Daily News Dose: CB to scan over 6,000 audio clips, grill Kavya soon | Apr 20, 2022

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:

1. Supreme Court halts demolition drive in Delhi's violence-hit Jahangirpuri 

2. India's active Covid caseload on the rise; over 2,000 infections recorded in a day

3. Actress assault case: Crime Branch to scan over 6,000 audio messages, grill Kavya soon

4. Now, Police can obtain physical, biological samples of convicts, detainees

5. IMF cuts India's 2022 growth prospects to 8.2%

Let's get into the details:

1. The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped the anti-encroachment drive by authorities in the violence-hit Jahangirpuri area in Delhi, and agreed to hear a petition challenging the action of the civic bodies allegedly aimed against the riot accused. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered status quo and said the petition would be listed before an appropriate bench. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave mentioned a petition against the special joint encroachment removal action of civic bodies, including the NDMC and the PWD, and said a completely unauthorised and unconstitutional demolition has been ordered.  He alleged that the demolition, which was to start at 2 pm on Wednesday, has begun at 9 am and no mandatory notice for demolition has been served on the alleged violators. The area had witnessed violent clashes, including stone pelting, arson and firing between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession on Saturday. Eight police personnel and a local resident had sustained injuries.

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2. With 2,067 new coronavirus infections being reported on Wednesday, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,47,594, while the active cases increased to 12,340, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll climbed to 5,22,006 with 40 fresh fatalities, the data stated. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 480 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.49 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.38 per cent, according to the health ministry. 

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3. The Crime Branch has intensified its probe into the 2017 actress assault case, in which actor Dileep is an accused. The Kerala High Court has extended the time for the probe team to complete its investigation till May 31 after being convinced of the severity of the charges levelled against the accused. The Crime Branch has already begun the process of checking the lengthy audio clips thoroughly in order to extract further evidence in the case. The inquiry team rests all its hopes on the voice clips and messages which were seized from the mobile phones of Dileep and his accomplices in making a breakthrough in the case. A five-member Crime Branch team has been entrusted with the tedious task of checking as many as 6,000 audio messages.  Meanwhile, Dileep's wife and actress Kavya Madhavan will be questioned anytime soon. In all likelihood, she will be served with a notice to appear before the inquiry team at a place outside her house. It is not yet clear whether she will be made an accused or a witness in the case.  

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4. President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, which empowers police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes. The Act, which replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, was passed by Lok Sabha on April 4 and Rajya Sabha on April 6. Apart from providing legal sanction to police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and detainees for investigation in criminal matters, the legislation also empowers a magistrate to order measurements or photographs of a person to be taken to aid the investigation of an offence.  In case of acquittal or discharge of the person, all material must be destroyed. The Act explained the types of data that may be collected, the people from whom such data may be collected and the competent authority to authorise such collection. It also provides for the data to be stored in a central database. Both the 1920 Act and the 2022 legislation clarified that resistance or refusal to give data will be considered an offence of obstructing a public servant from doing his duty.

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5. The International Monetary Fund has further slashed India's economic growth prospects for 2022 to 8.2 per cent from its earlier projection of 9 per cent, which in itself was lowered from 9.5 per cent. The global economy will suffer significantly from the war in Ukraine, the fund further projected in its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday. 

"Notable downgrades to the 2022 forecast include Japan by 0.9 percentage point and India by 0.8 percentage point," the IMF said in the World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday. The revision reflects, it added, "in part weaker domestic demand -- as higher oil prices are expected to weigh on private consumption and investment -- and a drag from lower net exports." The fund has also cut its projection for 2023 by 0.2 point to 6.9 per cent.

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That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.