Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity of EWS Quota In 3:2 Verdict

Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity of EWS Quota In 3:2 Verdict

• The Supreme Court (SC) upheld the 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker section (EWS) among forward castes in government jobs and colleges across India. 
• A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi, and J B Pardiwala delivered the judgment.
• Of the five judgments delivered, Justice Ravindra Bhat and CJI Lalit gave dissenting judgment.
• Reading out the verdict, Justice Maheshwari said that the 103rd constitutional amendment for the EWS quota was valid and did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution. Reservation, he said, is an instrument of affirmative action to ensure an all-inclusive march towards the goals of an egalitarian society.

‘Aadhaar Mitra,’ a new chatbot launched by UIDAI

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) presented the brand-new AI/ML chatbot Aadhaar Mitra in order to facilitate citizens’ usage of the services. 
• Both Hindi and English are available for the chatbot. For the purpose of teaching viewers, it also offers the option of viewing related videos on specific themes.
• Features of the new chatbot, Aadhaar Mitra include the capacity to monitor the status of Aadhaar PVC cards and confirm Aadhaar enrollment/update status. The bot can be used by locals to file complaints and follow up on them.

Census, NPRsites declared‘protected system’

• The websites and applications related to the decennial Census exercise and the National Population Register (NPR) were on Monday notified as “protected system” or “Critical Information Infrastructure” under the Information Technology Act, 2008. 
• The notification means that any tampering or unauthorised access to the data associated with Census applications, NPR database or the data centres ofthe Registrar General of India (RGI) will be punishable by 10 years imprisonment.
• The RGI notified onMonday that under Section70 of the IT Act, the Central government declares the “computer resources relating to the Census Monitoring & Management System (CMMS) Web Portal. Self-Enumeration (SE)Web Portal.

Law panel must rethink age criterion for consensual sexual intercourse: Karnataka HC

• The High Court of Karnataka has said that the Law Commission of India will have to rethink the age criterion in law for having consensual sexual intercourse to address the issue of such instances as a result of love affairs between minor girls and boys who are aged above 16 but are below 18.
• The court also directed the Principal Secretary, State Education Department, to set up a committee to evolve a mechanism for educating students, at least from Class 9 onwards about the acts, which are criminalised under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the similar provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the consequences of such acts.