Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 16 September 2015

:: National ::

The Supreme Court on Tuesday favoured an I-T probe against former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan's family members for allegedly amassing properties disproportionate to their known sources of income.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said it was the duty of the Income Tax department to find out their sources of income and sought assistance of the attorney general in deciding a PIL seeking probe against Justice Balakrishnan and his daughter, son-in-law and brother for amassing disproportionate assets during his tenure as a judge and as CJI .
"Judges Protection Act may apply to some aspects but the I-T authorities can proceed against them. It is the duty of the I-T department to find out the sources of income. It has not been done," the bench said.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Common Cause alleging that properties worth of crores of rupees were purchased by family members of Justice Balakrishnan during his tenure in the Supreme Court.
The petition, filed in 2013, also sought removal of Justice Balakrishnan as chairman of National Human Rights Commission. He retired from the Commission in May this year.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, told the bench that 21 properties were purchased by Justice Balakrishnan's family members whose sources of income were limited and they could not have bought the properties on their own. He also placed sale deeds of the properties before the court.

China was carrying out land reclamation in contested waters of the South China Sea this month, more than four weeks after saying it had stopped such activity, a U.S. expert said on Tuesday, citing recent satellite images.
The evidence of continued dredging in the Spratly archipelago could complicate a visit to the United States by Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, when U.S. concerns about China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia are expected to be high on the agenda.
Bonnie Glaser, of Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said images taken in early September showed dredging activity at both Subi Reef and Mischief Reef in Spratlys.
The dredgers at Subi could be seen pumping sediment on to areas bordered by recently built sea walls and widening the channel for ships to enter waters enclosed by the reef.
At Mischief Reef, a dredger was expanding a channel to enable easier access for ships, possibly for future use as a naval base, Glaser said.

Reducing our carbon footprint, be it in our personal lives or industrial activity remains key to saving the Earth from environmental degradation, say experts in the city as the world observes the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on Wednesday.
More commonly known as the ‘World Ozone Day’, September 16 commemorates the Montreal Protocol that was signed on this date by 24 UN member nations in 1987, to limit and ultimately phase out the production of manmade chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and 95 other ozone-depleting materials.
The slogan for this year “Ozone: All that is there between You and UV” is meant to show how human activity can impact the ozone layer and ultimately, the survival of the Earth and its environment as we know it.
The ozone layer forms a protective shield around the Earth and staves off the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun.
“Ozone in the lower atmosphere is harmful for human and plant life, while in the higher level (stratosphere) it protects our planet against ultraviolet radiation.

Finally, top Indian women's doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) by the sports ministry after a long wait.
The ministry informed on Tuesday that the duo, along with the men's doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri, has been included for the TOPS funding from National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The amount will be spent by the shuttlers on their training, competition and equipment in the run up to the Summer Games.
The decision will put an end to the unwarranted controversy that was going on for a couple of months. Shocked by their exclusion, both Gutta and Ponnappa had launched a tirade against the ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand in recent times.
The pair had accused Gopichand of bias and serious "conflict of interest" while selecting five of the six singles players in the TOPS from his Hyderabad-based private badminton academy.