Passage 1
Tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) continued through 2021 and till end 2022 in the backdrop of the standoff in eastern Ladakh and continued attempts by China to ingress into Indian territory, new details have revealed.
The Army has presented gallantry awards to personnel for acts of bravery in this regard at two investiture ceremonies held in the last few days on the eve of Army Day. One such act involved relaying of live feed from the enemy side in the Sikkim area by a Major-rank officer for 120 hours for which he was awarded Sena Medal (Gallantry).
This incident of November 2022 for which the citation was read at the Central Command investiture ceremony, which also noted the tough conditions and high altitude area in which the officer operated.
As the fresh details of the tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours became public, the Army’s Western Command quickly pulled down the video of the investiture ceremony while that of the Central Command was available when last accessed by this reporter. The ceremony was for operations between September 2021 and November 2022.
Source – https://www.thehindu.com/
Passage 2
The Supreme Court of India’s judgment, in November 2023, permitting a six-month extension to Delhi’s Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar is one more instance of the Court’s judicial self-abnegation. The Court sets out the correct doctrine, but when the government digs in its heels and refuses to follow the law laid down, the Court buckles down and invents a subsequent justification for the government to do as it wants. This kind of reversal renders the Court’s judgments as “writ in water”.
Delhi’s incumbent Chief Secretary has serious charges of corruption and favouritism against him, with the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal writing to the Delhi Lt. Governor seeking the Chief Secretary’s removal. He was anyway due to retire on November 30, 2023 and the Delhi Government had sought discussions with the Centre on appointing a successor. On November 28, the Chief Justice asked the Solicitor-General, “Or you (Centre) can let this man superannuate and make a fresh appointment… Don’t you have an IAS officer who can be appointed Chief Secretary?” The Solicitor-General responded that a 2023 Amendment Act gave the Centre statutory authority over the civil services in the national capital. Later the court was informed that the Centre had chosen to extend the Chief Secretary’s tenure by six months.
Source- https://www.thehindu.com/
