Mains Guidance Program (MGP) for UPSC CSE 2026, Cohort-1 starts 11th February 2025. Registrations Open Click Here to know more and registration.
Facts in news is published on a weekly basis that consists a gist of all crucial news articles from ‘The Hindu’ that may bear relevance to Civil Services Preparation.
Here is the Summary of all current happenings from around the world for the First week of December.
Download Facts in News PDF file here.
NEWS | FACTS |
---|---|
Bills, Programs, Policies, Schemes, Orders, Judgments | |
Parsi woman allowed to perform last rites, SC informed | Context: • A Parsi Trust informed a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that it will allow a woman, who married a Hindu under the Special Marriage Act, to pray at the Tower of Silence and take part in the ceremonies following the death of her parent. Special Marriage Act: • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 is an Act of the Parliament of India. • It has been enacted to provide a special form of marriage. • It is applicable for the people of India and all Indian nationals in foreign countries, irrespective of the religion or faith followed by either party. • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 replaced the old Act III, 1872. Objectives of Special Marriage Act: • The new enactment has 3 major objectives: • To provide a special form of marriage in certain cases, • to provide for registration of certain marriages and • to provide for divorce. |
LS passes 2 bills to repeal 245 old laws | Context: • The LokSabha passed two Bills to repeal 245 obsolete and archaic laws. • Including the 158-year-old Calcutta Pilots Act of 1859 and the 1911 Prevention of Seditious Meeting Act. Hackney Carriage Act 1879: • Some of the old acts that have been repealed are the Hackney Carriage Act 1879 which was legislated for the regulation and control of hackney-carriages and Dramatic Performance Act 1876 when theatre was being used a medium of protest against the British rule. The Ganges Tolls Act, 1867: • Another such old act which was repealed by the LokSabha was ‘The Ganges Tolls Act, 1867’ which provided for collecting toll “not exceeding 12 annas” on certain boats and steamers plying on the Ganga to improve navigation of the river between Allahabad (UP) and Dinapore (Bihar). |
UIDAI tightens norms for Aadhaar-bank account linking | Context: • Following the Airetel India- Aadhaar subsidy fiasco, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has tightened the norms for mapping Aadhaar number to a different bank account. The change in norms: • The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will disable the override feature. • UIDAI said that it was being misused by many banks while seeding Aadhaar to accounts without informed consent of residents. • As a result subsidy from the government was being credited to new accounts without their knowledge • The UIDAI further said that there have been complaints pertaining to customer verification. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI): • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority. • It is established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) on 12 July 2016. • It is administered by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). |
No plan to take away J&K’s special status, says Centre | Context: • The government informed Parliament that there was no proposal as of now for abolition of Articles 35A and 370 which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Article 35A: • Article 35A was added to the Constitution by a presidential order in 1954. • It empowers the State legislature to define the State’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges. Article 370: • Article 370 is drafted in Part XXI of the Constitution: Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions. • It gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. |
Cabinet nod for Bill making instant triple talaq a crime | Context: • The Union Cabinet approved a Bill that makes instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat a criminal offence. • A Muslim husband resorting to instant talaq can be jailed for up to three years. Instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat: • In instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat a man pronounces talaq thrice during a sitting, on phone or writes in a talaqnama or text message. • Here the divorce is considered to be immediate and irrevocable even if the husband wants to later on re-conciliate. • Under this the only way for the couple to get back together is through a nikah halala. • Under this process the woman has to get remarried, consummate the second marriage, get divorced, observe the three-month iddat period and return to her husband. |
Bill to amend the company law | Context: • A Bill has been forwarded to amend the company law. • It aims to strengthen corporate governance standards, initiate strict action against defaulting companies, and help improve the ease of doing business in the country, was passed by Parliament on Tuesday. Provisions of the Bill: • The Bill provides for more than 40 amendments to the Companies Act, 2013, which was passed during the previous UPA regime. • The Companies Act, 2013 has already been amended once under the present government. • The latest legislation would help in simplifying procedures, make compliance easy, and take stringent action against defaulting companies. • The Minister dismissed apprehensions raised by members that the government was not doing enough to ensure that companies complied with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions. |
Karnataka HC strikes down rule on stringent tobacco pack warnings | Context: • The Karnataka High Court declared the Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 as unconstitutional. Rule of 2014 amended: • It had enhanced to 85% the area of pictorial warning on the principal area of packages of cigarette and other tobacco products. Rules of 2008 still in force: • The 2008 rules which had prescribed that 40% of the specified pictorial warning be printed on the principal area of the packages would be still in force until the Union government frames a fresh rule or amends the 2008 rules afresh. |
Make offices accessible to disabled: SC | Context: • The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the right to dignity of the disabled while directing that government buildings providing public services should be made fully accessible to differently-abled persons by June 2019. Right to live with human dignity: • In Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India [iii], the Supreme Court gave a new dimension to Art. 21. • It held that the right to live is not merely a physical right but includes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity. |
Supreme Court gives the nod for setting up 12 special courts to try cases against politicians | Context: • The Supreme Court gave the green signal for the Centre’s scheme to set up 12 fast track courts to exclusively prosecute. • It is to dispose 1,581 criminal cases pending against Members of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies within a year. Fast track courts: • The Eleventh Finance Commission recommended a scheme for creation of 1734 Fast Track Courts (FTCs) in the country for disposal of long pending Sessions and other cases. • It is the primary responsibility of the State Governments to establish these courts in consultation with the concerned High Courts. |
Showing 1 to 10 of 35 entries
Discover more from Free UPSC IAS Preparation Syllabus and Materials For Aspirants
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.