DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

30^th November 2021

No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the World Health Organization	Prelims & Mains
2.	How a Law is repealed in India	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Attorney General of India	Prelims & Mains
4.	What is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act	Prelims & Mains
5.	About the Giant African Snail	Prelims & Mains

 

1 – ABOUT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 

GS II

Health Related Topics & International Organizations

• Basic Info about the World Health Organization (WHO):
• The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ specialised organisation for health, was founded in 1948.
• Geneva, Switzerland is home to the company’s headquarters.
• The Organization has 194 Member States, 150 Country Offices, and six Regional Offices.
• It is an intergovernmental organisation that works with its member states, usually through their ministries of health.
• The WHO sets the research agenda, establishes norms and standards, articulates evidence-based policy alternatives, provides technical help to countries, and monitors and assesses global health trends.
• It first opened its doors on April 7, 1948, which is today known as World Health Day.
• Goals:
• Assume the job of worldwide health director and organiser.
• As needed, establish and maintain effective coordination with the UN, specialised agencies, government health administrations, professional groups, and other organisations.
• Assist governments in strengthening health services upon request.
• Encourage scientific and professional organisations that work to improve health to collaborate.
• Administration:
• The Health Assembly is made up of delegates that represent members.
• Each Member is represented by up to three delegates, one of whom is designated as the Member’s head delegate.
• These delegates are selected from among individuals with the greatest level of technical experience in the field of health, ideally from the Member’s national health administration.
• The Health Assembly meets on a regular basis as well as on occasion for special sessions.
• The Health Assembly makes decisions about the organization’s policy.
• It is responsible for overseeing the Organization’s financial policy as well as reviewing and approving the budget.
• It reports to the Economic and Social Council in accordance with any agreement reached between the Organization and the United Nations.
• WHO’s Secretariat:
• WHO’s Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The Director-General, as well as any technical or administrative staff that the Organization may require, make up the Secretariat.
• The Director-General is appointed by the Health Assembly on the Board’s recommendation and for such terms as the Assembly determines.

• Source – The Hindu – 30/11/21 – Page Number 1

2 – HOW A LAW IS REPEALED IN INDIA:

GS III

Topic – Constitutional Amendment related topics

• Why is it making headlines:
• The Prime Minister of India recently stated that the three contentious farm laws approved in 2020 will be reversed during the upcoming winter session of Parliament.
• Articles of the Indian Constitution that are related:
• According to Article 245 of the Constitution, Parliament has the ability to make laws for the entire country or for any part of it, while state legislatures have the power to make laws for their own states.
• The same clause grants Parliament the power to overturn a law.
• Under the Constitution, Parliament has the same power to repeal as it has to enact legislation.
• A law can be repealed completely, partially, or merely to the extent that it conflicts with other laws.
• A “sunset” clause in legislation can also specify a date after which it will cease to exist.
• For example, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act of 1987, or TADA, included a sunset clause and was allowed to expire in 1995.
• What does it mean to repeal a law:
• Parliament must approve new legislation to repeal a statute that does not have a sunset provision.
• Laws can be repealed in two ways: by ordinances or by legislation.
• Through Ordinance:
• If an ordinance is used, it must be replaced by legislation passed by Parliament within six months.
• If the ordinance fails owing to Parliament’s failure to accept it, the repealed statute will be reinstated.
• Farm Laws Must Be Abolished Through Legislation: The government must pass legislation in both Houses of Parliament and obtain the President’s approval before the farm laws can be repealed.
• All three farm laws could be repealed by a single piece of legislation.
• Repealing and Amendment Bills are frequently submitted for this reason.
• It follows the same procedure as previous bills.
• When the Union government attempted to abolish 58 old laws and make minor modifications to the Income Tax Act of 1961 and the Indian Institutes of Management Act of 2017, the Repealing and Amending provision was last utilised in 2019.
• Source – The Hindu – 30/11/21 – Page Number 1 & 10

3 – ABOUT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIA

GS II

Topic – Constitutional Posts and their related topics

• About India’s Attorney General:
• The Attorney General of India (AG) is a member of India’s Union Executive.
• The Attorney General is the highest law enforcement authority in the country.
• Article 76 of the Constitution establishes the position of Attorney General of India.
• Eligibility and Appointment:
• The President picks the Attorney General based on the government’s recommendation.
• S/he must be an Indian citizen who has served as a high court judge for five years or as a high court attorney for 10 years, or as a famous jurist, according to the President’s decision.
• The term of the office is not specified in the Constitution.
• The processes and grounds for the removal of the AG are not specified in the Constitution. He/she works at the President’s pleasure (may be removed by the President at any time).
• Responsibilities:
• To provide legal advice to the Government of India (GoI) on matters that the President has entrusted to her or him.
• To carry out any additional legal tasks that the President has assigned to her/him.
• In all Supreme Court and High Court cases involving the Government of India, to represent the Government of India.
• In any Supreme Court referral made by the President under Article 143 of the Constitution, to represent the Government of India (Power of the President to Consult the Supreme Court).
• To fulfil the responsibilities entrusted to her or him by the Constitution or other laws.
• Rights and Limitations:
• S/he has the right to speak and participate in the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, as well as any Parliamentary committee to which s/he may be appointed, but not to vote.
• He or she has all of the privileges and immunities that come with being a member of Parliament.
• He does not fit under the category of government workers. He is not prohibited from practising law in his spare time.
• He or she should not, however, advise or represent the Indian government in any way.
• The Attorney General is assisted in carrying out his official duties by the Solicitor General of India and the Additional Solicitor General of India.
• Corresponding Office of the Advocate General in the United States (Article 165).

• Source – The Hindu – 30/11/21 – Page Number 1

4 – WHAT IS THE PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT

GS III

Topic – Indian Economy

• The PMLA Act of 2002:
• India’s particular legislation dealing with money laundering is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ((PMLA), 2002).
• The law, which was enacted in India to combat money laundering, has three basic objectives:
• Preventing and combating money laundering.
• To provide for the forfeiture and seizure of property acquired through money laundering.
• In India, to deal with any other money-laundering-related issue.
• Under the PMLA Act, the Enforcement Directorate is authorised to conduct a Money Laundering investigation.
• In addition to the rules of the PMLA, there are other specialised requirements, such as the RBI/SEBI/IRDA anti-money laundering regulations Enforcement Directorate.
• Amendments made recently:
• In 2019, the Union government issued a notification amending the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), giving the Enforcement Directorate (ED) extra jurisdiction in dealing with money laundering cases.
• What are the specific modifications that will be implemented:
• According to the amendment, money laundering will be classified as a separate crime.
• Money laundering was originally not a stand-alone crime; instead, it was dependent on the proceeds of another crime, known as a “predicate offence” or “scheduled offence,” which became the subject of the money laundering crime.
• The concept of “proceeds of crime” is now expanded to encompass property “produced or received directly or indirectly as a result of any criminal action relating to the scheduled offence.”
• The most notable changes are the elimination of clauses in sub-sections (1) of Section 17 (Search and Seizure) and Section 18 (Criminal Procedure) (Search of Persons).
• Under these rules, other agencies authorised to investigate the offences mentioned in the PMLA schedule were required to file a FIR or charge sheet.
• All PMLA offences will be cognizable and non-bailable, according to Section 45 of the Act.
• As a result, if certain conditions are met, ED will be authorised to arrest an accused without a warrant.
• Another significant modification is that the Act now includes separate and full charges for concealing proceeds of crime, possession, acquisition, usage, projecting as pure money, and claiming as unspoiled property.
• Section 72 now allows the Centre to form an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee to coordinate inter-departmental and inter-agency operations and policies, as well as dialogue on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist funding efforts.
• Money laundering is defined as follows:
• The technique of making large sums of money earned through criminal activities such as drug trafficking or terrorist financing appear to have come from a legitimate source is known as money laundering.
• Smuggling, drug trafficking, prostitution networks, insider trading, bribery, and computer fraud schemes all earn significant amounts of money.
• As a result, money launderers have a motivation to utilise money laundering to “legitimise” ill-gotten gains.
• Money generated in this manner is known as ‘dirty money,’ and the act of transforming ‘dirty money’ into ‘legal’ money is known as money laundering.
• how does money laundering work:
• Money laundering is a three-step procedure that includes the procedures listed below:
• The first stage is when the illicit money is injected into the formal financial system.
• In the second stage, money injected into the system is layered and dispersed over multiple transactions to disguise the money’s polluted origin.
• Integration: In the third and final stage, money is brought into the financial system in such a way that it loses its initial association to crime, allowing the offender to spend it as clean money.
• Money laundering techniques include bulk cash smuggling, cash-intensive companies, trade-based laundering, shell firms and trusts, round-tripping, bank capture, gambling, real estate, black salary, fictional loans, Hawala, and fraudulent invoicing.
• The legal framework in India for dealing with money laundering is complex.
• Source – The Hindu – 30/11/21 – Page Number 6

5 – ABOUT THE GIANT AFRICAN SNAILS

Prelims Specific Topic

• The Giant African Snail’s Facts:
• Achatina fulica (Giant African Snail) is a large land snail with the generic name Achatina fulica. It eats furiously, causing damage to both agricultural crops and wild plants.
• Giant African snails are native to East Africa, as their name suggests.
• The snails are around 7 centimetres tall and 20 centimetres long.
• Snail shells have a conical form and are twice as tall as they are wide. The shell is also incredibly tough.
• Snails are said to devour plants, vegetables, fruits, paper, and cardboard. They occasionally eat sand, very small stones, and cadaver bones.
• The snail has been named one of the worst invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• The Giant African Snail is thought to transmit human diseases such septicemia, eosinophilic meningitis, and peritonitis.
• Giant African Snails Invasion in India:
• According to a recent study, the enormous snail has regularly infiltrated India, particularly Kerala.
• The research was done in partnership with the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and the Environment (KSCSTE), the UAE’s Environmental Agency, Nottingham University in the United Kingdom, and the Natural History Museum in London at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI).
• The study was conducted between 2016 and 2020.
• The snail is thought to have made its way to Kerala after being accidentally released by a researcher in Palakkad in the early 1950s. There were two more invasion waves between the 1970s and 2005.
• The deadly species has now spread to all of Kerala’s districts except Idukki.
• According to the study, India has a higher genetic diversity of giant African snails than native African species.
• The genetic strains of large African snails in the United Arab Emirates and India are identical. The movement of goods between the two countries is to blame for this.
• The outcomes of the study were published in the biology journal of the Linnean Society.

• Source – The Hindu – 30/11/21 – Page Number 7