Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Four SC judges air differences with CJI Misra

News

• In an unprecedented act, four senior judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference and publicly accused Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra of selectively assigning cases to judges of his choice without any rational basis.

Beyond News

• Transcending judicial protocol that sitting judges should not interact with the media, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph the senior-most judges after the CJI  accused Justice Misra of assigning cases of “far-reaching consequences to the nation” to junior hand-picked judges against the time-tested convention, practice and tradition of the court.
• In a letter addressed to the CJI and circulated at the press meet, the four said certain Supreme Court judges arrogated to themselves the “authority to deal with and pronounce upon” cases which ought to be heard by other appropriate Benches.

Justice Chelameswar, speaking for the four, said they had collectively tried to persuade the Chief Justice to take remedial measures but their efforts had failed.

The judges said that with the independence of the judiciary and the future of democracy at stake, they had “no other choice but communicate to the nation to please take care of this institution.”

• Justice Chelameswar recounted that the trigger for the press conference was a meeting they held with the Chief Justice regarding the assignment of a petition, seeking an independent probe into the mysterious death of CBI judge B.H. Loya, to a particular Bench.
• Without naming any, Justice Chelameswar said that several other important cases like this had been assigned to preferred Benches over the past months.
• Also said that,the convention of the court demands that important cases of public interest or sensitive matters should be first heard by the CJI. If the CJI is not willing for some reason to hear the case, it should be assigned to the next senior-most judge in the Supreme Court.

India makes push for U.K. immigration reform

News

• Commerce and Industry Minister and Minister of State for Home Affairs, both on visits to the U.K., have pressed the need for Britain to review immigration policies relating to India, including on student visas and the extension of a visa system introduced for Chinese visitors to the U.K.

Beyond News

• The meetings came as India and Britain agreed to the terms of a memorandum of understanding on the swift return of Indian illegal immigrants from the U.K. an issue that has been repeatedly raised by the British government and cited as an obstacle to immigration reform on the British side.
• Among the key asks raised by the Ministers is for the introduction of a two-year visa system for business travellers.
• Prabhu said he raised issues both around the ease of getting visas and the costs which could prove prohibitive for the services sector.
• Both Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the progress of talks on these issues.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Search in Bharathapuzha unearths 6 pieces of PSP

News

• Six pieces of perforated steel planking (PSP) were recovered from the Bharathapuzha under the Kuttippuram bridge during a combined search conducted by the police and other security agencies.

Beyond News

• The search was carried out under the leadership of Intelligence DIG, in the wake of the recovery of a cache of ammunition from the river. Five anti-personnel mines had been found abandoned near the bridge last week.

For Army use only!

• Both the land mines and the cache of bullets recovered from the site were used by the Army.
• The PSP pieces recovered were rusted heavily. The PSP is used to prevent Army vehicles getting stuck in marshy land.

The search was conducted with the help of an earth mover and using deep search metal detectors (DSMD). Bomb squads joined the search.

Waterbird census in district from today

News

• Waterbird census, the annual event of counting birds in wetland areas conducted as part of the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC), will be held on January 13 and 14 in Kochi(Kerala).

Waterbird

• Waterbirds are birds that are ecologically dependent on wetlands.

Beyond News

• Annually in January, hundreds of volunteers move across the wetland bird habitats in Asia to count waterbirds including the migratory ones.
• Data generated from AWC is used to identify and monitor wetlands of international and national importance.
• AWC covers the region of Asia from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, southeast Asia and Australasia.
• The event runs parallel to other international census procedures of waterbirds in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and the neotropical regions.
• The annual waterbird census began in Kerala in 1987.
• The Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad and the Social Forestry Wing of the Forest Department are also supporting the event.

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