Supreme Court Hearing On Sabarimala

  • Four months after it allowed women of reproductive age into the Sabarimala temple, the court today began hearing review petitions challenging its September verdict.
  • Justice Indu Malhotra had dissented with the verdict in September, saying courts must not interfere with issues concerning “deep religious sentiments”. Justice Malhotra is the only woman judge on the bench.
  • The verdict had set off massive street protests in Kerala. The annual pilgrimage season saw violent protests as devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the celibate god, tried to stop women and girls between the ages of 10 and 50 years from entering the shrine.

Trump Proposes New Nuclear Missile Treaty With Potential To Include India

  • US President Donald Trump has proposed a new nuclear missiles treaty that has the potential to include India as he delivered the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the US.
  • Defending his decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, he said in the speech on Tuesday night, “Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can’t” – in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.
  • Some of the Prithvi and Agni class missiles in India’s arsenal could fall under the ambit of such a treaty, as well as some of Pakistan’s missiles, like Babur, Shaheen and Ghauri missiles.

Donald Trump to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Vietnam

  • US President Donald Trump plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on February 27 and 28, Politico reported on Tuesday.
  • Trump disclosed the date in a meeting with television anchors, Politico said. He was expected to announce details of the summit with Kim during his annual State of the Union address to Congress later on Tuesday.

Two-third of Himalayan glacier could melt by 2100, study warns

  • Two-third of Himalayan glacier, the world’s “Third Pole”, could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not reduced, scientists warned in a major new study issued on Monday.
  • Even if the “most ambitious” Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is achieved, one-third of the glaciers would go, according to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment.Glaciers are the source of water for the rivers that flow to India, Pakistan, China, Nepal and others, and thus of critical importance.
  • The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range is sometimes referred to as the planet’s “third pole” as it harbours more ice than anywhere outside Arctic and Antarctica.