Top stories on 21 November in a capsule
HEADLINES
After finally succumbing to military power, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe resigned on Tuesday evening. The announcement came minutes into a joint session of the Zimbabwean Parliament in Harare, convened to prise the 93-year-old from power. He defied demands to step down for almost a week after a military takeover and expulsion from his own ruling ZANU-PF party, but submitted his resignation soon after the Parliament started his impeachment process. Crowds cheered as a picture of Mugabe - hung in most public business premises - was taken down in the country's capital, Harare.
Zimbabwe President resigns after 37 years of reign
____________________
Tripura journalist shot dead after argument with policeman
In another case of attack on media people in Tripura, journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik was killed in an altercation with a police constable, on Tuesday. Bhownik, working for Bengali daily Synadan Patrika, was covering a story in the Tripura State rifles (TSR) camp. According to media reports, Bhowmik was in campus to meet the Commander of TSR, 2nd battalion Tapan Debbarma whereupon he was restricted by office staff, Nandu Riyang and an argument followed. The police assured that Bhowmik was rushed to a hospital, but he was declared dead upon arrival. Bhowmik’s editor, Animesh Datta said, “It is a murder and we want stern action against the accussed.”
Pradhyuman murder case: Accused bus conductor gets bail
Ashok Kumar, the accused bus conductor
in the murder of Pradhyuman Thakur was granted bail on Tuesday by the Gurgaon district
court. Kumar, who was initially accused of killing the seven-year-old Ryan International
school student, was granted on the basis of different results in the
investigations of the CBI and the Haryana Police. “There were a lot of
differences between findings of CBI and Haryana Police. We were given benefit
of doubt,” Kumar’s counsel, Anil Sharma told media sources. Despite
another arrest being made in the case, and insufficient evidence against him,
the CBI has not completely ruled off Kumar’s involvement.
____________________
____________________
FIR against BJP leader for derogatory comments on Padmavati cast
An FIR has been issued against BJP
leader Suraj Pal Amu, for his comments on actress Deepika Padukone and
filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Following the controversy around Padmavati
movie, the party’s chief media in Haryana said he would offer anyone an amount
of Rs 10 crore if they behead Padukone and Bhansali. The leader also threatened
that he would break actor Ranveer Singh’s legs. The National Commission for Women
(NCW) had earlier written to the Haryana Police to apprehend Suraj Pal. BJP, asserting that Suraj Pal’s comments are
not reflective of the entire party, had released a ‘show cause’ notice against
him on Monday.
________________
________________
Iran declares end of ISIS
Iranian President Hassan Rauhani on Tuesday declared the end of the Islamic state in an address broadcast live on TV. A senior commander of the revolutionary guards, major general Qassem Soleimani thanked its ally, the Lebanese militant group ‘Hezbollah’, for its ‘decisive’ role in the fight. More than a thousand members of the Guards, including senior commanders, have been killed in Syria and Iraq. President Rauhani will also meet its Russain counterpart Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for further talks on reduding violence in Syria.
____________________
More than 50 people were reported dead as a suicide bomber rocked the South African country of Nigeria on Tuesday. At a time when the worshippers gathered for the morning prayers, a teenager boy, launched the attack in Madina mosque at Adamawa state. Citing the attack as the deadliest one in recent times, the police said they were “still trying to get hold of the number of affected people.” Though no terror outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the region has close proximity to extremist group, Boko Haram, which has claimed similar attacks over the years.
At least 50 killed in Nigeria mosque attack
More than 50 people were reported dead as a suicide bomber rocked the South African country of Nigeria on Tuesday. At a time when the worshippers gathered for the morning prayers, a teenager boy, launched the attack in Madina mosque at Adamawa state. Citing the attack as the deadliest one in recent times, the police said they were “still trying to get hold of the number of affected people.” Though no terror outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the region has close proximity to extremist group, Boko Haram, which has claimed similar attacks over the years.
__________________
India's nominee, Dalveer Bhandari re-elected in International Court of Justice
Former Supreme Court judge,
Dalveer Bhandari, India’s nominee at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
was re-elected on Tuesday, with two-thirds population of the World Bank in his favor.
Bhandari was elected after a tough competition with British counterpart,
Christopher Greenwood. After the United Kingdom dramatically exited from the race,
citing strong competition and ‘it is wrong to take up the valuable time of the
Security Council and UNGA,” Bhandari secured the fifth and last seat in the
prestigious court. After the five rounds of voting, the other four countries to
join the panel are Brazil, France, Lebanon and Somalia.
____________________
USA declares North Korea 'sponsor of terrorism'
The USA government on Monday declared
North Korea ‘a state sponsor of terrorism’, in a move to put pressure on the
nation, following their sour ties. President Donald Trump announced that an
immediate sanctions will be put on North Korea from the US Treasury, citing
that this ‘should have happened long ago.’ Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson, addressing the media said that Washington has not given up hope on
coming to a diplomatic solution with the autocratic regime. “We hope with these
sanctions North Korea will be able to come at a solution.’
_________________
Transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced that people who send pictures of illegally parked cars will be rewarded. The reward will be 10% of the fine imposed for wrong parking, i.e. rupees 50 from the rupees 500 fine. Gadkari had added that he felt ashamed that absence of parking lots outside his own Ministry forced ‘ambassadors’ and ‘big people’ to park on road blocking the way to Parliament. Transport Bhawan will be the first government building to have an automated multi-level car parking facility in its premises at a cost of about Rs. 9 crore.
_____________________
Indian shares gain for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, led by gains in RIL, Sun Pharma and HDFC bank. Goldman Sachs raised the target price on Reliance by 26% to Rs1,205 and gave the stock a “buy” rating. BSE Sensex closed higher by 118 points to 33,478, while the Nifty rose 28 points to close at 10,326. Shares of Kotak Bank, Coal India and Power Grid fell 1.57%, 1.53% and 1.27% in the day’s trade, while Airtel, Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s were also among the top gainers. All the sectoral indices, except realty and FMCG, were trading in the positive territory
_________________
BUSINESS
Send pictures of illegally parked cars and get rewards: Gadkari
_____________________
Sensex, Nifty gain for the fourth straight day
