1. Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) retained Pakistan in the ‘greylist’ yet again. The FATF also announced the ‘greylisting’ of Jordan, Mali and Turkey, following the conclusion of the Plenary session.
About:
- FATF observed that Pakistan needed to further demonstrate that investigations and prosecutions were being pursued against the senior leadership of UN-designated terror groups, which include the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
- The Pakistan Government has two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 action plan items. It has addressed or largely addressed 30 of the items.
- Its most recent action plan from June this year, which largely focused on money laundering deficiencies, was issued after the FATF’s regional partner APG, that is the Asia-Pacific Group, identified a number of serious issues.
- At the previous Plenary in June, the FATF had kept Pakistan in the list of “jurisdictions under increased monitoring” owing to its failure in prosecuting the top operatives of the Security Council-designated terror groups.
- It had advised that Pakistan should continue to work to address its six strategically important deficiencies, which included enhancing international cooperation by amending the money-laundering law and demonstrating that assistance was being sought from foreign countries in implementing the UNSCR 1373 designations.
Important Info :
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, adopted unanimously on 28 September 2001, is a counter-terrorism measure passed following the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States.
Source: The Hindu
2. INDIA INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM (IIGF)
India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) event will be conducted jointly by Ministry of Electronics and IT, NIXI, and Multistakeholder Group from 8th to 11th of November, 2021.
About:
- The theme of IIGF 2021 is ‘Empower India through Power of Internet’. The event will witness enlightening discussions on the road to Digitization in India.
- The India Internet Government Forum is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF).
- India Internet Governance Forum(IIGF) has been constituted in conformance to IGF-Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda of the UN-based Internet Governance forum (IGF).
- The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder platform bringing representatives together from various groups to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
- Through an open and inclusive process, IIGF brings together all stakeholders in the Global Internet governance ecosystem, including government, industry, civil society, academia - as equal participants of the larger Internet Governance discourse.
Source: PIB
3. UN FUND FOR ‘PEOPLE’S ECONOMY’ IN AFGHANISTAN
The United Nations has set up a special trust fund to provide urgently-needed cash directly to Afghans through a system tapping into donor funds frozen since the Taliban takeover last August.
About:
- With the local economy “imploding”, the aim is to inject liquidity into Afghan households to permit them to survive this winter and remain in their homeland despite turmoil.
- Cash will be provided to Afghan workers in public works programmes, such as drought and flood control programmes, and grants given to micro-enterprises. Temporary basic income would be paid to the vulnerable elderly and disabled.
- Achim Steiner, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) administrator said that Germany, a first contributor, had pledged €50 million ($58 million) to the fund.
Important Info :
Need of this Fund
- The International Monetary Fund said that Afghanistan’s economy is set to contract up to 30% this year and this is likely to further fuel a refugee crisis that will affect its neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe.
- The Islamists’ takeover saw billions in central bank assets frozen and international financial institutions suspend access to funds, although humanitarian aid has continued. Banks are running out of money, civil servants have not been paid and food prices have soared.
- The challenge is to repurpose donor funds already earmarked for Aghanistan.
- The UNDP had costed activities to be covered over the first 12 months at approximately $667 million, she added.
Source : The Hindu
4. TRUTH SOCIAL
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, banned from social media platforms Facebook and Twitter since the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has announced that he is launching a social media company , TRUTH Social, to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech”.
About:
- “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” Mr. Trump said.
- The platform will be made possible via the merger of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Group, with TMTG eventually becoming a publicly listed company.
- The app is expected to roll out across the U.S. in the first quarter of next year, with a beta version being launched next month.
Source: The Hindu
5. INDIA-ISRAEL RELATIONS
India and Israel agreed to resume long-pending negotiations on a free trade agreement, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid in Jerusalem.
About:
- The FTA talks would begin in November and concluded by June 2022. The push for an FTA between the two countries is the latest in a series of attempts to negotiate a trade agreement over the past 14 years.
- Both in 2007, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an FTA would be completed, but talks have lapsed over a number of issues.
- During the last round of talks, both sides explored the possibility of a limited trade deal or a Preferential Trade Agreement for about 200 goods, which had also not been concluded.
- The latest effort for an FTA with Israel comes on the back of the government’s recent drive to resume a number of trade negotiations, and the government has thus far committed to resumed talks with the U.K., Australia and the European Union, expressing the hope they would also be concluded in 2022.
- Israel also announced it would join the India-France led International Solar Alliance (ISA), ahead of the next U.N. Climate Change COP26 summit in Glasgow this November.
Source: The Hindu
6. e-Prisons
The Union Home Ministry has advised the States to update recent photographs of prisoners released on parole/furlough/premature release in the “ePrisons” and “Interoperable Criminal Justice System” database to generate immediate alerts and facilitate easy tracking in the event of their violating the law.
About:
- The e-Prisons, which aims at computerization of the functioning of prisons in the country, has been operationalised in all States and Union Territories.
- e-Prisons data has been integrated with Police and Court system under the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance of Rs.99.49 crores to the States and Union Territories (UTs) for this project and all funds have been released to them.
- e-Prisons uses data maintained by the States and Union Territories on the National Prisons Information Portal as per protocols notified for e-Prisons.
- The system can be accessed through the secure National Informatics Centre (NIC) network, exclusively by the authorized officials of Law Enforcement Agencies and Prisons, through Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
Source: The Hindu
7. KONKAN SHAKTI
The UK and India will launch their biggest joint military exercise, Konkan Shakti, with the re-entry of UK's Carrier Strike Group (CSG) into the western Indian Ocean waters.
About:
- The CSG, with HMS Queen Elizabeth—its new aircraft carrier as the flagship—has been on deployment all summer in the Indo-Pacific waters.
- Konkan Shakti is the first triservice exercise between the two nations.
- Another army exercise, Ajeya Warrior is ongoing in Uttarakhand where around 120 British soldiers are participating. The two navies had engaged in naval war games during a two-day passage exercise (Passex) in the Bay of Bengal in July during the onward leg of the CSG's deployment.
Source: The Hindu
8. PM GATISHAKTI
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved PM GatiShakti National Master Plan including an institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity.
About:
- Prime Minister Modi launched PM GatiShakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity on 13th October, 2021.
- Implementation framework includes Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU) with required technical competencies.
- EGOS will be headed by Cabinet Secretary and will consist of Secretaries of 18 Ministries as members and Head of Logistics Division as Member Convenor. The EGOS has been mandated to review and monitor implementation of the PM GatiShakti NMP to ensure logistics efficiency.
- A Multimodal Network Planning Group (NPG) to be constituted with representation from the heads of Network Planning Division from various Ministries and Departments
- The NPG will be supported by a Technical Support Unit (TSU) located in Logistics Division of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- With this approval, PM GatiShakti shall bring in various stakeholders together and help integrate different modes of transportation. PM Gatishakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity will ensure holistic governance at the Centre of which are people of India, industries of India, manufacturers of India and farmers of India.
Source: PIB
9. NGO’S AND FOREIGN FUNDS
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that NGOs have no fundamental right to receive “unbridled foreign contributions” without regulations.
About:
- It was responding to petitions challenging amendments made in the Foreign Contributions Regulations law in 2020. The petitions had argued that the amendments severely restricted the use of foreign funds by the NGOs for their activities.
- The petitioners had also found it cumbersome that the new law expected 23,000 NGOs to open accounts in the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the capital to receive their foreign funds.
- The Centre said the amendments were meant to ensure that foreign funds were not used to impinge upon the functioning of parliamentary institutions, political associations and other organisations in India.
Source : The Hindu
10. BIHAR VIDHAN SABHA
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind graced the centenary celebrations of Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna today (October 21, 2021).
About:
- The Bihar Vidhan Sabha building turned 100 years old on February 7, 2021.
- Though the building where the session of the state assembly takes place these days, became ready by the end of 1920, it was formally inaugurated on February 7, 1921, by Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, the first governor of the erstwhile Bihar and Orissa province.
- The date also coincides with the beginning of the first session of the Bihar and Orissa Provincial Legislative Council. Lord Sinha addressed the first session after inaugurating the new building.
Important Info :
Background
- The erstwhile province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out from Bengal Presidency in 1912. Eight years later in 1920, the Bihar and Orissa was declared ‘governor province’ after the enforcement of the Government of India Act, 1919.
- After the declaration of the ‘governor province’, it was decided to build a separate legislative building and secretariat in Patna for the province of Bihar and Orissa.
- The present-day Odisha was separated from Bihar on April 1, 1936, while Jharkhand on November 15, 2000.
Source : The Hindu