Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

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• Supreme Court’s order directing the Centre to frame a scheme to establish special courts exclusively to try cases against politicians marks another milestone in the higher judiciary’s continuing campaign to cleanse politics of the taint of crime.

• A few prominent leaders have been successfully tried and sentenced, but these are exceptions rather than the rule.• 2013: immediate disqualification

• 2014: it directed completion of trials involving elected representatives within a year.

• Now: keen on establishing a time-bound and exclusive judicial mechanism

• There is already a provision for special courts to try various classes of offences. For instance, corruption, terrorism, sexual offences against children and drug trafficking are dealt with by special courts.

• The earlier order for completion of trial within one year appears to have had no significant impact.

• Special courts may indeed address these issues, but the ideal remedy will always be a speedy trial in regular courts. www.studyiq.com

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• Processes of democratization: There have been reversals, counter coups, revolutions and so-called ‘springs’, and some successes and many failures.

• If each case offers very specific circumstances to how democratic transitions faltered or progressed, Pakistan’s incomplete transition, while still underway, has its own set of specificities which makes generalisation difficult.• The wobbly transition since 2008 still continues, though not without its challenges.

• Pakistan’s much-celebrated first civilian democratic transition in 2013

• The Army was ‘definitely’ behind this ouster (Nawaz Sharif), for the “judges would not have had the courage to do what they did otherwise”.• The truth is that we really don’t know.

• Perhaps the only worrying sign is that the Pakistan military continues to tweet that it supports democracy.

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• The Naga people are a proud race and have held fast to their cultures, traditions and language.

• Perhaps one of the most talked about issues as far as the Northeast is concerned is the Naga struggle for sovereignty which started a day before India’s Independence.

• The Naga national workers are no longer in the prime of their lives.

• In August 2015, when the Framework Agreement was signed between the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M).

• The Centre’s Interlocutor for the Naga Peace talks, R.N. Ravi, has taken on a formidable task. No other interlocutor has interacted with and met so many Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) and civil society groups.

• With 16 major tribes, each with a sense of nationality of its own and every tribe having its village republics which is a crucial part of their culture, there will be divergent ‘national’ narratives.

• One ray of hope as far as the Framework Agreement is concerned is that there appears to be a political consensus and faith in the process.

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• No summer is complete without stories of the fragile power generation situation and of people dying of heat strokes just as no winter is complete without stories of cold-related deaths.

• The jugaadu system that we Indians are so proud of limits us because what is really a quick-fix Plan B becomes a Plan A. A Plan A is a well thought out scheme that incorporates and takes into consideration more than one aspect while looking at the immediate and long term.

• In the case of potholed roads, for instance, citizens are either immune to the problem caused, unaware of it, believe there is no solution, or believe that it is their fate to deal with such roads. Therefore, filling potholes is an accepted solution.

• There is no need to seek answers to questions like, can traffic be reduced, if not regulated? How are contracts being tendered for road laying and maintenance? Are there fines imposed on contractors for using bad quality material?

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• Only 3% of VC posts & 1.5% of professorial positions in India are occupied by women. • There is no comprehensive data available on the incidence of sexual harassment in

universities.• However, reports of sexual harassment in academic spaces are rampant.

• For ages, we have given primacy to the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty. But to hold that principle as a sword over the heads of survivors, who our systems have often failed, is tantamount to saying that we care about the appearance of justice more than the actual experience of injustice.

• The list has names of persons who have been indicted of sexual harassment as well as persons against whom vague charges have been made without any details by the complainants.

• It is a form of lynching on social media, akin to what is happening in the real world of khap panchayats and kangaroo courts.

• A due process protect respects the rights of persons. • Many of us remain silent precisely because there is a repercussion — either we are

vilified, or our careers take a hit, or the process takes years out of our lives instead of the offenders carrying the cross.

• None of us are the final arbiters of truth and justice and this inflection point will compel us to find a more inclusive language in which to talk to each other.

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Unchahar blast death toll goes up to 26

• Union Power Minister RK Singh has announced that a committee has been formed under Chairmanship of Director Technical to probe the cause of the yesterday's blast at NTPC's Power Plant at Unchahar, Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.

• He said, working and efficiency of machines set up in the NTPC plant by BHEL will also be probed.

• Compensation for the injured has been increased from two lakh to 10 lakh rupees to seriously injured and 2 lakh rupees to those who have received minor injuries.

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Delhi LG cannot sit on govt. schemes: SC

• The Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi cannot stultify proposals or schemes forwarded by the Council of Ministers to him by simply sitting on it, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed

• His observations came on the first day of a five-judge Constitution Bench hearing of a batch of nine appeals filed by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government against an August 4, 2016, judgment of the Delhi High Court.

• The AAP government argued that the High Court declared that the LG has “complete control of all matters regarding National Capital Territory of Delhi, and nothing will happen without the concurrence of the LG.”

• The 69th Amendment of the Constitution in 1992 gave the National Capital of Delhi special status with its own democratically elected government and legislature.

• Sub-section (4) of Article 239AA mandates that a Council of Ministers shall aid and advise the LG in his functions regarding laws made by the Assembly.

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India hits out at China’s stance

• India hit out at double standards in the war on terrorism on Thursday, hours after China blocked a move at the United Nations Security Council to place Masood Azhar, the Pakistan-based chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, in a list of global terrorists.

• India’s strong response did not name China but hinted at “one country” that had hurt the global campaign to ban the terror mastermind who is blamed for several attacks against India, including the Pathankot airbase attack of 2016.

• “We are deeply disappointed that once again, a single country has blocked international consensus on the designation of an acknowledged terrorist and leader of UN-designated terrorist organisation,” said a late evening statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

• China blocked an attempt by the U.S., U.K., and France to place Masood Azhar in the list of global terrorists of the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council citing “no consensus” as a ground for its objection.

• “India strongly believes that double standards and selective approaches will only undermine the international community’s resolve to combat terrorism,” said the MEA statement. www.studyiq.com

India offers to share real-time maritime data

• India has made an offer to share intelligence of maritime movements in the Indian Ocean in real-time with 10 Indian Ocean littoral states.

• This comes even as India gears up to counter China’s increased presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

• The Indian Navy is hosting Navy and Maritime Chiefs of 10 countries of IOR at the first GMC to identify common threats in the region and evolve a mechanism on how to tackle them.

• Welcoming the offer, a Navy Chief of one of the Indian Ocean littorals present said all countries should pitch in equally in the effort. “It has to be done equally by all nations, small or big. We have to work out modalities for the information exchange,” he said on the sidelines of the GMC.

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Modi attends Akshardham celebrations

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday participated in the silver jubilee celebrations of the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar and praised its founder late Pramukh Swami for bringing about positive changes in the society.

• While addressing a gathering of Swaminarayan sect’s disciples, Mr. Modi said Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar and Delhi should be a case study of how modern technology could be blended with Indian traditions.

• Late Pramukh Swami, who headed Bochasanvasi Akshar Puroshottam Sanstha, a sub-sect of Swaminarayan sect in Gujarat, built around 1,200 temples across the world including the two giant temple complexes in Gandhinagar and New Delhi.

• During his 30-minute speech, Mr. Modi reminisced about instances of his interactions with late Pramukh Swami and said he was “very lucky” to have the blessings of the Swami from the very beginning of his career.

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Suu Kyi visits troubled Rakhine

• Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Thursday urged people “not to quarrel” as she visited Rakhine State for the first time since a military crackdown that drove more than 6,00,000 RohingyaMuslims to flee the country.

• Ms. Suu Kyi has faced heavy international criticism for not taking a higher profile in responding to what UN officials have called “ethnic cleansing” by the Army.

• Ms. Suu Kyi launched a project last month to help rehabilitation and resettlement in Rakhine and has urged tycoons to contribute.

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FinMin calls meet over credit growth

• Top bankers from state-run lenders will brainstorm for two days with finance ministry officials on November 11 and 12 in New Delhi to mull over ways to revive credit growth amid a sluggish economy.

• The move comes days after the government announced a Rs 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation package, to be implemented over two years, for public sector banks.

• The interaction, which will be on the lines of Gyan Sangam, an initiative started in 2014, will be attended by managing directors, executive directors as well as general managers of all public sector banks.

• Apart from discussions on boosting credit growth, the meeting is also expected to deliberate on issues such as stressed asset resolution process, human resource challenges and capital requirements, among others.

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India-made Falcon will fly in 2022, says Reliance Group

• The Reliance Group’s joint venture with Dassault Aviation to manufacture components for Rafale fighter aircraft is much talked about.

• However, the group is also harbouring ambitions to fly out business jets and passenger planes made entirely in India, the first private sector company that may end up doing so.

• Reliance, in a joint venture with the €3.6 billion Dassault Aviation, will start making the business jet Falcon from January 2018 at the Dassault Reliance Aviation Limited (DRAL) facility in Mihan, Nagpur and the first Falcon is expected to fly out of Mihan as early as 2022 for the global markets.

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Answers

1)

2) Refurbishing old ports and building new ones

3) 42 positions

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Questions

1)Logically explain why Ease of Doing Business Report of World Bank alone is not enough to revive investment climate in the country.

2)What is UNSCR 1267?

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