SC approves amendment to RPA, those in jail can now contest polls

● SC gave a big relief to jailed politicians by approving amendments to Representation of People (Amendment and Validation) Act 2013.

● SC allowed jailed persons to contest elections, as their right to vote is not curtailed when they are in jail according to amended RPA.

● Earlier SC dismissed the review petitions filed by the Union government and Ramesh Dalal against a July 10 judgment upholding a 2004 Patna High Court ruling, which held that when a person in custody was disqualified to vote he was disqualified from contesting the elections also.

● Note: The ruling allows only the jailed politicians to contest, not the convicted ones (like Lalu Yadav).

Ban pirates, UN tells Somalia

● The United Nations (UN) Security Council on 19th November called on Somalia to pass laws banning pirates off its coasts.

● UNSC also urged the East African nation to more aggressively combat the outlaws and the crime lords who finance and organize their raids.

Report nuclear incidents within 24 hrs: AERB

(Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) AERB ordered to all nuclear operators in the country to report “any extraordinary nuclear event” within 24 hrs and to file a detailed report within 10 day. The order has been issued under various provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules, 2011.

Venezuela’s National Assembly approves “Ley Habilitante”to give Nicolas Maduro Special Powers

Venezuela’s National Assembly has given final approval to special powers for President Nicolas Maduro. Nicolas Maduro got special powers after National Assembly passed “Ley Habilitante”, or Enabling Act.

IFC raises Rs. 1,000 crore from first rupee bond sale

World Bank group member IFC has raised Rs. 1,000 crore (USD 160 million) in the U.S. from its first offshore sale of rupee bonds. IFC said the offering, which was oversubscribed twice, is part of the global development institution’s USD 1-billion offshore rupee bond programme.

Brazil calls for web governance meet

Brazil is all set to hold a global meet on the governance of World Wide Web on April 23-24 2014 in Sao Paulo. Brazil is inviting top Internet industry executives and civil society groups from all over the world for the meet. The meet will focus on Internet governance, privacy of citizens and protection of individual and government data.

G77+China group walk out after stalemate on Loss and Damage modalities

The G77+China group of 133 countries walked out of negotiations on Loss and Damage on 20th November after the developed countries refused to budge from the position that the subject should be discussed only after 2015.

Cyclone Helen may hit coast on Thursday near Kavalit.

Malala Yousafzai gets EU’s Sakharov human rights prize

Mumbai kid Prithvi Shaw; The new run machine

And the Word of the Year is….

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