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President Ram Nath Kovind lauds Supreme Court for pursuing gender justice President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday praised the judiciary for pursuing the “cherished goal of gender justice” and appreciated the Supreme Court for being always “pro-active and progressive”. Delivering the valedictory address at the International Judicial Conference 2020-‘Judiciary and the Changing World’, he noted that the the Supreme Court had led a “progressive social transformation”. “In pursuing the cherished goal of gender justice, to mention one example, the Supreme Court of India has always been pro-active and progressive.” Source: The Hindu

Daredevil Mad Mike Hughes Believed The Earth is Flat, And Died While Trying to Prove it Mad Mike” Hughes, a self-styled explorer and daredevil bent on proving that the earth is flat was killed over the weekend when his homemade rocket crashed in the California desert over the weekend. “Michael ‘Mad Mike’ Hughes tragically passed away today during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket,” the Science Channel, which was planning to feature him on an upcoming series called “Homemade Astronauts,” said on Twitter. “Our thoughts & prayers go out to his family & friends during this difficult time. It...

India is driving Puma’s global growth: CEO New Delhi: India’s growing young population and increasing interest in fitness and sports will set Puma up for success in the future, the sportswear brand’s global chief executive Bjorn Gulden said. “It’s great to see the brand record sustained growth in India. It is a strategic market for Puma. A combination of global strength and local execution has accelerated the brand’s momentum in the country,” Puma SE’s chief Gulden said in a statement. Source: The Economic Times

Banker extraordinaire Nanoo Pamnani no more Mumbai: Veteran banker and chairman of Bajaj Finserv Nanoo Pamnani passed away on Saturday. He was 74. Pamnani was appointed chairman last year, after Rahul Bajaj (80) resigned to take over as chairman emeritus. In 2008, when Sanjiv Bajaj was chosen to head the financial services business, he got Pamnani as a crucial aide from within the family. The brother-in-law of Rahul Bajaj’s wife had just retired from Citibank as its India head. Source: ET Markets

BJP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri appointed leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday unanimously appointed its MLA from BJP MLA from Badarpur Ramvir Singh Bidhuri as the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly. “It is unanimously resolved that Ramvir Singh Bhiduri be appointed as the leader of the legislative party and the leader of the opposition,” the Delhi unit of the party said in a statement after a meeting in the morning ahead of a three-day session that began Monday. Source: Hindustan Times

Kashmiri men taking to terrorism has reduced drastically: Jammu and Kashmir DGP Against the backdrop of the revocation of Article 370 and creation of two union territories out of the erstwhile state, the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Dilbag Singh on Sunday said that the number of Kashmiri youth picking up guns has gone down drastically. Responding to media queries on the sidelines of a programme in Kathua on Sunday, the DGP said, “I told the media in Kashmir just yesterday that 240 to 250 militants are active in Kashmir as per a list with us. Source: Hindustan...

Dissent against govt is not anti-national: Justice Gupta A dissenter is not an anti-national. Holding a contrary view to that of the government does not make one an anti-national, Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta said on Monday. “Criticism of the executive, the judiciary, the bureaucracy or the armed forces cannot be termed ‘anti-national’. In case we attempt to stifle criticism of the institutions, we shall become a police state instead of a democracy….To question, to challenge, to verify, to ask for accountability from the government is the right of every citizen…”, he said. Source: The Hindu

Malaysian PM Mahathir submits resignation Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, at 94 the world’s oldest leader, submitted his resignation to the king on Monday, his office said, after a bid by his political partners to bring down the government. Dr. Mahathir “has sent a resignation letter as prime minister of Malaysia”, said a statement from his office. Malaysian politics was in turmoil on Monday after leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim denounced a “betrayal” by coalition partners he said were trying to bring down the government, two years after it stormed to victory. Source: The Hindu

The CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines said Muslim men are more likely to be ‘bombers’ and should be profiled at airports The CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines is facing criticism after saying Muslim men should be profiled at airports. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, 58, made the comment during an interview with The Times, saying that “males of a Muslim persuasion” who are traveling alone are more likely to be “bombers” and pose a higher risk to airlines than other passengers. He went on to say that profiling of Muslim families doesn’t have to be as...

‘This is a crisis, coronavirus is China’s biggest health emergency’: Xi Jinping President Xi Jinping on Sunday said the coronavirus epidemic is China’s “largest public health emergency” as the death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 2,442 and the number of infections hit almost 77,000 in the country. President Xi, who attended a meeting here to double efforts in coordinating the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak, said the epidemic “has the fastest transmission, widest range of infection and has been the most difficult to prevent and control”. Source: Hindustan Times