General consent
- Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have withdrawn general consent for CBI investigation.
- Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by its own NIA Act and has jurisdiction across the country, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act that makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting investigation in that state.
- There are two kinds of consent: case-specific and general. Given that the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only after that state government gives its consent.
- “General consent” is normally given to help the CBI seamlessly conduct its investigation into cases of corruption against central government employees in the concerned state. Almost all states have given such consent. Otherwise, the CBI would require consent in every case. For example, if it wanted to investigate a bribery charge against a Western Railway clerk in Mumbai, it would have to apply for consent with the Maharashtra government before registering a case against him.
- Withdrawal of general consent means the CBI will not be able to register any fresh case involving a central government official or a private person stationed in these two states without getting case-specific consent.
- The CBI would still have the power to investigate old cases registered when general consent existed. Also, cases registered anywhere else in the country, but involving people stationed in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, would allow CBI’s jurisdiction to extend to these states.
- There is ambiguity on whether the agency can carry out a search in either of the two states in connection with an old case without the consent of the state government. However, there are legal remedies to that as well. The CBI can always get a search warrant from a local court in the state and conduct searches
- Withdrawal of consent will only bar the CBI from registering a case within the jurisdiction of Andhra and Bengal. The CBI could still file cases in Delhi and continue to probe people inside the two states.
- This is not the first time a state government has withdrawn consent. Over the years, several states have done so.
Genome study on teas
- A genome study project initiated by the Tea Board of India, to establish the origins and speciality of Indian teas, has now reached an advanced stage.
- The study is being conducted on Assam teas to establish it as a product of India.
- The study will establish Camelia assamica as an indigenous Indian variety.
- Genome sequencing is extremely important for establishing the whole genetic make-up of India tea germplasm, in addition to molecular methods like DNA fingerprinting and DNA barcoding.
- India-China trade
- China has also opened up imports of non-Basmati rice from India in June on the sidelines of the Qingdao summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
- India has $63-billion trade imbalance with China.
Satellites
- When satellites run out of fuel, they can no longer maintain their precise orbit, rendering them useless even if their hardware is still intact.
- Since 2008, France has required satellite operators to take steps to “deorbit” their spacecrafts by programming them to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere in 25 years so that they burn up.
Interpol
- India’s requests for Interpol red notices against fugitives like Vijay Mallya have been inordinately delayed due to the international police body’s stricter scrutiny of such demands following allegations of misuse of the system.
- Interpol’s constitution says it is “strictly forbidden for the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”. However, it largely relies on the information provided by its national bureaus in member countries. In India’s case, accused like Zakir Naik and Mehul Choksi have claimed religious and political persecution.
Miscellaneous
- RBI Governor is the tie-breaker in all decisions of the Central Board and the Monetary Policy Committee.
- Darjeeling tea is protected through a GI tag.
- Under the Kyoto Protocol, only rich nations are expected to cut their emissions and take other climate actions by 2020. But under the subsequent global deal (Paris Agreement) which is meant for post-2020 actions, the responsibility to cut emissions falls on all countries as per their voluntarily set targets.
