Daily Current Affairs: 13 April 2015

1) National Judicial Appointments Commission Act notified:

--> Government on 13 April 2015 notified the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 and the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 for bringing in a change in the existing system for appointment of Judges in Supreme Court and High Courts.

--> The Acts provide for a transparent and broad-based process of selection of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

--> NJAC will be a six-member body, comprising the Chief Justice of India and two of his senior most judges, the law minister and two eminent people.

--> Any two of them can veto any candidature.

--> The eminent people will be nominated after consultations with the CJI, the PM and the Leader of Opposition or the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. 

2) Sania Mirza officially crowned World No. 1:

--> Sania Mirza on 13 April 2015 officially became the first Indian woman tennis player to be ranked World No. 1 in doubles after WTA unveiled its latest list.

--> The Indian ace has gone up three rungs in the charts with 7660 points to dethrone Italy’s Sara Errani (7640 points).

--> Sania took 470 points from the win with Martina Hingis in the WTA Family Circle Cup in the official list.

3) Union Home Ministry notified Governors (Allowances and Privileges) Amendment Rules, 2015:

--> Union Home Ministry on 10 April 2015 notified amendments to the Governors (Allowances and Privileges) Rules, 1987 and named these rules as Governors (Allowances and Privileges) Amendment Rules, 2015.

--> The amendment notifies 18-set of rules to regulate any foreign visit or domestic visit outside the State by the Governors.

--> As per the new norms laid by the said law, the duration of a governor’s official visits outside the state shall not exceed 20% of the days in a calendar year, i.e., 73 days.

--> As per the new norms, governors must seek the approval of the President and forward their communication in this regard, two weeks in advance for private visits outside the state and seven days in advance for official visits.

4) Is “Airtel Zero” against Net Neutrality?

--> During April 2015, Airtel announced Airtel Zero, a platform that allows consumers free access to select apps and services with the cost of this data traffic being borne by the companies that have signed up.

--> For example, if Flipkart signs up as an Airtel Zero partner, consumers will not be charged for data that they will use while accessing Flipkart, and Airtel will bill Flipkart for that session.

-->  ‘Net Neutrality’ is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all traffic on their networks equally.

--> That means users should be able to access all websites at the same speed and cost. No website should be given preferential treatment over another.

5) In a first, DPRK Foreign Minister visited India:

--> In a significant diplomatic engagement between India and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong met his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on 13 April 2015.

--> This is the first ever visit at the Foreign Minister level from North Korea to India.

--> Mr. Yong is on a three day visit on the invitation of Ms. Swaraj.

6) Hillary Clinton announced 2016 presidential bid:

--> Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 12 April 2015 announced that she would be contesting the election for the office of U.S. president in 2016.

--> Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama.

7) Haryana govt announced cabinet rank for Ramdev:

--> Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 13 April announced Cabinet-rank status for yoga guru Ramdev, who is the state's brand ambassador.

--> Khattar said Ramdev, who is authorized to promote yoga and ayurveda in the state, would be given the status of Cabinet minister, and a function would be held at Panchkula on April 21 to honour him.