1) Personality Rights (PRs): Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte, omnibus injunction restraining entities from using a celebrity’s PRs.
- Ex-parte injunction is when relief is granted to a party without hearing other side.
- Omnibus injunction refers to an order granted against any unauthorised use – even those that are not mentioned in plea.
- PRs refer to the name, voice, signature, images or any other feature easily identified by public is markers of a celebrity’s personality.
- Only the owner or creator of these distinct features has the right to derive any commercial benefit from it.
- PRs or their protection are not expressly mentioned in a statute in India but can be traced under right to privacy and right to property.
2) Electronic voting machine (EVM): Supreme Court declined a plea for independent audit of source code governing EVM system.
- A source code is a set of written instructions to a machine’s hardware.
- Petitioner wanted audit using IEEE 1028 standard, a standard for software reviews and audits fixed by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
- EVM is a microcontroller-based portable instrument and does not require electricity and run on an ordinary battery.
- EVMs were first used in general election in Kerala in 1982.
- In 1989, Parliament amended Representation of the People Act, 1951 to create a provision for use of EVMs in the elections
3) Emerging-Market Bond Index (EMBI): JPMorgan to add Indian government bonds to its benchmark EMBI from June 2024.
- EMBI is a benchmark index for measuring total return performance of international government and corporate bonds that meet specific liquidity and structural requirements.
- Inclusion in EMBI could potentially:
- Lower the country’s sovereign borrowing costs.
- Help finance the current account deficit.
- Free up liquidity for domestic financiers to deploy in more productive assets.
- Increase demand for the rupee and support its value
4) Artificial Reef (AR): Department of Fisheries is promoting AR under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for rejuvenating coastal fisheries.
- ARs are technology interventions used to rehabilitate or improve natural habitats, increase productivity and manage aquatic resources including habitat enhancement.
- Advantages
- Reduce wave damage on coasts, helps regeneration of marine ecosystem and act as a carbon sink.
- Enhance recreational fisheries, eco-tourism, creating suitable areas for diving and reducing conflicts.
- Restricts bottom trawling in the near shore areas.
