Daily Current Affairs : 11th and 12th June 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. CAG
2. NATGRID
3. Sant Tukaram
4. FATF
5. Facts for Prelims

1 . Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)

Context : Retired Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Rajiv Mehrishi on Friday said that the CAG, the supreme audit institution of the country, did not even meet the standards of chartered accountants of private companies when it came to assurances.

About CAG

• In a democracy, those holding power and positions of responsibility must be answerable for their actions. For this purpose the Constitution has mandated several institutional    mechanisms like the Judiciary, Vigilance bodies and an independent Supreme Audit Institution (SAI).
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IAAD) functioning under him, constitute the Supreme Audit Institution of India.
• The Constitution of India has mandated CAG as the auditors to the nation. Articles 149-151 of the Constitution prescribe the unique role of the CAG.

Independence of CAG

The Constitution enables the independent and unbiased nature of audit by the CAG by providing for:

• Appointment by the President of India 
• Special procedure for removal (like a Supreme Court Judge) 
• Salary and expenses Charged (not Voted) to the Consolidated Fund of India 
• Disallowing his holding any other Government office after his term expires

Duties

As envisaged in Article 149 of the Constitution, the Parliament enacted a detailed legislation called the CAG’s Duties, Powers and Conditions Act in 1971 which describes his mandate and puts almost every spending, revenue collecting or aid/grant receiving unit of the Government (the Centre and the States) under his audit domain. His duties are to audit and report upon:

• All receipts into and spending from the Consolidated Fund of the Union and State Governments. 
• All transactions relating to the Contingency Funds and relating to the monies of the public held by the Government e.g. Postal savings, Vikas Patras (called Public Accounts) at Central as well as State levels.
• All trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and other subsidiary accounts kept in any Government department. 
• All stores and stock accounts of all Government offices and departments. 
• Accounts of all Government companies and Corporations
• Accounts of all autonomous bodies and authorities receiving Government money e.g. municipal bodies, IIM’s, IIT’s, State Health societies. 
• Accounts of any body or authority on request of the President/Governor or on his own initiative.
• The Act also provides for compilation of accounts of the State Governments from the subsidiary accounts maintained by the State Governments.

Powers

• Power to inspect any office or organisation subject to his audit.
• Power to examine all transactions and question the executive.
• Power to call for any records, papers, documents from any audited entity.
• Power to decide the extent and manner of audit.

Who all comes under CAG Audit

• All the Union and State Government departments including the Indian Railways,Defence and Posts and Telecommunications. 
• About 1500 public commercial enterprises controlled by the Union and State governments, i.e. government companies and corporations. 
• Around 400 non-commercial autonomous bodies and authorities owned or controlled by the Union or the States. 
• Bodies and authorities substantially financed from Union some of the local bodies and Panchayati Raj  Institutions which are critical grass root agencies for implementation of developmental programmes and delivery of services.

Audit Reports

• The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of the Union shall be submitted to the president, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament.
• The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of a State shall be submitted to the Governor of the State, who shall cause them to be laid before the Legislature of the State.

Types of audits

• Performance audits
• Financial Audits
• Compliance Audits
• Audit of transactions
• CCO based audits
• District audit
• Thematic audit
• IT audit

2 . NATGRID

Context : The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has curtailed the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and moved him to the Border Security Force (BSF).

About NATGRID

• NATGRID is an integrated intelligence grid which will connect databases of core security agencies
• It is an ambitious counter terrorism programme, which will utilise technologies like Big Data and analytics to study and analyse the huge amounts of data from various intelligence and enforcement agencies to help track suspected terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks.
• It was first conceptualised in 2009 in the wake of 2008 Mumbai attacks. The project aims to go live by December 31, 2020.
• It is formed with an aim to collect comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies. It will be a medium for at least 10 Central agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to access data on a secured platform.
• State police will not be part of NATGRID and they could directly contact the airlines or railways for information
• The data will be procured by NATGRID from 21 providing organisations such as the telecom, tax records, bank, immigration etc.
• It will be an automated system and the request will land directly with the concerned department. No two agencies would know about the request generated by the other.

Importance

• NATGRID aims to mitigate a vital deficiency — lack of real time information, which was considered to be one of the major hurdles in detecting US terror suspect David Headley’s movement across the country during his multiple visits between 2006 and 2009. Without NATGRID police rely on harsh and coercive means to extract information
• Entire history of the suspect will be available before agency. For instance, the identification of mobile number, his current status, bank balance, his travel destination will be known by click of the button
• As per the present arrangement, the security agencies directly contact an airline or a telephone company if they are on a suspect’s trail. The data is shared through international servers such as Google etc. The NATGRID will ensure that such information is shared through a secure platform, safeguarding it from leaks. Once NATGRID is operational, all agencies will have to route their requests through the secured platform

3 . Sant Tukaram

Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Sant Tukaram Shila Mandir in the temple town of Dehu in Pune district. Shila refers to a rock that is currently on the Dehu Sansthan temple premises, and that for centuries has been the starting point of Wari, the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur.

About Sant Tukaram and Shila Mandir

• Sant Tukaram Maharaj was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu sant (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra.
• Sant Tukaram and his work are central to the Warkari sect spread across Maharashtra. His message about a casteless society and his denial of rituals had led to a social movement. Sant Tukaram is credited with starting the Wari pilgrimage.
•  Tukaram is best known for his devotional poetry called Abhanga and community-oriented worship with spiritual songs known as kirtans.
• The Bhakti saint Sant Tukaram had sat on this piece of rock for 13 continuous days when challenged about the authenticity of the Abhyangs he had written.
• It is believed that prior to this, the saint had immersed his entire work in the Indrayani river; the work miraculously reappeared after 13 days, proving their authenticity. “The very rock where Sant Tukaram Maharaj sat for 13 days is pious and a place of pilgrimage for the Warkari sect

4 . Financial Action Task Force

Context : Pakistan is hoping for some reprieve as the international watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) begins meetings on Monday in Berlin ahead of its plenary session from June 14 to 17. Announcing the meeting, the FATF secretariat said that delegates would discuss “the progress made by some jurisdictions identified as presenting a risk to the financial system”, referring to entities on the grey list, including Pakistan and 22 other countries.

About Financial Action Task Force

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the Ministers of its Member jurisdictions.
• The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. 
• The FATF is therefore a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
• The FATF has developed a series of Recommendations that are recognised as the international standard for combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
• They form the basis for a co-ordinated response to these threats to the integrity of the financial system and help ensure a level playing field. 
• The FATF’s decision making body, the FATF Plenary, meets three times per year.  
• The FATF currently comprises 36 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organisations ( GCC, European Commission) representing most major financial centres in all parts of the globe.
• India is a member of FATF while Pakistan is not a member
• India is a voting member of the FATF and APG, and co-chair of the Joint Group where it is represented by the Director General of India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

What is the FATF black list?

• The FATF black list is shorthand for “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories” (NCCTs).
• It has been issued since 2000 and lists countries that have been openly hostile and non-cooperative in the fight against money laundering and terror funding.
• Although the list did initially include offshore financial centres, the set of recommendations were soon amended to make tax havens compliant with all of the FATF’s criteria.
• As of now, the FATF black list comprises Iran and North Korea.

How is the FATF grey list different from the black list?

• The grey list includes countries that are deemed to be lax in combating terror financing and money laundering. Pakistan was on this list previously between 2012 and 2015.
• But inaction over terror attacks on Indian targets by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and  Jaish-e-Mohammed has prompted Pakistan’s return to the grey list.
• India was not part of the group that moved the resolution to greylist Pakistan last year in Paris. The movers were the US, UK, France, and Germany; China did not oppose.
• While the black list represents countries which are hostile to external regulation of its economy, the grey list includes countries which continue to shield certain banned groups from greater institutional scrutiny and regulation.
• Currently there are 23 Countries in the list including UAE and Pakistan.

What are the restrictions placed on listed nations?

• In addition to the negative picture painted of a country’s national institutions, laxity in dealing with groups banned by multilateral organisations reflects the government’s covert engagement with such entities.
• The most adverse impact will be on the economy, especially for countries reliant on foreign aid and development loans.
• Apart from loans solicited from international lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Asian Development Bank (ADB), figuring on the FATF’s “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories” list could see the migration of foreign capital and privately-owned foreign companies from those countries.
• Loans for infrastructure development could also be jeopardized if lenders are not confident of the security of their investments, and also a potential misappropriation of sanctioned funds for terrorism-related activities. Foreign banks with footprints spanning the globe, such as Citibank or Standard Chartered, could pull out, affecting the financial services sector in the country.

5 . Facts for Prelims

National Space Promotion Authorisation Centre

• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN–SPACe or INSPACe) is a single-window autonomous agency under the Department of Space of the Government of India. The Centre acts as a facilitator and regulator of space activities in India.
• IN–SPACe will act as a link between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and private sector companies, assessing “how best to utilise India’s space resources and increase space-based activities.”
• The centre will evaluate demands of private sector companies—including educational institutes—and will find ways to attune their demands, in consultation with ISRO. Centre’s decisions would be binding on both ISRO and private sector organisations.
• The space sector was earlier regulated by ISRO, but, now the organisation will focus on its core activity of research and development.

Heterologous and Homologous

• The debate has also increasingly called to question the appropriate vaccine to use in the precautionary dosage of vaccine can be homologous or heterologous
• Homologous means the same vaccine that was administered as primary dose and heterologous means any vaccine other than the primary dose, for a better immune response.

Sushruta Samahita

• The Sushruta Samhita is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subject to survive from the ancient world.
• The Compendium of Suśruta is one of the foundational texts of Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), alongside the Charaka-Saṃhitā, the Bheḷa-Saṃhitā, and the medical portions of the Bower Manuscript
• It is one of the two foundational Hindu texts on the medical profession that have survived from ancient India
• The first careful description of nasal reconstruction is found in the Sushruta Samahita. Modern scholars have dated this text to the 7th or 6th century B.C, its esteemed author having practiced this art on the banks of the Ganges. The collection of Sushruta’s writings is regarded as the earliest true medical textbook.
• Two sites were described for gathering the skin that would be reshaped into a new nose — the cheek or the forehead. A leaf was chosen that provided an approximate measure of the missing nose. A segment of skin was then incised from the cheek, but not fully detached — a short stalk or pedicle remained attached to the face for unhindered blood circulation. The scalpel was then deployed to make small raw wounds around the remaining nose stump.
• The incised cheek flap was stretched over, positioned and stitched to the face at these raw spots. The nose was shaped by positioning stalks from the castor oil plant (Hindi – arandi; Tamil – amanakku) where nostrils should have been. A powdered mix of barberry, licorice and red sandalwood (Hindi – daruhaldi, mithi lakdi, rakta chandan; Tamil – adimaduram, chandanam) was then sprinkled over the area, as an analgesic and antiseptic. The wounds were covered with cotton, and sesame oil was constantly applied until the skins had fused — at which point the connection to the cheek was cut off.
• Sushruta did not claim credit for inventing this technique. He described it as an ‘ancient method’. The Sushruta Samahita was translated into the Arabic in the 8th century.
• A notable English translation by Kunja Lal Bhishagratna appeared in 1907.  Curiously, there were no descriptions of rhinoplasty from Europe until the 13th century, when accounts of the “Indian cheek flap” method began to appear.