30 March 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

 1 – SEBI: GS III – Topic  Indian Economy:

 Context:

• The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) took steps on Wednesday to tighten disclosure rules and boost transparency by forcing large listed companies to confirm or deny price-sensitive market rumours and to notify stock exchanges within 30 minutes of major board decisions.
• The SEBI board mandates that, in order to promote openness and ensure quick disclosure of key events or information by listed entities, the top 100 listed enterprises by market capitalisation must verify, confirm, deny, or clarify any market rumours. This will go into effect on October 1, 2023. For the top 250 listed companies by market capitalization, April 2024 would be the cutoff date for adhering to this criterion.

About:

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was established on April 12, 1992, in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992. (a non-constitutional organisation created by a Parliament).
• Promoting and overseeing the securities market as well as defending the rights of investors in securities are among SEBI’s main duties.
• The administrative heart of SEBI is located in Mumbai. The regional offices of SEBI are located in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata.

 Background:

• The Capital Issues (Control) Act of 1947 gave the Controller of Capital Issues, the regulating body, jurisdiction prior to the creation of SEBI.
• As per an Indian government decree, the SEBI was founded in April 1988 to serve as the nation’s capital markets’ regulator.
• At first, SEBI was a non-statutory organisation with no statutory powers.
• It was given autonomy and legal standing by the SEBI Act of 1992.

What is the organization’s structure?

• The chairman of the SEBI Board is joined by a number of other full- and part-time members.
• When required, SEBI also appoints a number of committees to look into the most crucial issues at hand.
• To protect the rights of organisations who believe SEBI’s ruling violated their rights, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has also been established.
• SAT is made up of a Presiding Officer and two more Members.
• It is just as powerful as a civil court. Additionally, the Supreme Court will hear any appeals from anybody who believe they were wronged by the SAT’s decision or order.

What are SEBI’s responsibilities and authority?

• Being a quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial body, SEBI has the power to establish regulations, conduct inquiries, make decisions, and impose penalties.
• It fulfils the requirements of three categories:
• Issuers: By enabling them to access a market where they can raise additional funds.
• Investors: By providing up-to-date information that is both accurate and safe.
• This enables a competitive professional market for intermediaries.
• The Securities Laws (Amendment) Act of 2014 gives SEBI the authority to regulate any money pooling agreement having a value of Rs. 100 crore or more. and, in cases of noncompliance, take possession of assets.
• The SEBI Chairman has the authority to authorise “search and seizure activities.” The SEBI Board may also request information from anyone regarding any securities transaction that it is investigating, such as phone logs.
• SEBI registers and oversees the operations of venture capital funds, collective investment plans, and mutual funds.
• It also helps to support and regulate self-regulatory organisations and to make unfair and dishonest commercial practises in the securities markets illegal.

Source The Hindu

 2 – Great Nicobar Project: GS I – Topic Government Policies and Interventions:

 Context:

• The Minister of Tribal Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha on March 29 that the Great Nicobar island project will not be permitted to evict tribespeople.
• A city, an airport, a power plant, and a transshipment port are all being built as part of a project being carried out by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Company (ANIIDCO).

What is being proposed?

A “greenfield city” is a concept that combines:

• a facility for transshipment of containers globally (ICTT).
• an entirely new international airport.
• a source of power.
• a compensation package for the project’s employees.
• The project will cover a total area of 166.1 sq km over a 2–4 km wide beachfront strip on the southeast and southern coastlines of the island.
• 9.64 lakh trees are expected to be felled as part of a plan to divert 130 sq km of woodland.
• The port will be under the control of the Indian Navy, and the airport will accommodate travellers as well as military and civilian travellers.
• Roads, public transit, water supply, waste management, and a handful of hotels have all been planned with tourists in mind.
• A NITI Aayog report claims that the projected port will make Great Nicobar a prominent player in cargo transshipment, allowing it to participate in the regional and global maritime economy.

When will the project’s implementation work begin?

• The fiscal year 2022–2023 has been recommended as the commencement date for development activities; the port is expected to be operational by 2027–2028.
• The project will be carried out in three parts over the following 30 years.
• The island is expected to create more than 1 lakh new direct jobs and 1.5 lakh new indirect jobs during the course of development.
• What is the purpose?
• Both strategically and economically, the government hopes to benefit from the island’s favourable location.
• In the southeast, between Port Klang and Singapore, and in the southwest, between Colombo, is Great Nicobar.
• The East-West International Shipping Corridor, which is used for a sizeable amount of international shipping trade, is located nearby.
• Trucks using this route may eventually use the projected ICTT as a hub.

Significance:

• The concept to develop Great Nicobar Island was first proposed in the 1970s.
• Its importance for improving national security and regional stability has often been emphasised.
• Due to growing Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific and Bay of Bengal, this mission has recently assumed a lot more importance.

What are the concerns?

• The proposed construction of a sizable infrastructure project in a fragile and vital natural area worries many environmentalists.
• The local coral reefs would be impacted by the loss of roughly a million trees due to increased runoff and silt deposits in the ocean.
• The project will result in the island’s mangroves disappearing.

What approach is the government using to address these problems?

• India has successfully shifted a coral reef in the past from the Gulf of Mannar to the Gulf of Kutch.
• The Zoological Survey of India is currently estimating how much of the reef will need to be moved in order to finish the project.
• The government claims that a leatherback turtle conservation policy is also being put into practise.
• According to the administration, moving through with the project is essential for both strategic and national security reasons.
• The project’s location is outside of the ecologically fragile regions of Galathea National Park and Campbell Bay.
• Only a small fraction of the island and its forest cover are being developed, and 15% of that area will be made up of greenery and open spaces, according to the Center.

Source The Hindu

 3 – Black Sea: GS I – Topic Geography:

 Context:

• Up to now: Last Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his nation intended to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, signalling the newest escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Tactical nuclear weapons are small nuclear warheads and delivery systems intended for use in conflict or for limited strikes.

Black Sea:

• An outlying sea of the Atlantic Ocean is the Black Sea.
• It is located halfway between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
• Six countries encircle the Black Sea: Romania to the west, Ukraine to the east, Russia to the east, Ukraine to the north, and Turkey to the south.

Connecting water bodies:

• The Black Sea eventually flows into the Mediterranean Sea through the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea.
• The Bosporus Strait, which is itself connected to the Aegean Sea by the Strait of the Dardanelles, connects it to the little Sea of Marmara.
• The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the north are connected by the Kerch Strait.

Merconic Basin:

• The Black Sea is the largest body of water in the world with a meromictic basin.
• In a meromictic lake, the water layers do not mix. The deeper seas are not mixed with the upper layers of water, which get their oxygen from the atmosphere.
• Hence, approximately 90% of the deeper Black Sea’s volume is made up of anoxic water. Anoxic waters are regions of seawater, freshwater, or groundwater that don’t have any dissolved oxygen.
• Therefore the preservation of ancient shipwrecks found in the Black Sea is due to the anoxic layer.

Source  The Hindu

 4 – Lakshadweep: GS I – Topic Geography:

 Context:

• The Lakshwadeep MP Mohammad Faizal P.P.’s membership was reinstated by a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on March 29, 2023. based on a Kerala High Court stay order concerning a previous criminal conviction.

About Lakshadweep:

• The tropical archipelago of Lakshadweep is located in the Laccadive Sea, 280 to 480 kilometres off the coast of Kerala. It is made up of 36 atolls and coral reefs. 11 are taken up.
• Nonetheless, there are currently 35 islands, with Parali 1 under water due to sea erosion.
• The most important industry is fishing, and the region’s name, Lakshadweep, translates to “one lakh islands” in the official and widely spoken local language Malayalam.
• The islands are the smallest union territory of India, with a total surface area of around 32 km2.
• The Kerala High Court has jurisdiction over the Union Territory, whose capital is Kavaratti. There is only one district in this Union Territory.
• The three primary languages of Lakshadweep are Malayalam, Jeseri (Dweep Bhasha), and Mahl.
• The previous names for these islands were Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands.
• The name Lakshadweep was formally accepted on November 1st, 1973.

 Historical Background:

• There have been human settlements in the region since around 1500 BCE.
• The islands were mentioned in the Buddhist Jataka stories from the sixth century BCE as well.
• Islam was established there when Muslims arrived in the region in the seventh century.
• During the Medieval Ages, the Chera, Chola, and finally the Kingdom of Kannur ruled the region.
• The Catholic Portuguese population arrived in 1498, but by 1545, they had been pushed away.
• Tipu Sultan succeeded the Muslim house of Arakkal, who had previously ruled the region as a vassal of the Kings of Kannur.
• With his passing in 1799, the British received the majority of the region, and the Union Territory was created after their departure in 1956.

Geography:

• The island is situated in the Laccadive Sea, between 8 and 12 degrees N latitude.
• The entire chain of islands that make up Lakshadweep is covered in coral deposits.
• The islands are made of unconsolidated pebbles, shingles, cobbles, and boulders. All of them are atolls surrounded by fringing reefs.
• These islands are a part of the Reunion Hotspot volcanism.

 Other Crucial details:

• There are no forests on the Island.
• A notable crop is the coconut alone. The world’s highest oil concentration is found in coconuts from Lakshadweep (82 percent).
• The butterflyfish is the national animal of the Lakshadweep Islands.
• The sooty tern is the national bird of Lakshadweep Islands.
• The breadfruit is the official tree of the Lakshadweep Islands.
• Lakshadweep is home to the oceanic birds Sterna fuscata (Tarathasi) and Karifetu (Anous solidus). They frequently live on one of the barren PITTI islands. On this island, a bird sanctuary has been established. It serves as an important nesting site for sea turtles.
• If both of their parents were born on the islands, Lakshadweep residents are regarded as Scheduled Tribes under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes list (Modification Rules), 1956.
• The entire Lakshadweep group of islands was designated an organic agriculture region in 2020 under India’s Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).
• Agatti Aerodrome on Agatti Island is the only airport in Lakshadweep.
• The people’s main sources of income are fishing and coconut cultivation, and the main export good is tuna.

Source The Hindu