Report on Modern Slavery
- A study on “Global Estimates of Modern Slavery” was conducted by a Walk Free Foundation (WFF), Australia based Human Rights Group.
- The report was published on behalf of the global body International Labour Organisation (ILO).
- The country wise figures are not mentioned in the report but it has revealed that 40.3 million people are victims of modern slavery in 2016.
- Global Slavery Index is computed by WFF every year.
Anna Politkovskaya Award
- The award is given by a London-based non-governmental organisation “Reach All Women in War (RAW in War)”.
- The organisation supports women human rights defenders and victims of war.
- The award was instituted in the name of well-known Russian Journalist who was killed in 2006 in Moscow for uncovering state corruption and rights abuses.
- Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh becomes first Indian Journalist to win this award.
- The award is also given to Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist who has faced death threats for speaking out against the Taliban.
- The institute also honoured Rohingya refugee Jamalida Begum, who spoke out publicly about her rape by Myanmar security forces.
Kaleshwaram Project
- NGT has recently ordered an interim stay on Telangana government’s Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.
- Pranahitha-Chevella Lift Irrigation Scheme was taken up in 2007 to utilise the water of Pranhita tributary of Godavari River.
- After the formation of Telangana, the project was redesigned into two sections.
- The original component serving the Adilabad area was called the Pranahitha project.
- The second part is called Kaleswaram Project serving the Karimnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad and Medak districts.
- Water from Godavari River after the confluence by the Pranahita tributary is lifted to provide lift irrigation facility.
- Lift Irrigation project - Pumps are used to lift the water from canals or rivers at lower level to the area at higher level for irrigation purpose.
Committee on Corporate Governance
- Uday Kotak on corporate governance has proposed rules aimed at bringing more transparency to the functioning of boards in the listed companies.
- The committee also proposed several measures to strengthen the role of independent directors.
- One of the proposals is to keep out relatives of promoter group from occupying the independent director’s place on the board.
- It recommended an amendment to regulate the information rights of significant shareholders and promoters.
- The other key proposal is to separate the role of Chairperson and MD/CEO at listed entities with more than 40 per cent public shareholding with effect from April 1, 2020.
- SEBI regulations do not mandate a separation of these posts.
Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI)
- Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)'s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) has bagged the 10th spot in GFCI.
- GIFT IFSC is ranked tenth, ahead of Luxembourg, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Beijing in the list of the GFCI report.
- The report presents parameter for measuring the attractiveness of financial centres and understanding the growth and competitiveness of financial centres.
- It is produced bi-annually by the China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen and a commercial think tank in London.
Global Aurora
- Recently, a strong solar storm hit Mars sparking a global aurora and doubling radiation levels on the red planet.
- This aurora is 25 times brighter than any previously seen by the MAVEN orbiter.
- The event has occurred strangely during the Sun’s 11-year sunspot and storm-activity cycle.
- These events will improve the understanding the effects of solar storm on the Martian environment.
Source: The Hindu, BusinessLine, Business Standard
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