HK govt withdraws Bill that sparked protests

Hong Kong authorities on October 23 withdrew an unpopular extradition Bill that sparked months of protests that have since morphed into a campaign for greater democratic change. The long-expected scrapping of the Bill was overshadowed by the drama surrounding the release from a Hong Kong prison of the murder suspect at the heart of the extradition case controversy. Chan Tong-kai, who completed a separate sentence for money laundering, said after his release that he wished to turn himself in to authorities in Taiwan, where he’s wanted for killing his pregnant girlfriend. The controversy is rooted in the unwillingness of Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese region, to recognise the legitimacy of the legal bodies in Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province.

NASA probe finds no trace of Vikram lander

NASA has found no evidence of Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander in the latest images captured by its moon orbiter of the lunar south pole region. On September 7, ISRO attempted a soft landing of Vikram on the uncharted lunar south pole, before losing communication with the lander. “The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the area of the targeted Chandrayaan-2 Vikram landing site on October 14, but did not observe any evidence of the lander,” said Noah Edward Petro, the project scientist for the LRO mission. The team examined the images and employed the change detection technique - using a ratio of an image captured prior to the landing attempt to the one acquired on October 14. This approach is used for finding new meteorite impacts on the moon that also helped locate Beresheet - the Israeli lander.

SC to examine case on social media access

The critical issue as to whether the state can seek access to citizens’ social media accounts by forcing intermediaries like Facebook would be examined by the Supreme Court, which transferred to itself all cases related to the issue from High Courts. Various cases on linking social media profiles with biometric ID Aadhaar and tracing the originator of a message are pending in different High Courts. The apex court observed it is of the view, prima facie, that the liability should be on the intermediaries to decrypt a message or provide the material to the government for decryption. A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose asked the Centre to submit its report in January on the notification of rules by which social media misuse can be checked and liability could be fastened on the intermediaries to decrypt messages.

Russia, Turkey reach deal to remove YPG

Syrian and Russian forces will deploy in northeast Syria to remove Kurdish YPG fighters and their weapons from the border with Turkey under a deal agreed on October 22, which both Moscow and Ankara hailed as a triumph. Hours after the deal was announced, the Turkish defence ministry said that the US had told Turkey the withdrawal of Kurdish militants was complete from the “safe zone” Ankara demands in northern Syria. There was no need to initiate another operation at this stage, the ministry said, effectively ending its military offensive that had begun on October 9. The Russia-Turkey agreement endorses the return of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to the border alongside Russian troops, replacing the Americans who had patrolled the region for years with their former Kurdish allies.