The Supreme Court has invoked its extraordinary powers to do complete justice under Article 142 of the Constitution and ordered the release of A.G. Perarivalan in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

What necessitated this?

• The court ordered Perarivalan’s freedom after considering his extended detention of almost 30 years.
• The court used its constitutional rights because of the extended wait and the Governor’s unwillingness to take a decision on the pardon petition.

What is Article 142?

From the Union Carbide case  in 1989 to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir judgment in 2019, the top court has many a time invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.

• Article 142 “provide(s) a unique power to the Supreme Court, to do “complete justice” between the parties,, where at times law or statute may not provide a remedy, the Court can extend itself to put a quietus to a dispute in a manner which would befit the facts of the case.

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Elisabeth Borne as the country’s new Prime Minister. She was a former Minister of transport, ecology and labour. Borne succeeds Jean Castex, who had led the French cabinet since July 2020

• The 24th edition of 2021 Summer Deaflympics i.e. Caxias 2021, officially called the XXIV Summer Deaflympic
• Games, was an international multi-sport event held at Festa da Uva, Caxias do Sul, Brazil, from 1 May to 15 May 2022.
• The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) is the main governing body responsible for the organisation of Deaflympics and other World Deaf Championships.
• India holds 9th position in 24th edition of 2021 Summer Deaflympics whereas Ukraine placed first position followed by USA and Iran.
• India has won a total medal tally of 17, out of which Gold 8, Silver 1 and Bronze 8

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the ‘Yuva Shivir’ being organised at Karelibaug, Vadodara on 19th May 2022 at 10:30 AM via video conferencing. Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Kundaldham and Shree Swaminarayan Temple Karelibaug, Vadodara are organising the Shivir.

The Shivir aims to involve more youth in social service and towards nation building. It also aims to make the youth partners in building a new India through initiatives like Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Swachh Bharat etc.

According to the report released by Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles (OICA), India has surpassed Germany to become 4th largest vehicle market in the world.

• The 1st was occupied by China, followed by the US and Japan.

The World Bank (WB) has released a report titled ‘Migration and Development Brief 36, May 2022: A War in a Pandemic: Implications of the Ukraine crisis and COVID-19 on Global Governance of Migration and Remittance Flows’. In accordance to this, India has emerged as the largest remittance receiving country globally in 2021 worth $89.4 billion as compared to $82.73 billion in 2020.

It is followed by Mexico at 2nd place and China at 3rd, Philippines (4th), and Egypt (5th).

The navies of India and France recently conducted their second joint patrolling in the French island of La Reunion in the South-Western Indian Ocean.

• Objective: To demonstrate “joint surveillance and patrolling operations” capabilities.
• La Reunion is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France.
• It is located approximately 950km east of the island of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of the island of Mauritius.
• Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and is part of the eurozone.

• Bird Count India is an informal partnership of organisations and groups interested in documenting and monitoring India’s birds.
• The initiative encourages birdwatchers to upload their bird lists to eBird (ebird.org/india), a global platform for bird observations.
• In India, the event was confined to Ladakh, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, northwest Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Uttarakhand reported the highest number of bird species, at 293.
• The maximum number of checklists (lists of birds seen and heard by birdwatchers), at 192, was uploaded from Jammu & Kashmir.

At silver jubilee celebrations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), PM inaugurated country’s first 5G testbed.

• It will allow start-ups and industrial companies to test their products locally, eliminating reliance on international facilities.
• The 5G Radio Interface Technology, called 5Gi is a locally designed telecommunication network that has been designed by IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras and the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology.
• The technology will be an alternative to the global 5G standards.
• 5Gi offers more range at a lower frequency, which is the opposite of 5G. The latter works between the 700 MHz to 52,000 MHz bands and sacrifices on range.

• These are two indigenous warships of the Indian Navy launched recently at Mazgaon Docks Limited, Mumbai.
• Surat is a Project 15B (Nilgiri Class) Destroyer and Udaygiri is a Project 17A (Shivalik Class) Frigate.
• The Project 15B class of ships are the next generation stealth guided missile destroyers of the Indian Navy being built at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai.
• Existing indigenously built warships are built under Shivalik class, Talwar class, Brahmaputra class and Godavari class.