Rafale probe in Supreme Court: Latest developments

  • The centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the leaked documents related to Rafale deal were confidential papers stolen from the Defence Ministry.
  • On the other hand, Attorney General KK Venugopal’s claim that the Rafale documents were not stolen from the Defence Ministry but instead petitioners in the application used “photocopies of the original” papers, deemed secret by the government.
  • Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the freedom of press cannot be above national security.

Britain May Never Leave EU If Brexit Deal Rejected, Says Theresa May

  • Prime Minister Theresa May today called on the European Union for “one more push” to strike a Brexit compromise deal and told MPs that rejecting the agreement could mean Britain never leaves.
  • British MPs will vote on Tuesday on whether to accept May’s Brexit deal, which could include new elements following this weekend’s frantic round of negotiations.

Turn the page, China tells India, Pakistan over tensions

  • China called on India and Pakistan to move on from the crisis triggered by the Pulwama terror attack last month and to work towards a “long-term improvement” in bilateral ties through dialogue.
  • “We advise both parties to quickly turn the page and seek a fundamental long-term improvement in their relations,” Foreign minister Wang Yi said, adding China was hopeful that the two countries would “transform the crisis into an opportunity and meet each other halfway”.

Indian Navy strikes a deal to lease Akula-class nuclear submarine

  • India finally inks $ 3.3 billion deal with Russia for leasing an Akula-class submarine, which will customized as per the requirements of India.
  • The Akula-II submarine will replace INS Chakra for the Indian Navy, which was taken on a 10-year lease from Russia and the lease is expiring on 2022.
  • The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal.

Only 3.32 lakh MSME jobs created in last four years, finds CII survey

  • The number of net jobs created in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in the last four years stood at just 3.32 lakh in comparison with government data for 2012-2015 which recorded 11.54 lakh new jobs.
  • It also shows that 73% of the jobs were created by micro enterprises.