Daily wrap: Fire on board INS Vikramaditya, SL police chief resigns

Fire on board INS Vikramaditya: one dead, probe ordered

A fire broke out on board INS Vikramaditya, India’s 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, on Friday (April 26) as the ship was entering the Karwar port, in Karnataka. Lieutenant-commander DS Chauhan, who led the firefighting efforts, died, said an NDTV report. The fire was brought under control but the officer lost consciousness due to smoke and fumes during the firefighting efforts. He was rushed to the naval hospital at Karwar, but could not be revived. Reports said there was no damage to the combat capabilities of the ship. The Navy has ordered a board of inquiry.

Sri Lanka police chief resigns over bombings: President

Sri Lanka’s top police official, Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, has resigned over failures that led to the deadly Easter bomb attacks, the country’s president said on April 26. “The IGP has resigned. He has sent his resignation to the acting defence secretary. I’ll nominate a new IGP soon,” President Maithripala Sirisena told reporters. Sirisena’s nominee has to be confirmed by a constitutional council. The resignation comes after the country’s top defence ministry official, defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned on April 25.

Fake news on social media: A menace with a mission

With 900 million eligible voters, the largest democratic process to elect the 17th Lok Sabha is underway in India. But the spread of misinformation on social platforms not only poses a serious challenge to the democratic system but also vitiates the poll atmosphere in the run up to the elections. “Misinformation existed even before the social media age. So it is not about how much information is spread online, but about how social media companies reduce the velocity of that information spread,” Pratik Sinha, Co-founder of Alt New, a fake news debunking platform said.

SC stays inquiry commission proceedings into Jaya’s death at Apollo

The Supreme Court on April 26 stayed the proceedings of an inquiry commission set up to probe the death of then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai in 2016. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was hearing the appeal of Apollo Hospitals against the April 4 order of the Madras High Court rejecting its objection against the ongoing inquiry into the death of the AIADMK leader at the hospital. “Notice. Stay of further proceedings of the inquiry commission,” the bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said. The AIADMK-led state government had set up the inquiry commission to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016 at Apollo Hospitals.

Nirav Modi, Choksi’s luxury cars auctioned at ₹3.29 cr: ED

A dozen luxury cars of PNB scam accused businessmen Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been auctioned, fetching the government exchequer ₹3.29 crore, the ED said on Friday (April 26). The vehicles were attached by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the past. “There are 13 vehicles (11 belonging to Nirav Modi group and 2 belonging to Mehul Choksi group) put on e-auction through MSTC platform on April 25. “Out of these 13 vehicles, twelve (10 of Nirav Modi group and 2 of Mehul Choksi group) were successfully bided for a total amount of ₹3,28,94,293,” it said.

SC directs RBI to disclose information on bank inspection report under RTI

The Supreme Court on April 26 directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose information pertaining to its annual inspection report of banks under the Right to Information (RTI) Act unless they are exempted under law. A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao also directed the federal bank to review its policy to disclose information relating to banks under RTI, saying “it is duty bound under the law”. The bench, which did not go ahead with contempt proceedings against the RBI, made it clear that it was giving a last opportunity to it to comply with provisions of the transparency law. The bench said it would have taken a serious view to the refusal of RBI to part with information under RTI. “Any further violation shall be viewed seriously,” the bench said.

Library with a difference: How conversations help foster positivity

The human library is a place where one gets to interact with “human books” and learn from their life journeys that epitomise triumph of human spirit over adversities, prejudices and biases. The “authors” are people who tell the stories of their lives to the visitors of the library, the odds they had faced and how they struggle to overcome them. Like a conventional library, it has a catalogue which gives snapshots and titles of “human books” and what kind of journey they represent. The visitors can seek an appointment with the “human book” of their choice through the librarian who will then arrange the interaction. It’s a framework that creates a positive environment that allows people to challenge prejudices and stereotypes through dialogue.