CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 March 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Supreme Court may revisit 50% ceiling on reservations.
The Supreme Court on Monday may have opened up the possibility of reconsidering the ceiling imposed on total reservation, a move that may impact the challenge to the legality of a Tamil Nadu reservation law which allows 69% quota in State government jobs and educational institutions. A three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan had, on March 3, deferred hearing a challenge to the law, opting to wait for a Constitution Bench to decide the validity of the Maratha quota law first. However, on Monday, the Constitution Bench, which is also led by Justice Bhushan, decided to expand its ambit and re-examine whether reservation limit could cross the 50% ceiling limit as done by certain States like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The court, in short, decided to examine whether its Indira Sawhney case judgment of 1992, which fixed the ceiling limit of 50% for reservation in government jobs and educational admissions, requires a re-look by a larger Bench. The Constitution Bench has issued notice to the States, providing them with an opportunity to clarify their position on the 50% reservation mark. Though the court has kept the question of legality of the Tamil Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of seats in Educational Institutions and of appointments or posts in the Services under the State) Act of 1993 on the backburner on March 3, the issue is likely to arise for discussion before the Constitution Bench in the coming days. The deferment of the Tamil Nadu case on March 3 had drawn the spotlight away from the State’s reservation law with the State gearing up for Assembly elections. On March 3, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the Tamil Nadu government, had even submitted that the Assembly polls were due and the case should be taken up after the elections. Mr. Rohatgi and senior advocate Shekhar Naphade along with advocate Yogesh Kanna, for Tamil Nadu, had said the increase in reservation percentage in the State was based on quantifiable data. They had repeatedly argued that the case in Tamil Nadu was different from other States and the 1993 law was protected under the Ninth Schedule from judicial review. The Tamil Nadu quota law of 1993 was challenged in the apex court by a student, C.V. Gayathri, through her father, S. Vaitheeswaran. Ms. Gayathri had submitted that the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act, 1993 provides 69% reservation in admissions and in public services, which is arbitrary, unreasonable and excessive.
B) MPs from poll bound states seek curtailed budget session.
Lok Sabha members hailing from the poll-bound West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry have requested an early curtailment of the second part of the Budget session that began on Monday morning. Sources said nearly 145 MPs have written to Speaker Om Birla for the same. On Monday, during the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha, floor leaders of various parties advanced the same view. While Trinamool Congress (TMC) and DMK leaders were not present at the meet, the issue was discussed. Mr. Birla met with some leaders one on one to get a sense of the situation and the sources said he would arrive at a decision only after ascertaining the sense of the House on the matter. While the Shiv Sena said they would go with whatever the government decides on the issue, the YSRCP was one of the few parties that felt the days lost if the session is curtailed should be made up. The Trinamool Congress, in letters addressed to both Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Mr. Birla, pointed to the 2011 and 2008 precedents, when the session was similarly curtailed . In the letter to Mr. Naidu, TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien said due to the polls, MPs of his party would not be able to attend the Parliament session. He cited the example of the 222nd session, which commenced on February 21, 2011, and was scheduled to conclude on April 21, 2011. However, due to Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the House was adjourned sine die on March 25, 2011. The government has started reaching out to the Opposition parties seeking to close the session early. A section of Congress leaders supports the demand, including Adhhir Ranjan Chadhhary, but the rest of the party feel that it will send a wrong message. In other parliamentary proceedings, the Rajya Sabha on Monday was adjourned for the day after Opposition MPs began shouting slogans against the fuel prices in the country. The Lok Sabha also saw multiple adjournments due to protests from the Opposition. The Lower House will resume at 11 am on Tuesday.
C) Supreme Court has highest respect for womanhood, says CJI.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde on Monday said the Supreme Court, as an institution, had the highest respect for womanhood and recent media reports quoting him as asking an alleged rapist to marry his victim was completely misquoted. The CJI made the position clear on International Women’s Day while hearing a plea made by a 14-year-old rape victim seeking the termination of pregnancy. On March 1, during a virtual hearing, several media outlets reported the CJI asking a rape accused’s lawyer to find out whether his client would be willing to marry the victim or risk the prospect of going to jail. The lawyer came back later in the day and said his client had declined as he was already married. On Monday, the CJI said certain people were out to tarnish the image of the judiciary and a counter mechanism needed to be set up. The Bench said the reputation of the judiciary rested in the hands of the Bar. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the comments of the CJI on March 1, was indeed twisted out of context. A flurry of outrage followed the reported comments of the CJI. According to the prosecution side, the accused had repeatedly raped the girl since she was in high school. Monday saw the CJI clarify that his oral remarks, on March 1 again, during the hearing of another case concerning a man accused of falsely promising marriage to a woman was also misinterpreted.
D) Major sent to police custody in Army exam paper leak.
A 47-year-old Army officer arrested in connection with a recruitment exam paper leak in Pune was on Monday remanded to police custody till March 15. The Pune police told the court of Additional Sessions Judge S.R. Navandar that Major T. Murugan, who was arrested from Tamil Nadu, had forwarded the question paper to other accused. Public Prosecutor Premkumar Agrawal told court that Murugan had forwarded the leaked question paper to other accused through Whatsapp, and the police needed to know from where he got this exam paper. Mr. Agrawal said the accused had deleted mobile phone chats, which had to be retrieved, and a probe was needed to unearth financial transactions and further links. Defence counsel A.D. Lonandkar opposed the plea and told court that the accused’s phone had already been seized and, therefore, there was no need for police custody. Remanding Murugan to police custody till March 15, Judge Navandar said the accused is the key person in the paper leak conspiracy. Due to unlawful activities, the entire process of recruitment was stopped and the exam postponed. Considering the seriousness of the crime, there is a need for thorough investigation and for that sufficient police custody is required, the judge observed. Police have invoked relevant sections of IPC as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act. So far, six persons have been arrested, including three Army personnel, for the leak that took place on February 28.
E) Women farmers take spotlight in ongoing protests.
Thousands of women farmers held protest marches and delivered speeches at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites at Delhi’s borders on International Women’s Day. Noting that women contribute significantly to the country’s farming sector, the organisers have laid out elaborate plans to let women farmers manage the stage, arrange food and security and share tales of their struggles on the occasion. The stage is being managed by women, the speakers are all women and the issues that are being discussed are of both farming and women farmers more specifically, farmer leader Kavitha Kuruganti told the Press Trust of India. The discourse of the debate is focusing on women farmers. The debate is also on the contribution of women in this movement, said Ms. Kuruganti, who is also a member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha. She added that the participation of women has increased significantly with the arrival of thousands of women.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Toll from military camp blasts in E. Guinea rises to 30: report.
The death toll from accidental explosions at a military camp in Equatorial Guinea rose to 30 on Monday, media reports said, after 10 more bodies were found in the ruined site. Six hundred people were injured in the blasts, which also flattened homes near the camp on the outskirts of the economic hub of Bata, State television TVGE said, adding that it expected the toll to rise. It showed images akin to a war zone, in which rescue workers and civilians struggled to remove bodies from smoking ruins. Three children aged three and four were brought out alive and taken to hospital. A string of four huge explosions occurred in mid-afternoon on Sunday, hitting the Nkoa Ntoma camp, which houses special forces and gendarmes and their families, as well as homes nearby. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the small central African state for 42 years, has blamed the accident on stubble-burning by local farmers and on negligent supervision of the camp’s munitions depot. Anyone living in a radius of two to four km of the explosions has been unable to return home. Bata is home to of E. Guinea’s 1.4 million people, most of whom live in poverty despite the country’s oil and gas wealth.
B) After historic visit, Pope leaves Iraq for Rome.
Pope Francis on Monday wrapped up his historic whirlwind tour of Iraq that sought to bring hope to the country’s marginalised Christian minority with a message of coexistence, forgiveness and peace. The pontiff and his travelling delegation were seen off with a farewell ceremony at the Baghdad airport. At every turn of his trip, Pope Francis urged Iraqis to embrace diversity from Najaf in the south, where he held a historic meeting with powerful Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to Nineveh to the north, where he met with Christian victims of the Islamic State group’s terror and heard their testimonies of survival. In Iraq’s south, the Pope convened a meeting of Iraqi religious leaders in the deserts near a symbol of the country’s ancient past the 6,000-year-old ziggurat in the Plains of Ur, also thought to be the birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims. The gathering brought religious representatives across the country rarely seen together, from Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and Mandaeans.
SPORTS NEWS
A) World Test Championship final in Southampton, Ganguly confirms.
India will play their inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl Stadium from June 18-22, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed on Monday. Initially, the final was supposed to be held at the Lord’s but Southampton, with a five-star facility inside the stadium, will make it easier for both the ICC and the England and Wales Cricket Board to create a bio-bubble for the two teams. Yes, the final will be held at Ageas Bowl, Ganguly replied to a query from PTI. India qualified for the marquee clash after beating England 3-1 in a just-concluded Test series. The BCCI president, who has been on a medical break after undergoing a bypass surgery, is expected to travel to UK to watch the final match. Southampton, with its slowish track, puts India on even keel with New Zealand as spinners will come into the game at the venue. He will go for the World Test Championship and hopefully we can get past New Zealand in the final. New Zealand will be there before us and they will play a couple of Test matches (against England), Ganguly told ‘India Today’ channel.
