20 February 2015: Tista's bail plea extended by Supreme Court

• In a case of corporate espionage, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has arrested five men for alleged theft and sale of official secrets of the Oil Ministry to private corporate entities in the petrochemical sector. A Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) official and another person have been detained. The arrested include two serving and two former employees at Shastri Bhavan, where the Ministry’s office functions. The fifth drove them to the building on Tuesday night, when the arrests took place, using a forged Government of India sticker on the car. 
• Nobel laureate Amartya Sen withdrew his candidature for a second term as Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar, since the Narendra Modi government had not given its approval to his nomination. 
• As many as 343 companies, including global firms, have committed to building green energy capacity of 2.7-lakh MW in five years as India gives thrust to renewable energy production to ensure universal energy access for the poor. Out of this capacity proposed by the companies during a global renewable energy conference in New Delhi from February 15 to 17, financing commitments have been worked out for 69,055 MW.
• Observing that “personal liberty cannot be put in the ventilator of an ICU,” the Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on an anticipatory bail plea by activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand in the Gulberg society embezzlement case, while continuing with its interim stay on her arrest. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Setalvads, challenged the government to prove any diversion of funds. 
• The denial of visa to Peoples Democratic Party spokesperson Naeem Akhtar is in line with a toughening of Pakistan’s position over the past year on Jammu and Kashmir, especially after the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks by India over High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s discussions with Hurriyat leaders. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly contained strong allegations of human rights violations by India, and on “Kashmir Day” this month, he referred to the State as the “jugular vein” of Pakistan. In contrast to previous elections in J&K, Pakistan issued a statement in December calling the recent elections a “sham.” 
• Tiny nano-particles that act like miniature drones could deliver a knockout punch to plaque buildup in the arteries, according to an experimental approach described by US scientists. So far the anti-cholesterol treatment has been tried only in lab mice, while the nano-particles themselves are in clinical trials for people with cancer. Many more safety tests lie ahead, but for now scientists are intrigued by the possibility of a new way to attack atherosclerosis, which leads to heart attacks and is a top killer in the United States and other developed nations.