APPOINTMENTS
Munishwar Nath Bhandari new Chief Justice of Madras High Court
▪ According to the Law Ministry, Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari has been appointed Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Justice Bhandari had taken over as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court after the transfer of Justice Sanjib Banerjee to the Meghalaya High Court in November last year.
• The Law Ministry also notified the appointment of a total of 13 advocates and three judicial officers as judges of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh High Courts.
• While three advocates each were appointed to the Orissa and Madhyal Pradesh High Courts, seven advocates were elevated to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Three judicial officers were appointed as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
IMPORTANT DAYS
National Productivity Day observed on 13th February 2022
▪ National Productivity Day is observed every year in India on February 12.
• The objective of the National Productivity Council is to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country.
• The main observance of the day is to encourage all stakeholders in the implementation of productivity tools and techniques with contemporary relevant themes.
• The day is celebrated by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to promote productivity culture in India.
National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity movement in India. NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity.
RANKS AND REPORTS
India ranked 46th in EIU’s Democracy Index
▪ India has ranked 46th position in the 2021 Democracy Index’s global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit.
• With the highest score of 9.75, Norway topped the Democracy Index 2021 by Economist Intelligence.
• The list was published on February 10, 2022. India scored 6.91 to rank 46th on the list. Our neighbour Pakistan has been placed further below in the hybrid regime with a rank of 104.
APPOINTMENTS
N Chandrasekaran reappointed as Chairman of Tata Sons
• The board of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd has approved the re-appointment of N Chandrasekaran as the Executive Chairman of the company for the second five years term.
• Chandrasekaran’s current tenure as the chairman was to expire at the end of February 2022.
• He joined the board of Tata Sons in 2016 and took over the role as Chairman in 2017.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India to help Sri Lanka launch its version of Aadhaar Card
▪ India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card.
• The Rajapaksa government will “prioritise” the implementation of the Framework as a national-level programme..
• The initiative follows bilateral talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa & Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019.
NATIONAL NEWS
India’s Goa Shipyard Ltd delivered the 5th vessel ICGS ‘Saksham’
▪ India’s Goa Shipyard Ltd delivered the 5th and final vessel of the 5 Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vehicle (CGOPV) Project ahead of contractual schedule.
• The vessel was named ICGS ‘Saksham’.
• The point to be underlined- all 5 vessels have been delivered before time to the Indian Coast Guard. The contract for 5 CGOPVS was signed by GSL with the Ministry of Defence on 26 August 2016.
STATE NEWS
Telangana govt tie-up with British Council to expand higher education
▪ The Government of Telangana and the British Council, an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, have signed a 3-year MoU to renew the partnership in education, English and arts.
• To facilitate research between institutions and assist to expand higher education globally, to offer global opportunities for the youth of Telangana. • Under the extended 3-year MoU, the British Council has also signed an
agreement with the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) to
work closely to engineer new partnerships between universities, research
Institutions and centres of excellence in the UK and in Telangana.
NABARD launched JIVA Programme’ to promote natural farming
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the ‘JIVA programme to promote natural farming under its existing watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states.
• To effectively Implement the principles of agroecology long-term sustainability and transform the pre-existing social and natural capital towards efficient farming.
• JIVA is an agroecology-based programme, an amalgamation of several projects under the watershed programme of NABARD and will be implemented in 11 states covering five agroecological zones, which are in ecologically fragile and rain-fed areas.
BOOKS
A new book titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” authored by Rajiv Bhatia
▪ Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, a Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Programme at Gateway House, has authored a new book (his 3rd book) titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons which explores the emergence and assertion of Africa as a significant actor and stakeholder in global affairs and the transformation of the relationship between India and Africa.
The book also provides a detailed exploration of India-the Africa partnership in all its critical dimensions.
• The book describes the historical backdrop and shared colonial past to focus on and contextualise the evolution of the India – Africa engagement.
SEBI restructured Advisory Committee on investor Protection and Education Fund
▪ Securities and Exchange Board of India has restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), under the chairmanship of G Mahalingam.
• The advisory committee on IPEF is an eight-member committee that will take G Mahalingam, former Whole Time Member of SEBI, as its new Chairperson. Members of Committee: Vijay Kumar Venkataraman, Mrin Agarwal, A Balasubramanian, M G Parameswaran, GP Garg, N Hariharan and Jayanta Jash
