22 July

Martina Hingis was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame

32 Year old Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013.

With the induction she became the fourth youngest members to be included in the tennis hall of fame., followed by Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32).

She belongs to  Czechoslovakia

A brief insight into Martina Hingis’ Career

• She had won three Australian Open titles (1997, 1998, 1999), one Wimbledon (1997) and a US Open title (1997).

• She held the number one ranking for 209 weeks. She also won nine grand slam doubles titles and a mixed doubles title.

• In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.

• In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women's tennis player.

• In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so.

• In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup.

• In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain.

• In February 2005, Martina Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingärtner in the first round.

• She is counted as the most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007

18 July

                               Latvia gets approval to join Eurozone

The small Baltic nation of  LATVIA  has been given approval from its European partners to become the 18^th member of the eurozone from 2014.

The ECOFIN council which is composed of the Economics and Finance Ministers of the European Union’s 28 member states has given nod to the country’s euro membership. 

Why Latvia intends to join Eurozone?

Latvia is hopeful that entering the eurozone will bring with it the country a number of benefits like lower interest rates, lower currency conversion costs and  increased foreign investment.

                                 COUNTRIES IN EUROZONE

AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CYPRUS, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, IRELAND, ITALY, LUXEMBERG, MALTA, NETHERLAND, PORTUGAL, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SPAIN, LATVIA

17 July

40th CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

. Sathasivam was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India after he justified the Collegiums System of appointment of Judges. The 64 year old Sathasivam will succeed the incumbent Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir, who will superannuate on 18 July 2013 from his office.

Sathasivam will be the 40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) and his appointment to the post has been approved by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution and Article 124 to 147 states about the composition of Supreme Court of India. Supreme Court of India consists of one Chief Justice and 31 judges. The bench that comprises 2 or 3 judges is termed as a Division Bench and the one that bench that consists of five or more judges is termed to be a Constitutional Bench.

Tenure and qualification of Judges in Supreme Court

President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and the retirement age of these judges is 65. For being a judge or chief justice of a Supreme Court one must fulfill the following qualifications:

1. He must be an Indian Citizen

2. Should have served the High Court as its Judge for at least 5 years

3. He should have served the high court as its advocate for a period of 10 years

In case their occurs a vacancy in the CJI office due to any reason, the president appoints the acting Chief Justice as the Chief Justice of India from amongst the judges of the Supreme Court. The salaries and other allowances of the Judges in India are charged from the Consolidated Fund of India.

At present the salary structure

1. Chief Justice of Supreme Court - 1 Lakh rupees

2. Other Judges of SC: Rs 90000

Removal of Judges

The Judge can be removed from India on certain ground that includes incapacity to hold the office or proven misbehavior. They can be removed only after the resolution of both the houses of Indian Parliament that is supported by the majority of two-third of the members voting and present.

The two judges against whom the proceeding was initiated

1. V Ramaswami in 1993 was the first judge against whom the proceedings were initiated

2. Soumitra Sen in 2011 was the second judge against whom these proceedings were initiated