21st April 2016

A.Indian-American Geeta Pasi nominated as US envoy to Chad

1.United States (US) President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Geeta Pasi as the country’s next envoy to central African nation Chad. 

2.Ms. Pasi is a career member of the US Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counsellor. 

3.She had served as the United States Ambassador to Djibouti from 2011 to 2014. At present, she is the Director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State. 

4.She had joined the US Foreign Service in 1988. Since the she had served at posts in Cameroon, Ghana, India and Romania. 

5.Pasi also had served as the Director of the Office of East African Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs (2009 to 2011), Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dhaka (Bangladesh) from 2006 to 2009, and Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany (2003 to 2006).

B.India, Mauritius ink MoU to promote traditional medicine

1.India and Mauritius have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation in traditional medicine and homeopathy 

2.The MoU envisages supply of traditional medicinal substances, exchange of experts, joint R&D and recognition of the traditional systems of health and medicine in both countries. 

3.It also aims at promotion and popularisation of the various Indian traditional systems which fall under AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa & Homoeopathy. 

4.The Union AYUSH ministry also has recently signed similar MoUs with Malaysia, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Hungary and Nepal.

C.India’s Durga Thakur Promoted as International Hockey Umpire 

1.India’s Durga Thakur has been promoted to international outdoor umpire by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). 

2.She was promoted following her good performance at the recently-held Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings, New Zealand. 

About Durga Thakur 

1.Thakur had started her career as an umpire from the third Hockey India (HI) Sub-Junior Men & Women National Championship (Finals) held in Bhopal in 2013. 

2.She is a graduate of NSNIS in 2011 and her first international assignment was in 2015 at the double six-Nation Cup in Breda, Netherlands. 

3.She has represented her state Himachal Pradesh in the National Championships in three sporting disciplines basketball, handball and hockey. 

4.She was also one of the umpires in the finals of the last National Games. With her promotion, Ms. Thakur is an addition other young Indian umpires currently officiating at the international level. 

5.There are 14 Indians in the elite league of international umpires (10 men, 5 women).

D.President’s decision is subject to judicial review: Uttarakhand HC

1.The Uttarakhand High Court has observed that the legitimacy of President’s decision to suspend the state assembly under President’s rule is subject to judicial review. Observation in this regard was given by a HC bench comprising of Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bist. 

2.The bench was hearing arguments on the petition filed by the ousted Chief Minister Harish Rawat challenging imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand. 

3.HC observed that President can take wrong decisions by referring to Union Government’s argument that he took the decision to impose President Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution in his “political wisdom”.

4. It also ruled that legitimacy of inference drawn by President from the material placed before him by Governor is open to judicial review.