Current Affair 1:

South East Africa Montane Archipelago (SEAMA)

 

News:

It is a newly recognised mountainous ecoregion. It stretches across northern Mozambique to Mount Mulanje in Malawi, southern Africa’s second-highest mountain.

The ecoregion encompasses 30 granitic inselbergs reaching > 1000 m above sea level, hosting the largest (Mt Mabu) and smallest (Mt Lico) mid-elevation rainforests in southern Africa, as well as biologically unique montane grasslands.

SEAMA has distinctly higher annual rainfall and humidity, especially in the dry season, compared to surrounding regions.

Since 2000, the SEAMA has lost 18% of its primary humid forest cover (up to 43% in some sites)—one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa.

The major cause of montane forest loss in SEAMA is slash and burn shifting agricultural practices, typically used for subsistence food production by local communities, along with charcoal production, for household cooking, and as a source of revenue.

Current Affair 2:

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)

 

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is a statutory unified regulatory body under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India established by Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 of Parliament to:

develop and regulate the financial products, financial services and financial institutions located / performed in the International Financial Services Centres in India.

It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Current Affair 3:

Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD)

 

News:

About Investment Facilitation for Development:

It is a joint Initiative launched at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) in December 2017 on a plurilateral basis by 70 countries. This was done through a process known as the Joint Statement Initiative.

Aim:

This agreement aims to create legally binding provisions to facilitate investment flows. It also aims to develop predictable, transparent and open investment rules that will contribute to more efficient investment flows and increased business confidence and it is now in a formal negotiation phase.

Objective:

A core objective of the framework is to facilitate greater participation by developing and least-developed WTO Members in global investment flows.

The IFD agreement was finalised in November 2023 and at present around 120 of 166 WTO member countries (more than 70% of the membership) back this agreement.

Key areas included in the IFD Agreement to promote and facilitate investment

1. Improving regulatory transparency and predictability: such as publishing investment-related measures and establishing enquiry points;
2. Streamlining and speeding up administrative procedures: such as removing duplicative steps in approval processes and simplifying applications;
3. Enhancing international cooperation and addressing the needs of developing members – such as providing technical assistance and capacity-building for developing countries and least developed countries; and

India is not a part of this initiative.

Current Affair 4:

Child Welfare and Protection Committee

 

A Child Welfare Committee is an autonomous institution in India formed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015:

 

<< Previous Next >>