POCSO: Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children and was amended in August 2019 to provide more stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for sexual crimes against children. POCSO act defines anyone below the age of 18 as child. This law defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years. It defines different forms of sexual offences including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, and even sexual harassment and pornography.
SCO: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation. It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region and a statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.The official languages are Russian and Chinese. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan).
One Rank, One Pension (OROP) Scheme: The Koshiyari Committee has defined OROP as a uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces Personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service regardless of their date of retirement. Thus, any hike in the pension rates to be automatically passed on to past pensioners. Recently, SC ruled that there was “no constitutional infirmity” in the way government had introduced OROP among ex-service personnel.
Carbon border tariff: European Union has planned to impose a world-first carbon dioxide emissions tariff on imports of polluting goods. CO2 emissions costs will be introduced on imports of steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium and electricity. The move is aimed at protecting European industry from being undercut by cheaper goods made in countries with weaker environmental rules. The costs would not kick in until 2026, but a three-year transition phase would begin in 2023. Concerns: It may become a protectionist device, unduly shielding local industries from foreign competition in so-called ‘green protectionism.
Hypersonic Missile: 5 or more times the Mach or speed of sound. (Mach Number: It describes an aircraft’s speed compared with the speed of sound in air, with Mach 1 equating to the speed of sound i.e. 343 metre per second). These are the ones that use rocket or jet propellant through their flight and are regarded as being just faster versions of existing cruise missiles.
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