The state govt.’s power to form a committee on UCC cannot per se be challenged

The state govt.’s power to form a committee on UCC cannot per se be challenged

• State govt.’s power to form a committee on UCC cannot per se be challenged: SC
• The Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL challenging the decisions of the Uttarakhand and Gujarat governments to constitute committees for implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), saying the petition was devoid of merit and the Constitution empowers the states to set up such panels.
• A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said the plea filed by Anoop Baranwal and others does not warrant being entertained. The bench said the constitution of such committees by the states cannot be challenged for being ultra vires the constitution.
• Article 162 of the Constitution states that the executive power of a State shall extend to the matters with respect to which the legislature of the State has the power to make laws.
• Both Uttarakhand and Gujarat governments have constituted committees to look into the issue of implementation of a Uniform Civil Code, which will govern matters of divorce, adoption, inheritance, guardianship, and succession of all citizens equally regardless of their religion, gender and sexual orientation.

Kerala Becomes Country’s First Fully Digital Banking State

• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared Kerala as the first state in the country to go fully digital in its banking service and said this recognition would boost the state economy. 
• Vijayan said this achievement was possible due to social interventions through local self-government institutions along with infrastructure development and technological advances in the banking sector. 
• Kerala Fibre Optic Network project is a joint venture between the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL), Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the state. It will ensure internet facilities to everyone in the state and a 17,155 km-long optic fibre cable network has been laid. Once the project gets completed, the internet will be available to everyone in the state either for a cheaper price or for free-of-cost.
• Kerala is the only State in India that has declared ‘the right to the Internet’ as a basic right of its citizens. Rights become meaningful only when they can be exercised. The Kerala Fibre Optic Network project is an attempt to ensure that all Keralites can enjoy Internet-based services as a right. 

Former West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi passed away

• Senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former West Bengal governor, Keshari Nath Tripathi passed away at 88. 
• Born on November 10, 1934, in erstwhile Allahabad, Tripathi was also a senior advocate at the Allahabad High Court. He joined RSS when he was just 12 and later switched to Bharatiya Jana Sangh. 
• He was jailed in Naini Central Jail in 1953 for participating in the ‘Kashmir Andolan’ and again in 1990 for taking part in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
• On July 14, 2014, Tripathi was appointed as the governor of West Bengal. He had an additional charge of Bihar as governor twice and an additional charge as governor of Meghalaya and Mizoram as well.
• Indian-origin Manpreet Monica Singh sworn in as 1st female Sikh judge of USA
• Indian-origin Sikh woman, Manpreet Monica Singh became the first ever female Sikh judge in the US after she was sworn in as a Harris County judge. 
• Born and brought up in Houston, after her father immigrated to the US early in the 1970s, Singh currently lives in Bellaire with her husband and two children. 
• In her career expanding over two decades, the newly appointed judge has been involved in numerous civil rights organizations at the local, state, and national levels.