Armed Forces Flag Day - 2018

Aim:

  The aim of the campaign to generate awareness about the ‘Armed Forces Flag Day Fund’ and encourage people to contribute generously.

        Highlights:

• Since 1949, 07 December is observed as Armed Forces Flag Day throughout India to honour the martyrs as well as men and women in uniform, who valiantly fight on our borders to safeguard the country’s honour.
• It is an important occasion to remind the nation of its obligation to look after veterans, disabled soldiers, war widows and dependents of those who have sacrificed their lives for the safety, honour and Integrity of the motherland.
• The ‘Armed forces Flag Day Fund’ (AFFDF) has been constituted by the Government of India for the welfare and rehabilitation of the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) community.
• There are more than 30 lakh ESM Including 6.5 Iakh widows and around 60,000 ESM are added every year due to early superannuation.
• Contributions received from prospective donors of AFFDF are utillsed to provide basis sustenance needs of the ESM community through a medium of welfare schemes.

COP-24

        Why COP-24 is very important?

         COP-24 is very significant as it is expected to finalise guidelines for implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2016.

        What India expects?

• India expects that COP-24 should be able to frame guidelines, which are pragmatic and gives due consideration to challenges and priorities of developing countries inter alia different starting points as compared to developed countries, their vulnerabilities, development priorities like eradication of poverty, food security, energy access, providing health infrastructure etc.
• COP-24 should give equal focus to all agenda items, and the outcome of COP-24 should be balanced, inclusive, comprehensive and consistent with the principles and provisions of Convention and its Paris Agreement.

        About Paris Agreement

• The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and for the first time brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
• The Paris Agreement central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives.
• The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.

         Nationally determined contributions:

    The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts.

India presents nine-point agenda at G20 summit for strong cooperation among them to deal with fugitive economic offenders

        Nine Point Agenda:

1. Cooperation in legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime, early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined.
2. Joint efforts by G-20 countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to fugitive economic offenders.
3. Principles of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNOTC), especially related to ‘International Cooperation’ should be fully and effectively implemented.
4. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) should be called upon to assign priority and focus to establishing international cooperation that leads to timely and comprehensive exchange of information between the competent authorities and financial intelligence units.
5. FATF should be tasked to formulate a standard definition of fugitive economic offenders. FATF should also develop a set of commonly agreed and standardized procedures related to identification, extradition and judicial proceedings for dealing with fugitive economic offenders to provide guidance and assistance to G-20 countries, subject to their domestic law.
6. setting up of a common platform for sharing experiences and best practices including successful cases of extradition, gaps in existing systems of extradition and legal assistance.
7. G20 forum should consider initiating work on locating properties of economic offenders who have a tax debt in the country of their residence for its recovery.

         About Fugitive Economic Offenders Act

•  A fugitive economic offender is an individual who has committed a fraud of at least ₹ 100 crore and has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution.
• The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, allows designated special court to declare a person as fugitive economic offender and to confiscate his property, including ‘benami’ ones.
• All the rights and title in the confiscated property shall, from the date of the confiscation order, vest in the central government, free from all encumbrances.
• The Enforcement Directorate will be the investigative agency under the Act.

New frigates to get BrahMos

         About BrahMos:

• The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is the fastest cruise missile in the world. It is a joint venture between the Russia and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
• It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology.
• The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
• It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0, which is being upgraded to Mach 5.0.
• The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase.
• An air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012. A hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, is also presently under development with a speed of Mach 7-8 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2020.
• In 2016, as India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy.

Union Home Minister inaugurates Hornbill Festival in Kohima

         About Hornbill Festival:

• The Hornbill Festival is a celebration held every year from 1 - 10 December, in Nagaland, Northeast India. It is also called the 'Festival of Festivals'.
• Annual Hornbill Festival is a spectacular event showcasing the rich ancient culture and civilization of the people of Nagaland. It powerfully demonstrates the cultural diversity and civilizational unity of the people.
• The aim of the festival is to revive and protect the rich culture of Nagaland and display its extravaganza and traditions.
• Organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, the Hornbill Festival showcases a mélange of cultural displays under one roof.
• This festival usually takes place between 1 and 7 December every year in Kohima.

         Background:

• The state of Nagaland is home to several tribes, which have their own distinct festivals. More than 60% of the population of Nagaland depends on agriculture and therefore most of their festivals revolve around agriculture. The Nagas consider their festivals sacred, so participation in these festivals is essential.
• To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December. The first festival was held in 2000.
• The festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state's tribes.