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The Supreme Court declined to stay a new law which brushed aside a top court judgment to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the high-powered selection committee to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
“How can we stay a statute?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, asked petitioner Jaya Thakur’s lawyers.
The Bench, however, issued notice to the Union of India and listed the case for hearing in April.
“The CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 has diluted the Supreme Court judgment by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister,” Ms. Thakur, a Congress party leader, argued.
Ms. Thakur’s petition argued that the exclusion of the CJI “nullified” the committee.
States
Census records 27% increase in waterbirds in Kaziranga (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, known as the safest address of the greater one-horned rhinoceros, has recorded a 27% increase in the number of resident and winter migratory waterbirds.
The fifth water bird census conducted through the citizen scientist initiative from January 9-10 across the 1,302 sq. km wildlife preserve revealed the presence of 84,839 birds, which was 18,063 more than the number recorded in 2021-22.
This, park officials said, places Kaziranga among the top five habitats of waterbirds in the country. The census was conducted simultaneously across 115 waterbodies in three divisions of the reserve — Eastern Assam Wildlife, Nagaon Wildlife, and Biswanath Wildlife. The exercise was launched by Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on January 9.
Forest officials said 108 enumerators and 354 volunteers and Forest officials and staff were engaged in the survey. While 37,606 birds across 155 species were recorded in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, 12,002 birds across 82 species were spotted in the Biswanath Wildlife Division.
“This time, we decided to carry out the census in major wetlands adjoining and within the reserve. The Kaziranga-Hukuma Beel in Biswanath recorded 3,049 birds, while the Joysagar Doloni in Kaliabor recorded 1,765 birds, highlighting their conservation and protection,” Kaziranga’s field director, Sonali Ghosh said.
Editorial
A case diary for the Indian police (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The three-day conference in Jaipur (in the first week of January) of police officers (Director General of Police level) from across India, was a kind of stocktaking exercise as well as learning experience, as many subjects of contemporary relevance in the area of Information Technology formed the core of the agenda.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who spoke at the meet, also interacted with most of the officers individually. The sign is that there is growing importance being attached to law enforcement in the country and the high stakes that the administration has in efficient policing.
However, what cannot be swept under the carpet is the undeniable fact that the police have still to earn the trust and confidence of a majority of the populace.
Their image in the public eye continues to be abysmal and no respectable citizen would ever want to go into a police station in India to seek help unless he is in extreme distress.
It is unfortunate that even seven decades after India’s Independence, citizens do not have a guardian organisation that will reach out to the poorest in the community.
This is why despite the honest intentions of the executive, there has been no upgradation in the reputation of our police forces. No police commission has been able to do much in this regard except to make a few inane observations.
News
India’s longest sea bridge inaugurated (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Atal Setu, India’s longest sea bridge. Also known as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the six-lane Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu will reduce the two-hour journey between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to a 20-minute ride.
Unveiling the bridge, the Prime Minister said: “The inauguration of Atal Setu shows India’s infrastructural prowess and underscores the country’s trajectory towards a ‘Viksit Bharat’.”
Of the total length of 21.8 km, 16.5 km is over the Arabian Sea. The bridge, built with Japanese assistance, will open for public commute.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth more than ₹12,700 crore in Navi Mumbai, in sectors including road and rail connectivity, drinking water, gems and jewellery, and women empowerment.
Referring to the projects, Mr. Modi took a dig at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and said, “Most of these projects were initiated when there was a double-engine government in the State.
People had no hopes from the previous government which had the habit of delaying development projects for years and commissioning them at an even higher cost. In 2016, I guaranteed the people that the country will move towards progress and here I am with the living proof.”
India, Saudi discuss naval and defence cooperation (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and Saudi Arabia discussed ways to enhance navy-to-navy cooperation, joint training, and opportunities for joint ventures in defence production, as Admiral Fahad Abdullah S Al-Ghofaily, Chief of Staff, Royal Saudi Naval Forces, held discussion with top military brass on his four-day visit.
Discussions held on mutual strategic interests, bilateral defence cooperation, joint ventures in defence production and technology collaboration and military training,” the Integrated Defence Staff said.
The two discussed collaborative mechanisms and measures to further strengthen Navy-to-Navy cooperation, the Navy said in a statement.
The extant visit by the Chief of Staff, Royal Saudi Naval Forces, is aimed to increase naval cooperation between the two navies and has renewed the sense of commitment of two friendly maritime neighbours to address shared maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Science Ministry team visits Hawaii to take stock of telescope project (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
In a signal of renewed enthusiasm for a global scientific project, an official delegation from the Department of Science and Technology visited Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii in the U.S., to discuss “challenges” to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.
The TMT has been conceived as a 30-metre diameter primary-mirror optical and infrared telescope that will enable observations into deep space.
It is proposed as a joint collaboration involving institutions in the U.S., Japan, China, Canada, and India. Indian participation in the project was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2014. India expects to be a major contributor to the project and will provide hardware worth $200 million.
Mauna Kea hosts multiple telescopes. However, upcoming projects have invited local opposition on the grounds that building telescopes violates religious and cultural customs, with many of these projects having been imposed upon the region without addressing the concerns of inhabitants.
World
U.S., U.K. launch joint strikes against Houthi targets after Red Sea attacks (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Amid spiralling missile and drone strikes on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the U.S. and U.K.-led coalition launched joint strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen,the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday.Ahead of this development, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
On Friday, 10 nations led by the U.S. and the U.K. issued a joint statement on the strikes. Earlier these countries had asked the Houthis to “immediately end illegal attacks” on commercial tankers and warned that “malign actors would be held accountable” should they continue.It has been learned that India participated in a discussion on the crisis at the UNSC on December 19, but in a “listening role”.
The joint strikes were conducted “in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence, consistent with the UN Charter, against a number of targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Today’s action demonstrated a shared commitment to freedom of navigation, international commerce, and defending the lives of mariners from illegal and unjustifiable attacks.