declare that the inaction, omission and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate qua the assent of the Bills by the Governor is highly irregular, illegal”. Dave, through the petition, has argued that the Governor may or may not give assent to a Bill. However, the decision should be taken, rather than keeping the Bills pending for months together. “The Bill must be returned together with a message requesting the Houses to reconsider it or any provisions in it and rethink the desirability of introducing any such amendments,” the petition highlighted Article 200 of the Constitution. The Governor would not withhold assent once the Houses reiterate the amendments. The State trained the spotlight on how under Article 163 the Governor is not “expected to act independently”. “The Governor is required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister heading it,” the petition said. Bhopal gas tragedy case: Supreme Court dismisses Centre’s petition seeking additional compensation The Supreme Court on March 14 dismissed the government’s curative petition to secure more money from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) to pay the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy as an attempt which came 39 years too late after what came to be known as ‘the world’s largest industrial disaster’. The Constitution Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said any attempt to enhance the compensation should have been made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and not three decades later. The top court said the Union of India, as a “welfare state”, showed “gross negligence” by not “making good the deficiency” by taking out a relevant insurance policy for the victims. Justice Kaul, reading out the unanimous verdict of the five-judge Bench, said the Centre’s curative petition for a “top-up” of the $470 million (about ₹725 crore at the then exchange rate) compensation fixed in a 1989 settlement reached with imprimatur of the apex court, had “no foundation in any known legal principle”. The settlement was final, the court noted. It explained that the settlement reached with UCC, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, could be set aside only if it was found invalid or based on fraud. The government had based its claim for additional funds of ₹675.96 crore from the pesticide company on neither grounds. The court said the government must have surely known that there would be a need for more medical facilities to rehabilitate the victims. It was in the know that there was bound to be environmental degradation. It referred to UCC’s own allegation that neither the Union nor the State of Madhya Pradesh had taken steps to “proactively detoxify or decommission the site” in the aftermath of the fatal escape of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas in the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984. The basis of the $470 million settlement reached on May 4, 1989, was that there were only around 3,000 death cases in the gas leak incident. The government’s curative petition in 2010 said the actual figure is 5,295 deaths. The Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan, a body formed by the gas victims, and Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti, composed of ‘responsible citizens’, both represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, had told the court that Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre had medical records of over 4.5 lakh gas victims spanning 22 years. On average, every day about 2,000 gas victims undergo medical treatment at the Centre. Another 4,000 victims undergo treatment at the six hospitals and 19 clinics run by the Gas Relief Department of the Madhya Pradesh Government. These victims cannot be dismissed as merely suffering from “minor” injuries nearly 40 years after the tragedy, they had argued. The court noted that even if the number of victims has risen over the years, there was still an “excess amount” available to satisfy their claims. “The Welfare Commissioner has specified in an order of January 31, 2009, that, including the pro rata compensation, nearly six times the amount of compensation has been disbursed to victims in comparison with Motor Vehicles accident claims… A sum of ₹50 crore lying with the Reserve Bank of India shall be utilised by the Union of India to set aside pending claims, of any, in accordance with the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster [Processing of Claims] Act of 1985 and the scheme framed thereunder,” the court directed. The Bench said the government’s request to the court to use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to order enhancement of compensation was not the “appropriate course of action”. The government has not shown any rationale behind its effort to “rake up” the issue after decades of the settlement. The UCC had refused in court to pay a “farthing more”. The UCC, through senior advocate Harish Salve, had countered the 1989 settlement was arrived at on the basis of a “consent decree” sourced from a suit. If the decree was set aside, the suit proceedings should be restored. The liability of UCC for the tragedy was never established. There was no “re-opener clause” in the settlement. More and more liability cannot be piled on the company. The apex court had made it clear that it would not “try” the curative petition like an ordinary suit and reopen the settlement. The Bench pointed out that the government had never filed a review petition, but had come directly to the apex court invoking the limited jurisdiction of a curative petition, with private parties “hanging on to its coattail”. RSS supports Centre’s stand on same-sex marriage Backing the Union Government’s stand on same-sex marriage, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on March 14 said marriage can only take place between persons from opposite genders. In Hindu culture and thought, marriage is a sanskar and is not meant only for enjoyment. Marriage is for the benefit of the family and society at large. It is not for physical and sexual enjoyment,” Hosbale said, adding that the RSS agreed with the government’s view on same-sex marriage. The government, in a 56-page affidavit in the Supreme Court, said the institution of marriage has a sanctity attached to it and in major parts of the country, it is regarded as a sacrament, a holy union, and a sanskar. “In our country, despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman, marriage necessarily depends upon age-old customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos and societal values,” the government said. It added that any “deviation” from this “statutorily, religiously and socially” accepted norm in “human relationship” can only happen through the legislature and not the Supreme Court. The affidavit came in response to the court’s decision to examine petitions to allow solemnisation of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, which provides a civil form of marriage for couples who cannot marry under their personal law. Responding to a question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech in London, Hosabale said that being a prominent leader of the Opposition, he should speak more sensibly. “People who do not even apologise for Emergency in the country do not have moral right to talk about democracy,” he said. Incidentally, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a recent interview with Organiser, an RSS- backed English magazine, maintained that members of the LGBTQ community had the right to live as others. The magazine had quoted Bhagwat as saying that the Hindu society did not see the transgender community as a problem and that LGBTQ persons should have their own private space and feel that they, too, are a part of the society. Explaining how the LGBTQ community is not new to the Indian as well as Hindu society, Bhagwat shared a story from Hindu mythology about Jarasandh who he said had two generals — Hans and Dimbhaka. “When Krishna fanned the rumour that Dimbhaka has died, Hans committed suicide. That is how Krishna got rid of those two generals. Come to think of it: what does the story suggest? This is the same thing. The two generals were in that sort of a relationship. It is not that these people have never existed in our country,” Bhagwat said. He further maintained that people with such proclivities have always been there; for as long as humans have existed. He also added that because he is a veterinary doctor, he knows that such traits are found in animals too. “This is biological, a mode of life,” he said. Facebook-parent Meta to lay off 10,000 employees in second round of job cuts Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said on March 14, 2023 it would cut 10,000 jobs, just four months after it let go 11,000 employees, the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs. “We expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to staff. The layoffs are part of a wider restructuring at Meta that will see the company flatten its organisational structure, cancel lower priority projects, and reduce its hiring rates as part of the move. The news sent Meta’s shares up 2% in premarket trading. The move underscores Zuckerberg’s push to turn 2023 into the “Year of Efficiency” with promised cost cuts of $5 billion in expenses to between $89 billion and $95 billion. A deteriorating economy has brought about a series of mass job cuts across corporate America: from Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to Big Tech firms including Amazon.com and Microsoft. The tech industry has laid off more than 280,000 workers since the start of 2022, with about 40% of them coming this year, according to layoffs tracking site layoffs.fyi. Meta, which is pouring billions of dollars to build the futuristic metaverse, has struggled with a post-pandemic slump in advertising spending from companies facing high inflation and rising interest rates. Meta’s move in November to slash headcount by 13% marked the first mass layoffs in its 18-year history. Its headcount stood at 86,482 at 2022-end, up 20% from a year ago. Police use water cannons, tear gas on Imran Khan’s supporters outside his residence in Lahore Police on March 14 fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse supporters of Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan who gathered outside his residence here to prevent his arrest in the Toshakhana case. Television footage showed police slowly approaching the Zaman Park residence of Khan behind an armoured vehicle that was dispersing his supporters with a water cannon. A senior police officer of Islamabad police said that his team has come here to arrest the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in the Toshakhana case. Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit. Clashes erupted between police and PTI workers when the former approached Khan’s residence to arrest him. His supporters pelted stones at the policemen. Both Khan’s party workers and policemen were injured. The official Twitter handle of the party earlier urged supporters and workers to gather outside the residence and ‘remain peaceful’. A large number of PTI workers equipped with clubs were present outside the 70-year-old leader’s residence to resist the police action. The police blocked all roads leading to the house of the PTI chairman by placing containers and riot personnel took positions to launch the operation. Senior PTI leader Farukh Habib told reporters that come what may Imran Khan would not surrender to police in fake cases. “The arrest warrants in the case related to threatening a female judge were today suspended by the Islamabad High Court. Let’s see what new warrants police have brought with them now,” Habib said. One activist of Khan’s party was killed on Wednesday during a crackdown on his supporters who gathered outside his residence in Lahore, defying a government ban on rallies in the city. On Monday, the Lahore police had booked Khan in a case related to the killing of the PTI worker -- Ali Bilal alias Zille Shah -- in a road accident. Earlier, the Lahore police had registered an FIR against Khan and 400 others for the murder of Shah. “The new FIR has been registered against Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Dr. Yasmin Rashid and a number of other PTI men for abetment to murder, concealing facts and evidence related to the death of Zille Shah,” a senior police officer told PTI. He said the police may arrest Khan and others nominated in the FIR after direction from the “top”. The PTI had accused the police of murder of Shah after inflicting brutal torture on March 8. This is the 81st FIR against Khan since the PML-N led federal coalition came into power 11 months ago after toppling his government through a no-confidence motion. Khan on Monday led a march of thousands of his supporters, a day after he called off his party’s election rally following a ban on public gatherings in Punjab’s provincial capital. The former cricketer-turned-politician’s supporters threw rose petals at a convoy carrying him to Data Darbar shrine. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a U.S.-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan. Since his ouster, Khan has been clamouring for immediate elections to oust what he termed was an “imported government” led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once the parliament completes its five-year tenure. In Brief: The Naxal violence in India has decreased by 77% over the past 12 years and the number of deaths in related incidents has also reduced by 90% during the same period, the government said in Lok Sabha on March 14. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the geographical spread of LWE-related violence (security forces and civilians) has significantly reduced and only 176 police stations of 45 districts reported related violence in 2022. In 2010, at least 465 police stations of 96 districts had reported LWE-related violence. Replying to a written question, Rai said the number of LWE-related deaths has reduced from an all-time high of 1,005 in 2010 to just 98 in 2022. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 14 March 2023 [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]( Telangana Govt. vs Governor: Supreme Court to hear on March 20 State’s plea over delay in giving assent to Bills passed by legislature The [Supreme Court on March 14 agreed to urgently hear a petition filed by Telangana Government against Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan]( for creating a “constitutional impasse” by refusing to act on several Bills passed by the State legislature. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud assured senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the State, that the case would be listed next week on March 20. Dave submitted that the Bills have been pending since September 14, 2022, awaiting the assent of the Governor. [Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan] “In a parliamentary democracy, the Governor has no discretion to delay necessary assent as required on the Bills. Any refusal on the part of the Governor, including delay, will defeat parliamentary democracy and will of the people,” the State said in its petition filed through advocate S. Udaya Kumar Sagar. “Several Bills are stuck,” Dave pointed out during the mentioning of the case before the CJI Bench for early listing. The State urged the court to “declare that the inaction, omission and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate qua the assent of the Bills by the Governor is highly irregular, illegal”. Dave, through the petition, has argued that the Governor may or may not give assent to a Bill. However, the decision should be taken, rather than keeping the Bills pending for months together. “The Bill must be returned together with a message requesting the Houses to reconsider it or any provisions in it and rethink the desirability of introducing any such amendments,” the petition highlighted Article 200 of the Constitution. The Governor would not withhold assent once the Houses reiterate the amendments. The State trained the spotlight on how under Article 163 the Governor is not “expected to act independently”. “The Governor is required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister heading it,” the petition said. Bhopal gas tragedy case: Supreme Court dismisses Centre’s petition seeking additional compensation The [Supreme Court on March 14 dismissed the government’s curative petition to secure more money from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)]( to pay the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy as an attempt which came 39 years too late after what came to be known as ‘the world’s largest industrial disaster’. The Constitution Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said any attempt to enhance the compensation should have been made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and not three decades later. The top court said the Union of India, as a “welfare state”, showed “gross negligence” by not “making good the deficiency” by taking out a relevant insurance policy for the victims. Justice Kaul, reading out the unanimous verdict of the five-judge Bench, said the Centre’s curative petition for a “top-up” of the $470 million (about ₹725 crore at the then exchange rate) compensation fixed in a 1989 settlement reached with imprimatur of the apex court, had “no foundation in any known legal principle”. The settlement was final, the court noted. It explained that the settlement reached with UCC, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, could be set aside only if it was found invalid or based on fraud. The government had based its claim for additional funds of ₹675.96 crore from the pesticide company on neither grounds. The court said the government must have surely known that there would be a need for more medical facilities to rehabilitate the victims. It was in the know that there was bound to be environmental degradation. It referred to UCC’s own allegation that neither the Union nor the State of Madhya Pradesh had taken steps to “proactively detoxify or decommission the site” in the aftermath of the fatal escape of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas in the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984. The basis of the $470 million settlement reached on May 4, 1989, was that there were only around 3,000 death cases in the gas leak incident. The government’s curative petition in 2010 said the actual figure is 5,295 deaths. The Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan, a body formed by the gas victims, and Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti, composed of ‘responsible citizens’, both represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, had told the court that Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre had medical records of over 4.5 lakh gas victims spanning 22 years. On average, every day about 2,000 gas victims undergo medical treatment at the Centre. Another 4,000 victims undergo treatment at the six hospitals and 19 clinics run by the Gas Relief Department of the Madhya Pradesh Government. These victims cannot be dismissed as merely suffering from “minor” injuries nearly 40 years after the tragedy, they had argued. The court noted that even if the number of victims has risen over the years, there was still an “excess amount” available to satisfy their claims. “The Welfare Commissioner has specified in an order of January 31, 2009, that, including the pro rata compensation, nearly six times the amount of compensation has been disbursed to victims in comparison with Motor Vehicles accident claims… A sum of ₹50 crore lying with the Reserve Bank of India shall be utilised by the Union of India to set aside pending claims, of any, in accordance with the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster [Processing of Claims] Act of 1985 and the scheme framed thereunder,” the court directed. The Bench said the government’s request to the court to use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to order enhancement of compensation was not the “appropriate course of action”. The government has not shown any rationale behind its effort to “rake up” the issue after decades of the settlement. The UCC had refused in court to pay a “farthing more”. The UCC, through senior advocate Harish Salve, had countered the 1989 settlement was arrived at on the basis of a “consent decree” sourced from a suit. If the decree was set aside, the suit proceedings should be restored. The liability of UCC for the tragedy was never established. There was no “re-opener clause” in the settlement. More and more liability cannot be piled on the company. The apex court had made it clear that it would not “try” the curative petition like an ordinary suit and reopen the settlement. The Bench pointed out that the government had never filed a review petition, but had come directly to the apex court invoking the limited jurisdiction of a curative petition, with private parties “hanging on to its coattail”. RSS supports Centre’s stand on same-sex marriage [Backing the Union Government’s stand on same-sex marriage, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)]( general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on March 14 said marriage can only take place between persons from opposite genders. In Hindu culture and thought, marriage is a sanskar and is not meant only for enjoyment. Marriage is for the benefit of the family and society at large. It is not for physical and sexual enjoyment,” Hosbale said, adding that the RSS agreed with the government’s view on same-sex marriage. [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale with RSS leader Sunil Ambekar addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on March 14, 2023.] The government, in a 56-page affidavit in the Supreme Court, said the institution of marriage has a sanctity attached to it and in major parts of the country, it is regarded as a sacrament, a holy union, and a sanskar. “In our country, despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman, marriage necessarily depends upon age-old customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos and societal values,” the government said. It added that any “deviation” from this “statutorily, religiously and socially” accepted norm in “human relationship” can only happen through the legislature and not the Supreme Court. The affidavit came in response to the court’s decision to examine petitions to allow solemnisation of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, which provides a civil form of marriage for couples who cannot marry under their personal law. Responding to a question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech in London, Hosabale said that being a prominent leader of the Opposition, he should speak more sensibly. “People who do not even apologise for Emergency in the country do not have moral right to talk about democracy,” he said. Incidentally, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a recent interview with Organiser, an RSS- backed English magazine, maintained that members of the LGBTQ community had the right to live as others. The magazine had quoted Bhagwat as saying that the Hindu society did not see the transgender community as a problem and that LGBTQ persons should have their own private space and feel that they, too, are a part of the society. Explaining how the LGBTQ community is not new to the Indian as well as Hindu society, Bhagwat shared a story from Hindu mythology about Jarasandh who he said had two generals — Hans and Dimbhaka. “When Krishna fanned the rumour that Dimbhaka has died, Hans committed suicide. That is how Krishna got rid of those two generals. Come to think of it: what does the story suggest? This is the same thing. The two generals were in that sort of a relationship. It is not that these people have never existed in our country,” Bhagwat said. He further maintained that people with such proclivities have always been there; for as long as humans have existed. He also added that because he is a veterinary doctor, he knows that such traits are found in animals too. “This is biological, a mode of life,” he said. Facebook-parent Meta to lay off 10,000 employees in second round of job cuts [Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said on March 14, 2023 it would cut 10,000 jobs]( just four months after it let go 11,000 employees, the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs. “We expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to staff. The layoffs are part of a wider restructuring at Meta that will see the company flatten its organisational structure, cancel lower priority projects, and reduce its hiring rates as part of the move. The news sent Meta’s shares up 2% in premarket trading. The move underscores Zuckerberg’s push to turn 2023 into the “Year of Efficiency” with promised cost cuts of $5 billion in expenses to between $89 billion and $95 billion. A deteriorating economy has brought about a series of mass job cuts across corporate America: from Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to Big Tech firms including Amazon.com and Microsoft. The tech industry has laid off more than 280,000 workers since the start of 2022, with about 40% of them coming this year, according to layoffs tracking site layoffs.fyi. Meta, which is pouring billions of dollars to build the futuristic metaverse, has struggled with a post-pandemic slump in advertising spending from companies facing high inflation and rising interest rates. Meta’s move in November to slash headcount by 13% marked the first mass layoffs in its 18-year history. Its headcount stood at 86,482 at 2022-end, up 20% from a year ago. Police use water cannons, tear gas on Imran Khan’s supporters outside his residence in Lahore [Police on March 14 fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse supporters of Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan]( who gathered outside his residence here to prevent his arrest in the Toshakhana case. Television footage showed police slowly approaching the Zaman Park residence of Khan behind an armoured vehicle that was dispersing his supporters with a water cannon. A senior police officer of Islamabad police said that his team has come here to arrest the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in the Toshakhana case. Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit. Clashes erupted between police and PTI workers when the former approached Khan’s residence to arrest him. His supporters pelted stones at the policemen. Both Khan’s party workers and policemen were injured. The official Twitter handle of the party earlier urged supporters and workers to gather outside the residence and ‘remain peaceful’. A large number of PTI workers equipped with clubs were present outside the 70-year-old leader’s residence to resist the police action. The police blocked all roads leading to the house of the PTI chairman by placing containers and riot personnel took positions to launch the operation. Senior PTI leader Farukh Habib told reporters that come what may Imran Khan would not surrender to police in fake cases. “The arrest warrants in the case related to threatening a female judge were today suspended by the Islamabad High Court. Let’s see what new warrants police have brought with them now,” Habib said. One activist of Khan’s party was killed on Wednesday during a crackdown on his supporters who gathered outside his residence in Lahore, defying a government ban on rallies in the city. On Monday, the Lahore police had booked Khan in a case related to the killing of the PTI worker -- Ali Bilal alias Zille Shah -- in a road accident. Earlier, the Lahore police had registered an FIR against Khan and 400 others for the murder of Shah. “The new FIR has been registered against Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Dr. Yasmin Rashid and a number of other PTI men for abetment to murder, concealing facts and evidence related to the death of Zille Shah,” a senior police officer told PTI. He said the police may arrest Khan and others nominated in the FIR after direction from the “top”. The PTI had accused the police of murder of Shah after inflicting brutal torture on March 8. This is the 81st FIR against Khan since the PML-N led federal coalition came into power 11 months ago after toppling his government through a no-confidence motion. Khan on Monday led a march of thousands of his supporters, a day after he called off his party’s election rally following a ban on public gatherings in Punjab’s provincial capital. The former cricketer-turned-politician’s supporters threw rose petals at a convoy carrying him to Data Darbar shrine. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a U.S.-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan. Since his ouster, Khan has been clamouring for immediate elections to oust what he termed was an “imported government” led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once the parliament completes its five-year tenure. In Brief: The [Naxal violence in India has decreased by 77% over the past 12 years]( and the number of deaths in related incidents has also reduced by 90% during the same period, the government said in Lok Sabha on March 14. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the geographical spread of LWE-related violence (security forces and civilians) has significantly reduced and only 176 police stations of 45 districts reported related violence in 2022. In 2010, at least 465 police stations of 96 districts had reported LWE-related violence. Replying to a written question, Rai said the number of LWE-related deaths has reduced from an all-time high of 1,005 in 2010 to just 98 in 2022. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. First Day First Show Stay up-to-date on all things cinema with the "First Day First Show" cinema & entertainment newsletter. 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