CURRENT AFFAIRS | 13 FEBRUARY 2016

• World Radio Day was observed globally on 13 February 2016 with the theme Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster.

 

To mark the occasion, various activities conducted across India celebrating importance of radio in the day to day life.

In Odisha, a two-day annual international event Outreach International Radio Fair 2016 was inaugurated in Bhubaneswar.

• The Supreme Court on 11 February 2016 ruled that States can clampdown mobile internet access under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) if there is apprehension that a public agitation can turn aggressive and disturb public tranquillity.

The ruling was delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur while dismissing a plea filed by law student Gaurav Sureshbhai Vyas against a Gujarat High Court order.

The petitioner contended that the high court’s order, which upheld a clampdown on mobile internet access under Section 144 of the CrPC during the Patidar agitation, was a violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression granted under the Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.

The Gujarat high court, in September 2015, ruled that the clampdown was only minimal restriction and not a violation of free speech, which extends to unhindered access to internet.