Ayodhya Case Verdict - Supreme Court of India(SCI) Rejects Review Petitions Thursday Dec 12,2019

The Supreme Court of India(SCI) on Thursday Dec 12,2019 dismissed  a clutch of petitions seeking review of its Dec 9,2019 judgement in the Ayodhya case, which cleared the way for construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, which took up the petitions for consideration in-chamber, said it did “not find any ground… to entertain” them

“Applications for listing of review petitions in open court are dismissed. The review petitions are dismissed. Pending applications stand disposed of… We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connected papers filed therewith. We do not find any ground, whatsoever, to entertain the same,” the bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan, S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, said in its order.



The review petitions had been filed by -

• Maulana Syed Ashhad Rashidi, who is the legal heir of original litigant M Siddiq and the Uttar Pradesh president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind

•  5 petitioners “supported” by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) 

• Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha and 

• Nirmohi Akhara among others

In his plea, Rashidi contended that the November 9 judgment amounted to “rewarding” the crimes committed by “Hindu parties”. He said “complete justice… can only be done by directing” the Centre and Uttar Pradesh to carry out “the reconstruction of Babri Masjid”

He said the SCI has “acknowledged few of the several illegalities committed by the Hindu parties, particularly in 1934 (damaging the domes of the Babri Masjid), 1949 (desecrating the Babri Masjid), and 1992 (demolition of the Babri Masjid), but this Hon’ble Court has proceeded to condone the said illegal acts and has awarded the disputed site to the very party which based its claims on nothing but a series of illegal acts”.

The review petitions “supported” by the AIMPLB also cited similar concerns, and said the judgement “condones serious illegalities of destruction, criminal trespass and violation of rule of law, including damaging the mosque and eventually destroying it”

The Hindu Mahasabha questioned the court’s decision to grant 5 acres to the Muslim side

There was also a petition by 40 “concerned citizens” who were not party to the original litigation, including economist Prabhat Patnaik, historian Irfan Habib and activist Harsh Mander. Dismissing the pleas of those who were not party to the case, the court said: “Applications for permission to file review petitions are dismissed. In view of the denial of permission to file review petitions, applications for listing of review petitions in open court as well as review petitions are rejected.”

Payments Banks in India

What is Payment Bank?
The main objective of the payment bank is providing small savings accounts and payments or remittance services to low income households,small businesses,other unorganized sector entities and other users.

On 23 September 2013, Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households, headed by Nachiket Mor, recommended for a new type of bank called payments bank. 

  
  11 entities selected to launch Payment banks
 
On 19 August 2015, the Reserve Bank of India gave “in-principle” licences to eleven entities to launch payments banks.They are

1. Aditya Birla Nuvo
2. Airtel M Commerce Services
3. Cholamandalam Distribution Services
4. Department of Posts
5. FINO PayTech
6. National Securities Depository
7. Reliance Industries
8. Sun Pharmaceuticals
9. Paytm
10. Tech Mahindra
11. Vodafone M-Pesa

 From the above , entities “Cholamandalam Distribution Services”, “Sun Pharmaceuticals”, “Tech Mahindra”,Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank, Vodafone M-Pesa,  have surrendered their licenses.

Name of the bank	Head quarters	Head Persons	Tagline	Points to be remember
Airtel Payments Bank Limited	New Delhi	Anubatra Biswas,MD & CEOSunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman	Banking Is Now At Your Fingertips,India’s First Payment Bank	It is India’s first payment bank,with its license issued on April 11, 2016 and operational since january 2017
Fino Payments Bank Limited	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Rishi Gupta,MD & CEO Mahendra Kumar Chouhan, Chairman	Qadar Aapki Mehnat Ki	Incorporated on 4th april 2017
India Post Payments Bank Limited	New Delhi, India	Suresh Sethi,MD &CEO	Aapka Bank Aapke Dwaar	Launched on 1 september 2018. It is operated under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication
Paytm Payments Bank Limited	Noida,U.P	Satish Kumar Gupta, MD and CEOVijay Shekar Sharma, Chairman	Simplifying Payments For India	Paytm Payments Bank is India’s only mobile-first bank with zero balance – zero digital transaction charge accounts.
NSDL payment bank	Mumbai, Maharashtra	SP Narayanan, MD & CEO	Technology Trust and Reach	—–
Jio payment bank		Vivek Bandhari, Chairman H Srikrishnan, MD & CEO	YOUR EVERYDAY BANK For all of your payments, banking and financial needs	It is  a joint venture between reliance industries and State Bank of India in a 70:30 partnership.On April 3, 2018 Jio Payments Bank became the sixth payment bank to commence operations in India.

Small Finance Banks in India

History of Small Finance Banks in India

Small Finance Banks are a new category of Banks announced by the RBI in July 2014, when the draft guidelines for small finance banks was made public.

By February 2015, RBI had received applications from 72 applicants and an external advisory committee headed by Usha Thorat was constituted to evaluate the applicants.

The 10 companies that received licenses today come from this group of applicants.

Benefits of Small Finance Bank Licenses
Small Finance Banks licenses are more restrictive than a regular bank license, such as one given to State Bank of India (SBI) or ICICI Bank.

While small finance banks can undertake fundamental banking activities such as deposit taking and lending, they are not allowed to set up subsidiaries.

Also the loan ticket size is much smaller in Small Finance Banks compared to regular banks.

RBI has mandated that the activities of promoters of small finance banks should not be mixed with banking operations.

 

 

 

Au Financiers India Ltd – A Jaipur based NBFC which currently provides financing for cars and heavy vehicles in the state of Rajasthan

Capital Local Area Bank Ltd – A Jalandhar based Local Area Bank having operations in the state of Punjab

Disha Microfin Pvt Ltd – A MFI headquartered in Ahmedabad and having microfinance operations predominantly in the West of India

Equitas Holdings Pvt Ltd – A diversified microfinance company with headquarters in Chennai and having operations in microfinance and micro-housing loans

ESAF Microfinance – The Kerala focused MFI has it’s headquarters in Chennai and has done pioneering work in the state of Tamil Nadu

Janalakshmi Financial Services Pvt Ltd, Headquartered in Bangalore, Janalakshmi is one of India’s largest microfinance companies

RGVN North East Microfinance Ltd is a MFI based in North East India with it’s headquarters in  Guwahati, Assam

Suryoday Microfinance Pvt Ltd is a MFI based in Mumbai with operations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Orissa.

Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt Ltd – A Bangalore based MFI and one of the first microfinance companies to scale up operations in urban India

Utkarsh Microfinance Pvt Ltd with headquarters in Varanasi and operations spread across the states of Uttar Pradesh

Ujjivan Small Finance Shares Make Strong Market Debut Thursday Dec 12,2019

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank made a strong market debut on Thursday Dec 12,2019 with the stock listing at a premium of 56.76 per cent.

Ujjivan Small Finance shares began trading at a share price of Rs 58 as against the higher end of its issue price of Rs 37.

 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank shares climbed to as high as Rs 62.80 in morning deals, marking a premium of 69.73 per cent compared with the issue price.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank - an arm of Bengaluru-based financial company Ujjivan Financial Services - saw huge investor interest in a blockbuster which concluded last week.

The Rs 750-crore IPO of Ujjivan Small Finance was subscribed more than 165 times on the last day of issue on Dec 04,2019

 

The Ujjivan Small Finance Bank IPO came at a time when the company was racing to comply with the Reserve Bank of India's requirement for small finance banks to list its shares within three years of starting operations. The deadline set for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank was January 31,2020

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank plans to utilize the IPO proceeds to boost its capital. Its Tier-1 capital ratio - a key measure of a bank's financial strength - was at 18.16 per cent at the end of September, according to its prospectus


Note

Au Financiers India Ltd – A Jaipur based NBFC which currently provides financing for cars and heavy vehicles in the state of Rajasthan

Capital Local Area Bank Ltd – A Jalandhar based Local Area Bank having operations in the state of Punjab

Disha Microfin Pvt Ltd – A MFI headquartered in Ahmedabad and having microfinance operations predominantly in the West of India

Equitas Holdings Pvt Ltd – A diversified microfinance company with headquarters in Chennai and having operations in microfinance and micro-housing loans

ESAF Microfinance – The Kerala focused MFI has it’s headquarters in Chennai and has done pioneering work in the state of Tamil Nadu

Janalakshmi Financial Services Pvt Ltd, Headquartered in Bangalore, Janalakshmi is one of India’s largest microfinance companies

RGVN North East Microfinance Ltd is a MFI based in North East India with it’s headquarters in  Guwahati, Assam

Suryoday Microfinance Pvt Ltd is a MFI based in Mumbai with operations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Orissa.

Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt Ltd – A Bangalore based MFI and one of the first microfinance companies to scale up operations in urban India

Utkarsh Microfinance Pvt Ltd with headquarters in Varanasi and operations spread across the states of Uttar Pradesh

History of Small Finance Banks in India

Small Finance Banks are a new category of Banks announced by the RBI in July 2014, when the draft guidelines for small finance banks was made public.

By February 2015, RBI had received applications from 72 applicants and an external advisory committee headed by Usha Thorat was constituted to evaluate the applicants.

The 10 companies that received licenses today come from this group of applicants.

Benefits of Small Finance Bank Licenses
Small Finance Banks licenses are more restrictive than a regular bank license, such as one given to State Bank of India (SBI) or ICICI Bank.

While small finance banks can undertake fundamental banking activities such as deposit taking and lending, they are not allowed to set up subsidiaries.

Also the loan ticket size is much smaller in Small Finance Banks compared to regular banks.

RBI has mandated that the activities of promoters of small finance banks should not be mixed with banking operations.

 

 

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill Gets President Ram Nath Kovind's Assent, Becomes Act Thursday Dec 12,2019

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday Dec 12,2019 gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act. The contentious law promises citizenship to migrants from three neighbouring countries but not if they are Muslims.

According to an official notification, the law comes into effect with its publication in the official gazette on Thursday Dec 12,2019

According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday Dec 11,2019 and by Lok Sabha on Monday Dec 09,2019

16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg named 2019 Time Person of the Year

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2019

The teen, whose climate activism went viral in 2018, delivered a scathing address to the UN General Assembly at the Climate Action Summit in New York City in September. She had travelled for nearly 14 days across the Atlantic Ocean in a zero-emissions racing yacht to attend the conference

"My message is that we will be watching you. This is all wrong," Thunberg said in an emotional speech that appeared to move the audience at the UN General Assembly hall

On Wednesday Dec 11,2019, Thurnberg, who had also been named one of the world's most influential people by Time magazine in May, told the Associated Press news agency she was "very grateful" and "very honored" by the person of the year recognition.

She added: "It should be everyone in the Fridays for Future movement because what we have done, we have done together."

Earlier this year,Thunberg had been nominated for a Nobel peace prize, recognised for her mobilisation of students in her "Fridays for Future" weekly school strikes.

The movement officially began in August of 2018, after Thunberg spent three weeks sitting in front of the Swedish parliament demanding action on climate change during school days. Her actions, which she posted on social media, went viral and morphed into a weekly Friday protest.

The nomination came after the number of students taking part in the school strikes broke two million across 135 countries.

La Liga Appoints Cricketer Rohit Sharma as Brand Ambassador in India

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the brand ambassador of La Liga in India, the cricket announced on Thursday Dec 12,2019 and said it was a humbling appointment.

La Liga is a very popular in India, mainly due to the popularity of two of their biggest clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona but the league has been trying to build a brand in India for a couple of years now.

Currently the La Liga matches in India are broadcasted on Facebook through live streaming. The La Liga contract in India was previously with Sony but La Liga then chose to switch to Facebook.

FC Barcelona are currently leading the La Liga points table with 34 points in 15 matches. Second placed Real Madrid have the same points in as many games but an inferior goal difference of 21 compared to 23 of the Catalan club has made the difference.

Sevilla are placed third with 31 points in 16 games while Real Sociedad, with 27 points in 16 matches, complete the top 4.

In this weekend's La Liga, Barcelona will be up against Sociedad in an away game on December 14. On December 16 late night game, Real Madrid will travel to Valencia.

2019 Algerian Presidential Election Thursday Dec 12,2019

Polls have opened in a controversial presidential election with critics saying all candidates should be purged because of their ties to the unpopular former government.

Thursday's vote is the first since former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced out after a two-decade-long rule in April in the wake of nationwide peaceful protests

The vote has been deferred twice since the unprecedented leaderless protest movement, commonly referred to as the Hirak, erupted in February

Polls opened at 07:00 GMT and will close at 21:00 GMT, though that can be extended. Preliminary results are expected to be announced from 23:00 GMT onwards.

To win the election, a candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the votes cast. If no one manages to do that, the two leading candidates then go to a runoff in a few weeks.

More than 24 million people are eligible to vote, but many were expected to stay at home to boycott an election they say is designed to preserve the status quo.

Opponents of the vote say no election can be free or fair as long as the old guard remains in power and the military continues to be involved in the country's political life

Overseas, the electoral procedure began last Saturday.

In several French cities, including Paris, Algerian protesters staged anti-election sit-ins in front of polling booths.

According to Algeria's Independent Election Monitoring Authority (ANIE) - created in September to oversee the vote - 20 percent of the 900,000 Algerians living abroad already voted

Demonstrators were determined to have Thursday's election cancelled

On Wednesday Dec 11,2019 - the anniversary of the outbreak of major demonstrations against the French colonial power in Algeria in 1960 - thousands of Algerians flooded the streets of the capital to reject the presidential vote

Anti-riot forces violently dispersed the demonstration, injuring dozens of people

Despite the nine-month-long protest movement, the army has touted the election as the only way out of the political crisis, and urged voters to turn out in large numbers.

5 candidates are running to replace Bouteflika for a five-year term

 

1.  former Prime Minister Ali Benflis 
2. former  Prime Minister Abdelamajid Tebboune
3. former Minister of Tourism Abdelakader Bengrina
4.  former Minister of Culture Azzedine Mihoubi and 
5. head of the el-Moutstakbal party Abdelaziz Belaid.

But all are seen as "part of the ruling establishment", according to critics.

Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 - How Assam protest is different from Opposition's gripe

The Citizenship Amendment Bill is just a few formalities away from taking effect.





Most Opposition parties and a fairly large number of activists have vehemently opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill of the Narendra Modi government that seeks to enable non-Muslim illegal migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship. The CAB has become a law despite their opposition.

Assam and some other parts of the Northeast protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Protests in Assam against the Citizenship Amendment Bill have seen huge number of students joining and been so powerful that army has been called. Internet services have been suspended in 10 districts of Assam and curfew imposed in main city Guwahati. Tripura is already under internet restrictions.

But the grounds of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill for the Opposition parties and the students on the streets of Assam are vastly different.

SAME SENTIMENT, DIFFERENT CAUSE

The Opposition has opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill largely on the issue of exclusion of Muslim immigrants, calling the move discriminatory and a part of the BJP's Hindutva agenda. Simply put, the Opposition parties seem to be okay with the Citizenship Amendment Bill if the government brings Muslim migrants in the ambit of the legislation for citizenship.

In Assam, however, the protesters want none of them - neither Hindus nor Muslims if they are illegal immigrants. Their protest is mainly centred around two provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. These are:

The cut-off date for recognising the illegal immigrants as bonafide refugees and thus giving them an option of acquiring citizenship through relaxed rules

Areas in the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Bill

The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 sets December 31, 2014 as the cut-off date for recognising the illegal immigrants as eligible refugees to acquire Indian citizenship. This, the protesters say, is a violation of the Assam Accord of 1985

ASSAM ACCORD, NRC & CAB

The Assam Accord had been signed between the Rajiv Gandhi government of the Centre and the protesters led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU)

Under the Assam Accord, the cut-off date was set at March 25, 1971

The Assam Accord's cut-off date was also the basis of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was finalised earlier this year under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The NRC left out about 19 lakh people who could not prove their citizenship claim. Majority of them are said to be Hindus.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill enables the Hindu illegal immigrants from former East Pakistan and later Bangladesh to seek Indian citizenship thereby thwarting the demand of the AASU/protesters to deport all illegal migrants who entered India after the cut-off date.

So, while the government is offering citizenship to Hindus among the 19 lakh illegal immigrants, the Opposition is ready to grant citizenship to all 19 lakh illegal immigrants who were left out of the NRC, the protesters don't want a single person who was declared a non-citizen of India in the NRC exercise.

CAB LIMITED EDITION

The second issue is of the coverage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The 2016 CAB was to be enforceable in the entire country while the CAB 2019 leaves out the areas mentioned in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and also those requiring Inner Line Permit (ILP) for outsiders to visit.
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur are covered under the ILP regime. Meghalaya is also set to come under the ILP regime, which is in place since 1873, when the British implemented Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation

The ILP allows an outsider to visit these protected areas but does not allow them to settle. The Citizenship Amendment Bill maintains the sanctity of the ILP

Sikkim is also shielded from any impact of the Citizenship Amendment Bill by virtue of Article 371F of the Constitution which accords it a special status

This leaves those areas of Tripura and Assam that are not protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution open to implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The hilly areas of Tripura are protected under the Sixth Schedule. Protests are being seen in the rest.

Assam, meanwhile, has become the epicentre of anti-CAB protests. The Sixth Schedule shields only seven of 33 districts of Assam. These 26 districts have major chunk of illegal immigrants - both Hindus and Muslims - primarily with their roots in today's Bangladesh

The AASU and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti are leading the protests in Assam. Guwahati
 Diburgarh, Tezpur and Tinsukia are the majorly affected areas due to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill that got Rajya Sabha's nod on Wednesday Dec 11,2019

Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 - Areas Exempt From The Application Of The Bill

There are two categories that have been given exemption — states protected by the ‘Inner Line’, and areas covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
1)Inner Line Permit (ILP): This is a special permit that citizens from other parts of India require to enter a state protected by the ILP regime. Without an ILP granted by the state government, an Indian from another state cannot visit an state that is under the ILP regime

2)Sixth Schedule: The Sixth Schedule relates to special provisions in administration of certain Northeastern states. It provides special powers for Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in these states. ADCs have powers to enact laws in areas under their jurisdiction on a variety of subjects, one of its objectives being to boost self-governance by tribal communities

 

  

CAB 2019: State by state

Assam: The state has three Autonomous District Councils, two of which are geographically contiguous. While these are protected, CAB will be in effect in a larger area.
Meghalaya: This state too has three ADCs. Unlike in Assam, the ADCs in Meghalaya cover almost the entire state. Only a small part of Shillong is not covered. CAB will be effective in that part of Shillong while the rest of the state is protected.
Tripura: One ADC covers around 70% of the state’s area. However, the remaining 30% holds about two-thirds of the population. CAB is effective in the smaller, more densely populated regions.
Arunachal Pradesh: Entire state covered under ILP regime, protected from CAB.
Nagaland: Entire state covered under ILP regime, protected from CAB. So far, only Dimapur used to be outside the regime. Now, ILP has been extended to Dimapur, too, so the whole state is now exempt.
Mizoram: Entire state covered under ILP regime, protected from CAB. Additionally, the state has three ADCs that are also protected under the Sixth Schedule.
Manipur: Entire state gets new ILP protection. The state was not protected under either option, but following the introduction of CAB in Parliament, the government has introduced ILP in Manipur too

Israel heads for unprecedented third election in a year as stalemate continues Wednesday Dec 11,2019

Israel is set to hold a third round of elections within 12 months, after a deadline to form a government passed with no politician able to bring together the disparate parties.

A time limit to forge a majority coalition in the country’s parliament, the Knesset, expired at midnight on Wednesday Dec 11,2019, automatically triggering a fresh national ballot.

By law, the poll cannot be held for three months, extending a political deadlock that has paralysed the country deep into next year. Lawmakers were debating late into the night on holding the vote on 2 March.

Israel has been gripped by political paralysis for the best part of a year after two inconclusive votes gave neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  nor his rival, Benny Gantz, a clear lead.

Both men have attempted to cobble together a 61-seat majority, while also stalling each other’s plays for power. A final 21-day period in which any parliamentarian could be nominated as prime minister also ended with no frontrunner.

2019 UK General Election - UK Goes To Polls Today Thursday Dec 12,2019

The UK is going to the polls for the country's third general election in less than five years.

The contest, the first to be held in December in nearly 100 years, follows those in 2015 and 2017.

Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 07:00 GMT.

After the polls close at 22:00 GMT, counting will begin straight away. Most results are due to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning.

A total of 650 MPs will be chosen under the first-past-the-post system used for general elections, in which the candidate who secures the most votes in each individual constituency is elected.

In 2017, Newcastle Central was the first constituency to declare, announcing its result about an hour after polls closed.

Elections in the UK traditionally take place every four or five years. But, in October, MPs voted for the second snap poll in as many years. It is the first winter election since 1974 and the first to take place in December since 1923

Many people have already put a cross next to the name of their favoured candidate by voting by post - more than seven million people used a postal vote two years ago

Those who applied for a postal vote but have yet to return it to their Electoral Office must do so by 22:00. Alternatively, they can hand it into their local polling station by the close of polls.

Superstar Rajinikanth’s Thalaivar 168 goes on floors

Superstar Rajinikanth’s upcoming film tentatively titled Thalaivar 168 went on floors today, with a pooja ceremony in Chennai. Sun Pictures, which is bankrolling the project, shared pictures from the pooja on Twitter.

 

Written and directed by Siva of Viswasam fame, the film marks the maiden collaboration of the director and Rajinikanth.

It was recently announced that Khushbu, Meena and Prakash Raj have joined the cast. National Award winner Keerthy Suresh has been roped in as the female lead.

Meena started her career as a child artiste in films such as Enkeyo Ketta Kural and Anbulla Rajinikanth, also starring Rajinikanth. She last shared screen space with Rajini in Kuselan, which was released in 2008.

2019-20 Ranji Trophy Baroda Vs Mumbai - Prithvi Shaw registers third-fastest double hundred in Ranji Trophy

Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw knocked on the selectors’ door once again after he smacked his maiden double hundred in just 174 balls on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy match against Baroda at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara.

Prithivi Shaw  played in his natural attacking style, and completed his 9th first-class ton in just 84 deliveries.

Prithivi Shaw continued to plunder Baroda’s bowling attack and added 102 runs in the next 94 balls, before he was dismissed by Bhargav Bhatt for 202.

Prithivi Shaw had also scored a half century in the first innings (66 runs in 62 balls). On the back of his performance, Mumbai extended their lead to 533 runs, before declaring the innings.


Prithivi Shaw was given a six-month ban for doping violation earlier this year. He made a return to cricket at the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he impressed in the T20 tournament by scoring three half centuries in five matches.

Now, Prithivi Shaw has once again put his name in the hat for selection in the upcoming Test series against New Zealand with a quickfire double ton in the Ranji opener. Shaw’s double ton is the third-fastest ever in Ranji Trophy history, only next to Ravi Shastri’s 123-ball double hundred and Rajesh Bohra’s 156-ball double-ton.

Virat Kohli - Anushka Sharma completes two years of marriage Wednesday Dec 11,2019

 

Superstar Rajinikanth turns 70 today Thursday Dec 12,2019

He is a self made man

  Rajinikanth was not born with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. On the contrary, he had to face a lot of hardships during his formative years. The son of a Bangalore based Marathi constable; he was soon forced to work as a coolie in order to earn his daily bread. Thereafter, he tried to earn some extra money by taking up the job of a bus conductor.
However, financial stability still remained a distant dream for the man who would one day earn in crores. Luckily, Rajinikanth never let these challenges break his spirit and continued his search for a better future. As such, it would be safe to say that the veteran star is the very personification of fortitude.
 

Rajinikanth continues to stay humble

 Rajinikanth is someone who has clearly not let stardom or fame take a toll on his humility. While over the years numerous stars—right from Anushka Shetty to Alia Bhatt—have been floored by his warm and grounded ways, the most definite proof of his down to earth nature was seen during the audio launch of ‘Robot’. At the event, he cracked jokes at his expense and thanked Aishwarya Rai for agreeing to work with him. Moreover, on another occasion Rajinikanth remarked that he was a just a “small king” compared to the ‘Shahenshah’ Amitabh Bachchan. Interestingly, the two superstars have worked together in ‘Hum’, ‘Andhaa Kanoon’ and ‘Geraftar’

 


A complete family man

  It was in 1980 that Rajinikanth tied the knot with playback singer Latha, beginning a new phase in life. Since then, the ‘Thalaiva’ has maintained a low profile on the personal front. The father of noted filmmakers Aishwarya and Soundarya, the actor rarely talks about his family life at public events. As such, he has always tried to shield his family from constant public scrutiny. Moreover, recent developments suggest that the superstar is extremely close to his grandkids, In fact, some time ago he asked the makers of ‘Lingaa’ to name the film after his grandson.

 

Rajinikanth is the textbook definition of unselfishness

  It was just a few days ago the Chennai was hit by a devastating flood which brought life to a standstill. Pained by the death and destruction caused by this calamity, he asked his fans to refrain from celebrating his birthday and instead help the flood ishness: victims return to normal life. These actions are strong proof of Rajinikanth’s unselfish nature. These were also illustrated in 2002 when he offered financial help to the makers of his ‘Baba’ when the film underperformed at the ticket box office

2019 Jharkhand Assembly Election Third Phase Voting for 17 Constituencies today Thursday Dec 12,2019

The voting for the third phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections is currently underway on Thursday December 12,2019 for 17 constituencies

The seats where elections is being held include Koderma, Barkatha, Barhi, Mandu, Hazaribagh, Simaria (SC), Barkagaon, Ramgarh, Dhanwar, Gomia, Berma, Ichagarh, Silli, Khijri (ST), Ranchi, Hatia and Kanke (SC)

The fate of 309 candidates, including 32 women nominees, will be decided in the 17 constituencies with 56,18,267 electorate (eligible to exercise their franchise), including 26,80,205 women and 86 third-gender voters.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed in Rajya Sabha with 125 voting for it and 99 against Wednesday Dec 11,2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed parliament on Wednesday Dec 11,2019 after being cleared by the Rajya Sabha with 125 voting for it and 99 against, amid violent protests in several parts of the Northeast

The Rajya Sabha rejected a motion to send the bill to a select committee of the House with 125 members voting against it as compared to 99 in its favour after a six-and-a-half-hour debate

The house also rejected several amendments moved by opposition members to the bill, most by voice vote.

The bill will now go to the President for his assent.


The controversial legislation was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Monday Dec 09,2019 where the NDA Govt have absolute majority

The ruling BJP does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha but managed the numbers needed to pass the bill

Tabled in both the houses by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the bill has been slammed by rights groups as well as opposition parties on the grounds that it discriminates against Muslim migrants and violates the constitutional right to equality

Opposition leaders claim that the bill can never survive judicial scrutiny and are expected to challenge it in the Supreme Court

Besides the constituents of the BJP-led national Democratic Alliance or NDA such as the Janata Dal United (JD-U), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AIADMK, the legislation was supported by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR-Congress and independents.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which broke its alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra last month, walked out of the Rajya Sabha ahead of voting on the bill. The regional party had supported the legislation in the Lok Sabha, saying that it was in the "larger interests of the country"

BJP sweeps Karnataka bypolls, BS Yediyurappa govt retains majority; state Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, Dinesh Gundu Rao resign Monday Dec 09,2019

The ruling BJP on Monday Dec 09,2019 retained the majority in the Karnataka Assembly when it bagged twelve seats in the by-elections

The Congress, which won 12 of those 15 seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, won only in two segments: Hunsur and Shivajinagar. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led JD(S) that
had won three seats in the previous election — KR Pete, Mahalakshmi Layout and Hunsur — drew a blank

Independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, who was earlier expelled from BJP for anti-party activities after he contested the bypoll as a rebel, registered a win in Hoskote.

Turncoats had a field day as 11 of the 13 in the fray after joining the BJP emerged victorious, as the ruling party's gamble to field the defectors from the Congress and the JD(S) who helped them come to power paid off.

The 12 BJP candidates who won are: Arabail Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapura), Narayana Gowda (K R Pete), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Shrimant Patil (Kagwad), Mahesh Kumthalli (Athani), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Arun Kumar Guttur (Ranebennur), ST Somashekar (Yeshwanthpura) and Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram)

The Congress candidates who have won are Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar) and HP Manjunath (Hunasureu).

Bougainville overwhelmingly votes for independence from Papua New Guinea

The people of Bougainville, an island group in Papua New Guinea, have voted overwhelmingly for independence

Voters had two options - more autonomy, or full independence. Of the 181,000 ballots, almost 98% were in favour of independence

The referendum was approved by the Papua New Guinea government, but the result is non-binding

Nevertheless, the landslide victory will put pressure on PNG to grant Bougainville independence

The islands have a population of around 300,000, and 206,731 people enrolled to vote in the referendum

In total, 181,067 ballots were cast. Of those:

• 176,928 voted for independence
• 3,043 voted for greater autonomy
• 1,096 were classed as informal, or void.

The results were announced in the town of Buka by former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, the chairman of the Bougainville Referendum Commission.

"Now, at least psychologically, we feel liberated," said John Momis, president of the regional autonomous government

Why was there a referendum?

Bougainville had a nine-year separatist war that began in 1988, fuelled by economic grievance.

The end of the fighting led to the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the creation of the Autonomous Bougainville Govt  and the promise of a non-binding referendum on independence

Even in colonial times, Bougainville was an outpost. The islands attempted to declare independence during the formation of Papua New Guinea in 1975 - but they were ignored

Is Bougainville ready for independence?

The new country - should it happen - would be small, with a land mass of less than 10,000 sq km (slightly larger than Cyprus, and slightly smaller than Lebanon)

Likewise, its population would be one of the world's smallest - slightly smaller than Pacific neighbour Vanuatu, and slightly bigger than Barbados

But according to research by Australia's Lowy Institute, Bougainville self-reliance would at best be years away

The country is rich in natural resources - especially copper, which has been extracted on a large scale since the 1960s under Australian administration

But mining has been crippled by the war - and the distribution of revenue was one of the factors behind the conflict.

 

ISRO's RISAT-2BR1, 9 Other Foreign Satellites Blast Off from Sriharikota Wednesday Dec 11,2019

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse rocket PSLV-C48 blasted off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday Dec 11,2019, carrying India's radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 and 9 foreign satellites.

6 satellites are from the USA and one each from Italy, Japan and Israel

The 628-kg satellite is meant for applications in various fields like agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. It would also serve military purposes

With clear skies in the background, the 44.4-metre tall rocket lifted off majestically at 3.25 pm

The launch marks a significant milestone for the space agency as it is the 50th flight of PSLV and the 75th vehicle mission from Sriharikota.

Manipur Brought Under the Inner Line permit (ILP) System, President President Ram Nath Kovind Signs Order Wednesday Dec 11,2019

Manipur is the fourth state after Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram where the ILP regime is applicable.

To visit the ILP-regime states, outsiders, including people from other states of the country, need to take permission.

2019 West Indies Tour of India Third T20I @ Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai Wednesday Dec 11,2019

The 3-match T20I series between India and West Indies is perfectly poised at 1-1 heading into the decider at Mumbai on Wednesday Dec 11,2019

It's India who will be under pressure at this point

West Indies will be happy to be where they are given how poor they have been in the format in recent years having won only 12 of their last 39 T20Is before the series, and having a chance of winning a series in India will give them confidence going into the next year when the T20 World Cup will be played


Squads

India
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami

West Indies
Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard(c), Denesh Ramdin(w), Jason Holder, Khary Pierre, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell, Kesrick Williams, Fabian Allen, Nicholas Pooran, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford.


India won the first match, chasing 208 in Hyderabad on Friday Dec 06,2019

Scorecard
West Indies 207/5
India           209/4 in 18.4 Overs
Match Result - India won by 6 wickets
MOM - Virat Kohli for his 94*


West Indies drew level chasing chasing 171 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday Dec 08,2019

Scorecard
India             170/7
West Indies  173/2 in 18.3 Overs
Match Result - West Indies won by 8 wickets
MOM -Lendl Simmons(West Indies)for his 67

India beat West Indies by 67 Runs,win the 3-Match T20I Series 2-1

Scorecard

India              240/3

Rohit Sharma              71(34 Balls 4x6 and 6x5)
K LRahul                     91(56 Balls 4x9 and 6x4)
Risabh Pant                 00(2 Balls)
Virat Kohli                  70*(29 Balls 4x4 and 6x7)
Shreyas Iyer                00*( 0 Balls)

West Indies   173/8

Shimron Hetmeyer    41(24 Balls 4x1 and 6x5)
Kieron Pollard           68( 39 Balls 4x5 and 6x6)
Match Result              India won by 6 Runs
MOM                          K L Rahul
Series Result - India won the 3-Match T20I Series 2-1
Player of the Series    Virat Kohli

India beat West Indies by 67 runs in the third and final Twenty20 International in Mumbai on Wednesday to clinch the three-match series 2-1.

61 - The loss in Mumbai was West Indies' 61st in T20Is making them the joint leaders in terms of most losses suffered in the shortest format. West Indies joined Sri Lanka who have also lost 61 matches to date. Bangladesh (60), New Zealand (56) and Pakistan (55) round up the top-5 teams with most T20I defeats.

2633 - Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli finished at the joint top spot on the all-time T20I runs chart after their final innings of the year in the shortest format. The two batsmen now have 2633 runs each, though Kohli (75) has reached there in fewer innings than Rohit (104).

404 - With his 1st six on Wednesday, Rohit Sharma joined an elite list of players to hit 400+ sixes in all international matches (Tests, ODIs and T20Is). Chris Gayle (534) and Shahid Afridi (476) are the only other players to have crossed the milestone.

240/3 - 3rd highest total for India in all T20Is. 260/5 vs Sri Lanka in Indore (2017) and 244/4 vs West Indies in Lauderhill (2016) are the only higher totals by India in T20Is. Incidentally, it is now also the highest T20 total made at the Wankhede Stadium beating England's 230 vs South Africa in the 2016 World T20.

India  restricted West Indies to 173-8 in their chase of 241 with skipper Kieron Pollard hitting a valiant 68 off 39 balls.

West Indies were then reduced to 17/3 before Pollard and Shimron Hetmyer (41) shared a 74-run stand for the fourth wicket to keep the visitors in the game. But once Hetmyer hit Kuldeep Yadav straight down long on's throat where KL Rahul took the catch, it looked all over.

However, Pollard kept their slim chances alive with some big hitting. The captain finally got out, trying to go for one too many as the asking rate was touching 20 runs per over.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the West Indian caught by substitute Ravindra Jadeja at deep mid-wicket in the 15th over and from there on it was only a matter of time before India wrapped up the series.

Mohammed Shami, playing his first T20I in more than two years, returned impressive figures of 2/25 from his four overs, while Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar and Deepak Chahar also picked up two wickets each.

Earlier Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli combined to hit 16 sixes as India reached 240-3 in the first innings.

Sharma (71) and Rahul (91) put on 135 runs for the opening wicket to lay the platform for India's imposing total after the hosts were put into bat first.

Kohli soon joined the party to flay the West Indies attack as he completed his fifty in 21 deliveries and finished on an unbeaten 70 with four fours and seven sixes.

Rohit led the onslaught with an attacking fifty that was brought about with two sixes and a boundary to raise the roof.

Sharma became the first Indian batsman to hit over 400 international sixes with his first of five strikes over the fence. West Indies' Chris Gayle leads the sixes show with 534 across all three formats.

He finally fell while attempting another big heave to be caught by Hayden Walsh Jr off paceman Kesrick Williams.

Four balls later, Pollard got Rishabh Pant trudging back to the pavilion for nought to check India's surge but Rahul remained firm

The Windies lost destructive opener Evin Lewis even before they started their chase as the opener picked up a knee injury while fielding and could not continue.

Rahul, who completed his third fifty in the last four T20 innings and hit four sixes in his 56-ball knock, then put on 95 runs with Kohli before getting out in the last over.

India and West Indies will now play 3 ODI's on December 15 (Chennai), December 18 (Visakhapatnam) and December 22 (Cuttack).

Human Rights Day - December 10

Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10 every year and proclaims the basic rights everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being irrespective of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

It came into effect in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is available in more than 500 languages

 It is also the most translated document in the world

This year's theme for Human Rights Day is Youth Standing Up for Human Rights

2019 United Kingdom General Election Thursday Dec 12,2019 - All U Need To Know

The UK is set to go to the polls on Dec 12,2019 after MPs backed Boris Johnson's call for an election following months of Brexit deadlock.

By a margin of 438 votes to 20, the House of Commons approved legislation paving the way for the first December election since 1923

Number of constituencies: 650 (England: 533; Scotland: 59; Wales: 40; Northern Ireland: 18)

Average electorate size: England: 72,400; Scotland: 69,000; Northern Ireland: 66,800; Wales: 56,800

Smallest electorate: 21,200 in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency in Scotland

Largest electorate: 108,600 in Isle of Wight.


Why is this election being held?

This is the second election in which Brexit is the key issue, after the mid-term election called by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017. May hoped to win a larger majority to push through her version of Brexit, but ended up losing the slender majority her predecessor David Cameron had won in 2015. Leading a minority government, she was repeatedly defeated in parliament on Brexit-related motions and resigned in July 2019

Boris Johnson took over from May, but soon realised that despite getting the European Union to tweak May’s Brexit agreement, he did not have support in parliament. After repeated defeats, it became clear that only another election could resolve the Brexit imbroglio.


Who are the main players?

British politics has long been dominated by two parties: Labour and Conservative. But smaller parties have made major gains in recent years; such as Liberal Democrats and UK Independence Party (now in its new incarnation as the Brexit Party). The Conservative party has been in power most recently since 2010, when it led the coalition David Cameron government with the Liberal Democrats (2010-2015). Cameron led the party to a small majority in 2015, but stepped down after the 2016 referendum on UK’s membership of the EU. Brexit-related politics has since blurred loyalties, with rebels from both main parties joining hands in the last parliament, and some joining rival parties.


What are the key poll promises?

The main Brexit promises revolve around the shape and form of Brexit. The Conservative party promises to deliver Brexit by January 31 (the new deadline to leave the EU) based on the agreement reached with the EU by the Johnson government. Labour promises to negotiate a new agreement with the EU, and put it to the people before another referendum with two options: agree to leave with the new agreement or remain in the EU. The 2016 referendum result was close: 52 per cent voted to leave the EU, 48 per cent to remain.

Labour’s ‘second referendum’ promise has the backing of most non-Conservative parties, potentially leading to a labour-led non-Conservative coalition after the election. Opinion polls suggest the Conservative party is ahead of Labour, but if the former does not win a majority, it will lead to another round of Brexit-related political blood-letting in 2020


What is the majority mark in the House of Commons?
 
The majority mark is 326, but the real contest between the two main parties is to reach an effective majority, which is smaller than 326. The speaker and his three deputy speakers do not usually vote in the House. Also, Sinn Fein, the Northern Ireland-based party, which won seven seats in 2017, traditionally refuses to swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth; their MPs do not take up their seats in the House, thus further reducing the effective majority mark.

Party Position when the House of Commons was dissolved on Nov 06,2019 

• Conservative: 298
• Labour: 243
• Scottish National Party: 35
• Independents: 24
• Liberal Democrats: 20
• DUP: 10
• Sinn Fein: 7
• The Independent Group for Change: 5
• Plaid Cymru: 4
• Green party: 1
• Speaker: 1
• Vacant: 2

Indian Origin MP's

There were 12 MPs of Indian origin in the dissolved House of Commons; the number is likely to increase

The first three Indian-origin MPs in British history were Dadabhai Naoroji (1892, Finsbury Central), Mancherjee Bhownagree (1895, Bethnal Green North East) and Shapurji Saklatvala (1922, 1924, Battersea North)

There was then a gap of 63 years before Labour’s Keith Vaz was elected from Leicester East in 1987