GEOGRAPHY                                                                                       

1. Cyclone ‘Bulbul’                                                                               

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                             

1. Maharashtra tops in justice delivery Report                                       

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                          

1. ' No Money for Terror' Ministerial Conference                                    

ECONOMY                                                                                             

1. RBI’s panel suggests measures to strengthen core investment companies                                                                                       

2. The Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system                     

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                      

1. NGT issues ultimatum to ban certain RO systems                             

SECURITY                                                                                             

1. Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’    

GEOGRAPHY

Cyclone ‘Bulbul’

GS PAPER - 01 GEOGRAPHY - Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,

Context :

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert in Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha over Cyclone Bulbul in the Bay of Bengal.

More in the news:

• Cyclone Bulbul is the seventh named storm of the unusually active 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.

  • The season has seen Cyclone Pabuk (South China Sea-Andaman Sea), Cyclone Fani (Bay of Bengal), Cyclone Vayu (Arabian Sea), Cyclone Hikka (Arabian Sea), Cyclone Kyarr (Arabian Sea) and Cyclone Maha (Arabian Sea).

• Bulbul was named by Pakistan.

• Cyclone Bulbul comes around seven months after Cyclone Fani struck Odisha. Cyclone Fani was the strongest storm to hit the state since the devastating 1999 Super Cyclone that killed thousands of people.

                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu ; PIB

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Maharashtra tops in justice delivery Report

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential

Context :

• Tata Trusts has released India Justice Report 2019.         

Key Highlights of the Report :

• Overall Ranking of States:

  • Maharashtra has topped the list of states in delivering justice to people followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana.

  • Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ranked at the bottom.

  • Among the small states (where population is less than one crore each), Goa has topped the list followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.

    • Tripura ranked at the bottom.

•  Policing:

  • The best score was achieved by Tamil Nadu – 6.49.

  • UP received the lowest score- 2.98.

    • UP fared poor in terms of budgeting, spending on police per person, vacancies and diversity.

•  Prision :

  • Jharkhand performed the worst with a score of 3.46.

  •  It was followed by Uttarakhand (3.72), Punjab (4.35).

  • The best in this regard was Kerala with a score of 7.18.

•  Judiciary:

  • Bihar, with a score of 2.41, fared the worst in this regard. It was followed by UP (3.7), Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

  • Tamil Nadu featured on the top in terms of judiciary with a score of 6.99.

  •  It was followed by Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra.

•  Legal aid:

  • The report has said that almost 80% of India’s 1.25-billion population is eligible for free legal aid, but only 15 million people have availed it since 1995.

Issues :

•  Vacancies

  • On average, the police have a vacancy of 23% (2017), and the judiciary between 20%-40% across the high courts and lower judiciary. Gujarat is the only state to reduce vacancies across all four pillars.

• Representation

  • No State/ UT is able to meet all its diversity quotas (ST, SC, and OBC). Karnataka comes closest to achieve diversity quotas (missed its SC reservation target by 4%).

  • Women are poorly represented across the Justice system. They account for 7% of the Police, 10 % of Prison staff and about 26.5 % of all judges in the High Court and subordinate courts.

• Budgets

  • The Justice system is affected by low budget allocations.

  • The per capita expenditure on legal aid is just 75 paise.

  • Punjab is the only large state whose police, prison and judiciary expenditures have increased at a pace higher than the increase in overall state expenditure.

• Judicial Pendency

  • Nationally, at the subordinate court level, on average a case remains pending for five years or more.

  • Only six states i.e. Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, and Manipur managed to clear as many court cases as were filed.

• Prisons

  • Prisons are over-occupied at 114%, where 68% are undertrials awaiting investigation, inquiry or trial.

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS  

' No Money for Terror' Ministerial Conference

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs led the Indian delegation at the ‘No Money for Terror’ Ministerial Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

No Money for Terror Conference:

• The conference is organised by Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of over 100 countries jointly called The Egmont Group.

• Recognising the importance of international cooperation in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism, a group of FIUs met a few years ago at the Egmont Arenberg Palace in Brussels, Belgium, and decided to establish an informal network of FIUs for the stimulation of international co-operation.

• The Egmont Group was created to provide FIUs around the world a forum to exchange information confidentially to combat money laundering, financing of terrorism and other predicate offences.

More in the news:

• The minister proposed four points for inclusion in the resolution at the conference:

  • Terrorism is the single biggest threat to peace, security and development.

  • Nations must expedite the finalisation of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism under the United Nations.

  • FATF Standards must be effectively enforced and UN listings/FATF should not be politicised.

  • Initiate discussion on Countering Financing of Radicalisation (CFR), which would prevent radicalisation – an essential prerequisite of terrorism.

• The minister also declared that India would host the next ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference in 2020.

                                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

RBI’s panel suggests measures to strengthen core investment companies

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

Context :

• The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) panel to review the regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Core Investment Companies headed by Tapan Ray has submitted its report.

Key recommendations :

• Group risk management committee :

  • Every conglomerate with a CIC should have a Group Risk Management Committee.

  • This committee should be responsible to monitor group-level leverage.

  • One-third of the board should comprise of independent members if the chairperson of the CIC is a non-executive member, otherwise at least half of the board should comprise of independent members.  

• For  Better Governance :

  • CICs need to induct independent directors, conduct internal audits and prepare consolidated financial statements.

  • There is a need for ring fencing boards of CICs by excluding employees/executive directors of group firms from its board.

  • CICs should constitute board-level committees — Audit Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Group Risk Management Committee.

•  The current threshold of Rs 100 crore asset size and access to public funds for registration as CIC should be retained.

• For Step down CIC’s “:

  • A Step-down CIC means the subsidiary company of a company which is a subsidiary of another company.

  • Step-down CICs may not be permitted to invest in any other CIC, while allowing them to invest freely in other group companies.

  • Capital contribution by a CIC in a step-down CIC, over and above 10% of its owned funds, should be deducted from its adjusted net worth, as applicable to other NBFCs.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

The Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) will come into existence from 8th November 2019.

Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system:

• CBIC communication will have to have a Documentation Identification Number.

• This step is to further the government’s objectives of bringing transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration also, through the widespread use of information technology.

• To begin with, in the indirect tax administration, the DIN would be used for search authorisation, summons, arrest memo, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any enquiry.

• From now onwards, any communication from GST or Custom or Central Excise department without a computer-generated DIN, would be treated as invalid and shall be non est in law or deemed to be as if it has never been issued.

• It would also provide the taxpayer a digital facility to verify any communications.

                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- PIB

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

NGT issues ultimatum to ban certain RO systems

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given strict directions to the Union Environment Ministry to issue notifications pertaining to prohibition on the use of RO (reverse osmosis) systems which result in wastage of almost 80% of water (only 20% water is recovered).

More in the news:

• The NGT in an earlier order had directed that “wherever RO is to be permitted, condition of recovery of water to the extent of more than 60% is required”.

  • It sought to make it mandatory   to recover more than 60 per cent water wherever RO is permitted across the country.

• In a bid to regulate the use of RO purifiers, the Bench had also ordered the Environment Ministry to issue “appropriate notification prohibiting the use of RO where Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water is less than 500 mg/l.

• It had directed the government to sensitise public about the ill-effects of demineralised water.

• The order had come after perusing an expert committee report which said that if TDS is less than 500 milligrams per litre, a RO system will not be useful but will result in removing important minerals as well as cause undue wastage of water.           

                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

SECURITY

Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Context :

•  Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘2nd edition of Samudra Shakti’  commenced .

‘Samudra Shakti’  :

• It is an annual naval exercise between Indian and Indonesian Navy.

• The first edition of the exercise took place in 2018 in the Java Sea.

• The aim of the exercise is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices.

• The exercise has two phases- Sea Phase and Harbour Phase.

• The Harbour Phase includes professional interactions in the form of Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEE), cross deck visits, simulator drills, planning conferences, sports fixtures and social interactions.

• The Sea Phase includes manoeuvres, Surface Warfare exercises, Air Defence exercises, Weapon firing drills, Helicopter Operations and Boarding Operations

                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

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