27 May 2024 Daily Current Affairs 

About Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve:

• Location:
  • It is located at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghatsin the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu.
  • Its area is contiguous with the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka), and Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka). Together, these reserves—forming the Nilgiris biosphere landscape— have the biggest tiger population in the world, at over 280 tigers.
• It was declared a tiger reserve in 2013. It forms a vital link between the Eastern and Western Ghats, creating a continuous habitat for tigers and other wildlife.
• Climate:
  • It is subtropical and dry.
  • The summers are hot and dry; the monsoons are wet and cooler, with river flooding.
• Rivers: Some of the prominent rivers in the region include the Bhavani, Moyar, and Noyyal rivers.
• Tribal Communities: It is home to several indigenous tribal communities, including the Irula and Kurumba tribes.
• Flora:
  • The vegetation consists of southern tropical dry thorn forests, mixed deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and Riparian forests.
  • Around 700 species of flora have been found in the sanctuary, where bamboos are the predominant species of vegetation.
• Fauna:
  • The major species are Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer, Wild boar, Black napped hare, Common langur, Striped neck mongoose, and Bonnet macaque.
  • It is home to some rare and endangered species, such as the grizzled giant squirrel, the Nilgiri tahr, the Nilgiri langur, and the four-horned antelope.

About Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):

• It is a political and economic alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
• The GCC was established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 1981.
• Objective: To promote economic, security, cultural, and social cooperation between the six states and hold a summit every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.
• Together, the GCC countries possess almost half of the world’s oil reserves.
• Organizational structure:
  • The Supreme Council:
    • It is the highest authority of the organization, which meets on an annual basis and consists of GCC heads of state. 
    • Decisions of the Supreme Council are adopted by unanimous approval.
    • Its presidency rotates periodically among the member states in alphabetical order.
  • The Ministerial Council: 
    • It is composed of the foreign ministers of all the Member States or other ministers deputizing for them.
    • It meets every three months to implement the decisions of the Supreme Council and to propose new policy.
  • The Secretariat General: 
    • It is the administrative arm of the alliance, which monitors policy implementation and arranges meetings.
    • Its headquarters is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• India and GCC:
  • GCC is India’s largest regional-bloc trading partner.
  • Trade with the GCC comprised 8% of India’s total trade in FY2022–23.
  • The UAE has consistently been India’s principal trading partner within the Gulf and is India’s third-largest trading partner overall.
  • According to the latest figures, there are approximately 9 million Indian expats residing in GCC countries, which is approximately 66% of non-resident Indians.

About Pre-packaged Insolvency Resolution Process:

• It was introduced in April 2021 in the wake of Covid pandemic, to deal with stress of small and mid-sized companies. The idea was that resolution of distressed MSMEs requires different treatment due to the unique nature of their businesses.
• Pre-packaged insolvency process is an alternate and speedier resolution mechanism for micro, medium and small enterprises in financial distress.
• Process:
  • It involves the debtor and its creditors negotiating and agreeing on a resolution plan before initiating the formal insolvency process.
  • Once approved by the creditors, the pre-packaged resolution plan is submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for approval. It is similar to an out-of-court settlement process.
  • The debtor and creditor work on a draft resolution plan before formally initiating the insolvency process.
  • Once finalised and approved by the required majority of creditors, the plan is submitted to NCLT.
• The pre-packaged insolvency process is initiated voluntarily by the debtor.
• Significance: Since the resolution plan is negotiated and finalised before filing with NCLT, it reduces the time taken for resolution compared to the corporate insolvency resolution process, with minimal disruptions.