Morning Current Affairs: 2 December 2017

India re-elected to International Maritime Organisation Council

India re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation Council during the assembly of the body at its headquarters in London on 1 December 2017.

India with 144 votes won the second-highest number of votes, from member countries, closely behind Germany’s 146. Indian High Commissioner to the UK, YK Sinha represented India at the assembly.

India has been one of the earliest members of the IMO, having ratified its convention and joined it as a member-state in the year 1959. India has been regularly elected to the IMO Council ever since it started functioning, except for two years during 1983-1984.

Mary Kom resigns as national observer for Indian boxing

Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom has resigned as the national observer for Indian boxing.

The information was shared by the Olympic bronze-medallist herself on 1 December 2017. She revealed that she had taken the decision after having a word with Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who had recently stated that active sportspersons will not be considered for the position.

Kom is one among the 12 national observers appointed in March 2017. Besides Kom, the list includes Olympic-gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar and former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Akhil Kumar among others. Of these, only Sushil and Mary Kom are still active in their respective sports.

Former CJI Justice Adarsh Sein Anand passes away

Former Chief Justice of India, Justice Adarsh Sein Anand passed away on 1 December 2017 after suffering from prolonged illness. He was the 29th Chief Justice of India and had served from October 1998 to October 2001.

He also served as the Chairman of National Human Rights Commission from February 2003 to April 2007.  Justice Anand was known for his judgments concerning public interest.

He was also known for the exemplary work done as the chairman of National Legal Services Authority and had taken effective steps to establish Lok Adalats in every district of the country. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.