Quick Reads
News Dabba for 09 November 2023: Five stories for a balanced news diet
Here are the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites.
Indie Journal brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from the Bihar Assembly approving 65 percent caste quota, more Gaza hospitals being in line of fire, to Hollywood actors' union's tentative deal to end the strike.
Indian Express: SC directs high courts to monitor trials against MPs, MLAs facing criminal cases
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the high courts to monitor trials against MPs and MLAs facing criminal cases and issued a slew of directions on how to go about this, Indian Express reports. Pronouncing its order on a plea seeking expeditious disposal of criminal cases against elected members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, a bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said that “there exist multiple factors” which “influence the early disposal of the subject cases” and “this coupled with their dissimilarity from state to state makes it difficult for this court to form a uniform or standard guideline for trial courts across the length and breadth of this country to dispose of these cases”. The bench went through the affidavits filed by the high courts on the situation existing within their jurisdictions. The report adds that the Supreme Court also issued a set of seven directions for the monitoring and the trial. Read the full report here.
Bihar Assembly passes Bill for 65% caste quota, NDTV reports
The Bihar Assembly today unanimously passed a bill to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes in state jobs and educational institutions to 65 percent. NDTV reports that this is well past the Supreme Court's 50 percent cap. The amended bill will now have to be signed off by Governor Rajendra Arlekar before it is law. The report says that under the revised quotas, Scheduled Caste candidates will have 20 percent reservation, while those from OBCs and EBCs will get 43 percent - a significant increase from the earlier 30 percent. Reservation of two percent has been proposed for ST candidates. Read the full report here.
BBC on Hollywood actors' union's tentative deal to end four-month strike
US actors' union Sag-Aftra says it has agreed a tentative deal with Hollywood studios to end a months-long strike, BBC reports. Sag-Aftra reached agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (AMPTP) in a unanimous vote, ending the 118-day shutdown. The impasse - combined with a separate writers' strike - had paralysed the entertainment industry and delayed work on numerous major TV shows and films. Actors have been calling for better pay and safeguards on the use of AI, as per the report. Read the full report here.
India improves in Tuberculosis detection: The Wire on WHO report
The Wire reports that the Global Tuberculosis Report 2023, issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), offered a mixed bag for India. While India improved case detection for TB and was able to cover the losses made during the pandemic in this regard, the report said it missed major milestones. India, incidentally, accounts for the highest TB burden across the world contributing 27 percent of all the TB cases. According to the WHO report, India, Indonesia and the Philippines collectively accounted for a large share of the global reductions in the notification of newly diagnosed cases in 2020 and 2021. Read the full report here.
Israeli troops fight Hamas in north Gaza, hospitals in firing line, Reuters
Reuters reports that Israeli forces fought Hamas militants through shell-blasted buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The United Nations human rights chief called for a ceasefire and said both sides had committed war crimes in the month of fighting over the enclave. Israel unleashed its assault on Gaza in response to a cross-border Hamas raid on southern Israel on October 7. The report says that Israeli forces were moving closer to two hospitals where thousands of displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter. Read the full report here.
