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DailyBiteDec 19, 2014 | 16:43

Making sense of breaking stories

Pakistan blinks on Lakhvi, but detention is hardly the answer

A day after 26/11 attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was granted bail by a Pakistani court, the Pakistan government has detained him under the Maintenance of Public Order law. The government has also said that it would demand a stay order on Lakhvi's bail. Clearly, Pakistan's decision to extend Lakhvi's detention is just to placate international public opinion. The court's decision came just two days after 132 children were massacred in Peshawar attack and harmed the credibility of the war against the Taliban that Islamabad had announced in the aftermath of the attack. However, detaining Lakhvi under the Maintenance of Public Order law is hardly the way to provide justice to the victims of the 26/11 attack. Pakistan needs to do much more for the world to take its battle against terror seriously.

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PK's message against godmen couldn't have come at a better time

The Rajkumar Hirani brand of filmmaking is about creating heartwarming cinema giving the audience a message to ponder about. He criticised the medical system in Munnabhai MBBS, repackaged Gandhian ideals into Gandhigiri in Lage Raho Munna Bhai and took on the education rat-race in 3 Idiots. Five years after 3 Idiots, Hirani is back with PK, a film which questions the influence of godmen in India. Hirani could't have chosen a better time to question the merchants of religion at a time when 132 children have been massacred in the name of religion in Peshawar, godmen like Sant Rampal are raising massive private armies, Sadhvis who are supposed to have renounced the world are roaming about spouting expletives and people are being bribed to change their allegiance from one faith to another. Trust Hirani to return as our conscience keeper.

Where are the missing pages in the Vadra-DLF file?

IAS officer Ashok Khemka has sought registration of an FIR after an RTI filed by him found that two pages of a file pertaining to the controversial DLF-Robert Vadra deal are missing from government records. Admitting that the pages were missing, chief secretary P K Gupta said an internal inquiry has been instituted in the matter and efforts are on to reconstruct the file. Khemka, who had over two years back cancelled mutation of the land deal between Robert Vadra's company and DLF, said, official notings pertaining to setting up a three-member committee by the previous Hooda government, which gave clean chit to Vadra's firm, are "missing" from the main file.  This is an extremely serious matter and questions are bound to be raised especially as it involves someone belonging to the country's most powerful political family. How can the notings suddenly be untraceable? Is this an accident or is there a deliberate attempt to hide details pertaining to the DLF-Vadra deal?

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Conversion row not worth disrupting parliamentary proceedings

For the fifth day in succession, a united Opposition led by the Congress on Friday created turmoil in the Rajya Sabha demanding a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on forcible religious conversions, leading to two adjournments before lunch. With  Monday being the last day of the winter session, the government's hopes of passing the Insurance Bill in the Rajya Sabha now appear to be fading. Perhaps, the Opposition parties are being a little cussed by using their superior numbers in the Upper House to block the government. In fact, in their obsession with the issue of conversion, the Opposition did not corner the government on other important issues like black money or the Rs 6,200 crore SBI loan to the Adani group.

Last updated: December 19, 2014 | 16:43
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