23 November 2015

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‘Streedhan’ is woman’s exclusive property: SC  –    (Social Issues)

  • Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words that gold is a great tool for the empowerment of women, the Supreme Court held that abused women judicially separated from their husbands had every right to invoke the domestic violence law to get back their ‘streedhan.’
  • The court said ‘streedhan,’ a gift in gold valuables given to a woman by her family, is her “exclusive and absolute property.”

 

Kerry remarks unwarranted, unfair  –    (Environment)

  • India has reacted strongly to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement that the country will be a “challenge” in the coming climate change talks in Paris.
  • “It is in a way unfair to say that India will be a challenge. It is actually not doing justice to India,” Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told PTI.

 

Give no shelter to terrorists: Modi   –    (International Relation)

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suggested a multi-pronged approach for combating international terrorism, an issue which figured in all the meetings addressed by him at different places here during the day.
  • Making an intervention at the East Asia Summit (EAS), he emphasised the need for building a new global resolve and new strategies for combating terrorism, without balancing them against political considerations.

 

ASEAN to ease travel, mobility of labour   –    (International Relation)

  • The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was proclaimed a community through a declaration signed by the ASEAN leaders at its 27th Summit here on Sunday. The leaders stated that this was a historic development and an important milestone in the evolution of the 10-member grouping since its founding in 1967.
  • Simultaneously, the leaders endorsed “ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together,” which charts the path for community building over the next 10 years. The forward-looking road map articulates the ASEAN goals and aspirations to realise “consolidation, integration and stronger cohesiveness as a community.”

 

‘India ready to work with Malaysia for war memorial’   –    (International Relation)

  • The Indian diaspora here gave a rousing reception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he addressed them at the Malayasia International Exhibition & Convention Centre on Sunday evening.
  • Amid chants of “Modi, Modi”, the Prime Minister took the mike and told the crowd that India was not just confined to its territory and “India exists in the hearts of every Indian in every part of the world.”

 

Hollande’s takeaway will be Rafale deal   –    (International Relation)

  • After an impasse over technicalities, India and France are working to finalise the agreement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets before the visit of French President Fancois Hollande to India as the chief guest of the next Republic Day parade here.
  • “Negotiations are in an advanced stage and both sides are working to reach an agreement before the visit,” a Defence Ministry official told The Hindu .

 

Clues from the Mali attack   –    (International Relation)

  • The terror attack on a hotel in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, is yet another example of the growing influence of terrorists around the world. Though the authorities have not immediately confirmed who was behind the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in which at least 19 people were killed, an al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the siege.
  • Al-Mourabitoun, the group formed by the Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, has claimed that the attack was staged in cooperation with al-Qaeda in the Great Sahara region, which has a strong presence in northern Mali.

 

Pentagon reviewing intelligence on rise of IS   –    (International Relation)

  • When Islamic State (IS) fighters overran a string of Iraqi cities last year, analysts at U.S. Central Command wrote classified assessments for military intelligence officials and policymakers that documented the humiliating retreat of the Iraqi army.
  • But before the assessments were final, former intelligence officials said, the analysts’ superiors made significant changes.

 

Pakistan, U.S. agree on resumption of broken Afghan peace talks   –    (International Relation)

  • Pakistan and the U.S. have agreed to make efforts for restarting the stalled peace process between Afghanistan government and Taliban insurgents after second round of talks were cancelled in July as the news of feared Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s death was leaked.
  • The understanding was reached during recently concluded trip (Nov 15—20) of Pakistan’s Army chief General Raheel Sharif to Washington where he met a slew of military and civilian leaders including Vice President Joe Biden.

 

Insolvency resolution in India plagued by wide range of problems: report  –    (Economics)

  • Total stressed assets in India surged fivefold to about $133 billion in FY 2015, from $27 billion in FY 2011, according to a report by global consultancy Alvarez and Marsal. A survey of Indian companies by the consultancy also found that there are systemic problems in the way stressed assets are relieved currently.
  • “The average duration for insolvency resolution in India is 4.3 years, significantly higher than that of South Asia region (2.6 years) and that of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) high-income countries (1.7 years),” the consultancy said in the report, adding that according to World Bank estimates, recovery rates in India (25.7 cents on the dollar) are also considerably lower than the South Asia average (36.2) and OECD average (71.9).