PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 23-APRIL-2018
Topic:
Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
National Commission for Minorities (NCM)
Context: The National Commission for Minorities
(NCM) has decided to approach the government for granting it Constitutional
status to protect the rights of minority communities more effectively.
Need for Constitutional status:
In its
present form, the NCM has powers to summon officials, including chief
secretaries and director generals of police, but has to rely on departments
concerned to take action against them. If granted constitutional status, the
NCM will be able to act against errant officials who do not attend hearings,
follow its order or are found guilty of dereliction of duty. Also, the NCM can
penalise or suspend an officer for two days or send him/her to jail.
The
Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2017-18), in its 53rd
report had also noted that the NCM is “almost ineffective” in its current state
to deal with cases of atrocities against minorities.
About NCM:
The Union
Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under the
National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
Six religious communities, viz;
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have
been notified in Gazette of India as minority communities by the Union
Government all over India. Original notification of 1993 was for Five religious
communities Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and Muslims.
Composition: The Commission shall consist of a
Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and five Members to be nominated by the Central
Government from amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity; provided
that five Members including the Chairperson shall be from amongst the minority
communities.
Grievance redressal: Aggrieved
persons belonging to the minority communities may approach the concerned State
Minorities Commissions for redressal of their grievances. They may also
send their representations, to the National Commission for Minorities, after
exhausting all remedies available to them.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: Particulars of NCM.
§ For Mains:
NCM- need for constitutional status, challenges and issues.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure,
mandate.
Meeting of the Development Committee (DC) and
IMFC of the World Bank Group and the IMF
Context: Meeting of the Development Committee
(DC) of the World Bank Group and the IMF and the Restricted Session of the
International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) were recently held in
Washington D.C.
About Ministerial Committees:
The IMF Board of Governors is advised by two
ministerial committees, the International Monetary and Financial Committee
(IMFC) and the Development Committee.
IMFC:
§ Composition: The
IMFC has 24 members, drawn from the pool of 187 governors. Its structure
mirrors that of the Executive Board and its 24 constituencies. As such, the
IMFC represents all the member countries of the Fund.
§ Functions: The
IMFC meets twice a year, during the Spring and Annual Meetings. The Committee
discusses matters of common concern affecting the global economy and also
advises the IMF on the direction its work.
§ At the end
of the Meetings, the Committee issues a joint communiqué summarizing its views.
These communiqués provide guidance for the IMF’s work program during the six
months leading up to the next Spring or Annual Meetings. There is no formal voting at the IMFC, which
operates by consensus.
Development committee:
§ The
Development Committee is a joint committee, tasked with advising the Boards of
Governors of the IMF and the World Bank on issues related to economic
development in emerging and developing countries.
§ The
committee has 24 members (usually ministers of finance or development). It
represents the full membership of the IMF and the World Bank and mainly serves
as a forum for building intergovernmental consensus on critical development
issues.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: IMFC and Development committee.
§ For Mains:
IMF and World Bank Group reforms.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure,
mandate.
South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF)
Context: Pune hosted the 12th edition
of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) meeting. The Forum was
attended by meteorologists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri
Lanka. This was the
sixth SASCOF meeting hosted by India.
About SASCOF:
South
Asian nations, supported by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), have
been conducting the South Asian Seasonal Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) since
2010.
§ SASCOF was
established as a platform where meteorologists from South Asian Association of
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries along with Myanmar, could discuss
some of the common weather and climate-related matters.
§ All these
South Asian countries — except for Afghanistan, which is located in extreme
northwest — experience common weather and climatological characteristics, like
Southwest monsoon.
Functions:
SASCOFs
prepare consensus seasonal climate information on a regional scale that provide
a consistent basis for preparing national level outlooks. Such forums also
serve to interface with user sectors to understand and enhance the use of
climate information as orchestrated and supported by the Global Framework for
Climate Services (GFCS).
What’s important?
For
Prelims and Mains: SASCOF and its significance.
Sources:
the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: Money
laundering.
Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018
Context: The Union Cabinet has approved the
Finance Ministry’s proposal of promulgating the Fugitive Economic Offenders
Ordinance, 2018 which will empower authorities to attach and confiscate
properties and assets of economic offenders like loan defaulters who flee the
country.
Definitions:
A Fugitive Economic Offender is a
person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled
offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being
abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
A scheduled offence refers
to a list of economic offences contained in the Schedule to this Ordinance.
Important provisions under the ordinance:
Special court: The ordinance makes provisions for a
special court under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 to declare a
person as a Fugitive Economic Offender. Scheduled offences worth Rs. 100 crore
or more will come under the purview of the ordinance.
Power To Attach Properties: With
the assent of the President of India, Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance,
2018 is promulgated. The new Law lays down the measures to empower Indian
authorities to attach and confiscate the proceeds of crime associated with
economic offenders and properties of economic offenders.
Trial In The PMLA Courts: Since
the proposed law would utilise the existing infrastructure of the Special
Courts constituted under under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002
(PMLA) and the threshold of scheduled offence is high at Rs. 100 crores or
more, no additional expenditure is expected on the enactment of the Bill.
No Immunity To Offenders: The
ordinance would also enable the courts and tribunals to disallow the fugitive
economic offender from putting forward or defending any civil claim.
Aim Of Deportation: Major impact will be that the offenders
will return to India to submit to the jurisdiction of Courts in India to face
the law in respect of the scheduled offences. Other Major Impact will be that
it will help the banks and other financial institutions to achieve higher
recovery from financial defaults committed by such fugitive economic offenders,
improving the financial health of such institutions.
Need for a law in this regard:
The
ordinance was mooted in response to the growing practice of debt-laden Indian
citizens flying abroad in a purported attempt to evade the law-enforcement
agencies of India.
Significance of this move:
The
Ordinance is expected to re-establish the rule of law with respect to the
fugitive economic offenders as they would be forced to return to India to face
trial for scheduled offences. This would also help the banks and other
financial institutions to achieve higher recovery from financial defaults
committed by such fugitive economic offenders, improving the financial health
of such institutions.
Background:
The
government had in Budget 2017-18 announced that it was considering a law that
would enable it to seize the property such absconders, following which the
Union Cabinet had on March 1, 2018 approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders
Bill 2018 to be introduced in Parliament. The Bill was introduced in the Lok
Sabha on March 12, but was not passed due to disruptions and adjournments in
both Houses of Parliament.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: Key provisions in the Bill.
§ For Mains:
Need for law in this regard.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Conservation.
Ramsar tag likely for Sunderbans
Context: The West Bengal government has given
its approval to the State Forest Department to apply for recognition of
Sunderban Reserve Forest under the Ramsar Convention.
Significance of the move:
Being
conferred the status of a wetland of international importance will not only be
a matter of pride for the Sunderbans but also bring a lot of international
scientific attention and intervention to the area. Once conferred a Ramsar site
status, it will be the largest protected wetland in the country. It will also
help promote the Sunderbans as an eco-tourism hotspot.
About Sunderbans:
The Indian
Sunderbans, with 2,114 sq. km. of mangrove forests, comprise almost 43% of the
mangrove cover in the country according to a 2017 Forest Survey of India
report. Other than the forests, home to about 100 Royal Bengal tigers, the
creeks and river systems of the Sunderbans are also part of the reserve forest.
Its significance:
§ Apart from
being the world’s largest tiger habitat, the mangrove forest in the Sunderbans
is remarkable for the protection it provides to nearly 4.5 million people on
the Indian side and another 3.5 million on the Bangladesh portion from tidal
surge generated by cyclonic depression in the Bay of Bengal.
§ About
one-third of the total area is used as protected area for the conservation of
biological diversity. In addition, the abundant fish and biomass resources –
timber, fuelwood, pulpwood, leaves, shells, crabs, honey and fish – are
harvested by local communities.
§ The
Sunderbans is also a major pathway for nutrient recycling and pollution
abatement. The biodiversity of the Sunderbans is also diverse. The delta has
the distinction of encompassing the world’s largest mangrove forest belt with
84 identified flora species, of which 34 are true mangroves.
Threats:
Sunderbans
is a contiguous ecosystem spread across India and Bangladesh. Other than
threats such as climate change, sea level rise, widespread construction and
clearing of mangrove forests for fisheries is posing a danger to the
Sunderbans.
Ramsar convention:
§ The
Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an inter-governmental
treaty that provides the framework for national action and international
cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
§ Adopted in
1971 in Ramsar, an Iranian city, the Convention came into force in 1975. Since
then, almost 90% of UN member states have acceded to become “Contracting
Parties”.
§ There are
currently 26 sites in India recognised as Ramsar wetland sites of international
importance, including the East Kolkata Wetlands also in West Bengal.
Sources:
the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
Earth Day 2018:
Context: Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd across
the globe. It is considered to be the largest secular world event.
Theme of Earth Day 2018: End
Plastic Pollution.
Background: This day was first celebrated on April
22, 1970 and has ever since been an annual event. The person credited for
organising the event 48 years ago is US Senator Gaylord Nelson.
First Indian IT Company To Touch 100 Billion Dollar Market Value:
Context: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has
become the first Indian IT Company to Touch 100 Billion Dollar Market Value.
Madras HC to introduce e-court fee payment:
Context: The Madras High Court has become the
first court in south India and eighth in the country to introduce e-court fee
payment facility.
Facts: So
far only the Supreme Court and the High Courts in Delhi, Punjab, Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh had introduced the e-court fee
payment facility.
G7 foreign ministers’ summit:
Context: G7 foreign ministers’ summit is being
held in Toronto. Participants discussed tensions with Moscow, Iran and North
Korea.
About G7:
§ The Group
of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union is also represented
within the G7.
§ These
countries are the seven major advanced economies as reported by the
International Monetary Fund: the G7 countries represent more than 64% of the
net global wealth ($263 trillion).
§ A very
high net national wealth and a very high Human Development Index are the main
requirements to be a member of this group.
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