11 FEBRUARY 2016

Ø  The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned Governor J.P. Rajkhowa’s use of his “constitutional discretion” to advance the sixth session of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly by over a month, asking whether it was backed by sound constitutional principles or based on a mere whim. Advancing the session from its scheduled date of January 14, 2016 to December 16, 2015 in order to remove Speaker Nebam Rebia triggered the entire political crisis leading to the imposition of President’s Rule on January 26.

Ø  In a first of its kind deal, UAE’s national oil company Adnoc has agreed to store crude oil in India’s maiden strategic storage and give two-thirds of the oil to it for free. India is building underground storages in Visakhapatnam and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil to guard against global price shocks and supply disruptions. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is keen on taking half of the 1.5-million-tonne Mangalore facility, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday. It will stock 0.75 million tonnes or 6 million barrels of oil in one compartment of the Mangalore facility. Of this, 0.5 million tonnes will belong to India and it can use it in emergencies. Adnoc will use the facility as a warehouse for trading its oil.

Ø  After projecting yoga and Baba Ramdev through the International Day of Yoga, the government is now set to highlight the ‘Art of Living’ of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a mega festival from March 11-13 in the Capital. The collaboration between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Art of Living Foundation is unprecedented as the MEA has never supported an event of this scale by a single private party.

Ø  North Korea’s Army Chief of Staff has been executed, South Korean media reported on Wednesday, in what would amount to the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials by leader Kim Jong-un. Ri Yong-Gil, Chief of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff, was executed earlier this month for forming a political faction and corruption, Yonhap news agency said, citing a source familiar with North Korean affairs. The report came at a time of highly elevated tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Mr. Ri was often seen accompanying Kim Jong-un on inspection tours, but his name was conspicuously missing from state media reports of a recent major party meeting and celebrations over Sunday’s rocket launch. “The execution... suggests that Kim Jong-un still feels insecure about his grip on the country’s powerful military,” Yonhap quoted the source as saying. “It shows that Kim’s reign of terror still persists,” said the source. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul declined to comment on the report. In May last year, the NIS said Mr. Kim had his defence chief, Hyon Yong-chol, executed – reportedly with the use of an anti-aircraft gun. Mr. Hyon’s fate was never confirmed by Pyongyang but he has never been seen or heard of since. Some analysts have suggested he was purged and imprisoned. Reports – some confirmed, some not – of purges, executions and disappearances have been common since Mr. Kim took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in December 2011. A large number of senior officials, especially military cadres, were removed or demoted as the young leader sought to solidify his control over the powerful army. In the most high-profile case, Mr. Kim had his influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, executed in December 2013 for charges including treason and corruption.