Enforcement Directorate issues fourth summon to Zakir Naik

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons, to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik in connection with its money laundering probe case against him and others.
• They indicated that the latest summons could well possibly be the last issued  to him and the agency may move court for an arrest warrant against him, if he again chooses to ignore the summons.
• Naik, through his lawyer, had made a proposal to depose via video link some days back even as he apprehended that he could be arrested by he agency like his aide Aamir Gazdar.
• “My client is willing and ready to give any statement before you via Skype or any other mode of electronic media to assist you in your investigation,” a letter sent by Naik, also the founder of NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), through his lawyer Mahesh Mule had said.

P. Shiv Shankar

• Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar passed away on 27-02- 2017 morning after a prolonged illness.
• Born on August 10, 1929 in Mamidipally village in Hyderabad district, Shiv Shankar passed BA from Hindu College, Amritsar, and went to complete LB from University Law College, Osmania University.
• He contested the by-election to the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency in 1979 on the Indian National Congress party ticket.
• He became Law Minister in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet in 1980. From 1985 till 1993, he represented the Congress as Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat.
• Shiv Shankar served as External Affairs and Human Resource Development Minister. He first became Governor of Sikkim in 1994and later was shifted to Kerala in 1995.
• in 2008 he joined the Praja Rajyam Party floated by actor Chiranjeevi. The PRP merged with the Congress in 2011.
• Can’t prevent uploading of objectionable content, Google tells SC
• Trying to prevent a person from uploading objectionable content online is like attempting to prevent a murder.
• The company was responding to the Supreme Court"s repeated query on whether it can set up some a mechanism or a body to identify and prevent those who upload obscene content featuring women and children.
• A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit was referring to the loss of reputation and dignity of women and children, who become victims of such videos uploaded on websites.
• The court is hearing a PIL filed by NGO Prajwala highlighting the increasing number of instances of sexual assault videos of women and children being uploaded on the Internet.

Tom Perez elected US Democratic party chairman

• US Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as chairman on 26-02- 2017, choosing a veteran of the Obama administration to lead the daunting task of rebuilding the party and heading the opposition to Republican President Donald Trump.
• Perez, the son of Dominican immigrants who was considered a potential running mate for Clinton, overcame a strong challenge from Ellison and prevailed on a 235-200 second-round vote. Ellison, who is the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, was backed by liberal leader US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
• The election offered the DNC a fresh start after last year"s forced resignation of chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who stepped aside when the release of hacked emails appeared to show DNC officials trying to help Clinton defeat Sanders in the primaries.

Oscars 2017

• The biggest night of Hollywood, the 89th Academy Awards. celebrated the biggest and best names in the movie business.
• The award ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. 
• The evening ended with "La La Land" taking home six awards while "Moonlight" won three golden statuettes.
• The ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel who took quite a few jabs at the US President Donald Trump.

Highlights of Oscar-2017

• Best Picture - "Moonlight" by Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner
• Best Actress in a Leading Role - Emma Stone for "La La Land"
• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Casey Affleck for "Manchester By The Sea"
• Best Director - Damien Chazelle for "La La Land"
• Best Adapted Screenplay - Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for "Moonlight"
• Best Original Screenplay - Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester By The Sea"
• Best Original Song - "City Of Stars" from "La La Land" by Justin Hurwitz,Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
• Best Original Score - Justin Hurwitz for "La La Land"
• Best Cinematography - Linus Sandgren for "La La Land"
• Best Live Action Short - "Sing" by Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
• Best Documentary Short - "The White Helmets" by Orlando Von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
• Best Film Editing - John Gilbert for "Hacksaw Ridge"
• Best Visual Effects - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R Jones and Dan Lemmon for "The Jungle Book"
• Best Production Design - David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco for "La La Land"
• Best Animated Feature - "Zootopia" by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer
• Best Animated Short - "Piper" by Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer
• Best Foreign Language Film - "The Salesman" by Asghar Farhadi
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Viola Davis for "Fences"
• Best Sound Mixing - Kevin O"Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace for "Hacksaw Ridge"
• Best Sound Editing - Sylvian Bellemare for "Arrival"
• Best Documentary Feature - Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow for "O J: Made In America"