Top News Highlights-15 November 2024

Supreme Court Highlights Gaps in India’s Anti-Trafficking Efforts

• SC found that the government has made such promises that have remained unmet, like an Organized Crime Investigative Agency and exhaustive anti-trafficking legislation
• The Trafficking of Persons Bill of 2018 lapsed in Parliament, and the NIA Amendment Act of 2019 still did not have provisions relating to victim rehabilitation.
• India recorded more than 10,000 trafficking cases from 2018-2022 and recorded sex trafficking as its big concern ranking the third largest source of organized crime revenue globally.
• Other actions performed are Immoral Traffic Prevention Act in 1956 and ratification of the UNCTOC which are mainly implemented to prevent human trafficking but has implementation issues.

SC Issues Pan-India Guidelines Against Illegal Demolition

• Demolition of private property without keeping due process nullifies principles of natural justice, Article 21 Right to Shelter, and the Rule of Law.
• Prior notice and a grace period of 15 days for personal hearings, and videographic recording of the demolition are part of the guidelines.
• Personal liability within public officials and an emphasis on transparency and accountability would determine any violation of these guidelines.
• The measures taken are complementary to the principle of Separation of Powers ensuring judicial checks against executive overreach.

State of the Cryosphere 2024 Report Warns of Accelerating Ice Loss

• Greenland is losing 30 million tons of ice per hour, and northern Greenland’s ice shelves have retreated by as much as 35% since 1978.
• The sea level has been rising at a rate of 6.5 mm a year, with glaciers washing away in countries like Venezuela.
• Thawing permafrost worsens local damage and global warming feedback, and glacial lake outburst floods threaten catastrophic floods.
• Such programs as India’s National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) focus on the protection and research of the cryosphere.

RBI Identifies D-SIBs for 2024: SBI, HDFC, and ICICI

• D-SIBs are considered “too big to fail.” They require a higher level of additional capital than regular institutions to mitigate risks and aid the financial system.
• D-SIBs fall into the risk-weighted assets and its potential systemic influence as guided by RBI’s 2014 framework that incorporates the Basel Committee’s prescriptions.
• In regard to global SIBs, the Financial Stability Board has supervisory powers over Indian branches of G-SIBs with additional CET1 capital surcharges.
• Such banks support and build resilience in the banks as well in India and don’t let the economic life from its track.

Municipal Finances Report Highlights Revenue Deficit in Urban Local Bodies

• Only 0.6% of the GDP is created by Municipal Corporations in revenue and greatly relies upon grants via state and the Centre.
• Municipal borrowings jumped five times from ₹2,886 crore (2019-20) to ₹13,364 crore (2023-24), though bonds have yet to be tapped.
• Reformed property tax, used GIS mapping to rationalize user charges, and pilot green bonds for smaller ULBs.
• Emphasized transparent financial practices through the National Municipal Accounting Manual.

Bose-Einstein Statistics: Centenary Celebrations

• Bose-Einstein statistics have been proposed by S.N. Bose and Albert Einstein to describe the distribution of indistinguishable particles in the states of energy.
• It led to quantum technologies like lasers, transistors, and computing.
• Bose-Einstein Condensate is the fifth state of matter that occurs at nearly absolute zero, showing some wonderful quantum properties.
• From quantum sensing to new materials, applications are multiplying.

Water Rules, 2024: Simplified Penalty Mechanism for Pollution Control

• This system will do away with offences under the Water Act and substitute it with a Dollar-crunching penalty mechanism for motivation of adherence by people, reducing criminality.
• Authorized officers will be mandated to enforce these violations, thereby relieving the burden on courts.
• These regulations will look to strengthen enforcement while at the same time making processes less burdensome for both industries and individuals.

Key Terms and Concepts

• Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2018: Proposed legislation that looks to stop trafficking, protect the victim, and rehabilitate the victims.
• Cryosphere: Portions of Earth covered with snow and ice that help regulate global temperature and sea levels.
• D-SIBs: Systemic important banks due to their scale and connection in the financial system and thus require stronger capital buffers.
• Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC): State of matter that occurs at temperatures close to absolute zero, resulting in some quite peculiar quantum behavior.
• Municipal bonds: Instruments of municipal financing for raising funds for urban development and are grossly underutilized in Indian urban finance.