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Two-thirds
of prison inmates in India are undertrials
India
> Prison
Inmates > 30 October
According to the new
official data, two of every three persons incarcerated in India have
not yet been convicted of any crime, and Muslims are over-represented
among such undertrials. According to the Prisons Statistics for 2013
released by the National Crime Records Bureau, the jails are filling
ever faster despite repeated Supreme Court orders on the rights of
undertrials.
Highlights from the
statistics:
- Men make up 96 per cent of all prison
inmates. Nearly 2,000 children of women inmates live behind bars, 80
per cent of those women being undertrials.
- Undertrials are younger than convicts -
nearly half are under the age of 30 and over 70 per cent have not
completed school. Muslims form 21 per cent of them. On the other
hand, 17 per cent of those convicted are Muslims.
- Among the 2.8 lakh undertrials, over
3,000 have been behind bars for over five years. Most undertrials -
60 per cent of them - have, however, been behind bars for less than
six months.
- While most States have a little over
twice as many undertrials as convicts, Bihar has a staggering six
times as many.
Pakistan
second-worst country in gender equality
World
> Gender
Equality >30
October
According to the annual
Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum,
Pakistan has emerged as the world's second-worst country in terms of
gender equality. The report, published on Tuesday, measures the size
of gender inequality in 142 countries in areas of economic
participation and opportunity (salaries, participation and
highly-skilled employment), educational attainment (access to basic
and higher levels of education), political empowerment
(representation in decision-making structures), health and survival
(life expectancy and sex ratio).
In terms of equal economic
participation and opportunity for women, Pakistan is ranked 141,
followed by Yemen, 132 in empowerment terms of education attainment,
119 for health and survival and 85 for political empowerment.
India's ranking fell from
101 out of 136 countries last year to 114 out of 142 countries this
year.
According to the report,
Iceland tops the list with the most equitable sharing of resources
among men and women, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark
in the top five spots. The other countries in the top 10 are
Nicaragua, Rwanda, Ireland, the Philippines and Belgium.
Supreme
Court tells government to pass order to protect citizens helping road
accident victims
India
> Law
to protect good Samaritans >30
October
The Supreme Court has
directed the Centre to pass an executive order to protect good
Samaritans, who rush road accident victims to hospitals, from
harassment at the hands of police and from being summoned as
witnesses in court. The order came following a PIL filed by NGO
'SaveLife Foundation', which claimed that 75% of bystanders do not
help a road accident victim fearing harassment at the hands of
police, hospital authorities and possibly being made a witness in
court. The court said that the order will remain effective till
Parliament enacts a law to provide protection to good Samaritans.
Pentagon
says Pakistan using militant groups as proxies to counter superior
Indian military
World
> Indo-Pak >
4
November
The Pentagon has told the US
Congress that Pakistan is using militant groups as proxies to
safeguard its loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter the
superior Indian military. Afghan and India - focused militants
continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of
Afghan and regional stability. The Pentagon also said that the attack
on the Indian consulate in Herat ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of
Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India might have been
pre-planned as Modi is perceived being close to Hindu nationalist
groups. The report further said that India continues to support
efforts towards a secure and stable Afghanistan.
Regulators are trying to
strengthen the financial system by raising the minimum of core
capital banks must hold without weighting loans for riskiness.
Britain is following the US in making banks maintain a leverage ratio
that exceeds the minimum 3 percent set by the Basel Committee on
Banking Supervision.
Others
Government
bars first class travel, five-star hotel meetings for officials
India
> Politics
and Government >
30
October
Modi government, unveiling
an austerity drive to cut non-plan expenditure by 10%, has barred
bureaucrats from travelling First Class on overseas visits and have
been asked to use video conferencing as much as possible. The
"mandatory 10 percent cut" in plan expenditure will exclude
interest payments, repayment of debt, defence, capital, salaries,
pensions and grants to the state.
With an aim to restrict
fiscal deficit to 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15, the Finance Ministry has
barred officials from holding meetings in 5-star hotels and put a
freeze on fresh appointments and filling up posts lying vacant for
over one year.
The Finance Ministry said
purchase of new vehicles to meet operational requirement of defence
forces, Paramilitary forces and security organisations are permitted
but ban on purchase of any other vehicles would continue. The
government proposes to lower the fiscal deficit to 3%t of GDP by
2016-17. The deficit which had touched a high of 5.7% in 2011-12, was
brought down to 4.8% in 2012-13 and further to 4.5% in 2013-14 by way
of austerity measures.
India
eases rules for property development by foreigners
India
>
Rules for Property Development >
30
October
India has eased rules for
foreign investment in property development and construction to boost
economic growth, develop smart cities and build every citizen a home
by 2019. Companies now need a minimum project-size of 20,000 square
meters to invite overseas investors instead of the 50,000 square
meters mandated earlier. A previous condition on the minimum size of
plots for housing construction was removed. The cabinet also halved
the paid-up capital requirement for projects to $5 million.
India has attracted foreign
direct investment of $23.7 billion for the construction of houses and
towns since April 2000, about 10 percent of total inflows. India
conditionally permits overseas companies to fully own local units.
Switzerland
clarifies terms of disclosure of information shared with India on
Swiss bank accounts
India
> Black
Money >
30
October
Switzerland on Thursday
clarified that information exchanged with India under its tax treaty
cannot be disclosed ‘in principle’ to a court or any other body
outside the proceedings of a “specific and relevant” case related
to tax matters. This Swiss clarification came a day after the
government was ordered by the Supreme Court to hand over all the 627
names of Indian account holders in HSBC Bank, Geneva, forcing the
government to opt out from the signing of the Multilateral Competent
Authority Agreement — which provides for automatic information
exchange, starting 2017. India’s last minute withdrawal from the
agreement can stop the flow of vital data to tax authorities and
hinder the government’s efforts to act against black money stashed
abroad. The government had earlier protested the Supreme Court’s
order saying that all countries which have legally shared information
with India have done so under treaties, which contain a
confidentiality clause.
50
nations, including China and US, back Modi's call for International
Yoga Day
World
>
International
Yoga Day >
31
October
50 nations have signed up
for co-sponsorship of a draft resolution which India's UN mission is
preparing for declaring June 21 as international Yoga day, a proposed
by Indian PM Narendra Modi in his UNGA speech in New York on
September 26. The government will aggressively push for its adoption
before the end of this year. The list of co-sponsors includes Asian
heavyweights China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea and also South
Africa and Nigeria in Africa. Neighbours such as Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Nepal and Sri Lanka were amongst the earliest to sign on. Latin
American giants Brazil and Argentina too have committed support. With
USA and Canada joining recently, the EU members are expected to also
join as co-sponsors. Countries like Iran and Cuba have also expressed
support. The resolution is aimed at building better and healthier
lifestyle patterns.
Warren
Anderson of Bhopal gas tragedy infamy passes away
World
> Bhopal
Gas Tragedy >
31
October
Warren M Anderson, who was
the chairman of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation when a
poisonous gas leak at the company’s plant in Bhopal killed
thousands, is dead. He died at a nursing home in Vero Beach,
Florida. He was 92. His death, which was not announced by his family,
was confirmed from public records.
The poisonous gas leak from
the Union Carbide plant killed more than 5,000 people on the night of
December 2-3, 1984, in Bhopal. It remains one of the world’s worst
industrial accidents.
Pankaj
Advani clinches World Billiards title, bags 3 Grand Doubles
Sports
> Billiards >
31
October
Indian cueist Pankaj Advani
clinched the World Billiards Championship (time format) title to bag
a record 12th world crown and also complete a rare 'Grand Double'
post his third win in both the long and short formats in the same
year.
The third grand double makes
him the only billiards player to achieve this feat. Advani, 29,
surpassed Mike Russell, who had won the double in 2010 and 2011.
Advani's previous grand
doubles were in Malta in 2005 and in his hometown in 2008.
Hyundai,
Kia to pay $100M fine for overstating mileage
Corporate
> Hyundai,
Kia >
31
October
According to a settlement
with the federal government, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia
overstated the gas mileage on many of their vehicles and understated
the amount of greenhouse gases they would emit. The companies will
pay a $100 million civil fine, the largest in the history of the
Clean Air Act. The brands also will give up greenhouse gas emissions
credits — estimated by the EPA as worth $200 million — because of
the lower mileage ratings added up to 4.75 million more metric tons
of greenhouse gases. They also agreed to spend $50 million on an
independent unit to set their future mileage estimates.
The fines and penalties
resolve a lawsuit filed against the automakers in U.S. District Court
in Washington, D.C., by the United States and the California Air
Resources Board.
BOE
sets leverage ratio for biggest banks at 4.5 percent, up from 3
percent
Economy
> Britain >
31
October
The Bank of England’s
Financial Committee has said that Britain’s biggest banks will face
a basic leverage ratio of 4.05 percent from 2019 onwards, which could
rise to 4.95 percent if needed to cool excess credit or balance-sheet
growth. Currently the leverage requirement is 3 percent. The
announcement prompted relief because some bankers had worried that
the leverage ratio could be set well above 5%. Among other effects, a
higher leverage ratio could have prompted more expensive home-loans.
Global regulators have turned to leverage ratios, the minimum of core
capital banks must hold without weighting categories of loans by
their riskiness, to avoid future financial crises. According to them,
big banks have their own internal modes to assess the risk in their
portfolios and they use these to control the system. The leverage
ratio helps avoid this. In the US, the Leverage Ratio is set at 5
percent and in Switzerland banks are required to meet a leverage
ratio of at least 4 percent by 2019.
Bangladesh
hit by nationwide blackout as national power grid link from India
fails
World
> Bangladesh > 01 November
Bangladesh was hit by a
nationwide blackout on Saturday after a transmission line bringing
electricity from neighboring India failed. The Power Grid Company of
Bangladesh Ltd. said that the blackout was caused by a technical
glitch. Officials tried to restore electricity with powerful
generators while they worked to restore the system. Bangladesh began
importing electricity from India in October 2013 through a
400-kilovolt transmission line that runs from Baharampur in the
Indian state of West Bengal to the town of Bheramara in southwestern
Bangladesh. Bangladesh has only a meager 11,500-megawatt generating
capacity and more than a third of Bangladesh's 166 million people
have no access to electricity.
CCI
helps protect consumer interest by punishing anti-competitive
practices of big companies
India
> Competition
Commission of India > 02 November
The Competition Commission
of India (CCI) established only 5 years ago has been effective enough
and passed some landmark orders to protect consumer interests. One
such landmark case is when the CCI, following complaint from a group
of apartment allottees of DLF’s Belaire housing project in Gurgaon,
found DLF guilty of abusing its dominant position and fined it Rs.
630 crore. There are numerous similar instances such as the CCI
imposed a fine of Rs. 6300 crore on 11 big cement companies and the
Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) for forming a cartel to
coordinate pricing and output decisions at the expense of the
consumer. The CCI had also taken similar actions against Dr L.H.
Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai, the Bengal Chemist and Druggist
Association and slapped a fine of 2,545 crore (2 per cent of the
companies’ turnover) on 14 major automobile companies after holding
them guilty of abusing their dominance in the aftermarket for sale of
spare parts. The CCI’s power is not restricted to the private
sector. Recently it passed two orders against Coal India for imposing
unfair conditions. Although most of these companies have appealed in
court against these orders, consumers have benefitted in many cases
and a hefty penalty against anti-competitive practices has increased
consumer awareness. For instance, the Belaire flat buyers have got
possession of the apartments and several other complaints have been
filed — against other DLF projects and also other builders.
IPCC
issues severest warning on global warming and the lack of serious
policy to tackle it
World
> Global
Warming > 02 November
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations in its latest report said
that if greenhouse emissions continued at the present pace, it could
lead to more food shortages, refugee crises, the flooding of major
cities and entire island nations, mass extinction of plants and
animals, and a drastic change in the climate which might make it
dangerous to work outside during the hottest times of the year. This
global situation is further accentuated as developing countries join
the West in burning huge amounts of fossil fuels. Despite growing
efforts in the area, there is absence of any serious policy to tackle
global warming. Energy companies continue to search for more energy
reserves and build coal-fired power plants and refineries, and
governments are spending another $600 billion or so directly
subsidizing the consumption of fossil fuels. By contrast, the report
found, less than $400 billion a year is being spent around the world
to reduce emissions or otherwise cope with climate change. Yet
governments are unwilling to talk about the carbon budget and are
instead moving towards a relatively weak agreement that would
essentially allow a country to decide the extent of its efforts to
limit global warming, and even that document would not take effect
until 2020.
Sex
was 'forceful' but not rape: Delhi Court's controversial verdict
India
> Delhi
HC Verdict > 04 November
The Delhi High Court has
acquitted Achey Lal an accused in the 2010 rape and murder of a
65-year-old woman, because it was not convinced of the proof and
instead termed the intercourse as "forceful". The judgement
led to some outrage because media reports say that the court assumed
that the victim could not have been raped as she had crossed
menopause.
The court, while allowing
the appeal of Achey Lal against his conviction and sentence, also
acquitted him of the charges of rape saying, "As regards the
offence punishable under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC, the woman was
aged over 60 years, thus beyond the age of menopause. We find force
in the contention of the counsel for the appellant (Achey) that even
if the sexual intercourse was forceful, it was not forcible and
contrary to the wishes and consent of the deceased. Hence, we are of
the opinion that it has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that
the appellant committed sexual intercourse with the deceased contrary
to her wishes or her consent. Consequently, he is also acquitted of
the rape charge," the bench said.
The trial court had, in
2011, awarded rigorous life imprisonment to Achey Lal and also
imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on him, saying, "He committed
forceful sexual intercourse upon a lady older than his age whom he
used to call his mother".
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