Karnataka Crisis: Ahead Of Trust Vote Tomorrow, “Balanced” Verdict From Supreme Court

  • The Karnataka Speaker is free to decide on the status of rebel lawmakers whose resignations endanger the ruling Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition, the Supreme Court said today.
  • “The discretion of the Speaker should not be fettered by any direction from the court. The Speaker can decide on the resignations as and when he feels appropriate,” the top court said, but added that his decision should be submitted to the court.

Hafiz Saeed, Mumbai Attacks Mastermind, Arrested, Sent To Jail: Pak Media

  • Hafiz Saeed, the Mumbai attacks mastermind, was arrested and sent to a jail in Lahore today, according to Pakistani media reports. He was sent to judicial custody and will face trial, said the reports.
  • Saeed was travelling to Gujranwala from Lahore to appear before an anti-terrorism court when he was arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan’s Punjab Province, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
  • Hafiz Saeed, the chief of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, faces 23 terror cases in Pakistan and is the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks

US slaps sanctions on Myanmar army chief over Rohingya abuses

  • The United States has announced sanctions on Myanmar’s military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and three other military leaders due to their role in the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya minority.
  • The State Department said on Tuesday it took action after finding credible evidence they were involved in the violence two years ago that led about 740,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh.

US proposes increasing merit-based immigration to 57%

  • The Trump administration is proposing a nearly five-fold increase in merit-based legal immigration and half those based on family and humanitarian system, in an effort to overhaul the outdated system.
  • Senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump, said having an immigration policy that would attract talented and meritorious people from across the world would create over USD 500 billion in tax revenues over 10 years.