News in Short

• Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal has declined consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Principal Adviser Ajeya Kallam.
• The Attorney-General was responding to a petition filed by Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for his prior consent under the Contempt of Court Act, which is necessary for carrying out proceedings.
• Contempt of court is an offence of disobedience or disrespect towards a court of law and its officers in the form of conduct that opposes or challenges the authority, justice, and dignity of the court.

• For the first time in US history a woman has been elected to the executive branch of the United States Government.
• Kamala Harris is all set to become the first female US vice-president. She was just the third female vice-presidential candidate from a major party.
• Ms Harris will also become the second person of colour to be elected either president or vice-president. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is all set to win the US election.
• Her place in history will be confirmed if she is voted by the electoral college in December. Since the presidential office of the United States was formed in 1789, 92 men have held the position of either president or vice-president.

• Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the U.N. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.
• The 193-member General Assembly appoints members of the Advisory Committee. Members are selected on the basis of broad geographical representation, personal qualifications, and experience.
• The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, which deals with administrative and budgetary issues.
• The victory comes as India gets ready to sit in the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 2021.

• The winner of the JCB Prize for Literature 2020 has been announced. And this year S Hareesh has won for his novel, Moustache which been translated into English by Jayasree Kalathil.
• The book was chosen among the five books in the shortlist which consisted of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara, Chosen Spirits by Samit Basu, Prelude to a Riot by Annie Zaidi, and These, Our Bodies, Possessed by Light by Dharini Bhaskar.
• The JCB Prize for Literature is regarded as the richest literary prize in India. As per the norm, the Malayalam author will receive a ?25 lakh cash prize and the translator will receive an additional rs 10 lakh.

• Democratic candidate Joseph Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States, beating incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump, by securing more than the required 270 of 538 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
• Mr. Biden’s running mate, Kamala Devi Harris, will become the first woman and first Indian- and African-American Vice-President of the country.
• Mr. Biden will inherit, from President Trump, a deeply divided country, battered by the coronavirus pandemic, facing high levels of unemployment and fraying race relations.
• Biden had earlier served as the Vice-president of United States under President Barack Obama. He was a senator from Delaware earlier.