Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 23rd June 2021

What: Article 223 in The Constitution Of India deals with Appointment of acting Chief Justice.

What it says :

According to it, when the office of Chief Justice of High Court is vacant or when any such Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office, the duties of the office shall be performed by such one of the other Judges of the Court as the President may appoint for the purposes.

What is in news : President of India, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, appointed Shri Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect from 26th June, 2021, consequent upon the retirement of Shri Justice Sanjay Yadav, Chief Justice, Allahabad High Court.

What is in news : India has planned to tighten rules for e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart and has proposed several amendments to Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020.

Proposed Rules

• Amended rules propose to limit ‘flash sales’ of goods and services by e-commerce companies.
• However, it does not ban Conventional e-commerce flash sales. Some specific flash sales or back-to-back sales that limit customers choice, increase prices & prevents a level playing field will not be allowed.
• E-commerce firms will have to establish adequate redressal mechanisms and appoint a chief compliance officer.
• Companies are also required to name a resident grievance officer who has to be a company employee and a citizen of India. He will serve as nodal point of contact for law enforcement agencies.

Why does a judge recuse?

• When there is a conflict of interest, a judge can withdraw from hearing a case to prevent creating a perception that she carried a bias while deciding the case. The conflict of interest can be in many ways — from holding shares in a company that is a litigant to having a prior or personal association with a party involved in the case.
• The practice stems from the cardinal principle of due process of law that nobody can be a judge in her own case. Any interest or conflict of interest would be a ground to withdraw from a case since a judge has a duty to act fair.

What is the process for recusal?

• The decision to recuse generally comes from the judge herself as it rests on the conscience and discretion of the judge to disclose any potential conflict of interest. In some circumstances, lawyers or parties in the case bring it up before the judge. If a judge recuses, the case is listed before the Chief Justice for allotment to a fresh Bench.
• There are no formal rules governing recusals, although several Supreme Court judgments have dealt with the issue.
• In Ranjit Thakur v Union of India (1987), the Supreme Court held that the tests of the likelihood of bias is the reasonableness of the apprehension in the mind of the party. “The proper approach for the Judge is not to look at his own mind and ask himself, however honestly, “Am I biased?” but to look at the mind of the party before him,” the court had held. “A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in a company in which he holds shares… unless he has disclosed his interest and no objection to his hearing and deciding the matter is raised,” states the 1999 charter ‘Restatement of Values in Judicial Life’, a code of ethics adopted by the Supreme Court.

Can a judge refuse to recuse?

• Once a request is made for recusal, the decision to recuse or not rests with the judge. While there are some instances where judges have recused even if they do not see a conflict but only because such an apprehension was cast, there have also been several cases where judges have refused to withdraw from a case.
• For instance, in 2019, Justice Arun Mishra had controversially refused to recuse himself from a Constitution Bench set up to re-examine a judgement he had delivered previously, despite several requests from the parties. Justice Mishra had reasoned that the request for recusal was really an excuse for “forum shopping” and agreeing could compromise the independence of the judiciary.
• In the Ayodhya-Ramjanmabhoomi case, Justice U U Lalit recused himself from the Constitution Bench after parties brought to his attention that he had appeared as a lawyer in a criminal case relating to the case.

Do judges record reasons for recusal?

• Since there are no formal rules governing the process, it is often left to individual judges to record reasons for recusal. Some judges disclose the reasons in open court; in some cases, the reasons are apparent.
• The two Supreme Court judges who have recused from cases relating to West Bengal had been Calcutta High Court judges. The cases they have recused from relate to post-poll violence in the state and the Narada scam, which have become political battles between the state and Centre in court.

What is in news : Rubber Board research farm at Sarutari which is in Guwhati, Assam now sports the world’s first genetically modified (GM) rubber plant tailored for the climatic conditions in the Northeast.

Details :

• The Rubber Board launched the field trial of the GM Rubber in Assam a decade after Kerala Government denied permission for the same citing its possible adverse impact on environment and apprehension on GM crops. Having the capacity to withstand adverse climatic conditions, the GM variant is expected to give a big boost to rubber production in the country.
• The new crop is expected to cut short the maturity period of  rubber, indicating chances for early yielding as well.
• While the growth of young rubber gets slower during the winter season in the North East, plants do not get enough light during monsoon, delaying their growth. Lack of adequate water during summer also creates stress on plants. As the GM rubber can overcome these issues, its growth will be faster. Hence it will be ready for tapping earlier than normal rubber. The exact time of maturity and tapping stage will become clear in the field trial
• The GM rubber was developed by inserting the MnSOD gene, which was taken from the rubber plant itself. Its copies were multiplied in the laboratory and reinserted into a cell of the rubber plant which was then regenerated into a full plant that is now planted. There are no plant species in India that can breed with natural rubber. Therefore, there is no risk of genes flowing from GM rubber into any native species, a concern often raised by environmental groups
• Though different from Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT), GM Rubber is the second genetically modified crop to start field trial in India after Bt. Cotton. In 2010, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) had given permission to open field trials of GM rubber at Chetchackal, Thombikandom, in Kottayam. However, the then LDF government denied approval and Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran had requested the Union Government to revoke the approval stating that Kerala wanted to remain a state free of GM crops.

What is in news : German agrochemicals major Bayer has commercially launched first-ever yellow watermelon variety called “Yellow Gold 48” in India under Seminis brand.

Details :

Yellow watermelon variety

• Has been commercially introduced in India after two years of local trials.

• Have enhanced yield potential, better disease & pest tolerance and higher returns which can benefit watermelon growers.
• Best suited for cultivation during October to February. Harvest can be done from April onwards after which it will be available in market until mid-July.

Significance of Yellow Gold 48

Yellow Gold 48 is having high yield and income potential which will empower watermelon growers to diversify into new categories. It will also help in growing demand for exotic fruits.  It is the first of its kind yellow flesh watermelon which have moderate to good plant type. It has dark green rind with slight stripes and orange yellow flesh colour. Average weight of the fruit is 2.5 -3 kg.

What is in news : According to US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), India and United States has launched a hydrogen task force under “Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)” which will boost India’s energy security efforts.

Details:

This task force

• Was launched by United States Department of Energy, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and USISPF.
• Will represent industry & government stakeholders and assess technology status, study innovative policy options & make recommendations.
• Will bridge government research with unique industry perspectives which will help in reaching the goals of decarbonizing, high-polluting industrial sectors and achieving a greener & cleaner planet.
• Will strengthen focused public, private cooperation between both the countries and make way for accelerated development & deployment of hydrogen energy technologies
• Will bring industries and academy together with an aim of integrating private sector inputs to bring latest technology & adopt business models to develop and deploy hydrogen technologies.

Aim of the task force: US-India Hydrogen Task Force was constituted with the aim of serving as a forum to achieve affordable hydrogen solutions. It seeks to enhance energy security & resilience by boosting up low or zero-carbon hydrogen technologies & deployment.

What is in news : The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy will participate in an exercise with a US carrier strike group (CSG) in the Indian Ocean for two days. This is called PASSAGE exercise

Details :

• Who are participating
  • Sukhois, Jaguars, IAF refuelling aircraft and warships and maritime patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy
  • INS Kochi and Teg, along with P8I and MiG-29K aircraft of Airforce
• Exercise will be carried out south of Thiruvananthapuram, on the western seaboard.
• Navy said the two-day exercise “aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship and cooperation by demonstrating the ability to integrate and coordinate comprehensively in maritime operations” and “high tempo operations during the exercise include advanced air defence exercises, cross deck helicopter operations and anti-submarine exercises”.

REPORTS

By : United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

Details :

• As per the report, Drought is a hidden global crisis which can become “the next pandemic” if no urgent action is taken on water & land management and tackling climate emergency.
• About 1.5 billion people are directly affected by drought this century.
• Economic cost was roughly estimated at $124bn. However, True cost is likely to be many times higher as these estimates do not include much impact in developing countries.
• Most of world will be with water stress in next few years and demand will outstrip the water supply during certain periods.
• Report highlights, drought is now widespread and by end of this century most of the countries will experience it in some form.
• Even the developed countries are not immune to drought. US, Australia and southern Europe have experienced drought in recent past. Drought costs more than us dollar 6 billion a year in US while euro 9 billion in EU. As per report, Population growth is also exposing more people to the impacts of drought in many regions.

Reasons for drought

Changing rainfall patterns because of climate breakdown are key driver of drought. However, report identifies inefficient use of water resources, degradation of land under intensive agriculture and poor farming practices also plays crucial role. Deforestation, overuse of fertilisers & pesticides, overgrazing & over-extraction of water for farming are some other factors.

• A Bengaluru-based doctor, who succumbed to Covid in May, is being honoured with a memorial in a remote village in Odisha.Thread (Team for Human Resource & Action for Development), an organisation working with tribals in Odisha, is dedicating its corona prevention centre and eco food court at Siddharth Village Resort in Koraput district to Shirdi Prasad Tekur, in memory of his service to tribals and women in Odisha.
• Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Monday celebrated World Giraffe Day that fell on the summer solstice (the longest day of the year).On the special day, two giraffes at the park — Gowri and Yadunandan — were introduced to a new bamboo puzzle feeder, which has a small opening and was filled with carrots, sweet potato, apples, onions and leaves from cut branches. The feeder is designed to encourage giraffes to use their 18-20-inch prehensile tongue to grab the food. Although Gowri and Yadunandan were intrigued by the new feeder, they were seen grabbing the treats from it and cleaning it out.
• Agriculture universities in Karnataka will henceforth reserve 50% of their seats to farmers' children, instead of the earlier 40%
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to conduct a survey on the impact of the pandemic on anganwadi services and malnutrition levels among children.
• Indian recurve women archers Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat earned second and fifth ranks respectively in the qualification round of the World Cup Stage-3
• Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel have been nominated by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) for the Universality Places for the Tokyo Olympics.
• The Toycathon 2021 is being organized jointly by Ministry of Education in coordination with five other Ministries viz: Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Commerce &Industry, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, and Ministry of Textiles. This inter-ministerial Toycathon focuses on conceptualizing new and innovative toys using local materials which are economical, affordable, safe, environment friendly, with exceptional high quality for both Indian and global markets.
• Debswana Diamond Company have unearthed world’s third-largest diamond in Jwaneng mine of Botswana in South Africa.Botswana is called as largest producer of diamonds in Africa.
• Government is working towards linking innovative agricultural technologies with farms to benefit small and marginal farmers in northeast India. It will primarily focus on women under Biotech-KISAN programme.Mission Programme Biotech – Krishi Innovation Science Application Network is a scientist-farmer partnership scheme launched in 2017. It was launched for agriculture innovation with the objective of connecting science laboratories with farmers to get innovative solutions and technologies which can be applied at farm level.

Oil Spill: Oil spill can be defined as “uncontrolled release of crude oil, gasoline, fuels, or other oil by-products” into environment. It can pollute land, air, or water; however, the term is mostly used for oceanic oil spills. They have become a major environmental problem because of intensified petroleum exploration & production on continental shelves and transportation of huge amounts of oils in vessels.