The Daily Brief – 26th June 2019

Rachna Khaira of The Tribune News Service has bagged prestigious RedInk Award for for Excellence in Indian Journalism ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2019 for her expose during 2018 on functioning of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and its Aadhaar data cache. Dinu Ranadive and Sebastian D’Souza jointly received 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Red Ink awards are a set of annual awards which were instituted by The Mumbai Press Club in 2010.

Bong-kil Shin, South Korean Ambassador to India launched Jaipur Foot Korea, a collaborative initiative between South Korea and Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), a Jaipur-based prosthetic limb non-profit organisation. BMVSS is the world’s largest organisation rehabilitating more than 1.78 million disabled.

European Space Agency (ESA) recently tested a device called Evacuation System Assembly (or LESA), which is designed to assist in astronaut rescue missions on the surface of Moon. As per ESA, it is world’s 1st device aimed to help future incapacitated astronauts. In order to rescue a fallen colleague, LESA can be operated just by a single astronaut thus ensuring a rapid and safe rescue.

As per Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman the number of wilful defaulters in nationalised banks has increased by more than 60% to 8,582 in five years to March 2019. Wilful Defaulter is an entity or a person that has not paid the loan taken back to the bank despite having the ability to repay it. As per data reported by 17 nationalised banks in India, till 31 March 2019, suits for recovery have been filed in 8,121 cases out of 8,582.

Following extensive diplomatic pressure from India, the Prime Minister of Antigua, Gaston Browne announced to revoke fugitive Indian jeweler Mehul Choksi’s citizenship. Once his Antiguan citizenship is revoked, Choksi’s Indian citizenship will be restored,which will make his extradition process much faster. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi, who is facing extradition trial in the United Kingdom, are the key accused in the Rs 13,500-crore-worth Punjab National Bank scam.

The ‘100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations: Celebrating Women’ list was launched by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to mark India Day in the Houses of Parliament in London. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India, and Penny Mordaunt, one of Britain’s senior-most Cabinet ministers are among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward. Having studied at the London School of Economics and worked in the UK in her previous career, Nirmala is familiar with the UK more.

NDRF and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for dedicating in-house disaster response force by September 2020 to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The 1st respondents in case of any eventuality will be staffs of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The training of board staffs has already begun at headquarters of 7th battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Punjab.