Current Affair 1:

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The inter-governmental body sets international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society. As a policy-making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

History of the FATF

In response to mounting concern over money laundering, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) was established by the G-7 Summit that was held in Paris in 1989.  Recognising the threat posed to the banking system and to financial institutions, the G-7 Heads of State or Government and President of the European Commission convened the Task Force from the G-7 member States, the European Commission and eight other countries.

Every year, FATF holds three meetings of its central decision-making body, the plenary, where all the 37 member jurisdictions and two regional organisations (EU and GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Commission) approve the outcomes through consensus.

 

In October 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing, in addition to money laundering.  In April 2012, it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Starting with its own members, the FATF monitors countries' progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations; reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures; and, promotes the adoption and implementation of the FATF Recommendations globally.

The FATF's decision making body, the FATF Plenary, meets three times per year.

What are FATF’s ‘black’ and ‘grey’ lists?

These terms do not exist in official FATF terminology but are colloquial phrases used to describe two lists of countries maintained by the body.

The ‘black list’ is the term used for FATF’s list of “High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action”. Currently, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar are on the ‘black list. These countries are deemed to have “significant strategic deficiencies” in their financial regimes that make them risky to be part of the larger international financial system, with countermeasures applied against them.

This ‘black list’ category has a smaller sub-group group which is less stringent – and only calls on its members to use enhanced due diligence measures proportionate to the risks arising from the deficiencies associated with the country”.

The second public list is of countries with “strategic deficiencies” in their regime to counter money laundering and terror financing. Once listed as ‘jurisdiction under increased monitoring’ by FATF, they must complete an action plan within a specific period. This one is colloquially referred to as the ‘grey list.’

FATF does not ask its members to take additional “due diligence” measures against the ‘grey list countries” but encourages states “to take into account the information presented below in their risk analysis”.

The Secretariat is located at the OECD Headquarters in Paris.

 

Current Affair 2:

What Does ‘Civilisation Collapse’

 

We define civilisation collapse as the loss of societal capacity to maintain essential governance functions, especially maintaining security, the rule of law, and the provision of basic necessities such as food and water. Civilisation collapses in this sense could be associated with civil strife, violence, and widespread scarcity, and thus have extremely adverse effects on human welfare. Such collapses can be wider or narrower in scope, so we consider three representative scenarios.

In the first,

climate change causes collapse in specific, vulnerable locations while civilisation elsewhere is largely able to adapt to climate impacts. Call this local collapse. The Syrian civil war has been suggested as an example of climate collapse on a local scale. Model simulations indicate that the kind of drought implicated in the war was more than twice as likely to happen given anthropogenic climate change.

This example illustrates that climate collapse need not be determined by environmental factors alone: other causes, such as pre-existing political conflict and incompetent government, may be crucial. The example also illustrates the dire consequences for human welfare that collapse may have and that local collapses can contribute to political instability in non-collapsed places, as illustrated by rising right-wing populism in Europe in response to the influx of Syrian refugees.

In our second scenario,

urban- and sometimes even national-level collapses are widespread, but some large urban centers and national governments still exist. These existing centers experience negative climate impacts such as persistent water and food scarcity. In his book discussing the ethics and politics of a potential post-apocalyptic world, philosopher Tim Mulgan refers to this type of scenario as the broken world; we adopt his label here. The broken world differs from local collapse in its more widespread scope and in the worldwide impaired functioning of non-collapsed places. Concerns that climate change could render “large areas of the Earth uninhabitable” suggest an outcome at least as bad as the broken world.

 

In our third scenario,

which we label global collapse, all large urban areas across the globe are virtually abandoned, functioning nation states no longer exist, and the world’s population undergoes a significant decline. This catastrophic situation is perhaps what the phrase “civilisation collapse” evokes for most people. However, it is helpful to see global collapse as an extension of the broken world, wherein the remaining non-collapsed states and urban centers, which have by then become highly vulnerable, are pushed over the brink by further climate impacts. Climate collapse, then, might not be an abrupt event but rather an extended process that starts small and plays out over the course of a century or more.

Current Affair 3:

All about LVM3

 

In its second operational flight, LVM3 launch vehicle placed 36 satellites of OneWeb to their intended orbits taking off on October 23, 2022, from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

This was the fifth flight of LVM3.

A total of 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites of about 150 kg each totalling about 5,796 kg were launched to a circular low-earth orbit of about 601 km with a 87.4 degree inclination. The separation of satellites involved a unique maneuver of the cryogenic stage to orientation and re-orientation covering 9 phases spanning 75 minutes. At 6 tons, this was the heaviest payload carried by an Indian launch vehicle.

OneWeb Gen-1 satellites utilize a bent-pipe technology approach to offer communication in Ku-band and Ku-bands. They are arranged in 12 orbital planes with 49 satellites in each plane at 1200 km.

Calling the launch of LVM3 M2 a historic event, Shri S. Somanath, Chairman, ISRO lauded the synergetic efforts between ISRO, NSIL, OneWeb in realizing the mission in a record time.

This was one of the biggest commercial orders executed by ISRO. With this launch, the LVM3 enters into global market in a grand manner.

ISRO’s rockets

While the LVM3 was named the GSLV Mk III, it features a suite of improved systems and components over the GSLV Mk II. As a result, the rocket is considered to be in a league of its own, apart from the trusty Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the GSLV.

The LVM3 is capable of lifting much heavier satellites than the GSLV Mk II with a bigger cryogenic upper stage and a larger first stage. Both GSLV Mk II and LVM3 are three-stage vehicles, while the PSLV, which launches to low earth polar orbits, is a four-stage vehicle.

The GSLV Mk-II can place up to 2,500kg in geosynchronous orbits and up to 5,000kg to low earth orbit. By comparison, the LVM3 can lift 4,000kg to GTO and up to 8,000 kg to LEO.

Currently, SpaceX’s non-human rated Falcon Heavy, a super-heavy lift vehicle, is the heaviest rocket that is operational, only surpassed by the retired Saturn V, which launched Apollo astronauts to the moon.

The LVM3 also has the human-rated variant which will be used for Gaganyaan missions.

The next launch for the rocket is planned for February 2023, yet again launching 36 of OneWeb’s satellites, while June of next year will tentatively see the launch vehicle pushing Chandrayaan-3 to a trans-lunar orbit.

 

Current Affair 4:

Durgavati Tiger Reserve

 

Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board recently approved the establishment of a new tiger reserve called Durgavati Tiger Reserve.

The 2,339 square kilometres new tiger reserve, to be called Durgavati Tiger Reserve, will spread across Narisinghpur, Damoh and Sagar districts. A green corridor linking Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) with Durgavati will be developed for the natural movement of the tiger to the new reserve.

Other Tiger Reserves are:

How are tiger reserves notified?

Tiger Reserves are notified by State Governments as per provisions of Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 on advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The following steps are involved in the notification:

(a) Proposal is obtained from the State.

(b) In-principal approval is communicated from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, soliciting detailed proposals under section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

(c) National Tiger Conservation Authority recommends the proposal to the State after due diligence.

(d) The State Government notifies the area as a Tiger Reserve.

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