Current affairs : January 3, 2017 for all competitive exams
Country celebrates birthday of India’s first woman
teacher Savitribai Phule:
A trailblazing figure in field of women’s education in India, Savitribai
Phule is the subject of Tuesday’s Google Doodle on the occasion of her 186th
birthday.
- She became the first woman teacher in India in 1848
and opened a school for girls along with her husband, social reformer
Jyotirao Phule.
- In her honour, University of Pune was renamed Savitribai Phule University in 2014.
SC extends judicial review powers
In a blow to Ordinance Raj, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has
widened the boundaries of judicial review to the extent that it can now examine
whether the President or the State Governor was spurred by an “oblique motive”
to bypass the legislature and promulgate an ordinance.
- The court has held that the satisfaction of the
President under Article 123 and of the Governor under Article 213 is not
immune from judicial review.
- The court also said that it would scrutinise whether
the satisfaction of the President or the Governor to promulgate an
ordinance was based on relevant material or whether it amounted to a
“fraud on power or was actuated by an oblique motive.”
Seeking votes on religious basis a corrupt act: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that an election could be annulled if candidates seek votes in the name of
their religion or that of their voters. The apex court’s view has enlarged
the scope of the Representation of People Act 1951.
- The Court ruled that “religion, race, caste,
community or language would not be allowed to play any role in the
electoral process” and that election of a candidate would be declared null
and void if an appeal is made to seek votes on these considerations.
SC bowls
out top BCCI bosses
Supreme Court on Monday
stripped BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke of their posts
and ordered them to “forthwith cease and desist” from associating with Indian
cricket’s most powerful body.
- A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and
Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud declared Mr. Thakur and Mr.
Shirke “unfit” to continue at the helm of the BCCI for their
“obstructionist” attitude and specious pleas in court about their
incapacity to make affiliated State associations fall in line with the
Justice Lodha reforms.
SC orders
welfare scheme for Army porters
The Supreme Court on Monday
came to the aid of 12,000 civilian porters working for the Army in high-risk
and active field areas such as Rajouri, Jammu and Poonch by directing the
Centre to finalise a scheme providing them better pay, medical facilities,
enhanced compensation and a severance grant higher than the Rs. 50,000 proposed
by the government.
- The court ordered that the scheme be finalised
within three months, and disposed of the pleas moved by 29 porters seeking
regularisation of their employment on minimum pay-scales considering their
long years of service in high-altitude terrain.
Restaurants billing ‘service charges’ in addition to
taxes is optional
The Department of Consumer Affairs has clarified that service charges billed
by restaurants are optional and it is up to the customers
to pay it. The department said arbitrary levy of this sum in lieu of tips
amounts to an unfair trade practice.
- The department has asked state governments to
sensitise hotels and restaurants and advise them to display at appropriate
places on their premises that service charges are discretionary/voluntary
and can be waived if a consumer is dissatisfied with the services.
Successful Flight Test of Agni – IV:
Agni-IV, the Long Range Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile with a range
of 4,000 kms was successfully flight tested recently.
- The missile is developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development
Program.
- The re-entry heat shield can withstand temperatures
in the range of 4000 degrees centigrade and makes sure the avionics
function normally.
Chandrababu Naidu Launches
Arogya Raksha Scheme to cover APL Families
Chandrababu Naidu, Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh has launched a new health scheme, Arogya Raksha
Scheme Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in Vijayawada to provide the medical treatment
to the people of the Above Poverty Line at Rs. 1200 premium per annum.
Maharashtra Government Bans
use of Purse Seine Nets for Fishing
Maharashtra Government has
declared to ban the use of Purse Seine Nets for fishing across Maharashtra to
safeguard the Fingerlings, a fish species.
- The move is aimed at curbing the exploitation of
fish by safeguarding the fingerlings and its eggs to increase their
population.
Kerala listed a
‘Destination to Watch’
Kerala has been pegged as a
‘Destination to Watch’ in 2017 by the Association of British Travel Agents
(ABTA), the U.K.’s largest and most influential body of travel agents and tour
operators.
- Described as a ‘true haven for travellers’, ‘God’s
Own Country’ is the only Indian entry on the list of 12 tourist hotspots.
- The list, featured in ABTA’s Travel Trends Report 2017, has Kerala in the eighth spot — higher than premier destinations such as the U.S., Sardinia, South Africa, and Vietnam. The rankings consist of locations that are expected to capture travellers’ imagination.
Pakistan approves Hindu
marriage bill
The Senate Functional
Committee on Human Rights unanimously approved the Hindu Marriages Bill on 2nd
January 2017.
- The much-awaited bill to regulate marriages of
minority Hindus in Pakistan moved closer to reality after a Senate
committee approved the landmark draft legislation, nearly four months
after it was passed by the National Assembly.
- The bill will enable the Hindu community members to
get their marriages registered. It will become a law after it will be
passed by the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament.
U.K. to
demonetise the £1 coin
U.K. announced that, the current
£1 coin is being replaced for the first time in over thirty years because it
has become vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters. Approximately
one in thirty £1 coins in circulation is a counterfeit.
- The old coin has been a favourite of savers since it
was introduced in 1983.
- it is set to be replaced by the new 12-sided
one-pound coin in March and the round pound will cease to be legal tender
by October 15,2017.
Prof. David R. Syiemlieh to perform duties of Chairman,
UPSC:
The President has appointed Prof. David R. Syiemlieh, Member, Union Public
Service Commission, to perform the duties of the post of Chairman, Union Public
Service Commission.
- Articles 315 to 323 of the Constitution deal with
the appointment of UPSC members, powers and functions of the UPSC.
- The Commission consists of a chairman and ten
members.
Table tennis Olympic champion
Li Xiaoxia announces retirement
China's table tennis Olympic
champion Li Xiaoxia has announced her retirement.
- She is the eighth table tennis Grand Slam winner in
history with singles crowns from the 2008 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, 2012
Olympics in London and 2013 world championships in Paris.
- She also has several doubles and teams world titles to her name.
