Current Affairs Assam – February 2018 e-Magazine
February 4
SC collegium recommends names of new CJs for 3 NE High Courts
The Supreme Court collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar and Ranjan Gogoi, has made public the names it has recommended for appointment as chief justices of High Courts of Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Calcutta, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.
The name of Justice Tarun Agrawala, the senior-most judge of the Allahabad High Court, has been approved for appointment as the chief justice of Meghalaya High Court.
Justice Abhilasha Kumari, a judge in the Gujarat High Court, has been recommended to be appointed as the chief justice of Manipur High Court.
Justice Ajay Rastogi, a judge of the Rajasthan High Court, has been nominated as chief justice of the Tripura High Court.
The collegium has also recommended transfer of Guwahati High Court judge Justice Hrishikesh Roy to Kerala High Court.
FACTFILE – Appointments and the Collegium
- As per the Constitution, as held by the court in the Three Judges Cases – (1982, 1993, 1998), a judge is appointed to the Supreme Court by the President of India on the recommendation of the collegium – a closed group of the Chief Justice of India, the four most senior judges of the court and the senior-most judge hailing from the high court of a prospective appointee.
- Judges used to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Union Cabinet. After 1993 (the Second Judges’ Case), no minister, or even the executive collectively, can suggest any names to the President, who ultimately decides on appointing them from a list of names recommended only by the collegium of the judiciary. Simultaneously, as held in that judgment, the executive was given the power to reject a recommended name.
- The collegium system has come under a fair amount of criticism. In 2015, the Parliament passed a law to replace the collegium with a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). This was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in the Fourth Judges’ Case, as the new system would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Putting the old system of the collegium back, the court invited suggestions, even from the general public, on how to improve the collegium system, broadly along the lines of – setting up an eligibility criteria for appointments, a permanent secretariat to help the collegium sift through material on potential candidates, infusing more transparency into the selection process, grievance redressal and any other suggestion not in these four categories, like transfer of judges. This resulted in the court asking the government and the collegium to finalize the Memorandum of Procedure incorporating the above
World Cancer Day celebrated on Feb 4
The theme for World Cancer Day 2016-18 is ‘We can, I Can’. The World Cancer Day is observed on 4th February every year to raise awareness about cancer, its treatment and to encourage methods of its prevention.
The Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a medical camp at Swarna Bharat Trust, Atkur in Andhra Pradesh organised on the occasion of World Cancer Day.
FACTFILE – World Cancer Day
- World Cancer Day is an international day marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.
- World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancress blood no Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008. The primary goal of the World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer by 2020.
- World Cancer Day targets misinformation, raises awareness, and reduces stigma. Multiple initiatives run on World Cancer Day to show support for those affected by cancer. One of these movements is #NoHairSelfie, a global movement to have “hairticipants” shave their heads either physically or virtually to show a symbol of courage for those undergoing cancer treatment.
India Lifts U-19 World Cup 2018
India defeated Australia to lift the Under 19 World cup for the fourth time. The Men in Blue defeated the three-time champions Australia at Bay Oval, New Zealand.
The Australian team had set the target of 214 runs and was chased down easily by India. Manjot Kalra was the Hero of the match with his brilliant century.
IOC to invest Rs 3,400 crore in Assam to augment operations
Indian Oil Corporation will invest Rs 3,400 crore in Assam over the next five years to expand its operations by setting up new units as well as upgrading the existing ones.
The company will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Assam Government to this effect at the two-day ‘Advantage Assam – Global Investors Summit 2018’, beginning in Guwahati. They are signing an MoU with the state government that will empower us to invest Rs 3,400 crore in Assam over the next five years. This will be for various projects across the state,” Indian Oil Corporation, Executive Director (IndianOil-AOD), Dipankar Ray.
CRISIL, SIDBI Launch Indias First MSE Sentiment Index
The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Mr. Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx, India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL & SIDBI.
CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative) to 200 (extremely positive). CriSidEx will have 2 indices, one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data.
February 5
PM Narendra Modi released ‘Exam Warriors’ book
A book authored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for students facing exams was launched on 3rd of February by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi. The book, titled ‘Exam Warriors’, aims to get through to students across the country on the threshold of examinations, and hopes to help them thread the needle with ease.
The PM often addresses the concerns of students on his radio show ‘Mann ki Baat’. He also holds a special student-centric show before the board exams. The idea for the book stemmed from there, as the PM decided to make a compilation of his thoughts on the matter, coupled with his thoughts on the subject as well as relatable anecdotes.
The book will be translated in multiple languages and will be made available across the country. The book is 208 pages thick and is being published by Penguin Randon House India.In the book, the PM has penned down almost 25 mantras for students as well as their parents and teachers on how to tackle exams without stress and anxiety.
Advantage Assam Global Investors Summit 2018 Inaugurated
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed the inaugural session of Advantage Assam – Global Investors Summit 2018, in Guwahati on the 3rd of February. The two-day event, showcases the state’s manufacturing opportunities and geostrategic advantages to foreign and domestic investors.
The Summit has been organised by the Assam Government, in association with the industry body the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), aiming to position the state as India’s Expressway to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
Salaries of President, Vice President, Governors hiked
The salaries of the President and the Vice President have been increased to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh per month respectively, in a rectification of an anomaly.
Announcing the hike in their salaries in his Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the emoluments of the President, the Vice President and the Governors were last revised with effect from January 1, 2006. “These emoluments are proposed to be revised to Rs 5 lakh for the President, Rs 4 lakh for the Vice President and to Rs 3.5 lakh per month for the Governors,” he said, amidst thumping of desk by the members in the Lok Sabha.
As of now, the President gets Rs 1.50 lakh per month, the Vice President Rs 1.25 lakh and a Governor of a State Rs 1.10 lakh. Till now, the President, the Vice President and the Governors continued to get less salary as compared to the top bureaucrats and service chiefs since the laws were not amended to rectify an anomaly with the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations two years ago.
The President is also the supreme commander of all the three armed forces – the Army, Air Force, and Navy. However, the President’s current salary was less than the chiefs of the three armed forces, who draw a salary equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary.
After the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission’s awards on January 1, 2016, the Cabinet Secretary, who is the top-most bureaucrat in the country, gets Rs 2.5 lakh per month and a Secretary in the Union government draws Rs 2.25 lakh per month.
February 6
Environment Ministry launched “Green Good Deeds” Campaign
The “Green Good Deeds” campaign is launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan appealed to the teaching community to join the “Green Good Deeds” campaign.
With this objective in mind, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has launched a people-oriented campaign named “Green Good Deeds.”
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
The United Nations observed the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on 6th February 2018 with the campaign #EndFGM. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day that takes place on February 6 as part of the UN’s efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
Assam Government and Ola sign MoU for River Taxi Service
Cab-hailing startup Ola and the Government of Assam have signed a MoU to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati.
The river taxis will be machine-operated boats and users will be able to book the rides through Ola’s app. It’ll bring commute time down to 2-5 minutes from 45 minutes by road. This MoU was signed during the Global Investors Summit: Advantage Assam.
