KERALA

The recent amendment brought in by the central government to Right to Information Act (RTI), which allegedly dilutes the powers of information commission, has been challenged before the high court. The amendment is being challenged before a court for the first time.

The petition filed by advocate DB Binu, president of Kerala RTI Federation, seeks a court declaration terming the Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 as unconstitutional and in violation of Article 14 (equality before law), Article 19 (right to freedom of speech and expression), and Article 21 (right to liberty).

Independence and autonomy of Central Information Commission and State Information Commission has been taken away by the amendment and is against rule of law and constitutional morality, the petitioner has contended.

The intention of the amendment is to make statutory authorities under RTI Act a subordinate authority of the Executive and to ensure that they act under the dictate of the Executive.

INTERNATIONAL

As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas – 2019 is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord, Washington, the USA from 05-18 September 2019.

Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavours between India and USA.

This will be the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.

Exercise Yudh Abhyas will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.

NATIONAL

· Election Commission of India launches Electors Verification Programme voter verification and authentication

Election Commission launched the Electors Verification Programme (EVP) across the nation on September 1, 2019. The Electors Verification Programme is a one-stop solution to verify and authenticate voter details and ensure an error-free electoral roll.
The program was launched at all levels starting from the state/UT Headquarters by 32 CEOs, district level by about 700 DEOs and at around 1 million polling stations by BLOs/EROs and will continue from September 1, 2019 to October 15, 2019
The main aim of the Electors Verification Programme is to improve the health of electoral rolls and provide better electoral services to the citizens. The programme also aims to increase the level of communication between the voters and the commission.
Under the EVP programme, voters can verify or authenticate their details by logging on to NVSP portal (nvsp.in) or Voter Helpline App or Common Service Centres or by visiting any nearby voter facilitation centre. The EVP programme can be availed both online and offline.

· President Ram Nath Kovind appoints 5 new Governors

President of India. Shri Ram Nath Kovind appointed 5 new governorsnamely TamilisaiSoundararajan, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Kalraj Mishra, Arif Mohammed Khan and BandaruDattatreya for Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
Soundararajan appointed the Governor of Telangana having a separate Governor is a first for the country’s newest state. Bandaru Dattatreya put in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Former union minister Arif Mohammad Khan appointed the Governor of Kerala and Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the Governor of Maharashtra.
Tamilisai Soundararajan in charge of the BJP in a crucial southern state where it had practically zero presence, owing to the muscular Dravidian politics of the former Chief Ministers J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi.
Maharashtra is the only one going for state elections later this year. Mr Koshyari replaces Vidya Sagar Rao, whose five-year term came to an end.

Ministry of Home has launched the national cyber crime reporting portal where the citizens can log on to https://cybercrime.gov.in and lodge complaint on cyber crimes.
The complaints have been kept in two categories women-child related and other cyber complaints.
The complaint lodged on the portal will be obtained by the nodal officer of the concerned state.

Gk bit : Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (IC4)

Government rolled out Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I₄C)’ for the period 2018-2020, to combat cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and effective manner. The scheme has following seven components:

(i) National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit.

(ii) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.

(iii) Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team.

(iv) National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem.

(v) National Cybercrime Training Centre.

(vi) Cybercrime Ecosystem Management Unit.

(vii) National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre.