GS 2
Major cases and the collegium: a study
There were over 2,400 such judgments between January 1999 and July 2018, of which 224 were delivered by Constitution Benches — those with five judges or more. The average representation for collegium judges (barring the CJI) in major cases was 52.1% for this period.
Editors Guild protests HC gag order
Expressing concern over a Patna High Court order restraining the media from reporting on the investigation of the Muzaffarpur shelter home abuse case, the Editors Guild of India has appealed to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and the Patna High Court to review the restraint order and uphold the principles of a free media and democracy.
China’s big ‘Belt and Road’ push in Africa
Beijing has rubbished claims of some critics that it is playing the role of a post-colonial hegemon in Africa. It says its aim is to engage with countries there as equal partners, bringing in a new epoch.
No country for Rohingya people
As the rights groups mark the first anniversary of the Rohingya exodus, Bangladesh and Myanmar are continuing their talks to open a path for the repatriation of the refugees.
It’s Turkish rule in Syrian border towns
Two years on, Turkish troops still maintain garrisons inside the area, with much of the town’s affairs managed by the Governor of the neighbouring Turkish province of Gaziantep.
GS 3
BIS to set standards for the services sector too
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has kicked off the process to set new standards to measure quality of services offered to consumers across different sectors, including telecom, aviation, e-commerce and healthcare.
Plan to integrate long-stay patients in mental hospitals
Health Ministry working on national strategy for inclusion and community-based living
Mullaperiyar: genesis of a dispute
compared to about 36 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water released from the Idukki and Idamalayar dams in the Periyar basin from August 14-19, the amount of water released from Mullaperiyar at the same time was hardly 6.65 TMC, which was “far less” than the quantities of water that flowed from the other two dams.
Govt. nod for 111 Naval utility choppers
DAC approvals for procurement worth Rs. 21,000 crore a fillip to indigenous manufacturing sector
BIS to set up panel for services sector
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards is set to formulate a framework for quality services that should be provided to consumers and also talk about the benchmarks to deal with consumer complaints or after sales service in an effort to ensure quality in the services sector.
The CAF is a nationally constituted authority that presides over a corpus of Rs. 66,000 crore. This is money paid by developers who have razed forest land for their construction projects, and the idea is that such land destroyed needs to be made good by regenerating forest elsewhere on non-forest land.
Initial estimates put the loss at ₹20,000 crore but officials feel the extent of the damage could be more than twice the figure.
In Kaziranga, a wait for floods
Every year, the Brahmaputra takes away chunks of land from Kaziranga National Park that on paper is 1,030 sq km in area. The park now measures 884 sq km and is shrinking
Do hares benefit from wind farms?
With their tall turbines and rotating blades, wind farms often take the lives of bats and birds. But windmills could be life-savers for black-naped hares, suggests a preliminary study.
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