Prolawctor Daily News Update | 12 November 2020

LEGAL NEWS

Netflix, Amazon Prime, other platforms now under govt. regulation

• The gazette notification issued and signed by president Ram Nath Kovind, online films, digital news and current affairs content now come under the preview of the I&B ministry
• This will give the government control over OTT platforms, which were unregulated till now

UP: Man held for raping Dalit woman on pretext of performing exorcism

• Additional District and Session (SC-ST) Judge Jagdish Kumar sentenced Rahul Prajapati (an occultist) to life imprisonment for raping a Dalit woman on the pretext of performing exorcism.
• The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. The Dalit woman was raped at 8:00 pm on June 7,2018.

Stay order on demolition of house of UP MLA by Allahabad HC

• The Allahabad HC stayed the demolition of house of UP MLA Vijaya Mishra.
• The court has asked the state authorities to file a counter affidavit within two weeks. The court has also directed the respondents to specifically disclose as to why a reasonable opportunity of the contest was denied to the petitioners.

Firecracker Ban: SC refuses to interfere with the Calcutta HC order

• The SC refuses to interfere with the Calcutta HC order banning the use and sale of firecrackers in West Bengal.
• A vacation bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Indra Banerjee said thought festivals were important, but “ life itself has been in imperial” amid the pandemic. The bench said the HC know the local condition better and it should be allowed to do the needful.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW NOTES

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

46 victims of child abuse ring rescued by Australian police

• After an investigation into an international child abuse network, 46 children were rescued and 14 men were arrested by the Australian police.
• A total of 828 child exploitation charges along with bestiality charges involving 4 animals are being faced by the 14 men.
• 3 were arrested in the US as a result of this investigation and in Europe, Asia, Canada and New Zealand, suspects have been identified.
• Victims aged between the age of 16 months and 15 years old.
• One childcare centre was attended by 16 of the victims.

Handling of US cardinal’s abuse case defended by Vatican

• According to Vatican report, allegations about a US cardinal were ignored by two popes and Church officials.
• The cardinal was later found to be guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy in 1970s.
• After investigation was concluded last year by Vatican, Theodore McCarrick was expelled from priesthood.
• The reports reveal how he has, despite the allegations, continued to rise through the ranks.

Ethiopia explosion: one injured

• The explosion took place under a bridge in capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
• One man is injured in the explosion.
• No indication of explosion’s relation to the conflict in the northern Tigray region was found.
• The federal troops are fighting forces loyal to local leaders in northern Tigray region.

UN urges Mozambique to investigate massacre

• US has urged Mozambique authorities to investigate reports declaring that in restive northern region of Carbo del Gado, at least 50 villagers were massacred by the militants and women and children were beheaded. 
• Islamist militant in a recent attack, decapitated and chopped bodies by turning the village’s football pitch into an execution ground.

550 Tigray fighters killed by troops, says Ethiopia

• 550 Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters killed by Ethiopia.
• This comes after the conflict continues to deepen in the country’s northernmost state.
• The neighbouring Eritrean government was accused by head of TPLF for launching attacks on the Tigrayan state.
• The Ethiopian army and the Eritrean government, both denied the accusations.

NATIONAL NEWS

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla pays homage to Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad

• On Wednesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paid tribute to Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad at the Central Hall of the Parliament on his birth anniversary.  He also tweeted a heartfelt tribute via twitter.
• Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad was remembered on his birthday for his remarkable contribution in the field of education as well as for his efforts on national unity.

Family members of Arnab Goswami met with Assam CM Sonowal

• Arnab Goswami’s family member met with Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam after he got bail from being in judicial custody on November 11. They asked him to look in the matter of his security.
• On Wednesday, Assam Chief Minister Sonowal spoke to Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray, where he assured him that he would look into their security arrangements.

AIIMS Chief shows concern, says it’s difficult to keep Pfizer vaccine at minus 70 degree Celsius

• One of the AIIMS expert Randeep Guleria has shown concern that it would be challenging to keep Pfizer vaccine in storage at minus 70 degree Celsius.
• Vaccine developed for coronavirus is 90% effective in preventing the said virus. Guleria stated that it would be difficult for developing nations like India to maintain a cold storage especially major of its area being rural.

Double murder due to old rivalry in Sambhalpur district of Odisha 

• On Tuesday night, two brothers were killed and three family members were severely injured after being attacked by a person who had dispute with them for the last few years.
• Police stated that the accused had driven car and bumped into two young men who were sitting there. Police had arrested the main accused and had seized the car used by him.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla set to visit Nepal

• Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is all set for his visit to Nepal this month on account of strengthening ties with Nepal which has been recently damaged due to border row.
• The officials of both the countries has been taking effort to keep the bilateral relationship strong. This would be fifth foreign visit of Shringla since the pandemic. 

Asean-India Summit to strengthen the progress of trade, connectivity on Nov 12

• PM Modi will co-chair with Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc
• The summit will strengthen the progress in major areas such as trade & commerce, connectivity, education, capacity building and maritime corporation
• 10 ASEAN members will participate in 17^th ASEAN Summit virtually.

17^th Asean-India Summit : PM Modi is set to co-chair with Vietnamese counterpart on Nov 12

• The leaders of all 10 ASEAN member states will take part in the digital Summit
• Covid-19, pandemic economic recovery will also be discussed at the Summit along with key areas such as connectivity, trade and commerce etc.
• The digital Summit further strengthen Asean-India engagement

Uttarakhand : Firm fined Rs.15 crore for detritus on Char Dham road

• During the inspection of the road, officials found no information of 1.53 lakh cubic metre of muck generated throughout the development of Char Dham road
• It was suspected that, apart from dumping of muck the agency also selling or reusing that the detritus for its construction purposes
• “We have imposed a fine of over rupees 15 crore on the agency as we suspect that they dumped the muck in the rivers illegally”, Akanksha Verma (sub-divisional justice of the peace of Kriti Nagar) said.

PM Modi extol by cabinet ministers for tremendous victory in Bihar elections

• Ministers congratulate PM Modi for tremendous victory in Bihar at virtual cabinet
• 12 rallies across the state conducted by PM Modi for the campaign of NDA
• The other agenda topics were also discussed at the virtual cabinet meet
• BJP secure 74 seats and JDU secured 43 seats

India China conflict to be resolved, army will retreat in 3 phases from Pangong

• Both the countries agreed for disengagement in 3 phases from Eastern Ladakh
• Disengagement plan was discussed during the 8^th corps commander-level talks which were held on Nov 6, in Chushul
• The two sides had also agreed for joint mechanism to verify the progress in the disengagement process through Delegation meeting & UAVs

BUSINESS NEWS

Cars and Utility vehicle Shipment rose in great no.s :

• India’s automobile industry continued to rose in business with sale of new cars and automobiles in July growing 5% from the year-ago month.
• It was the third straight month of rise in passenger car sales, the growth rate in July was lower than that in the previous month.
• Sales of two-wheelers too showed robust growth but that of commercial vehicles dipped for the 15th consecutive month in July this year respectively.

Mukesh Ambani takes on in Amazon:

• Mukesh Ambani utterly destroy rivals in India’s telecommunications sector by selling data plans and free voice calls. His company is also deploying a tactic pricing to gain an edge in the country’s increasingly e-commerce space.
• As India this week hits the peak of its biggest shopping season, the festival of Diwali, the tycoon’s retail websites including Jio Mart are trying their shot into a space long dominated by  Amazon, Walmart and Flipkart Online Services.
•  Meanwhile, his Reliance Digital website is selling some flagship Samsung smartphones at prices cheaper than rivals respectively.

Thyssenkrupp AG exceeding the group’s current market value:

• Thyssenkrupp AG is in talks with the German government over an aid package for its struggling steel unit worth at least 5 billions, well exceeding the group’s current market value in a key push to secure its survival.
• Andreas Pinkwart, the state’s economy minister confirmed in a report by saying that, “to enable companies like Thyssenkrupp Steel to innovate and modernize we are working with the federal government and the European Commission”.
• The differences  which are there over the total package and how it would be structured, with the federal government seeking to minimize the use of WSF funds as much as possible and no final decision has been taken upon this, a report confirmed.

India’s Hotel Industry to witness 53% fall in revenue per room:

•  India’s hospitality industry has witnessed a decline of 52.8 percent in Revenue Per Available Room during January to September 2020 over the same period last year due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
• Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Group (India), JLL said, “Investors are taking interest in exploring operational hotel opportunities both in business and in leisure locations. With the phased unlocking of the economy in the third quarter of 2020, we are witnessing gradual growth in demand particularly in leisure market with weekend occupancy spikes.” respectively.

Gas demand rose which increased Profits:

• GAIL (India) ltd.; quarterly profit surged as other income rose and domestic demand revived, and performance of the petrochemicals and natural gas segments improved.
•  It had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,789 crore in the same period last financial year.
• The Company said in a statement that the market prices of Petrochemicals and LHC declined by 8 per cent and 25 per cent respectively coupled with lower gas prices in international market which adversely impacted the profits of the company in the Q2 as compared to Q1 FY20, respectively.

SPORTS NEWS

Tiger Woods’, Phil Mickelson unready to take ceremonial role at masters

• Woods is the defending Masters champion perhaps accompanied by long-time rival Phil Mickelson.
• At 44 woods still believes he has some more time to play golf.
• “Hopefully that will be us one day,” Woods said, adding with a smile, “and I’ll be hitting bombs past him,”
• Mickelson turned 50 in June and appears quickly to add to his haul of five major titles.
• Woods has seen the honorary starter role since making his first masters appearance.

PCB comes up with “whistle blowers” policy to fight with corruption

• The policy was approved at a board meeting held in Lahore including all stakeholders of PCB.
• According to policy any person contains any info. about the whistle blower can bring to the notice of PCB board.
• All the stakeholders are required to use the policy cautiously, wisely and responsibly.
• “While we are encouraging stakeholders, we expect the m to exercise this opportunity with honesty,” said PCB chief.
• Any whistle blower found guilty, strict action would be taken against the concerned.

Australian team to wear “Indigenous” shirt in upcoming T20 matches

• In the upcoming T20 matches against India Australian team to wear a special Indigenous shirt to raise awareness.
• This shirt has been designed by Kirrae Whurrong.
• The designer is the great granddaughter of Grongarrong who played for Australia in 1868.
• This shirt was co-designed by Courtney Hagen, Butchulla, and Gubbi Gubbi Australia’s indigenous specialist.
• The first T20 between India and Australia is to be played on 4th December at The Oval’s.

West Indies players booked for violating isolation rules

• The West Indies squad had been denied to train as they violated isolation rules in New Zealand.
• Players were found sharing food in the isolation zone and were found mingling in hallways.
• West Indies chief executive Johnny Grave told New Zealand “it’s very disappointing that players knew the protocol still went against it,”.
• “We certainly made it clear that any person who violated isolation would straight away send home.
• West Indies tour of New Zealand is going to take place from November 27.

Gambhir wants Rohit Sharma to become India’s first white ball team captain

• Rohit Sharma yesterday became IPL’s most successful captain by lifting the trophy for the 5th time
• Gautam Gambhir wants Rohit Sharma to become India’s white ball captain as Kohli is now the captain of all three formats.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PM Modi hankering respect for ‘territorial integrity says at SCO summit’

• In an indirect reference to the Chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to respect “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty”.
• “To further deepen connectivity network (among the SCO members), it is necessary to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mr. Modi said, reminding that India has traditionally supported infrastructure and connectivity development projects in the SCO region. He named the Chabahar port and the North South Corridor among the projects that India has supported.

Paid thousands less than juniors, Major General-rank officer gets salary revision relief from military court

• In a necessary decision, the troopers court (AFT), on Tuesday, asked the govt. to hike the pay of a major General-rank officer UN agency was paid however his juniors.
• The AFT directed the govt. to hike the pay of Air Vice Marshal P Subhash man UN agency noted the anomaly inside the Sixth Pay Commission, whereby senior colonels and brigadiers were getting paid on the far side the key Generals because of the military service pay (MSP) component.

New Trips Tab coming on Android on Google Maps

• For users that have Location History enabled, the Timeline read in Google Maps provides a pleasant visualisation of wherever they’ve been. The Timeline is before long returning to Google Photos, and can be increased by a “Trips” read in Maps.
• While the dedicated expertise has been long deprecated, Google Trips-esque options still continue to exist through Search, Maps, and google.com/travel. In Google Maps, this Reservations read (under the “Saved” tab) is concentrated on showing forthcoming events.
• This feature is coming “soon” to Google Maps for Android.