16-05-2022 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Lucknow : The Allahabad
High Court's Lucknow bench
on Thursday dismissed the petition
seeking opening of 22
rooms in the Taj Mahal premises.
The two-judge bench ripped
into the petitioner who sought
opening of the 22 locked
rooms, stating that the truth
about the iconic monument
needs to come out, and that he
has filed multiple PILs for the
same. "Tomorrow you will ask
for permission to see our chambers.
Please, don't make mockery
of the PIL system," the
bench said during the hearing.
The writ petition, seeking to "find the
truth" behind the 22 locked rooms in the
Taj Mahal, was filed last week before the
Lucknow bench by Rajneesh Singh, who
is the media in-charge of the BJP's
Ayodhya unit.
The petition cited the claims of some
historians and Hindu groups about the
mausoleum actually being an old Shiva
temple. The petition has sought the
Archaeological Survey of India form a
special committee to examine the locked
rooms and release the report to the public.
Singh said that the demand is not to
make the Taj Mahal a temple but to bring
out the truth of the matter for the sake of
social harmony. He said that the only
way to end such controversy is by examining
closed rooms. Justices D.K.
Upadhyay and Subhash Vidyarthi questioned
the petitioner on what his plea is.
Pointing out that the petitioner wants the
court to issue a writ of mandamus, they
stated it can only be issued in case of
infringement of rights. "What judgment
do you want us to pronounce? Who built
ASIA
ALLAHABAD HC dismisses
petition on TAJ MAHAL,
sharply pulls up petitioner
India clean sweep Women's 25M
Pistol at Suhl Junior World Cup
New Delhi : India's pistol
girls affected a clean sweep of
the Women's 25M Pistol competition
on the penultimate
day of the ISSF Junior World
Cup shooting championships
in Suhl, Germany, to further
consolidate their lead at the
top of the medal tally.
Rhythm Sangwan won
gold, Manu Bhaker silver and
Naamaa Kapoor bronze, as
India completely dominated
the Olympic event on Sunday.
The Indian trio was head
and shoulders above the field
from the qualification round
itself. Rhythm topped the
round with a score of 588
while Manu was second with
584 and Naamya third with
583.
Then in the eliminators,
Naamya topped with 12 hits
while Rhythm followed her to
the medal round in second
with 11 hits. Manu topped the
second eliminator comfortably
with 17 hits as German
Michaela Boesl won a shootoff
to become the fourth finalist
with nine hits to her name.
Then Naamya ensured an
Indian sweep of the medals,
taking out the German in a
tense three-shot shoot-off after
both had tied on 10-hits after
four 5-shot series rounds.
Meanwhile, there was a battle
at the top, as Manu initially
led from Rhythm, but the latter
caught up by the fifth series
and then surged ahead after
the seventh as Manu registered
a blank.
Eventual scores read 31 hits
for Rhythm, and 26 for Manu,
while Naamya finished with
16 hits to her name.
Shivam Dabas also won
India a silver in the Men's
50M Rifle 3 Positions Junior
competition, going down 15-
17 to Italian Danilo Sollazzo
where the Italian also had to
survive a shoot-off against the
Indian to win in what was a
very close final.
With a few more events to
be decided, India have now
amassed nine gold, 10 silver
and one bronze for an overall
haul of 20 medals so far.
the Taj Mahal? Don't go
into historical facts...
Mandamus can only be
issued when rights have
been infringed. What rights
of yours have been
infringed?" the bench
asked.
The petitioner said he is
asking for a fact-finding
committee to be constituted
to get to the bottom of the
issue and reiterated his
demand to be allowed
access to the 22 rooms as
the "truth" needs to emerge
about the Taj Mahal.
Citizens need to know why
multiple rooms in the monument are said
to be locked due to "security reasons",
he said. The bench responded sharply,
saying: "Who are you asking the information
from? If you are not satisfied that
the rooms have been closed for security
reasons, use your remedies in law to
challenge that. Do some research first --
do MA, Ph.D, enroll yourself somewhere.
Don't make a mockery of this."
Several right-wing organisations
claim Taj Mahal to be Tejo Mahalaya, a
Hindu temple.
Karachi : The Pakistani
rupee on Thursday broke all
previous records against the
US dollar and dropped to an
all-time low of Rs191.77 in
the interbank market, media
reports said. The local currency
lost Rs 1.7 (or 0.91 per
cent) during the day to close
at Rs 191.77, surpassing
Wednesday's record low of
Rs 188.66, The News reported.
Dried-up foreign currency
inflows, coupled with a
delay in the revival of the
International Monetary
16-05-2022 to 31-05-2022
Fund (IMF) bailout and a
lack of financial support
from friendly countries, are
adding to the pressure on the
local currency. The decline
was in line with the predictions
of the analysts who
fear more losses down the
road as the country remains
mired in political and economic
instability, The News
reported. A day earlier, the
rupee surpassed the critical
threshold of 190 amid a persistent
decline in the foreign
exchange reserves due to
7
NHRC asks Delhi govt
to submit report on
Mundka fire in 2 weeks
New Delhi :
The National
Human Rights
Commission
(NHRC) has
taken a suo motu
cognisance of the
Mundka fire
tragedy in the
national capital
that claimed 27
lives.
On Sunday,
the NHRC issued
notice to the
Chief Secretary,
Delhi government
to submit a report to the Commission within two weeks,
including action taken against the accountable authorities or
officials. The NHRC has also asked for a report on the status of
the disbursement of the relief granted by the government.
Issuing the notice, the Commission said that it has observed
that this appears to be the worst case of gross violation of human
rights of the victims due to utter apathy and complete dereliction
of statutory duties of public servants in the national capital causing
loss of lives due to fire.
Looking into the gravity of the matter and observing that the
authorities appear to have least bothered on its earlier recommendations
in similar incidents in the past, the Commission has
also asked its Director General to send a team immediately to
investigate the matter.
"According to media reports, the building had no sanctioned
plan and the factory was operating without any licence. The fact
has reportedly come out in an enquiry conducted by North Delhi
Municipal Corporation. There are hundreds of such buildings
that are operational from congested quarters with authorities
struggling to curb them. There are several areas in Delhi where
even fire tenders cannot enter because of rampant unauthorised
constructions," said the commission in a statement.
Pakistani rupee hits
new all-time low
hefty current account and
trade deficits, and higher
debt payments. Since the
beginning of this fiscal year
(July 1, 2021) to date, the
rupee has collectively
dropped by a massive 21.72
per cent (or Rs 34.23) compared
to the previous fiscal
year's close at Rs 157.54.
The rupee has maintained a
downward trend for the last
13 months. It has lost 25.94
per cent (or Rs 39.5) to date,
compared to the record high
of Rs 152.27 recorded in May
2021. Moreover, political
unrest owing to PTI's protest
campaign against the government
is eclipsing the new economic
team's focus on economic
firefighting. Former
Prime Minister Imran Khan
has announced to march with
millions of his supporters
towards Islamabad after May
20 to demand new elections
to add to the troubles of the
economically-challenged
PML-N led regime, The
News reported.