Daily Current Affairs for 1st Sep 2021

GS PAPER II

Appointment of Supreme Court Judges

Why in News

Recently, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) administered the Oath of Office to nine new Judges, including three women Judges, of the Supreme Court.

Key Points

• This is the first time in the history of the apex court that nine judges took the oath of office to the Supreme Court in one sitting.
• With the oath taking ceremony, the strength of the Supreme Court has reached 33 including the CJI against the sanctioned strength of 34.
• It is assumed that, Justice B V Nagarathna could become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027.

Supreme Court of India

• The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judicial body of India and the highest court under the Indian constitution.
• The Chief Justice of India is the head and consists of a maximum of 34 judges as the chief judge of the Supreme Court.
• They have extensive powers in the form of original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions. They regarded as the most powerful public institution in India.
• As the apex constitutional court in India, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the high courts of various states of the Union and other courts and tribunals.
• It is the authority to safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens and settles disputes between various government authorities and between central and state governments or state governments versus another state government in the country.
• Article 142 of the Constitution stated that, it is the duty of the President of India to enforce the decrees of the Supreme Court and the court is conferred with the inherent jurisdiction to pass any order deemed necessary in the interest of justice.

Brief history of Supreme Court

• Supreme Court of India was first established in India under the Regulating Act of 1773 at Calcutta.
• Objective behind this was to hear and determine grievances of crimes and to entertain, hear and determine any suits or actions in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa provinces.
• After that, the Supreme Courts at Madras and Bombay were established by King George – III in 1800 and 1823 respectively.
• In 1861, India High Courts Act was enacted under which Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay abolished and High Courts for various provinces and the Sadar Adalats in Presidency towns was established.
• After India got independence in 1947, the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950 under which the honourable Supreme Court of India was established and its first sitting was held on 28 January 1950.

Constitutional Provisions

• Under Part V of the Indian Constitution, Article 124-147 deals with the subjects related to the Supreme Court of India.
• The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India can broadly be categorized into original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction.
• Originally, the strength of the Supreme Court was fixed at eight (one chief justice and seven other judges), but now there are thirty-one judges (one chief justice and thirty other judges).

Chief Justice of India

• The Chief Justice of India is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary.
• The President of India has power to appoint the Chief Justice of India in consultation with the outgoing Chief Justice.
• Article 124(4) of Constitution of India lays down the procedure for removal of a judge of Supreme Court which is applicable to chief justices as well.
• The chief justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years.
• Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to him or her (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by a larger bench of more judges.
• The 48^th and present chief justice is N. V. Ramana.

Appointment of Judges

• The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with Chief Justice of India.
• Under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution, Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President.
• 
  A person to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court must be:
• A citizen of India.
• A judge of a High Court (or high courts in succession) for five years; or
• An advocate of a High Court (or High Courts in succession) for ten years; or
• He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.
• The Constitution has not prescribed a minimum age for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.
• He holds office until the age of 65 years.
• The salaries, allowances, privileges, leave and pension of the judges of the Supreme Court are determined from time to time by the Parliament. They cannot be varied to their disadvantage after their appointment except during a financial emergency.

GS PAPER II

Mission Vatsalya

Why in news

Recently, the Maharashtra government launched a special mission for women from poor families who have lost their husbands to Covid-19 infection.

Mission Vatsalya

• The special mission aims to provide a bunch of services under one roof.
• Mission Vatsalya has been designed for widows, especially from rural areas who come from poor backgrounds and deprived sections.
• The mission aimed to serve around 18 benefits, schemes, services to such women from rural areas with impoverished backgrounds.
• As per the state government data, in the last one and a half years, around 15,095 women lost their husbands to COVID-19. Out of them, the number of women who have been listed by the district task force is 14,661.
• Under this mission, schemes like Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana and Gharkul Yojana will benefit those for women.

GS PAPER III

Index of Eight Core Industries

Why in News

The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is released the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for the Month of July, 2021.

Key Points

• The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 134.0 in July 2021, which increased by 9.4% (provisional) as compared to the Index of July 2020.
• The production of Coal, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity industries increased in July 2021 over the corresponding period of 2020.
• Final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for April 2021 is revised to 62.6% from its provisional level 56.1%.
• The growth rate of ICI during April-July 2021-22 was 21.2% (P) as compared to the corresponding period of 2020.

Highlights of Index of Eight Core Industries of May 2021

Eight Core Industries

• Eight Core Industries of India comprises 40.27% of the weight of items included Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
• They are called Core industries because they impact an Economy of nation in massive way.

Index of Eight Core Industries

• It is the index of the production of ‘Core industries of Economy’.
• It is published monthly by the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
• The base-year of ICI has been revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12.
• This index is calculated by the Laspeyre’s Formula of weighted Arithmetic Mean of quantity relatives.

GS PAPER III

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Why in News

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India grew by 20.1% in the first quarter of 2021-22, compared with the 24.4% contraction recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020, but economic activity remained well below the pre-pandemic levels.

Key Points

• As per the National Statistical Office (NSO), Gross Value Added (GVA) during the April to June period rose from a 22.2% dip to 18.8%, in the first quarter of 2020-21.
• Overall GVA in Q1 was still 7.8% lower than the first quarter of 2019-20, while GDP remained 9.2% lower, indicating that the economy still has some way to go before it returns to activity levels prevalent prior to the pandemic.
• Electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services, whose GVA grew 14.3% in Q1 of 2021-22, compared with a 9.9% fall last year, was the only sector along with agriculture, forestry and fishing, to recover beyond the pre-pandemic levels of 2019-20.
• The first quarter GDP was even lower than that of the first quarter of 2018-19.
• Construction and Manufacturing GVA recorded a 68.3% and 49.6% uptick between April and June in 2020, compared to a 49.5% and 36% contraction, respectively, in 2021.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

• Gross domestic product (GDP) is the monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a country over a specific period.
• It provides an economic snapshot of a country, used to estimate the size of an economy and growth rate.
• It is calculated in three ways, using expenditures, production, or incomes.

Gross value added (GVA)

• GVA is an economic productivity metric that measures the contribution of a corporate subsidiary, company, or municipality to an economy, producer, sector, or region.
• GVA= GDP + Subsidies on products – Taxes on products.