CIVILS WEEKLY

  ADULTERY The Supreme Court admitted a petition filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 that decriminalised adultery. About: A three-judge Bench led by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman said the plea had to be considered by a Constitution Bench because the original verdict, striking down Section 497 (adultery) of the IPC, was pronounced by a five-judge Bench in September 2018. The court referred the case to the Chief Justice to pass appropriate orders to form a five-judge Bench to clarify the impact of the 2018 judgment on the armed forces. RBI WORKING GROUP ON DIGITAL LENDING The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a working group on digital lending — including online platforms and mobile apps — to study all aspects of digital lending activities in the regulated financial sector as well as by unregulated players. About: The working group consists of both internal and external membe...

  KAYAKALP AWARDS Public and Private Health Facilities were felicitated with Kayakalp award for high standards of Sanitation and Hygiene. About: The government had launched a National Initiative ‘Kayakalp’ on 15th May 2015 to ensure hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness in Public Health Facilities in India. The scheme, which saw the participation of 716 District Hospitals and central government institutions in its first year has spread to 26 thousand 172 public health facilities now. Health Ministry had collaborated with Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and launched Swachh Swasth Sarvatra programme, under which, one community health centre (CHCs) situated within ODF block receives one-time grant of 10 lakh rupees for undertaking improvement activities, so that the CHC becomes Kayakalp CHC. FARM LAWS COMMITTEE The Supreme Court has put a stay on the implementation of the three farm laws until further orders. It has also set up a committee of agricultural experts to facilitate...

  PARLER Apple, Amazon and Google have suspended the social network called Parler, saying that the platform has not taken enough measures to make sure that content inciting violence remains in check. About: Parler is an American alt-tech microblogging and social networking service. Launched in August 2018, Parler markets itself as a free speech and unbiased alternative to mainstream social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Parler has a significant user base of Donald Trump supporters, conservatives, conspiracy theorists, and right-wing extremists. KHADI PRAKRITIK PAINT Union Minister for MSME will be launching an innovative new paint developed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission on 12th January. About: The eco-friendly, non-toxic paint, called “Khadi Prakritik Paint” is a first-of-its-kind product, with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties. The paint has been certified by Bureau of Indian Standards. Khadi Prakritik Emulsion paint meets BIS 15489:2013 standards; wherea...

  THOUSAND ISLANDS On 9 January 2021, a Boeing 737-500 (PK-CLC) operating Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 went missing after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta Airport on route to Pontianak Supadio Airport. The aircraft crashed near the Thousand Islands. About: The Thousand Islands (officially Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast. It forms the only regency of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. It consists of a string of 342 islands stretching 45 km (28 mi) north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact north of Banten Province. VANADIUM Arunachal Pradesh is likely to become India’s prime producer of vanadium. About: Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature. It is recovered as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore). Vanadium is a high-value metal used i...