National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014

Union Government has brought into force the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 along with the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014. In this regard, notification to effect from 13 April 2015 was issued by the Union Law Ministry. With this new law the collegium system to appoint members to the higher judiciary has come to an end. Now President will appoint judges in the Supreme Court (SC) and 24 High Courts (HCs) in consultation with the NJAC. 

Facts about NJAC Act, 2014 
Composition of NJAC 
As per Article 124A, NJAC is a 6 member constitutional body. Consisting of Chairman- Chief Justice of India (CJI). Members- Two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice and two eminent persons. Two eminent persons will be nominated by committee led by Prime Minister of India, the CJI, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People. 

As per 124B, functions of NJAC are 
Recommend persons for appointment as CJI, Judges of SC, Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts. Recommend transfer of Chief Justices and other Judges HCs from one HC to another HC. 

About Collegium system 
Previously, under the collegium system, five top judges of the Supreme court recommended transfer and elevation of judges to Supreme Court and High Courts. It came into existence in 1993 after a Supreme Court judgement.

India elected to four United Nations agencies

India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies on 8 April 2015. These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

India was elected to these bodies at the Coordination and Management Meeting (CMM) of UNECOSOC (the United Nations Economic and Social Council) held at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

India was elected by acclamation, which is a form of election that doesn’t use a ballot.

Results of Elections
• India, along with thirteen other nations, was elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for a three year period starting from January 2016.
• India was re-elected to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP) along with five other nations for a two year period starting from January 2016. 
• India was elected to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) along with nineteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016. Some of the nations that were elected to CCPCJ included Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Austria, France, Sweden and the United States.
• India was re-elected to the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) along with thirteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016.

Significance of India’s election to UN bodies

• India has a 100 percent record of winning the UNECOSOC elections. For instance, in the first week of April 2015, India was re-elected to the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2015-17. In October 2014, India was re-elected to ECOSOC by garnering the maximum number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group. 
• These continuous wins at various UN bodies highlights the fact that India’s role as an important and influential global power is now recognised by a vast majority of the UN membership.

PM launches first Indian Air Quality Index (AQI)

The government has unveiled the National Air Quality Index (AQI) that will give real time data regarding the level of pollutants in the air. It will inform people on the impact of air pollution on their health.

Initially, 10 cities will be covered by the index. These cities include Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Each of These cities will have a monitoring station with Air Quality Index displayed on the board.

Different studies have found high level of air pollution in India. The environmental preference index placed India at 174th position out of 178 countries for air quality last year. A study conducted by WHO has found 13 of the most polluted 20 cities in the world present in India.

The Air Quality Index is the global standard that is used to determine the quality of air. Multiple data that is already available with the country’s Central Pollution Control Board is considered and is presented on a color coded scale having six levels by it.

Dark green is the first level, which indicates good quality air where as maroon indicates severe pollution. The index identifies health impacts associated with each category.

The index gives current and 24-hour average data on particulate matter – PM2.5 and PM 10 along with other pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide.

New CEC named by President

Dr Nasim Zaidi has been named as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by President Pranab Mukherjee. He will succeed H.S.Brahma, who is the current CEC.

He is a 1976 batch officer of UP cadre and has retired in July 2012 as Secretary to the Union Government in Ministry of Civil Aviation. He had also hold the position of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Bad performance for India on Social Progress Index (SPI)

India has been ranked at 101th place out of 133 countries on the Social Progress Index (SPI) in which Norway is placed at 1st position and U.S at 16th position. India s performance is very poor in the Index as even its neighbours such as Nepal and Bangladesh have secured better ranks. India s ranking is poor than it per capita GDP ranking, which is 93.

The index ranked all these countries on different indicators of wellness including health, water and sanitation, personal safety, access to opportunity, tolerance, inclusion, personal freedom and choice.

MUDRA Bank becomes reality

MUDRA Bank announced in the union budget this year has finally become a reality. It was launched by PM Modi on Wednesday. It will be functioning as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions and will serve as a credit provider to small entrepreneurs. The initial corpus is Rs. 20,000 crore.

MUDRA will play the role of laying down policy guidelines for the business of micro enterprise financing and registering MFI entities along with their rating and accreditation.

MUDRA Bank will be enumerating "responsible financing practices", whose will eliminate over indebtedness while ensuring proper principles of client protection and recovery methods.

It will also work to develop standards to govern last mile lending to micro enterprises.

The initial products and schemes of MUDRA will be known as  Shishu ,  Kishor  and  Tarun  signifying the level of development and need of funding for the beneficiary micro unit.