Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 April 2017
:: National ::
Attorney-General to defend India in UNHRC
India will highlight its “impartial” justice system when it sends its top law officer, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, to the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Mr. Rohatgi will defend India’s case against allegations of violations in Jammu and Kashmir, torture, minority rights and recent strictures against NGOs.
Mr. Rohatgi said he would convey that the treatment of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab and 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yaqub Memon proves the Indian legal system’s “impartial” standards.
“These are two people who committed crimes against the state. They orchestrated, and were directly involved in, the massacre of hundreds of innocents, both Indian and foreign, in the heart of our financial capital.
Yet, both were tried impartially by a court of law, provided legal aid, were given every opportunity to appeal till the last stage even as their petitions for clemency were entertained at the highest level,” Mr. Rohatgi told.
In the run-up to the hearings at the UNHRC, held once in five years for every country, reports from governmental and non-governmental agencies from other countries in the 47-member council, including from the U.S. Congress and civil society groups, and international agencies, have been sought.
Sweden and Spain have asked for the government to explain its stand on homosexuality rights and the repeal of Article 377 that criminalises same-sex relationships.
The Attorney General, who will respond to the questions during a four-hour session in Geneva, said he would speak about constitutionally-mandated protections to minorities in India.
Turkey is keen on expanding defence industrial cooperation with India
Turkey is keen on expanding defence industrial cooperation with India and will offer its armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the upcoming visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey’s support to Pakistan on Kashmir at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was likely to continue.
Turkey said the areas of cooperation were aviation, space and ammunition, etc.
On Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism and Kashmir, he said the issue was for the two countries to discuss.
Strict law will increase tax compliance says FM
Union Finance Minister said the fear of consequences owing to strict and expeditious enforcement of law would ensure that as India evolved from a developing to a developed economy, it would be a highly tax compliant society.
Advocating use of technology for detecting evasion, Mr. Jaitley said the Enforcement Directorate should expeditiously use the penalising powers to deal with any non-compliance, particularly money laundering.
“Full compliance in taxation and currency laws has always been one of the features of developed states. If you go to the developed world, violations are rare.
Those who violate are strictly called upon and are answerable to the law and there are very strict penal consequences,” Mr. Jaitleysaid.
Mr. Jaitley said over the years, in India, non-compliance was never considered a moral wrong, it was rather considered smart.
“Non-compliance has hit the larger public and national interest,” he said, adding that compliance would help generate funds for development in various sectors.
Japan has selected former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar for top honour (Register and Login to read Full News)
FICCI-India Sanitation Coalition prize to Aga khan foundation (Register and Login to read Full News)
:: International ::
UAE hardened military into Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East
The United Arab Emirates is better known for its skyscrapers and pampered luxuries, but its small size belies a quiet expansion of its battle—hardened military into Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The seven-state federation ranks as one of Washington’s most prominent Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State group, hosting some 5,000 American military personnel, fighter jets and drones.
But the practice gunfire echoing through the deserts near bases outside of Dubai and recent military demonstrations in the capital of Abu Dhabi show a country increasingly willing to flex its own muscle amid its suspicions about Iran.
Already, the UAE has landed expeditionary forces in Afghanistan and Yemen. Its new overseas bases on the African continent show this country.
The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, only became a country in 1971. It had been a British protectorate for decades and several of the emirates had their own security forces.
The forces merged together into a national military force that took part in the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf War that expelled Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait.
The UAE sent troops to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission there starting in 1999, giving its forces valuable experience.
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, it deployed special forces troops in Afghanistan to support the U.S.-led war against the Taliban. Today, the UAE hosts Western forces at its military bases, including American and French troops.