P Chidambaram arrested by CBI on INX Media case

  • Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was arrested on August 21st in New Delhi for his suspected role in two cases of alleged corruption and money laundering in the INX Media case.
  • He was produced to the CBI court and CBI has sought the former minister’s custody for five days for questioning.
  • Previously, Chidambaram had claimed that neither the CBI nor the Enforcement Directorate had filed any chargesheet in connection with the case.

Amazon Rainforest experiences 83% increase in forest fires

  • Brazil’s space research center INPE said 72,843 wildfires have been detected so far. Since August 15, INPE said satellite images spotted 9,507 new forest fires, mostly in the Amazon basin.
  • The Amazon rainforest is estimated to produce around 20% of world’s supply of oxygen.
  • President Bolsonaro has rolled back environmental protections for the rainforest, and had promised to open up access to Brazil’s protected lands for commercial use. In less than a year since his election, the country has lost more than 3,445 square km of forest cover – 39% increase from the same time period in 2018.
  • Various European countries have halted or threatened to halt donations to Brazil’s Amazon.

Ravidas Temple Demolition Protest leads to arrest of Chandrashekhar Azad

  • Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was detained along with 50 others in Delhi on August 21st.
  • Delhi Police claimed that the protestors had turned violent and unruly.
  • The protestors were gathered under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Mandir Sanyukta Sanrakhshan Samiti, an umbrella body of Dalit groups formed for the temple movement, and were protesting against the demolition of the temple.