CURRENT AFFAIRS 20 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS

20 OCTOBER 2019

1.Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) (gs-2,3)

Context: Centre clarifies on definition of land as forest
The States need not take the Centre’s approval to define what constitutes unclassified land as forest, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the environment ministry, comprising independent experts and officials in the Centre’s forestry division, has clarified
Since 2014, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has been considering evolving a legal definition of forest and reportedly prepared drafts as late as 2016. These, however, have never been made public and the FAC's clarification officially signifies an end to such efforts.
The freedom to define land, not already classified as forests by the Centre or state records, as forest has been the prerogative of the States since 1996 and stems from a Supreme Court order called the Godavarman judgement.

Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) :

The Forest Advisory Committee is a key statutory body which considers questions on the diversion of forest land for non-forest uses such as mining, industrial projects, townships and advises the government on the issue of granting forest clearances.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) :

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating, and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes in the country. The main activities undertaken by the ministry include conservation and survey of the flora of India and fauna of India, forests and other wilderness areas; prevention and control of pollution; afforestation, and land degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of the national parks of India.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the cadre controlling authority of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), one of the three All India Services.

2.Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS)(gs-2)

Context: Govt. seeks suggestions to make CGHS more beneficiary-friendly
To improve the services and make the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) more beneficiary friendly, the government has invited the beneficiaries and other stakeholders to send in their suggestions by the end of November in a letter issued earlier this month.
The suggestions can be sent through e-mail or by letters indicating the issue involved and ways to make this service better.
“The revamping will include availing the services at the CGHS empanelled hospitals and diagnostic centres. The CGHS provides comprehensive health facilities primarily to the Central government employees and pensioners and their dependent family members. The government is committed to provide quality health care facilities through it,’’ noted a senior health official

Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS):

For the last six decades Central Government Health Scheme is providing comprehensive medical care to the Central Government employees and pensioners enrolled under the scheme. In fact CGHS caters to the healthcare needs of eligible beneficiaries covering all four pillars of democratic set up in India namely Legislature, Judiciary, Executive and Press. CGHS is the model Health care facility provider for Central Government employees & Pensioners and is unique of its kind due to the large volume of beneficiary base, and open ended generous approach of providing health care.
Presently approximately 35 lakh beneficiaries are covered by CGHS in 71 cities all over India and the endeavour is to include more cities to improve the accessibility of the services.
CGHS provides health care through following systems of Medicine
Allopathic
Homoeopathic
Indian system of medicine
Ayurveda
Unani
Siddha and
Yoga

3.DNA Technology Regulation Bill (gs-2)

Context:DNA Technology Regulation Bill referred to parliamentary standing committee
The Bill provides for establishment of a national DNA data bank and regional DNA data banks.
The DNA Technology Regulation Bill, which seeks to control the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of a person, has been referred to a parliamentary standing committee for examination, the Lok Sabha secretariat has said.
The Bill that seeks to control the use and application of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology for establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including offenders, victims, suspects and undertrials, was passed by the Lok Sabha in July.
The Bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests by Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Highlights of the Bill

The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of persons in respect of matters listed in a Schedule. These include criminal matters (such as offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860), and civil matters such as parentage disputes, emigration or immigration, and transplantation of human organs.
The Bill establishes a National DNA Data Bank and Regional DNA Data Banks. Every Data Bank will maintain the following indices: (i) crime scene index, (ii) suspects’ or undertrials’ index, (iii) offenders’ index, (iv) missing persons’ index, and (v) unknown deceased persons’ index.
The Bill establishes a DNA Regulatory Board. Every DNA laboratory that analyses a DNA sample to establish the identity of an individual, has to be accredited by the Board.
Written consent by individuals is required to collect DNA samples from them. Consent is not required for offences with punishment of more than seven years of imprisonment or death.
The Bill provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on filing of a police report or court order, and of undertrials on the basis of a court order. Profiles in the crime scene and missing persons’ index will be removed on a written request.

4.International Court of Justice (ICJ)(gs-2)

Context:Security Council needs to take more frequent recourse to ICJ: India
India has said that the UN Security Council needs to take more frequent recourse to the International Court of Justice to promote judicial settlement of international disputes before resorting to any other means.
Yedla Umasankar, First Secretary/Legal adviser in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said on Friday the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, plays an important and critical role in the maintenance of international peace and security by adjudicating disputes between states.
“States are obliged to settle their disputes by peaceful means?, which is one of the fundamental principles under the UN Charter. Article 33 of the Charter further strengthens this duty and provides the means which the parties to a dispute can choose freely,” Mr. Umasankar said.

International Court of Justice (ICJ):
About

ICJ was established in 1945 by the United Nations charter and started working in April 1946.
It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, situated at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
Unlike the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (USA).
It settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions in accordance with international law, on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
It has 193 state parties and current President is Ronny Abraham.

Background

Article 33 of the United Nations Charter lists the negotiation, enquiry, mediation etc. methods for the pacific settlement of disputes between States. Some of these methods involve the services of third parties.
Historically, mediation and arbitration preceded judicial settlement. The former was known in ancient India and the Islamic world, whilst numerous examples of the latter can be found in ancient Greece, in China, among the Arabian tribes, in maritime customary law in medieval Europe, and in Papal practice.
The modern history of international arbitration:
The first phase is generally recognized as dating back from the so-called Jay Treaty of 1794 between the United States of America and Great Britain.
The Alabama Claims arbitration in 1872 between the United Kingdom and the United States marked the start of a second, even more decisive, phase.
The Hague Peace Conference of 1899, convened on the initiative of the Russian Czar Nicholas II, marked the beginning of a third phase in the modern history of international arbitration.
With respect to arbitration, the 1899 Convention provided for the creation of permanent machinery, known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, established in 1900 and began operating in 1902.
The Convention also created a permanent Bureau, located in The Hague, with functions corresponding to those of a court registry or secretariat, and laid down a set of rules of procedure to govern the conduct of arbitrations.
Various plans and proposals submitted between 1911 and 1919, both by national and international bodies and by governments, for the establishment of an international judicial tribunal, which culminated in the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) as an integral part of the new international system set up after the end of the First World War.
In 1943, China, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint declaration recognizing the necessity “of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security”.
Subsequently, G.H. Hackworth (United States) committee was entrusted with preparing a draft Statute for the future international court of justice in 1945.
The San Francisco Conference while keeping committee recommendations in mind decided against compulsory jurisdiction and in favour of the creation of an entirely new court, which would be a principal organ of the United Nations, on the same footing as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat.
The PCIJ met for the last time in October 1945 and resolved to transfer its archives and effects to the new International Court of Justice, which, like its predecessor, was to have its seat at the Peace Palace.
In April 1946, the PCIJ was formally dissolved, and the International Court of Justice, meeting for the first time, elected as its President Judge José Gustavo Guerrero (El Salvador), the last President of the PCIJ.

5.UN PEACEKEEPING,Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) reimbursements for peacekeeping operations.(gs-2,3)

Context:India still awaiting closed peacekeeping missions reimbursements from UN

The UN is facing a “severe liquidity crisis”, reaching its deepest deficit of the decade and will not have enough cash by next month to cover payrolls.
India has voiced concern over the UN’s inability to pay reimbursements for peacekeeping operations conducted by the country and other Troop Contributing Countries and said that the Secretary-General contributed to a “false sense” of financial soundness by using closed peacekeeping funds to pay staff salaries.
The UN is facing a “severe liquidity crisis”, reaching its deepest deficit of the decade and will not have enough cash by next month to cover payrolls.

What is peacekeeping? It’s significance?

United Nations Peacekeeping was created in 1948. Its first mission involved the establishment of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which served to observe and maintain ceasefire during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create conditions for lasting peace.
Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the UN to assist host countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace.
Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing, and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional mandates.

UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

Consent of the parties.
Impartiality
Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Global partnership:

UN peacekeeping is a unique global partnership. It brings together the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop and police contributors and the host governments in a combined effort to maintain international peace and security. Its strength lies in the legitimacy of the UN Charter and in the wide range of contributing countries that participate and provide precious resources.

6.BSF,BORDER GUARD(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:FIR against Border Guard Bangladesh over BSF jawan’s killing

A BSF head constable was killed by a Bangladeshi border guard during a flag meeting on October 17 along the international boundary in West Bengal.
An FIR has been lodged against Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) by its Indian counterpart Border Security Force (BSF) over the killing one of its jawans earlier this week, a senior police officer said.
A Bangladeshi border guard on Thursday fired from his AK-47 rifle during a ‘flag meeting’ along the international boundary in West Bengal, killing BSF head constable Vijay Bhan Singh (51) and injuring another jawan, Rajvir Yadav.
A BSF statement said the incident took place in Murshidabad district around 9 am when a force party approached the BGB troops, standing at a “char” or a riverine in the middle of the Padma river, to resolve an issue linked to Indian fishermen.

BSF:

BSF is primary border guarding organisation of India and termed as First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.
It is the sentinels of Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
It came into existence on 1st December, 1965.
It was created by merging various State Armed Police Battalions for achieving a better coordinated synergy between the border guarding functions in peace time and fighting the war during the eventuality on both Western and Eastern fronts.
BSF is deployed on Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations.
Since its inception, BSF has proven its credentials during various counter insurgency and anti-militancy operations, internal security duties, natural calamities etc.
BSF is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of Union of India under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
It is mandated with guarding India’s land border during peacetime and preventing transnational crime.
BSF currently stands as the world’s largest border guarding force

BORDER GUARD:

The Border Guard Bangladeshformerly known as the Bangladesh Rifles, is the oldest uniformed force of Bangladesh. It is a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. BGB is primarily responsible for the border security of the country, in Bangladesh the force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The Present Director General is Maj. Gen. Shafeenul Islam.
Border Guard Bangladesh, as a paramilitary force, is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the 4,427 kilometres (2,751 mi) border of Bangladesh. BGB boasts a military history spanning over two centuries.During peacetime this force is also responsible for anti-smuggling operations, investigating cross border crime and extending governmental authority to remote and isolated areas. From time to time BGB has also been called upon to assist the administration in the maintenance of internal law & order, relief and rehabilitation work after any kind of natural disaster.During wartime BGB comes under the control of the Ministry of Defence as an auxiliary force to the Bangladesh Army.