Britain and the European Union cleared the way to start a crucial new round of talks on British withdrawal from the bloc, announcing a breakthrough after months of deadlock, an internal political standoff in London and a dispute over the future of the Irish border. The deal would avoid a “hard” border in Ireland; set Britain’s divorce bill at between $47 billion and $52 billion, roughly double its original offer; and establish judicial protocols to protect the rights of the 3 million European citizens in Britain and the million British citizens in the European Union.
Maldives and China ink 12 pacts
The Maldives has signed 12 agreements with China, including a crucial free trade deal and a pact to jointly promote the One Belt One Road (OBOR) programme, during the ongoing visit of the island nation’s President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom . The agreements with the Maldives are part of Beijing’s continuing efforts to persuade South Asian countries to adopt the OBOR programme, and hand over infrastructure construction projects to Chinese companies.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) suspended all eight directors of realty firm Unitech over allegations of mismanagement and siphoning of funds, while authorising the government to appoint its 10 nominees on the Board. In a rare move, the government approached the NCLT to take over the management with a view to protect the interest of nearly 20,000 home buyers.
Govt spares single-brand retailers from printing MRP
In a move that may help bring down prices for consumers, the government has changed labelling norms to exempt single-brand retailers — including, Ikea, Fabindia, Decathlon, H&M and several chains of Future Group — from marking maximum retail price (MRP) on their products. Retail sale prices of the products in a store will be displayed through labels fixed on the racks. Additionally, the prepackaged commodities for sale shall contain bar codes on the principal display panel, which will show the retail sale prices by using the scanners available across the store.
PayU’s Gupta Named CEO of Ola Money
Cab-hailing major Ola has roped in PayU India cofounder Nitin Gupta as CEO of Ola Money, as it looks to build a financial services business after raising more than $1 billion over past one year. The company is looking to leverage the high frequency and data of the captive customer base, and could also be eyeing a payments bank licence for the business
Chandika Hathurusingha has been appointed as Sri Lanka head coach with effect from December 20. SLC has negotiated his release from Bangladesh, where he was head coach and was credited for team’s good showing.
India to Host Women’s, Men’s Boxing
India will host women’s World Boxing Championshp in 2018 and Men’s Championships in 2021.
Mamta Kalia Wins Vyas Samman
Hindi writer Mamta Kalia has won the 2017 iteration of the literary award Vyas Samman for her novel, ‘Dukkham Sukkham’. The selection was made by a ‘chayan samiti (selection committee)’ presided over by eminent litterateur Dr Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, who is also the director of Sahitya Akademi.
India Joins as 42nd Member of Wassenaar Arrangement
In a boost to its nuclear non-proliferation credentials, India has been accepted as the 42nd member of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA). WA participating states reviewed the progress of a number of current membership applications and agreed at the plenary meeting to admit India which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state as soon as the necessary procedural arrangements for joining the WA are complete.
CISF to Provide Security to VIPs
With a view to keep two specialised central forces- CRPF and ITBP- focussed on their respective core areas, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to take them off VIP security. This in turn will now mean that providing security to VIPs will be the responsibility of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and National Security Guard (NSG). The task shall progressively be assigned only to Special Security Group (SSG) of CISF, which has been specifically created for the purpose.
SC Raises Gender Question on Adultery Law
The question ‘Why should only a man and not a woman involved in an adulterous relationship be criminally prosecuted?’ was raised before the Supreme Court which agreed with the petitioner that section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 198(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) were “archaic” and “gender discriminatory”. The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, issued a notice to the government on the public interest litigation (PIL) that wants the two sections to be struck down and declared unconstitutional.
Section 497 of IPC, read with the CrPc provision, makes adultery an offence. But only the man involved is liable to be punished, provided the husband of the woman with whom he is in a relationship.