Jayalalithaa death inquiry put on hold by top court over Apollo petition

  • The Supreme Court has put on hold the proceedings of a commission set up to investigate the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
  • The decision comes after Chennai’s Apollo Hospitals, where J Jayalalithaa spent her final weeks, challenged the summons to its doctors and the demand for the hospital records.

China’s Xi defends Belt and Road project, India skips event

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sought to allay growing concerns that his trillion—dollar Belt and Road project was pushing poor countries in a “debt trap” and pledged to make the connectivity scheme transparent.
  • India for the second time skipped the event in protest against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
  • A key component of the Belt and Road project passes through the disputed Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by it.

New Missile Gap Leaves US Scrambling to Counter Powerful China

  • At November’s biennial air show in the southern city of Zhuhai China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Ltd, screened an animation showing a hostile “blue force”, comprising an aircraft carrier, escort ships and strike aircraft, approaching “red force” territory.
  • With the US Pentagon distracted by almost two decades of costly wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, China’s People’s Liberation Army has exploited a period of sustained budget increases and rapid technical improvement to build and deploy an arsenal of advanced missiles.

Tens of thousands evacuated as Cyclone Kenneth hits Mozambique

  • A powerful tropical cyclone has made landfall in Mozambique, just six weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated the central part of the country and left hundreds dead.
  • Official says 30,000 people evacuated as second cyclone in six weeks batters Mozambique.

India, China on US “Black List” for intellectual property theft

  • China continues to head the “black list” prepared by the US government on intellectual property theft and patent violations worldwide, a list including 11 countries.
  • US in its report identifies “trading partners that do not adequately or effectively protect and enforce intellectual property (IP) rights or otherwise deny market access to US innovators and creators that rely on protection of their IP rights.”