National
Financial Reporting Authority.
The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)
has recently constituted a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to aid and advise
the executive body of the NFRA on issues relating to drafts of accounting
standards and auditing standards.
About National
Financial Reporting Authority:
• It was constituted in 2018 by the Government of
India under section 132 (1) of the Companies Act, 2013. It is an audit
regulator.
• It was taken after the role of auditors and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India came under the scanner for alleged lapses in various corporate scams including that at the Punjab National Bank.
• It consists of a chairperson, who shall be a
person of eminence and having expertise in accountancy, auditing, finance or
law, appointed by the Central Government and such other members not exceeding
15.
It has recommended accounting and auditing policies
and standards to be adopted by companies for approval by the Central
Government.
• It monitors and enforce compliance with accounting
standards and auditing standards.
• It oversees the quality of service of the
professions associated with ensuring compliance with such standards and suggest
measures for improvement in the quality of service.
• It can undertake investigation related to the
following class of companies and bodies corporate, namely, Companies whose
securities are listed on any stock exchange in India or outside India and
Insurance companies, banking companies, companies engaged in the
generation or supply of electricity.
• Where professional or other misconduct is proved,
it has the power to make order for imposing penalty of not less than one lakh
rupees, but which may extend to five times of the fees received, in case of
individuals; and not less than ten lakh rupees, but which may extend to ten
times of the fees received, in case of firms.
• Its account is monitored by the Comptroller and
Auditor-General of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
India
directs e-commerce platform to ensure mandatory declaration of country of origin.
The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday
that all e-commerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, have to
ensure the mandatory declaration of country of origin of imported products sold
on their respective sites.
The Department of Consumer Affairs, in an affidavit, said the law relating to
the issue was enacted under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Legal
Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.
The department stated that the enforcement of the provisions of the Act and
Rules rests with the State and Union Territory governments. “Whenever
violations are observed, action is taken by the legal metrology officials of
the State/ UT governments in accordance with the law,” it added.
Meanwhile Indian Minister said all digital platforms
need to be accountable and sensitive towards concerns related to defence and
data privacy of citizens of sovereign countries.
According to an official statement, Mr. Prasad added
that India was soon going to put in place a robust personal data protection law
which will not only address data privacy-related concerns of citizens but also
ensure availability of data for innovation and economic development. “In view
of these concerns, digital platforms having presence in many countries must
become trustworthy, safe and secure,” the statement added.
F
C chairman moots greater fiscal space for states to meet expenditure
obligations.
Pushing for a relaxation in fiscal norms governing
the finances of the states, NK Singh, chairman of the India's 15th Finance
Commission, said states needed greater fiscal space to meet their expenditure
obligations.
According to Singh, the opaqueness and clutter in
the demarcation of powers of the central and state governments under the
Constitution and other Acts posed a hindrance to India’s pandemic response.
In the short term, Singh called for greater harmony between the Disaster
Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, both of which have
been invoked in the process of responding to the pandemic.
While the newer Act gives powers to all levels of governments from the Centre
to districts to set up disaster management authorities, more power rests with
the Centre in terms of policy.
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reports 25%
members from Upper House facing criminal charges.
About a quarter of the sitting RajyaSabha members
have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis of
their self-sworn affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
released on Wednesday.
With three seats vacant and Kerala MP K.K. Ragesh’s
affidavit being unavailable, the ADR report said that an analysis of 229 of the
233 RajyaSabha seats that represent the States and the Union Territories showed
that 54 MPs or 24% had declared criminal cases.
Out of the 229 MPs, which included the newly-elected
representatives taking the oath on Wednesday, 28 or 12% had declared serious
criminal cases.
The ADR analysis found that 203 of the 229 MPs, or
89% of those analysed, had declared assets over ₹1crore, including 90% of the
BJP MPs, 93% of the Congress MPs, 100% of the AIADMK MPs and 69% of the
Trinamool Congress MPs.
The ADR report said BJP MP from Manipur Maharaja
Sanajaoba Leishemba declared ₹5.48 lakh in assets, the lowest of the MPs
analysed, followed by AamAadmi Party MP from Delhi Sanjay Singh, who declared ₹6.6
lakh in assets, and BJP MP from Jharkhand Samir Oraon, who declared ₹18.69
lakh.
China-India reported to agree on not to use UAV’s along LAC.
The Chinese and Indian armies have agreed to not use unmanned aerial vehicles at the friction points in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), other than for mutually agreed “short time periods”.
According to a senior government official that The confidence-building measure has impacted real-time verification of the de-escalation process, as aerial objects cannot be used within 10 km of the face-off sites.
Turkmenistan granted observer status in WTO.
Turkmenistan has been granted Observer status by the
World Trade Organization (WTO ) General Council. Turkmenistan has become the
last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body, a WTO
Spokesperson said yesterday.
The Central Asian country filed a request for
Observer status in May and expressed willingness to trigger the talks on
accession to the WTO within five years.
India
may join Iran's Farzad-B Gas Field
Iran told India in January 2020 that it would
develop the Farzad-B gas field on its own.However, India can join the Project
Later.
·
The Iranian
natural gas field was opened in 2008 and India had been negotiating the rights
to oil and gas from the field.
·
The US sanctions
have affected India’s oil imports from Iran as well as plans for
developing this Gas Field.
Farzad-B Gas
Field:
·
The Farzan-B Gas
Field is located in the Persian Gulf.
·
Indian estimates
cleared that , the field holds about 19 trillion cubic feet of gas.
·
In 2002, an
exploration contract with an Indian consortium consisting of ONGC Videsh,
Indian Oil Corporation, and Oil India was signed. They discovered the gas
reserves in the
field. The contract expired in 2009.
PASSEX
was conducted by Indian Naval Ships with US Navy.
Indian Naval ships has recently conducted a Passage
Exercise (PASSEX) with the U.S.
Navy’s USS Nimitz carrier strike group near the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is
normally undertaken whenever an opportunity arises, in contrast to pre-planned
maritime drills.
About PASSEX:
• The Four frontline Indian naval ships which
included INS Shivalik, INS Sahyadri, INS Kamorta and INS Rana, teamed up with
carrier USS Nimitz and three other U.S. ships to conduct the exercise.
• The USS Nimitz is the U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carrier.
• It aims to improve the cooperation between the
U.S. and Indian maritime forces and to maximize training and interoperability,
which also include air defence.
• It will enhance both sides' ability to counter
threats at sea, from piracy to violent extremism. A free and open sea promotes
an international rules-based order wherein each
country can reach its potential without sacrificing national sovereignty.
• It will also present opportunities to build upon
the pre-existing strong relationship between the United States and India and
allow both countries to learn from each other.
• The PASSEX comes amid a high alert by the Indian
Navy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) due to the stand-off with China along the
border in Ladakh.
• It also came amidst mounting tensions in the South
China Sea where the U.S Navy just conducted a major exercise involving USS
Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan.
• The Indian Navy is keeping a close watch on the movement of Chinese naval
ships in the IOR, whose presence has gone up considerably over the years in the
name of anti-piracy patrols.
• In 2017, China opened its first overseas military
base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Focus
on Mains.
Oxford's
COVID-19 Vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.
• ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 was jointly developed by
British-Swedish Company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
It's
Introduction and development
·
The vaccine
belongs to a category called non-replicating viral vector vaccines. It has been
found to be safe and induced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials.
·
This vaccine is
made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in
chimpanzees.
·
Scientists did
this by transferring the genetic instructions of the corona virus’ “spike
protein” – the crucial tool it uses to invade human cells – to the vaccine.
This was done so that the vaccine resembles the corona virus and the immune
system can learn how to
attack it.
Working;
·
The adenovirus,
genetically modified so that it cannot replicate in humans, will enter the
cell and release the code to make only the spike protein.
·
The body’s
immune system is expected to recognise the spike protein as a potentially
harmful foreign substance, and starts building antibodies against it.
·
Once immunity is
built, the antibodies will attack the real virus if it tries to infect the
body.
protein’, allow the virus to penetrate cells and, thereafter, multiply.
What Next?
Globally, Oxford and AstraZeneca have already begun
phase III trials in Brazil, targeting
5,000 volunteers. A similar trial in South Africa is also expected to be
underway.
Types of
Vaccines?
1.
Inactivated:
These are vaccines made by using particles of the COVID-19 virus that were
killed, making them unable to infect or replicate. Injecting particular doses
of these particles serves to build immunity by helping the body create
antibodies against the dead virus.
2.
Non-replicating
viral vector: It uses a weakened, genetically modified version of a different
virus to carry the COVID-19 spike protein.
3.
Protein
subunit: This vaccine uses a part of the virus to build an immune response in a
targeted fashion. In this case, the part of the virus being targeted would be
the spike
protein.
4.
RNA: Such vaccines use the messenger RNA
(mRNA) molecules that tell cells what
proteins to build. The mRNA, in this case, is coded to tell the cells to
recreate the spike
protein. Once it is injected, the cells will use the mRNA’s instructions,
creating copies of the spike protein, which in turn is expected to prompt the
immune cells to create
antibodies to fight it.
DNA: These vaccines use genetically engineered DNA molecules that, again, are coded with the antigen against which the immune response is to be built.
Plea
Bargaining in India
Prelims
Syllabus: Polity
Mains Syllabus: GS-II Indian Constitution -
Historical Underpinnings, Evolution, Features, Amendments, Significant
Provisions and Basic Structure
Why in News?
• Many members of the Tablighi Jamaat belonging to
different countries have obtained release from court cases in recent days by
means of plea bargaining.
• Accused of violating visa conditions by attending
a religious congregation in Delhi, these foreign nationals have walked free
after pleading guilty to minor offences and paying the fines imposed by the
court.
Plea Bargaining:
Plea bargaining refers to a person charged with a
criminal offence negotiating with the prosecution for a lesser punishment than
what is provided in law by pleading guilty to a
less serious offence.
• It primarily involves pre-trial negotiations
between the accused and the prosecutor. It may involve bargaining on the
quantum of sentence.
• It is common in the United States, and has been a
successful method of avoiding complicated trials. As a result, conviction rates
are significantly high there.
Difference
between Plea Bargain and Guilty Plea:
• A plea bargain usually is a contract where one
plead guilty in exchange for some benefit.
• A guilty plea is just the person saying that they
are guilty. It would include throwing yourself upon the mercy of the court. It
could be with or without the benefit of a plea Agreement.
When
it was Added?
• The 154th Report of the Law Commission was first
to recommend the ‘plea bargaining’ in
Indian Criminal Justice System.
• Hence, plea bargaining was introduced in 2006 as
part of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act
,Act of 2006, containing Sections 265A to 265L.
• Before the Amendment Act, the Indian judicial
system did not recognize the concept of
plea bargaining and thus opposed it.
Types of Plea
Bargaining:
1.
Sentence
Bargaining: Main motive is to get a lesser sentence. The defendant agrees to
plead guilty to the stated charge and in return, he bargains for a lighter
sentence. E.g.
defendant pleads guilty to a crime punishable by up to 15 years, but
prosecution
recommends only 5
2.
Charge
Bargaining: This kind of plea bargaining happens for getting less severe
charges. This the most common form of plea bargaining in criminal cases. Here,
the
defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge in consideration of
dismissing greater
charges. E.g. Pleading for manslaughter for dropping the charges of murder.
3.
Fact Bargaining: It occurs when a defendant
agrees to stipulate to certain facts in order
to prevent other facts from being introduced into evidence. E.g., defendant
charged with
forgery and theft pleads guilty to forgery and prosecution agrees to drop theft
charge.
Process of Plea
Bargaining:
·
Unlike in the
U.S., where the prosecutor plays a key role in bargaining with offender, in
India, plea bargaining can be initiated only by the accused. Further, the
accused will have to apply to the court for invoking the benefit of bargaining
·
The applicant should approach the court
stating that it is a voluntary preference and that he has understood the nature
of punishment for the offence.
·
The Court shall
examine the accused in camera, where the other party in the case shall not be
present, to satisfy itself that the accused has filed the application
voluntarily.
Thereafter, the court may permit the prosecutor, the investigating officer and
the victim to hold a meeting for a “satisfactory disposition of the case”. The
outcome may involve payment of compensation and other expenses to the victim by
the accused.
·
Once mutual
satisfaction is reached, the accused may be sentenced to a prison term that is
half the minimum period fixed for the offence. If there is no minimum term
prescribed, the sentence should run up to one-fourth of the maximum sentence
stipulated in law.
Criteria’s for
Plea Bargaining:
·
Someone who has
been charge sheeted for an offence that does not attract the death sentence,
life sentence or a prison term above seven years can make use of the scheme.
·
Who can not apply? Involve offences affecting
the “socio-economic conditions” of the
country, or committed against a woman or a child below the age of 14.
Benefits:
• Ensure speedy trial,
• End uncertainty over the outcome of criminal
cases,
• Save litigation costs and relieve the parties of
anxiety.
• Reduction in pendency of cases
• Decongesting prisons
• May help offenders make a fresh start in life.
• It avoids publicity and unnecessary
stigmatization.
Disadvantages:
·
Corruption:
Section 265C provides for guidelines for mutually satisfactory disposition,
where a victim is called to participate in a meeting with accused to work out
disposition.
However, knowing the nature of prevalent corruption, the chance of coercion of
victim
would be writ large.
·
Involvement of
Police: India is infamous for the custodial torture by police. In such
scenario, the concept of Plea Bargaining is more likely to aggravate the
situation.
Forcefully: Persons who are falsely implicated in offences and are forced to
admit crimes and thereafter further forced for plea bargain under Section 265B
of the Code to justify
State’s action against such persons.
·
Criminal Record
for the Innocent: An innocent person may agree to a plea bargain to cut their
losses. That agreement means they will have a criminal record.
·
Soft Justice for the Guilty: In many
circumstances, a plea bargain provides a lighter sentence for someone, even if
they may be guilty. It can be treated as an escape route for a prosecutor.
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