Justice Indu in panel to probe charges on CJI; another explosion rocks SL

Justice Indu Malhotra appointed to in-house inquiry panel to probe allegations against CJI

Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra was on Thursday (April 25) appointed a new member of the in-house inquiry panel set up to examine the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, following the recusal of Justice NV Ramana. Justice SA Bobde, who is heading the inquiry panel and is the senior-most judge after the CJI, has appointed Justice Malhotra to the committee. Justice Indira Banerjee is also part of the panel. Earlier, Justice NV Ramana, who recused himself from the in-house inquiry panel set up to examine the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on Thursday termed as “baseless and unfounded” the “aspersions” cast by a former woman employee of the apex court on him. Opting himself out of the three-member in-house inquiry committee, he said he has recused only to “avoid any suspicion that this institution will not conduct itself in keeping with the highest standards of judicial propriety and wisdom”.

Spoiler: Tamilrockers ‘release’ Avengers: Endgame on internet  

The most-anticipated and much-awaited Hollywood superhero film, Avengers: Endgame, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, has been released on Tamilrockers, a piracy website.Hours ahead of the movie’s release, the website released the entire movie online. The makers of the film, Joe and Anthony Russo, on social media, had urged fans to not give away any spoilers so that it could be enjoyed in toto by all. Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is eyeing a record-breaking start of around ₹400 crore at the Indian box office.

CAT stays suspension of IAS officer who checked PM’s copter

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) here on Thursday (April 25) stayed the order of the Election Commission suspending IAS officer Mohammed Mohsin for checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter in Odisha. The officer from Karnataka cadre, deployed in Odisha as a general observer, was suspended on April 17 for checking Modi’s helicopter in Odisha’s Sambalpur in violation of norms for dealing with SPG protectees and sent back to the state. The CAT maintained that during an election process while reasonable assurances of protection and security must be made available to SPG protectees, it cannot be said “they are eligible for anything and everything”.

Lanka attacks could be work of Prabhakaran-like leader: Fonseka

The Islamist extremist group behind the deadly Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka would have been planning the suicide attacks for “at least seven to eight years” and could be led by someone having the calibre of slain LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran, according to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. Speaking during the emergency debate in Parliament, Fonseka, who led the Sri Lankan military that vanquished the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009, was quoted by the media as saying that the Easter attacks were a long planned one. “It took 12 years for the LTTE to carry out a suicide attack on then defence minister Ranjan Wijeyaratne. Therefore, these people must have planned the recent attack at least seven to eight years ago,” he said on April 25.

Days after the serial bomb blasts in Colombo that killed more than 350 people and injured over 500, another explosion took place in Pugoda town, 40 kilometres east of Colombo on Thursday morning (April 25). Meanwhile, all church services have been suspended in the island nation. Also, 16 more suspects have been arrested in connection with the horrific Easter Sunday blasts. Search operations, is still on to identify more suspects, if any.

Hospital disaster management plan for Tamil Nadu finalised

Exactly two years after the expert committee was constituted with members of various departments, the recommendations on hospital disaster management are now ready to be submitted to the High Court for approval. The recommendations got prepared after the Madras High Court directed the formation of the committee, in 2017, following a petition by social activist Jawahar Shanmugham to look into various norms flouted by both the government and the private hospitals.

NASA’s InSight lander records first likely ‘marsquake’

NASA’s robotic Mars InSight lander has recorded a likely “marsquake” for the first time ever, the US space agency said. The faint seismic signal, detected by the lander’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, was recorded on April 6, the lander’s 128th Martian day. This is the first recorded trembling that appears to have come from inside the planet, as opposed to being caused by forces above the surface, such as wind, NASA said in a statement. Scientists still are examining the data to determine the exact cause of the signal.

Answer to ‘missing’ plastic in Indian Ocean still evades scientists

The Indian Ocean is the world’s biggest dumping ground for plastic waste, but where the trash ultimately ends up has remained a mystery, scientists say. According to researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA), little research had been done to measure and track plastic waste in the Indian Ocean. The team found that unique characteristics of the southern Indian Ocean transport floating plastics towards the western side of the ocean, where it leaks past South Africa into the South Atlantic Ocean.

Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin vow to seek closer ties during first talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to seek closer ties as they met face-to-face on April 25 for the first time. The meeting in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok came with Kim looking for support in his nuclear stand-off with Washington and Putin keen to put Moscow forward as a player in another global flashpoint. In brief statements before heading in to the talks, both leaders expressed their hopes for strengthening historic ties. Putin told Kim he supports ongoing efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and wants to boost economic ties.