Daily Currentaffairs: 17 Oct 2020

Tables of contents

1.Financial Action Task Force:Enhanced Follow-up List

2.New State of Emergency in Kyrgyzstan 

3.Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan

4.Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary

5.Allotment of Symbols to Political Parties

1.Financial Action Task Force: Enhanced Follow-up List

Recently, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has kept Pakistan on ‘enhanced follow-up list’.

Key Highlights

• The FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has reprimanded Pakistan for its slow progress on the technical recommendations of the FATF to fight terror financing.

• The report of APG provided that Pakistan fully complied with only two of the 40 recommendations of Financial Action Task Force.

• Pakistan will remain in the enhanced follow-up list and will have to continue to report back to the APG on progress to strengthen its implementation of comprehensive Anti-money Laundering and Terrorist Financing measures.

FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG)

 

In 1997, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) was officially established as an autonomous regional anti-money laundering body.

 

The FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering is an inter-governmental organisation, consisting of 41 member jurisdictions.

 

It is focused on ensuring that its members effectively implement the international standards against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing related to weapons of mass destruction.

 

The international standards against money laundering and the financing of terrorism/proliferation are contained in the Forty Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

 

The APG Mutual Evaluations is a peer-review system to determine whether countries meet the compliance standards for money laundering and terror financing.

 

Source: All India Radio

2.New State of Emergency in Kyrgyzstan

Recently, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has ordered a new, week-long state of emergency in the country’s capital after Parliament failed to consider and approve his previous order.

About Kyrgyzstan

• It is a landlocked country located in the Central Asia.

• It is bounded by Kazakhstan on the northwest and north, by China on the east and south, and by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the south and west.

• Kyrgyzstan, known under Russian and Soviet rule as Kirgiziya, was conquered by tsarist Russian forces in the 19th century.

• The Victory (Pobedy) Peak, Kyrgyzstan highest peak, rises on its eastern extremity which is next to the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China.

Source: The Hindu

3.Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan

Recently, the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has started a campaign to celebrate 'Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan' on the occasion of Deepawali festival.

About Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan

• It is a nationwide campaign which is aimed at promoting cow-dung/Panchgavya products.

• Under the campaign, the manufacture of Cow dung-based Diyas, Candles, Dhoop, Swastik, Wall-piece, Paper-weight, Havan Samagri, Idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi has started.

• The RKA aims reaching 11 crore families to ignite 33 crore Diyas made of cow-dung during this year’s Deepawali festival.

• • The RKA comes under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

  • The RKA is high powered permanent body to formulate policy and to provide direction to the implementation of schemes related to cattle.

Source: LiveMint

4.Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary

Recently, an extent of one kilometre around the boundary of Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary has been notified as its eco-sensitive zone (EZ).

About Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary

• It is the first Bird Sanctuary in Kerala harbours a wide range of flora and fauna.

• It is also known as Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary which was constituted in 1983.

  • Dr. Salim Ali, the legendary ‘Bird Man of India’, during his survey in 1933, noted the bird diversity of Thattekkad as the richest bird habitat.

• It is located in the Kothamangalam Taluk of Ernakulam district on the northern bank of the Periyar River.

• The common birds are Indian roller, Cuckoo, common snipe, crow phesant, grey drongo, Malabar trogon, wood peckers, lare pied wagtail and Indian hill myna.

Source: The Hindu

5.Allotment of Symbols to Political Parties

Recently, the upcoming Bihar assembly elections is being pitted as a contest between the lotus, arrow, hand and hurricane lantern but the voters can also expect to see a myriad of other symbols like chapatti roller, dolli, bangles, capsicum on the ballots as they go out to vote.

Significance of symbols in elections

• The symbols are crucial campaigning tools to connect with the voters in a vast and diverse country like India, where several nondescript and small political parties try out their luck in state elections.

• The symbols have become a crucial part of the electoral process ever since India held its first national polls in 1951-52.

  • Nearly 85 per cent of the electorates were illiterate at that point and the visual symbols were allotted to parties and candidates to help them identify the party of their choice.

• The Election Symbols Order also provided for resolution of disputes in cases involving splits in recognized parties or merger of two or more political parties.

Types of Symbols

• As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) (Amendment) Order, 2017, party symbols are either “reserved” or “free”.

• The eight national parties and 64 state parties across the country have “reserved” symbols whereas the Election Commission also has a pool of nearly 200 “free” symbols that are allotted to the thousands of unrecognised regional parties that pop up before elections.

• If a party recognised in a particular state contests in elections in another state, it can “reserve” the symbol being used by it, provided the symbol is not being used or bears resemblance to that of any other party.

Procedure for allotment of symbols

• The order, first promulgated in 1968, mandates the Election Commission to provide for specification, reservation, choice and allotment of symbols at parliamentary and assembly elections, for the recognition of political parties.

• The party or a candidate has to provide a list of three symbols from the EC’s free symbols list at the time of filing nomination papers in order to get a symbol allotted.

• When a recognised political party splits, the Election Commission takes the decision on assigning the symbol.

Source: The Indian Express

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