Todays in History (February 10^th, 1846)

In 1846, the Battle of Sobraon took place during the First Sikh War, with the British registering a major victory over the Sikhs in northwestern India.

Summary of Today’s News

Bharat Ratna Award Announcement

• The Bharat Ratna will be conferred on
  • Former Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao
  • Chaudhary Charan Singh,
  • Green Revolution pioneer M.S. Swaminathan
• It is in addition to the two
  • socialist leader Karpoori Thakur,
  • Former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
• A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique made the announcement on 9^th February Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauding his late predecessors —
  • the Congress PM Rao’s liberalisation policies,
  • The Janata Party PM Charan Singh’s championing of the farmers’ cause —
  • The late agricultural scientist Swaminathan’s services in the agricultural field.
  • This year totaling five Bharat Ratna awardees. It is the highest number in a single year.

Parliamentary Elections in Pakistan

• Independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party winning 92 seats out of the 226 results declared
• Votes are still being counted.
• There are allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown.
• The main contest was among
  • Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose candidates are running as Independents,
  • Former three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
  • Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
• To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 in the National Assembly.

Can Preamble be amended keeping date intact, asks SC

• The Supreme Court on 9^th February asked if the Preamble of the Constitution could have been amended without changing the date of its adoption on November 26, 1949.
• The Preamble was amended only once in December 1976 by the Indira Gandhi government to introduce the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’.
  • The phrase “unity of the nation” was replaced with “unity and integrity of the nation”.
• The changes were made in the Preamble through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment during the Emergency.
• Originally, the text of the Preamble declared India as a ‘sovereign, democratic republic’.
• The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were inserted between ‘sovereign’ and ‘democratic’.
• “From an academic point of view, could the Preamble have been changed by keeping the date intact?”
• The Bench was hearing a petition led by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to delete the words socialist and secular from the Preamble.

Kilkari programme

• Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare launched Kilkari programme for beneficiaries in local content in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Key points About Kilkari programme

• Kilkari’ means ‘a baby’s gurgle’)
• It is a centralized interactive voice response (IVR) based mobile health service.
• Centrally hosted by Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• It delivers free, weekly, time-appropriate 72 audio messages.
• These messages are about pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare directly to families’ mobile phones from second trimester of pregnancy until child is one year old.

National Green Tribunal (NGT’s) Trend of Passing Ex-Parte Orders

• A Division Bench of SC was hearing an appeal against an ex-parte order in suo motu proceedings by NGT which directed appellants for payment of compensation.

Observation of Supreme Court

• Ex-Parte orders are those that can be granted without waiting for a response from other side.
• There is recurrent engagement in unilateral decision making, provisioning ex-post-facto review hearing, and routinely dismissing it has become a norm.
• Imposition of huge sums for damages proved to be counterproductive in safeguarding environment.
• Tribunal must ensure procedural integrity to ensure harmonious balance between justice and due process.

Key Points about NGT

• NGT Statutory body established under National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
• It is a specialized body equipped with necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
• It is guided by principles of natural justice.
• Not bound by Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or Indian Evidence Act, 1872.