NOV 4th 2015

>> The Supreme Court has recently said that a daughter's right to ancestral property does not arise if the father died before the amendment of Hindu law that came into force in 2005.

In 2005, the Supreme Court had passed a landmark amendment to The Hindu Succession Act of 1956, granting daughters the right to inherit ancestral property along with their male relatives. But now, a 'small' clause has been added to it.

A daughter can only hold a right to the ancestral property if the father has died after this amendment came into force in 2005, the Supreme Court rules. In other words, the father would have to be alive till September 9, 2005, for the daughter to become a co-sharer of his property along with her male siblings.

Adding that the amended provisions of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, do not have a retrospective effect, a SC bench comprising Justices Anil R Dave and Adarsh K Goel held that the date of a daughter becoming co-parcener is on and from the commencement of the Act.

The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 originally denied women the right to inherit ancestral property, allowing them only to ask for sustenance from a joint Hindu family.

After the amendment was passed in 2005, the only restriction to remain was that women could not ask for a share if the property had been alienated or partitioned before December 20, 2004, which is the date the Bill was introduced.

>> Meghalaya High Court has asked Central Government to enforce Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 in militancy-hit Garo Hills region of the state.

The order, issued in a bid to check the threat posed by militants, also said, “The Chief Justice and judges of the High Court are also getting veiled threats that they would have to face the consequence after their retirement.”

The court said, “Even the police and civil administration stealthily fulfil the illegal demands of the insurgents.”

The Centre is contemplating challenging the order in the Supreme Court and will soon seek a legal opinion on the order, a senior government official said.

A full Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Uma Nath Singh, Justice T.N.K. Singh and Justice S.R. Sen issued the order on Monday following a hearing related to the pending case of militants calling bandhs in the State.

“We have no option but to direct the Central government to consider the use of AFSPA, 1958, in the Garo Hills area and deployment of armed and para-military forces to control the situation in the aid of civil and police authorities, till life becomes normal and the incidents of rampant kidnapping and killing stopped,” the order stated.

>> Maharashtra government  approved a scheme to provide nutrition to pregnant and lactating women in the tribal areas of the state to curb malnutrition among tribal children.

 The decision to implement the scheme, named APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna, was approved at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The scheme, an initiative of Tribal Development department, has been announced to mark the completion of one year of the BJP-led government.

It would be implemented by anganwadis that fall under Women and Child Welfare Department in 16 districts having tribal population.

Under the scheme, the government has planned to provide ‘one full hot cooked nutritious food’  to every pregnant (in the third trimester) and lactating mother (first three months post-delivery) in tribal areas of the state.

The meal would be served at the anganwadi centre at flexi-time as per the convenience of the beneficiaries and include pulses, rice, fruits, vegetables and boiled eggs with an occasional supply of milk.

As per the estimate, over 1.8 lakh tribal women across Maharashtra are supposed to be covered under the scheme every year. The scheme will replace the ‘Take Home Ration’ scheme that provides packets of sheera or upma to expectant or lactating mothers.

>> Norway reopened its Consulate General in Mumbai today after over 4  decades and pushed for closer cooperation with fast-growing India in economic and other fields. 

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borje Brende re-opened the office at Bandra-Kurla Complex in suburban Mumbai, a move he said will consolidate his country's ties with India. 

Norway's first consulate in Mumbai was established 1857, but was closed down in 1973. The Consulate General was established to serve traditional Norwegian shipping and maritime trade interests. 

>> The third interim report of the M.B. Shah-led special investigation team (SIT) on black money was submitted to the apex court . A three-judge bench comprising chief justice H.L. Dattu, justices Madan B. Lokur and A.K. Sikri took it on record, and sought to keep the report in sealed covers.

The report shows that 422 out of a list of 628 people/entities, based on information obtained from France, are traceable to residents of the country. They are alleged to have stashed away money in foreign banks, avoiding paying Indian taxes.

Of these, Rs.4,526 crore can be traced back to 220 cases. The other 202 cases show no amount. The report shows 403 actionable cases, which means that these account holders are traceable and can be moved against Rs.6,432 crore has been brought to tax.

The SIT also takes into account a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and the inquiry based on it revealed 534 Indian names.

>> China has launched a new communication satellite (ChinaSat 2C) carried aboard the Long March 3B rocket. The rocket blasted off from Xichang Space Center in southwest China’s Sichuan province .

The ChinaSat 2C satellite will provide radio, TV transmission and broadband services for the nation’s radio stations, TV Broadcast Stations, and cable networks.

However, the secretive nature of the launch and the payloads hint that the satellite could be for military applications. Experts named the satellite as military Zhongxing-2C.

Earlier also satellites of this type were designed for military communication and also for secure data and voice communication for People’s Liberation Army.

>> A group of citizen scientists has discovered the  Dracula ant from Kerala. They believe that their find may be a new species belonging to the Stigmatomma group of predaceous ants.

The ant was identified by Manoj Vembayam, Kalesh Sadasivan and Vinay Krishnan, members of the TNHS Ant Research Group, a wing of the Travancore Natural History Society. The amateur researchers have found the ant from the Western Ghats region of the State.

Three Dracula ant species had been discovered in the past in the country from Kolkata, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka.

Stigmatomma group was commonly referred to as Dracula ant because at times of scarcity, they puncture the bodies of their own larvae and drink the hemolymph. The subterranean ants, nearly 1 cm long, have poor vision and feed on centipedes.

>> Chapala makes landfall in southeastern provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa, having killed three on the island of Socotra.

A rare tropical cyclone has slammed into Yemen, triggering heavy flooding and causing damage in a region of the war-racked country

The storm earlier wreaked havoc on the island of Socotra, located 350km off the Yemeni mainland.

>> The United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) Disarmament Committee has adopted a draft resolution submitted by Japan calling for the abolition of nuclear arms.

The resolution was adopted by 156 member countries, while 17 abstaining and 3 voting against it including China and Russia. But it failed to secure endorsement US, Britain, France and other key powers as they abstained from voting despite supporting it.

 The resolution Stresses the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and urges nuclear powers to be more transparent in their disarmament efforts. The resolution asks world leaders to visit the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were devastated by the nuclear attacks.

 Since 1994, Japan has been spearheading efforts UNGA Disarmament Committee to introduce resolutions on nuclear arms every year.

The UNGA Disarmament Committee or First Committee deals with disarmament, threats to peace and global challenges that affect the international community. It seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.

>>

China’s top legislature ratified the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) agreement, that will set out legal framework for the $100 billion-bank in which India and 56 other countries are founder members.

Lawmakers voted on the agreement at the closing meeting of the bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

The ratification is a significant step closer to the AIIB’s formal establishment slated for the end of this year, as China is the bank’s largest shareholder.

The China-backed multilateral development institution is tasked with financing infrastructure construction across Asia. The Beijing-based bank could rival World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank in scaling up funding for the infrastructure projects in Asia.

With authorised capital of $100 billion and subscribed capital of $50 billion, AIIB will invest in sectors  including energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.

China, India and Russia are the three largest shareholders, taking a 30.34 per cent, 8.52 per cent, 6.66 per cent stake respectively in the newly-formed bank. Their voting shares are calculated at 26.06 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 5.92 per cent.

Based on the share holding, India is expected to get the post of the Vice President. China has already nominated its former finance minister Jin Liqun as the first President of AIIB which is addition to the BRICS Development Bank, headed by eminent Indian banker K.V. Kamath.

The AIIB will promote sustainable development of the Asian economy, create wealth and improve infrastructure connections. The bank will cooperate with other multilateral and bilateral development organisations to promote regional cooperation and deal with challenges

>>

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a Memorandum of Understanding which has been signed between Indian and Belgian government authorities at the Federal and regional level for energy,".

The objective of the Memorandum, it added is to establish the basis for a cooperative institutional relationship to encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation on new and renewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity. 

"The areas of cooperation will focus on development of new and renewable energy technologies in the field of wind energy, biomass, solar (thermal and photovoltaic), smart grids, geothermal energy, marine energy, contribution of renewables to diversification of supply and energy security, and any other mutually agreed areas,".