What India, Cyprus vow to curb money laundering

Why in news?

India and Cyprus signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment as President Ram Nath Kovind met his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades and held wide-ranging talks

Economic cooperation

• Kovind and Mr. Anastasiades exchanged views on economic cooperation.
• India was the fastest growing major economy in the world today with a growth rate of 8.2% last quarter, Mr. Kovind said.
• In this context and Cyprus’ has niche expertise in financial services and investment banking. There was much scope to deepen the investment partnership.
• MoU has been signed between Financial Intelligence Unit, India, and Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus. This agreement would further strengthen the institutional framework to facilitate investment cross-flows.
• The revision in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement made in 2016 provided greater opportunities for investment to grow.
• India and Cyprus signed two MoUs on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment in the presence of Presidents of both countries.
• Issues of mutual interest, including promotion of business collaboration in the fields of IT, tourism, and renewable energy.
• India reaffirmed its unwavering support to Cyprus for upholding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

About Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from criminal activity, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source. The money from the illicit activity is considered dirty, and the process “launders” the money to make it look clean.

Rapid Trident Military Exercises: Ukraine and NATO

• Ukraine launched joint military exercises with the U.S. and a string of other NATO countries as tensions with Russia remain high over the Kremlin-backed insurgency in the country’s east.
• The annual Rapid Trident military exercises, taking place in the western Ukrainian village of Starychi will involve some 2,200 soldiers from 14 countries.
• The Ukrainian Border Guard Service and the National Guard troops will be involved for the first time
• The drills start a week before Russia holds its biggest military exercises since the Cold War, with the participation of China and Mongolia.
• The Ukrainian Border Guard Service and the National Guard troops will be involved for the first time.

Reserve Bank tightens ombudsman scheme

Why in news?

The banking regulator has asked all commercial banks having 10 or more banking outlets to have an independent internal ombudsman (IO) to review customer complaints that are either partly or fully rejected by the banks.

About ombudsman scheme

• The IO shall examine customer complaints which are in the nature of deficiency in service on the part of the bank, that are partly or wholly rejected by the bank.
• The instructions are not applicable for Regional Rural Banks sponsored by commercial banks.
• As banks should internally escalate complaints that are not fully redressed to their respective IOs before conveying the final decision to the complainant, customers need not approach the IO directly.
• According to bankers, the Internal Ombudsman Scheme of 2018 mandates banks to grant a fixed term of three to five years, which cannot be renewed, to the IO.
• The IO can be removed only with prior approval from RBI. The remuneration would have to be decided by the customer sub-committee of the board.

About Banking Ombudsman

• Banking Ombudsman is a quasi judicial authority functioning under India’s Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006, and the authority was created pursuant to a decision made by the Government of India to enable resolution of complaints of customers of banks relating to certain services rendered by the banks.
• The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was first introduced in India in 1995, and was revised in 2002.

Charter of Patients’ Rights- Draft

Why in news?

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a draft copy of charter and it has been put up on the Health Ministry’s website.

About charter of patient’s rights

• The draft was prepared by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
• If it comes into force, patients will not just have the right to emergency medical care and informed consent, but will also have the right to non-discrimination, seek a second opinion and choose alternative treatment options, if available.
• The patients will have the freedom to choose medicines or diagnostic tests from sources other than those recommended by their doctors or hospitals.
• The charter has also recommended that grievances should be addressed by internal grievance redress units in clinical establishments, then district-level authorities. Then state councils for clinical establishments.
• The document outlines patients’ rights to information about their illness, proposed diagnostic tests, possible complications as well as likely additional costs due to changes in the course of the illness. Patients also have the right to emergency medical care irrespective of their paying capacity.
• The charter’s rights are linked to existing legal provisions – such as the Consumer Protection Act, the Medical Council of India’s code of ethics, the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission’s rulings and a Supreme court judgment on emergency care
• The Ministry plans to implement the Charter of Patients’ Rights through State governments for provision of proper health care by clinical establishments.

Why this change now?

• Currently, some States have adopted the national Clinical Establishments Act 2010 and certain others have enacted their own State-level legislations to regulate hospitals, there is no consolidated document on patients’ rights that can be followed by all States uniformly
• So, the draft charter includes 17 rights with description, draws upon all relevant provisions, inspired by international charters and guided by national level provisions, with the objective of consolidating these into a single document.

Drug-resistant superbug spreading in hospitals: study

Why in news?

A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause “severe” infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned.

Details

• Researchers at the University of Melbourne discovered three variants of the multidrug-resistant bug in samples from 10 countries, including strains in Europe that cannot be reliably tamed by any drug currently on the market.
• The bacteria, known as Staphylococcus epidermidis, is related to the better-known and more deadly MRSA superbug.
• It’s found naturally on human skin and most commonly infects the elderly or patients who have had prosthetic materials implanted, such as catheters and joint replacements.
• It can be deadly, but it’s usually in patients who already are very sick in hospital. It can be quite hard to eradicate and the infections can be severe.
• His team looked at hundreds of S. epidermidis specimens from 78 hospitals worldwide. They found that some strains of the bug made a small change in its DNA that led to resistance to two of the most common antibiotics.
• Howden said his study showed the need for better understanding of how infections spread.
• Another Australian study, published last month, suggested some hospital superbugs are growing increasingly tolerant to alcohol-based disinfectants found in handwashes and sanitisers used on hospital wards.

About Superbugs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe. The term antibiotic resistance (AR or ABR) is a subset of AMR, as it applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Bamboo centre remains ‘rooted’ to New Delhi

Why in news?

A centre for taking India’s bamboo mission forward has failed to shift from New Delhi to its ‘headquarters’ in Meghalaya capital Shillong to cater to the largest bamboo-growing region in the country.

Background

The Central government had in 2013 approved the creation of an autonomous society registered and headquartered in Shillong with a fund allocation of Rs.292 crore. The society was called North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach.

About Bamboo

• Bamboo is a versatile group of plants which is capable of providing ecological, economic and livelihood security to the people.
• Till recently, it has remained confined to the forests (12.8% of forest cover); two third of the growing stock located in the North-Eastern States.
• Importance of the crop as a source of raw material for industrial and domestic use with its growing demand all over the country necessitated its cultivation in farm lands as well.
• With a view to harness the potential of bamboo crop, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme called Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in which National Bamboo Mission (NBM) is being implemented as a sub scheme.
• The Mission envisages promoting holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting area-based, regionally differentiated strategy and to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
• Under the Mission, steps have been taken to increase the availability of quality planting material by supporting the setting up of new nurseries and strengthening of existing ones.

About NECTAR

The North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) set up in 2012 as an autonomous society under Department of Science and Technology to assist the North-Eastern region of the country is ensuring applications of appropriate technologies for development in the areas of biodiversity, watershed management, telemedicine, horticulture, infrastructure planning and development, planning and monitoring, tele-schooling using cutting edge MESHNET solutions, employment generation, etc. through utilization of local products/resources and resulting in associated skill development.

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer

Why in news?

The historical dargah of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer is all set to get a facelift as a memorandum of understanding has been signed by the Dargah Committee, the Ajmer Municipal Corporation and Hindustan Zinc for spending ₹5.68 crore to clean and manage the shrine.

Details

• The 13th-century dargah has been included among the Swachh Iconic Places, a clean-up initiative focused on iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places through a multi-stakeholder approach model.
• The campaign was initiated under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2016.
• In Ajmer, the Collector will act as the project’s nodal agency with the Dargah Committee and ‘khadims’ (workers) being the primary stakeholders.

Moinuddin Chishti

• He was a Persian Muslim preacher, ascetic, religious scholar, philosopher, and mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontinent in the early 13th-century, where he promulgated the famous Chishtiyya order of Sunni mysticism
• He arrived in Delhi during the reign of the Sultan Iltutmish. He was also known as Gharīb Nawāz (Benefactor of the Poor). His legacy rests primarily on his having been one of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism.
• He was one of the first major Islamic mystics to formally allow his followers to incorporate the “use of music” in their devotions, liturgies, and hymns to God, which he did in order to make the foreign Arab faith more relatable to the indigenous peoples who had recently entered the religion or whom he sought to convert.

A dedicated mission to salvage and revive spring water systems in the country’s Himalayan States

Why in news?

A NITI Aayog constituted group of experts has urged the government to set up a dedicated mission to salvage and revive spring water systems in the country’s Himalayan States, given their vital importance as a source of water for both drinking and irrigation for the region’s inhabitants.

Details

• Spanning States across the country’s north and northeast and home to about 50 million people, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has been heavily reliant on these natural groundwater sources that are under increasing threat from the urbanization caused by a constant push for development and climate change.
• Almost half of the perennial springs have already dried up or have become seasonal and tens of thousands of villages are currently facing acute water shortage for drinking and other domestic purposes.
• Almost 60% of low-discharge springs that provided water to small habitations in the Himalayan region have reported clear decline during the last couple of decades.

Temple turtles

Why in news?

Till a few months ago, a small population of Indian Roofed Turtles (Pangshura tecta) in the Lota Devi temple pond in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, was struggling to survive due to the pollution caused by devotees throwing oil, incense sticks, flowers and other ritual offerings into the small waterbody.

Details

• However, an innovative idea has tapped into the religious sentiments of devotees and helped reduce pollution in the pond while channelling the fervour of visitors.
• On August 26, an idol of Vishnu in his Kurma (turtle) avatar was installed at the temple complex.
• The Lota Devi temple is a very old religious place and thousands of devotees throng to worship Goddess Kali. The offerings made by the devotees in the pond left it very polluted.
• This symbolic Kurma idol is placed on an altar just outside the fenced area, where devotees can place their offerings rather than directly polluting the pond.
• Tests conducted earlier this year showed that dissolved oxygen in the pond was very low and contamination of the water was resulting in the death of turtles.
• The NGO has taken the lead in reviving the species and earlier this year, fenced the pond.
• SPOAR and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) also cleaned and dredged the pond and added native aquatic plants and fish to help the surviving turtles.
• The habitat of the species is shrinking and there is need to protect the species in such ponds which is close to human population.
• There were about 20 Indian Roofed Turtle in the pond. Following the conservation efforts, new turtle hatchlings were recently spotted in it.

Indian roofed turtle

• The Indian roofed turtle (Pangshura tecta) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae.
• It can be distinguished by the distinct “roof” at the topmost part of the shell.
• It is found in the major rivers of South Asia. It is a common pet in the Indian Subcontinent.
• IUCN: least concern
• It can be distinguished by the distinct “roof” at the topmost part of the shell.

Over 1,400 killed in 10 States this monsoon

• More than 1,400 people have so far lost their lives due to rain, floods and landslips in 10 States during the monsoon season this year, according to data released by the Union Home Ministry.
• According to the Ministry’s National Emergency Response Centre, 488 people have died in Kerala and 54.11 lakh in 14 districts of the State have been severely hit by rain and floods, the worst in a century.
• As many as 14.52 lakh people displaced by the floods are living in relief camps across the State. Standing crops on 57,024 hectares of land were damaged in the State.
• As many as 254 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 210 in West Bengal, 170 in Karnataka, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 50 in Assam, 37 in Uttarakhand, 29 in Odisha and 11 in Nagaland.
• Forty-three people have been missing — 15 in Kerala, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, five in West Bengal, six in Uttarakhand and three in Karnataka, while 386 have been injured in rain-related incidents across the 10 States.
• Rain and floods have hit 30 districts in Odisha, 26 districts in Maharashtra, 25 in Assam, 23 each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Uttarakhand, 11 each in Karnataka and Nagaland, and 10 in Gujarat.
• In Assam, 11.47 lakh people have borne the brunt of rain and floods, which have also hit crops covering 27,964 hectares of land. In West Bengal, the deluge has hit 2.28 lakh people and damaged crops on 48,552 hectares of land.
• In Uttar Pradesh, 3.42 lakh people have been impacted and crops on 50,873 hectares damaged. In Karnataka, 3.5 lakh have been hit and crops on 3,521 hectares of land damaged.

WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia

Why in news?

WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia was recently held.

About Regional Committee for South-East Asia

• The Regional Committee for South-East Asia is the World Health Organization’s governing body in the South-East Asia Region, with representatives from all 11 Member States of the Region.
• It meets in September every year to review progress in health development in the Region, formulate resolutions on health issues for the Member States, as well as to consider the regional implications of World Health Assembly resolutions, among others.

Spain offers referendum on greater Catalan autonomy

Why in news?

Spain’s prime minister has proposed a referendum on whether Catalonia should be given greater autonomy, in a bid to dampen tensions between Madrid and Barcelona.

Background

• This comes in the wake of a political crisis last year when the Catalan government attempted a unilateral declaration of independence.
• Catalonia, which has its own distinct language, was granted autonomy under Spain’s 1978 Constitution adopted three years after the death of long time dictator Francisco Franco.
• In 2006, a statute granting even greater powers to the north western region, boosting its financial clout, was approved by the Spanish and Catalan parliaments. And in a referendum at the time, over 73% of voters in Catalonia approved it.
• But in 2010 Spain’s Constitutional Court struck down several articles of the charter, among them attempts to place the distinctive Catalan language above Spanish in the region and a clause describing the region as a “nation”.
• The ruling sparked a rise in support for independence in Catalonia, which is home to some 7.5 million people and accounts for about one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

 About Catalonia

• Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain in the north-east end of the Iberian Peninsula, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy.
• It has four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.

Draft rules for E Pharmacies

Why in news?

Ministry of health and family welfare has issued a draft notification recently on the sale of drugs by E-Pharmacies.

About Draft

• All the e-pharmacies have to be registered compulsorily with the Central Drugs Standard control organisation.
• Psychotropic substances, habit-forming medicines like cough syrup and sleeping pills, schedule x drugs will not be sold online.
• Apart from registration, the e pharmacies have to obtain a license from the State government to sell the medicines online.
• The application of registration of e-pharmacy will have to be accompanied by a sum of Rs 50,000 while asserting that an e-pharmacy registration holder will have to comply with provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).
• The details of patient shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person other than the central government or the state government concerned, as the case may be.
• The supply of any drug shall be made against a cash or credit memo generated through the e-pharmacy portal and such memos shall be maintained by the e-pharmacy registration holder as record.
• Both state and central drug authorities will be monitoring the data of sales and transactions of e pharmacies. Any violation of rules the registration of e-pharmacies will be suspended, and it can be cancelled too.
• The premises from which e-pharmacy is operated regular inspections will be conducted every two years by the central licencing authority.