Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism

About Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism:

• The Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is a proposed treaty which intends to criminalize all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms, and safe havens.
• The negotiations for this treaty are currently (May 2018) under way has been under negotiation at the United Nations General Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee established by Resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996 on Terrorism and the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee.
• The negotiations are currently deadlocked even after two decades of proposal i.e. through 1996 till 2016.

• Although consensus eludes towards adoption of the terrorism convention, but discussions have yielded three separate protocols that aim to tackle terrorism:

1. International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted on 15 December 1997;
2. International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted on 9 December 1999;
3. International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted on 13 April 2005.

Proposed comprehensive definition of terrorism:

The definition of the crime of terrorism which has been on the negotiating table of the Comprehensive Convention since 2002 reads as follows:

"1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person, by any means, unlawfully and intentionally, causes:

(a) Death or serious bodily injury to any person; or

(b) Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system, an infrastructure facility or the environment; or

(c) Damage to property, places, facilities, or systems referred to in paragraph1 (b) of this article, resulting or likely to result in major economic loss, when the purpose of the conduct, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act."

This definition is not controversial in itself; the deadlock in the negotiations arises instead from the opposing views on whether such a definition would be applicable to the armed forces of a state and to Self-determination movements.

The coordinator of the negotiations, supported by most western delegations, proposed the following exceptions to address those issues:

• Nothing in this Convention shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States, peoples and individuals under international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and international humanitarian law.
• The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention.
• The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by this Convention.
• Nothing in this article condones or makes lawful otherwise unlawful acts, nor precludes prosecution under other laws.

The state members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference proposed instead the following exceptions:

• The activities of the parties during an armed conflict, including in situations of foreign occupation, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention.
• The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are in conformity with international law, are not governed by this Convention.

Thus, due to difference in defining terrorism will affect fighting terrorism per se. All Countries under UN platform resolve CCIT at early stage and eleiminate terrorism and terror sponsers.

Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951

What Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 says?

Prohibition of public meetings during period of forty-eight hours ending with hour fixed for conclusion of poll.-

(1) No person shall-

(a) convene, hold, attend, join or address any public meeting or procession in connection with an election; or

(b) display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus; or

(c) propagate any election matter to the public by holding, or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the members of the public thereto, in any polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area.

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine, or with both.

(3) In this section, the expression “election matter” means any matter intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of an election.

Key Facts:

• The task of maintaining campaign silence during last 48 hours before the conclusion of polling is becoming increasingly onerous in the light of the increasing influence of digital media.
• Apart from the regulation by law and ECI instructions, the resolve, proactive support and sustained effort by all stake holders which include political parties, media, civil society organizations, academia and educational institutions, the youth and citizens at large, will remain necessary to contain the evil impact.
• The Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha to review and suggest modifications and changes in the provisions of the Section 126 and other sections of the Representation of the People Act 1951, provisions of Model Code of Conduct and any other ECI instruction in this regard has submitted itsreport today i.e. on 10th January,2019 to the Commission.

The Committee had the following scope of work:

1. Study and examine the present provisions of the Section 126 and other related Sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and identify difficulties/critical gaps to regulate the violation of the said provisions of the act, particularly during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the completion of the poll, mentioned in section 126 and suggest necessary amendment/modification.
2. Examine the type, category or growth of communication technology or media platform in the country and difficulties in regulating these media platforms during multiphase election when prohibitory period of 48 hours are in force.
3. Impact of new media platforms and social media during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the close of poll and its implication in view of the provisions of section 126.
4. Examine the present provisions of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) related to the above issues and suggest modification in this regard.

The recommendations made by the Committee, when implemented (after adoption by the ECI with necessary modification or additions), will help in minimizing the possible interference of activities which aim at indirectly influencing voters during the valuable silence period of 48 hours provided to them.

Bilateral Swap Arrangement between India and Japan

What is Bilateral swap Arrangement?

• A currency swap, also known as a cross-currency swap, is an off-balance sheet transaction in which two parties exchange principal and interest in different currencies.
• The parties involved in currency swaps are generally financial institutions that either act on their own or as an agent for a non-financial corporation. The purpose of a currency swap is to hedge exposure to exchange rate risk or reduce the cost of borrowing a foreign currency.
• A currency swap is similar to an interest rate swap, except that in a currency swap, there is often an exchange of principal, while in an interest rate swap, the principal does not change hands.
• In currency swap, on the trade date, the counter parties exchange notional amounts in the two currencies. For example, one party receives $10 million British pounds (GBP), while the other receives $14 million U.S. dollars (USD).  This implies a GBP/USD exchange rate of 1.4. At the end of the agreement, they will swap again using the same exchange rate, closing out the deal.
• Since swaps can last for a long time, depending on the individual agreement, the exchange rate in the market place (not on the swap) can change dramatically over time. This is one of the reasons institutions use these currency swaps. They know exactly how much money they will receive and have to pay back in the future.
• During the term of the agreement, each party pays interest periodically, in the same currency as the principal received, to the other party. There are number of ways interest can paid. It can paid at a fixed rate, floating rate, or one party may pay a floating while the other pays a fixed, or they could both pay floating or fixed rates.
• On the maturity date, the parties exchange the initial principal amounts, reversing the initial exchange at the same exchange rate.

Salient Features:

The swap arrangement is an agreement between India and Japan to essentially exchange and re-exchange a maximum amount of USD 75 Billion for domestic currency, for the purpose of maintaining an appropriate level of balance of payments for meeting short-term deficiency in foreign exchange.

Benefits:

• The BSA is a very good example of mutual cooperation between India and Japan for strategic objective of assisting each other in times of difficulty and for restoring international confidence.
• This facility will enable the agreed amount of Capital being available to India on tap for use. Also, with this arrangement in place, prospects of Indian companies would improve in tapping foreign capital as there would be greater confidence in stability of country’s exchange rate.
• Availability of such swap line to tide over difficulties arising out of Balance of Payment (BOP) would deter speculative attacks on the domestic currency and greatly enhance the RBI’s ability to manage exchange rate volatility.

Sino-Indian Digital Collaboration Plaza

Highlights:

• This is a partnership by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) with Municipal Governments of Guiyang and Dalian. A Joint Venture comprising of one Indian and Chinese company has been tasked with the running of the platform.
• Indian IT enterprises are world renowned for their expertise in business transformation and operational optimization by using IT tools in complex business environments.
• Indian IT enterprises have a long and distinguished pedigree of international clients, whom they have helped transform their businesses and globalize and revolutionize with changing times.
• SIDCOP, which is a boundary-less marketplace offers this opportunity for Chinese enterprises in order to assist them in operational optimization and adopting industry best practices in business solutions.
• This platform could be useful to connect with top providers from India and help Chinese enterprises source the right solution providers for their projects.

Indus Food 2019

Theme: ‘World Food Supermarket’

Highlights:

• The event is aimed at promoting India as a strong and reliable exporter of food and beverage products to the world.
• INDUS FOOD 2019 will promote value addition to India’s agriculture exports and integrate Indian farmers and agricultural products with global value chains.
• With more than 700 buyers from 70 countries visiting INDUS FOOD-II and more than 500 food suppliers, the event will lead to greater interaction of Indian exporters with global customers leading to enhanced product development and better price realization in international markets.
• Mega food event will bring business opportunities to the doorstep of Indian producers and manufacturers and help small exporters, who cannot afford participation in overseas fairs, to have a direct interface with foreign buyers who visit India for this show.
• INDUS FOOD is a global platform where top exporters from Food and Beverage Industry of India will be participating and buyers from across the world have been invited.
• INDUS FOOD is a platform of its kind exclusively devoted to enhancing Indian exports in F&B sector. It enables B2B engagements of buyers and suppliers, after careful business matchmaking, which takes care of precise business requirements of each participant, and enables him to pick and choose whom to meet.