Japan PM Shinzo Abe reaching Ahmedabad today for India-Japan annual summit; PM Narendra Modi to receive him

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat today. Mr Abe is coming to India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting. The 12th edition of the summit, which will be the fourth meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Abe, will be held in Gandhinagar tomorrow.

The two leaders will review the recent progress in the multifaceted co-operation between India and Japan under the framework of their ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ and will set its future direction. 

Mr Modi and Mr Abe will also attend a function to mark the commencement of work of India’s first high-speed rail project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Today, the two Prime Ministers will visit Dandi Kutir, the museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, at the Mahatma Mandir and other hostorical places. Ahead of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit, Mr Modi yesterday said in a tweet that India truly values its ties with Japan and looks forward to further boosting the bilateral relations in a wide range of areas.

Supreme Court says minimum cooling period of six months for granting divorce can be waived by trial court

The Supreme Court has held that the minimum cooling period of six months for granting the decree of divorce under the Hindu law can be waived by a trial court if there was no possibility of cohabitation between an estranged couple. 

The 1955 Hindu Marriage Act provides for a statutory cooling period of six months between the first and the last motion for seeking divorce by mutual consent to explore the possibility of settlement and cohabitation. 

The apex court said, the object of the cooling off period was to safeguard against a hurried decision if there was otherwise a possibility of differences being reconciled. It said, though every effort has to be made to save a marriage, but if there are no chances of reunion and there are chances of fresh rehabilitation, the court should not be powerless in enabling the parties to have a better option. 

The court also said, in conducting such proceedings, the trial court can use the medium of video conferencing. The bench was dealing with a plea filed by an estranged couple which had sought waiver of the six month period on the ground that they have been living separately for the past eight years and there was no possibility of their re-union.

Zero balance accounts under PMJDY come down to 20% from 77%: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said zero balance accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana have come down to 20 per cent from 77 per cent previously. Speaking at the Conclave on Financial Inclusion by United Nations in Delhi, Mr Jaitley said 300 million accounts were opened under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). He said before 2014, financial inclusion was not a centre stage agenda of the government. 

Mr Jaitley said, the government launched the PMJDY in a mission mode throughout the country with the help of banks. The minister said 44 per cent of Indian households were earlier outside the banking system. Mr Jaitley further hit out at the criticism from the Opposition who said 77 per cent of the PMJDY accounts were zero balance. He said the figure today has come down to a little below 20. He, however, said the real challenge was how to get people to open these accounts, get them to make these accounts operational and how do you incentivise them to really operate these accounts. Launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was aimed at providing universal access to banking facilities starting. 

Mr Jaitley said these Basic Banking Accounts could get overdraft facility of 5,000 rupees. Mr Jaitley said India was substantially an unpensioned society as people could not afford the premiums. He said the government has announced two important insurance schemes and a pension scheme that would be linked to these bank accounts. Mr Jaitley said these insurance schemes where you pay 1 rupee a month and get 2 lakh rupees accident insurance and at a slightly higher premium, someone get a life insurance. The finance minister said Aadhar legislation has been passed and it will stand test of constitutionality. Mr Jaitley also said untargetted subsidy puts pressure on exchequer.

Los Angeles to host 2028 Olympics

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics. The evaluation commission of International Olympic Committee, IOC gave the formal go ahead to its bid yesterday. Today, the full IOC will award the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles had originally bid for 2024, but because of the new date, it had to make changes to its host contract.The evaluation commission said that although details need to be finalised, it is confident LA can host Olympics in 2028.