The Indian Supreme Court has spoken against handing out an ‘indefinite’ jail term to an accused over fears of national security and more than half the population of Afghanistan are facing ‘severe hunger’ …writes Joyeeta Basu
News in brief from South Asia
India
Supreme Court: Can’t keep someone in jail indefinitely over national security fears: Giving emphasis to “bail, not jail” judicial philosophy, the court said no person can be indefinitely kept in jail on the fear that the accused’s activities could prove detrimental to national security, reports The Times of India.
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COVID-19: India reported 2.55 lakh daily new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in a week. The cases in the third wave of the pandemic have started to fall in seven states and union territories, while several others were witnessing a slowdown in the surge, weekly numbers reveal, reports The Times of India.
Air India divestment set to take place on Thursday: In a communication to the airline’s employees, a senior company official wrote: “The disinvestment of Air India is now decided to be on January 27, 2022.” Last month, India approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express, and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, reports IANS.
BJP suspends two showcaused leaders in Bengal: Within a day of sending showcause letters to two BJP leaders in West Bengal, the saffron party has suspended them temporarily. Joy Prakash Majumdar and Ritesh Tiwari were believed to be indulging in anti-party activities publicly, reports IANS.
‘Hindutva, hyper-nationalism and public welfare, biggest strength of BJP’: The BJP has pitched a “formidable narrative” leveraging issues of Hindutva, hyper-nationalism, and public welfare, and opposition parties stand very little chance unless they can outweigh it on at least two of these fronts, election strategist Prashant Kishor said in a special interview to NDTV on Monday.
Financial news
Over Rs 3K crore FII funds outflow plunge Indian equities: A massive flight of foreign capital along with prospects of a global conflict in Europe battered Indian equities on Monday. High oil prices, upcoming budget and lacklustre quarterly results also added to the volatility as some analysts compared the day’s fall to the US ‘Black Monday’ crash of 1987, reports IANS.
Pakistan
Imran Khan lobbied for “old friend” Navjot Sidhu: Punjab’s former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s declared his seat-sharing with the BJP with a shocker on Sidhu. Singh said: “The Pakistan Prime Minister had sent a request, saying if you can take back Sidhu into your Cabinet I will be grateful, he is an old friend of mine. You can remove him if he will not work,” reports NDTV.
Bangladesh
China mega-tech drives Bangladesh mega highway: Work on a joint Chinese-Bangladeshi venture to build a transformational highway bypassing Bangladesh capital Dhaka is well underway. Around 400 million US dollars will be spent on the four-lane artery, reports Global Times.
Afghanistan
More than half of population facing ‘severe hunger’: At least 23 million people, which is more than half of the population in Afghanistan, are facing severe food shortages and about 9 million are on the brink of starvation, the Associated Press reports.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka hopeful of obtaining further Indian aid of USD 1.5 billion: The Sri Lankan government has said that there is a possibility of it obtaining a further USD 1.5 billion in aid from India, weeks after New Delhi announced a billion-dollar assistance package and a balance of payment support to the crisis-hit island nation, reports The Economic Times.
On a lighter note…
Kartik Aaryan threatened to quit ‘Shehzada’ producer reveals why: Manish Shah in a recent interview has revealed that Kartik Aaryan threatened to quit ‘Shehzada’ if the original Telugu film ‘Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’ was released in Hindi. Talking to IndiaToday.in, he said, “Kartik Aaryan said if the movie was released in theatres, he would walk out of the film, which would have caused Shehzada producers a loss of Rs 40 crores. It was extremely unprofessional of him.”
Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkumar Rao’s Badhaai Do’s trailer out: Sharing the screen space for the first time, Rajkummar and Bhumi will be seen portraying interesting characters they have never played on screen before. The movie directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni, reports AsianLite.
Katrina Kaif shares gorgeous pictures of herself from Maldives: Katrina Kaif has shared some beautiful pictures of herself from Maldives. The actress looked stunning as she sunned herself while dressed in a cool and casual outfit, as she called it her happy place.
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