INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY- 26 June 2021 – INSIGHTSIAS

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InstaLinks help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background. This helps you study a topic holistically and add new dimensions to every current event to help you think analytically. 

 

Table of Contents:

GS Paper 1:

1. Sant Kabir Das Jayanti.

 

GS Paper 2:

1. ED transfers assets worth ₹8,441.50 cr. to banks.

2. Gujarat International Maritime Arbitration Centre (GIMAC).

3. India completes term as Chair of ILO”s Governing Body.

 

GS Paper 3:

1. Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list.

 

Facts for Prelims:

1. Maritime State Development Council (MSDC).

2. Project Seabird.

3. China launches first bullet train in Tibet, close to Indian border.

GS Paper  :  1

 

Topics Covered: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Sant Kabir Das Jayanti:

Context:

Kabirdas Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Sant Kabir Das is observed on Jyeshtha Purnima tithi. This year it was on June 24th.

About Kabir:

  • Sant Kabir Das was a very renowned saint, poet and social reformer of India who lived during the 15th century. His esteemed works and poems describe the greatness and oneness of the Supreme Being.
  • He was a proponent of the Bhakti Movement.
  • He did not believe in any religious discrimination and readily accepted all the religions.
  • A religious community known as ‘Kabir Panth’ was founded by him and the members of this forum are referred to as ‘Kabir Panthis’.
  • Swami Ramananda influence: Kabir Das’ ideologies were greatly influenced by Vaishnava saint Swami Ramananda who accepted Kabir as his disciple.

His famous literary works:

  • Bijak, Sakhi Granth, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar.
  • His verses are found in Sikhism’s scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
  • The major part of his work was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev.

The hallmark of Sant Kabirdas’ work consists of his two line couplets, popularly known as ‘Kabir Ke Dohe’.

 

Insta Curious: 

Do you know the meaning of ‘Mashuq’ & ‘Ashiq’ in sufism? Read Here

 

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. About Kabir Das.
  2. His literary works.
  3. Bhakti movement.
  4. Key reformers of Bhakti movement.

Mains Link:

Discuss the significance of Bhakti movement.

Sources: PIB.

GS Paper  :  2

 

Topics Covered: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

ED transfers assets worth ₹8,441.50 cr. to banks:

Context:

The Enforcement Directorate has transferred assets worth ₹8,441.50 crore to public sector banks that suffered losses to the tune of ₹22,585.83 crore due to frauds committed allegedly by Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

What’s the issue?

ED had taken up a money laundering probe which helped unearth a complex web of domestic and international transactions and stashing of assets abroad by the accused persons and their associates.

  • They had used dummy entities controlled by them for rotation and siphoning of the funds provided by the banks.
  • But, All three accused had fled overseas.
  • Prosecution complaints were filed against all the three accused after completion of the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Present status of extradition:

  1. The extradition of Mr. Mallya has been ordered by the Westminster Magistrates Court and confirmed by the U.K. High Court. The matter is pending with the U.K.’s Home Department for quite some time now.
  2. The Westminster Magistrates Court had also ordered the extradition of Mr. Modi to India.
  3. Mr. Choksi was recently found in Dominica.

About Enforcement Directorate:

  1. The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May, 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was formed, in the Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47).
  2. In the year 1957, this Unit was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’.
  3. Presently, it is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
  4. The Organization is mandated with the task of enforcing the provisions of two special fiscal laws – Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

Composition:

Besides directly recruiting personnel, the Directorate also draws officers from different Investigating Agencies, viz., Customs & Central Excise, Income Tax, Police, etc. on deputation.

Other functions:

  1. Processing cases of fugitive/s from India under Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
  2. Sponsor cases of preventive detention under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974(COFEPOSA) in regard to contraventions of FEMA.

Special courts:

For the trial of an offence punishable under section 4 of PMLA, the Central Government (in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court), designates one or more Sessions Court as Special Court(s). The court is also called “PMLA Court”.

  • Any appeal against any order passed by PMLA court can directly be filed in the High Court for that jurisdiction.

 

Insta Curious: 

Do you know the difference between Deportation and Exile? Read Here

 

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. What is FEMA?
  2. What is PMLA?
  3. What is COFEPOSA?
  4. Historical background of ED.
  5. Which all departments have administered it?

Mains Link:

How has ED become the weapon of choice today? Discuss.

Sources: the Hindu.

 

Topics Covered: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Gujarat International Maritime Arbitration Centre (GIMAC):

Context:

The Gujarat Maritime University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority in GIFT City to promote the Gujarat International Maritime Arbitration Centre (GIMAC).

  • The GIMAC will be part of a maritime cluster that is being set up by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) in GIFT City at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Functions of GIMAC:

This will be the first centre of its kind in the country that will manage arbitration and mediation proceedings with disputes related to the maritime and shipping sector.

Why is the GIMAC being set up?

The idea is to create a world-class arbitration centre focused on maritime and shipping disputes that can help resolve commercial and financial conflicts between entities having operations in India.

  • There are over 35 arbitration centres in India but none of them exclusively deals with the maritime sector.
  • The arbitration involving Indian players is now heard at the Singapore Arbitration Centre.

What is GIFT City?

The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is a business district near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India.

  • It is India’s first operational Greenfield smart city and international financial services centre, which the Government of Gujarat promoted as a Greenfield project.
  • The city is located on the banks of the Sabarmati River.

What are International Financial Services Centres (IFSC)?

  • An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy.
  • Such centres deal with flows of finance, financial products and services across borders.
  • London, New York and Singapore can be counted as global financial centres.

Services an IFSC can provide:

  1. Fund-raising services for individuals, corporations and governments.
  2. Asset management and global portfolio diversification undertaken by pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds.
  3. Wealth management.
  4. Global tax management and cross-border tax liability optimization, which provides a business opportunity for financial intermediaries, accountants and law firms.
  5. Global and regional corporate treasury management operations that involve fund-raising, liquidity investment and management and asset-liability matching.
  6. Risk management operations such as insurance and reinsurance.
  7. Merger and acquisition activities among trans-national corporations.

 

Insta Curious: 

Do you know the difference between Greenfield vs. Brownfield Investments? Read Here 

 

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. What is a maritime Cluster?
  2. What is the International Financial Service Centre?
  3. Can they be set up in SEZs?
  4. India’s first IFSC.
  5. Services they provide?
  6. Limitations.

Mains Link:

Discuss the significance of international financial services centres.

Sources: the Hindu.

 

Topics Covered: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

India completes term as Chair of ILO”s Governing Body:

Context:

India’s term as chair of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) ended recently (October 2020- June 2021).

  • Last year, India assumed the chairmanship of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation after a gap of 35 years.

About the Governing Body:

It is the apex executive body of the ILO which decides policies, programmes, agenda, budget and elects the Director-General. It meets in Geneva.

About ILO:

  • Established as an agency for the League of Nations following World War I.
  • Established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
  • It became the first specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) in the year 1946.
  • It got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.
  • It is the only tripartite U.N. agency. It brings together governments, employers and workers.
  • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Key reports:

  1. World Employment and Social Outlook.
  2. Global Wage Report.

 

Insta Curious: 

Did you know that India has ratified six out of eight core/fundamental ILO conventions? Which are the two Conventions that India has not ratified? Read here

 

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. About ILO.
  2. Governing Body.
  3. Key reports by ILO.
  4. 8 Fundamental Conventions.
  5. About treaty of Versailles.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper  :  3

 

Topics Covered: Indian and its neighbourhood. Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list:

Context:

FATF has refused to take Pakistan out of the ‘Grey List’ yet again because it had failed to take appropriate action against UN-designated terrorists such as 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed and JeM chief Masood Azhar.

Background:

Pakistan was put on the grey list by the Paris-based FATF in June 2018, and the country has been struggling to come out of it.

  • It has now completed 26 of the 27 action items given to it in 2018.

About FATF:

  1. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7.
  2. 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.
  3. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

Roles and functions:

  • Initially it was established to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering.
  • In October 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing, in addition to money laundering.
  • In April 2012, it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Composition:

The FATF currently comprises 37 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organisations, representing most major financial centres in all parts of the globe. It also has observers and associate members.

What is a blacklist and grey list?

Black List: Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities. The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.

Grey List: Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.

Considered in the grey list may face:

  1. Economic sanctions from IMF, World Bank, ADB.
  2. Problem in getting loans from IMF, World Bank, ADB and other countries.
  3. Reduction in international trade.
  4. International boycott.

 

Insta Curious: 

Do you know about Egmont Group? Is India Party to it? ( Search for Egmont Group) Read Here

 

 

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. G7 vs G8 vs G20.
  2. Black vs Grey list.
  3. Are FATF’s decisions binding on member countries?
  4. Who heads the FATF?
  5. Where is its secretariat?

Mains Link:

What is the mandate and objectives of the Financial Action Task Force? Discuss.

Sources: the Hindu.

 

Facts for Prelims:

Maritime State Development Council (MSDC):

  • The MSDC is an apex advisory body for the development of the maritime sector and aims to ensure integrated development of Major and non-Major Ports.
  • It was constituted in 1997 to assess in consultation with State Governments, the future development of existing and new Minor Ports by the respective Maritime States either directly or through captive users and private participation.
  • The MSDC also monitors the development of minor ports, captive ports and private ports in the Maritime States.

 

Project Seabird:

It is the largest naval infrastructure project for India.

  • The project aims at creation of a naval base at Karwar on the west coast of India.
  • Upon completion, the program will provide Indian Navy with its largest naval base on the west coast and also the largest naval base east of the Suez Canal.
  • This would further bolster the operational readiness of the Armed Forces and help in augmenting trade, economy & humanitarian aid operations.

 

China launches first bullet train in Tibet, close to Indian border:

  • China has operationalised its first fully electrified bullet train in the remote Himalayan region of Tibet.
  • It connects the provincial capital Lhasa and Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.
  • This line is a section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.
  • The rail line crosses the Brahmaputra river locally called Yarlung Zangbo 16 times.

 

Articles to be covered tomorrow:

1. UP top performer under Smart Cities mission.

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