Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 14 September 2016

:: National ::

Law commission chairman differs from SC Judge

• In a view different from the highest judiciary’s call for more judges to trim pendency, Law Commission of India Chairman and former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan said “working judges”, and not increasing strength of judges.

• “Increasing the sanctioned strength of judges will not solve the problem. We need working judges. Liberty has become more important. Workload has increased because of an increase in awareness among the public and education.” He said

• There has been an expansion of liberty and courts are bound by the public’s faith in the judiciary,” Justice Chauhan, Chairman of the 21st Law Commission said.

• His view comes at a time when the Supreme Court has directed the Law Commission to file a report within a year on whether it is permissible to rid the apex court of routine appeals crowding the court.

• Justice Chauhan’s views come at a time when Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur has called for over 70,000 more judges to be appointed to courts all over the country to clear the backlog.

• This is when the present vacancies in the High Courts number over 480 when the sanctioned strength is 1079. The Supreme Court has itself three vacancies in a total sanctioned strength of 31 judges.

• Asked whether an amended Bill of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) may be a way out of the current impasse perceived between the highest judiciary and the government over the drafting of the Memorandum of Procedure.

• “Democracy is a collective opinion. Nobody has primacy. There should be a collective opinion, a collective effort. You cannot say we are the most important,” he said.

• The October 16, 2015 judgment, which revived the Collegium, was based on ‘primacy of judiciary’ in judicial appointments.

• On the Supreme Court’s reference in July 2016 to review provisions of the Advocates Act to curb misconduct among lawyers, he said the judiciary wants “more teeth” to control lawyers’ misconduct.

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:: International ::

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is generating a vigorous internal debate

• The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is generating a vigorous internal debate, pitting those who advocate a less reliance on the project against who view the undertaking as a cornerstone of security of the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative.

• The Pakistani media also underscored the difficulties that are being encountered in ensuring the CPEC’s unhindered take-off. Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that the Chinese side has said Islamabad should formally rope in the Army to ensure smooth execution of the project.

• It added that China wanted the establishment of a separate ministry or authority that would focus exclusively on the CPEC.

• Some say that China was now deeply enmeshed in Pakistan’s internal dynamics to shore up the CPEC project.

:: India and World ::

India said Terrorism is the grossest violation of Human Rights

• Terrorism is the “grossest” violation of human rights, said India, lashing out at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ZeidRa’ad Al Hussein for his criticism of action by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

• In his opening statement at the Human Rights Council in Geneva’s annual session,. Zeid Al Hussein called for an “independent, impartial and international mission” into reports of use of excessive force against the civilian population.

• He also said that while Pakistan had responded to the HRC’s request to send the team, agreeing to its visit to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir “in tandem” with a mission to Jammu and Kashmir, India had yet to respond formally.

• The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is part of a pluralistic and secular democracy, where freedoms are guaranteed by an independent judiciary, an active media and a vibrant civil society.

• In contrast, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is administered by a ‘deep state’ and has become a hub for the global export of terror,” MEA spokesperson said.

• UN body in Geneva and India to spill over into the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj hopes to make a tough intervention on terrorism on September 26.

• Meanwhile, welcoming the statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) also “urged” India to make a formal response to the UN body.

• Pakistan has escalated the diplomatic war over Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander BurhanWani sparked a series of protests and violence in the valley, that has left more than 76 dead and hundreds injured.

• However, India said the demand for an “external mission” had been dismissed by the all-party conference that sent a delegation to Jammu and Kashmir.

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:: Science and Technology ::

GSAT-11, India’s advanced and heaviest communication spacecraft to date to be launched

• GSAT-11, India’s advanced and heaviest communication spacecraft to date at 5,700 kg, is to be launched early next year on the European Ariane launch vehicle.

• The high-throughput satellite with its multi-spot beam coverage of the country will be far superior to the older generation three-tonne INSAT/GSAT spacecraft.

• GSAT-11 is designed to generate a bandwidth of more than 12 gbps primarily for users of Internet driven services, VSAT operations and rural connectivity.

• Globally many operators are putting up such high throughput satellites for commercial use while ISRO is working on putting up five such in the near future.

• This would be the first spacecraft to be integrated on ISRO’s new i-6k platform. The INSAT/GSATs have not exceeded 3,400 kg; the last heaviest was GSAT-10 launched in 2012.

• Also, ISRO’s newly readied medium-lift launcher can only lift satellites up to 2,000 kg. Arianespace quoted its Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël announcing the GSAT-11 contract along with five other global launch orders.

:: Business and Economy ::

Big foreign retail chains and food brandsare eyeing an entry in the Indian market

• Big retail chains and food brands from the U.K., Italy and Brazil are eyeing an entry in the Indian market after the government opened up foreign investments up to 100 per cent in processing, marketing and retailing of food made in India.

• The minister said that she would also be visiting Italy on September 29 at the invitation of the Italian government to meet food producers and retailers who have evinced interest in investing in India.

• India’s food economy is growing at a faster rate than the economy and our food and grocery market is the sixth largest in the world. The average Indian spends about 40% of their wallet on food.

• Apart from Walmart, which is evaluating the country’s new FDI norms for food retail, some large firms from Brazil have also expressed eagerness to foray into the Indian market.

• The ministry has decided to hold a World Food Summit in 2017 on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat summit, where big food retailers, processors, logistics, packaging companies as well as farmer-producer organisations would be invited.

• The Food Processing Ministry is arguing for keeping processed food products in the exempt category of goods under the proposed Goods and Services Tax regime to replace the present indirect tax levies.

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