Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules - 25th March 2019

NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog to organise FinTech Conclave 2019

Relevance In - Prelims ( about FinTech) + Mains ( GS III economic developments)

What's the NEWS
• NITI Aayog is organising a day-long FinTech Conclave

• The objective is to shape India's continued ascendancy in FinTech, build the narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive financial inclusion

• The Conclave will be featuring representatives from across the financial space - central ministries, regulators, bankers, startups, service providers and entrepreneurs.

Know! more about the conclave
• Conclave will host more than 300 representatives from the leading Financial Institutions including HDFC Bank, IndusInd, ICICI Bank, SBI Card, Tata Capital and FinTechs including BankBazaar, PhonePe, Capital Float, Zerodha, PayTM, MobiKwik, PayU, leading venture capital investors, state governments, MSMEs and industry subject matter experts.

• Government of India's efforts focused on Digital India and developing India Stack including Voluntary Aadhaar for financial inclusion have evoked significant interest from various stakeholders in the area of Financial Technology (FinTech).

Know! more about India's Fin Tech market
• India is one of the fastest growing FinTech markets globally and industry research has projected that USD 1 Trillion or 60% of retail and SME credit, will be digitally disbursed by 2029.

• The Indian FinTech ecosystem is the third largest in the globe, attracting nearly USD 6 billion in investments since 2014.

• The Indian FinTech industry is creating cutting edge intellectual property assets in advanced risk management and artificial intelligence that will propel India forward in the global digital economy while simultaneously enabling paperless access to finance for every Indian.

Know! about Financial technology

• Financial technology, often shortened to FinTech or fintech, is the new technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services.

• It is an emerging industry that uses technology to improve activities in finance. The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing services and cryptocurrency are examples of technologies aiming to make financial services more accessible to the general public.

• Financial technology companies consist of both startups and established financial institutions and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial companies.

• Many existing financial institutions are implementing Fintech solutions and technologies in order to improve and develop their services, as well as gaining an improved competitive stance.

Environment Conservation
Indian Forest Act, 1927 proposed amendments

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Indian forest act and new amendments ) + Mains ( GS III environment conservation)

What's the NEWS

• The first draft of the comprehensive amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 has been finalised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)

• A proposed legislation accords significant powers to India's forest officers - including the power issue search warrants, enter and investigate lands within their jurisdictions, and to provide indemnity to forest officers using arms to prevent forest-related offences.

• The Indian Forest Act, 2019 is envisaged as an amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and is an attempt to address contemporary challenges to India's forests.

Know! about the amendments
• Amendment proposed to provide indemnity to Forest-officer using arms etc, to prevent the forest offence

• Forest-officer not below the rank of a Ranger shall have power to hold an inquiry into forest offences and shall have the powers to search or issue a search warrant under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

• Any Forest-officer not below the rank of a Forester may, at any time enter and inspect any land within his area of jurisdiction

• The draft amendment defines community as "a group of persons specified on the basis of government records living in a specific locality and in joint possession and enjoyment of common property resources, without regard to race, religion, caste, language and culture"

• Under the proposed amendment Forest is defined to include "any government or private or institutional land recorded or notified as forest/forest land in any government record and the lands managed by government/community as forest and mangroves, and also any land which the central or state government may by notification declare to be forest for the purpose of this Act.

• Village forests", according to the proposed Act, may be forestland or wasteland, which is the property of the government and would be jointly managed by the community through the Joint Forest Management Committee or Gram Sabha.

• The amendment provides that if the state government, after consultation with the central government, feels that the rights under Forest Rights Act will hamper conservation efforts, then the state may commute such rights by providing compensation to maintain the social organisation of the forest dwelling communities

International Affairs
Trump says US will recognize Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights
Israel captured Golan Heights from Syria after war in 1967

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Golan heights)

What's the NEWS
• US President Trump has announced that the US will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

• Previous US administrations have treated Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory, in line with UN security council resolutions.

• By defying a 52-year-old unanimously adopted UN resolution on "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", Trump has also broken the postwar norm of refusing to recognise the forcible annexation of territory - which has underpinned western and international opposition to the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Know! all about Golan Heights

• Until 1967 Golan Heights was part of Syria. Israel occupied the Golan Heights during the Six Day war (Third Arab Israeli war) held in 1967.

• Israel annexed the region unilaterally in 1981. This unilateral annexation was not recognised by the international community and the Golan Heights was seen as Occupied Syrian Territory.

Importance of Golan Heights for Israel

• Israel argues that civil war in Syria demonstrates the need to keep the plateau as a buffer zone between Israeli towns and the instability of its neighbour.

• Israel also fears that Iran is seeking to establish itself permanently on the Syrian side of the border in order to launch attacks on Israel.

• Israel advanced into the Golan Heights gradually in the years following the 1948 war Arab-Israeli war, and occupied it entirely in the 1967 war.

• That year, UN security council resolution 242 stressed the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every state in the area can live in security".

• United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is stationed in camps and observation posts along the Golan. There is a 400-square-km "Area of Separation" called a demilitarized zone between the Israeli and Syrian armies.

Social Issues
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2019

• 2019 Theme: Mitigating and countering rising nationalist populism and extreme supremacist ideologies
Present context of racial discrimination
• Racist extremist movements based on ideologies that seek to promote populist, nationalist agendas are spreading in various parts of the world, fueling racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, often targeting migrants and refugees as well as people of African descent.
Role of United Nations
• In its recent resolution on eliminating racism, the United Nations General Assembly reiterated that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well-being of their societies.

• The resolution also emphasized that any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and must be rejected, together with theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.

• The report on glorification of Nazism online, identified recent trends and manifestations of glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

• The report highlighted States' obligations under human rights law to counter such extreme ideologies online, as well as the responsibilities of technology companies in the light of human rights principles.

• The recent Christchurch Mosque Shootings in New Zealand is one such event. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination aims to fight against all forms of racial intolerance.

Why it was proclaimed on 21 March
• On March 21st, 1960 police opened re and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid "pass laws" in Sharpeville, South Africa.

• The United Nations General Assembly in 1966 proclaimed March 21st as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2019 and called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

Security Challenges
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)
Relevance IN - Prelims( about UAPA) + Mains ( GS III security challenges and their management )

What's the NEWS
• The Central Government has banned the Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) as an unlawful association under the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Know! about JKLF
• Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is spearheading the separatist ideology in the Kashmir valley and has been at the forefront of the separatist activities and violence since 1988.

• It is also alleged that JKLF was involved in murders of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989 which led to their exodus from the valley.

• It is also said that JKLF is posing a security threat to the country and is posing threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.

Know! about Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967

• UAPA is anti-terrorist law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.

• UAPA's objective is to provide necessary powers to the investigating agencies to act against activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.

• UAPA bans certain terrorist associations, penalises membership and association with such organizations and punishes terrorist activities.

• UAPA imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peaceably without arms and to form associations in interests of sovereignty and integrity of India

Governance
Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose takes oath as first Lokpal chief of India
Relevance IN - Prelims( about Lokpal )+ Mains ( GS II and GS IV important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability)

What's the NEWS
• Justice Ghose, the former Supreme Court judge, was appointed as the country's first Lokpal

• President Ram Nath Kovind administered the Oath of office to Justice Ghose after a long delay of five years.

• The Lokpal Act had received the assent of the President on January 1, 2014.

• The appointment comes over five years after the former United Progressive Alliance government passed the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

• The Lokpal Act provides for an anti-corruption panel that will supervise cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants.

Know! the recent developments

• In September, the Centre had named an eight-member search committee, led by Desai and also comprising former State Bank of India chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash.

• On January 17, the Supreme Court had asked the Lokpal search committee to recommend names for the office by the end of February.

• A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked the Centre to provide the search panel the infrastructure and manpower to help it complete its work. The Centre initiated the process to fill the long-vacant posts of chairperson and members of anti-corruption ombudsman on January 30.
Know! about the Lokpal ( rules and regulations)

• According to the rules, the applicant to the post of chairperson of the Lokpal must be a former chief justice of India or a Supreme Court judge. The applicant for the post of a member should be a former Supreme Court judge or a chief justice of a High Court.

• The applicant must be at least 45 years of age. The rules also state that at least 50% of the members of the Lokpal should be persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and women.

• The chairperson and members will hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

• The salary and allowances of the chairman are same as that of the Chief Justice of India. The salary and allowances of members are same as that of a judge of the Supreme Court

Know! about the members of Lokpal
• The Lokpal act provides for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel and of these, four need to be judicial members.
Judicial Members of Lokpal
• Former Chief Justices of different high courts Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari together with sitting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the Lokpal.
Non-judicial members
• The non-judicial members of the Lokpal are first woman chief of Sashastra Seema Bal Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.

Prelims Practise Question

Consider the following statement about Lokpal

1. The chairperson of the Lokpal must be a former chief justice of India or a Supreme Court judge and a member should be a former Supreme Court judge or a chief justice of a High Court.

2. The chairperson and members will hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

3. The Lokpal act provides for a chairperson and a maximum of nine members in the Lokpal panel and of these, four need to be judicial members.

Find the correct statement from the option given below
a. 1 and 2
b. 2 and 3
c. All
d. None

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