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The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud recommended the appointment of Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate K V Viswanathan as Judges of the Supreme Court.
If appointed, Viswanathan would be in line to serve as Chief Justice of India from August 12, 2030, till May 25, 2031. He would be the fourth CJI from the Bar — after former CJIs S M Sikri in 1971 and U U Lalit last year, and Justice P S Narasimha, who is in line for the top post in 2028.
“Shri Viswanathan has a sound understanding of law and is known in the legal fraternity for his integrity and as an upright senior member of the Bar,” the Collegium said in its statement.
Apart from the CJI, the five-member Collegium for recommending SC judges includes Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna.
The Collegium’s decision to recommend Viswanathan comes nearly eight months after it was first proposed by then Chief Justice of India U U Lalit in a written note instead of a formal meeting.
On October 11 last year, the Collegium had said in a statement that it decided to “close the unfinished” proposal after two judges “objected to the process of selection and appointing judges by circulation”. The current CJI was one of the two judges who objected.
Express Network
ISRO set to fly navigational satellite in May end, will be years third (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in the third launch of the year, will fly NVS-01 to augment the seven-satellite navigation constellation NavIC on May 29. Not only will it be the first launch of a navigational satellite under the new moniker NVS, but it will also beat the space agency’s record during the three pandemic years. There were only two ISRO launches each in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The two launches that have already happened this year were also significant as the first one resulted in the induction of the new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle into the existing ISRO fleet and the second established the heaviest rocket LVM Mk3 as a dependable commercial launcher.
In addition to the launch scheduled for May end, the space agency is also planning to launch big-ticket missions like its first solar mission Aditya-L1 during the third quarter of the year.
Later this year, Isro is also likely to attempt two test vehicle missions as a precursor to the first unmanned flight of the Gaganyaan mission.
The NVS-01 satellite will replace the navigational capabilities of another satellite IRNSS-1G in the constellation. It will retain its communication and messaging capabilities.
The navigational capabilities of a couple of satellites were hampered after the atomic clocks on board malfunctioned. The location of objects for satellite-based navigation is determined by very precisely measuring the time it takes for the signals to return from the ground.
Editorial
Sarkar and Bazaar (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
E-commerce isn’t simply about placing orders for goods and services through digital platforms. Whatever is ordered online has to also be physically shipped and delivered in person to the buyer concerned.
The success of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the government-backed online marketplace, will ultimately depend on its ability to facilitate, if not offer, end-to-end solutions from logistics and warehousing to delivery and payments.
The likes of Amazon and Flipkart provide all these solutions, including through fulfillment centres receiving inbound products from vendors and ready for outbound dispatches whenever consumers order on their websites.
That makes them, for all practical purposes, “operators” as opposed to mere online “platforms”. The platforms derive their power from not just connecting sellers and buyers, but also ensuring physical fulfillment of transactions or integrating online with offline.
Ideas Page
New Washington consensus (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi steps up engagement with the US and its allies — at the G7 summit in Hiroshima this week, the Quad summit in Canberra the week after, and bilateral visits to Washington and Paris in June and July — the restructuring of the global economic order will figure high on India’s bilateral and multilateral agenda.
The geopolitical consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Western response to it have dominated India’s geopolitical discourse over the last year.
But the Indian debate is yet to pay attention to even more consequential geoeconomic changes being unleashed by the vigorous commercial competition unfolding between the US and China.
As in the geopolitical domain, so in the geoeconomic, there is a growing convergence of interests between Delhi and Washington. Translating that into concrete outcomes will demand much hard work and some creative solutions.
To be sure, this geoeconomic competition between Washington and Beijing had begun to develop in the Trump years. President Joe Biden has intensified it and lent a plausible ideological framework.
In a major speech late last month, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan outlined a set of policy initiatives to pursue the geoeconomic contestation with China.
The US is seeking wider international consensus on the new economic approach from its allies and partners, including India.
Explained
The demand for a Kuki homeland in Manipur, its history (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 1, Indian Society)
Days after clashes between Manipur’s Kuki-Zomi tribes and the majority Meitei community left more than 70 people dead, the state’s 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs demanded “a separate administration under the Constitution”, saying “our people can no longer exist under Manipur… [and] to live amidst the Meiteis again is as good as a death…”.
The tribal lawmakers, including two ministers in the N Biren Singh government, met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday, a day after Shah had a meeting with the Chief Minister, four state ministers — all Meitei — and Maharaja Leishemba Sanajaoba, the titular king of Manipur and Rajya Sabha member from the state.
While Biren has stressed that “the territorial integrity of Manipur will be protected”, the ethnic clashes have led to the resurfacing of the demand for a separate administration, which had subsided following peace negotiations between Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups and the government.
The demand for a separate “Kukiland” dates back to the late 1980s, when the first and largest of the Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups, the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), came into being. The demand has surfaced periodically ever since.
What Hitler and Mussolini have to do with the origin of Cannes fest (Page no. 15)
(Miscellaneous)
Cannes Film Festival, which draws eyeballs every year with its mix of fashion and cinema, is being held from May 16 to May 27 this year.
Over the years, particularly for Indians, it has become noteworthy because it results in numerous photos of Bollywood actors on the red carpet, often in unconventional outfits.
Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has appeared multiple times at the festival. Last year, actress Deepika Padukone was selected as a jury member of the festival, counted among the most prestigious film events globally. But why does the Festival generate so much interest and what actually happens as part of it?
Its history goes back to 1936, during an era where tensions were building upto World War II.
In 1938, a few months before the War was to begin in Europe, some countries assembled in Italy to attend the Venice Film Festival, which at that point was one of the very few competitive film festivals in the world, featuring the USA and a few countries from Europe.
Italy and Germany were ruled by fascist parties under Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, respectively.
When it was time to give the best film award, the jury was unanimous in its choice for an American film. “But under pressure from Hitler the Nazi propaganda film Olympia by director Leni Riefenstahl and the Italian film Luciano Serra, Pilot by director Goffredo Alessandrini reaped the ultimate accolade, named the Mussolini Cup,” says its website.
Economy
Banks request RBI for more time to implement new ECL-based loan loss provisioning norms (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Lenders have sought a one-year extension from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for implementation of the Expected Credit Loss (ECL)-based loan loss provisioning framework.
In January this year, the RBI came out with a draft guideline proposing adoption of expected credit loss approach for credit impairment.
It said the banks will be given a one-year period after the final guidelines are released for implementation of expected credit loss approach for loss provisioning.
Though the RBI is yet to announce the final guidelines on ECL norms, some of the rating agencies have said that final norms on this may be notified by FY2024 for implementation from April 1, 2025.
We have requested the regulator to allow us a little more time to prepare ourselves for this. We have requested them (the RBI) for one more year.
Currently, banks are required to make loan loss provisions based on an “incurred loss” approach. This means that loan loss provisioning happens much later, which can lead to an increase in credit risk for banks.