Recently, the Election Commission issued notice to Jharkhand chief minister on a reference that he held an “office of profit” by granting a mining lease to himself in 2021.

About Office of Profit

• The law does not clearly define what constitutes an office of profit but the definition has evolved over the years with interpretations made in various court judgments.
• An office of profit has been interpreted to be a position that brings to the office-holder some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit.
• Under Article 102 (1) and Article 191 (1) of the Constitution, an MP or an MLA (or an MLC) is barred from holding any office of profit under the central or state government.
• The articles clarify that “a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the government of India or the government of any state by reason only that he is a minister”.

Key Points:

• On the World Press Freedom Day (3rd May), the 20th edition of the World Press Freedom Index was published by Reporters Without Borders.
• Theme for 2022:: Journalism under digital siege
• It has been published every year since 2002 by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) or Reporters Without Borders.
• The Index’s rankings are based on a score ranging from 0 to 100 that is assigned to each country or territory, with 100 being the best possible score (the highest possible level of press freedom) and 0 the worst.
• Top and Worst Performers:
  1. Top positions.: Norway (1st) Denmark (2nd), Sweden (3rd) Estonia (4th) and Finland (5th) grabbed the top positions.
  2. Worst Performer: North Korea remained at the bottom of the list of the 180 countries.
• India’s Ranking:
• India ranked 150th among the 180 countries.
• India has fallen eight places from 142nd to 150th in the 2022 among the 180 countries.

Ranking of Countries

1. Nepal has climbed up by 30 points in the global ranking at 76th position.
2. The index placed Pakistan at 157th position, Sri Lanka 146th, Bangladesh 162nd and Myanmar at 176th position.
3. China was ranked at 175th position.

Key Points:

• Operation Satark has been recently started by Railway Protection Force.
• Objective:Taking action against illicit liquor/FICN/illegal tobacco products/unaccounted gold and any other items being transported through railway networks for the purpose of tax evasion and smuggling.

Key points

• Sangeeta Singh, a 1986 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer has been given additional charge of Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
• After incumbent JB Mohapatra retired as the head of the direct taxes administration body on April 30.
• Currently, the board has four members including Sangeeta Singh.

About Monetary Policy Committee(MPC):

• The MPC is entrusted with the responsibility of deciding the different policy rates including MSF, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, and Liquidity Adjustment Facility.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended by Finance Act (India), 2016 to constitute MPC.

Composition of MPC:

• The committee will have six members. Of the six members, the government will nominate three. No government official will be nominated to the MPC.
• The other three members would be from the RBI with the governor being the ex-officio chairperson. Deputy governor of RBI in charge of the monetary policy will be a member, as also an executive director of the central bank.
• Term: Members of the MPC will be appointed for a period of four years and shall not be eligible for reappointment.

• Kerala beat West Bengal 5-4 in the penalty shootout to win the 75th Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Manjeri Stadium in Malappuram, Kerala.
• This is Kerala’s third win in a Santosh Trophy tournament on home soil.
• Earlier, they had won two editions in Kochi, in 1973-74 and 1992-93.
• Kerala captain Jijo Joseph, was adjudged the player of the match for a commanding performance in the middle of the park.

Context:

Recently, Remarks by a Hindi actor to the effect that Hindi is the national language of India sparked a controversy over the status of the language under the Constitution.

Key Points:

• Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The international form of Indian numerals will be used for official purposes.
• In the constituent assembly discussions, it was decided that English would continue to be used for a period of 15 years.The Constitution said that after 15 years, Parliament may by law decide on the use of English and the use of the Devanagari form of numbers for specified purposes.
• Article 351:It is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India” and also to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

• Transnistria is a tiny breakaway region of Moldova.
• It lies between Moldova to its west and Ukraine towards its east
• Often described as a “remnant of the Soviet Union”, Transnistria declared independence like Moldova did soon after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
• Transnistria is not recognised as independent even by Russia and its economy is dependent on Russia for subsidies and free gas.
• Most Transnistrians have dual citizenship of Russia and Transnistria or triple citizenship of Moldova, Transnistria, and Russia

Aim:

• To facilitate higher investment flows for both countries,
• To ensure mutually beneficial and guarantee a maximum advantage in trade for both countries.

Benefits of India-UAE CEPA

• India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE, especially for all labour-intensive sectors. Such as Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, medical devices, and Automobiles
• Both sides have also agreed to a separate Annex on Pharmaceuticals to facilitate access to Indian pharmaceuticals products, especially automatic registration and marketing authorisation in 90 days for products meeting specified criteria.

CEPA is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over US$100 billion and trade in services to over US$15 billion within five years

Jute Industry in India

• In India, Jute is primarily grown in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh. (West Bengal, Bihar and Assam account for almost 99% of India’s total jute production)
• The seeds are planted between April and May and harvested between July and August.
• Jute production is a labour-intensive industry. It employs about two lakh workers in West Bengal alone and 4 lakh workers across the country
• India is the largest producer of jute followed by Bangladesh and China. However, in terms of acreage and trade, Bangladesh takes the lead accounting for three-fourths of the global jute exports in comparison to India’s 7%.

About Jute:

• Temperature: Between 25-35°C
• Rainfall: Around 150-250 cm
• Soil Type: Well drained alluvial soil.