26 MARCH 2014

Ø  The G8 group of top economic powers has suspended Russia for annexing Crimea, and has threatened to impose far-reaching sanctions if Moscow continued its incursion into Ukraine. The U.S. and six other economic powers also scrapped the G8 summit to be hosted by Russia in Sochi in June to build pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. At an emergency summit in the Hague on Monday, the leaders of the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan also decided to convene in Brussels without Russia.

Ø  More than a year after the shocking Delhi gang rape, the Indian Ordinance factory today launched a light-weight revolver, “Nirbheek,” designed especially for women to defend themselves from assault. “Nirbheek,” a .32 bore revolver, weighing 500gm, can be carried by women in their purses or handbags. The nomenclature of the light-weight revolver is inspired by ‘Nirbhaya,’ the name given by the media to a paramedical student who was brutally gang raped (and who died later) in a bus in Delhi in 2012. The revolver, priced at Rs 1,22,360, is made of titanium alloy.

Ø  Shigeru Ban, Japanese architect known for his creative and inexpensive designs for disaster relief shelters, has won the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The annual award, considered the most prestigious prize in the world of architecture, is given to designers who have “significantly contributed to humanity” and for “excellence in built work.”

Ø  Thirty-five countries on Tuesday committed to bolstering nuclear security, backing a global drive spearheaded by U.S. President Barack Obama to prevent dangerous materials falling into the hands of terrorists. In a joint statement issued on the sidelines of the third biennial Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), the countries pledged to work closer together and submit to “peer reviews periodically” of their sensitive nuclear security regimes.