Current Affairs

11th January 2020 Current Affairs for UPSC IAS Exam

Read Daily Current Affairs of 11th January 2020 for UPSC Civil Services (IAS) Prelims and Mains Exam 2020.

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Daily Current Affairs for IAS Exam 11th January 2020

Read Current Affairs Notes of 11th January 2020 for UPSC Civil Services Prelims and Mains Examination 2020. Highlighting all National and International contemporary issues important from the exam point of view.

GS-2, Prelims

Topic: Judiciary

Nirbhaya case: two convicts file curative pleas

  • Curative petitions are filed in Supreme Court by two convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
  • The petitions came just days after the Delhi sessions court schedule the execution of the four convicts at the Tihar jail on January 22.
  • two of the convicts, in the separate curative petition is, said there had been a sea change in the death penalty jurisprudence.
  • They argued that ignoring the subsequent changes in the law against the death penalty would be a “gross miscarriage of justice”.

What is a curative petition?

  • A curative petition is a rare remedy devised by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in its judgement in the Rupa Ashok Hurra case in 2002.
  • A party can take curative petition on two grounds:
    • That he was not heard by the court before the adverse judgement was passed.
    • The judgement was biased.
  • The Curative petition which follows the dismissal of a review petition is the last legal avenue open for convicts in the supreme court.

GS-2

Topic: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Lakshmi is mahout fails to get custody as Apex court refuses to entertain the plea

  • A 26-year old mahout failed to get the custody of elephant Lakshmi as the Supreme court refused to entertain his Habeas Corpus plea seeking its release from the alleged illegal detention.
  • A bench headed by chief justice S.A. Bobde wondered how Habeas Corpus plea can be heard for an elephant.

What is habeas corpus?

  • Articles 32 and 226 specifically provide for five kinds of writs to any person whose Fundamental Right has been violated. They are:
  • Habeas corpus
    • ‘Habeas Corpus’ literally means “to have a body of”.
    • This writ is used to release a person who has been unlawfully detained or imprisoned.
    • By virtue of this writ, the Court directs the person so detained to be brought before it to examine the legality of his detention. If the Court concludes that the detention was unlawful, then it directs the person to be released immediately.
    • Examples of unlawful detention are:
    • The detention was not done in accordance with the procedure laid down. For instance, the person was not produced before a Magistrate within 24 hours.
    • The person was arrested when he did not violate any law.
    • An arrest was made under a law that is unconstitutional.
  • This writ can be filed by the detained person himself or his relatives or friends on his behalf. It can be issued against both public authorities and individuals. 
  • Mandamus
  • ‘Mandamus’ means ‘we command’. It is issued by the Court to direct a public authority to perform the legal duties which it has not or refused to perform.
  • A writ petition seeking mandamus must be filed by the person who has an interest in the performance of the duty by the public authority.
  • Quo Warranto
  • ‘Quo Warranto’ means ‘by what warrant’.
  • Through this writ, the Court calls upon a person holding a public office to show under what authority he holds that office.
  • If it is found that the person is not entitled to hold that office, he may be ousted from it. Its objective is to prevent a person from holding an office he is not entitled to therefore preventing usurpation of any public office.
  • It cannot be issued with respect to a private office.
  • Certiorari
  • ‘Certiorari’ means to ‘certify’. Certiorari is a curative writ.
  • When the Court is of the opinion that a lower court or a tribunal has passed an order, which is beyond its powers or committed an error of law then, through the writ of certiorari, it may transfer the case to itself or quash the order passed by the lower court or tribunal.
  • Prohibition
  • A writ of prohibition is issued by a Court to prohibit the lower courts, tribunals and other quasi-judicial authorities from doing something beyond their authority.
  • It is issued to direct inactivity and thus differs from mandamus which directs activity.

GS-2, Prelims

Topic: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary

Punjab government not for fast track courts

Punjab government has decided to set up 7 fast track courts to ensure speedy trial and justice in rape cases, besides 3 special courts to adjudicate offences against children will also be set up.

What is the fast track court?

  • Fast track courts deal with speedy disposal or solution of cases to make the judiciary more effective and to avail justice as fast as possible.
  • The Fast Track Courts (FTCs) were established in India in the year 2000 with an aim to clear the long-pending Sessions and other lower judicial cases.

GS-3, Prelims

Topic: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System-objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security

FSSAI issues directive on online usage of its logo

The Food Safety and Security Authority of India has declared that no entity can register its website with the domain name comprising the word ‘FSSAI’, or its name and logo.

What is FSSAI?

  • Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
  • The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India. 
  • It was founded in August 2011.
  • Its headquarters are in New Delhi.

GS-2, GS-3, Prelims

Topic: Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate. / Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

CDS and the path to Jointmanship

  • The establishment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was first recommended by the Kargil Review Committee in 2001.
  • The CDS will be “first among equals” in that he will consult and solicit the views of the services, but the final judgment will be the CDS’s alone and he will be the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister.
  • He will have no role over the acquisition of big items like warships or fighter aircraft, those will be handled by Department of Defence (DoD).
  • Along with being the advisor to the Defence Minister, the CDS is also vested with the authority to provide directives to the three chiefs (of Army, Airforce and Navy).

A chief as well as an adviser

  • The CDS will lead the Department of Military Affairs (DoMA) dealing with the three services.
  • He will enjoy the rank of Secretary within the DoD and his powers will be confined to only the revenue budget.
  • However, he is vested with the authority in prioritising interservice procurement decisions as Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee.
  • While the CDS does not enjoy any command authority, in his capacity as DoMA, he will wield control over issues governing promotions, travel, appointment to key posts, and overseas assignments.
  • He will also perform an advisory role in the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA).
  • Above all, his core function will be to foster greater operational synergy between the three service branches of the Indian military and keep interservice frictions to a minimum.
  • Fundamentally, the CDS will perform two roles:
    • as the single point military advisor to the Defence Minister
    • as head of the DoMA.
  • Gen. Bipin Rawat has been appointed as India’s first CDS.
    • He has sought the establishment of an Air Defence Command (ADC)
    • He has also declared his intention to synergise logistics support, particularly in areas where two or more services are co-located.

Three main challenges

Gen. Rawat faces three main challenges:

  • First, there are concerns over matters relating to service parochialism. If he privileges support for the Army, his parent service, he is likely to put himself on a collision course with the Naval and Air Force chiefs.
  • The second challenge stems from the sheer levels of manpower in the Indian Army, which is the service that consumes the lion’s share of the defence budget. As it is a manpower-intensive fighting force.
  • Reducing the number of personnel in the army will remain a great challenge for possibly the entirety of Gen. Rawat’s tenure. There are no instant remedies, but one pointer is towards greater investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) over the long term.
  • The final challenge facing the CDS will be the extent to which he can encourage the services to support indigenisation. Cost-saving is also about getting all the services, particularly the capital-intensive services, to support the native Research and Development for production and eventual deployment of weapons systems, which when procured from abroad drive a massive hole in the budget.

Prelims

Topic: current events of National and International importance

Supreme court to rule on J&K curbs today

  • Today, the Supreme Court gave a verdict in response to the pleas challenging the restrictions imposed in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.
  • It asked the J&K administration to review, within a week, all orders imposing curbs in the union territory.
  • It held that internet access is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.

Siddharth Singh

Siddharth worked in Educational Field for the last 5 years. He appeared two times in the civil services mains and once in the personality test.

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