Chief Justice Gogoi recuses himself from plea against Nageshwar Rao

  • The plea is filed by an NGO Common Cause against the appointment of Negeshwar Rao as the interim chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
  • Gogoi cited his membership of selection committee to identify the next CBI chief as the reason.
  • Rao had taken over the role of the CBI Chief after Alok Verma was removed by a committee headed by the PM Modi.
  • The plea was filed by Prashant Bhushan stating the the committee which appointed Rao had no jurisdiction to make an appointment for the role.

Oxfam report highlights growing inequality between rich and poor in India

  • Last year the top one percent wealthiest people in India saw an increase of 39% in their wealth compared to an increase of 3% among the bottom half of the population.
  • The Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said that if the obscene inequality continues, the social and democratic structure of the country could collapse.
  • In the year 2018, the total revenue and expenditure of the country across the centre and all states for medicine, public health, sanitation, and water supply was less than total wealth of the richest person in India.
  • The study said that governments across the world are underfunding public services like healthcare and education and under-taxing the richest people.

PNB Scam accused Choksi renounces Indian citizenship

  • Mehul Choksi surrendered his passport in Antigua.
  • Choksi along with his nephew Nirav Modi are accused of scamming the Punjab National Bank of 13,600 crore.
  • Choksi had fled the country in January 2018 and the details of the scam came into light in February.

Indian Navy abandons efforts to find trapped miners in Meghalaya

  • The miners are assumed to be dead now and the Navy has been trying to retrieve the dead bodies.
  • The Navy has been using remotely-operated vehicle to search and pull the bodies but said that the bodies are getting disintegrated with every pull.
  • Navy divers are waiting for further instructions from the government.
  • Fifteen miners have been trapped in these illegal mines since December 13th and Supreme Court had expressed dissatisfaction at the rescue efforts.