2 December 2014
National:
Agni-IV launch successful
The launch of Agni-IV, India's strategic missile,
from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast was a success. This was the
fourth success in a row for the Agni-IV missile, which has a range of more than
4,000 km. The missile unit of the Strategic Forces Command of the Army
test-fired the missile. After three successful flights in November 2011,
September 2012 and January 2014, the missile was inducted into the Army.
Agni-IV weighs 17 tonnes and is 20 metres long. It can carry a one-tonne
nuclear warhead. In this flight, it carried conventional explosives
A first of its kind, PM-led panel, to select CBI
director
A high-powered committee comprising Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief
Justice of India H L Dattu will meet to select the new CBI director. The
vacancy has arisen as incumbent RanjitSinha is retiring after completing his
two-year tenure as chief of the premier investigative agency. This is the first
time that the PM-led panel will be selecting the CBI director. The composition
of the selection panel, which was earlier headed by the Central Vigilance
Commissioner (CVC), was revised when Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act was passed
earlier this year, amending provisions the Delhi Special Police Establishment
Act. Recently, both Houses of Parliament approved another amendment to the DSPE
Act to allow leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha to sit on the
selection panel for CBI director, where no Leader of the Opposition was recognized.
Bill sought to ratify boundary pact
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed
that his government will go ahead with the land boundary agreement with
Bangladesh; the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs tabled its
report, recommending a Constitution amendment Bill to enable the swapping of
enclaves and end a 67-year-old dispute between the two countries. Tabling the
report in Parliament, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, said the report had been “unanimously” passed
by members who included those of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, both of
which had earlier opposed swapping of the enclaves. The swap will involve
handing over 17,000 acres of land to Bangladesh in return for 7,000 acres in
111 enclaves in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, and was first
decided under the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and
Bangladesh, but never ratified by Parliament. It will require an amendment to
the Constitution (the 119th amendment) ratified by both Houses of Parliament
with a two-thirds majority. The standing committee’s report notes that “a
number of Indian nationals living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory
are going to be adversely affected as they would lose their claim to Indian
citizenship,” and directs the governments of India and Bangladesh to ensure
there is no “discrimination” against them. The number of people to be involved
in the whole swap is approximately 52,000, of which about 15,000 are on the
Indian side of the border.
No job in police force even if you are exonerated
in criminal case: SC
The Supreme Court ruled that any person who has
faced a criminal case cannot get a job in the police force, even if he or she
is acquitted or reaches a settlement under the law. “A candidate to be
recruited to the police service must be worthy of confidence and must be a
person of utmost rectitude and must have impeccable character and integrity. A
person having criminal antecedents will not fit in this category. Hence,
acquittal after a full-fledged trial or exoneration at the stage of framing of
charges would not make any difference as far as suitability of a candidate is
concerned, it said. “Even if he is acquitted or discharged, it cannot be
presumed that he was completely exonerated. Persons who are likely to erode the
credibility of the police ought not to enter the police force,”. An acquittal
in a criminal case, was not conclusive evidence of innocence of an accused
since it could be ordered on the basis of even a benefit of doubt or
prosecution’s failure to establish someone’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Ensure relief for victims of mishaps, crimes:
Supreme Court
Victims of crimes and their families can look
forward to a helping hand from the government to put the agonising memories
behind them and be able to start life afresh. The Supreme Court has directed
all states and Union Territories to implement without delay the scheme meant to
compensate injured victims and families of those killed in crimes. The
governments are obligated to disburse compensation under Section 357A of the
Code of Criminal Procedure whereby a court can issue such orders to help
victims of crime rehabilitate. A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Adarsh
Kumar Goel said there was a benevolent purpose behind having such a legal
provision and that it could not be allowed to frustrate due to ignorance or
indifference on the part of the courts or of the authorities concerned.
International:
Lima climate talks kick off
The world’s nations gathered in the Peruvian
capital Lima in a renewed push for a deal to roll back carbon emissions
threatening future generations. The 12-day talks under the U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) take place amid grim scientific warnings
and a surge in interest in sealing a pact in Paris in December 2015.
Birds as suicide bombers
Terrorists the world over are known to deploy
suicide bombers, or “human bombs”, to wreak death and devastation on their
targets, but have you ever heard of a bird being used as a suicide bomber? The
Taliban seem to be using such a strategy and the Afghan police reportedly shot
dead a bird which had been equipped by the terrorists with an explosive pouch,
a GPS tracker and a detonator. The bird had several wires protruding from its
feathers, a mobile phone detonator and a specially designed ‘suicide vest’.
Alert officers spotted the suspicious-looking bird in the Faryab province in
the north of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan and their
suspicions increased as the large bird is not known to be native to the area.
Business & Economy:
Ranbaxy launches arthritis drug Infimab
Ranbaxy Laboratories launched the first biosimilar
version of Johnson and Johnson’s Remicade, a drug used for treating various
conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. Infimab has been introduced in the
domestic market through a licensing partnership with Epirus Biopharmaceuticals.
Vijay Mallya quits MCFL board
UB group Chairman Vijay Mallya has resigned from
the board of directors of Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL) with
immediate effect.
Lahiri ends tied 2nd, Thaworn claims Asian Tour
title
Anirban Lahiri missed way too many putts and ended
being tied second as Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant rewrote the record books by
winning an unprecedented 18th Asian Tour title after closing with a
five-under-par 67 to lift the King’s Cup.
