Law doesn't allow razing Fl of homes of accused: SC

The Supreme Court questioned the bulldozing of homes and private properties of persons accused of crimes or even of their relatives by States as a possible act of public retribution, saying the law does not permit the destruction of the family shelters of even convicts.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners along with senior advocate C.U. Singh, urged the court to make a statement that "bulldozer justice will not be meted out anywhere in the country". 

Justice Viswanathan said the top court was intending to lay down uniform guidelines on a pan-India basis to streamline the procedure for identifying unauthorised structures, issuing notice to persons concerned, and giving them a fair hearing and subsequent action. 

Enhancing oversight

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, entrusted with overseeing the seven- year-old indirect tax regime, is slated to meet on September 9. 

This would be its second sitting in under three months, after a nine-month pause. 

The Council, whose parleys steered by the Union Finance Minister with States' representatives are critical for resolving taxpayer challenges and setting broader policy direction, ought to meet regularly at such frequency. 

Dealings at a China-Africa forum that India must track

The ninth edition of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is to take place from September 4-6, 2024, in Beijing. 

The event comes at a time when African nations are facing multiple issues such as high inflation, currency depreciation, a heavy debt burden, unconstitutional military takeovers and geopolitical challenges such as the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars, and attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial shipping in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Moreover, a sense of 'summit fatigue' has seeped into the mindset of African leaders following multiple recent Africa+1 summits with Türkiye, Russia, South Korea, and the U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit. 

Rather than having 54 leaders attend, following the Banjul format of 15 countries plus the African Union Commission (AUC) is more prudent. 

The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill is knotty

The central government introduced the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. 

Brought in in the wake of climate-induced disasters, the Bill shows much evidence of a further centralisation of an already heavily-centralised Disaster Management Act, 2005. 

This Act, in its current form, already mandates the creation of many authorities and committees at the national, State and district levels. 

The proposed Bill further provides statutory status to pre-act organisations such as the National Crisis Management Committee and a High-Level Committee, complicating the chain of action to be followed in case of disasters.  

What is the Unified Lending Interface by the RBI?

ULI is a platform that facilitates the seamless flow of a customer's digitised financial and nonfinancial data from multiple data service providers to lenders, making credit underwriting seamless and customer journeys frictionless for a diverse range of borrowers, according to Rajesh Bansal, CEO, of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub. 

While ULI facilitates access to data about the loan applicant's economic activities, it also allows financial sector players to access the data by connecting to the platform through a 'plug and play' model. 

Tenant farmers who often find it difficult to access agricultural credit for inputs and raw materials as they do not have the land title to submit to the banks can also avail of loans. 

PM's visit to Brunei, Singapore to focus on trade and technology

Building trade and technological ties will be at the top of the agenda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, as part of a two-nation tour, which will also take him to Singapore. 

In Brunei, he is expected to meet with the Sultan, Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, the world's longest reigning monarch, and India and Brunei will sign an MoU on space cooperation to take further their earlier 2018 cooperation agreement on satellite tracking. 

In Singapore, Mr. Modi will meet with new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who was sworn in in May this year, and the two leaders will witness the signing of four agreements on semiconductors, digital cooperation, healthcare, and skilling. 

First joint commanders' conference to see push for theatre commands

The detailed modalities prepared by the Services for the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands will be presented to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the first Joint Commanders Conference (JCC) scheduled to be held in Lucknow. 

The meeting is expected to see extensive deliberations on the issue, officials in the know said.

While those discussions continue, plans to set up four more Joint Logistics Nodes (JLNs) are in advanced stages, sources said. 

The new JLNs to come up at Leh, Siliguri, Sulur and Prayagraj will add to the three existing nodes at Mumbai, Guwahati, and Port Blair, two sources in- dependently confirmed. 

Centre constitutes 23rd Law Commission

The Centre on Monday notified the constitution of the 23rd Law Commission for a period of three years, with a provision to appoint serving Supreme Court and High Court judges as its chairperson and members. 

The term of the 22nd law panel ended on August 31. 

According to a Law Ministry order issued late on Monday night through a gazette notification, the panel will have a full-time chairperson and four full-time members including a member-secretary.

Cabinet okays seven schemes for farmers worth 14,235 crore

The Union Cabinet approved seven schemes for the agriculture sector with a total outlay of ₹14,235.30 crore, the most important among them being the 'Digital Agriculture (DAM). 

Mission' The DAM is a consolidated database on a single platform linking multiple databases and platforms from different Union Territories and States, as well as Ministries and Departments. 

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the decisions demonstrate the Centre's commitment to increase the use of technology in the agriculture sector and said it will benefit farmers. -

Cabinet nod for ₹3,300-cr. chip plant in Gujarat

The Union Cabinet approved a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat to be set up by Kaynes Semicon Pvt. Ltd.

The approval flows from the India Semiconductor Mission's modified scheme for setting up of semiconductor fabs. The scheme has an outlay of ₹76,000 crore. 

Nod for procurement of 240 aero-engines for Su-30MKI aircraft

The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the proposal for the procurement of 240 aero-engines for Su-30MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) under the 'Buy (Indian)' category from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of over ₹26,000 crore. 

Delivery of the AL-31FP aero-engines will start after one year and be completed over a period of eight years, a Defence Ministry statement said. The engines will have indigenous content of over 54%, the Ministry said, adding they would be manufactured at HAL's Koraput division. 

'Be wary of market financialisation'

Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nagewaran cautioned against excessive financialisation, the dominance of financial markets in public policy, given the risks it posed to macroeconomic stability. 

India's stock market capitalisation was about 140% of the GDP, he noted, adding, the record profitability of the Indian financial sector and high levels of market capitalisation, or the ratio of market capitalisation to GDP, gave rise to another phenomenon that deserved a closer watch. 

Bangladesh to restart | talks with India over Teesta water dispute

Bangladesh's interim government wants to restart with India the dialogue on the Teesta water sharing treaty, advisor on water resources Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said, asserting that upper-riparian and lower- riparian countries should adhere to international principles on the distribution of water. 

Speaking to PTI in Dhaka, Ms. Hasan expressed confidence that the Teesta treaty and other water- sharing agreements with India would be resolved amicably through dialogue but suggested that Bangladesh might consider international legal documents and principles if an agreement cannot be reached.