27 JULY 2016

Ø  A Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal in The Hague has ruled against Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of India’s space organisation, ISRO, in the ongoing case with Devas Corporation over sharing of spectrum on satellites. Following the ruling, India may have to fork out $ 1 billion as compensation to Devas. The government said the award is being “examined” and legal recourse, as deemed fit, would be taken.

Ø  Several pings have been picked up over the Bay of Bengal during the search for the missing An-32 but there is no breakthrough yet, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.

Ø  Amrutlal Makwana, a prominent Dalit writer and recipient of Dasi Jivan Best Dalit Literary Work award, has decided to return the award to protest against the atrocity on Dalits in Una where four Dalit youths were brutally flogged in public by a cow vigilante group for allegedly skinning a dead bovine. Mr. Makwana said he would hand over the award, a citation, a shawl and Rs. 25,000 in cash he had received in 2014 as recognition, to the Ahmedabad Collector on Wednesday.

Ø  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share his vision and strategy for India’s development over the next seven to fifteen years with the NITI Aayog, on Thursday. This will be Mr Modi’s second formal visit to the Aayog, which he chairs, since it was set up in 2015. The vision document is expected to guide the next budget. At the meeting, the Aayog’s CEO Amitabh Kant will make a presentation on the three, seven and 15-year strategy and vision documents it is preparing to replace the Nehruvian 5-year plans, the last of which will end in 2016-17, an official said. The vision document is expected to be finalised by the year-end. Before meeting the Prime Minister, the Aayog will on Wednesday hold consultations on its action plans and strategies with the Chief Secretaries of the States at Vigyan Bhawan.

Ø  Solar Impulse 2, piloted by Swiss pioneer Bertrand Piccard, prior to its landing in Abu Dhabi to finish the first around the world flight without the use of fossil fuels on Tuesday. The 42,000-km journey was completed in 17 stages across four continents. The plane is equipped with 17,000 solar cells.