Prolawctor Daily News Update| 9 September 2020

Prolawctor Daily News Update

NATIONAL NEWS

IEPFA plans on launching an app to let citizens file claims online

The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEFPA) has decided on launching a mobile application to make it easier for people to file claims online.

The body entrusted with the responsibility of making this app is The National Institute of Smart Governance. IEFPA has continued to settle claims even during the pandemic that has taken a toll on the systematic working of the economy.

IEPFA was set up under Companies Act 2013 to advance financial specialist knowledge, protection and mindfulness, other than the transfer of unclaimed profits and their fundamental offers.

Discussions on COVAX global vaccine scheme

India has always played an important role when it has come to vaccines. One of the advisors of World Health Organisation said that they are having a dialogue with India to get it on board for the allocation of the vaccine – COVAX.

However, countries that have managed to get their hands on the medical supplied needed to manufacture the vaccine will, in all probability, refrain from joining hands for the same.

 KV Kammath Committee Report

The panel has suggested financial ratios for 26 sectors which could be taken into consideration by the concerned lending institution while deciding on the resolution plan of a borrower. All of it done under ‘Resolution Framework for Covid19-related Stress’.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had made a five-member committee led by Mr. Kammath. Different individuals forming the board are previous State Bank of India chief Diwakar Gupta, current Canara Bank administrator TN Manoharan, expert Ashvin Parekh and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) CEO Sunil Mehta who was additionally a secretary to the panel.

India as a digital health ecosystem

The National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) will give each Indian resident (at deliberate interest), a special health ID, and power over their he­a­lth information, computerized individual he­alth records, and a library of specialists. Public review will be sort on the same first, before passing it. Data privacy concerns will also be addressed.

It is believed that this health database will ensure that all the data is available at one place, therefore ensuring that it helps in case of such pandemics.

Contraction in global economy – 4.4%

The global economy is to contract 4.4% by virtue of the ongoing pandemic. “India imposed one of the most stringent lockdowns worldwide in 2020 (April-June) and domestic demand fell massively. Limited fiscal support, fragilities in the financial system, and a continued rise in virus cases hamper a rapid normalisation in activity,” Fitch said.

Fitch says the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction is worse than what India underwent in the year 2009, but certainly better than 5.6% contraction expected in June 2020.

PUBG Can Be Back

The Korean application Player’s Unknown Battleground has decided to cut off its ties with conglomerate TECENT in India. PUBG Corporation announced on Tuesday that TECENT Games will no longer be authorized to publish the mobile version of its public franchise.

PUBG Corporation took this decision after the Indian government’s decision to ban 118 china-based applications along with PUBG due to some safety measures. A large number of PUBG users are Indians.

Rhea Chakarborty is Arrested

Narcotics control bureau arrested actress Rhea Chakarborty after three days of questioning. She is arrested in connection with drugs-related allegation in Sushant Singh Rajput case.

According to investigators Rhea has admitted that she organised drugs for Sushant when he asked. She is facing the charges which can lead for up to ten years. But none of the charges include about her using drugs.

ED Arrested Deepak Kochar in Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate arrested former ICICI bank Chief Executive Chanda Kochar’s husband in money laundering case on Tuesday.

He was placed under arrest because he was not cooperating in the investigation. Case was filed by Enforcement Directorate in January 2019 against Kochars after which Central Bureau of investigation booked them. Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot and six others over alleged quid pro quo in loan transactions between ICICI bank and Videocon.

China Confirmed That Five Missing Civilians of Arunachal are Found on Their Side of Border

In response of Indian Army’s hotline message, it was confirmed by the People Liberation Army that the five civilians of Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side as tweeted by Kiran Rijiju. Five hunters who were from Nacho area of upper Sbansiri district were missing from last Friday as reported by their families.

Taj Mahal and Agra Fort to Reopen

After six-month Taj Mahal and Agra Forts are going to reopen for the visitors. But for maintaining social distancing and avoid crowding there will be restricted number of visitors. 5000 visitors are allowed per day. Tickets will be booked online and monuments will remain closed on certain days of week.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Jamal Khashoggi’s judgement overturned

Saudi journalist, ‘guardian of the truth’ Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated on 2 October 2018, Istanbul, turkey by Saudi agents when he entered to obtain the documents related to his planned marriage.

The trial began in January 2019 by Saudi government. Eleven Saudis were accused of the killing. The following proceedings were conducted in secrecy by the month of December 2019. The court acquitted three defendants; sentenced five defendants to death; and sentenced three defendants to prison terms.

The court overturns the judgement of life sentence in its final verdict. They were eventually legally pardoned in May 2020 by Khashoggi’s descendants. Five people were sentenced 20 years of prison, one person was handed 10 year prison sentence, and two people were sentenced for 7 years for the murder. None of the defendants’ names are disclosed yet. No senior officials were found guilty of murder, they all walked free.

Is there systemic racism justice system in the US?

The Democratic vice presidential nominee for the 2020 election, Kamala Harris, quoted the US has two justice systems- black and white. She admonished President Donald Trump and his Attorney General for denying that there is systemic racism in the justice system of the country.

She states that there is inequality and racial injustice being followed and she stands for equal justice under law. Kamala harries describes in her interview that how huge disparities are there in the country on the basis of race.

Sikhs to be counted as “distinct ethnic group”

Sikhswere the first immigrants to arrive US from India. In the early stages they struggled for long facing injustice, discrimination and much more as they established themselves as smallholders. Recently, the census bureau took an initiative stating that Sikhs will be counted as a distinct ethnic group.

The will be known as ‘Asian’ rather than ‘Asian Indians’ establishing a separate category. The step gives shells to the religious Sikh community who promotes Khalistan ideology in other countries.

China suspects Australian journalist endangering national security

The ABC’s correspondent, Bill Birtles and Australian journalist, the AFR’s correspondent, Michael Smith were precluded from leaving the country China until they give consent to be interrogated by the sheriff regarding national security case.

The two of them strongly denied of having any involvement in the case. The prohibition of travelling was lifted after the enquiry concluded as per the agreement between the officials of china and Australia stating if they agree to speak the travel ban will be lifted up.

Boris Johnson to break International Law

The proposal divulged by the government will break the law said the cabinet minister.

Boris Johnson plans to re-write the parts of his Brexit withdrawal agreement or the Brexit divorce deal signed with the EU by the Prime Minister. The EU have warned UK breaking the deal may result loss in trade as well as economy. Business officials suggested Boris Johnson not to break the law as breaking the law may result in huge loss due to the current scenario of pandemic.

Marbel  mine collapse  in Safi  19 killed and dozens battling for life

After marbel mine in Pakistan’s Ziarat Ghar Mountain collapsed around 19 people have been killed   and dozens were battling for their lives. The incident took place on Monday night instantly killing 12 miners. Majority of deceased include labourers and few other people who had gathered at the foothill in khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s safi town.

Deputy Commissioner Iftikhar Alam said that the death toll is expected to rise accordingly. At the time of collapse around 45 labourers were busy in excavation operations.  Nine people have been rescued and rescue Officer Bilal Faizi said that most of the injured were in serious condition.

WHO chief  warns for next pandemic

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus   (WHO Chief) has warned by saying that the coronavirus is not the last pandemic world must be better prepared for next. The country must invest more on the public health to overcome from the next pandemic

Meanwhile India is the second worst coronavirus hit counted in the world with reported 42, 80,422 lakhs cases and 72,775 deaths.

Belarus activist goes missing, colleagues fear detention

A leading  opposition  activist  in Belarus and two other members  of an opposition council  went missing on Monday, raising  fear that they were detained  as authorities  seek to squelch nearly a month of protests against  the re-election  of country’s  authoritarian leader. 

Her disappearance follows a massive rally Sunday in Minsk that drew an estimated 100,000 protesters demanding the resignation of Lukashenka.

China hopes for restoration of the status quo through disengagement as soon as possible pertaining to fresh border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh:

Hours after India and China alleged each other of firing in the air near the Pangong Lake at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh on Monday; the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian expressed this hope for faster disengagement process by both the troops of China as well as India.

Though, both sides rejected each other’s plight and accusations regarding escalating border tensions. Both sides are preparing for a long drawn out face-off especially near the Pangong Lake area, with each of them having positioned their respective troops with heavy weapons and armoury.

Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V completes the Phase- 2 of the clinical human trials :

Partaking widespread criticism from health officials and world leaders, Sputnik V is the first Covid-19 vaccine in the world to be authorized for general use.

After analyzing the results of Phase-1 and Phase-2 clinical trials, the Russian Coronavirus vaccine was found to be safe and also produced and provided “strong” immune response.

The basis of criticism was the early approval of the vaccine by the Russian Government on August 11, without the completion of the Phase-3 clinical trials and pointed that the vaccine was launched in haste and hurry.

Indian and Sri Lankan ships and aircraft make massive efforts to battle against and contain a re-ignited fire on board oil tanker :

The Sri Lankan Navy informed that while carrying crude oil from Kuwait to India, a new fire broke out as a result of excessive heat, on board the Panama-registered tanker MT New Diamond.

The previous fire lead to the death of one Filipino crew member and injuring another, which was extinguished completely on Sunday, but due to extreme heat, it lead to the re-ignition of fire on board. And, in order to suppress the fire, the Sri Lankan and Indian ships, aircraft and tugs are carrying out their disaster management operations.

Pertaining to major threats to regional stability in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, Taiwan President calls for an alliance of democracies :

Viewing the “aggressive actions” of China in the disputed East and South China Seas and Taiwan Strait, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen decided to form an alliance of democracies to protect its freedom and ensure regional stability especially in the areas of disputed South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Tsai further added that Taiwan will always keep its firm foothold and will always remain in the forefront in order to defend its democracy from “authoritarian aggression” indirectly referring to the increased military activities of China near the island and the disputed East and South China Seas.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov says Moscow is ready to generate “mutually acceptable solutions” between Greece and Turkey :

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mentions Moscow to help ease the tense standoff between Greece and Turkey. The tense standoff between the two comes as a result of Turkish survey vessels and drill ships which continue to prospect for gas in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights.

In order to showcase and underestimate each other’s powers, both Greek and Turkish armed forces have been conducting military exercises in the disputed area. As a result of the European Union members Greece and Cyprus having accused Turkey of violating the international law, the EU is now adamant on imposing tougher sanctions on Turkey over its “illegal” actions if the talks fail to end the tense standoff and scuffle between the two.  

BUSINESS NEWS

In Info Edge Shares Zomato valuation upgrade holds key to re-rating

On Tuesday, the Info Edge stock inched marginally higher after June quarter results came better than streets estimates. When stocks of few companies are trading higher than their pre-Covid prices. Standalone revenues fell by 10% year-on-year last quarter to Rs 280 crore as billings fell sharply by 44%, because of the ongoing nationwide covid-19 lockdown. HSBC Global Research has valued Zomato at $5 billion where, Axis Capital Ltd analysts point out Zomato’s valuation at $4.5 billion. Therefore, the stock’s high valuations may cap meaningful upsides in the near term.

As tech sell-off resumes, Nasdaq futures fall by 2%

The Nasdaq 100 index fell 2% on Tuesday, on the first full trading day after which SoftBank made significant option purchases during a Wall Street rally. SoftBank on the other hand, spent roughly $10 billion buying shares & has spent more buying derivatives in US stocks. Hence, the benchmark S&P 500 ended 2.3% lower, snapping a five-week winning streak.

Over Money Laundering Charges, Deepak Kochhar sent to ED Custody

Former ICICI CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar was on Tuesday remanded to Enforcement Directorate Custody till September 19 in connection with the ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case.

He was arrested under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by a special court in Mumbai.The case ( Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot and others) had been filed against the couple by the ED after studying an FIR registered by the CBI.An amount of Rs64 crore out of the total loan amount of Rs300 crore was sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar, was transferred to NRPL (Deepak Kochhar’s company) on September 8,2009 , a day after the disbursement of the loan by ICICI Bank.The CBI had alleged that six high value loans worth Rs 1,875 crore were given by ICICI Bank to Videocon group.

To jointly make electric pick-up truck, General Motors acquires $2 billion stake

General Motors (GM)  has acquired an 11% stake in Nikola, as agreed to build its Hydrogen fuel cell electric pickup truck, the Badger (range of 600 miles), by end of 2022.The truck will compete with Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) Cybertruck, as well by Rivian Ford  Motor Co (F.N) and GM itself.The companies expect to save $5 billion  over10 years on battery, powertrain, engineering and validation costs.Nikola said, GM will become Nikola’s exclusive supplier of fuel cells globally, outside of Europe, for class7/8 truck. Where, GM will receive $2 billion in newly issued Nikola stock with the right to nominate one Director to the electric truck maker’s board.

India’s anti-money laundering agency fined with $13.6 million

UK-based Standard Chartered was fined a record Rs 100 crore by the Enforcement Directorate for breaking foreign exchange rules when it worked on the takeover of a Tamilnad Mercantile Bank in 2007.

“Senior officials at Standard Chartered saw an investment in TMB shares as an opportunity that might ripen into an eventually larger ownership for the bank.” Sushil Kumar, the enforcement agency’s special director said. The fine imposed is one of the country’s biggest on an overseas lender. Tamilnad Mercantile was also fined almost Rs 17 crore on similar charges.

Rupee dwindled 25 paise against US Dollar

The rupee was settled at 76.63(provisional) against the US Dollar as rupee was undervalued 25 paise due to the rosen demand for American currency from importers and banks.

The dollar index which measures the US Dollar value against a basket of six foreign currencies, a rise was shown from 0.43% to 93.11.

The rupee was finally closed at 73.60 against the greenback lessen 25 paise over its previous close which started off at 73.63 at the interbank forex market. In the capital market, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹6.93 crore on a net basis on Monday as they were the net sellers.

₹68,820 crore Financial Assistance given under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

The Finance Ministry said that under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP), more than 42 crore people have received financial assistance of ₹68,820 crore which is for the protection of the poor from impact of COVID-19 crisis.

Also, distribution of free food grains and cash payment to women, farmers and poor senior citizens was announced by the government which was as a part of ₹1.70 lakh crore PMGKP. Ex-gratia cash of ₹500 have been received by each beneficiary in two instalments under this scheme.

Additionally, 111.6 lakh metric tons of food grains is been distributed to around 75 crore beneficiaries during the April-June period and also, a total of 2.67 LMT of food grains had been distributed to 5.32 crore migrants which resulted in an average of 2.66 crore beneficiaries per month.

Indian GDP to shrink 10.5%

Fitch Ratings said that India’s Economy has contracted by a massive 23.9% in the first quarter of current fiscal and recorded the sharpest GDP contractions in the world in the quarter of April-June.

Also, it has slashed India’s FY21 growth projection to -10.5% from -5% which was estimated earlier and says that due to the continuous spread of virus and imposition of shutdowns, it has resulted in disrupted economic activity.

In the update of the month of September of the Global Economic Outlook (GEO), it was said by Fitch that the deepest recessions were in India, U.K. and Spain, the countries which saw a huge shocks in daily mobility data on visits to retail and recreation venues. Amid limited fiscal support, it was seen that due to several fall in the activity, it has also damaged household and corporate incomes and balance sheets.

Generation of over eight lakh man-days of work by Railways under Garob Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan

More than eight lakh man-days of work has been generated by Railways in six states i.e. Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan under a scheme launched in June 2020 which is to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers.

The Abhiyaan was launched with a primary fund of ₹50,000 crore. Piyush Goyal who is the Minister of Railways And Commerce & Industry, is doing the work of monitoring the progress made in these projects under this scheme and generation of work opportunities for migrant labours of the states.  The Abhiyaan is a confluent effort between 12 different departments.

Fresh Funding Raised by Byju’s from Silver Lake and others

Byju’s have raised fresh funding from Silver Lake and the other existing investors, Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures. A strong growth globally has been seen by the edu-tech space. Due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and schools being closed and shut down, a content has been made by the company on its learning app which is free for all the students.

Since this pandemic, the company have seen over 20 million new students who joined Byju’s and started learning from its platform for free. The Company has raised around ₹909 crore in funding from billionaire Yuri Milner-led DST Global giving the entity 1.2% shareholding in the ed-tech company.

LEGAL NEWS

Delhi HC directed DU to issue digital degrees within 7 days :

Showing displeasure over late degree certificate issuance Delhi HC has again given 7 more days to Delhi University to issue digital degree certificate to the students. The court was told that about 30000 students have registered on DU’s digital site.

Tahir Hussain’s ED custody extended :

Tahir Hussain is a councillor from AAP party and accused in Delhi riots case relating to ANTI-CAA PROTEST. A Delhi court has extended his custody to ED by three days in a money laundering case of 1.10 crores.

Justice Ashok Bhushan led SC bench asked why the tunnels use has not yet banned : 

The SC has asked for the ban on Tunnels use. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has assured that such notice will soon be issued by the government. In expert committee recommendation of June 9, it was found that tunnel disinfection is not good and the disinfectants spraying on human is hazardous.

Suspension of dream 11 website as directed by the Delhi High court

In the case Sporta technologies vs dream11 team, the Delhi high court directs GoDaddy to suspend/block a website that is being run in the name of dream11 team by following a trademark infringement suit. The court has also restrained the owners of dream11 team from using the dream11 trademark, domain name or a mark which is similar.The order was passed by Single Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Shakdher. A similar logo was used bythem which created a confusion in the minds of people.

The new chairman of supreme court legal services committee is Justice RF Nairman

According to section 3A of the legal services authorities act, 1987 it is the authority of central government to constitute a committee called the Supreme Court legal services committee for the purpose to exercise powers and perform functions which can be determined by the regulations made by central authority. Justice Rohinton Fali Nairman now has been appointed as the chairman of the Supreme Court legal services committee. After the retirement of Justice Arun Mishra who was at this post since November last year, Justice Nairman was nominated for this post.

Children and parents can also be awarded the compensation for “loss of consortium”

In bench comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan and R.Subhash Reddy who were considering appeals that have been filed by three insurance companies that are New India Insurance Companies Limited ,Cholamandalam MS Geeneral Insurance Company Ltd. And The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd .so, the Supreme Court has observed that in Motor accident Compensation Claims consortium can be awarded to children and parents also. It questioned the judgement of High Court that was arising out of award by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in regard to the compensation awarded in favour of the claimants under two heads that is “loss of Consortium” and “loss of love and affection”

PIL has been filed inTelangana high Court regarding LRS giving rise to illegal layouts

A  Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Telangana High Court which is challenging the GO 131 that was issued by the State Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department for regularisation of unapproved and illegal layouts under the Land Regularisation Scheme (LRS) in both rural and urban areas of the state.

This scheme will encourage people to have illegal layouts and construct buildings with a view that the government regularize their buildings in future. If these illegal layouts will be regularized by collecting fee then there will be no purpose for having any development plan and various acts and rules will become irrelevant.

Sunil Kumar demanded for financial assistance scheme :

Sunil Kumar filed a petition for seeking financial support from the government. Most of the advocate belongs to middle class family and lower-middle class family having financial burden to pay huge EMI on home loans , credit card payments , car loans and who are residing on rent then how can they be able to pay loans and difficult for them to survive and feed their family.

He had sought to government for financial assistance. He had appealed for extension in moratorium period for repayment of term loans/credit cards for next 12 months or until situation becomes normal.

Apex court quashed the petition for rise in fuel price :

A petition has been filed by Kerala advocates on regularly rise in price of fuel in Apex court. Apex court quashed his appeal and a bench of Justice RF Nariman gave a permission to petitioner for appearing in the court and contended if he argued on this matter, the court may impose a cost on him.

However, the price of fuel is determined on various factors including oil marketing company transportation and freight cost, central and state government taxes and other taxes.

National Law school of India university granting a 25%  reservation to the Karnataka candidates:

National Law School of India University granting 25% reservation to the candidates from the state of Karnataka. The division bench of B.V Nagarathna and Ravi Hosmani , JJ , granted an interim stay on NLSIU Amendment,2020 in which 25% reservation and 5% concession in marks was introduced only for the Karnataka students. However, HC of Karnataka directed the NLSIU to prepare a new merit list without amendment for now.

SPORTS NEWS

KylianMbappe– a French Soccer hero tests positive for COVID – 19.

On Monday, French Football Federation said that the Soccer hero Kylian Mbappe was tested positive for the dreadful Corona virus. He seems to miss this week’s National International League against Croatia.

The French football body on website says, “Given that the result of his COVID-19 test carried out by UEFA on Monday morning showed up as positive, he was removed from the rest of the squad after the results came through following training, and then returned to his home later in the evening,”

In the World cup victory, 2018 Mbappe scored the only goal and won against Sweden.

In addition to this, the new member of the Paris Saint Germain (PSG) team who is 21 years old also tested positive for Corona virus as reported by the French media.

Medvedev reaches quarter final attacking Tiafoe – U.S. Open

On Monday, at Arthur Ashe Stadium Daniil Medvedev wins Frances Tiafoe with a dominant 6-4 6-1 6-0, and reached the U. S. opens quarter finals.

Medvedev, Russian third seed, lost the epic five final set last year to Rufa Nadal. Now, He won against the American player Tiafoe after the second break. Tiafoe’s resistance was broken.

With, famous star Novak Djokovic being disqualified by hitting a lineswoman with ball last week, Medvedev comes as a top player to win grand title in New York.

In semi-finals, Medvedev has to face the 10^th row player and Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Past baggages will not be carried “- Virat Kholi about IPL 2020

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has faced failures over the past IPL matches. Virat Kholi the captain of Indian Cricket Team and the RCB says that all those past failures will not affect the team. RCB not winning the title was a baggage which was carried over long period. This time the team is yet to win the IPL title. He added that the team was calm as never. He also mentioned the conversation with A. B. De Villars in the RCB diaries that they were so calm and He is batting like he was in 2011, and he was fit and they are disconnecting the past and not carring the baggages.

Uber Cup championship – played by P.V Sindhu.

From October 3 to 11, the Thomas and Uber cup Badminton championship will be held in Denmark. Thus the world champion P.V. Sindhu seems to take part in game. After Indian Badminton Association asked Sindhu to play in the tournament she changed her original to pull out of event.

The Badminton Association of India chief tweeted, “I have requested Sindhu to join the team as we have a favourable draw and have the best chance to take a shot at the medal at the Cup,”

Rotary club felicitated Jaspal Rana

  The former National Coach Sunny Thomas virtually presented the award to Jaspal Rana. He was felicitated for his contribution as a coach by the Madras Rotary club, East and Saraswathi Vidhyalaya. 

He is 44 years old and he is coaching the National Junior Pistol team. Recently, Dronacharya Award was conferred to him. The great players like Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary was groomed by Jaspal Rana.