Wednesday, September 12, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

• Media can be gagged to ensure fair trial, says Supreme Court
  • The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to frame guidelines across the board for reporting sub judice matters, but laid down a constitutional principle under which aggrieved parties could seek postponement of publication of hearings. The Court said it was laying down the constitutional principle which would allow the aggrieved parties to move the appropriate court for postponement of the publication of hearings;
  • Propounding the doctrine of postponement of publication of court proceedings, the judges said it was only a preventive measure, not prohibitive or punitive. It further said a temporary ban on publication of court proceedings was necessary to maintain the balance between freedom of speech and fair trial for proper administration of justice;
  • The postponement of publication would be required where there was a substantial risk of trial and administration of justice getting prejudiced. Any person aggrieved by a case can move a High Court or the Supreme Court to gag the media in relation to the case until the decision is laid down in the case;
  • The Supreme Court has undertaken the exercise of framing guidelines after receiving complaints of breach of confidentiality at the hearing of a dispute between the Sahara Group and the SEBI as some documents were leaked and reported by the media before the final hearing.
• Supreme Court issues notices to Tamilnadu on its quota law
  • The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the law providing for 69% quota in employment and educational institutions in the State on the ground that the quota exceeds 50% contemplated in the Mandal Commission judgment;
  • The court was hearing the petitions of certain meritorious students who had not got admission for colleges in the state inspite of having 198/200 marks! They argued that they would have got admission if the 50% rule had been followed;
  • The Tamil Nadu Reservation Act of 1993 which provides for the 69% reservation (for Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in jobs and educational institutions) was added to the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. Article 31B of the Constitution says that any law in the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged in a Court of Law (i.e. cannot be subject to judicial review). This provision was added to the constitution in 1951 when the land reform laws of the country were challenged in the courts;
  • In the Keshavananda Bharati case of 1973, the Supreme Court held that they had the power to strike down any law (including a constitutional amendment) in the event it violated the basic structure of the constitution. In Jan 2007 in the Coelho case, the court held that the power to strike down any law for violation of the basic structure of the constitution also extended to the Article 31B and the laws listed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution;
  • The Backward Class Commission which was directed by the Supreme Court in 2010, while disposing of the earlier petition, to assess the justifiability of 69% reservation on objective criteria filed its report to the State government on July 8, 2011. Without any objective criteria, the Commission simply confirmed 69% reservation on the basis of Amba Shankar Commission Report which was made in 1985 without any objective criteria in terms of ‘Nagaraj Case which does not permit the power to exceed the quantitative restriction of 50% reservation. This was also challenged by the petitioners in the case;
  • Therefore now the Court will consider if a law in Tamilnadu for 69% reservation is within the rights to people within the basic structure of constitution in light of the national law for 50% reservation. The reason for this law in Tamilnadu is that the backwardness of the people is more and therefore this will be the consideration when reviewing the case.
• Defence Minister to open Kochi coastal radar network
  • On saturday, Defence Minister A.K. Antony will inaugurate a coastal radar network in Kochi, a project envisaged after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The first two clusters of the project were inaugurated in Mumbai and Porbandar by the Minister on August 25. The network was first recommended by the Group of Ministers formed in the aftermath of the 1999 Kargil war;
  • The project implementation on India and its islands is expected to be completed by September and March 2013. Under Phase-II, 38 additional remote radar sites would be established. The project envisages fitment of high end surveillance gadgets — frequency diversity radar, electro-optic sensors, VHF sets and met equipment on lighthouses, etc.
• Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Drought cuts crop loan interest to 7%
  • The EGoM on Drought decided to provide an additional 50 days of guaranteed work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to registered households and cut the interest rate on crop loan to 7% (from 10-12%) for 1 year in the ‘notified’ drought-affected talukas in 4 States - Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan & Gujarat;
  • The panel, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, asked the Ministries concerned to take steps for speedy release of funds for drinking water;
  • Normally, during a natural calamity like drought, when farmers either have to re-sow or do not get a robust harvest, crop loans get converted into term loans for a longer period of five years with a 12 per cent interest. The EGoM decided to give interest relief to farmers only in the first year, against the Agriculture Ministry’s proposal for interest subvention on crop loans for five years. It suggested that the Ministry take the proposal for a five-year interest subvention to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for approval.
• Hydel projects proving fatal to riverine species
  • The White-bellied Heron, the Great Indian Bustard, the Peacock Tarantula and the Spoon-billed Sandpiper of India are among the 100 most threatened species of the planet and “closest to extinction”;
  • The Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino — considered extinct in India — are also present in the list compiled by scientists of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).The list was released by the Zoological Society of London and the IUCN at the World Conservation Congress being held in the Republic of Korea;
  • The destruction of habitat due to the development of hydel power projects has been identified as the cause for the falling numbers. SSC experts have suggested “development of captive rearing and release programme and elimination of adverse uses of riverine habitat” for bringing the species back from the brink;
  • The population of the White-bellied Heron, a.k.a. the Imperial Heron, is estimated to be between 70 and 400. The species is “known from the eastern Himalayan foothills in Bhutan and north-east India to the hills of Bangladesh, north Myanmar and, historically, across west and central Myanmar,” according to BirdLife International. It is primarily found in small or large rivers, usually with sand or gravel bars, often within or adjacent to subtropical broadleaf forests, says the IUCN Red list;
  • The habitat of the Peacock Tarantula, found in the Reserve forest between Nandyal and Giddalur of Andhra Pradesh, is “completely degraded due to lopping for firewood and cutting for timber. It is under intense pressure from the surrounding villages as well as from insurgents who use forest resources for their existence and operations”;
  • In the case of the Great Indian Bustard — estimated to number between 50-249 mature individuals — the habitat loss and modification due to agricultural development have proved near fatal. The “establishment of protected areas and community reserves and realignment of the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project” are the possible measures for saving the birds, it was recommended;
  • The breeding population of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper of India is roughly equivalent to 240-400 mature individuals. Trapping on wintering grounds and land reclamation are matters of concern for the species;
  • Hunted for its horn, which is used in some traditional medicines, the Sumatran Rhinoceros has been reduced to around 250 individuals worldwide. The species was earlier reported from the foothills of the Himalayas in Bhutan and north-east India.
• A day after the protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) took a violent turn, there was drama on Tuesday when the agitation’s coordinator, S.P. Udayakumar, was taken away by a group of men just as he was explaining his decision to surrender to the police. In a late night twist, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal turned up at the protest venue and declared that Dr. Udayakumar should not surrender

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• India pledges support for Palestine, announces USD 10 million in aid
  • India announced another tranche of aid to Palestine and promised to back the Palestine National Authority’s quest for non-member status at the United Nations, an upgrade from the observer status, a move the U.S. has threatened to veto;
  • This announcement came at a meeting where the two sides signed three agreements, including one in information technology.
• Saudi Arabia, India hold talks on defence ties
  • The first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia joint committee on defence cooperation was held in Delhi on Monday and both sides discussed proposals for exchange of high-level visits, training and functional exchanges in various areas;
  • The establishment of the joint committee was decided during the meeting the Defence Minister A.K. Antony had with Saudi Defence Minister (now the Crown Prince) Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia in February. The foundation for a strong bilateral relationship was laid by visits by King Abdullah to India in 2006 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Riyadh in 2010;
  • India has been engaging with other regional countries such as Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar by signing defence cooperation agreements and conducting regular exchanges and high-level meetings. Defence cooperation between Saudi Arabia and India has not received adequate attention.
• Senkaku / Diaoyu Island dispute between China and Japan is escalating
  • China on Tuesday summoned the Japanese Ambassador here and warned it would take “necessary measures” to protect its interests after Japan announced it had purchased disputed East China Sea islands;
  • Heightening recent strains, Japan announced on Tuesday that it had purchased three uninhabited islands from a family recognised by Tokyo as the owner. China, which holds competing claims to the Diaoyu or Senkaku islands, hit out at the move, seeing it as a provocative assertion of Japanese claims in the long-running dispute;
  • Beijing said after the announcement that it had dispatched two China Marine Surveillance (CMS) ships to patrol the waters and enforce its claims. Analysts said the developments raised the possibility of a confrontation with Japanese Coast Guards.

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Jeet Thayil
  • Jeet Thayil (born 1959 in Kerala) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is best known as a poet and is the author of four collections: These Errors Are Correct (Tranquebar, 2008), English (2004, Penguin India, Rattapallax Press, New York, 2004), Apocalypso (Ark, 1997) and Gemini (Viking Penguin, 1992);
  • The Kerala-born poet and novelist has been shortlisted for this year’s award for his debut novel Narcopolis — a dark tale about the opium and heroin dens of Mumbai thought to be based on his own experiences of what one critic described as the city’s “seedy underbelly”. The novel has been hailed as a “blistering debut”;
  • If Mr. Thayil wins, he will join a select band of Indian or India-born Booker winners such as Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai and Aravind Adiga;
  • His first novel, Narcopolis, (Faber & Faber, 2012), is shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. A self-confessed former drug addict, Mr. Thayil described Narcopolis in an interview as “Bombay’s secret history” as distinct from its “official” history of “money and glamour”.
• If you have time, read this article about Varghese Kurien which highlights a few specific achievements. We have already provided a detailed write up a few days ago

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the dangers of the new ruling of the Supreme Court in relation to press coverage of cases. Its a bit one sided given it comes from the media
• Read this editorial on the India Pakistan Visa agreement which was recently signed
• Read this very nice article from V.R. Krishna Iyer, the famous judge of the Supreme Court, on how we should create a more energy efficient situation in the country
• If you have time, read this article about the reality of sanctions by US on terrorist groups. Not important from an exam perspective.