Finally, Lanka could host India-Pak series
First, the much-awaited bilateral series between
India and Pakistan was supposed to be held in UAE.Then, the Indian cricket
board (BCCI) insisted that it take place in India. Finally , Sri Lanka has
emerged as the neutral venue of choice to host the series, comprising three
ODIs and two T20Is to be played between December 20, 2015 and January 3, 2016.
Sri Lanka's cricket board (SLC) officials confirmed this development to TOI on
Monday .With BCCI president Shashank Manohar opposed to playing in UAE
-Pakistan's adopted home -and Pakistan not willing to play its home series in
India, the two boards came up with this compromise formula after Manohar and
Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan met in Dubai on Sunday . England and
Wales Cricket Board chief Giles Clarke played mediator.
Govt open to `tweaking' GST to get it passed
The Centre is reaching out to opposition parties
on the goods and services tax (GST) as it seeks to ensure passage of the
Constitution amendment bill during the winter session of Parliament which
starts from Thursday .It is not averse to incorporating some of the changes proposed by
Congress in order to enlist the party's support in Rajya Sabha, which is
essential to get the reforms legislation passed.The Centre reportedly plans to
take up the matter directly with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president
Rahul Gandhi.It has also reached out to SP, Trinamool Congress, AIADMK and TRS,
which are sympathetic to the need for early passage of the crucial legislation.
State arms itself
with CrPC tweak
In what opens a fresh
flashpoint with the Centre, the ruling AAP MLAs in the Delhi assembly passed
amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), giving the state powers to
widen the scope of magisterial inquiry and not bank solely on reports by
investigating officers of the police in matters where it feels a deeper probe
is required.
4th finance report to be tabled
The AAP-led Delhi government on Monday told Delhi
high court that the process to place the Fourth Finance Commission of Delhi's
report before the assembly has already been initiated.The
submission was made before a court of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.“It is
submitted that report of the commission and an explanatory memo on action taken
thereon was submitted to the lieutenant governor.The LG has ordered that the
recommendations made be presented before the assembly of GNCTD in terms of the
Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957,“ the government stated in its affidavit.
Online trade licence system launched
The BJP-ruled South Delhi Municipal Corporation
launched an online system for trade and storage licence on Monday under “Ease
of doing business“ along the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital
India initiative. The online system aims to reduce the level of corruption
within their departments and abolition of “inspector raj“, along with easing
off the pressure on traders by providing a user-friendly interface.“The traders
are happy,“ said Ramesh Khanna, president of All India Traders As sociation of
Delhi.
7 killed in chopper
crash at Vaishno Devi
Six pilgrims and a woman pilot were killed on
Monday when a helicopter carrying them from the Vaishno Devi base camp at Katra
to the temple, barely 50 km away, crashed minutes after it took off. The
pilgrims included a Jammu IAF officer and his wife who had tied the knot last
Wednesday, and a six-year-old girl from Delhi accompanied by her father.The
helicopter belonged to private company Himalayan Heli Services. Along with
another private operator Global Vectra, the two services carry out 100-odd
sorties per day during this month of pilgrim traffic between Katra and
Sanjhichatt, near the cave shrine, a journey that is 7 to 8 minutes long.
WOMEN'S WORLD
The recently released
Global Gender Gap report ranks India second highest in one indicator of
political empowerment of women. In the past 50 years, India had a female prime
minister or president for 21 years, the second highest after Bangladesh. It is
followed by Ireland, Iceland, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.Among 145 countries
for which data was available only 12 saw women leaders in such role for more
than 10 years. Among major democracies, the US, Spain, Russia, Italy, Japan,
Canada and the Netherlands are yet to see a female leader rise to the highest
post
SpaceX gets first
Nasa offer to ferry astronauts to ISS.
Private space transport company SpaceX has be en
offered its first Nasa contract to deliver a team of astronauts to to the
International Space Station in 2017.Historically, Nasa has
taken charge of organising and conducting its own missions -however, in recent
years, more space mission contracts have been given to private companies like
Boeing. Tech superstar Elon Musk's SpaceX has now been given its own. The
astronauts involved in upcoming mission will be sent into space aboard SpaceX's
futuristic Crew Dragon spacecraft.
