Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020 | 29th June 2020

Today's Must Read Articles :

AK 203 and KA 226 Helicopters

Trifed India

National Statistics Day

H1B Visa

China Study Group (CSG)

      HEADLINES:

Tense standoff continues along the LAC

      WHY IN NEWS:

Despite Corps Commander talks, troops are in eyeball-to-eyeball positions

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : IR

      LEARNING: 

For PRELIMS though it is age old issue ; Concentrate on the members and aim of the committee.

For MAINS nothing much here .

      ISSUE: 

Both Indian and Chinese troops continue in “eyeball-to-eyeball” positions at all the friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

An IAF helicopter flying over mountains surrounding Leh on Sunday. 

The China Study Group (CSG), headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, met on Saturday to discuss the prevailing situation along the LAC.

CHINA STUDY GROUP (CSG)

• The CSG is an informal group constituted in 1997, comprising the Cabinet Secretary, the Secretaries of Defence and Home, the Army chief and the Director of Intelligence Bureau, among others.
• In the wake of heightened road and track construction work undertaken by China along India’s Northern and Eastern frontiers in 1997, India constituted a China Study Group (CSG).

  Then aim was to study the requirement of road communication along the China border for brisk movement of troops in case of any aggression.

• The idea was to assert the country’s territorial claims and upgrade logistic sustenance capability in these areas.
• At the end of its study, the CSG identified 73 strategically important roads along the border as Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs). 

      IASbhai WINDUP: 

Medical reports of the 20 men killed showed the cause of death in most cases was a “mix of head injury and drowning”.

     SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

New rules to regulate exotic animal trade

      HEADLINES:

Centre unveils new rules to regulate exotic animal trade

      WHY IN NEWS:

Owners have to register their stock

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Exotic Species : Conservation of Flora and Fauna

      LEARNING: 

For PRELIMS you should focus on the new rules and the old ministry ! Do not forget the definition of Exotic Species .

For MAINS make some handy notes :  WLPA list is missing in the definition of exotic species . Are the new rules opaque ?

      ISSUE: 

The Environment Ministry’s wildlife division has introduced new rules to regulate the import and export of ‘exotic wildlife species’.  

A file photo of exotic animals seized in Thane, Maharashtra.

• Currently, it is the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, that oversees such trade.

  Under the new rules, owners and possessors of such animals and birds must also register their stock with the Chief Wildlife Warden of their States.

SELECT ANIMALS

• Officials of the Wildlife Department will also prepare an inventory of such species .
• The officials will have the right to inspect the facilities of such traders .
• Additionally, stockists will have six months to declare their stock.

EXOTIC SPECIES DEFINITION

‘EXOTIC LIVE SPECIES’ will mean animals named under Appendices I, II and III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

• It will not include species from the Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The CITES is part of a multilateral treaty that includes plant, animals and birds under varying categories of threat of extinction and which will be jointly protected by members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• India is a signatory to this.

WORLD WILDLIFE CRIME REPORT 2016

Criminals are illegally trading products derived from over 7,000 species of wild animals and plants across the world.-

      IASbhai WINDUP: 

‘GLOBAL THREAT’

• In its first global report on the illegal wildlife trade, released last week, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) described wildlife trafficking as a “global threat”.
• The illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year.
• Reports suggesting that many times such species are available for trade on online market places.
• The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is an organisation that is tasked with monitoring illegal trade.

     SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

 Let us ‘Discuss’

      IASbhai WINDUP: 

Let us know what you think about this in the comment section.

     SOURCES:THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

DISCOVER MORE : Important Daily Current Affairs for UPSC PRELIMS 2020

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Daily Current Affairs , Editorial Analysis & Answer writing video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.