ANANDA MAHINDRA: Despite the Indian economy facing a slowdown, industrialist Anand Mahindra said that the economy has been going through a process of ‘detoxification’. Since the negative impact of disruptions is now over, the economy is expected to see an upside in FY21, Bloomberg TV reported chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra as saying at an event in Davos, Switzerland. “The prime minister has been quite obsessed with the kind of growth he wants and that is about transparent, free of corruption and any rent-seeking,” he also said.
SC ON DEATH SENTENCE: While hearing a plea to commute the death sentence of two convicts for killing a family of seven, the Supreme Court Thursday underlined that the “finality” of death sentence is extremely important and said that condemned prisoners should not be under the impression that the death penalty remains “open ended” and can be challenged all the time by them. The court asked lawyers Anand Grover and Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the convicts, whether “good behaviour” of convicts post their conviction is reason enough for commuting their sentence. “I thought it is the crime that is punished. If one goes by innocence of a human being, even the worst criminal has an innocent heart. There is no one who is a criminal at the deepest level,” CJI Bobde observed.
MALDIVES: India on Thursday handed over 30,000 doses of measles and rubella vaccine to the Maldives to contain a measles outbreak in the Indian Ocean archipelago, where four people tested positive for the disease in the past one week. Though measles has been eliminated in the Maldives, the government in Male suspected an outbreak after the detection of the case and made an emergency request for vaccine to India. The vaccines were supplied within three days of the request being made, the external affairs ministry said.
UP: Referring to the ongoing anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday said that his administration will find a solution “in their style”. “Don’t worry! The government and administration will find a solution to this, in their style. Everyone has the right to protest and put forward their point of view but no one has the liberty to indulge in anti-national activities in its pretext.”
THAROOR: States cannot say they will not implement a new citizenship law and resolutions some legislatures have passed against it are a “political gesture”, said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday. Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said that in the implementation of the National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NCR), the states will have a vital part as it will be their officials who will conduct the exercise because the Centre doesn’t have the required manpower.
RBI: In the fourth special open market operation (OMO) auctions, the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday bought Rs 10,000 crore worth of long-term securities and sold Rs 2,950 crore worth of short-term government bonds. Last week, the RBI had said it will simultaneously purchase and sell government securities under open market operations (OMO) of Rs 10,000 crore each. In the OMO purchase auction, the RBI received bids worth Rs 26,887 crore for two types of securities — 7.32 per cent-2024 and 6.45 per cent-2029 — but accepted only Rs 10,000 crore of bids.
CORONA VIRUS: At least thirty nurses from Kerala were reportedly quarantined in a hospital in Saudi Arabia after one of them tested positive for deadly coronavirus that claimed several lives in China, said their relatives. After the news surfaced, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan sent a letter to external affairs minister Jayshankar seeking his immediate intervention. “Reports suggest some nurses working at the Al Hyat Hospital in Abha have contracted the virus. The MEA will have to intervene to ensure proper treatment and protection for them,” he said in the letter. Abha is the capital city of Asser province in southwest Saudi Arabia.
GAGANYAN MISSION: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has placed Vyommitra (Sanskrit for ‘space friend’) which has been showcased as the Humanoid prototype (with a female form)for the Gaganyaan missions. It has recognized the fact that the critical technology for space flight by humans evolve only with trials and errors, and a humanoid de-risks human life, while the space travel capability is under development. ISRO’s AI-enabled Vyommitra, India’s humanoid bot to lead space travel mission Gaganyaan.As per ISRO, Vyommitra is still under development and is being called a half humanoid.
GANDHI: Mahatma Gandhi’s bust will be set up at the International Maritime Organisation headquarters in London coinciding with the 150th birth anniversary celebration of the Father of the Nation, the government said on Thursday. IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim consented for it during a meeting with Shipping Minister Mansukh Lal Mandaviya at Davos, Switzerland, a Shipping Ministry statement said.
BREXIT: Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday formally approved the landmark law facilitating Britain’s departure from the European Union at the end of this month. “Her Majesty the Queen has now granted RoyalAssent to the Brexit bill which therefore becomes the Brexit Act,” Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said on Twitter. “Enshrined in law, this enables the UK to leave the EU on 31st Jan.”
JERUSALEM: French President Emmanuel Macron visited Jerusalem’s Old City Wednesday engaged in a heated argument with Israeli security. The altercation flared when Israeli police and domestic security agents pushed past the French detail and were first to enter the Church of Saint Anne, which is French territory under international treaties. “Everybody knows the rules. I don’t like what you did in front of me,” an animated Macron told the Israeli personnel, speaking in English, in the crush to enter the building. “Go out — outside please!” he added in a raised voice in scenes captured in video footage that quickly spread on social media. The Roman Catholic church, located at the start of Via Dolorosa in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, has been part of France’s territories in the Holy Land since the 1850s.
US VISA RULES: The Trump administration on Thursday declared a new visa restriction aimed at restricting “birth tourism,” in which women travel to the US to give birth so their children can have a coveted US passport. Visa applicants deemed by consular officers to be coming to the US primarily to give birth will now be treated like other foreigners coming to the US for medical treatment, according to State Department guidance sent Wednesday.
MARKET TODAY
- NIFTY: 12180.35 73.45
- SENSEX: 41386.40 271.02
- USD: 71.3025 0.04
- GOLD: 39909 -4.00
- CRUDE OIL: 3989 -59.00
Thursday, Jan 23, 2020
New Delhi 10 °C
