March Week 1 Cabinet approves Establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)

The decision aims at establishment of NFRA as an independent regulator for the auditing profession which is one of the key changes brought in by the Companies Act, 2013. The inclusion of the provision in the Act was on the specific recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance (in its 21st report).

The jurisdiction of NFRA for investigation of Chartered Accountants and their firms under section 132 of the Act would extend to listed companies and large unlisted public companies, the thresholds for which shall be prescribed in the Rules.

The Quality Review Board (QRB) will also continue quality audit in respect of private limited companies, public unlisted companies below prescribed threshold and also with respect to audit of those companies that may be delegated to QRB by NFRA.Background:The need for establishing NFRA has arisen on account of the need felt across various jurisdictions in the world, in the wake of accounting scams, to establish independent regulators, independent from those it regulates, for enforcement of auditing standards and ensuring the quality of audits to strengthen the independence of audit firms, quality of audits and, therefore, enhance investor and public confidence in financial disclosures of companies.

Cabinet approves Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 The Bill would help in laying down measures to deter economic offenders from

evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

The Bill is expected to re-establish the rule of law with respect to the fugitive economic offenders as they would be forced to return to India to face trial for scheduled offences.

Salient features of the Bill:

Application before the Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic offender;

Attachment of the property of a fugitive economic offender; Issue of a notice by the Special Court to the individual alleged to be a fugitive

economic offender; Confiscation of the property of an individual declared as a fugitive economic offender resulting from the

proceeds of crime; Confiscation of other property belonging to such offender in India and abroad, including benami property; Disentitlement of the fugitive economic offender from defending any civil claim; and vii. An Administrator will be appointed to manage and dispose of the confiscated property under the Act

India, Bangladesh and Russia have signed tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in construction of Rooppur nuclear power plant near Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is first initiative under India-Russia nuclear deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. It will also be India’s first atomic energy venture abroad.

A new train between Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh and Anand Vihar Terminal in the national capital named Arunachal Express was flagged off. This is the second direct train for Arunachal Pradesh and overall 14th for North East to connect with the national capital.

INDIAsize It is a National Sizing Survey to develop a comprehensive size

chart for ready-to-wear industry based on the body measurements of the Indian population.

It is a scientific exercise where anthropometric data will be collected from a sample population in the age group 15 to 65 years to create a database of measurements that will result in a standardized size chart which is representative of the Indian population and can be adopted by the apparel industry.

The surveys entail measuring statistically relevant sample size pan country using human safe technology of 3D whole body scanner, a non-contact method of taking body measurements and analysing the collected data to create size charts.

A large percentage of shoppers face difficulty in finding clothes that fit perfectly according to their body measurements. The reason is differences in anthropometric built of people in different geographical regions across the country.

The survey will be conducted by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi, under the Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India.

Till date 14 countries have successfully completed national sizing surveys including USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Korea, China and Australia.

The first phase of Shakti Sthala solar park having total capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW) was inaugurated in drought-prone Pavagada region of Tumkur district, Karnataka. It is claimed to be world’s largest solar park.

The park ties in with the Central Government’s scheme to generate 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2020. It has been executed within record time of two years, with zero land acquisition

Key Facts

The park’s development was initiated with creation of Karnataka Solar Power Development Corp. Ltd (KSPDCL) in March 2015 as joint venture between Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

KSPDCL had used “plug and play” model for development of park, under which it acquires and develops land as blocks for solar power generation, embedded with required government approvals and gives it out to solar power developers (SPDs) through auctions.

The first phase of the Rs. 16,500 crore park will generate 600MW power, while the balance 1,400MW will be commissioned in second phase by end year 2018. The park will decrease dependence on traditional power sources and move to environmentally friendly ones to meet growing power needs of state.

It will create employment and act as incentive for natives and farmers to explore new opportunities of socio-economic growth in the region. It will also curb mass migration of people from the region which has been declared drought-hit in 54 of the last 60 years.

Expressing concern over the increase in the import of ornamental fishes to the country, which is posing a threat to India’s native fish populations, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has urged the government to come up with quarantine facilities at major seaports and airports.

What’s the concern?

The government of India has only approved the import of 92 species of ornamental fish but the number of ornamental fish species being imported and in trade is somewhere between 200-300. The huge market for Invasive Alien Species (IAS) is turning out to be major threat to India’s aquatic biodiversity. Several studies have disclosed the occurrence of exotic ornamental fish in many inland aquatic systems, including biodiversity-sensitive areas such as the Western Ghats.

National list of Invasive Alien Species (IAS):

Under the Centre for Biodiversity and Policy and Law (CEBPOL), the NBA is trying to bring out a national list of IAS. So far, no attempt has been made by any scientific organisation to have a national IAS list across different categories. The list will be put made available on a public platform and will be communicated to different Ministries and stakeholders.

CEBPOL is a bilateral collaboration between the Indian and Norwegian governments, and focuses on biodiversity policies and laws.

While the number of publications on IAS has increased over the past few years, there has been no coordinated effort for the management of IAS. Statisticians and biologists need to come together for distribution mapping and the application of statistical approaches in the management of IAS. Besides legislative measures, there is the need for educating and creating awareness among Customs officials at airports and seaports. Most of the fish are imported from Southeast Asian countries.

Phirangipuram to be Andhra’s first all-women rail station:

Phirangipuram is all to be Andhra Pradesh’s first all-women rail station. It will be a big step in addressing gender equality in the biggest public sector organisation in the country.

It will be the third-of-its-kind railway station in the country after Jaipur’s Gandhi Nagar and Mumbai’s Matunga.

The ‘Global Status Report 2017: Towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector,’ published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has listed the Energy Management Centre (EMC), an autonomous institution under the Kerala government campus, as one of the recent achievements in the deployment of key technologies for energy-efficiency in buildings.

Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) Partnership

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established by the Central Government in 2003 to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002). The NBA is a Statutory Body and it performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the Government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

A survey of over a hundred tiger conservation areas by 11 leading conservation organisations and countries with tiger ranges that are part of the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) Partnership has found that only 13% of tiger conservation areas meet global standards.

Important findings:

The surveyed area is home to approximately 70% of the world’s wild tigers. At least one-third of these areas are severely at risk of losing their tigers and most of these sites are in Southeast Asia.

While basic needs such as encroachment against poaching, engaging local communities and managing conflict between people and wildlife remained weak for all surveyed areas, two-thirds of the surveyed area reported fair to strong management.

Despite poaching being one of the greatest threats faced by the big cats, 85% of the areas surveyed do not have the staff capacity to patrol sites effectively and 61% of the areas in Southeast Asia have very limited anti-poaching enforcement.

What is Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS)?

CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation. CA|TS is organised under seven pillars and 17 elements of critical management activity. Officially launched in 2013, CA|TS is an important part of Tx2, the global goal to double wild tiger numbers by the year 2022.

Developed by WWF and partners, the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) has endorsed CA|TS and has requested member countries to establish National Review Committees for purpose of initiating CA|TS.

CA|TS is an important tool in the achievement of the CBD’s Global Aichi Targets, in particular Aichi Target 11 and 12, and contributes to the implementation of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas, particularly the last goal related to Standards, Assessment and Monitoring.

HOW DOES CA|TS WORK AND WHO IS USING IT?

Sites taking part will initially be ‘registered’ (standards not yet attained) then, when all required standards are met, ‘approved’ (standards achieved). An approved site has achieved excellence in tiger site management. Sites are evaluated through an assessment and independent review process.

Of the 13 tiger range countries Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Russia have registered and rolled out CA|TS, whilst discussion is ongoing with Bhutan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

WHY IS CA|TS IMPORTANT?

Protected areas are a good strategy for retaining forest cover, however their role in protecting wildlife depends on the quality of management. Many studies show that tiger numbers can continue to decline in protected areas, particularly due to bush meat (tiger prey) hunting or the poaching of tigers themselves for trophies, traditional medicines and other illegal activities.

Until CA|TS, there has not been a set of criteria which not only provide clarity on management of tiger sites, but also encourage further development and sharing of best practice across the tiger range countries.

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has approved projects worth Rs 2,919 crore under Nirbhaya Fund for creating eight safe cities. They are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow.

Nirbhaya Fund

The fund is created by Ministry of Finance in 2013. It dedicated for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country. It is a non-lapsable corpus fund. It is being monitored by Empowered Committee of Officers under Secretary of Women and Child Development Ministry. It is an inter-ministerial committee appraises and recommends various projects (schemes) proposed by different ministries to be funded from Nirbhaya Fund. Between 2013 and 2017, the corpus of Nirbhaya Fund has grown to

Rs 3,100 crore.

The state-owned banks have started rationalising overseas operations by consolidating 35 operations and closing down non-viable branches as part of the clean and responsible banking initiative. The consolidation includes bank branches, remittance centres and representative offices.

It will be without affecting international presence of PSBs in these countries. Moreover, 69 operations also have been identified for further examination. It is part of government’s commitment to ‘clean and responsible banking and move towards cost efficiencies and synergies in overseas market.

The World Wildlife Day is observed every year on 3rd March to celebrate and raise awareness about the world’s wild fauna and flora. It is celebrated to mark the signing of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on this day in 1973.

The theme for this year is ‘Big Cats: Predators under Threat’. Big cats are among most widely recognized and admired animals across the globe.

The World Wildlife Day was designated by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at its 68th session on 20 December 2013. On this day in 1973, CITES was adopted.

The Safe Cities Index 2017 is a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit

The report is based on the second iteration of the index, which ranks 60 cities across 49 indicators covering digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security.

The 2 Indian cities that made it to the list of Safe Cities Index 2017 includes Delhi on the 43rd position and Mumbai - at the 45th spot

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

CITES is international agreement to regulate worldwide commercial trade in wild animal and plant species. Its aim is to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN. It entered into force in July 1975.

It is administered through United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Its secretariat is located in Geneva (Switzerland). CITES is legally binding on state parties to the convention, which are obliged to adopt their own domestic legislation to implement its goals.

It classifies plants and animals according to three categories, or appendices, based on how threatened. In addition CITES also restricts trade in items made from such plants and animals, such as food, clothing, medicine, and souvenirs.

The Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has registered a suo motu case in connection with the Kuthiyottam ritual. The commission said it would examine if the ritual, reportedly involving piercing children’s sides with a hook, violated child rights in any manner.

Kuthiyottam ritual

The Kuthiyottam ritual is usually performed every year during the Pongala festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The Attukal Pongala festival is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world. Pongala, which means ‘to boil over’, is a ritual in which women prepare a pudding made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together, and offer it to the goddess. The ritual can only be performed by women.

A winter storm – also known as a “bomb cyclone” –has slammed into the northeast United States. The storm has roughly 80 million people along its path, with 22 million of those affected by a coastal flood warning.

Bomb cyclone: The term is used by meteorologists to indicate a mid-latitude cyclone that intensifies rapidly. A bomb cyclone happens when atmospheric pressure in the middle of the storm drops at least 24 millibars over 24 hours, quickly increasing in intensity. The lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.

Deep drops in barometric pressure occur when a region of warm air meets one of cold air. The air starts to move and the rotation of the earth creates a cyclonic effect. The direction is counter clockwise in the Northern hemisphere leading to winds that come out of the northeast.

EESL is to provide 10,000 electric vehicles and 4,000 chargers would be supplied to various Government departments in the state of Andhra Pradesh as part of its green initiative.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is a joint venture of four National Public Sector Undertakings,

1. NTPC Limited2. Power Finance Corporation Limited3. Rural Electrification Corporation Limited 4. POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited

EESL is a Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) set up under the Ministry of Power. As South Asia's first and foremost energy efficiency leader, EESL leads the market-related activities of the

National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) is EESL’s flagship initiative. The company has established global operations in the UK and South-East Asia.

The Union Government has set up 8 member steering committee look into the development and regulation of the financial technology (fintech) sector in India. It will be headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg. The move follows an announcement by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget.

Members: Electronics and Information Technology Secretary, Financial Services Secretary, MSME Secretary, Chairperson of Central Board of Excise and Customs, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Joint Secretary Department of Economic Affairs.

Konark Dance and Music Festival

At the 32nd Konark dance and music festival, various dance forms were performed that celebrated the heritage, history and arts.

Some of the performances are as discussed below,

1. Mahari is a dance form that is performed as a special service to Lord Jagannath, Odisha by the devdasis (temple dancers) called mahari for centuries. It spurred the development of Odissi and Gotipua dance forms of Odisha.

2. Gotipua (Goti – Single; Pua – Boy) dance has been performed in Orissa by young boys who dress up as female to praise Lord Jagannath and Lord Krishna.

3. Kathak is one of the classical dance forms and only one belonging to northern part of the country. It is about story telling from episodes in myths and puranas.

4. Odissi is a highly stylized dance and to some extent is based on the classical Natya Shastra and the Abhinaya Darpana.Odisha is the home of Odissi.

5. Mangaiyar is a Muslim community who perform folk music with their traditional instrument is kamaicha. They are found in the Sindh, Pakistan and Rajasthan, India regions.

The dispute settlement body (DSB) of World Trade Organization (WTO) has decided to set up panel to examine whether India has complied with its 2016 ruling in case against US regarding domestic content requirements (DCR) rules for solar cells and modules.

Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India’s top crude oil supplier by supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) crude oil in the current financial year. It was fifth of the India’s oil needs.

India is 80% dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India’s top oil source but Iraq dethroned it. Iran continued to be third largest supplier. This is the second year in a row that Iran has occupied the third position. Venezuela is India’s fourth largest supplier, followed by Nigeria. Iraq was able dethrone Saudi Arabia as India’s largest crude oil supplier mainly by supplying heavily

discounted crude compared to crude oil sold by Saudi Arabia at Official Selling Price of OPEC. Moreover, Indian refiners in recent years have invested heavily in modernising plants to more efficiently process low grade crudes including Basra heavy crude from Iraq, giving greater flexibility in the cost-saving oil grades they can buy.

India’s first helicopter shuttle service (HeliTaxi) was launched in IT capital Bengaluru, Karnataka in a bid to provide last-mile connectivity. The maiden trip of helitaxi was between Electronic City and Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. It was provided by Thumby Aviation.

Airbus, an aeronautics company based in Netherlands, is developing CIMON (Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN), an AI-based space assistant for Germany’s DLR Space Administration.

Context: Described by its creators as a “flying brain”, this 3D-printed artificial intelligence system will soon join the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to assist astronauts. It will tested during the European Space Agency’s Horizons mission between June and October this year.

India and Vietnam have signed three agreements including landmark pact on civil nuclear cooperation to boost bilateral relations. Vietnam is one of India’s closest strategic partners in the ASEAN region.

Signed Agreements are

MoU on Economic and Trade Cooperation: Its purpose is to establish a framework for enhancing economic and trade promotion.

MoU on Cooperation in the field of atomic energy: It was signed between the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, India (GCNEP) and Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM). Its purpose is to strengthen the technical cooperation in the field of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Work Plan for years 2018-2022 in Agriculture: It was signed between Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam. Its purpose is to promote cooperation in transfer of technology and exchange of visits of technical experts in the fields of agriculture and allied.

Both countries will work together for regional security, including maritime and cyber security. They respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and will further deepen Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

They will also strengthen their longstanding bilateral partnership in oil and gas and explore possibilities of working with other countries for trilateral partnership.

Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia across the South China Sea to the east and southeast.

India granted the "Most Favoured Nation" status to Vietnam in 1975 and both nations signed a bilateral trade agreement in 1978 and the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) on March 8, 1997.

India and Vietnam are both members of the Mekong–Ganga Cooperation, created to develop to enhance close ties between India and nations of Southeast Asia.

India is providing training support for Vietnam's Kilo-class submarines. India is setting up the Satellite Tracking and Imaging Centre by Indian Space

Research Organisation in Southern Vietnam for intelligence gathering to keep an eye on China.

Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP)

GCNEP is sixth Research & Development unit under Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It is located near Bahadurgarh, Haryana. It helps in capacity building, in association with interested countries and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is involved technology, human resource development, education & training and giving momentum to R&D in enlisted areas.

Objectives of GCNEP

Develop enhanced nuclear safeguards to effectively and efficiently monitor nuclear materials and facilities. Establish accreditation facilities for radiation monitoring. Train manpower in field of Nuclear Security and Radiological Safety. Promote development of advanced, more proliferation resistant nuclear power reactors. Provide education in field of Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, Isotopes and Radiation Technologies, nuclear

forensic.

Government has shifted headquarters of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to Ballabhgarh in Faridabad District of Haryana from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was shifted after consultation with AWBI for better coordination between the Environment Ministry and AWBI for carrying out the animal welfare activities

Sixth edition of the India by the Nile (IBN) festival 2018 is being held in Cairo, Egypt.

The annual festival showcases a range of Indian cultural output, including contemporary and classical music, dance, puppet theatre, visual arts, food and yoga.

It is the biggest foreign festival in Egypt and encourages artistic collaborations between the two countries.

This year, the festival will also bring two new events, a fashion show and screening of the Indian movies.

The festival is organised by the Embassy of India in Egypt and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture in collaboration with entertainment company Teamwork Arts.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched #YesIBleed menstrual hygiene campaign on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2018.

It is second edition of such campaign that aims to create holistic approach to issue of menstruation, which is experience that transcends culture, class, and caste.

‘SAPOSHI’ A NEW MALWARE THREAT TO THE CYBERSPACE

Recently cyber security agencies have detected a new malware called Saposhi which can be used for a ‘Distributed Denial of Service’ attack.

‘Saposhi’ is a new malware loom and can be a big threat to the cyberspace. It is capable of taking over electronic devices and turning them into bots which can be used for multi-purpose

like a DDoS attack. It has the capability of taking over millions of device at the rate of 10,000 devices per day. It is aimed at DDoS attack by creating a botnet (Network of Bots) which is used to ping a single server at the

same time. The large botnet attacks to the server can crash the server and denied service to its consumer.

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is an attack in which multiple compromised computer systems attack a target, such as a server, website.

The flood of incoming messages, connection requests or malformed packets to the target system forces it to slow down or even crash and shut down.

DDoS attacks have been carried out by diverse threat actors, ranging from individual criminal hackers to organized crime rings and government agencies.

There are three types of DDoS attacks namely Network-centric attacks, protocol attacks, and application layer attacks.

A malware programmed with specific instructions which direct the malware to take over as many devices connected to the internet as possible.

The malware turns internet-connected devices into ‘bots’ and starts building a botnet depending on its programming.

Malware like Reaper and Saposhi are capable of identifying weaknesses in devices and exploiting them to turn the devices into bots.

The creation of botnet by the malware like Saposhi, Reaper causing a server failure by sending simultaneous pings to the targeted server.

Depending on the size of the botnet, malware can execute multiple DDOS attacks at the same time, or over a period of time.

The Union environment ministry has asked the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to stop imports of genetically modified (GM) soybean for food or feed without the approval of the regulator for transgenic products.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which is the regulatory body for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and products thereof, has not authorized or approved GM soybean or any other products derived from GM soybean seeds for import or cultivation in India.

India has got the go-ahead to join the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Shareholders of EBRD have given their consent in this regard.

Now, India will become EBRD’s 69th member, enabling Indian companies to undertake joint investments in regions in which the EBRD operates.

The government has launched Sukhad Yatra App.

Sukhad Yatra mobile application has been prepared by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to empower the Highway user.

The key feature of the app includes provision for the user to enter road quality-related information or to report any accident or pothole on the highway.

It also provides users with real-time data related to waiting time expected at Plazas and various facilities like points of interest, highway nest/nest mini, etc., available across the highway.

The app can also be used by the users to purchase the FASTag tag and further facilitate the highway user experience.