Daily Briefing / October 26, 2019

Dems handed victory in impeachment inquiry

A US judge has ordered the Justice Department to give the House secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, handing a victory to Democrats who want it for the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. In a ruling that also affirmed the legality of the impeachment inquiry itself, Chief US District Judge Beryl Howell ordered the department to turn over the materials by October 30. The ruling comes as Democrats gather testimony about the Trump administration’s efforts to get Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and the Democrats. The Mueller materials could reveal previously hidden details to lawmakers about Trump’s actions during the 2016 election and become part of the impeachment push.

Forex reserves hit $440 bn mark for first time

Continuing its northward surge, India’s forex kitty has swelled by $1.039 billion to a new all-time high of $440.751 billion for the week ended October 18, the Reserve Bank said on October 26. The forex reserves had risen by $1.879 billion to a new record high of $439.712 billion in the previous reporting week. For the week under review, the foreign currency assets, which are the biggest part of the reserves, increased by $931 million to $408.881 billion, the RBI said. The value of the gold reserves increased by $82 million to $26.861 billion for the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose $9 million to $1.440 billion during the week. The country’s reserve position with the Fund also increased by $17 million to $3.640 billion.

13.08 lakh new jobs created in Aug: ESIC

Around 13 lakh jobs were created in August, lower than 14.49 lakh in July, according to the payroll data of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). Gross enrolments of new subscribers were 1.49 crore during 2018-19, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a report. It also showed that during September 2017 to August 2019, 2.97 crore subscribers joined the ESIC scheme. The report is based on the payroll data of new subscribers of various social security schemes run by the ESIC, EPFO and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. The report showed that gross new enrolments with the ESIC during September 2017 to March 2018 were 83.35 lakh. A net of 10.86 lakh new enrolments with the EPFO were recorded in August, as compared to 11.71 lakh in July.

Pledges for global climate fund hit $9.8 bn

Countries have pledged $9.8 billion to help poor nations tackle climate change. Green Climate Fund executive director Yannick Glemarec said 27 countries announced contributions by the end of a conference in Paris. The US did not make any pledge as President Donald Trump has decided to stop paying. Glemarec said the extra money will increase the fund’s capacity from about $1.4 billion per year now to $2.4 billion per year in the period from 2020 to 2024. The South Korea-based fund, which provides money to help developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change, says it has nearly exhausted some $7 billion received following an initial funding round five years ago. Trump’s decision to withhold $2 billion of the $3 billion pledged by Barack Obama has contributed to a shortfall at the fund.

SC seeks Centre’s reply on mosque entry

The Supreme Court has sought the Centre’s response by November 5 on a plea seeking entry of Muslim women in mosques across the country and claiming that such restriction was “unconstitutional” and violative of fundamental rights to life, equality and gender justice. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the fact that it had issued notices to parties, which included union ministries of Women and Child Welfare and Law and Justice and Minority Affairs and the National Commission for Women, in April and three respondents have not been served with its notices. The bench, also comprising justices S.A. Bobde and S.A. Nazeer, ordered that the notices along with copies of the petition be served on the Maharashtra State Board of Wakf, Central Wakf Council and All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

CSIR develops genome sequencing of Indians

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has done genome sequencing of 1,008 Indians and it can help couples detect if they have any genetic issue that can imperil their offsprings, said Union Minister Harsh Vardhan. The IndiGen initiative of genome sequencing of 1,008 people has come out with 55 variants of population in India. Genome sequencing is the process of figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome. Vardhan said genome data would be important for building the knowhow, baseline data and indigenous capacity in precision medicine. CSIR director Shekhar Mande said the outcomes will be used for understanding the genetic diversity of a population scale, making available genetic variant frequencies for clinical applications and enabling genetic epidemiology of the diseases.

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