WHY IN NEWS ?

• BRICS foreign ministers meeting was held virtually on June 1, 2021. This meeting was hosted by India.

Agenda of the meeting

• During the minister’s meet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted significant principles which were guiding BRICS.
• He also referred to international law and UN Charter which recognises sovereign equality of all states and respects territorial integrity.
• According to him, desired change can be achieved only by conducting policies in line with these principles.

Who hosted the meeting?

• BRICS meeting was hosted by India in its capacity as chair of BRICS. It was attended by Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov; Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi; Minister of International Relations of South Africa, Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor; and Foreign Minister of Brazil, Carlos Alberto Franco.

Significance of meeting

• BRICS foreign ministers, for the first time, have agreed on common goal of “reforming the multilateral system”. They also agreed, such reform should cover all key multilateral institutions, including-

• UN and its principal organs such as UN general assembly, UN Security Council etc.
• International financial architecture such as IMF & World Bank
• Multilateral trading system such as WTO & UNCTAD and
• Global health governance system along with WHO.

BRICS ministers agreed to bring in new life on discussions regarding reform of UN Security Council.

Key deliverables by India

• India put forward four key deliverables including, reform of multilateral system, use of digital and technological solutions to achieve SDGs, counter-terrorism cooperation and enhancing people-to-people cooperation apart from BRICS cooperation on COVID-19 pandemic

• Union Cabinet approved Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Sustainable Urban Development between India and Japan by suspending the existing MoU of 2007 on Urban Development.
• To implement and strategize programmes on cooperation under MoC, a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be constituted. JWG will meet once in a year in Japan as well as in India, alternately. Cooperation under MoC will continue for a period of 5 years, which can be auto-renewed for 5 years at a time.
• Significance of the MoC: It will promote strong, deep and long-term bilateral cooperation with respect to Sustainable Urban Development between India and Japan. It is expected to create employment opportunities in listed areas of sustainable urban development including Urban Planning, affordable housing, rental housing, Smart Cities Development, Urban Flood Management, water management, Sewerage & Waste Water Management etc.

• CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune has launched a new technique called SWASTIIK to disinfect water by using natural oils. It was launched because, water-borne diseases have increased India’s disease burden.
• About SWASTIIK Technology: This method can eliminate harmful bacteria and antibiotic-resistant strains, economically. It integrates Indian traditional knowledge of Ayurveda to disinfect water and offer possible health benefits of natural oils. It uses hydrodynamic cavitation; combines chemistry, biology, & chemical engineering along with natural resources like natural oils & plant extracts to disinfect water. Thus, method has increased the efficiency and reduced cost of water treatment.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• According to the Union Government, about 7.63 million salaried workers have used their retirement savings to deal with covid-19 crisis since 2020. Back then, the centre had allowed EPF subscribers to withdraw more money from their Employees’ Provident Fund corpus so that they can deal with hardships and income loss.

What does it reflect ?

• EPFO’s (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) efforts to offer non-refundable advances amid covid-19 helped millions. EPF subscribers had withdrawn almost ₹18,700 crore by May 31, 2021. Disbursements also reflect hardships that salaried class is facing amid pandemic.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)

• EPFO is a social security body responsible for running and supervising “state pension schemes” for people across India. It assists Central Board in administering compulsory contributory provident fund, pension and insurance scheme for workforce.
• It implements bilateral social security agreements among countries. Schemes cover both Indian workers and international workers in countries.
• Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is the apex decision making body of EPFO. CBT is a statutory body established by the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. It works under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Economic research department of State Bank of India has published the “Ecowrap 2021” report and revised the real GDP projection for Financial Year 2022 to 7.9 percent from 10.4 percent earlier. Report highlights disproportionately larger impact of second wave of Covid-19 pandemic on economy.

About:

• It says, GDP outlook will be impacted by the trajectory of international commodity prices in the current financial year.
• Pass-through impact of higher commodity prices will be visible in domestic prices which will also impact consumption.
• Overall consumption trajectory will depend on recovery in services such as Trade, Transport, hotels, communication & services related to broadcasting, supporting 25 crore households.
• Corporate reported better growth numbers in Q4 of Financial Year 2021. However, the trend might get reversed as per report.
• Nominal loss of ₹4-lakh crore was reported in H1 (April 2020-September 2020) while 7.3 lakh crore reported in H2 (October 2020 – March 2021). Thus, overall annual loss was ₹6.1-lakh crore.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Global cybersecurity firm, Sophos, published it “the State of Ransomware 2021 report’. It finds, 68% of Indian organisations were by ransomware in the last 12 months.
  • Key findings
• India is one among most affected countries with respect to ransomware attacks.
• India tops the list of top 30 countries for ransomware attacks.
• 68 percent of Indian organisations were hit by ransomware in the last 12 months. Though, this number is less than 82 percent, reported in the 2020 report.
• 72 percent of Indian organisations admitted, data was encrypted in the most significant ransomware attack.
• There is an overall drop in attacks. However, the attacker’s behaviour has changed at some places. At Sophos, it was reported, attackers were switching to more targeted attacks which include human hands-on keyboard hacking so as to bypass organisation’s defences.
• 67 per cent of Indian organisations, whose data was encrypted, paid ransom to recover as opposed to the global average of 32 percent.
• 86 per cent of Indian organisations are of view that cyberattacks are now too complex for their own IT team to handle.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The Finance Ministry notified the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Amendment Rules, 2021. These rules will apply to all insurers irrespective of the stake held by the foreign partner.
• These rules will give an effect to increased FDI limit in the Insurance Sector to 74% from 49%.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The Supreme Court in its recent judgement has widened the scope of Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This section punishes persons accused of dowry deaths.

About Section 304-B:

• Section 304-B was inserted into the Indian Penal Code(IPC) in November 1986.
• According to this section, to make out a case of dowry death:
  • A woman should have died of burns or other bodily injuries or “otherwise than under normal circumstances” within seven years of her marriage.
  • A woman should have suffered cruelty or harassment from her husband or in-laws “soon before her death” in connection with the demand for dowry.
• Punishment: The section punishes convicts with a minimum of seven years imprisonment extendable up to a life term.

Supreme Court Guidelines on Section 304-B:

• Avoid Absurd Interpretation:
  • Over the years, the courts had interpreted the phrase ‘soon before’ in Section 304-B as ‘immediately before‘. This interpretation makes it necessary for a woman to have been harassed moments before she died.
  • On the other hand, the Supreme Court recently said that theprosecution needs to show only a “proximate and live link” between the harassment and her death to make out a case of dowry death.
• Need broader Reading of the Provision:
  • The lower courts should not take a limited approach in categorising death as homicidal or suicidal or accidental. The phrase “otherwise than under normal circumstances” in Section 304-B calls for a liberal interpretation of the provision, not the stricter one.
  • Hence, Section 304-B not implies the narrow categorisation of deathas homicidal or suicidal or accidental. Instead, it also includes non-categorised deaths ‘other than under normal circumstances.
• Proper examination of Accused:
  • The Supreme Court also raised concern about the casual way in which trial courts examine accused persons in dowry death cases under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
  • The court said that the examinationof the accused about the incriminatory material against him should be done fairly.
  • The court must put incriminating circumstances before the accused and seek his response. The accused should also be given sufficient opportunity to give his side of the story.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• French President has asked for forgiveness for his country’s role in the Rwanda Genocide, 1994.

About Rwanda Genocide, 1994:

• The “Rwandan Genocide” refers to the 1994 mass slaughter in Rwanda. It was of the ethnic Tutsi by members of the Hutu majority government.
• The killings began in early 1994 and continued for approximately 100 days. As per a few estimations, there was killing of more than 800,000 Rwandans during that period.

What role did France play during the Rwanda Genocide 1994?

• During the genocide, France was accused. It was for acting as a staunch ally of the Hutu-led government that ordered the killings.
• In 1994, France deployed an UN-backed military force in Rwanda called Operation Turquoise– which was able to save some people. However, it was accused of sheltering some of the genocide’s perpetrators