After arrest, Chidambaram faces CBI grilling

The CBI has started questioning former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media case. The probe is on alleged corruption in the clearance of Rs 305 crore foreign investment to INX Media when Chidambaram was the finance minister. On May 15, 2017, the CBI had registered a case regarding alleged irregularities in granting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media, run by its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea in 2007. It alleged that the officials by virtue of influence exercised over them by Chidambaram’s son Karti not only ignored the serious illegality on the part of the INX Media but also deliberately showed undue favours to the INX Group by abusing their official position and advised the company to file for fresh clearance.

‘India has to fight terrorists in Afghanistan’

Countries such as India, Iran, Russia and Turkey would have to fight against terrorists in Afghanistan at some point, US President Donald Trump has said, ruing that the job against the extremists is being done only by the US. “At a certain point, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey they are going to have to fight their battles too. All of these countries are going to have to fight them. Do we want to stay there for another 19 years? I don’t think so. At a certain point, other countries and that includes Russia and it includes Iran and Turkey and Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and India,” he said. Trump’s comments came a day after he indicated that US forces will not completely withdraw from war-torn Afghanistan, and America will have “somebody there” to make sure that the Taliban does not regain control.

Jaishankar holds talks with Nepal counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held “productive discussions” with his Nepalese counterpart Pradeep Gyawali on August 21 and the two leaders comprehensively reviewed the bilateral relations and identified priority areas for cooperation between them. The two leaders co-chaired the 5th Meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission in Kathmandu. India provided Rs 233 crore to Nepal for various infrastructure projects, including roads and reconstruction of houses destroyed in the massive earthquake in 2015, which saw the death of more than 9,000 people. Established in 1987, the Nepal-India Joint Commissions meetings are being held alternately in both countries. The last meeting was held in New Delhi in October 2016.

Everest region bans single-use plastic

Single-use plastics have been banned in the Everest region to reduce the vast amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers, Nepali authorities said. In addition to seeing a record number of climbers this year, a government-led cleaning initiative on Everest also collected more than 10 tonnes of trash. The new ban in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, home to Mt Everest and several other snow-capped mountains, covers all plastic of less than 30 microns in thickness as well as drinks in plastic bottles, and will be effective from January. The region receives more than 50,000 tourists every year, including climbers and trekkers. The local body will work with trekking companies, airlines and the Nepal Mountaineering Association to enforce the ban, though no penalty has yet been decided for violation.

Secrets of primate brain evolution revealed

The remains of a prehistoric primate that lived high in the Andes 20 million years ago and was so small it could fit in your hand is helping scientists learn more about how human brains evolved. In a study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers in China and the US used high-resolution imaging to examine the only known fossilised skull of the extinct Chilecebus, a New World monkey that scampered around ancient mountain forests, feeding on leaves and fruit. One key finding: the brain size of primates, long assumed to have increased progressively over time, now appears to have followed a more roundabout path. Primates are broadly split into two groups: Old World, from which our own species descended, and New World species of the Americas and Oceania.

Newsmaker

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba was on August 21 appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary for a tenure of two years. Gauba, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, will initially join as the Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat, before he takes over the charge as the country’s top bureaucrat from the incumbent P.K. Sinha.