1) Rohini Commission: Rohini Commission has submitted its report on sub-categorisation of OBCs.
- Government had constituted the commission in 2017 under Article 340.
- Article 340 empowers President to appoint Commission to investigate conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.
- Objective of Commission
- Examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation (i.e. 27% reservation in jobs and education) among castes or communities with reference to central OBC list.
2) National Investigation Agency (NIA): NIA conducted searches at various locations to locate those involved in attack on High Commission of India in London.
- NIA was formed under NIA Act 2008, in the aftermath of 26/11 attacks.
- It is a federal counter-terror agency that can take suo-motu cognizance of terrorist activity in any part of India.
- NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019 empowered NIA to investigate scheduled offenses committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries.
- Act 2019 also empowered the centre to designate sessions court as special court for NIA trials.
3) Nyaya Bandhu Program: Nyaya Bandhu Mobile Application has been developed and onboarded on UMANG platform.
- Nyaya Bandhu is pro bono legal service scheme that provides voluntary legal advice to individuals/organizations that are unable to afford/access legal aid.
- It is being implemented by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice.
- As per Legal Service Authority Act 1987, marginalized and disadvantaged including SC, ST, women, children, PwDs, etc., can get free legal aid under the program.
- Article 39A (DPSP) obligates the state to provide free legal aid to needy.
4) Account Aggregators (AA): SEBI has released a consultation paper on AA to curb misuse of financial information in frauds and improve user safeguards.
- AA is a RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual to secure, digitally access and share information from one financial institution to other.
- In AA, data cannot be shared without the consent of individual.
- AA system can make lending and wealth management a lot faster and cheaper.
- Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers.
Places in News:
1) Great Barrier Reef (GBR): A UNESCO heritage committee have recommended the Great Barrier Reef not be placed on a list of world heritage sites “in danger”.
- However, they warned that the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem remains under “serious threat” from pollution and the warming of oceans.
- The GBR, which extends for over 2,300 kilometers along the northeastern coast of Australia, is home to over 9,000 known species.
- They are home to a quarter of the ocean’s marine life, generate clean air and protect vulnerable coastlines from erosion, flooding and storms.
- It was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981
