National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 22nd June 2019

Financial Action Task Force

Topic: International Affairs

In News: Pakistan has avoided being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist during the multilateral financial watchdog’s plenary meetings.

More on the Topic: 

• However, the country, which continued to remain on a greylist, was given a warning at the end of the plenary session and told that it lacked a proper understanding of transnational terrorist financing.

Significance:

• The mention of transnational terrorist financing is significant in light of India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan on the international stage in the context of its support for terror in Kashmir.
• In June 2018, Pakistan was placed on a FATF greylist of countries whose laws do not adequately deal with money laundering and terrorist financing and agreed to a 10-point action plan to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation regime.

Back ground:

• When the last FATF plenary session concluded in February, days after a terrorist attack killed over forty Indian security personnel in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan had avoided being blacklisted despite pressure from India.
• Pakistan-based terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. However it also did not take Pakistan off of the greylist as the country had wanted.
• In April this year Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that being greylisted could cost Pakistan $10 billion a year.

About FATF:

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7.
• It is a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
• The objectives of the FATF are 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.
• The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally.
• In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.

Source: The Hindu

India placed on ‘Tier 2’ in human trafficking report

Topic: Social Justice

In News: The U.S. State Department has released its 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, highlighting the need for action against domestic trafficking. India continued to be placed in Tier 2 on the 1-3 country trafficking scale.

More on the Topic:

• The 2019 report highlights the national nature of trafficking: in 77% of the cases, victims are trafficked within their own countries of residence, rather than across borders.
• Victims of sex trafficking were more likely to be trafficked across borders while victims of forced labour were typically exploited within their own countries, the report says, citing International Labour Organisation (ILO) data.
• The report categorises countries into three groups based on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), U.S. legislation enacted in 2000. The categorisation is based on efforts to meet minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.
• India was placed (i.e., remained) in Tier 2, which comprises “countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.”
• The recommendations for India include amending the definition of trafficking in Section 370 of the Penal Code to “include forced labour trafficking and ensure that force, fraud, or coercion are not required to prove a child sex trafficking offence,” and to establish Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts with funding and clear mandates.

Source: The Hindu

Forest cover up by 1%

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Union Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar on Friday told the Lok Sabha that India’s forest cover was up by 1% in the last one year.

More on the topic:

• According to a latest report, over 24.39% of the country’s geographical area now constitutes of green cover. He said 125 crore trees would be planted along highways to increase green cover.

Highlights of Indian Forest Report 2017:

• India among Top Ten Nations in the World in Terms of Forest Area. The countries are:Russia, Brazil, Canada, US, China, Australia, Congo, Argentina, Indonesia, India.
• India is placed 8th in the list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area.24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover.

Top five states/UTs that have shown the maximum increase in forest cover are:

• – Andhra Pradesh (2141 sq.km)
• – Karnataka (1101 sq.km)
• – Kerala (1043 sq.km)
• – Odisha (885 sq.km)
• – Telangana (565 sq.km)

Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are:

• Mizoram (531 sq.km)
• Nagaland (450 sq.km)
• Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq.km)
• Tripura (164 sq.km)
• Meghalaya (116 sq.km

The main reasons for the decrease are:

• Shifting cultivation
• Biotic pressures
• Rotational felling
• Diversion of forest lands for developmental activities
• Submergence of forest cover
• Agriculture expansion
• Natural disasters.

Top three states/UTs having the largest forest cover in terms of area are:

• Madhya Pradesh (77414 sq.km)
• Arunachal Pradesh (66964 sq.km)
• Chhattisgarh (55547 sq.km)

Source: The Hindu

Rajaji and Corbett Tiger Reserves

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered an immediate halt to the construction of a road that passes through a corridor between the Rajaji and Corbett Tiger Reserves.

More on the Topic:

• The road, which traverses a “critical” corridor between the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the Corbett Tiger Reserve, is being built without the statutory approval of the National Board for Wildlife.
• After going through the report, the court said, “It is apparent that the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has not been taken and permission from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife has also not been taken”.

About Rajaji and Corbett Tiger Reserves:

• Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park and tiger reserve that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas.
• The park is spread over 820 km2., and three districts of Uttarakhand.
• The Ganga and Song rivers flow through the park.
• Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett, a well known hunter and naturalist. The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.
• The park has sub-Himalayan belt geographical and ecological characteristics.

Source: The Hindu

Slavery ‘Dirty list’

Topic: International Affairs

In News: Brazil’s “dirty list” is under scrutiny as major firms have been found to have used legal means to avoid being put on it.

More on the Topic:

• The dirty list is a registry of employers that have been found by the government to have engaged in slave labour.
• It gives transparency to a decision already reached by the Brazilian state. Created in 2004, it has been hailed by the United Nations as a key tool in Brazil’s anti-slavery drive.
• The list is edited by the Division of Inspection for the Eradication of Slave Labor (DETRAE), a state body staffed by labour inspectors.
• If a labour inspector fines someone for employing slave labour, it starts an internal government procedure where the employer can defend himself.
• After all possibility of appeal is exhausted, if the employer is found guilty, his name or the name of his firm is added to the list.
• Beyond having their brand or names associated with slave labour, employers on the list have their access to credit lines by state banks restricted.
• Private banks also use it to gauge credit risk. International buyers concerned with their supply chain also look up names on the list.

Source: The Hindu

World Refugee Day

Topic: Social Justice

In News: World Refugee Day is observed on 20 June every year to raise awareness about the conditions and problems that refugee faces in their lives.

More on the Topic:

• The theme for World Refugee Day 2019 is #StepWithRefugees — Take A Step on World Refugee Day. The theme focuses on that there is a need to take big and small steps in solidarity with refugees from around the world.
• The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) is a UN Refugee Agency that every year organises various events on World Refugee day.
• This day provides an opportunity to show globally that we all are with refugees.
• Refugees are the people who have to leave their homes due to war or violence. They always have a fear of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
• The main reason for the refugee to leave their homes are war, ethnic, tribal and religious. It is also seen that two-thirds of all refugees from the whole world come from just five countries namely Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.

Source: The Hindu

Rashtriya Gokul Mission

Topic: Government Policies

In News: Unds have been mobilized under Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) for setting up of 21 Gokul Grams as Integrated Cattle Development Centres.

More on the Topic:

• To conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds, government has launched ‘Rashtriya Gokul Mission’ under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBD).

The Mission is being implemented with the objectives to:

• Development and conservation of indigenous breeds
• Undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock;
• Enhance milk production and productivity;
• Upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi and e) distribute disease free high genetic merit bulls for natural service.

Implementation:

• Rashtriya Gokul Mission will be implemented through the “State Implementing Agency (SIA viz Livestock Development Boards). State Gauseva Ayogs will be given the mandate to sponsor proposals to the SIA’s (LDB’s) and monitor implementation of the sponsored proposal.
• All Agencies having a role in indigenous cattle development will be the “Participating Agencies” like CFSPTI, CCBFs, ICAR, Universities, Colleges, NGO’s, Cooperative Societies and Gaushalas with best germplasm.

Source: PIB