NewsBytes

Preventive detention extraordinary power of state that must be used sparingly: SC

Preventive detention is an extraordinary power in the hands of the state that must be used sparingly, said the Supreme Court as it set aside an order of a district magistrate to detain a money lender who was allegedly indulging in illegal activities again after getting bail in four cases. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manmohan questioned the contention of the detaining authority that the order was passed as the detainee was violating bail conditions in the cases, and noted that they should have instead moved the competent court seeking cancellation of bail. "Therefore, the order of detention dated June 20, 2024, and the impugned judgment dated September 4, 2024, passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam are hereby set aside. In the attending facts and circumstances of this case, the appeal is allowed," the bench said in its order.

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French president will visit Greenland in show of EU unity

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greenland next weekend, the Danish prime minister's office said — a visit by a high-profile European Union leader in the wake of US expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland's new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. The visit by Macron, whose nuclear-armed country has one of the EU's strongest militaries, comes as US President Donald Trump hasn't ruled out using force to carry out his desire for the resource-rich and strategically located island to become part of the United States. While the issue of US interest in Greenland has drifted from the headlines in recent weeks, Nielsen said in late April that such comments by US leaders have been disrespectful and that Greenland will never be “a piece of property” that anyone can buy.

Delhi government working on plan to improve Yamuna's environmental flow

In an effort to rejuvenate the Yamuna, the Delhi government is working on an action plan to improve the environmental flow of the river by increasing water discharge from various sources, officials said. Treated water from the Coronation Pillar and Yamuna Vihar Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) will be discharged into the Yamuna downstream at Wazirbarad, for which the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will develop a conveyance system. The survey work was completed and a detailed project report is being finalised, officials said. E-flow is the minimum quantity of water flow that a river must have to preserve its ecosystems and meet the bathing standards. The National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) recommended 23 cumecs (cubic metre per second) ) e-flow in Yamuna at Hathinikund Barrage. To achieve this, 500 cusec (cubic foot per second) of water must be diverted into the Yamuna from the Upper Ganga Canal after approval from Uttar Pradesh, officials said. At present, only 10 cumecs are released from the barrage, and a gap of 13 cumecs remains.

Indian astronaut Shukla Axiom-4 mission set for June 10 lift-off

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others are set to embark on the Axiom Space's fourth human spaceflight from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 10 and are likely to dock at the International Space Station on June 11 at about 10 PM IST, after a nearly 28-hour journey. Shukla, the mission pilot of the Axiom-4 (Ax4) commercial mission to the ISS, will be accompanied by mission commander Peggy Whitson and specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland. The Axiom-4 mission will mark India's return to space 41 years after Rakesh Sharma's historic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz mission in 1984. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan visited Axiom Space last week to review the preparations for the spaceflight. The astronauts have been in quarantine since May 25 to prepare for the trip and have been training ahead of the launch on June 10.