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India,
Iran sign MoU for development of Chabahar port
India
> MoU
India
signed an agreement with Iran for development of Chabahar port which
will give India access to sea-land route to Afghanistan bypassing
Pakistan. After extensive talks, an MoU was signed between the two
nations. US had been warning countries to not rush into any trade
agreements with Iran until it works out a deal on nuclear programme.
However, India went ahead with the deal as the port is set to reduce
transportation costs of India. Another advantage of a container and
cargo terminal at Chabahar is that it would provide landlocked
Afghanistan with access to the sea, reducing its reliance on
Pakistan.
Juvenile
Justice Amendment Bill passed in the Lok Sabha
India
> Juvenile
Justice Amendment Bill
The
Lok Sabha passed a bill on the 7th of May, 2015 to amend the Juvenile
Justice Bill passed in 2014, which will allow the judiciary to treat
children between the age of 16-18 as adults depending on the
heinousness of the crime committed. The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014
will now replace the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The amended bill
also categorises offences as petty, serious and heinous, and defines
differentiated processes for each category.
Jayalalitha
set to return as TN CM after acquittal
India
> Politics
AIADMK
chief Jayalalitha was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court on the
11th of May, 2015 in a case of Disproportionate Assets (DA). Apart
from Jayalalitha's verdict the court also acquitted her close aide
Sasikala Natarajan, her relatives J Elavarasi and V N Sudhakaran and
Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son. Earlier, Jayalalitha had to step
down as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu as a trial court had
convicted her for a term of four years and imposed a Rs. 100 crore
fine. But, the acquittal on Monday will serve her as a breather and
she is likely to become the CM again.
Record
3100 youths in Jammu and Kashmir offered jobs
India
> Others
Over
3100 youths in the state of Jammu and Kashmir were offered jobs this
year by corporates, the highest since the inception of the 'Udaan'
scheme in the valley. The NDA government opted to change their
strategy and implement 13 recruitment drives in the state after the
September 2014 floods. Since the inception of the scheme in 2013,
there were only 940 odd recruitments, but the number this year has
exceeded 3100, which has been viewed as a success.
Rs
6,400 crore deposited in 339 accounts by Indians in Swiss bank, SIT
tells SC
Economy
> India
339
Indian accounts in HSBC bank holding a total sum of Rs 6400 crore owe
an amount of Rs 4,520 crore to the income tax department, reported
the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT was able to gather
information on black money holders with the help of International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). SIT said it had
conducted investigations on the data provided by the Consortium and a
large number of cases of such offshore entities were not disclosed to
the Income Tax department.
47
killed in Karachi bus attack, Taliban claims responsibility
World
> Terrorism
47
people have been reported dead after a passenger bus carrying members
of the Shia community was fired at, in Karachi by gunmen on
motorbikes. The attack has been considered as the worst till date on
the Shia community. There were conflicting reports of militant groups
claiming responsibility for the attack. A splinter faction of the
militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called Jundullah, or
Army of God, had claimed responsibility for the attack. There were
also reports of leaflets found at the scene claiming the attack on
behalf of the Islamic State group. The police have started a search
operation for the militants, who fled after the attack.
Others
Achal
Kumar Jyoti appointed as Election Commissioner
India
> Civic
Affairs
Achal
Kumar Jyoti was appointed as one of the Election Commissioners,
filling one of the two vacancies of the Election Commission (EC),
which comprises of three members – one Chief Election Commissioner
(CEC) and two Election Commissioners. The general tenure of an
Election Commissioner is six years or till the age the employee
attains 65 years. As Achal Kumar Jyoti is 62 years old, he will serve
for a period of 3 years. He has previously served as the Chief
Secretary for Gujarat under the then chief minister of the state
Narendra Modi.
Shashi
Kapoor receives Dada Saheb Phalke award
Awards>
Dada Saheb
Phalke award
Shashi
Kapoor received the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award from Union
Information and Broadcasting Minster Arun Jaitley in Delhi. The award
is given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development
of Indian cinema. After Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor, Shashi
Kapoor is the third member of the Kapoor family to receive the award.
Central
Government appoints new governors in six states
India
> Governance
On
Tuesday, 12th of May, 2015, the central government appointed new
governors for the states of Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram,
Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya. Odisha minister Droupadi Murmu will
be the governor of Jharkhand, replacing Syed Ahmed who will now serve
as the governor of Manipur. BJP national executive member V
Shanmuganathan has been appointed the governor of Meghalaya. Ex-chief
secretary of Assam J P Rajkhowa will take over as the governor of
Arunachal Pradesh, replacing Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma who will
become the governor of Mizoram while, Tathagata Roy will become the
governor of Tripura.
Lahore
High Court sets free 97 bonded Hindu labourers
World
> Others
A
court in Lahore, Pakistan has set free 97 Hindus, which also included
women and children who were employed as bonded labourers at a brick
kiln in Pakistan's Punjab province. One of the bonded labourers
managed to escape the kiln to reach the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, which then filed a petition at the Lahore High Court to
release the labourers.
Yoga
day to be observed on June 21 in US
World
> Yoga Day
The
historic National Mall of the US is set to host the first
International Day of Yoga celebration on June 21. Since the event is
being organised by the Indian Embassy in the US, it will feature an
exclusive video message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With an aim
to promote yoga across the world, the Indian government is planning
to celebrate the First International Day of Yoga in all countries,
including the US.
Russia
and US to hold bilateral talks in the midst of easing tensions
World
> Diplomacy
After
more than a year of the crisis in Ukraine, US Secretary of State John
Kerry is expected to hold talks with Russian president Vladimir
Putin. The tension caused over Ukraine between the US and Russia was
regarded as the lowest point in diplomatic relations between the two
countries since the cold war. The meeting will supposedly be held in
Sochi, Russia and will be the first official US visit to Russia since
the Ukraine crisis. The US Secretary of State would meet with his
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov along with president Putin.
CCI
to analyze Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong and Myntra price
discount
Corporate
> E-retail
After
rejecting allegations of unfair business against e-retail giants
Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong and Myntra, the Competition
Commission of India (CCI) has started monitoring the price discount
arrangements between manufacturers and distributors associated with
these companies. The CCI has come across instances of resale price
mechanism where a manufacturer does not allow distributor or trading
platform to sell its product below a certain price and is under the
process of checking whether such practices are in violation of
competition norms.
7.3
Earthquake hits Nepal again, tremors felt across Northern and Eastern
India
India
> Earthquake
A
7.4 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Nepal struck again,
killing 60 and injuring nearly a 1000, triggering tremors across
Northern and Eastern India. A number of casualties were reported in
Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The quake hit when the country was
still recovering from the massive quake that killed around 8000
people last week. The quake that struck near Mount Everest was
followed by at least six successive aftershocks.
North
Korea executes defence chief on treason charges
World
> North
Korea
Hyon
Yong Chol, the defence military head of North Korea was executed on
treason charges. He was put in front of an anti-aircraft gun at a
firing range Hyon was said to have disobeyed North Korea's current
leader Kim Jong Un and shown disrespect to him by dozing off at a
military event. South Korea's spy agency said that Kim had ordered
the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for
challenging his authority. Kim Jong Un took power after his father's
death in 2011 and since then North Korean internal politics has
remained volatile.
SC
prohibits politicians’ photos on government ads
India
> SC
The
Supreme Court recently passed a verdict that restrains political
parties from publishing photos of political leaders in
government-funded advertisements. The judgment ensures that the tax
payer's money is not spent on building “personality cults” of
political leaders. According to the apex court, such photos promote a
“personality cult” by associating an individual with government
projects. However, the use of photographs of the President, Prime
Minister and CJI in the advertisements is allowed.
Modi
government condemns PoK project ahead of China visit
Politics
and Government >
India
Just
before PM Modi's visit to China, Modi government has expressed its
disapproval of the $46 billion deal signed by Chinese President Xi
Jingping to develop a superhighway to Pakistan that passes through
PoK . The displeasure comes after India's earlier oppositions to any
international involvement in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. By flagging
the issue India may be intending to confront China at the India-China
meet.
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