12, March 2019 12/03/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Contempt of court

 

News Flash

The Shillong Times is punished for contempt of the court by Meghalaya High Court as it published some unfavourable stories. The sentence combined schoolroom punishment with a serious threat to the press.

The Indian Newspaper Society, the apex body of the print media industry, has decided to implead itself as a party in the appeal. As a result, the Supreme Court stayed the Meghalaya High Court judgment convicting The Shillong Times.

Under Article 215 of the Constitution, the editor and publisher were ordered to “sit in the corner” until the court rose for the day, and are to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh each, failing which they would be imprisoned for six months and the paper ’Shillong Times’ will be banned.

 

Article 215

High Courts to be courts of record Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

 

Contempt of Courts Act, 1971

  • Contempt refers to the offence of showing disrespect to the dignity or authority of a court.
  • The Act divides contempt into civil and criminal contempt.
  • Civil contempt refers to the wilful disobedience of an order of any court.
  • Criminal contempt includes any act or publication which:

(i) ‘scandalises’ the court.

(ii) Prejudices any judicial proceeding

(iii) Interferes with the administration of justice in any other manner. ‘Scandalising the Court’ broadly refers to statements or publications which have the effect of undermining public confidence in the judiciary.

Source: Business Standard

 

 

Political empowerment of Women

 

News Flash

Odisha Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik’s decision to field 33 per cent women in 21 seats in the coming general elections is, therefore, a landmark move — one which must be embraced heartily by the political mainstream. (Since Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJD is expected to field eight women candidates.)

Late Biju Patnaik, father of Naveen Patnaik was among the first votaries of 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayats.

In 2012, the Odisha government increased women’s reservation in PRIs to 50 per cent.

 

Representation and Empowerment

Women representation in state assemblies and parliament has been stagnant or very low for a long time and the time has come to move towards a political system where more women representatives enter legislatures at each level of representation in our country. Its a major tool for women empowerment.

Women account for 49 per cent of India’s 90 crore voters; the turnout of women voters has risen sharply over the years, and was the highest ever in the last Lok Sabha elections (at 65.5 per cent).

There is marginal improvement in the number of women candidates winning Parliamentary elections. In the Parliamentary election in 2009, there were 59 candidates who won the election. In the current elections, 61 women have secured seats in Lok Sabha.This is the highest ever number of seats won by women ever and comprises 11.23 per cent of the total 543 seats.

 

Political Empowerment of Women

Women population constitutes about 50 per cent of the worlds population. Political empowerment of women can help in improving their position. Women in positions of power are more likely to work for female rights.


Need for Political participation of women

  • Political participation of women has the potential to change societies.
  • Their participation in politics may ensure the safety and protection of children and vulnerable sections of populations.
  • Positive impact on women and children.

 

Constitutional Provisions

  • Article 14: It guarantees equality before law and equal protection of law with in the territory of India.
  • Article 15: It prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth. According to article 15(3), State can make special provisions for the benefit women and children.
  • Article 16: Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matter relating to employment. No citizen can be denied employment on grounds of religion, race, cast, sex, decent, place of birth residence or any of them.
  • Article 39A: It provides for an adequate means of livelihood for all citizen.
  • Article 39B: It has provisions for equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
  • Article 39c: It has provisions for securing the health and strength of workers, men and women, and not to abuse the tender age of children.
  • Article 42: It guarantees just and humane condition of work and maternity relief. Article 42 is in accordance with Article 23 and 25 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  • Article 243 (D): It provides for the political reservation to women in every panchayat elections. It has extended this reservation to elected office as well.
  • Article 325 and 326: They guarantee political equality, equal right to participate in political activity and right to vote, respectively.

 

Government’s initiatives

Scheme for empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)- sabla, Swayam Siddha, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Matritva Sahyog Yojana, Janani suraksha Yojana, Integrated Child Protection scheme, Swadhar, Ujjawala, Antyodaya Anna Yojana.

 

Gender Inequality Index

GII index is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement inside a nation because to gender inequality or gender imbalance. It utilizes three measurements to quantify opportunity cost: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market.

 

Panchayati Raj Institutions

In India, the Panchayati Raj presently works as an arrangement of administration in which gram panchayats are the fundamental units of local administration. The framework has three dimensions: Gram Panchayat (village level), Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zila Parishad (district level).

 

Way Forward

Political parties should come forward to increase women representatives.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

UNSC Resolution 1267

 

News Flash

With a section of the international community leading a proposal to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar as a worldwide fear monger by the United National Security Council (UNSC), China said that it has adopted a “responsible attitude” and followed the “rules and procedures” of the UNSC Resolution 1267 sanctions committee.

 

Background

Throughout the previous 10 years, China has without any assistance blocked the listing of Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” at the UNSC Resolution 1267 sanctions committee. Three attempts in the most recent decade – 2009, 2016 and 2017 – have been blocked by Beijing at Islamabad’s command.

The proposition to list Masood Azhar at the UNSC, which has been supported by France and upheld by the US and the UK, has additionally observed India connecting with part countries of the UNSC in front of the March 13 due date to discuss any objections.

 

United Nations Security Council resolution 1267

It was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associates as terrorists and established a sanctions regime to cover individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban wherever located.

  • It lists the terrorist organisations and individuals so that the member countries can issue sanctions against these terror outfits and individuals.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

30th birthday of World Wide Web

 

News Flash

Today is the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web and Tim Berners-Lee, its inventor.

 

WWW

On this day in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) computer scientist, submitted a proposal to make the Internet accessible to everyone.

  • The Internet, a network of computers, had already existed in some form or the other since the 1960s.

 

Development Phase

  • In 1967, ARPANET allowed American research ans defence organisations to share data with each other.
  • In 1980s, development made for the Transfer Control Protocol-Internet Protocol (TCP-IP).
  • By 1991, Lee had developed the world’s first web browser and server.
  • Lee also propounded idea of Universal Resource Locator (URL).
  • In May 1991, CERN opened the world wide web to the public.

Source: The Hindu

 

 

 

ATTENTION

First Question, a telephone helpline launched

First Question, a telephone helpline launched by the Kerala Forest Research Institute on National Science Day (February 28). This helpline is for children in India, though, especially in Kerala, encourage children to call in and ask questions related mostly to nature and science. It is being handled by 20 research scholars from the institute with help from subject experts and scientists.

Source: Indian Express

 

World Gold Council

India, which is the world’s largest consumer of gold, has the 11th largest gold reserve, with the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes, as per the latest report by the World Gold Council (WGC).

The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. Its purpose is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold, provide industry leadership, and be the global authority on the gold market.

Source: The Hindu

 

Tejas Mark 1

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1, received its long-awaited Final Operational Clearance; this means it is combat-ready and can be exploited to the limits of its approved ‘envelope’.

Source: The Hindu

 

Kaveri Engines

The GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri is an afterburning turbofan project developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bangalore, India.

An Indian design, the Kaveri was originally intended to power production models of the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) being built by the Aeronautical Development Agency. However, the Kaveri programme failed to satisfy the necessary technical requirements or keep up with its envisaged timelines and was officially delinked.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

The First-past-the-post (FPTP) system

The FPTP system is also known as simple majority system. In this voting method, the candidate with the highest number of votes in a constituency is declared the winner. This system is used in India in direct elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

Source: Indian Express