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NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Apr 11, 2021

CJI Launches Top Court's AI-driven Research Portal 'SUPACE'

The Supreme Court of India has launched its Artificial Intelligence portal "SUPACE" (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency). Through this portal, the SC intends to leverage machine learning to deal with the vast amounts of data received at the time of filing of cases.

Odisha to Handover Unused Govt. Properties to Women SHGs

In a significant step towards empowering women-folk in villages, the Odisha government announced to handover all unused government properties in panchayats to women self-help groups (SHGs) federated under Mission Shakti programme.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed district collectors to complete the process of handing over of properties within next two months. "There are many government properties including government building, shopping complex and community ponds lying unutilised in panchayats, blocks and districts. If the properties are given to women, they will use it for social and economic upliftment of the area," said Mr. Patnaik.

Not in Favour of Appointment of Ad Hoc Judges, Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Centre told the Supreme Court that it was not in favour of appointing ad hoc judges in High Courts until recommendations for all regular appointments were not made by Chief Justices of the Courts concerned.
As on April 1, all 25 High Courts in the country had a vacancy of 411 judges, more than a third of the total positions. There were only 669 judges out of the total sanctioned strength of 1,080. Moreover, there have been no recommendations from High Courts for 214 of the 411 vacancies.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation by NGO Lok Prahari that sought appointment of ad hoc judges to tackle the ever-mounting pendency of cases in the High Courts.
Conveying its views before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S. A. Bobde, the government said that the constitutional provision regarding appointment of ad hoc judges should be resorted to only after all the sanctioned vacancies in the 25 high courts are filled.

Apr 10, 2021

Andhra High Court Clears Elections to Local Bodies

Elections to 534 Zilla Parishad territorial constituencies (ZPTCs) and 7,621 mandal parishad territorial constituencies (MPTCs) in Andhra Pradesh will be held as scheduled.
A division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed the interim orders given by the single judge bench of the court stalling the elections to Zilla Parishad and mandal (block) parishads on the ground that the four-week period for the enforcement of model code of conduct was not being followed.

First Online PDOT Programme for Migrant Workers

The first online Pre-Departure Orientation Training, PDOT Programme for migrant workers was launched to supplement physical training being held in PDOT Centres.
The Ministry of External Affairs in association with Protector of Emigrants, Mumbai and other POEs has taken this initiative in view of Covid restrictions and to take advantage of technology. Online PDOT will continue even after COVID restrictions are eased to facilitate prospective migrants, who are not in a position to attend the training in-person, and to expand its reach.
PDO training would help migrant workers to know about the culture, language and regulations of the destination country to ensure their safety and security.
The initiative will provide prospective migrants with better skills and empower them further as they embark on the journey of migration.

Mulayam Singh's Niece Joins BJP

Sandhya Yadav, niece of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and she has been given a ticket for the upcoming District Panchayat elections.
The BJP released the list of candidates for the District Panchayat member, in which Sandhya has been nominated from Ghiror, Mainpuri from ward number 18.
Sandhya is the daughter of Mulayam Singh's elder brother Abhairam Yadav and former MP from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav's elder sister.
Sandhya is a former District Panchayat President of Mainpuri. She was made the District Panchayat president by the Samajwadi Party in 2016, but a family quarrel followed.

Apr 09, 2021

India and Bahrain Agree to Bolster Defence and Security Cooperation

India and Bahrain agreed to strengthen bilateral defence and security cooperation, including through regular consultations in maritime security, combating piracy and counter-terrorism.
This was decided at a meeting of the India-Bahrain high joint commission that was co-chaired in New Delhi by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.
The Bahraini side expressed interest in setting up pharmaceutical and vaccine production units with Indian collaboration, and the Indian side agreed to facilitate dialogue on this issue between relevant stakeholders.
The Indian side also made a request for greater acceptance and market access for Indian pharmaceutical products in the Bahraini market.

Telugu Desam Party Loses its Presence in Telangana Assembly

The Telugu Desam Party, which hitherto had a nominal presence in Telangana, lost its existence in the state assembly completely, with both the MLAs of the party joining the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
The two lawmakers – Sandra Venkata Veeraiah from Sattupalli assembly constituency and Mecha Nageshwara Rao from Ashwaraopet constituency (both in Khammam district) – wrote a letter to assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, stating that they were merging the Telugu Desam Legislature Party with the TRS.

Chintan Vaishnav New Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission

Noted socio-technologist, Chintan Vaishnav has been appointed the mission director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the government's flagship initiative under NITI Aayog. Vaishnav will take over from Ramanathan Ramanan later this month. Ramanan has been leading AIM as its first mission director since June 2017. Vaishnav is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. He holds a PhD in technology, management, and policy from MIT.
AIM's mission is to create and promote a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. Over the past four years, since its inception, AIM's various initiatives have achieved notable successes. So far, AIM has established 72,59 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools across 650 districts, providing over 3.5 million students access to emerging technologies.

Apr 08, 2021

Former CS Named NGT Member

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan has been appointed as an expert member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Southern Zone in Chennai. The serving expert member in the Southern Bench Saibal Dasgupta has been sent to Eastern Zonal Bench in Kolkata.
When Girija Vaidyanathan had initially applied for the post, Chennai-based environmental advocacy group Poovulagin Nanbargal had filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Madras High Court challenging it. Admitting the petition, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had directed the government and Girija Vaidyanathan to file their responses in six weeks.

Road in Ayodhya to be Named after Kothari Brothers

Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that he will construct a road in Ayodhya in memory of Kothari brothers, who were killed in police firing in Ayodhya on October 30, 1990.
At many times the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, amid the ongoing West Bengal assembly elections, exhorted the voters of the state to remember the sacrifice of Kothari brothers, who had lost their lives while agitating for the holy site in Ayodhya.

Apr 07, 2021

Bihar LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh Joins JD(U)

The lone MLA of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar Raj Kumar Singh has joined the Janata Dal (United).
Bihar Assembly Speaker gave the nod for the merger of LJP legislative party having Raj Kumar Singh (in maroon kurta) as the lone MLA into the JD (U).
The LJP did not contest the Bihar assembly election under the banner of NDA due to a last-minute seat-sharing arrangement issue and chose to contest the elections alone.
The only seat won by the LJP in last year`s assembly elections was Matihani, where Raj Kumar Singh had defeated the sitting JD(U) MLA Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo Singh by a razor-thin margin of 333 votes.

Tarun Bajaj Appointed New Revenue Secretary, Ajay Seth New DEA Secy

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the union government approved the appointment of Tarun Bajaj as new revenue secretary under the Ministry of Finance.
Bajaj was serving as secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) since April 30, 2020. Tarun Bajaj took additional charge of Secretary, Department of Revenue, after the superannuation of Ajay Bhushan Pandey.
The appointment committee of the cabinet has also approved the appointment of Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, as new secretary for DEA. Along with this, there were also other changes in top bureaucracy notified by the Ministry of Personnel.

Justice N. V. Ramana Next CJI

Senior-most Supreme Court Judge Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India.
According to a notification issued by the government, Justice Ramana would take over as the 48th CJI on April 24 after incumbent CJI S A Bobde demits office a day before.
Justice Ramana would retire on August 26, 2022.
Justice Bobde had recently recommended Justice Ramana as his successor in keeping with convention and norms of seniority.

India and Russia Discuss Defence Ties, Afghan Peace Process, Indo-Pacific

Russia promised joint production of weapons systems in India as the two countries held extensive talks covering key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as pressing issues like the Afghan peace process and each other's outlook on the Indo-Pacific region.
In the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the Indian side apprised the Russian delegation of its views on China in the backdrop of the border row in Ladakh.
Referring to bilateral defence ties, Lavrov said that Russia was ready for transfer of cutting edge technologies and production of weapons systems in India.

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