Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 February 2017

:: National ::

Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges to be finalised soon

• Supreme Court Collegium is engaged in exhaustive consultations to finalise the long-pending Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges and draft clauses.

• The MoP draft was handed over to the Collegium by the government in August 2016. But no progress was made in resolving the differences till J.S. Khehar took over as Chief Justice of India.

• Clauses in the draft MoP, like the executive’s prerogative to reject judicial candidates recommended by the Collegium on the ground of “national security,” are no longer a roadblock.

• Justice T.S. Thakur, Chief Justice Khehar’s immediate predecessor, had time and again made strong observations against perceived government inaction.

• However, since Chief Justice Khehar took over, there has been an improvement in relations strained since the Constitution Bench scrapped the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act in 2015.

Immigration restrictions to be highlighted by Foreign Secretary in U.S.

• Immigration restrictions in the U.S. are likely to be highlighted as Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar travels to Washington D.C. to meet senior U.S. officials this week.

• Mr. Jaishankar is expected to discuss the way forward in bilateral ties, including a possible visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the U.S. in the next few months.

• The visit also comes days after an Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s killing in an alleged hate attack shooting in Kansas. Many, including Venkaiah Naidu, have demanded the “strongest action from the U.S. administration,” in the matter.

• During their telephone conversation last month, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Modi to Washington. The two leaders are also expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Germany in early July.

According to New World Wealth, Mumbai is the richest city in the country

• India’s financial capital Mumbai, which is home to 46,000 millionaires and 28 billionaires, is the richest Indian city with a total wealth of $820 billion, says a report.

• According to New World Wealth, Mumbai is the richest city in the country, followed by Delhi and Bengaluru in the second and third place respectively.

• Delhi is home to 23,000 millionaires and 18 billionaires with a total wealth of $450 billion, while Bengaluru with a total wealth of $320 billion houses 7,700 millionaires and 8 billionaires.

• The list also includes Hyderabad with a total wealth of $310 billion. Hyderabad is home to 9,000 millionaires and 6 billionaires.

• Kolkata, home to 9,600 millionaires and 4 billionaires has a total wealth of $290 billion.

The railways will soon manufacture its own high speed train sets (Register and Login to read Full News)

India has intensified efforts to increase Aerial surveeillance (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

Iran’s Navy began an annual drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz

• Iran’s Navy began an annual drill on Sunday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, its first major exercise since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

• Two-day manoeuvre will cover an area of two million sq. km in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean near the strait. It showed Iranian warships taking part in the exercise.

• Nearly a third of all oil traded by sea passes through the strait and it has been the scene of confrontations between the U.S. and Iran.

• But the drill does not involve Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force the U.S. Navy often criticises for harassing its vessels.

United States and China are about to become neighbours in Djibouti (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: Business and Economy ::

Markets regulator SEBI is in favour of a major overhaul

• SEBI is in favour of a major overhaul of the way boards of listed firms discharge their duties, including for appointment and removal of directors, and also wants their audit committees to be empowered to identify future risks.

• There is also a need for “greater tolerance” and transparency in discussions and decisions taken at the board level and by various board committees of listed companies.

• However the regulator would prefer them to adopt best global practices in this regard voluntarily rather than being dictated to do so with a new set of stringent rules.

• While a ‘guidance note’ was issued last month by the Securities and Exchange Board of India on board evaluation at listed companies, there is a view that SEBI should come out with a new set of regulations to ensure greater compliance.

• The regulator may soon come out with a further detailed guidance note while it is also mulling launching a public consultation process to understand whether there is a need for a new set of rules and what those could be, a top official said.

• The move assumes significance in the wake of the recent boardroom battle at the Tata group and the controversy surrounding the reported differences between some promoters and the top management at Infosys.

• Corporate governance has been a key focus area, with a huge emphasis on safeguarding the interests of minority shareholders in listed companies, during the six—year tenure of current chairman U.K. Sinha.

• The proposed moves will also take into account the suggestions made in this regard by the regulator’s International Advisory Board, which was set up to advise it on best global regulatory practices and evolution of various policies.

• The IAB suggested that a matrix of expertise may be introduced to make the boards diverse, balanced and in tune with the requirements for effective functioning of the company.

• It has also called for “full transparency” in board appointments and removal process.

Buy back options on boom in stock market (Register and Login to read Full News)

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