March 28, 2024

Lukmaan IAS

A Blog for IAS Examination

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS (OCTOBER 22, 2022)

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POLITY AND CONSTITUTION

1. WHAT IS ‘GENERAL CONSENT’ FOR CBI, RESTORED BY MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT?

THE CONTEXT: Recently the government of Chief Minister restored general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in Maharashtra, reversing the decision of the state’s previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

THE EXPLANATION:

According to the sources, CBI will no longer require the permission of the state government to open investigations in the state.

Why is the consent of states needed?

  • CBI is governed by The Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, and it must mandatorily obtain the consent of the state government concerned before beginning to investigate a crime in a state.
  • Section 6 of The DSPE Act (“Consent of State Government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction”) says: “Nothing contained in section 5 (titled “Extension of powers and jurisdiction of special police establishment to other areas”) shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union territory or railway area, without the consent of the Government of that State.”
  • The CBI’s position is in this respect different from that of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by the NIA Act, 2008, and has jurisdiction all over the country.

What is the general consent for CBI?

  • The consent of the state government to CBI can be either case-specific or “general”.
  • General consent is normally given by states to help the CBI in the seamless investigation of cases of corruption against central government employees in their states. This is essentially consent by default, which means CBI may begin investigations taking consent as having been already given.
  • In the absence of general consent, CBI would have to apply to the state government for its consent in every individual case, and before taking even small actions.
  • In the absence of general consent, CBI would have to apply to the state government for its consent in every individual case, and before taking even small actions.

Withdrawal of consent

  • Traditionally, almost all states have given CBI general consent. However, since 2015, several states have begun to act differently.
  • On March 4 2022, Meghalaya became the ninth state to have withdrawn consent to the CBI — after Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Mizoram. Out of these states, Maharashtra has now reversed its decision and restored general consent.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2. PAKISTAN IS OFF FATF’s GREY LIST: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

THE CONTEXT: Pakistan is off the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) after four years, a development that has been welcomed across the country.

THE EXPLANATION:

What does that mean? Let’s start with FATF.

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is commonly referred to as the world’s “terrorism financing watchdog”, which means it is the author — and custodian — of an international regime that works to ensure that the flows of money in the global financial system are not misused to fund terrorist activities.
  • FATF describes itself as an inter-governmental body that works to “set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system”.

And what is the FATF’s grey list?

  • FATF maintains a “grey list” of countries that it watches closely. In essence, these are countries that have, in the assessment of the FATF, failed to prevent international money laundering and terrorist financing, and are, therefore, on a global watchlist for bad behaviour.
  • Pakistan was the most important country on the list. After it (along with Nicaragua) was taken off the list, 23 countries remain under watch.
  • Among these countries are the Philippines, Syria, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Morocco, Jamaica, Cambodia, Burkina Faso, and South Sudan, and the tax havens of Barbados, Cayman Islands, and Panama.

What are countries on the grey list expected to do?

  • FATF calls these countries “jurisdictions under increased monitoring”. Basically, these countries have to comply with certain conditions laid down by the FATF, failing which they run the risk of being “black listed” by the watchdog. Their compliance is periodically reviewed by the FATF.
  • According to the FATF, when a jurisdiction is placed under increased monitoring, “it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to extra checks”.
  • Specifically, these jurisdictions are now “actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing”.

ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

3. DURGAVATI TIGER RESERVE

THE CONTEXT: Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board recently approved the establishment of a new tiger reserve called Durgavati Tiger Reserve.

THE EXPLANATION:

  • The Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board recently approved the creation of the Durgavati Tiger Reserve.
  • It will host tigers of Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR), quarter of which is set to be submerged because of the linking of Ken-Betwa rivers.
  • It will span cross 2,339 square kilometres new tiger reserve, covering Narsinghpur, Damoh and Sagar districts of Madhya Pradesh.
  • It will have 1,414 sq km of land as core area and 925 sq km area of buffer zone.
  • The tigers will be shifted to the new reserve by encouraging their natural movement via a green corridor that will link it with Panna Tiger Reserve.
  • The proposal is in line with the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s order urging Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments to notify new tiger reserves to manage wildlife in Panna Tiger Reserve, which will be impacted by the Ken-Betwa river linking project.
  • Earlier, in September 27, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved the notification of fourth tiger reserve in the state in the Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary (RWS), which is frequented by tigers from the Panna Tiger Reserve.

Ken-Betwa link project

  • The Ken-Betwa link project is set to become one of the first river interlinking projects implemented in India. At the Union Budget 2022-23, Rs 44,605 crore was allocated for this project. It is expected to provide for the irrigation needs to around 9 lakh hectares of farmland and drinking water for over 62 lakh people.
  • It will also generate 103 Mega Watt of hydropower and 27 Mega Watt of solar power. The project will be especially beneficial for the drought prone Bundelkhand region. It is expected to be completed in over 8 years. It may adversely affect various species in the Panna Tiger Reserve, which is home to the largest population of vultures in Central India.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

4. WHAT IS INTERPOL METAVERSE?

THE CONTEXT: Recently, The Interpol Metaverse was launched at the 90th General Assembly held in New Delhi.

THE EXPLANATION:

  • The world’s first metaverse specifically designed for law enforcement was launched recently.
  • It enables the registered users to take virtual tour of Interpol’s general secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France to interact with other officers through their avatars.
  • It also provides training courses on forensic investigation and other policing skills.
  • This newly launched facility is provided via the Interpol’s secure cloud.
  • It is currently fully operational for use by law enforcement officials from 195 member countries of the Interpol.
  • It provides benefits like remote work capabilities, networking, collection and preservation of evidence from crime scenes and capacity building.
  • It enables trainees to receive hands-on experiences in new skills related to law enforcement.
  • Metaverse’s role is expected to widen in the near future, with an estimated one in every four people spending at least an hour in Metaverse to work, study, shop and socialize in the year 2026.
  • With this comes the growing concerns of the security and safety in the metaverse.
  • The World Economic Forum, which collaborated with the Interpol, meta, Microsoft and others to define and govern metaverse, warned that social engineering challenges, violent extremism and misinformation will be the major threats in metaverse.
  • In the future, crimes targeting children, data theft, money laundering, financial fraud, counterfeiting, ransomware, phishing, and sexual assault and harassment are expected to occur in the metaverse.
  • This is going to be major challenge since current laws do not consider some of these activities as crimes when they occur in virtual world and not in physical world.
  • Interpol Metaverse will help address these issues and create a secure future by providing training and capacity building opportunities for law enforcement officials.
  • It will also create a forum for discussions of such concerns among the members of the Interpol.

PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

5. “MOST POPULAR GI” AWARD

THE CONTEXT: Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently conferred the ‘Most Popular GI’ award to Hyderabadi Haleem and other GI products

THE EXPLANATION:

  • Hyderabadi Haleem received the ‘Most Popular GI’ award under the food category and agriculture category.
  • It received the award by beating dishes like Rasgulla, Bikaneri Bhujia, and Ratlami Sev.
  • The award was presented to the director of Pista House and president of Hyderabad Haleem Makers Association MA Majeed.
  • Under the handicraft category, Thanjavur Art Plate from Tamil Nadu won the award.
  • Mysore Sandal Soap from Karnataka received the award under the manufacturing category and Uttar Pradesh’s Chunar Balua Patthar won in the natural category.
  • The winners of this award were chosen based on the popular vote.

About Hyderabadi Haleem

  • Hyderabadi Haleem is a unique meat-based aromatic stew-like dish made with lentils, wheat, and spices. It is consumed mainly during Ramzan. During the holy month of Ramadan, Haleem outlets are set up in Hyderabad. These outlets mainly serve Muslims breaking their fast in the evening. The dish received the GI tag in 2010. It is the first non-vegetarian dish in India to receive it. Its GI tag was renewed in May 2022. The tag expired in December 2019. It is the only product in Telangana to receive a GI tag under the foodstuff category.

What is a GI tag?

  • The Geographical Indication (GI) tag is given to products so that only authorized people can use the popular product’s name. It is given to products having a specific geographical origin and qualities or reputation associated with that origin.
  • It was given to products related to agriculture, handicrafts, foodstuffs, spirit drinks, and industrial products. The first product to receive this tag is Darjeeling Tea. The rules and regulations of the GI tag are governed by the WTO’s agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. In India, GI products are governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

6. WHO IS ACTOR ANNA MAY WONG, THE FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN TO BE FEATURED ON US CURRENCY?

THE CONTEXT: Anna May Wong, a Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, is set to become the first Asian-American to feature in US currency.

THE EXPLANATION:

  • A quarter-dollar coin depicting a close-up image of Anna May Wong will commence circulation on October 24, 2022.
  • This will be the fifth coin in the American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program.
  • It will have the Latin phrase “E PLURIBUS UNUM”, which means “out of many, one”.
  • It is designed to recognize Wong’s accomplishments while overcoming challenges and hurdles during her lifetime.
  • Wong is regarded as Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star, having a decades-long career in motion pictures, television, and theatre amid the widespread racism in the United States.
  • As the first Asian female actor, she faced discrimination and was cast aside in favour of non-Asian actresses.
  • She was forced to play exoticized stereotypes of East Asians and could not get lead roles in films because of laws prohibiting actors from different races from kissing on screen.
  • She is famed for dying a thousand deaths due to the villainous roles she played.
  • Wong received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the first Asian American actress to do so. Lucy Liu became the second Asian American woman to achieve this feat in 2019.
  • Wong was born in Los Angeles to second-generation Taishanese Chinese-American parents in 1905.
  • During the silent film era, she featured in “The Toll of the Sea” (1922) – one of the first colour films.

American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program

The AWQ program is a four-year program that honors the achievements of women in the United States from 2022 to 2025. Under this program, the US mint will issue a series of quarters featuring notable women in United States History. Till date, Maya Angelou, Dr. Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, and Nina Otero-Warren have been featured under the program.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTION

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q1. Groningen gas fields, recently seen in news, are located in-

India’s first slender loris sanctuary was recently set up in which of the following state of India?

a) Kerala

b) Karnataka

c) Tamil Nadu

d) Assam

Answer: C

Explanation:

India’s first slender loris sanctuary in Tamil Nadu

  • Tamil Nadu government has notified the country’s first Kadavur slender loris sanctuary covering 11,806 hectares in Karur and Dindigul districts of the State.
  • Slender lorises are small nocturnal mammals and are arboreal in nature, as they spend most of their life on trees.
  • The species, listed as endangered as per the IUCN, acts as a biological predator to pests of agricultural crops and benefits farmers.

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