Top Stories You May Have Missed if You Were Following the Assembly Election Results

May desperate for approval, postpones vote on Brexit deal

Theresa May has decided to postpone the final vote on her Brexit deal. Her decision came in a few hours after EU’s top court declared that UK government might reverse its Brexit decision. Blaming concerns around the Northern Ireland backstop May announced in a statement to the House of Commons that she would be visiting European leaders to seek “further assurances”. Her decision was met with open discontent, with many members of the House booing the UK Prime Minister. According to her, the decision was taken to avoid “the risk of dividing the country again”.

Parliamentary Session begins amidst a BJP loss in the assembly elections

The Winter session starts today, coinciding with the assembly election results in five states. The session started with PM Modi saying, “I hope lawmakers will spend time on public welfare, not their parties”. Meanwhile, the Opposition has pressed for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the Rafale deal. 20 new bills will be considered in the session among which are The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017

Huawei CFO proposes electronic monitoring in bail hearing

On Monday the Chief Financial Officer of the Chinese telecom company Huawei, Meng Wanzhou has offered to submit to strict electronic monitoring in her bail hearing. Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver airport on December 1 during a layover, as a part of a US investigation. She has been accused by the American government for selling equipment to Iran in violation of the recent US sanctions on Iran. China has demanded the release of the 46-year-old who they say is not at fault. The arrest sent shockwaves in the financial markets everywhere.

Thailand to hold elections on February 24 four years after military government banned political campaigning

Election officials commission has said that elections will be held on February 24th, four years after the incumbent military government banned all political party organizations. The elections are expected to be a fierce battle between former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and proxy parties formed by military and royalty establishments. 2014 witnessed a military coup that overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra following several violent political demonstrations.

Sensex and Nifty open in a slump; election results and RBI governor’s resignation to blame

BSE’s Sensex plummeted by almost 550 points early this morning. Experts blame the plunge on the assembly election results that saw the BJP lose in all five states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram. NSE’s Nifty also lost 172 points. Adding to this uncertainty was also RBI governor Urjit Patel’s resignation following months of conflict with the government.