28 July 2022

Daily UPSC Current Affairs Analysis

1 – Prevention of Money Laundering Act:

GS III

Topic à Internal Security

Context:

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as amended from time to time, including those dealing with the powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding arrest, search, attachment, and seizure in money laundering offences, while emphasising that “the principle of innocence of the accused/offender is regarded as a human right” but “that presumption can be interdicted by a law made by the Parliament/Legislature.”

Money Laundering: What Is It?

• Money laundering is the unlawful procedure of making money obtained via illicit activity—such as the funding of terrorism or the trafficking of illegal drugs—appear to have originated from a legitimate source. The laundering procedure makes the “dirty” money from the criminal action appear “clean.”

What the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is about:

• It was implemented in response to India’s international commitment to combating the money laundering threat, notably the Vienna Convention.
• The PMLA was passed in 2002 and came into effect in 2005 with the goals of preventing money laundering (the process of turning black money into white) and allowing for the confiscation of assets obtained through money-laundering.

The PMLA primarily has three goals:

• to stop and regulate money laundering.
• to seize and forfeit any assets acquired by money laundering.
• to address any additional money laundering-related issues in India.

Dispute resolution:

• The federal government appoints the adjudicating authority. It determines if the confiscated or attached property is being used for money laundering.
• The Adjudicating Authority will be subject to the other provisions of the PMLA and will be governed by natural justice principles rather than being constrained by the method outlined by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Appellate Tribunal:

A government-appointed appellate tribunal has the authority to consider appeals against decisions made by the adjudicating authority. The appropriate High Court can hear appeals of the tribunal’s decisions.

Special Court:

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 has provisions enabling the Union government to establish a special court (PMLA).

2012 PMLA (Amendment) Act:

• introduces the idea of a “reporting entity,” which could be a bank, a financial institution, a broker, etc.
• The PMLA, 2002 set a maximum fine of Rs. 5 lakh, but the amending act eliminated it.
• Any person engaging in such activities has their property provisionally attached and seized.

Source à The Indian Express

2 – Replacement Level in TFR:

GS II

Topic àHealth related issues

Context:

• The current fertility rate is somewhat below the replacement level of fertility, which is 2.1 children per woman, according to NFHS-5.

What is TFR:

• The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would have if she spent her entire reproductive career (15–49 years) having children at the current age-specific fertility rates.

How TFR is calculated:

• It is determined by adding together the defined age-specific reproductive rates across intervals of five years. A total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman guarantees a largely stable population under the assumption of no net migration and constant mortality. Fertility is a factor in population increase, reflecting both the causes and effects of societal and economic changes, along with death and migration.
• Replacement-level fertility is defined by the United Nations Population Division as a TFR of roughly 2.1 children per woman. Each generation will precisely replace itself if replacement level fertility is maintained for a sufficiently long time.

Source à The Hindu

3 – All India Household Consumer Expenditure Survey:

Prelims Specific Topic

• Every five years, the National Statistical Office (NSO) typically conducts it.
• Estimates of the levels of poverty in various regions of the nation were made using it.
• Since 2011–12, it has been used to evaluate economic statistics such the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• The survey is carried out from July through June.
• The exercise for this year is anticipated to be finished by June 2023.
• Only around a year after the fieldwork is finished will estimates of household Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) and the distribution of households and people among various MPCE classes be available.
• The outcomes will comprise distinct data sets for rural and urban regions, as well as spending trends for each State and Union Territory and various socioeconomic classes.

Source à The Indian Express

4 – Universal Service Obligation Fund:

Prelims Specific Topic

• The Department of Telecom made Universal Service one of its primary goals under the New Telecom Policy (NTP) of 1999.
• The fundamental goal is to strike a balance between places that receive high-level services and all uncovered areas, particularly rural ones.
• It intends to boost the nation’s economy and promote the construction of telecommunications facilities in the nation’s remote, hilly, and tribal regions.
• The New Telecom Policy (NTP) of 1999 stated that the Universal Access Levy (UAL), at a prescribed percentage (currently 5 percent) of the revenue earned by the telecom licensees to be determined in consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, was to be used to generate resources for meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) (TRAI).
• In April 2002, the Universal Service Support Policy went into effect.
• Both Houses of Parliament approved the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003, which gave the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) legal status.
• According to the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 (as revised in 2003 and 2006), the Fund must only be used to fulfil the USO.
• The Universal Service Obligation Fund’s mission is to provide all rural Indians with cheap access to a dependable and pervasive telecommunications network, enabling them to realise their full potential.

Source à The Hindu