Current Affair 1:

India doesn’t recognise Kosovo’s statehood

 

Though India and Kosovo do not share diplomatic relations, a trade body between the two states known as the India-Kosovo Trade Commerce Economic Office (IKCEO) was inaugurated in New Delhi on 17 November. This comes despite the Indian government’s long-standing position of not formally recognising the European territory.

Kosovo, which has a majority Albanian population and a minority of Serbs, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and unilaterally declared independence in 2008, after years of tensions between the two ethnic groups.

Till today, Serbia continues to lay claim to Kosovo and refuses to recognise it as a sovereign state.

About 117 countries, including the US and most European Union (EU) countries, have recognised Kosovo as an independent state. However, Serbia, Russia, China, India, and others, have not.

India has maintained that Kosovo’s declaration of independence contradicts UNSC Resolution 1244 which sought to establish an “interim administration for Kosovo” to solve the political crisis there at the time.

Current Affair 2:

When is a Political Party recognized as a National or State Party?

 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has qualified to become India’s ninth national party.

Other parties that have been recognised as national parties are Congress, BJP, Mayawati's BSP, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (Marxist), National People’s Party (NPP) , Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

But when is a party recognized as a National Party and what are the advantages of being recognized?

The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968

A registered political party is accorded the status of a recognized state or national party as per the criteria listed in ‘The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968’. This order was amended from time to time.

Recognition as a National Party

For any political party to be eligible for recognition as a National Party, it has to satisfy any of the three conditions listed below.

Advantages of being recognized as a State or National Party

The biggest advantage of being recognized is getting the reserved symbol. A party recognized as a state party gets a reserved symbol within the state.  All the candidates contesting from that party will get the same symbol throughout the state. For National Parties, the reserved symbol can be used across the country by its contesting candidates. This is one the biggest advantages since symbol plays a very important role in elections.

There are also other advantages to the recognized parties like subsidized land for party offices, free air time on Doordarshan & All India Radio, supply of electoral roll copies free of cost during elections etc.

Current Affair 3:

Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022

 

The Rajya Sabha passed the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022 which seeks to give effect to India's obligations under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ('CITES'), which requires countries to regulate trade of all listed specimens through permits.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill during the Monsoon session earlier this year.

In India, illegal animal trade is regulated under Custom Act, Foreign Trade Development Regulation Act and Exim Policy and Wildlife Protection Act. However, the bill is brought since CITES requires independent framework for Wildlife protection.

Bill is also beneficial for local tribal communities as it inserts an explanation to provide for certain permitted activities such as grazing, movement of livestock, bona fide use of drinking and household water.

Bill seeks to amend Section 43 of the principal Act to permit transfer or transport of a captive elephant for a religious or any other purpose by a person having a valid certificate of ownership.

Amendment to Section 6 to constitute Standing Committee to exercise such powers and duties as may be delegated to it by the State Board for Wildlife.

Insert Section 49E to empower Central government to designate a Management Authority to grant export or import permits for trade of specimens. The Authority may use an identification mark for a specimen and any modification or removal of such identification mark is prohibited.

Insert Section 49F to empower Central government to designate a Scientific Authority to advice on aspects related to impact on the survival of the specimens being traded. These provisions are set to ensure "sustainable" exploitation of flora and fauna.

The Bill seeks to regulate the control of sanctuaries. It provides that the Chief Wildlife Warden shall act in accordance with the management plans for the sanctuary, to be prepared as per Central guidelines.

It also empowers both Central and State governments to declare areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries as a conservation reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and their habitat.

The Bill also empowers Central government to regulate and stop the import, trade or possession of invasive plant or animal alien species.

 

Current Affair 4:

World Bank report on Remittances

 

World Bank publishes 'Migration and Development Brief' twice a year. It provides an update on key developments in the area of migration and remittance flows and related policies over the past six months.

In 2022, India is expected to cross $100 billion in remittances. Last year it had received $89.4 billion. In FDI, India had received around $85 billion in 2021-22. So, basically remittances are more than FDI.

Remittance flows to India were enhanced by the wage hikes and a strong labor market in the United States and other OECD countries. In the GCC destination countries, governments ensured low inflation through direct support measures that protected migrants’ ability to remit.

The World total remittances are expected to touch $794 billion in 2022, out of which $626 billion went to Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

The largest sources of remittances for India comes from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries and the US, UK.

There has been a structural change in our remittances. There is a gradual structural shift in Indian Migrants' key destinations from largely low skilled, informal employment in the GCC Countries to a dominant share of high skilled jobs in high income countries such as US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Australia etc.

 

One reason of this increased remittances could also be rupee depreciation. When Rupee depreciates, The Indian migrants abroad try to convert as much dollars into rupee to get a benefit of the depreciated rupee (presently $1=Rs. 82) as they will get more rupee per dollar. This benefit will erode once rupee again appreciates and comes back to $1=Rs. 70 range.

 

India’s Remittance Receipts are on Track to Reach $100 Billion in 2022

The top five recipient countries for remittances in 2022 are expected to be India, establishing a benchmark of $100 billion in the year, followed by Mexico with a tally of $60 billion.

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