2/10/2017 The HINDU Notes – 09th February | Current Affairs ONLY

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The HINDU Notes – 09th February

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February 9, 2017February 10, 2017 currentaffairsonly The Hindu NOTES Daily

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THE HINDU (h ps://currentaffairsonly.com/2017/02/10/th-notes-09-feb/) – CURRENT

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NOTE 09 February
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In a first, SC issues contempt notice to sitting HC judge

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For the first time in the history of

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Independent India, it issued a contempt

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of court notice against a si ing High

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Court judge for allegedly disgracing the

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judicial institution and impeding the

course of justice administration.
The Calcu a High Court judge, Justice
C.S. Karnan, should face contempt action
for his “scurrilous” le ers against si ing
and retired High Court and Supreme
Court judges.
The Supreme Court had taken suo-motu
cognisance of Justice Karnan’s le ers and
conduct.

Bench Decision:

The Bench ordered Justice Karnan to appear before it on February 13 to defend himself. It also
directed him to refrain from undertaking any judicial or administrative work and return all his
https://currentaffairsonly.com/2017/02/09/th-notes-09-feb/ official files to the Calcu a High 1/9
 directed him to refrain from undertaking
2/10/2017 any –judicial
The HINDU Notes or| Current
09th February administrative
Affairs ONLY work and return all his

official files to the Calcu a High

Court registry.
The Bench sought the assistance of
senior members of the Bar to help
understand the extent of its own
constitutional powers in the
uncharted waters presented by the
case.
Everything has to be evaluated as
per cause and effect: If punished, will
he remain in office or not.

A orney-General’s Remarks:

A orney-General Mukul Rohatgi

argued that it was time the Court

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stopped tolerating the onslaught on

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the judicial institution by one of its

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own judges and convey to the public

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that anyone who humiliated the judiciary, even a judge, would be punished like any other citizen.
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He said Justice Karnan, through his le ers and conduct dating back to his years as a judge in the
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Madras High Court, was making a “completely calculated” effort to “destroy” his parent
institution. If the Supreme Court was stern with the litigant, it should be sterner with one of its own
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who tried to harm the institution from within.

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Powers of Supreme Court:

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The Supreme Court, as the

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apex judiciary, was

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empowered under Article

129, read with Article 142
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(2), of the Constitution to

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“punish” anyone for

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contempt, even a High

Court judge who had
repeatedly made
damaging remarks about
his superiors and
colleagues.
The power of the Supreme
Court to punish for
contempt was not confined to the Contempt of Courts Act. Article 129 clothed the Supreme Court
with the power to punish for contempt of itself. Article 142 (2) provided the court with the power to
“make any order” for the “punishment of any contempt of itself.”
A Court of Record: The 1991 Supreme Court judgment in Delhi Judicial Service Association versus
State of Gujarat, which said the Constitution designed the SC as a Court of Record and “Article 129

thereof recognises the existing inherent power of a Court of Record in its full plenitude, including
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thereof recognises the existing inherent power of a Court of Record in its full plenitude, including
the power to punish for its own contempt and the contempt of its subordinate.” On January 2, 2017,
the apex court reiterated the point in its judgment in the Mid-Day staffers’ contempt case.
In its Union of India versus Sankal Chand Sheth judgment of 1977, the Supreme Court had
held that neither the President nor the Chief Justice of India had the power to punish a judge for
misconduct.

Stalemate on Krishna water release resolved

The stalemate in the release of

water from the right main
canal of Nagarjunasagar to

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the standing crop in 9.5 lakh
acres in Andhra Pradesh’s

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Prakasam and Guntur districts

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was resolved on Wednesday
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evening with the Telangana
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government agreeing to
implement the water release
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order issued by the Krishna

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River Management Board

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(KRMB) earlier.
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As the meeting was in

progress, 5 tmc ft water, which
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was ordered for release from January 18, was discharged from Nagarjunasagar project.
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Telangana government told the KRMB meeting on Wednesday that it did not release water for the
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last 21 days citing unclear provisions in the order.

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Centre to install 150 quake sensors in Uttarakhand

India is looking to have more than six times the number of earthquake sensors in U arakhand to
be er understand the geology of the region and the evolution of Himalayan earthquakes.
Currently, there are only about 20 stations, maintained by different research agencies, that track
earthquake activity.
On Monday, Rudraprayag district of U arakhand registered a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Though
it didn’t cause damage, seismologists say its magnitude was “significant,” and residents in several
parts of north India felt the tremors.
The National Centre for Seismology got approval for a project to install 100-150 seismometers in the

Garhwal-Kumaon region
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Garhwal-Kumaon region
[the key region in the
Himalayas and known to be
seismically active] because
there are some ideas that we
need to test.
This is a region known to be
seismically active because it
lies at the junction of two
tectonic plates — the
Himalayan and the
Eurasian Plate — pushing
against each other. Major
quakes in the region include
the 1991 U arkashi quake

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of magnitude 6.8 that killed

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700. It was followed by a
quake of similar intensity that hit Chamoli in 1991 and killed 100.

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Experts have long warned that a major quake in the Himalayan region is imminent because of the

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strain that has been building up over the centuries. irs
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Compensation for dam oustees ordered

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The Supreme Court gave its nod

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for the distribution of

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compensation to the Sardar

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Sarovar Project oustees. It

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ordered payment of Rs. 60 lakh

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per family to be displaced for

two hectares of land.
The families will have to give an
undertaking that they will vacate
the land within a month, failing
which the authorities will have
the right to forcibly evict them.

Court’s Ruling:

The bench said monetary

compensation was considered as
the proposed land compensation
was not feasible due to non-availability of a land bank.

The apex court passed a slew of directions to address the grievances of 681 such families,
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The apex court passed a slew of directions to address the grievances of 681 such families,
also withdrew its proposal to set up a commi ee of former Supreme Court judges to look into the
compensation and rehabilitation issues.

Centre not in favour of new law for CBI

The Central government has turned

down the recommendation of a
Parliamentary Commi ee to come up
with a new law for the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI), to replace the
70-year-old Delhi Special Police

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Establishment (DSPE) Act which

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governs the agency, stating that it

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might impinge on the federal structure

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of the Constitution.
The 85th report of the Department-
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Related Parliamentary Standing
Commi ee on Personnel, Public
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Grievances, Law and Justice, chaired

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by MP Anand Sharma, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The report strongly recommended
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that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) revisit the 24th report of the commi ee on
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“The Working of the Central Bureau of Investigation.”

It desires that the CBI manage its cadre more efficiently and the DoPT should take holistic steps to
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hasten the part of recruitment in consultation with the UPSC.

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Govt.’s Stand:
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The DoPT in a reply said since the submission

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of the 24th report, had grown into a more

dynamic and efficient organisation. It also
listed the measures taken to strengthen the
CBI.
“The subject of bringing a separate statute for
the CBI has been considered and it has been
concluded that the Constitution would require
to be amended, which may also impinge on
the federal structure of the Constitution and
the mandate of Parliament to enact a law
which would be in conflict with Entry 2 of List
II which is in the domain of the States,” said
the DoPT.

“Therefore, it is not open to the Central Government to constitute a CBI and confer on it powers
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“Therefore, it is not open to the Central Government to constitute a CBI and confer on it powers
which will impinge on all the powers of investigation of offences which are conferred on the State
police,” it said.
The commi ee, in its subsequent remarks, said it was of the view that the powers given to CBI
under the DSPE Act were not adequate.

Trump-backed Bill seeks to cut legal immigrants by half

The Reforming American Immigration

for Strong Employment, or Raise Act,
introduced by Republican Senator Tom
Co on and David Perdue from the

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Democratic party, would alter the U.S.
immigration system to significantly

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reduce the number of foreigners

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admi ed to the country without a skills-
based visa. The Bill proposed to reduce
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the number of green cards issued every
year from currently about 1 million to
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half a million including a large number

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of Indians.
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The passage of the Bill, which is said to

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have the support of the Trump

administration, will have a major impact
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on hundreds and thousands of Indian-

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Americans who are currently waiting to

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get their green cards on employment-based categories.

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The current wait period of an Indian to get a green card varies from 10 to 35 years and this could
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increase if the Bill becomes law. The Bill, however, does not focus on H-1B visas.

RBI to set up in-house enforcement cell

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to set up an enforcement department to speed up regulatory
compliance.
The department, to be operational from the next financial year, will mainly deal with the penalties
imposed on banks for violation of norms. Currently, the penalties are decided by the banking and
non-banking supervision departments.
The central bank said enforcement deals with cases of non-compliance with regulations were

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noticed either through the

surveillance process or otherwise.

India to pitch
global services
accord to WTO chief
Azevedo

India will make a

presentation on

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Thursday to World
Trade Organisation

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(WTO) Director

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General Roberto
Azevedo and India Inc.
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on New Delhi’s
proposal for a global
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pact to boost services

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trade.
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The proposed Trade

Facilitation in Services
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(TFS) Agreement at the WTO-level aims to ease norms including those relating to movement of
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foreign skilled workers/professionals across borders for short-term work.

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The Proposed Pact:

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It ensure portability of social security contributions, as well as making sure fees or charges for
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immigration or visas are reasonable, transparent, and non-restrictive (or impairing the supply of
services) in nature.
It also aims to pave the way for a single window mechanism for foreign investment approvals.
The proposal is to ensure cross-border insurance coverage to boost medical tourism, publication of
measures impacting services trade and timely availability of relevant information in all the WTO
official languages as well as free flow of data/information for cross-border supply of services.

TFS vs TFA pact:

The proposed services pact is similar to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in Goods adopted by
the WTO Members in 2014 to ease customs norms for boosting global goods trade.
The TFS Agreement will be “meaningful only if it has comprehensive scope and covers measures
across all modes of supply (for services delivery in cross-border trade), relating to entry into the
market as well as those applied post-entry.”
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The proposed TFS pact is also about

‘facilitation’ – that is “making market access
‘effective’ and commercially meaningful and
not about ‘new’ (or greater) market access.”
World Bank data shows the growing share of
services in the world economy, the sources
said, adding, however, that global trade flows
in services remain subject to numerous border
and behind-the-border barriers.

Cabinet nod for rural

digital literacy programme

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The Cabinet approved ‘Pradhan

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Mantri Gramin Digital
Saksharta Abhiyan’
PMGDISHA to make six crore
or
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rural households digitally literate.
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The outlay for the project is

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Rs2,351.38 crore. The

programme aims to usher in
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digital literacy in rural India by

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March 2019.
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As many as 25 lakh candidates will

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be trained in FY 2016-17, 275 lakh

in FY 2017-18 and 300 lakh candidates in FY 2018-19.
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Gecko does ‘striptease’ to avoid becoming lunch

A newly discovered gecko uses a weird but ingenious tactic to evade capture: it strips down to its
pink, naked skin and flees, leaving its a acker with a mouthful of scales, scientists have revealed.
The hard, dense flakes come off with “exceptional ease” and grow back in a ma er of weeks, a
team of researchers reported.
Geckolepis megalepis, the li le lizard was previously confused with another member of the
family of fish-scale geckos, known for their large, sheddable scales. But closer scientific scrutiny
revealed it is a species quite apart — boasting the largest scales of any gecko. And it is more skilled
than any other at shedding them at even the slightest touch. G. megalepis is resident in
Madagascar.
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Without its scales, the

matchbox-sized cri er is not
much to look at — resembling
a piece of pink, raw chicken.
It is the first new gecko species
to be described in 75 years.
“One of the main ways reptile
species can be told apart is by
their scale pa erns, but these
geckos lose their scales with
such ease that the pa erns are
often lost.

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