GNANADHARE EDUCATION TRUST(R.) HD DEVEGOWDA CIVIL SERVICES ACADEMY Current affairs(17-10-2018) Special courts to try politicians General studie II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government The Supreme Court has upped the ante on the States, Union Territories and High Courts which have not provided it with details of criminal cases pending against sitting lawmakers, warning that their Chief Secretaries and Registrars General will be made personally liable for non-compliance. Background The apex court had on December 14 last year ordered special courts to be established to fast track the long-pending trials against MPs and MLAs in a bid to weed out corruption and criminality in politics. So far, the centre has set up 12 special courts to deal such cases. What is the need for special courts? There are several high-profile cases against leaders from almost all political parties regional and national where investigations have dragged on for years and those facing trial have evaded prison. What is the Impact of this move? Page 1
The Centre s decision could be a setback to politicians who, despite facing serious charges, have remained members of Parliament and state assemblies due to time consumed in trials. Such cases will fall in the purview of special courts and their fate will be decided expeditiously. IMF General studies II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate. India has called for quota reforms so that share of emerging nations increases in line with their growing economic position. Quota shares of Emerging Market & Developing Countries need increase in line with its growing relative economic position in the world. About IMF Quotas Quotas are the building blocks of the IMF s financial and governance structure. An individual member country s quota broadly reflects its relative position in the world economy. Quotas are denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF s unit of account. Quotas determine the maximum amount of financial resources a member is obliged to provide to the IMF. Quotas are a key determinant of the voting power in IMF decisions. Votes comprise one vote per SDR100,000 of quota plus basic votes (same for all members). The maximum amount of financing a member can obtain from the IMF under normal access is based on its quota. Quotas determine a member s share in a general allocation of SDRs. The IMF s Board of Governors conducts general quota reviews at regular intervals (no more than five years). Any changes in quotas must be approved by an 85% majority of Page 2
the total voting power, and a member s own quota cannot be changed without its consent. Two main issues addressed in a general quota review are the size of an overall quota increase and the distribution of the increase among the members. About IMF The IMF, along with the World Bank, was conceived in 1944 at a conference in Bretton Woods, in the US state of New Hampshire. It aims to preserve economic stability and to tackle or ideally prevent financial crises. The IMF is funded by a charge known as a quota paid by member nations based on a country s wealth. The IMF also acts as a lender of last resort, disbursing its foreign exchange reserves for short periods to any member in difficulties. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) General studies II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate. The 6th Interregional Ministerial Meeting of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was held recently in Singapore. Details Trade ministers of 16-member RCEP bloc, including India and China, have urged all participating countries to continue to exert all efforts for early conclusion of the negotiations. About RCEP RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Page 3
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. It aims to boost goods trade by eliminating most tariff and non-tariff barriers a move that is expected to provide the region s consumers greater choice of quality products at affordable rates. It also seeks to liberalise investment norms and do away with services trade restrictions. Bhutan s not-so-happy evicted minority General studies II: India and its neighborhood The Himalayan nation of Bhutan, often described as a Shangri-La where happiness is equated to wealth, is holding elections this week. But the Lhotshampa people, brutally driven out of the small kingdom in the 1990s, won t be voting. Background The Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa were branded as immigrants and stripped of citizenship rights when the then-king introduced a One Nation, One People policy in 1985. The edict made following the customs of the Buddhist majority mandatory, including wearing their traditional dress, and speaking Nepali was banned. Those who resisted were labelled as anti-nationals, arrested and subjected to brutal treatment including rape and torture, according to Amnesty International. The security forces made detainees sign declarations saying they would leave Bhutan voluntarily as a condition of their release. Some 100,000 one sixth of Bhutan s population fled, ending up in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Page 4
Bhutan still describes the Lhotshampa as immigrants, justifying its nationalistic laws as essential for cultural identity and political stability, according to Freedom House, a think tank. Bhutan s GNH Gross National Happiness is a term coined by His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the 1970s. The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of well being. The concept of GNH has often been explained by its four pillars: Good governance, Sustainable Socio-Economic Development, Cultural Preservation, and Environmental Conservation Lately the four pillars have been further classified into nine domains in order to create widespread understanding of GNH and to reflect the holistic range of GNH values. Psychological well being, Health, Education, Time use, Cultural diversity and resilience, Good governance, Community vitality, Ecological diversity and resilience, and Living standards. The domains represents each of the components of well being of the Bhutanese people, and the term well being here refers to fulfilling conditions of a good life as per the values and principles laid down by the concept of Gross National Happiness. About Lhotshampa They are a heterogeneous Bhutanese people of Nepalese descent. The Lhotshampa people are native to southern Bhutan. Page 5
The Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa were branded as immigrants and stripped of citizenship rights when the then-king introduced a One Nation, One People policy in 1985. The edict made following the customs of the Buddhist majority mandatory, including wearing their traditional dress, and speaking Nepali was banned. The padwomen of Telangana General studies II: Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders In Telangana s tribal belt, since February this year, adivasi women have been running four small units that produce sanitary napkins for free distribution to students in the tribal welfare hostels and ashram schools. Details Now, the region is set to get four more sanitary napkin production units, thanks to the demand for pads among young women in the adivasi community. As per the Commissionerate of Tribal Welfare in Hyderabad, talks are on with NGOs and commercial sanitary napkin units to support adivasi youth in sanitary napkin production in districts where tribal population is high. The napkins will be supplied to women in the adivasi community who live in the tribal pockets near each manufacturing unit. As per the 2018 report of the National Family Health Survey, 62% of women use cloth instead of sanitary pads. In most of the adivasi villages in Telangana, women were found to be using cloth or ash for menstrual protection. The pad-making units were set up primarily to support adolescent girls and young women enrolled in schools. Page 6
India, France in talks to conduct tri-service exercise General studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India s interests India and France are in discussions for a bilateral triservice military exercise to take forward the strategic cooperation while also exploring ways to operationalise the logistics agreement. These issues were discussed during the visit of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Paris. Details This will be India s third such joint exercise. The first joint tri-service exercise was held with Russia in October last year and has finalised one with the U.S. to be held next year. India and France currently hold bilateral exercises between individual services Shakti, Varuna and Garuda respectively for the Army, Navy and Air Force. India and France signed a logistics pact in March this year which gives access to their militaries to each other s bases for logistics support. While the agreement gives India access to French military bases all over the world on a reciprocal basis, of particular interest for New Delhi are the three French bases in the Indian Ocean Reunion Island, Djibouti and Abu Dhabi. These three bases would give the Indian Navy and the Air Force operational turnaround to the far end of the Indian Ocean, improving its monitoring and surveillance of the region, in the backdrop of increased Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). POCSO Act General studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Page 7
Survivors of child sexual abuse will be able to file a police complaint when they are adults after the government clarified on Tuesday that there is no time bar on reporting such crimes. Recent announcement Impact The clarity comes after the Law Ministry concurred with the opinion of the Ministry of Women and Child Development that unlike the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, doesn t lay down a time limit for reporting crimes covered under it. The Ministry of Law after examining the provisions of POCSO Act vis-à-vis provisions of CrPC has advised that there appears no period of limitation mentioned in Section 19 in regard to reporting of the offences under the POCSO Act, 2012, according to a statement. This is an important step for survivors of child abuse who may wish to file a complaint as adults after years of trauma but are turned away at police stations The announcement is going to make a difference to millions of survivors and this will help reduce the levels of child sexual abuse. Concern POCSO is applicable only for crimes after its enactment in 2012, cases of historical child sexual abuse or those that pre-date the law will not find a closure. About POCSO act Children according to the Act are individuals aged below 18 years. The Act is gender neutral. Different forms of sexual abuse including but not limited to sexual harassment, pornography, penetrative & non-penetrative assault are defined in the Act. Sexual assault is deemed to be aggravated under certain circumstances such as, when the child is mentally ill. Also when the abuse is committed by the person in a position of trust such as doctor, teacher, policeman, family member. Page 8
Adequate provisions are made to avoid re-victimization of the Child at the hands of judicial system. The Act assigns a policeman in the role of child protector during the investigation process. The Act provides for establishment of Special Courts for trial of such offences and matters related to it. Under section 45 of the Act, the power to make rules lies with the central government. To monitor the implementation of the Act, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have been made the designated authority. Both being statutory bodies. Section 42 A of the Act provides that in case of inconsistency with provisions of any other law, POCSO Act shall override such provisions. The Act calls for mandatory reporting of sexual offences. A false complaint with intent to defame a person is punishable under the Act. Page 9