News18.com Daybreak | SC Clears Padmaavat, GST Council Cuts Rates and Other Stories You May Have Missed

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After months of protests and baseless accusations, Rajput fringe outfits have finally got their answer directly from the Supreme Court. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat which was certified by CBFC after five modifications, several disclaimers and a title change, was banned by four states for 'hurting Rajput sentiments.' However, the SC has ruled in favour of the makers asserting that “Creative freedom, freedom of speech and expression can’t be guillotined... artistic freedom has to be protected.”

In the annals of RSS – or that matter any political organisation in India – there are no such parallels where a man in line for the grand throne relinquished everything one fine day to follow his heart. Yet, that is what KC Kannan did in 2014 when he quit his powerful position as the Sah Sarkaryavah (joint general secretary, No. 3 in the RSS pecking order), got married and raised a family. Today, Kannan is very much the RSS man he once was. But these days he has a new line of business to earn his daily bread: selling curry powder.

Canadian born, Indian American actress and model Sunny Leone will soon be joining the likes of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recently opened Madame Tussauds Delhi.

With job creation emerging as the key challenge before Narendra Modi-led government, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu is working overtime to find ways to boost employment intensive sectors even as the economy shifts to automation and robotics. “Service sector is creating huge jobs now but we don't have the methodology to capture that new economic activity. That is something that we must develop,” said Prabhu.

Agree or disagree?

Is fighting a hapless bull the sign of heroism that Jallikattu wants us to believe? Gautaman Bhaskaran writes that in this bloody sport called Jallikattu, the bull is often wounded, sometimes even killed. And men too, as we have been seeing in recent days. “I am appalled by the fact that while the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Government at the Center is almost obsessed with saving the cow – with gau rakshaks on the prowl – the poor male of the species, the bull, is being tortured in what is arguably a civilized Tamil Nadu,” he writes.

In India, sensitive personal data is even more vulnerable because of an absence of data privacy laws. We can be quite certain that a lot of it is already in the hands of countries inimical to India. Information warfare does not require highly sophisticated cyber tools or technically trained experts. Its medium is the social media and its soldiers are not in uniform, but an army of trolls and bots. It exploits the highly advanced algorithms of Facebook and Google to feed targeted messages based on one’s profile. Sometimes all it takes is money. Here, Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda writes on the information warfare.

Here’s what the SC said while clearing Padmaavat for release.

The 50-minute hearing over contentious screening of movie 'Padmaavat' saw somequirky exchanges between the bar and the bench. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the producer of the movie, premised his arguments on constitutional freedom of speech and expression and creative liberty as he sought to injunct the states from banning the movie. Ten minutes after arguments, Salve said “sorry” for his high pitch because he felt passionate about Freedom of Speech and Expression and has been arguing for it for last 40 years. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana, raised strong objection. “No...you can't distort history. We can't let someone show Mahatma Gandhi sipping whisky," said Mehta. Salve quipped: "Mr Mehta, that's not even distortion of history." The prompt retort left lawyers in splits.

Here are 7 other films that overcame the hurdles of partial or complete ban.

The 25th GST Council meet recommended rate cuts on 49 items, including zero percent on 29 handicraft products with its main focus on easing return filing processes. The meeting comes at a time when GST collections have come down. The Council did not reach a consensus regarding the new model and is likely to discuss the issues within states.

So, what all got cheaper? Here’s a list of items with the new GST rates.

In a development that is likely to rankle the Pakistani establishment, Baloch activist Mama Qadir Baloch, in an exclusive conversation with CNN-News 18, divulged details of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s abduction by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence from Iran. Apparently, a man named Mullah Omar Baloch Irani, a mercenary figure, was involved in the abduction of Jadhav from Iran’s port city of Chabahar. Baloch also said that ISI paid Mullah Omar crores of rupees to kidnap Jadhav.

A 23-year-old girl who hails from a small village in Harda in Madhya Pradesh will be a part of the first-ever BSF women’s troop that would perform bike stunts at the Republic Day parade. This is her story.

A woman has been taken into police custody after the body of her 14-year-old son was found charred in Kollam district of Kerala. A 16 second video of Jaya Mol purportedly talking to the police and confessing about the crime has gone viral. She told the police that her son told her in-laws things which reflected badly on her. So she flew into a fit of rage and strangled him to death.

Nineteen days after his appointment, OP Singh, 1983 batch Indian Police Services officer, is yet to take charge as the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police. It was a top priority decision announced by none other than Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath - but his government now awaits Centre's response on the matter.

Inmates of the District Correctional Home at Hooghly in West Bengal went on a rampage and set fire to properties inside the jail premises. The ugly incident happened after clashes broke out between the jail authorities and some transferred inmates, who were brought in from the Presidency jail in Kolkata. A backup police team, which reached the spot later, had to scale the prison walls to get inside and took four hours to bring the situation under control.

The Delhi Legislative Assembly had an unusual guest this Winter Session — two-month-old Advait Abhinav Rai. He is mostly found sleeping on the laps of her mother’s colleagues — MLAs who take turns to babysit the little one while her mother tackles the many challenges of being a legislator. Advait is the son of AAP MLA from Rohtas Nagar, Sarita Singh and AAP volunteer from the anti-corruption movement days, Abhinav Rai.