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insightsonindia.com
http://insightsonindia.com/2014/10/02/insights-current-events-02-october-2014/
Atlantic Treaty.
This landmark decision was followed by practical measures aimed at assisting the United States in different fields,
in relation to its campaign against terrorism.
NATO and CYBER DEFENCE:
Against the background of increasing dependence on technology and on the Internet, the Alliance is advancing its
efforts to confront the wide range of cyber threats targeting NATOs networks on a daily basis. The growing
sophistication of cyber attacks makes the protection of the Alliances communications and information systems
(CIS) an urgent task. This objective has been recognised as a priority in NATOs Strategic Concept.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, www.nato.int.
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
The National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green Tribunal Act
2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of
forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving
relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.
It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multidisciplinary issues. The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure,
1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
The Tribunals dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help
reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months
of filing of the same.
Members:
The sanctioned strength of the tribunal is currently 10 expert members and 10 judicial members although the act
allows for up to 20 of each.
The Chairman of the tribunal who is the administrative head of the tribunal also serves as a judicial member.
Every bench of the tribunal must consist of at least one expert member and one judicial member. The Chairman of
the tribunal is required to be a serving or retired Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court of
India.
Members are chosen by a selection committee (headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India) that
reviews their applications and conducts interviews.
The Judicial members are chosen from applicants who are serving or retired judges of High Courts. Expert
members are chosen from applicants who are either serving or retired bureaucrats not below the rank of an
Additional Secretary to the Government of India (not below the rank of Principal Secretary if serving under a state
government) with a minimum administrative experience of five years in dealing with environmental matters. Or,
the expert members must have a doctorate in a related field.
Jurisdiction:
The Tribunal has Original Jurisdiction on matters of substantial question relating to environment (i.e. a
community at large is affected, damage to public health at broader level) & damage to environment due to specific
activity (such as pollution). However there is no specific method is defined in Law for determining substantial
damage to environment, property or public health.
The powers of tribunal related to an award are equivalent to Civil court and tribunal may transmit any order/award
to civil court have local jurisdiction. The Act specifies that an application for dispute related to environment can be
filled within six months only when first time dispute arose (provided tribunal can accept application after 60 days if
it is satisfied that appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filling the application).
Also Tribunal is competent to hear cases for several acts such as Forest (Conservation) Act, Biological Diversity
Act, Environment (Protection) Act, Water & Air (Prevention & control of Pollution) Acts etc. and also have appellate
jurisdiction related to above acts after establishment of Tribunal within a period of 30 days of award or order
received by aggrieved party.
The Act says that decision taken by majority of members shall be binding and every order of Tribunal shall be final.
Any person aggrieved by an award, decision, or order of the Tribunal may appeal to the Supreme Court within 90
days of commencement of award but Supreme Court can entertain appeal even after 90 days if appellant satisfied
SC by giving sufficient reasons.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, http://www.greentribunal.gov.in/.
Punarjagaran- Mass Awakening Campaign for youth
It will be launched by The Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports.
Punarjagaran aims at creating awareness among youth and empower them to become active partners in nation
building activities.
The yearlong Campaign also aims to make aware and educate youth on key issues in thematic areas, provide
information on the avenues for skill development, encourage and empower them with the spirit of nationalism and
volunteerism. The thematic areas of the campaign are encouraging Nationalism, promoting Swachh Bharat,
Shramadaan and popularizing the recently launched Jan Dhan Yojana.
Sources: PIB.
PIO Card valid for Life Time
In pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi at Madison Square
Garden in New York on September 28, 2014, now, Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card shall be valid for life time
and the PIO Card holder shall be exempt from police reporting / registration.
It has been further clarified that all PIO Cards issued till September 30, 2014 are automatically deemed to have life
time validity.
About PIO card:
A PIO card allows visa free travel and several other benefits to the card holder.
All persons of Indian origin who are in possession of the passport of any other country except Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Sri Lanka or any other country specified by the government, are
eligible for PIO Card if:
He/She had any time held an Indian passport.
He/She or either of his/her parents or grand parents or great grand parents was born in India or permanent
resident in India provided neither was at any time a citizen of any other specific country.
He/She is a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin covered under 1 & 2 above.
Iranian nationals of Indian Origin can be granted PIO card after MHA approval.
Sources: PIB, http://boi.gov.in/.