MAHARASHTRA TO GET FLOATING SOLAR PLANTS

• Maharashtra is all set to get Floating Solar Power Generation Plants on Four Dams.
• The backwater of Wardha, Bebala, Khadakpurna and Pentakli dams has been selected for setting up the floating solar panels as per the Swiss Challenge method.
• The estimated investment per megawatt is 4.45 crore rupees, with a total installed capacity of 500 MW.

UAE LAUNCHES UN-DEVELOPED ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING PLATFORM goAML

• The United Arab Emirates’ Central Bank in Abu Dhabi at their Financial Intelligence Unit (FILI) introduced a new reporting platform ‘goAML’ (global operations Anti-Money Laundering).
• It is developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)Their main aim is to curb organised crimes.
• It is the first country in the Gulf to launch this platform.
• All financial institutions in the UAE must register on the new platform by June 27, 2019 to Avoid Penalties.
• Around 900 entities including, banks, insurance companies and money exchange centres to register on the platform. It will help FIU to prevent money laundering, financing aganist terrorism. It was developed by UNODC.

SAUDI ARABIA BECAME THE FIRST ARAB COUNTRY TO GET FATF MEMBERSHIP

• Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to get membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
• The number of permanent members of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is 39.
• The membership admitted into the global money laundering after the Annual General Meeting in Orlando, Florida.
• FATF celebrated their 30th anniversary of its first meeting
• Saudi Arabia received an invitation from FATF in 2015 and they joined as an “observer member’.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

• It is an Intergovernmental Organization and International Tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands.
• The ICC has Jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the International Crimes of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and Crimes of aggression.
• The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. As of March 2019, there are 122 ICC member states. 42 states are non-party, non-signatory states.
• India has Not signed Rome Statute.
• The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals and is independent of United Nations (UN). But it may receive case referrals from UN Security Council and can initiate prosecutions without UN action or referral.

MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

Context:

• Pakistan to celebrate Maharaja Ranjit’s Singh 180th death anniversary by unveiling life-size sculpture in Lahore.

About Ranjit Singh:

• He was the leader of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century.
• He fought several wars to expel the Afghans and was proclaimed as the “Maharaja of Punjab”
• He repeatedly defeated invasions by outside armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British.
• Ranjit Singh’s reign introduced reforms, modernization, investment into infrastructure and general prosperity.
• His Khalsa Army and Government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Europeans, he strengthened both infantry and artillery. He brought new equipment of warfare and also established cannon foundries, gunpowder and arms factories.
• He was also known for his renovation of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He was also a keen admirer of Guru Gobind Singh. He was popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab, or “Lion of Punjab”.
• He died on 27 June 1839 aged 58 in Lahore. His Samadhi is in Lahore, Pakistan.

DIPHTHERIA

• Diphtheria is an Infectious Disease caused by the Bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheria, which primarily infects the throat and upper airways, and produces a toxin affecting other organs.
• It spreads through contact or cough and sneeze droplets.
• In severe cases, the toxin secreted by this Bacterium kills cells in the throat.
• If the patient isn’t treated the toxin can spread through the bloodstream hurting the heart and kidneys. Under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), all children below one year of age are supposed to get three doses of the Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) vaccine.

VARADHARAJA PERUMAL TEMPLE

• It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the holy city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
• It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu believed to have been visited by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars.
• One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava
  Visisht Advaita philosophy, Ramanuja is believed to have resided in this temple.
• The temple has around 350 inscriptions from various dynasties like Chola, Pandya, Telugu Chodas, Kandavarayas, Cheras, Kakatiya, Sambuvaraya,Hoysala and Vijayanagara indicating various donations to the temple and also the political situation of Kanchipuram.
• The Temple along with Ekambareswarar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam (abode of trio),

ROHINGYA

• They are a predominantly Muslim group living mainly in Rakhine State (Arakan Region) on the Myanmar’s western coast. They speak a Dialect of Bengali, as opposed to the commonly spoken Burmese language.
• Though they have been living in the South East Asian country for generations, Myanmar considers them as persons who migrated to their land during the Colonial rule. So, it has not Granted Rohingyas Full Citizenship.
• India legally deports the Rohingya to Myanmar since it is not party to the 1951 Convention on Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
• They are treated as Illegal Immigrants in India and India does not have any domestic law on procedure or law that governs the protection of refugees in India.
• In response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into Bangladesh, Government of India has decided to extend assistance to Bangladesh under Operation Insaniyat.

Other places of conflict and Communities Affected:

PLACES OF CONFLICT	COMMUNITIES AFFECTED	IMPORTANT ASSOCIATED CITIES
Yemen Crisis	Houthis Belonging to Zaidi Tribes	Sanaa (Capital City)
Syrian Crisis	Kurds Who Want Kurdistan – Comprising of Border areas from Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia	In Syria – Aleppo, Palmyra, Raqqa In Iraq – Kirkuk Mosul
Lebanon	Hezbollah aim at driving Israel from Lebanon	Tripoli, Beirut
Afghanistan	Pashtun Community (Taliban Insurgency is mainly restricted to this community)	Mazar-i-sharif

RIO GRANDE RIVER

• It forms the part of the border that Divides US and Mexico
• The river serves as part of the natural border between the U.S. State of Texas.
• President Trump wants to build a wall on border of Mexico to restrict illegal Migration.
• US-Mexico Border Wall was one of the key promises made by President Trump when he was campaigning to become president.
• At present, there is 650 miles of barrier along the border which is 1,900 miles long.

COUNTERVAILING DUTY

• Context-The government has imposed a countervailing duty on large Radial Tyres Imported from China, for a period of five years.

What is Countervailing Duty?

• Duties that are imposed in order to counter the negative impact of import subsidies to protect domestic producers are called countervailing duties.
• This raises the price of these goods leading to domestic goods again being equally competitive and attractive. Thus, domestic businesses are cushioned.
• These duties can be imposed under the specifications given by the WTO (World Trade Organization) after the investigation finds that exporters are engaged in dumping. These are also known as anti-dumping duties.