INVITE A FRIEND VIEW IN BROWSERSATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2020Times Top10Good morning!5 THINGS FIRSTPM Modi on a two-day visit to West Bengal; Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Delhi; Kerala high-rises to be demolished for violating coastal norms; German Chancellor Merkel to meet Putin in Moscow; Presidential and parliamentary elections in Taiwan 1. Relief for Kashmir, a message for all1. Relief for Kashmir, a message for allThe Supreme Court, hearing a batch of pleas which challenged curbs imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre's abrogation of provisions of Article 370 on August 5 last year, answered the following questions in its verdict on Friday:Q1: Can government claim exemption from producing orders through which it imposed restrictions?A1: Government should publish all orders that are in force and also future orders to enable affected people to challenge it.Q2: Is freedom of speech and expression and freedom to practise any profession, or to carry on any business over the Internet a fundamental right?A2: These freedoms enjoy constitutional protection and the restriction upon such fundamental rights should be in consonance with the mandate under Article 19 (2) and (6) of the Constitution, inclusive of the test of proportionality.Q3: Is government's action of prohibiting internet access valid?A3: An order suspending internet services indefinitely is impermissible. Such orders must adhere to the principle of proportionality and must not extend beyond necessary duration. We direct the authorities to review all such orders forthwith and revoke those not in accordance with the law laid down above. Authorities should consider allowing government websites, limited e--banking facilities, hospital services and other essential services in areas where internet is not likely to be restored immediately.Q4: Were restrictions under Section 144 valid?A4: The power under Section 144 cannot be used to suppress legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights. Orders under the section should state the material facts to enable judicial review. Repetitive orders under Section 144 would be an abuse of power. Authorities are directed to review forthwith the need for continuance of any existing orders passed under Section 144.Q5: Was the freedom of press violated due to the restrictions?A5: Executive editor of Kashmir Times Anuradha Bhasin had said that she couldn't publish her newspaper from August 6 to October 11 last year due to the restrictions. Taking into account the government's submission that other papers were being published at that time and that the Kashmir Times has resumed publication, the court said "we do not deem it fit to indulge more in the issue than to state that responsible governments are required to respect the freedom of the press at all times."Read the full judgment here 2. The state of protests, orders and law...2. The state of protests, orders and law...With permission: The Tripura High Court has ruled that government employees can take part in political programmes and post messages on social media without incurring any punitive measure under service conduct rules. This was after the BJP-led state government recently warned employees of punitive action for taking part in anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests. In Mumbai, professors from some central government institutes like IIT have been reminded about service rules by the government for participating in anti-CAA protests.Protest vs traffic: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking directions for removal of demonstrators protesting against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh in the capital in order to clear road blockages that are causing traffic congestion. The protest began on December 14.More arrests: Four more people have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district for their alleged involvement in violence during the anti-CAA protests taking the total number of such arrests to 85, police said on Friday. Eighteen people have been released in Muzaffarnagar so far by court orders after police filed reports stating there was no evidence of their involvement in the violence.More protests: To register their protest against CAA, thousands of people, holding national flags, marched in Hyderabad after offering Friday prayers at various mosques in the city. There is no let-up in protests against the new citizenship law in Assam, which completed one month this week. The All Assam Students' Union, which is leading the protests, has vowed to carry on until the Act is scrapped. Check out the protest tracker here.Out of jail: A Delhi court granted bail to 12 people arrested in connection with violence in Seemapuri area of northeast Delhi during recent anti-CAA protests. Elsewhere, an NIA court has rejected NIA's plea for taking farmers' leader Akhil Gogoi, one of spearheads of anti-CAA agitation, back into its custody.Meanwhile, Delhi Police is yet to arrest anyone for the attack by a masked mob on students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 5 evening that left 36 injured though it named nine suspects for the clashes that took place on the campus earlier. Among those named is JNU students' union president Aishe Ghosh, who received 16 stitches on her head and fractured her left hand in the violence. 3. Does India need more prisons or less?3. Does India need more prisons or less?Jail reduction: Even as the number of crimes keeps going up year after year, surprisingly, the number of prisons in India has been on the decline — with their count in 2018 the lowest since 2008, at 1,339. This, despite 16 new jails being built in 2018, according to the NCRB's Prison Statistics 2018 report. Consequently, there's rampant overcrowding in India's jails, which is showing no signs of decreasing, with almost a fifth more inmates housed in jails than they can accommodate. Last year, the Centre had allocated Rs 1,800 crore to set up 199 new jails in the country, even though prisons are a state subject — worried by how overcrowding had led to an increase in criminal activities inside prisons.Jam-packed jailsCatching up: While the total inmate capacity in the three years between 2016 to 2018 has increased by 4.03% — from a capacity for housing 380,876 inmates in 2016 to 396,223 in 2018 — the number of prisoners housed in all jails has shot up by almost twice that rate, at 7.64%, in the same period. With the result, while there were 433,003 inmates in 2016, there were 466,084 prisoners in 2018. While prison overcrowding puts the health and physical safety of both the staff — whose actual strength is more than 30% less than its sanctioned strength — and inmates at risk, it also 'shames' India globally since it's a signatory to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as Nelson Mandela Rules.Unwanted inmates? The number of undertrials, who constitute the largest chunk of prison inmates, outnumber convicts by a ratio of 2.32:1. Towards this end, the government had also introduced the concept of plea bargaining in the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 by way of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2005. However, unlike in the US, where plea bargaining is used in almost all offences — including murder, sex abuse and arson — in India, a plea bargain can only be used for offences which attract a maximum sentence of 7 years. The result? Less than 1% of all cases under the IPC are settled via this method whereas the figure for the US was close to 97%. 4. Will RBI come to Centre's rescue again?4. Will RBI come to Centre’s rescue again?What: The government is planning to push the Reserve Bank of India for another interim dividend, as it struggles to meet its expenditure commitments amid a steep revenue shortfall, reports Reuters. The fresh call comes just months after the central bank approved a Rs 1.76 lakh crore dividend payment to the government, including Rs 1.48 lakh crore for the current fiscal year.Why: The government faces a shortfall of more than one-third in its revenue target of Rs 19.6 lakh crore following a severe economic slowdown (GDP growth is projected to fall to an 11-year low of 5%) and cut in corporate tax rates last year. If RBI agrees, it would mark the third straight year in which it has agreed to give the government an interim dividend.What's for next year_ (4)How: The RBI largely earns profits through its trading of currencies and government bonds. Part of these earnings are set aside by the RBI for its operational and contingency needs while the rest is transferred to the government in the form of dividend. It earned a surplus of Rs 1.23 lakh crore in its last financial year, which was substantially higher than previous years.Meanwhile, in some good news for the economy, the Index of Industrial Production recorded a growth of 1.8% in November after having contracted for three months in a row, though the numbers are lower than the estimates of 2.5%. The rupee rose 7 paise to 71.14 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, buoyed by sliding oil prices and the country's foreign exchange reserves touched a record high of $461.157 billion. NEWS IN CLUES5. Who was the first Indian to win the World Championship in badminton?Clue 1: She was among the top 15 earning female athletes globally last year.Clue 2: In her first Olympic appearance, she became the youngest individual medal winner for India.Clue 3: She and her father are both Arjuna Award winners. 6. Mistry isn't coming back to Tata, yet6. Mistry isn't coming back to Tata, yetThe stay: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order restoring Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of the Tata Group. The tribunal's decision suffers from "basic errors and we have to hear the matter in detail,'' the apex court said.A question: The court also asked, "You (Cyrus) have been out of the saddle for quite a long time. Does this hurt you....How does it hurt you today." The court said there was no prayer in the petition for reinstatement of Mistry but the tribunal went ahead with it and ordered his reinstatement. "The tribunal granted the prayer which was not prayed,'' the court observed.What next? While the petition was pending, Mistry came out with a statement on Sunday saying that he is not interested in returning to the Tata Group and the decision was made in the interest of the Group. NCLAT had held the group's chairman emeritus Ratan Tata's actions against Mistry were oppressive and the appointment of a new chairman was illegal. The SC has posted the matter after four weeks. 7. Sorry Boeing, but air crashes are neither funny, nor monkey business7. Sorry Boeing, but air crashes are neither funny, nor monkey businessWhistleblowers Inc: In perhaps what could be the most damning indictment of Boeing's safety certifications for its 737 Max aircraft, emails exchanged among Boeing employees show that they were far from satisfied with the aircraft's design. The emails, comprising 100 pages, were sent by Boeing to the House and Senate Committees probing the design flaws in the aircraft that earned fatal notoriety with two air crashes, one each in 2018 and 2019, that resulted in the deaths of 346 people.Clowns & monkeys: The emails detail employee views when the 737 Max simulators were developed and certified in 2017 and 2018 — with one of the employees coming down heavily on the company, saying the aircraft was "designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys" while another called it an aircraft with "piss poor design." In another email exchange, an employee made it clear that he wouldn't let his family fly in the 737 Max. One employee also hints that the company 'forced' them to lie to the FAA when it checked the aircraft before granting it approval to fly.The cover up: The emails also reveal how Boeing's chief technical pilot was adamant that the simulator training wasn't required for pilots who had flown earlier versions of the 737 — telling Boeing's employees that any demand for simulator training would be resisted by the company which was prepared to "go face to face with any regulator who tries to make that a requirement." As is now well known, the non-disclosure of the stabilisation system in both the Max training and the flight manual, known as MCAS, which malfunctioned, resulted in the aircraft's deep dive and subsequent crash.Meanwhile, in the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines aircraft on Wednesday near Tehran, Iran has denied that it shot down the plane ‘by accident’ with a missile — which resulted in the death of all 176 people on board, which included 82 Iranian nationals. YOU SHARE YOUR B'DAY WITHYOU SHARE YOUR B’DAY WITHSource: Various 8. World watches as a Chinese-speaking democracy votes8. World watches as a Chinese-speaking democracy votesThe polls: Taiwan will vote today to pick its next president and parliament members. The elections come amidst Chinese efforts to get the island to accept Beijing's rule as well as anti-government protests in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong.The history: The self-ruled democratic island, which has its own currency, flag, military and government, is not recognised as an independent state by the UN and most nations. China claims Taiwan, which lies off its southeast coast, as its territory and has threatened to take it by force if needed. Taiwan says it is an independent country and has been politically separated from China for the past seven decades.The contest: President Tsai Ing-wen, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is running for a second term. Tsai is pro-independence, favours a separate Taiwanese identity and has tried to reduce the dependence of the island's economy on China. She had also expressed her support for the Hong Kong protests. Tsai is being challenged by Han Kuo-yu of the main opposition Kuomintang party who favors close ties with China.The message: The elections are being seen as a referendum on its relations with China. Beijing had stepped up its indirect threats in recent months holding military exercises across the Taiwan Strait. The polls will also be closely watched by the US (which sells arms and provides other assistance to the island) and Japan (Taiwan lies on major shipping lanes between Southeast Asia and Japan and South Korea) amidst their struggle for dominance in the region. 9. Do lingering protests cause depression?9. Do lingering protests cause depression?Traumatic protests: The anti-China protests in Hong Kong may be causing a political headache for its administration and the Chinese authorities, but they are also leaving the residents of Hong Kong more depressed than before, according to findings published in The Lancet on Friday. The study notes that increasing protests in India, especially Delhi, may warrant a similar analysis of their effect on mental health. The study revealed that 1 in 5 adults in Hong Kong is either suffering from depression or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a figure which is similar to those who experience armed conflicts.Rising tide: The study also compares the increase in depression and PTSD during the anti-China protests of last year — which are still continuing — and the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy Central movement, which lasted 79 days. It found that compared to 2014, the prevalence of probable depression has doubled since the Occupy protests and is five times higher than what it used to be before the 2014 movement — this, in a state which has the longest life expectancy in the world.The numbers: During the peak of the protests last year, the study found that 31.6% of people suffered from PTSD, which translated into an adult population of 1.9 million. The combined prevalence of suspected PTSD and probable depression was 21.8% — with those aged 60 and above showing the highest prevalence of depression, along with those who are unemployed or not earning. BEFORE YOU GO10. What kills malaria, kills cancer too10. What kills malaria, kills cancer tooWell, who would have thought of that! Apparently, what's fatal for malaria has also proved to be fatal attraction for cancer cells, especially those that cause lung cancer. In a breakthrough research, Angshuman Sarkar, an assistant professor at BITS Pilani's Goa campus, discovered that a re-purposed drug, based on the anti-malarial medicine Quinacrine (QC), was effective in killing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 80% of all lung cancer cases diagnosed.NSCLC is tough to beat for two reasons — its extremely high resistance to chemo drugs and its ability to metastasise (spreading of cancer in other parts of body), with the result that anyone who suffers from NSCLC usually dies within a year or two of its detection. Sarkar’s discovery will not only extend the lifespans of people suffering from lung cancer but will also significantly reduce the treatment cost. 3 CURATED WEEKEND READS1. How the US squandered its Cold War victoryThe US believed the American way of life was humankind's ultimate destiny. But unrestrained greed has led to an era of injustice and division.2. Eating at your work-desk can be dangerousMany of us struggle to leave the office for lunch, but it could mean we're overeating, being less productive and putting our health at risk3. Who is Jared Kushner?The Kushner family history — from lying on immigration forms to becoming major Democratic donors — often seems at odds with the initiatives Jared supports in his father-in-law Donald Trump’s Administration. Answers To NEWS IN CLUESAnswers to NEWS IN CLUESP V Sindhu. The shuttler, who won the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics and is the first Indian, male or female, to win badminton's world championship last year, lost in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament on Friday, after being beaten by Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 21-16. She was ranked 13th in the Forbes list of highest paid female athletes, with earnings of $5.5 million in 2018-19. Sindhu’s father, P V Ramana, is also an Arjuna awardee for volleyball. 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