CBI
- Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have withdrawn the general consent given to the CBI to investigate any case in these states.
- Withdrawal of consent simply means that CBI officers will lose all powers of a police officer as soon as they enter the state unless the state government has allowed them.
- The CBI was established under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
- Section 5 of the Act gives powers to the CBI over all areas in the country, Section 6 states that without the consent of the state concerned, it cannot enter that state’s jurisdiction.
- The consent is necessary as the jurisdiction of CBI is confined to Delhi and Union Territories under this Act.
- However, the agency can probe anyone in a state that has withdrawn “general consent” if the case is not registered in that state.
- This is not the first time that a state government has revoked “general consent” for CBI probes. Several states, have done it in the past.
NGOs
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been told to appear before the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary (Home) of the state where it is located, after the Union Home Ministry designated both as “competent authorities” under section 15 of the Foreigners Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
- The move is an outcome of cancellation of FCRA licences of more than 13,000 NGOs in the last three years.
- Earlier, a charity commissioner of a state used to look after assets and bank accounts of NGOs whose FCRA licence had been revoked.
- A charity commissioner was independent of the central government and was seen as a neutral body.
WTO
- Australia recently referred India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over subsidies paid to sugarcane farmers.
- While WTO members are entitled to slap safeguard duties to curb unforeseen surges in imports that cause material injury to their domestic industries, there is a need to demonstrate that it is a “sudden” and “sustained” spike in imports causing injury to its domestic industry.
- On November 7, WTO ruled that the safeguard duties imposed by India at different periods during 2015 and 2018 are “inconsistent” with core provisions of the WTO’s Safeguards Agreement.
NCW
- THE Ministry of Woman and Child Development (WCD) has nominated three members to the National Commission for Women (NCW).
- Before this, NCW has been functioning without a single member. NCW has been functioning with only chairperson Rekha Sharma.
- NCW can have a maximum of five members ( excluding Chairman).
- Alok Rawat, whose tenure recently ended, was the first male member of NCW.
- The members continue to be political appointees as a crucial NCW Bill, which recommended that appointments to the NCW should not be political, has been pending with the PMO.
Constants of nature
- Scientists have voted to change the way in which a kilogram is defined.
- A cylinder of polished platinum-iridium alloy known as “Le Grand K”, which is locked away safe in a Paris vault, is to be retired from its role as the true kilogram.
- Now, a measurement based on electric currents to define this unit of weight will be used.
- From May 2019, all the units on which all other measurements are based — including not just the kilogram but also the metre, second, ampere, kelvin, candela and mole — will be based on constants of nature.
- The use of Planck’s constant, a value which relates weight to electrical current, will offer advantages over the more archaic method currently used.
- Unlike the metal lumps that currently form the basis for things being weighed across the planet, this constant will not gradually decay or pick up spots of dust.
Miscellaneous
- India gets its 1st hospital for elephants in Farah(Mathura) UP.
- In March 2017, the Centre amended the Maternity Benefit Act to increase paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks for all women employees in establishments employing 10 or more people.
- Latest government data shows coal production rising from 565.77 mt in 2013-14 to 676.48 mt in 2017-18.
