Recently new Chief Election Commissioner was appointed by President of India.
At present, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is a three-member body, with one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (EC).
Under Article 324(2) of the Constitution of India, the President of India is empowered to appoint the CEC and the ECs.
Article 324(2) also empowers the President of India to fix from time to time the number of Election Commissioners other than the CEC.
When any other election commissioner is so appointed the CEC shall act as the chairman of the election commission.
All Election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary allowances and other perquisites which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court.
If the CEC and other ECs differ in opinion on any matter, such matter shall be decided by according to the opinion of the majority
The CEC or an EC holds office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes his office or until he attains the age of 65 years before the expiry of six years term.
Apart from other election commissioners CEC is provided with security of tenure he can be removed from his office only on the basis resolution passed in parliament with special majority in both the houses (Impeachment process).
Key points to remember
The constitution has not prescribed the qualifications (legal, educational, administrative or judicial) for the CEC or any other members of Election commission.
The constitution has not debarred the retiring election commissioners from any further appointment by the government.
5G technology
Union telecom ministry had announced 5G technology will be rolled out from 2020.
5G promises ultra-reliable, very fast speeds and high bandwidth mobile connectivity and supports massive interconnected devices spread across wide areas like Internet of things (IoT).
5G provides peak speeds of 20 times, compared with 4G.
This would entail accelerating the BharatNet programme for deploying connectivity infrastructures.
National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)
National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is an ambitious initiative to trigger a broadband revolution in rural areas.
It aims to connect all the Gram panchayats in the country and provide 100 Mbps connectivity to all gram panchayats (GPs).
Bharat Net
BharatNet project was establish in 2017, to provide digital infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis by an affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households.
The entire project is being funded by Universal service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.
The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to the rural India.
NASA’s Kilopower Project
NASA has invented a small nuclear reactor Kilopower, It can generate a reliable power supply by using uranium-235 reactor core.
This power system could provide up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power enough to run two average households continuously for at least 10 years.
This reactor will be used for electronic propulsion systems and for providing safe and plentiful energy for future robotic and human missions for Mars and beyond.
Credit scores
A credit score determines how creditworthy a person is and helps banks and financial institutions decide on loans.
In India, the scores are issued by credit reporting agencies such as CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, Etc.
These agencies are regulated by the RBI and collect data from banks on their loans and come up with credit scores through use of algorithms.
The data is updated frequently. Credit scores in India range from 300-900.
A credit report may be obtained for free once a year from every credit reporting agency.
Forest Helpline
Maharashtra government has launched 24X7 forest helpline number“1926”.
This helpline number can be used to lodge complaints or get information about a variety of issues related to forests and wildlife.
This is the first of its kind in the country to address the general and emergency queries of the citizens regarding forest department.
Hansa Jivraj Mehta
Hansa Jivraj Mehta a social activist served in theconstituent assembly from 1946-1949, was a Padma Bhushan awardee.
She was amember of the Fundamental rights sub-committee, theadvisory committee and the provincial constitutionalcommittee.
Hansa Mehta’s mostsignificant contribution to the constituent assemblydebates was in trying to make the Uniform Civil Code(UCC) a justiciable part of the constitution.
She also served as a member of the UN subcommitteeon the United National Declarationof Human Rights committee.
She successfully championed her cause changing thephrase in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,from “All men are born free and equal” to “All humanbeings are born free and equal.”
Source: PIB, the Hindu,Indian Express, Economic times
