Current Affairs News of 26th July,2014

With the collegium system for appointment of Supreme court and High Court judges under fire,the Govt proposes to end the Apex court�s monopoly by amending Articles 124(2) and 217(1) of the constitution. Note : What is the collegium system? It is a system under which appointments and transfers of judges are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. It has no place in the Indian Constitution. Article 124 deals with the appointment of Supreme Court judges. It says the appointment should be made by the President after consultation with such judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court as the President may deem necessary. The CJI is to be consulted in all appointments, except his or her own. Article 217 deals with the appointment of High Court judges. It says a judge should be appointed by the President after consultation with the CJI and the Governor of the state. The Chief Justice of the High Court concerned too should be consulted. Merger of IDBI bank and United Bank of India is on the cards as the government has asked both these banks to prepare a consolidation plan. Note : IDBI bank has a weak presence in the Eastern part of the country where UBI hasa strong branch network. IDBI bank is seen to have a weak retail network which can be strengthened by the Kolkata headquatered lender. In addition both the banks use common software Infosys� Finacle,which will make merger easier. If the proposal goes through ,this will be the first merger in the nationalized bank space since Punjab National Bank�s takeover of New Bank of India.