2 min readMay 16, 2026 06:30 AM IST First published on: May 16, 2026 at 06:30 AM ISTIndia and Zimbabwe expressed their joint resolve to assist the people of South Africa and Namibia in their struggle against the Pretoria regime for gaining their independence. The resolve emerged after a detailed discussion between the delegations of the two countries led by their prime ministers, Rajiv Gandhi and Robert Mugabe, on the southern African situation.President’s ordinanceIn an extraordinary move, the President, Zail Singh, promulgated an ordinance waiving the statutory requirement of placing reports of commissions set up under the Commission of Inquiry Act before Parliament or state legislatures. Though the ordinance, amending Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, has wider implications, the immediate object is to suppress the report of the Thakkar Commission pertaining to the assassination of Indira Gandhi.AdvertisementBhopal matter far from overHearings for compensation claims by over 100,000 victims of the Bhopal gas plant disaster will continue in the US. These cases, presently in the state court of Texas, are unaffected by the recent ruling of US federal judge Keenan who held that India and not the US is the proper forum for such litigation. Texas will continue to hear these cases. Another roughly 163,000 cases have been filed in the state courts of Connecticut, Los Angeles and Institute, West Virginia. Judges have yet to rule on the fate of these claimants.Reserve Bank directives floutedWhere large sums of money are at stake, avarice and ambition generally force most people to fall in line. Only a few brave souls dare to stand up and resist, and it is to these few that is owed the credit for unravelling the mystery of the Reliance Loan Mela. Thanks to the dedication of an inspection team of the RBI, details of this operation are now lodged with the Department of Banking Operations and Development, and the RBI itself.