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By admin: Jan. 9, 2023

CJI Chandrachud to be conferred with 'Award for Global Leadership' by Harvard Law School Center

Tags: Awards

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has been selected for the "Award for Global Leadership" by the Harvard Law School Center in recognition of his lifetime service to the legal profession nationally and internationally.

An Overview of the news

• The award was presented to CJI Chandrachud in an online program on 11 January 2023.

• Chandrachud holds an LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from Harvard Law School in the United States.

• Justice Chandrachud, who has been a part of the apex court bench which delivered several landmark judgments including the Ayodhya land dispute case.

Dr DY Chandrachud

• Dhananjay Yashwant Chandrachud was born on 11 November 1959 in Mumbai. 

• He did his schooling from St. Columbus School and did his BA Honors in Economics from St. Stephen's College followed by LLB from Campus Law Center, University of Delhi followed by LLM and Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Harvard Law School, USA .

Judicial Life of Dr. DY Chandrachud

• Justice Chandrachud was designated a Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998 and was appointed Additional Solicitor General in the same year.

• Justice Chandrachud was a judge of the Bombay High Court from 29 March 2000 to 31 October 2013.

• After this he was appointed the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. On November 9, 2022, he took oath as the 50th CJI.

New BIS specifications for TVs manufactured in India

Tags: National National News

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), through its technical committee, has published an Indian Standard Specification for televisions with built-in satellite tuners. BIS has published three significant Indian Standards in the area of Electronics. 

The first standard 

• TVs manufactured as per this Indian standard will be able to receive free-to-air TV and radio channels by connecting a dish antenna with the LNB mounted at a suitable location on the roof top/side wall of the building.

• This will facilitate dissemination of government initiatives, schemes, Doordarshan's educational content and Indian cultural programs in the country and facilitate them to reach and benefit the population at large in the country.

• Currently, television (TV) viewers in the country are required to buy set-top boxes to watch various paid and free channels.

• Viewers are also required to use a set top box for free to air channels (non-encrypted) broadcast by Doordarshan.

• Now Doordarshan is starting the process of discontinuing analog broadcasting in a phased manner.

• Doordarshan will continue to broadcast free to air channels using digital satellite transmission.

The second standard

• The second standard is the Indian standard for USB Type C receptacles, plugs and cables.

• In this, the existing international standard IEC 62680-1- 3:2022 is being adopted.

• This standard provides requirements for USB Type-C ports, plugs and cables for use in various electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, notebooks, etc.

• This standard will provide a common charging solution for smartphones and other electronic devices sold in the country.

The third Standard 

• The third standard is the Indian Standard for Video Surveillance Systems.

• The Bureau of Indian Standards through its Technical Committee on Alarm and Electronic Security Systems has developed a series of Indian Standards (IS 16910) on video surveillance systems for use in security applications.

• The IS 16910 series of standards is an adoption of the International Standard IEC 62676 series.

• Video Surveillance System (VSS) is an essential security component which is used almost everywhere to capture any unwanted activity.

About Bureau of Indian Standards 

• Bureau of Indian Standards is the national standards body of India under the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.

• Headquarters- Manak Bhawan, Old Delhi

• Director General- Pramod Kumar Tiwari

• Established- 23 December 1986

Kerala declared first State to enable digital banking service

Tags: State News

On 7 January 2023, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that Kerala has become the first state in the country where the banking sector has now gone completely digital.

An Overview of the news

• Kerala is the first state in the country to digitise at least one savings and current account in all districts.

• It is noteworthy in this context that in the year 2021, Thrissur in Kerala became the first district to implement full digital banking. After this, Kottayam district of the state also implemented a full digital banking system.

• Encouraged by all these, under the leadership of Reserve Bank of India and State Level Bankers Committee, the work of complete banking digitization was carried forward and it has been successfully implemented in the entire state.

• Congratulating the residents of the state for this achievement achieved by Kerala, the Chief Minister said that this has been possible due to social intervention through local self-governance institutions as well as infrastructure development and technological advances in the banking sector.

• The state chief minister also said in his address that the state government's ambitious 'Kerala Fiber Optic Network' project, which is almost complete, will bridge the digital divide. With this, every person in the state will be able to get a similar network.

Kerala Fiber Optic Network (K-FON) Project

• K-FON will ensure internet facility for all in the state and a 17,155 km long optic fibre cable network has been laid. Once it is completed, the internet will be available to all in the state at affordable rates or free of cost.

• It is noteworthy in this context that Kerala has recently received three 'Digital India' awards for progress in the digital sector.

Election Commission appoints Maithili Thakur as Bihar's state icon

Tags: State News

The Election Commission of India has made Bihar's folk singer 'Maithili Thakur' the new 'State Icon' of the state. The Election Commission has issued an order in this regard. The proposal to make Maithili Thakur an icon was given by the 'State Election Office'.

An overview of the news

• Maithili Thakur will conduct an awareness campaign among voters before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

• Earlier in the year 2019, Maithili and her two brothers were made the brand ambassadors of Madhubani by the Election Commission.

• Maithili is accompanied by her two younger brothers, Rishabh Thakur and Ayachi Thakur, who accompany her in singing and playing the tabla.

Maithili Thakur

• Maithili, originally belonging to Madhubani district of Bihar, has been singing folk songs since childhood.

• She was awarded the 'Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar' 2021 of 'Sangeet Natak Akademi' for his contribution to the folk singing of Bihar.

• Maithili Thakur has also participated in many reality shows including Saregama, Rising Star. Maithili became a household name after participating in Rising Star in 2017. Maithili was the first finalist of the show.

New British Indian Army Memorial to be built in Scotland

Tags: International News

A new British Indian Army memorial has been approved to be built in the Scottish city of Glasgow to commemorate the sacrifices of millions of Indian soldiers who fought alongside the British during the two world wars.

An overview of the news

• In this, the contribution of more than 40 lakh Indian soldiers who fought on behalf of Britain in both the world wars will be shown.

• Scotland, the local council of Glasgow has approved plans to build a memorial. Glaswegian City Council is now making the final preparations to build the memorial.

• This war memorial will be built near an art gallery and museum named Kelvingrove.

• According to Colourful Heritage, the organisation that made the memorial, the diversity of India can also be shown through this memorial. 

• Therefore, it will give information about the contribution of all the soldiers of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian religions.

• The contribution of those Sikh and Muslim soldiers who participated in the Second World War will be specially shown in the memorial.

India identifies two lithium and one copper mine in Argentina

Tags: National News

Recently India has discovered two lithium mines and one copper mine in Argentina in the South America continent.

Overview of the news

• The Center sent a team of three geologists in November last year to "assess potential lithium deposits" in the Latin American nation.

• The team included one geologist each from Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited) and Geological Survey of India (GSI).

• KABIL, a joint venture set up through the participation of National Aluminum Company (NALCO), Hindustan Copper (HCL) and MECL, aims to ensure continuous supply of critical and strategic minerals to the domestic market.

• India formed 'Khanij Videsh India Limited' in August 2019 for exploration of minerals in other countries; Which recently entered into an agreement with an Argentinian firm for the exploration of minerals like lithium.

• Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries. These batteries are used to power electric vehicles, laptops and mobile phones etc.

Mineral Videsh India Limited

• It has been formed by three government companies NALCO, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Limited, through which minerals like lithium and cobalt can be purchased from abroad.

Production and storage of lithium in the world

• Australia is currently the top lithium producer globally. While Argentina is the fourth largest producing country in the world.

• Together with Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, it forms the 'Lithium Triangle'.

• Apart from the lithium triangle in the world, America and China are also its major producers.

• Presently India is dependent on imports for these minerals.