28 January 2024

• Judiciary: PM Modi inaugurated the Supreme Court of India's 75th anniversary celebrations. The court was established on 26 January 1950.
• Honours: the government announced Padma Awards 2024: 5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 110 Padma Shri. Among 132 recipients: 30 women and 9 posthumous awardees.
• Defence: the Indian Navy test-fired the BrahMos Extended Range (ER) supersonic cruise missile with a range of approximately 450-500 km.
• West Africa: tensions rose between ECOWAS and the military-led governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which had announced withdrawal from the bloc.

GS area: Polity (judiciary)

The Supreme Court of India completed 75 years on 28 January 2024. It was constituted under Article 124 of the Constitution and held its first sitting on 28 January 1950, two days after the Constitution came into force.

• Composition: the court has a Chief Justice and up to 33 other judges (total 34), appointed by the President under Article 124 using the collegium system.
• Original jurisdiction: under Article 131, disputes between the Centre and states or between states go directly to the Supreme Court.
• Appellate jurisdiction: appeals from High Courts in civil, criminal, and constitutional matters under Articles 132-136.
• Writ jurisdiction: Article 32 guarantees the right to approach the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
• Record of independence: the SC has adjudicated landmark cases on privacy (Puttaswamy, 2017), electoral bonds (February 2024), and forest rights.
• Digitisation: the court launched Digi SCR (digital Supreme Court Reports), Digital Courts 2.0, NJDG (National Judicial Data Grid), SUVAS (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software), and SUPACE (AI for legal research).

Static linkage: judiciary, Constitution, Fundamental Rights.

GS area: Governance (civilian awards)

The government announced the Padma Awards 2024 on the eve of Republic Day: 132 awards in total (5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, 110 Padma Shri).

• Padma Vibhushan recipients (5): Venkaiah Naidu (former Vice-President), M. Venkaiah Naidu, Binod Bihari Verma, Padma Subrahmanyam (classical dancer), Sitaram Yechury (posthumous), and others.
• Note on categories: Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna. Padma Bhushan is the third; Padma Shri is the fourth.
• Women: 30 of the 132 recipients were women. Among them were several from tribal communities.
• Posthumous: 9 of the 132 awards were posthumous.
• Constitutional basis: the awards were suspended after a Supreme Court judgment in 1977 (Balaji Raghavan vs Union of India) challenged their status as titles. They were revived in 1980 as civilian honours, not titles.

Static linkage: civilian awards, governance.

GS area: Defence, Science and Technology

The Indian Navy successfully test-fired the BrahMos Extended Range supersonic cruise missile in late January 2024, with a range of approximately 450-500 km.

• BrahMos origin: a joint venture between India (DRDO) and Russia (NPO Mashinostroyeniya). The name derives from Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia). Established 1998.
• Standard range: the original BrahMos had an 290 km range. The Extended Range version doubles effective reach to around 450 km.
• Speed: Mach 2.8-3.0 (supersonic). Follows a sea-skimming trajectory, making it hard to intercept.
• Platforms: surface ships, submarines, aircraft (Sukhoi-30MKI), and land-based launchers. The navy has ship-launched, submarine-launched, and aircraft-launched variants.
• Strategic significance: the ER version allows Indian naval ships to strike targets at greater standoff distance, improving area-denial capability in the Indian Ocean region.
• BrahMos Aerospace: is headquartered in New Delhi. India holds 50.5 per cent, Russia 49.5 per cent equity.

Static linkage: defence, India-Russia relations, naval capabilities.

GS area: International Relations (Africa, security)

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger jointly announced withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), forming an alternative Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

• ECOWAS: the Economic Community of West African States. Founded 1975, Lagos Treaty. 15 members. Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. Goal: economic integration and a common West African currency (Eco).
• Sahel junta governments: all three countries experienced military coups. Niger's coup was in July 2023; Mali had coups in 2020 and 2021; Burkina Faso had coups in 2022.
• ECOWAS response: the bloc imposed sanctions on Niger and threatened military intervention following the July 2023 Niger coup. The threat was not executed but fuelled anti-ECOWAS sentiment.
• Alliance of Sahel States (AES): formed as a mutual security pact. Russia's Wagner Group presence in Mali and Burkina Faso aligned these governments against French influence.
• Implications: the withdrawal, if finalised, would strip ECOWAS of significant territory and population and weaken the bloc's collective security architecture.

Static linkage: West Africa, regional organisations, international security.

• Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal project (PKC-ERCP): the Cabinet cleared a modified version of the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, integrating it with the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal link. The project transfers surplus monsoon water from the Chambal basin to 13 water-scarce districts of Rajasthan. The National Chambal Sanctuary is a critical wildlife corridor in the basin.
• Sittang River ecology: India-Myanmar coordinated on controlling river pollution affecting the Sittang River, which drains into the Gulf of Martaban in Myanmar. The river is ecologically significant for the Irrawaddy dolphin.