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Onus on the CBI

The arraignment of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on corruption charges is a flashpoint in relations between the ruling BJP and Congress.

Is it all about 2019 Lok Sabha election?

It also came on the eve of the debate in Parliament on a no- confidence motion against the four-year-old Narendra Modi government.

The charge sheet, which names Chidambaram as an accused for the first time, was filed before special CBI judge P. Saini after two money trails of ₹26 lakh and ₹87 lakh to Karti Chidambaram’s firms, Chess Management and Advantage Strategic, were confirmed.
The charge sheet also names 16 other co-accused, including former finance secretaries Ashok Chawla, Ashok Jha, former Aircel CEO Srinivasanand, Maxis owners T. Ananda Krishnan and Ralph Marshal.
It will be taken up by the CBI judge on 31 July.
In the first charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case filed in 2014, the CBI had mentioned that it was probing certain irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approvals granted to foreign firms when Chidambaram was the finance
All the accused in the first charge sheet, including former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, were acquitted by a Delhi CBI court in February 2017.The father-son duo were being investigated by the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly receiving kickbacks to ensure FIPB clearance for the ₹3,500 crore Aircel-Maxis deal.
- In June, the ED had filed a charge sheet before a Delhi sessions court against Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
- The Chidambarams are also being investigated in the 305 crore INX Media case.
- In March, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI and the ED to complete their investigations into the alleged irregularities in FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. Chidambaram and his son have interim protection from arrest in the Aircel-Maxis case till 7 August.
- For a case that essentially turns on documentary evidence, the CBI has taken unusually long to come to this
- Chidambaram’s statement on the FIPB approval was recorded in December 2014, and since then his son has been under the scanner.
  - Chidambaram has maintained there was nothing amiss about the FIPB approval, which was given only after being processed at various levels.
  - The filing of a charge sheet against Chidambaram ends the uncertainty about the agency’s intentions.
  - The case against Chidambaram will be a test for the CBI not only on merits, but also in disproving the allegations of political vendetta.
    
    Fault lines in a ‘landmark’ judgment

On July 6, the day of his retirement as a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice A.K. Goel defended the verdict that he delivered on March 20, 2018 for the bench — framing guidelines on how to deal with a person accused under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

He had said, “An innocent should not be punished. There should not be terror in society… We do not want any member of the Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) to be deprived of his rights.”

The demand for “an inbuilt provision” to protect those falsely accused under the Act was first raised by a parliamentary committee in December 2014 and the apex court did so in March 2018.

The verdict is based on a lot we don’t

For example, while the court appears to have mistaken a large number of acquittals in atrocities cases to be false cases, the general consensus is that police apathy, the social and the economic might of the accused and the dependence of SC/STs on those accused would have resulted in acquittals.
There is no precise data on the scale and extent to which the Act has been misused by SC/ST employees.
What happens when a court determines that an atrocity case is false and was filed with
mala fide intent?
Did the Home Ministry (the nodal ministry for both the criminal justice aspect of the Act as well as service rules of Central government employees) assist the Additional Solicitor General who represented the government?

Article 338 clause 9 stipulates: The Union and every State Government shall consult the Commission [National Commission for Scheduled Castes] on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Castes.
Article 338A, which created the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, provides the same procedure (as per Clause 9) in case of STs. Therefore, when the court wears the policy-making hat in matters related to SC/STs, it too is constitutionally-bound to consult these commissions.

The task of balancing the rights of innocent persons facing false accusations and the need to accord legitimacy to the Atrocities Act requires compassion, equanimity, reverence for the Constitution and awareness so even impromptu comments from the top court will acquire the force of law.

Ortega’s choice

Nicaragua marked the 39th anniversary of the 1979 revolution against dictator Anastasio Somoza on

Those still loyal to Ortega, who helped lead the Sandinista uprising decades ago, say the country has made progress under his rule.

Detractors argue that Ortega has become a dictator himself and should step down after consolidating near- total political control in the hands of his family.

His wife, Rosario Murillo, occupies the vice presidency.
The trigger for the protests was the recent reform of the social security policy aimed at simultaneously raising individual contributions and reducingThe bitter political unrest in the country, now into its fourth month, shows no sign of abating, with President Daniel Ortega digging in his heels.
The veteran Sandinista guerrilla leader’s refusal to heed pleas to call elections next year, two years ahead of schedule, threatens to prolong the bloody conflict, with the confrontation already claiming more than 260 lives.
Students and the business community coalesced under the banner of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.
The Central American state, which has seen rapid economic growth in recent times, is forecast to raise output by only around5% to 1.5% this year.But their demand for Ortega to quit and call early elections was met by the paramilitary forces with a heavy hand.
Nicaragua’s fractured opposition lacks a unified strategy to channel the discontent into a political plan of action.
The modest estimate is ascribed to the economic pain and loss of thousands of jobs from the continuing unrest and the resulting uncertainty.

Important News

SC collegium stands firm on Justice Joseph

The Supreme Court collegium has reiterated its recommendation to appoint Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as a Supreme Court
The collegium also separately recommended Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran to the Supreme
The Supreme Court will have a record three serving women judges with the appointment of Justice Banerjee. The court has nine
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had specified these reasons in his two

letters to the collegium on April 26 and April 30.

In a crisp two-paragraph reply, the collegium said it gave careful thought to the objections and found that the Centre did not, in fact, have a single

adverse thing to say about Justice Joseph’s suitability for appointment as a
Supreme Court judge.

India to host U.S. for 2+2 talks

India will host the inaugural round of the two-plus-two dialogue with the U.S. on September
The ministerial-level meeting will cover bilateral, regional and global issues, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on
The dialogue will be led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from the Indian side and Secretary of State Mike R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis from the S.
This new dialogue format is in pursuit of agreement reached between India and the U.S. during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington C. on June 25-26 2017.
The announcement of the meeting, which was postponed twice before, comes in the middle of growing concern that anti-Iran sanctions from the U.S. might affect the energy scenario of
The context for the September 6 talks will be set by the sanctions against Iran, some of which are likely to be activated on August.

Packed agenda for PM on Africa trip
- India will sign a defence framework agreement with Rwanda next week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Kigali along with his tour of Uganda and South Africa from July 23 to 27, the External Affairs Ministry announced on
- In South Africa, he will attend the BRICS
- The defence agreement is expected to enhance ties between the two countries, which became Strategic Partners in January 2017, and will be accompanied by a number of agreements on dairy cooperation, leather exports, agriculture and cultural
- Modi is expected to gift 200 cows to a model village in Rweru, and will visit the genocide memorial centre in Kigali, remembering the one million Rwandans killed in the Hutu-Tutsi conflict during the 1994 pogrom.
- “This will be a very broad defence framework agreement, part of our attempts to step up strategic ties in African countries in the last four years Apart from being the Chair of the African Union, Rwanda is a gateway to
Africa for us,” said Secretary, Economic Relations, T.S. Tirumurti, briefing journalists about the PM’s visit.

Hackers stole 1.5 million health records: Singapore

Hackers have stolen the health records of 1.5 million ans, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, authorities said on Friday, with the leader specifically targeted in the city-state’s biggest ever data

China, UAE seal economic deals as Xi visits Abu Dhabi

China and the UAE had already agreed to oil and trade deals in the run up to Xi’s visit.
“We have substantial political and economic agreement and a solid base of projects in energy and technology sectors and infrastructure,” Dubai’s ruler said in a tweet.

Putin made ‘concrete’ Ukraine offer: envoy

‘No secret deals made at the summit’
“This problem has been discussed, concrete proposals have been made on how to resolve this issue,” Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said, referring to the four-year