The Evening Wrap: SC declines to intervene in Victoria Gowri’s appointment to Madras HC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain petitions challenging the appointment of advocate Victoria Gowri as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court even as the lawyer took oath of office in a ceremony held almost simultaneously with the apex court hearing. The court hearing before a Special Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai began at 10.25 a.m. while the oath-taking ceremony at the Madras High Court was scheduled at 10.35 a.m., according to a notification issued on Monday night. Initially, the petitioners said their lawyers were summoned to the courtroom of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud for a hearing at 9.15 a.m. But after a wait of over half an hour, senior advocates Raju Ramachandran and Anand Grover, for petitioners Anna Mathew and senior advocate R. Vaigai, were asked to go to court seven, where Justice Khanna presides, for a hearing at 10.30 a.m. Towards the end of the 25-minute hearing, by which time Ms. Gowri had completed her oath, the apex court Bench said it cannot give a judicial direction to the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider its January 17 recommendation, based on which the government notified the appointment of Ms. Gowri as an Additional High Court Judge on February 6. Adani ‘magic’ started in 2014: Rahul Gandhi links group’s rise to PM Modi in LS Alleging that government policies are “tailor-made” to favour the Adani group, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his “relationship” with business tycoon Gautam Adani. Participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha as the first speaker from the Opposition benches, Mr. Gandhi asserted that “magic” had happened after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, with Mr. Adani seeing a meteoric rise from the 609th position in the global billionaire’s list to becoming the world’s second richest person. In a sharp response, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Congress leader not to make “wild allegations” without providing proof or giving authenticated evidence. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also urged the former Congress chief not to display two photographs, one that showed Mr. Modi with Mr. Adani inside a plane, and another showing Mr. Modi getting down from a plane that sported the Adani logo. Existing income limit for non-creamy layer OBCs is ‘considered sufficient’, Centre tells LS The existing income limit for determining the non-creamy layer among Other Backward Classes (OBC) “is considered sufficient” and hence there is no proposal currently under the Union government’s consideration to revise the said income limit, the Social Justice Ministry said in Parliament on Tuesday. Currently, an annual income of both parents of ₹8 lakh or more excludes OBCs from availing reservation, putting them in the creamy layer category, leaving benefits only for those earning less than that. This comes despite repeated demands and recommendations for increasing this income limit so that it may cover more of those who deserve to be included in the quota system. In addition to Backward Class associations, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has consistently maintained from as early as 2011 that the income limit should be raised to at least ₹10 lakh. Turkey, Syria search for survivors as quake death surpasses 5,000 The death toll from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks rose to more than 5,000 on Tuesday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings. Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed to 5,102, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border. The earthquake struck early Monday morning, bringing down thousands of buildings. Rescuers were racing frantically to find more survivors but their efforts were being impeded by temperatures below freezing and some 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous. Meanwhile, an earthquake of 5.6 magnitude struck central Turkey on February 7, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 2 km, the EMSC said. In Brief: No proposal to bring quota for transgender persons: Government in LS There is no proposal to bring in reservations for transgender persons in education or employment, according to the Social Justice Ministry’s response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Multiple MPs, most from Maharashtra, had asked whether they were any plans to provide reservations to transgender persons, how many trans people are employed in the government and private sectors, and how many trans people had registered on the National Portal for Transgender Persons. In his reply, Minister of State for Social Justice A. Narayanaswamy said that the Ministry had no information on the number of trans people employed in the government and private sector, adding that so far, just 10,635 people had registered on the portal. JEE-Main January edition: 20 candidates score perfect 100 Twenty candidates have scored perfect 100 in engineering entrance exam JEE-Main’s January edition, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Tuesday. All the candidates with 100 NTA score are males. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 07 FEBRUARY 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( SC declines to intervene in Victoria Gowri’s appointment to Madras HC The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain petitions challenging the [appointment of advocate Victoria Gowri]( as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court even as the lawyer took oath of office in a ceremony held almost simultaneously with the [apex court hearing.]( The court hearing before a Special Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai began at 10.25 a.m. while the oath-taking ceremony at the Madras High Court was scheduled at 10.35 a.m., according to a notification issued on Monday night. Initially, the petitioners said their lawyers were summoned to the courtroom of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud for a hearing at 9.15 a.m. But after a wait of over half an hour, senior advocates Raju Ramachandran and Anand Grover, for petitioners Anna Mathew and senior advocate R. Vaigai, were asked to go to court seven, where Justice Khanna presides, for a hearing at 10.30 a.m. Towards the end of the 25-minute hearing, by which time Ms. Gowri had completed her oath, the apex court Bench said it cannot give a judicial direction to the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider its January 17 recommendation, based on which the government notified the appointment of Ms. Gowri as an Additional High Court Judge on February 6. Adani ‘magic’ started in 2014: Rahul Gandhi links group’s rise to PM Modi in LS Alleging that government policies are “tailor-made” to favour the [Adani group]( [former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi]( on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his “relationship” with business tycoon Gautam Adani. Participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha as the first speaker from the Opposition benches, [Mr. Gandhi asserted that “magic” had happened after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister in 2014]( with Mr. Adani seeing a meteoric rise from the 609th position in the global billionaire’s list to becoming the [world’s second richest person](. In a sharp response, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Congress leader not to make “wild allegations” without providing proof or giving authenticated evidence. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also urged the former Congress chief not to display two photographs, one that showed Mr. Modi with Mr. Adani inside a plane, and another showing Mr. Modi getting down from a plane that sported the Adani logo. Existing income limit for non-creamy layer OBCs is ‘considered sufficient’, Centre tells LS The existing income limit for determining the non-creamy layer among Other Backward Classes (OBC) [“is considered sufficient”]( and hence there is no proposal currently under the Union government’s consideration to revise the said income limit, the Social Justice Ministry said in Parliament on Tuesday. Currently, an annual income of both parents of ₹8 lakh or more excludes OBCs from availing reservation, putting them in the creamy layer category, leaving benefits only for those earning less than that. This comes despite repeated demands and recommendations for increasing this income limit so that it may cover more of those who deserve to be included in the quota system. In addition to Backward Class associations, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has consistently maintained from as early as 2011 that the income limit should be raised to at least ₹10 lakh. Turkey, Syria search for survivors as quake death surpasses 5,000 The [death toll from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake]( and multiple aftershocks rose to more than 5,000 on Tuesday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings. Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed to 5,102, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border. The earthquake struck early Monday morning, bringing down thousands of buildings. Rescuers were racing frantically to find more survivors but their efforts were being impeded by temperatures below freezing and some 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous. Meanwhile, an earthquake of 5.6 magnitude struck central Turkey on February 7, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 2 km, the EMSC said. In Brief: No proposal to bring quota for transgender persons: Government in LS There is [no proposal to bring in reservations for transgender persons]( in education or employment, according to the Social Justice Ministry’s response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Multiple MPs, most from Maharashtra, had asked whether they were any plans to provide reservations to transgender persons, how many trans people are employed in the government and private sectors, and how many trans people had registered on the National Portal for Transgender Persons. In his reply, Minister of State for Social Justice A. Narayanaswamy said that the Ministry had no information on the number of trans people employed in the government and private sector, adding that so far, just 10,635 people had registered on the portal. JEE-Main January edition: 20 candidates score perfect 100 [Twenty candidates have scored perfect 100]( in engineering entrance exam JEE-Main’s January edition, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Tuesday. All the candidates with 100 NTA score are males. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. First Day First Show Stay up-to-date on all things cinema with the "First Day First Show" cinema & entertainment newsletter. Every week, we bring you movie reviews, news from regional cinema, Bollywood, Hollywood, and beyond, as well as updates from the streaming platforms. Whether you're a cinephile or just looking for your next great binge-watch, we've got you covered. 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