The Hindu - 12th Jan 2023

₹2,600-cr. incentive for banks to promote digital payments

Summary:

The government has approved a plan to give banks 2,600 crore rupees to help people use digital payments like RuPay cards and UPI. Banks will use this money to help people use digital payments without having to pay a commission, called MDR. This will help banks keep providing digital payments, which is important for everyone.

Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is a fee charged to a merchant by a bank (or other payment provider) for accepting payments from customers using a payment card, like a debit or credit card. It is usually calculated as a percentage of the transaction amount.

Ministers in Delhi govt.
possess power over their
departments: Centre to SC

Summary:

The Centre and the Delhi government are arguing about who has control over certain things in the capital. The Centre says the Lieutenant-Governor should have power over things like public order, police, and land. The Delhi government says that the elected officials should have control over those things. The Supreme Court is hearing the argument and will decide who is right.

 

Uphaar tragedy: HC reserves order on plea against web series

Summary:

Sushil Ansal is an 83-year-old man who is a real estate tycoon. He is unhappy because a movie called 'Trial By Fire' is going to come out. It is about a tragedy that happened in 1997, when a fire in a movie theater killed 59 people. Sushil Ansal does not want the movie to come out because it makes him sound like a bad person. He asked a court to watch the movie before it comes out, to make sure it is okay. The court will decide soon if the movie can be released or not.

 

Women seek scrapping of Section 197 of CrPC and AFSPA in Assam

Summary:

The WinG India is a group of women who want to change a law that gives immunity to armed forces personnel. They want all cases of people who are hurt by these personnel, like two youths in Assam, to be registered and for the law to be changed so that these personnel do not have immunity. The women are asking for this law to be repealed so that justice can be served.

Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is a provision of the Indian law which prescribes the procedure to be followed while granting sanction to prosecute a public servant. It states that no court shall take cognizance of an offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant, except with the previous sanction of the Central or State Government or of the authority competent to remove him from his office. This provision is seen as a safeguard against malicious prosecution of public servants and is an important statutory provision that is a part of the Indian criminal justice system. 
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958, commonly referred to as AFSPA, is a controversial law enacted by the Indian Parliament to provide special powers to the armed forces in areas declared asdisturbed. It is seen as a draconian law as it grants sweeping powers to the armed forces, including the power to search, arrest, and even use lethal force under certain circumstances. Despite this, the law is seen as a necessary evil for maintaining law and order in regions where separatists or insurgents are active and has been enforced in several states in India.

JJ Rules authorise extracting confession from children: DCPCR

Summary:

The Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) is a government organization that works to protect the rights of children in Delhi. It has now gone to the Delhi High Court to challenge certain clauses of the Juvenile Justice Model Rules, which would allow a child to be asked questions that might lead them to confess to something they did not do. The DCPCR believes this is wrong and is asking the court to make sure that children are not put in this situation.

The clauses that are being challenged are Clauses 21 and 24 of Form 1 (Social Background Report) and Clauses 42 and 43 of Form 6 (Social Investigation Report for Children in Conflict with Law). These clauses require the child welfare police officer and the probation officer, child welfare officer or social worker to notethe reason for alleged offence and the alleged role of the child in the offence. The DCPCR has listed the Union government, the Union Law Ministry, and Delhi government as respondents and the petition is expected to be heard on January 13.

Will not try curative plea in Bhopal gas leak case like a suit, says SC

Summary:

A group of judges in the highest court of India, the Supreme Court, told the government that they will not change a past decision about how much money a company should pay for a terrible accident that happened over 30 years ago. The accident was caused by a gas leak from a factory owned by the Union Carbide Corporation, and many people were hurt or killed. The government wanted the company to pay more money, but the judges said that it was too late to change the past decision. They also said that the government should use its power to help the people who were affected by the accident, instead of asking the court to make the company pay more money.

 

Office of Registrar-General of India following ‘obsolete’ criteria to de"ne Scheduled Tribes

Summary:

The Office of the Registrar-General of India is following the criteria set out by the Lokur Committee from nearly 60 years ago to define any new community as a Scheduled Tribe. The Office of the RGI's nod is mandatory for the inclusion of any community in ST lists, as per the procedure for scheduling tribes. This comes even as the government, until December, 2017, insisted in Parliament that it was considering a proposal to change the criteria for scheduling of new communities as STs based on the report of an internal task force, which had called these criteria “obsolete”, “condescending”, “dogmatic”, and “rigid”.

RRR’s Naatu Naatu wins Golden Globe

A music composer from India named M M Keeravani won a big award at the Golden Globe Awards. His song "Naatu Naatu" was chosen as the best song and it is the first Asian song to win the award. The movie "RRR" that the song is in was also nominated for best picture. Many people were happy and dancing when they watched the movie in the USA. Keeravani thanked many people who helped make the song and movie successful and the actors in the movie were also excited and proud. The movie is from India and it is doing well in other countries too.

Bombay HC allows production and sale of J&J baby powder

The Bombay High Court has overturned an order by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that had prevented Johnson & Johnson from producing and selling its baby powder. The court said that it was not reasonable or proportionate to shut down the product permanently based on the test results, and that the FDA's actions were too harsh and delayed. The court also noted that the FDA should not always take a one-size-fits-all approach and that a manufacturer who is a repeat offender should be treated differently from one whose product has occasional lapses. The court was hearing a petition filed by Johnson & Johnson challenging the order by the state government canceling the manufacturing license of its baby powder in Mumbai.

 

Valery Gerasimov to head Russia’s Ukraine operation

Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov is now in charge of Russia's war effort in Ukraine. He is a very high-ranking military officer and is often considered the real leader of the Russian military. He is replacing Gen. Sergei Surovikin who was only in the job for 3 months. Some people think this change might mean that Russia is planning to do something big and wants a leader who can make decisions quickly and carry them out. Some analysts say that Russia might try to launch a new offensive soon.

U.K., Japan ink defence pact allowing troop deployments

The UK and Japan have made an agreement that will allow their military forces to be deployed to each other's countries. This is because Japan wants to work more closely with other countries that are friends with the US because they are worried about China becoming more powerful. The agreement will make it easier for their military to visit each other's ports and do exercises together. This is a big deal and the first time in over 100 years that the UK and Japan have made an agreement like this. The US and Japan also made an agreement to work more closely together and protect the region from threats from North Korea and China.

Peru President being probed after dozens killed in protests

Peru's President Dina Boluarte is going to be investigated, said the national prosecutor's office. The President's Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Interior Minister will also be investigated for the same thing. This is because there have been many protests in Peru recently that have caused many deaths and injuries. On Monday, 17 people died and many more were hurt in clashes. A group of people from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights are going to visit Peru to look into the violence. The UN Human Rights Office has also said that authorities should find out who is responsible and make sure that victims get justice.

SC to hear Google’s challenge to CCI’s Android order on Jan. 16

The Supreme Court in India has agreed to hear a case where Google is challenging a penalty of over 13 billion rupees (over $180 million) imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged anti-competitive practices in relation to Android mobile devices. The case will be heard on January 16th. Google's lawyer said that the CCI's decision had to be complied with by January 19th, and that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal had not provided any interim relief and had instead scheduled the case for April, which would make Google's appeal ineffective.

 

 


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