A select list of stories to read before you start your day.
Sri Lanka reduces Easter blasts death toll from 359 to about 253
Sri Lanka late on April 25 revised the death toll from the Easter Sunday blasts by more than 100, to “about 253”, according to the Health Ministry.
Authorities earlier said that nine suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out the devastating blasts that killed 359 people and wounded more than 500 others.
CJI tears into Assam move on detenues
The Supreme Court on Thursday lashed out at the Assam government’s proposal to conditionally release and monitor declared foreigners languishing in its detention centres for over five years, saying the court would not be a party to such a move which is both illegal and violative of the Constitution.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the proposed measure reflected the government's failure to deport declared foreigners.
Justice Ramana recuses from judges’ panel examining allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi
In a three-page letter to his colleagues in the Supreme Court, Justice N.V. Ramana on Thursday recused himself from the Justice S.A. Bobde-led in-house inquiry committee examining allegations of sexual harassment levelled by a former apex court employee against the Chief Justice of India “in keeping with the highest standards of judicial propriety and wisdom”.
Check on Modi’s chopper: CAT stays suspension of Karnataka IAS officer
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Thursday stayed the Election Commission (EC) order suspending Mohammed Mohsin, an IAS officer from Karnataka, for allegedly violating instructions related to SPG protectees in searching the helicopter used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for election campaign in Odisha.
Maruti to dump ‘dirty’ diesel models from 2020
Car buyers eyeing a diesel-powered vehicle from the Maruti Suzuki stable will have less than a year to make their choice as the company plans to stop manufacturing such vehicles starting next financial year.
Maruti Suzuki, which is the largest car maker in the country, on Thursday, announced plans to discontinue selling all diesel cars in the country from April 1, 2020, citing uncertainty over demand for such vehicles due to “significant” increase in price once the new BS VI emission norms kick in..
Opinion | An illustrative case
These are no doubt extraordinary circumstances, but to advance the cause of justice, it’s important that basic procedural norms are respected. Given the absence of a proper, institutional mechanism, it’s likely that any mode adopted to judge the charges made will prove indiscriminate. But that’s precisely why the Supreme Court needs to step up, to collectively show us that it can establish an ethical precedent.
Kiev passes law strengthening Ukrainian language use
Ukraine’s Parliament on Thursday passed a law enforcing the use of the Ukrainian language in official settings, a move likely to rile Russian-speaking areas of the country and Moscow.
Lawmakers approved the measure, which also increases the quota for Ukrainian-language television and radio programming, just days after Russian-speaking Volodymyr Zelensky was elected President.
‘N. Korea needs security guarantees’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said after holding his first face-to-face talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday that U.S. security guarantees would probably not be enough to persuade Pyongyang to shut its nuclear programme. Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim held a day of talks on an island off the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok two months after Mr. Kim’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump ended in disagreement.
‘Jet’s lenders gave paltry sums in instalments’
Days before announcing ‘temporary’ suspension of flight operations on April 17, 2019, the Jet Airways management literally begged for funds before banks to sustain the airline’s operations and pay salaries, but money was only trickling, it has now emerged.