1. SP Patriarch Goes Mulayam, says Akhilesh Will be Next CM
Changing his political script with a dizzying regularity, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Monday said that Akhilesh Yadav would be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The move is being seen as back-pedalling by the veteran politician, who had earlier stated, on numerous occasions, that the next CM would be chosen by the elected MLAs after this year's assembly polls.
But, Mulayam's statement failed to address issues that had pushed the party towards a split. Akhilesh had demanded a free hand in the selection of candidates, which remained unaddressed. Also Mulayam's cryptic statement didn't throw light on who is SP president.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Flaws Put Lives of Soldiers at Risk, Says Army Report
At a time when the military is increasingly coming under attack in Jammu and Kashmir, an army report has pointed out at least 50 gaps – ranging from body armour, night-vision gear to flawed fuel storage – that pose a threat to soldiers’ lives.
If the army doesn’t make fuel storage safer at its forward bases, it could risk the lives of thousands of soldiers.
Militant strikes can cause greater damage not because of their sophistication, but because tens of thousands of litres of fuel is being stored in make-shift shelters, says the document.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Maharashtra FDA Prohibits McDonald’s India From Sale of Beverages in State
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (MFDA) has issued a prohibition order to Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd, which operates quick service food chain McDonald’s in India, to immediately stop sale of beverages at its 60 outlets across Maharashtra for contraventions under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 .
In its order, the MFDA has said that the popular chain did not comply with the mandatory warning to label its disposable containers whenever carbonated beverages were sold to customers. According to the Act, a warning label saying “contains caffeine” is compulsory when sweetened carbonated drinks are sold.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Co-Op Banks Used Note Ban as Opportunity to Launder Crores: IT Dept
The Income Tax department has raised serious concerns over the working of a number of cooperative banks across the country claiming they used the "opportunity" of demonetisation to make a quick buck and indulge in money laundering worth several crores.
An analysis report prepared by the department that has been accessed by PTI, said tax sleuths found these banks have been involved in generating and routing of black money at an "unprecedented" scale post 8 November, when the currency scrap was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(Source: PTI)
5. Farmers Move SC for Return of Their Lands
Invoking the legal victory of West Bengal’s farmers over the mighty state in Singur, West Bengal, their compatriots across the country, stripped of their agricultural lands by their governments in the name of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), found their voice in the Supreme Court on Monday.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice JS Khehar asked the Centre and seven State governments – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Punjab – to explain why vast tracts of fertile agricultural lands, forcefully acquired from farmers and tribal people, lay barren and abandoned, or in the hands of private real estate developers.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Congress MLA Facing Harassment Case for Sending Vulgar Texts ‘Absconding’, Say Police
Jaykumar Gore, Congress MLA from Man in Satara district of Maharashtra who is facing a case of sexual harassment, on Monday "absconded" from the MLA hostel in Mumbai after the High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, police said.
Satara police in November had registered a case against Gore after a woman filed a complaint alleging he had harassed her by sending lewd and vulgar messages and seeking sexual favours.
A case was registered against him under IPC Sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of Information Technology Act.
(Source: PTI)
7. Second Scorpene Submarine Ready
Khanderi, the second Scorpene submarine under Project-75 being built at Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, is all set to be launched into water later this week.
Meanwhile, the first submarine Kalvari is close to completing sea trials and likely to be inducted into the Navy by the middle of this year.
Six Scorpene submarines are being built with assistance and technology transfer from DCNS and others of France and under a $3.75-billion deal signed in October 2005.
The submarines are being built using modular approach in which different sections are built separately and later assembled on a pontoon.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Kashmir Unrest: Mehbooba Mufti Announces Rs 5 Lakh Aid, Jobs for Those Who Lost Vision
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each victim killed during last year’s unrest in the Valley. She also announced government jobs for those blinded by pellets.
Winding up the discussion on an adjournment motion in the Assembly, she also announced setting up of a SIT to probe the killing of a lecturer at Khrew, an ATM guard at Karan Nagar and other such cases where security forces were accused of targeting innocent civilians.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. As Trump Readies to Take Over, Indian IT Firms in Huddle Over H-1B Visa Plan
Indian information technology companies operating in the US are scrambling to put together a plan to appease President-elect Donald Trump before he assumes office on 20 January, or tweets a nasty post on H-1B visas that could include a promise to hire more Americans.
Elements of the plan, which is still evolving, include giving him the number of jobs created in the US, hiring locally, and more importantly, how many they plan to recruit every year, and aggressively flag philanthropic and corporate social responsibility activities.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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