International Day of Remembrance of
the Victims of Slavery and
Transatlantic Slave Trade 2016
observed
25-MAR-2016
25 March: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade 2016 was observed globally on 25 March 2016. The theme for the year 2016 is Remember Slavery: Celebrating the Heritage and Culture of the African Diaspora and its Roots.
The theme draws attention to the rich African culture and traditions that have impacted life in countries that were involved in the slave trade and where the African Diaspora continues to make major contribution in all aspects of life. It also highlights the cultural linkages that exist among people of African descent throughout the world.
Each year on this day, the United Nations honours the memory of millions of Africans forcibly removed from their families and homelands over hundreds of years.
The day also shines a spotlight on racism and prejudice which are prevailing in the present world.
Background
The UN General Assembly through a resolution on 17 December 2007 declared 25 March as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade to commemorate the memory of the victims. It is observed every year.
The resolution also called for the establishment of an outreach programme to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice.
The theme for the year 2015 was Women and Slavery.
Union Cabinet approved India’s
accession to the Ashgabat Agreement
25-MAR-2016
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23 March 2016 gave its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement. The Agreement is an international and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
India’s accession to the Agreement would enable it to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region.
Further, it would also synchronise India’s efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.
India’s intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to the Depository State (Turkmenistan) and upon the consent of the founding members only India would become party to the Agreement.
What is Ashgabat Agreement?
• It was initially signed among Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and Qatar in April 2011.
• It was given additional support in 2014 when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed.
• Qatar withdrew from the agreement in 2013 and Kazakhstan joined the agreement later.
• The agreement aims to develop a shortest trade route between Central Asian countries and Iranian and Omani ports.
• The Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan (ITK) railway line will be the major route according to the Ashgabat Agreement, which became operational in December 2014
About Ashgabat
Ashgabat is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan in Central Asia between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range. It was known as Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927.
Union Cabinet approved World Bank’s
$1500 million support to Swachh
Bharat Mission - Gramin
25-MAR-2016
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23 March 2016 approved the 1500 million US dollar project of World Bank to support Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin (SBM-G).
The approval seeks to provide for the mechanism of incentivisation of States under the SBM-G through World Bank credit. The incentivisation of the States on the basis of their performance under the SBM-G was approved by the Union Cabinet on 24 September 2014.
Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs)
Under the project, the performance of the States will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs). Following are three DLIs.
• Reduction in the prevalence of open defecation: The funds under this result area shall be released to the States on the basis of reduction in prevalence of open defecation amongst rural households in the State, compared to the previous year.
• Sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in Villages: The funds under this result area, shall be released on the basis of estimated population residing in ODF villages.
• Increase in percentage of rural population served by improved Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM): The funds under this will be based on the population served with acceptable level of SLWM services.
Further, the States will pass on more than 95 percent of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds to the appropriate districts, Blocks, Gram Panchayats, etc levels. The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector.
What the Project will do?
• It will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019.
• The incentive framework will reorient efforts of States towards the SBM-G 'outcomes'
• It will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation.
• It will support the SBM-G programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining open defecation- free and clean environment.
• It will ensure a better quality of life for the rural population.
Background
The proposed Project is not a new scheme. It is part of the existing SBM-G, wherein Performance- based Incentive Grant Scheme is proposed to be launched through World Bank support credit funds.
The project comes in the background of acceleration of efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin which has a goal to accelerate efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019.
Australia’s Shane Watson announced
retirement from international cricket
25-MAR-2016
Australia’s Shane Watson on 24 March 2016 announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the 2016 World Twenty20 Tournament.
Watson retired from test cricket in September 2015 and since then he didn’t play any One Day Internationals also.
Highlights of Shane Watson’s cricket career
• Nicknamed Watto, he is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler.
• He debuted for the Australian cricket team in 2002, playing his first One Day International against South Africa. He debuted in the test cricket on 2 January 2005 against Pakistan at Sydney, Australia.
• He batted in 109 innings of 59 test matches and scored 3731 runs of which 176 was his highest score. He also bowled in 93 innings of those matches and took 75 wickets.
• In ODIs, he scored 5718 runs from 190 matches with an average of 40.55. He also took 168 wickets with 31.79 average.
• In T20 Internationals, he played 52 matches so far and accumulated 1315. His highest score is 124 (not out).
• At his peak he reached No.1 on the ICC's T20 international batting rankings and spent two years as the No.1 all-rounder.
• In ODIs he reached No.1 as an all-rounder in 2011 and also was at the 3rd position as a batsman.
• He also holds the record of highest ODI batting average of all Australian opening batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs.
ISRO established GIRI Radar System
at Tirupati
25-MAR-2016
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 21 March 2016 established the Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer (GIRI) near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
It was set up at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) which is an autonomous research institute of the Department of Space.
Features of GIRI System
• It is a 30 MHz radar system that will be engaged in meteor and space weather research in a comprehensive way.
• It consists of a rectangular antenna array of 160 two-element Yagi-antenna, arranged in a 20x8 matrix, 20 transmitter units, 6 digital receivers including data processing systems, a radar controller, and a host computer.
• Its primary objective is to carry out unattended observations towardsstudying the forcing from the sun like variation in solar flux, solar flare and magnetic storm on the ionospheric irregularities.
• It also seeks to study unattended observations from the underneath atmosphere (e.g., waves generated by weather phenomena) on the ionospheric irregularities.
• It will provide important information on the angular location of plasma irregularities during the onset phase and its relationship to background ionospheric state parameters and sunset terminator.
• Investigations made using this facility are expected to improve the skill in Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB) forecasting which is detrimental for satellite based navigation/communication applications.
About National Atmospheric Research Laboratory
• It is an autonomous society supported by Department of Space and is located at Gadanki near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
• It is one of the specialized atmospheric research in the country to conduct basic atmospheric research, indigenous technology development for atmospheric probing and weather and climate modeling.
• It regularly operates state-of-the-art MST radar, Rayleigh / Mie Lidar, Boundary Layer Lidar, Sodium Lidar, Lower Atmospheric Wind Profiler, Sodar and Dual frequency GPS receiver.
• Its facilities are available for national and international scientists to conduct atmospheric research.
• The proposed up-gradation of the upcoming active array MST radar into Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) will provide a unique opportunity for scientists from both home and abroad to conduct frontline atmospheric and ionospheric research.
• With the ISR upgrade, NARL will become the first comprehensive low latitude observatory in the world.
US Navy Tug USS Conestoga wreck
discovered after 95 Years
25-MAR-2016
US Navy tug USS Conestoga was in news on 23 March 2016 as its wreck was discovered near one of the Farallones Islands about 30 miles (50 km) west of San Francisco. It was announced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Navy of United States.
The World War I era tug was missing since 1921 and the discovery of the wreck solved a 95 year-old mystery of its disappearance.
The wreck of the U.S. Navy tugboat USS Conestoga is seen on sonar in at a depth of 185 feet in the waters of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in California.
The wood deck and other upper features have collapsed into the hull due to corrosion and age.
Marine growth covers the exterior. No human remains have been found.
About USS Conestoga
Conestoga was an US Navy tug, bound for American Samoa via Hawaii had departed from San Francisco Bay on 25 March 1921 and vanished with 56 men.
The Navy declared Conestoga and its crew lost in June 1921. It was the last Navy ship to be lost without a trace in peacetime.
Unraveling the mystery began in 2009, when NOAA found an uncharted likely shipwreck in 189 feet (57.6 meters) of water about three miles (five km) off Southeast Farallon Island, in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
The agency began an investigation in September 2014 and the ship was identified in October 2015.
Investigators believe that the Conestoga sank as it tried to reach a protected cove on Southeast Farallon Island.
Hollywood Comedian Garry Shandling
died
25-MAR-2016
Renowned Comedian, actor, writer and producer Garry Shandling was died on 24 March 2016 in Santa Monica. He was 66.
He was best known for the shows, It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show.
About Garry Shandling
• He was born in Chicago and raised in Tucson, Arizona.
• He started out majoring in electrical engineering before completing a marketing degree at the University of Arizona.
• He guest-hosted on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and created his own sitcom It's Garry Shandling's Show in 1986.
• The show, also co-created by Alan Zweibel, was nominated for four Emmys, and ran until 1990.
• He starred and co-created Larry Sanders Show for HBO and was nominated for 18 Emmys for it and, along with Peter Tolan, won an Emmy for the series finale.
• He also acted in films like Iron Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dr Dolittle, Zoolander and Over the Hedge.
• He also served as a popular awards show host for emceeing the Grammys in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994, and the Emmys in 2000 and 2004.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic sentenced to 40-year
imprisonment
25-MAR-2016
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 24 March 2016 sentenced former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to 40-year imprisonment for his involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
The ruling was pronounced by the Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber III of the Tribunal O-Gon Kwon of South Korea.
As per the ruling, Karadzic was found guilty of 10 out 11 charges related to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes charges. However, he was acquitted of a second count of genocide in Bosnian towns.
So far, Karadzic is the most senior political figure to be convicted by the ICTY for involvement in the Bosnia’s 1992-95 war that left 100000 people dead.
Apart from Radovan Karadzic, late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Ratko Mladic, the General who commanded Bosnian Serb forces, were tried by the Tribunal so far.
While Milosevic died in custody in 2006 before a verdict was reached, Mladic is in a UN cell awaiting judgment.
International Court of Justice ruled Neither Croatia nor Serbia committed genocide during Balkan War
Bosnian war
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a significant split developed on the issue of whether to stay with the Yugoslav federation (overwhelmingly favored among Serbs) or seek independence (overwhelmingly favored among Bosniaks and Croats) that culminated in the Bosnian war (1992-95).
• During the course of war, Serbs, Bosniaks (mostly Muslims) and Croats fought among themselves that led to Europe’s worst war scenario since the World War II.
• Among the perpetrators of these heinous crimes on humanity, Radovan Karadzic is considered as one of the key personnel. He is the former President of Republika Srpska (RS).
Comment
Opponents of the ICTY say its prosecutors have disproportionately targeted Serbs as 94 of 161 suspects charged were from the Serbian side, while 29 were Croat and 9 Bosnian Muslim.
They further argue that it is a pro-Western instrument which is evident from the fact that the Tribunal failed to bring charges against two other leaders of that era who have since died -- Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic.
About ICTY
• The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), situated in The Hague, is a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990’s.
• In May 1993, The Tribunal was established in May 1993 by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
• It was the first war crimes court created by the UN and the first international war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals.
• By bringing perpetrators to trial, the ICTY aims to deter future crimes and render justice to thousands of victims and their families, thus contributing to a lasting peace in the former Yugoslavia.
Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff died
25-MAR-2016
The Netherland's soccer legend Johan Cruyff died of lung cancer on 24 March 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. He was 68.
Cruyff’s talent was such that he is comfortably placed alongside Pele, Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer and Lionel Messi as the best footballers of all time.
About Johan Cruyff
• He was considered as one of the best player, coach, thinker, speaker and mentor in the football world.
• Apart from the national team of The Netherlands, he represented Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs among others.
• He was also the manager of the football clubs – Barcelona, Ajax and Catalonia.
• During the career spanning over 19 years, he scored 33 goals in the 48 matches he played for The Netherlands national team. Overall, he scored 392 times in 520 games.
• As a coach he had 242 victories in 387 matches, with 75 draws and 70 losses.
• He reached his sporting peak in the early 1970s and went on to successfully manage Barcelona.
• With Cruyff on the field, Ajax won the European Cup for three consecutive years from 1971-1973 before he moved to FC Barcelona midseason in 1973 and led the middle-of-the-table team to its first national title in a decade.
• He played a key role as the coach of The Netherlands in 1974 FIFA World Cup in which the team was runner up.
• He was European player of the year three times and, in 1999, was named Europe's Best Player of The 20th Century.
• In the football world, he is famous for inventing 'Total Football' tactics in which players constantly interchange roles.
• The tactics influenced the game worldwide, bringing fresh life to a sport that had become stuck in a defensive mindset.
• He is also associated with the ‘Cruyff turn’ -- a technique he used for passing defenders by faking toward them, then flicking the ball behind his own other leg in the opposite direction and darting after it.
Union Cabinet approved MoU between
India and UAE to mobilise long term
investment into NIIF
26-MAR-2016
The Union Cabinet on 23 March 2016 gave its ex-post facto approval for a MoU between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to mobilise long term investment into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 11 February 2016 to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects in India.
Features of the MoU
• It seeks to mobilize funds to develop commercially viable projects including greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.
• It will facilitate establishment of a transparent and high-level framework and collaboration platform for smooth flow of investments for this purpose.
• It will augment investments from UAE’s investment institutions in appropriate infrastructure projects and institutions in India including NIIF.
• A joint working group comprising of the concerned representatives of both parties will be set up to terms, principles and criteria jointly.
Comment
The MoU is a part of India’s efforts to mobiles funds for infrastructure development from the UAE.
Earlier, in August 2015, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit both the countries agreed to set up the UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund with the aim of reaching a target of 75 billion US dollars.
The fund will support investment in India’s plans for rapid expansion of next generation infrastructure, especially in railways, ports, roads, airports and industrial corridors and parks.
About National Investment and
Infrastructure Fund
• The fund was approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2015 to fund new and rejuvenate stressed projects so that stalled investment cycle is revived in the country.
• It was established as a Category II Alternate Investment Funds (AIF) as per the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• It has an initial corpus of 20000 crore rupees which can be leveraged by infrastructure companies including Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB).
RBI issued revised Framework for
Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs
26-MAR-2016
The Reserve Bank of India on 17 March 2016 issued revised Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs). This revised Framework will supersede RBI’s earlier Guidelines on Rehabilitation of Sick Micro and Small Enterprises issued on 1 November 2012.
The Framework has to be put in place by the banks not later than 30 June 2016.
Key Guidelines
• It shall be applicable to MSMEs having loan limits up to 25 crore rupees including accounts under consortium or multiple banking arrangement (MBA).
• It classifies three categories in Special Mention Account (SMA) to identify incipient stress in the accounts of MSMEs in case of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs):
a) SMA-0: Principal or interest payment not overdue for more than 30 days but account showing signs of incipient stress
b) SMA-1: Principal or interest payment overdue between 31-60 days
c) SMA-2: Principal or interest payment overdue between 61-90 days
• On the basis of the above early warning signals, the branch maintaining the account should consider forwarding the stressed accounts with aggregate loan limits above 10 lakh rupees to the Committee for Stressed MSMEs within five working days for a suitable corrective action plan (CAP).
• As regards accounts with aggregate loan limits up to 10 lakh rupees identified as SMA-2, the account should be mandatorily examined for CAP by the branch itself under the authority of the branch manager /designated official as decided by the bank.
• In order to enable faster resolution of stress in an MSME account, every bank shall form Committees for Stressed MSMEs
• The chairperson of the Committee shall be the regional or zonal head of the convener bank
• Officer-in-charge of the MSME credit department of the convener bank at the regional or zonal level shall be member and convener of the Committee.
• One independent external expert with expertise in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises related matters to be nominated by bank.
• One representative from the concerned State Government shall be endeavoured to be nominated to the Committee.
• The option under CAP may include Rectification, Restructuring and Recovery among others.
• If the Committee decides on options of either ‘Rectification’ or ‘Restructuring’, but the account fails to perform as per the agreed terms under these options, the Committee shall initiate recovery
• Restructuring cases shall be taken up by the Committee only in respect of assets reported as Standard, Special Mention Account or Sub-Standard by one or more lenders of the Committee. Wilful defaulters shall not be eligible for restructuring.
Although, the Ministry of MSME on 29 May 2015 had notified a ‘Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises but the present Framework seeks make it compatible with the existing regulatory guidelines on ‘Income Recognition, Asset Classification and provisioning pertaining to Advances’ issued to banks by RBI.
Union Government notified E-Waste
Management Rules, 2016
26-MAR-2016
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 23 March 2016 notified the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The new set of rules will supersede the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 and will pave the way for more transparent and environment friendly management of e-waste across the country.
Highlights of the E-Waste Management
Rules, 2016
• Manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) have been introduced as additional stakeholders in the rules.
• The applicability of the rules has been extended to components, consumables, spares and parts of electromechanical.
• Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp were brought under the purview of rules for the first time.
• Collection mechanism based approach has been adopted to include collection centre, collection point, take back system etc for collection of e-waste by Producers under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
• Option has been given for setting up of PRO, e-waste exchange, e- retailer, Deposit Refund Scheme as additional channel for implementation of EPR by Producers to ensure efficient channelization of e-waste.
• Provision for Pan India EPR Authroization by CPCB has been introduced replacing the State wise EPR authorization.
• Deposit Refund Scheme was introduced as an additional economic instrument wherein the producer charges an additional amount as a deposit at the time of sale of the electrical and electronic equipment.
• The amount will be returned to the consumer along with interest when the end-of life electrical and electronic equipment is returned.
• The e-waste exchange as an option has been provided in the rules as an independent market instrument offering assistance or independent electronic systems offering services for sale and purchase of e-waste.
• The manufacturer is also now responsible to collect e-waste generated during the manufacture of any electrical and electronic equipment and channelise it for recycling or disposal and seek authorization from SPCB.
• For the first time, the roles of the State Government was introduced in the Rules in order to ensure safety, health and skill development of the workers involved in the dismantling and recycling operations.
• State Government will prepare an integrated plan for effective implementation of these provisions and submit annual report to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The transportation of e-waste shall be carried out as per the manifest system whereby the transporter shall be required to carry a document (three copies) prepared by the sender, giving the details.
• Liability for damages caused to the environment or third party due to improper management of e-waste including provision for levying financial penalty for violation of provisions of the Rules introduced.
• Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Committee/Council/Corporation) were given the duty to collect and channelized the orphan products to authorized dismantler or recycler.
BHEL commissioned 600 MW Jaipur
Thermal Power Plant in Telangana
26-MAR-2016
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 25 March 2016 announced that it successfully commissioned a 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Telangana.
The unit was commissioned at the upcoming 2x600 MW Singareni Thermal Power Project (TPP) located at Jaipur in Adilabad district of Telangana.
The 1200 MW Jaipur Power Plant is being developed by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). With the commissioning of this unit, SCCL has now successfully diversified into the power generation business.
SCCL is India's second largest coal mining company and operates 16 opencast and 32 underground mines in 4 districts of Telangana.
For Telangana, it is the second major plant after the formation of the State in June 2014. Earlier, in December 2015, the 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant Stage-II was commissioned at Bhoopalapally in Warangal district.
Incidentally, both these thermal plants were commissioned by the BHEL that has a major contribution in Telangana's Power Sector. So far, the company has commissioned power plants totaling 5180 MW in the State.
And, the Telangana Government has already placed orders on BHEL for executing around 6000 MW of thermal power projects in the State on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) basis.