TODAY NEWS ON September 20, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source : The Hindu

National News

• Doctors call off strike after Bengal government lists reforms
• ‘Indian ammunition entering Ukraine’: India dismisses media report as ‘speculative and misleading’
• World witnessing people of J&K strengthening Indian democracy: PM Modi
• India took a policy stand not to supply arms, shells to Israel: Defence sources
• Fed rate cut to have muted impact on India: CEA
• Row after Chandrababu Naidu alleges animal fat used in Tirupati laddus
• Modi U.S. visit: Foreign Secretary outlines PM’s schedule; gives no confirmation on Trump meeting
• Centre to share information with Supreme Court on collegiums resolutions on High Court chief justices
• Telecom AGR dues: Supreme Court dismisses curative pleas on computation ‘errors’
• Terror funding watchdog FATF praises India’s anti-money laundering, terror financing system
• BJP manifesto for Haryana promises two lakh government jobs, ₹2,100 to women, job guarantee for Agniveers

International News

• Canada further tightens rules on temporary workers, students
• U.S. lawmakers express outrage over vandalism of temple in New York
• Gurpatwant Pannun murder plot: India calls U.S. Court summons ‘unwarranted imputations’
• Israel military says hits seven Hezbollah sites in overnight air strikes in southern Lebanon
• Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says
• Lebanon’s Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
• Japan firm says they no longer make radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts
• Harvey Weinstein faces new sex crime charge from accuser who has never gone public
• Vodafone-Idea shares dip 21% as Supreme Court rejects curative petition on AGR dues

Headlines in Detail

Doctors call off strike after Bengal government lists reforms

Protesting resident doctors in West Bengal decided to call off their agitation outside Swasthya Bhawan and announced that they will join emergency services in the State run health facilities from Saturday (September 21, 2024). Thousands of junior doctors have been on a strike for nearly 41 days since the body of a doctor was found inside the seminar hall of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

‘Indian ammunition entering Ukraine’: India dismisses media report as ‘speculative and misleading’

India described as “inaccurate” a media report that said artillery shells sold by Indian arms manufacturers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop it. “We have seen the Reuters report. It is speculative and misleading. It implies violations by India, where none exist and hence, is inaccurate and mischievous,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

World witnessing people of J&K strengthening Indian democracy: PM Modi

Praising voters for turning up in huge numbers at polling stations in the first phase of Assembly elections in J&K, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Gandhis, the Abdullahs and the Muftis for the three decades of instability in Kashmir and reiterated his promise to restore Statehood. Addressing an election rally at the She-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar to campaign for the candidates contesting in the Valley, PM Modi reiterated that the promise made on the floor of the Parliament on J&K’s Statehood will be kept.

India took a policy stand not to supply arms, shells to Israel: Defence sources

In the initial days of the Gaza offensive, Israel required artillery shells but India took a “policy decision” not to supply them, according to defence sources, who also stated that India is “firmly neutral” between Russia and Ukraine and has taken a stand to “not supply kinetic equipment” to either of them.

Fed rate cut to have muted impact on India: CEA

Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut of 50 basis points will be limited for India, and though it will be a positive for emerging economies in general, it cannot be construed as a “fillip for the global economy” because there are other factors at play. “If other things were constant, the rate cut by itself should be positive because it lowers the dollar cost of capital, increases the dollar liquidity… [but] with other things not staying contant, the Fed rate cut is not the only thing that matters. We have geopolitical conflicts everywhere and there is an all-important election that is coming up in the USA in November, and in general, the global economy has been slowing,” the CEA pointed out.

Canada further tightens rules on temporary workers, students

Canada is further reducing the number of study permits it will grant to foreign students and tightening eligibility for work permits in a bid to cut down on the number of temporary residents in the country, the government said. The announcement comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, trailing in the public opinion polls and coming off a major by-election loss this week, seeks to reduce the number of temporary residents - including international students and foreign workers — in the country.

U.S. lawmakers express outrage over vandalism of temple in New York

More than two dozen top American lawmakers have expressed outrage over the recent vandalism of a Hindu temple in New York, which came days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S.The road and the signage outside the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Melville, New York, were sprayed with expletives on Monday (September 16).

Gurpatwant Pannun murder plot: India calls U.S. Court summons ‘unwarranted imputations’

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (September 19, 2024) called the summons issued in civil case by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the U.S.-based pro-Khalistan attorney, as “unwarranted” and “unsubstantiated” imputations. The summons was issued by South District of New York court on Wednesday (September 18, 2024). The lawsuit names India’s foreign intelligence agency personnel and others, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav and Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta. Later in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a press briefing, said, “We have taken certain action, and the allegations are being inquired into by a high level committee and the relevant agencies on both sides have engaged on this.”

Row after Chandrababu Naidu alleges animal fat used in Tirupati laddus

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s remark on the use of animal fat in the ‘Laddu Prasadam’ made at the Tirumala shrine has kicked off a controversy and has become a matter of discussion in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) circles. At a meeting organised on Wednesday (September 18, 2024) in Vijayawada to celebrate the 100 days of the NDA regime in the State, Mr. Naidu had mentioned about the adulteration of ghee, including the addition of animal fat, used for preparing sacred offerings at the Tirumala temple during the erstwhile YSR Congress regime.

Modi U.S. visit: Foreign Secretary outlines PM’s schedule; gives no confirmation on Trump meeting

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday (September 19, 2024) briefed the media on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to the U.S. Mr. Modi will be in the U.S. from September 21-23. Mr. Misri said that the Prime Minister will fly directly to Wilmington, Delaware for the Quad summit before heading to New York for the U.N. Summit of the Future. Mr. Modi will also address the diaspora, conduct meetings with tech CEOs and bilateral talks with various leaders. On Republican candidate Donald Trump’s announcement that Mr. Modi will meet him, Mr. Misri did not give any confirmation. He saids they are trying to fix a number of meetings in the U.S. and will give an update once they are confirmed.

Centre to share information with Supreme Court on collegiums resolutions on High Court chief justices

The Centre on Thursday (September 19, 2024) told the Supreme Court that it will be providing some details next week concerning the collegium’s recommendations on the appointment of chief justices in several high courts in the country. The submissions to this effect were made by Attorney General R. Venkataramani before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud while seeking an adjournment of the hearing on a PIL which is listed for hearing on Friday (September 20, 2024).

Telecom AGR dues: Supreme Court dismisses curative pleas on computation ‘errors’

The Supreme Court has dismissed curative petitions filed by telecom service providers, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, against the court’s October 2019 judgment upholding the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) move to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about ₹92,000 crore from them. The curative petitions were dismissed in chambers by a Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai on August 30. The order was available in the public domain on Thursday (September 19, 2024).

Terror funding watchdog FATF praises India’s anti-money laundering, terror financing system

Global anti-money laundering and terror financing body, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), launched its much-awaited mutual evaluation report on India, saying the county’s systems were “effective” but “major improvements” were required to strengthen prosecution in these cases on Thursday (September 19, 2024). The report said India implemented an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Financing of Terror (CFT) system that was effective in many respects. It, however, said “major improvements” were required to strengthen the prosecution in money laundering and terror financing cases.

BJP manifesto for Haryana promises two lakh government jobs, ₹2,100 to women, job guarantee for Agniveers

Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president J.P. Nadda on Thursday (September 19, 2024) released the party’s 20-point manifesto, “Sankalp Patra”, for Haryana ahead of the Assembly poll, promising two lakh government jobs, ₹2,100 monthly assistance to women and government job guarantee to Agniveers hailing from the State. The party also promised creation of ten industrial towns and full scholarship to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students of government medical and engineering colleges, among other things.

Israel military says hits seven Hezbollah sites in overnight air strikes in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Thursday (September 19, 2024) it struck six Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure sites” and a weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon overnight, as fears grew of a full-blown war. The air force “struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites in the areas of Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon,” a military statement said. Turkey on Thursday (September 19, 2024) accused Israel of seeking to expand the war in Gaza to Lebanon with the “alarming” wave of deadly explosions that swept though Hezbollah strongholds.

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says

Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry. A source close to the Ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts

Hezbollah was in disarray on Thursday (September 19, 2024) after a second wave of deadly explosions swept through its strongholds across Lebanon, putting pressure on its leader to exact revenge for the operation it blames on Israel. The attack killed 32 people in two days, including two children, and wounded more than 3,000 others, according to Lebanese Health Ministry figures.

Japan firm says they no longer make radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts

Japanese firm Icom said Thursday (September 19, 2024) that it had stopped producing the model of radios reportedly used in recent blasts in Lebanon around 10 years ago. “The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” Icom said in a statement. “The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company,” it said.

Harvey Weinstein faces new sex crime charge from accuser who has never gone public

Seven years after sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement, the ex-movie mogul faces a new sex crime charge from an accuser who’s never told her story publicly. While awaiting retrial on other sex charges in a landmark #MeToo case, Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new charge of forcing oral sex on a woman in a Manhattan hotel in spring 2006. Prosecutors released no details about her, and Weinstein’s lawyer said he had no idea who she is. But an attorney said that she represents the woman and that she has never made her accusation public.

Vodafone-Idea shares dip 21% as Supreme Court rejects curative petition on AGR dues

Vodafone Idea stocks fell 21% to ₹10.69 at 12.15 p.m. on September 19, from the day’s open of ₹12.99 as Supreme Court rejected the company’s curative petition on Adjusted Gross Revenues (AGR) dues. The three-judge Bench ruled that there was no ground for a curative petition against the court’s decision.