In 4:1 majority verdict, Supreme Court finds no flaw in demonetisation process
Four judges on a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on January 2 found no flaw in the process adopted by the government to demonetise ₹500 and ₹ 1000 currency notes through a gazette notification on November 8, 2016. The sole woman judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, on the Bench however disagreed with the majority, saying the demonetisation exercise, undertaken on the government’s initiative and based on a mere notification in the official gazette instead of a plenary legislation in the Parliament, was plainly unlawful and vitiated.
Two killed, four injured in IED explosion in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri
A five-year-old boy and a minor girl were killed and four others were injured in a blast on January 2 in Dangri village in the Pir Panjal Valley’s Rajouri, a day after militants killed four civilians and injured six others. “A blast occurred near the house of victim of yesterday’s firing incident in Rajouri’s Upper Dangri village. Another suspected IED [improvised explosive device] was spotted, which is being cleared,” officials said.
Indian manufacturing ends 2022 on a high: PMI data
India’s manufacturing sector recorded its sharpest uptick in output in 13 months in December 2022, with new orders rising at the fastest pace since February 2021 even though selling prices surged more than input costs for the first time in two and a half years, as per the S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
Nepal’s PM ‘Prachanda’ to take vote of confidence on January 10
Nepal’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has decided to take the vote of confidence in the Parliament on January 10, an official said on Monday. The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K.P. Sharma Oli.
Sri Lanka’s ousted President Gotabaya applies for U.S. citizenship restoration: media report
Sri Lanka’s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in July last year and then returned after nearly two months, has applied for restoration of his U.S. citizenship after he failed to get asylum in any country, according to a media report. However, the U.S. government is yet to consider the request, The Sunday Times newspaper here reported. In 2019, Mr. Rajapaksa renounced his U.S. citizenship to contest the 2019 presidential polls. As per Sri Lankan Constitution, dual citizenship holders are barred from contesting elections.
Sack minister Sandeep Singh or face agitation, Khaps warn Haryana govt.
A ‘khap panchayat’ here on Monday threatened to launch a big agitation if Haryana minister Sandeep Singh, who has been booked for sexually harassing a woman coach, is not sacked. Mr. Singh on Sunday gave up his Sports portfolio, saying he has taken the step on moral grounds, and claimed that the charges against him are baseless.
Indian economy likely to navigate rough global weather in 2023: Assocham
India’s economy is expected to navigate rough global weather in 2023 due to resilient consumer demand, better corporate performance and abating of inflation, even as the year is likely to be full of challenges and opportunities, Assocham said on January 2. “While the global outlook seems rather tough, the Indian economy is set to stay on steady ground, helped by strong domestic demand, a healthy financial sector and improved corporate balance sheets. Early signs of brighter prospects of Rabi crops point towards a robust performance of agriculture, leaving an improved second round effect for several connected industries such as FMCG, tractors, two-wheelers, speciality chemicals and fertilisers,” Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood stated.
Circulation of fake currency notes continues to pose challenge
Circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in the country continues to pose a challenge even after the 2016 demonetisation, whose one of the key objectives was to eradicate counterfeiting of notes. According to report of the National Crime Control Bureau (NCRB), FICN with the face value of ₹245.33 crore has been seized by the law enforcement agencies across the country since 2016 — the year the Centre demonetised ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes.
NZ pacer Milne pulls out of India, Pakistan tours citing lack of preparation
New Zealand pacer Adam Milne on Monday withdrew himself from the white-ball tours of Pakistan and India due to lack of preparation. Milne finished the recent home series against India with a tight hamstring and subsequently had his return delayed for the Wellington Firebirds, missing two Ford Trophy matches in December.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on January 2, 2023, condemned an incident in which a 20-year-old woman was killed after her two-wheeler was hit by a car and her body dragged for 4 km from Sultanpuri to Kanjhawala. Taking to Twitter, Mr. Kejriwal said the incident was “shameful” and the culprits should be “punished severely”. “What happened to our sister in Kanjhawala is very shameful. I hope that the culprits will be punished severely,” the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a tweet in Hindi.
Microsoft-Activision acquisition case pre-trial hearing set for Jan. 3
A judge has set Jan.3 for the first pre-trial hearing in the Biden administration’s case against Microsoft’s $69 billion bid to take over Activision Blizzard, the maker of the popular game, “Call of Duty”. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, asked a judge to block the transaction arguing that it would allow Microsoft’s Xbox to get exclusive access to Activision games leaving consoles from Sony and Nintendo without access to popular titles like “Call of Duty”.
The Hindu photographer K.V. Srinivasan no more
K.V. Srinivasan, Special News Photographer, The Hindu, who had worked with the organisation for 20 years, passed away early on Monday in Chennai. He suffered from chest pain and fainted while covering the Vaikunta Ekadesi festivities at the Sri Parthasarathy Perumal temple in Triplicane. Though he was given immediate medical attention at the temple and rushed to the Government Royapettah Hospital, doctors pronounced him brought dead. He was 56.
Russia targets critical infrastructure in drone attacks on Kyiv and its region: officials
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in a series of drone attacks early on January 2 on Kyiv and the region surrounding it, officials said. Russia kept pounding Kyiv for the second night in a row, after firing a barrage of missiles over the capital on New Year’s Eve night and earlier in the day.
Wrong, misleading to say SC has upheld demonetisation; verdict does not deal with outcomes: Congress
It is “misleading and wrong” to say the Supreme Court has upheld demonetisation, the Congress said on Monday, adding that the majority apex court verdict on the matter deals with the limited issue of the process of decision-making not with its outcomes. The verdict has nothing to say on whether the stated objectives of demonetisation were met, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
‘13 coaches of Jodhpur-bound express train derail in Rajasthan, 26 injured
Twenty-six passengers were injured after 13 coaches of a Jodhpur-bound express train derailed in Rajasthan’s Pali district early Monday, an official said. No loss of life has been reported, a spokesperson of the North Western Railway (NWR) said and added that several trains have either been cancelled or diverted due to the derailment of the Bandra Terminus-Jodhpur Suryanagri Express (12480) on the Rajkiyawas-Bamodara route at 3.27 a.m.
Discrepancies in CBI’s closure report in Satyendar Jain’s graft case: Delhi vigilance dept
The Delhi government’s vigilance department has put a spanner in the closure of a graft case against minister Satyendar Jain, saying the CBI report has “lacunae and discrepancies”, requiring further probe in the matter of hiring a creative team for the PWD department, officials said on Monday. The assistant director of the vigilance department had filed a written request before a special court, seeking two months’ time to study the “lacunae and discrepancies” in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) closure report in the case to file an appropriate protest petition before it.
