Prelim Bits 05-07-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Zo Peoples

Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), called for a reunification of the Zo people in view of the continuing ethnic violence between the dominant Meiteis and the Kuki-Zomi tribes in the neighbouring state.

• Family - The Zou / Zo are a Tibeto-Mongoloid group of people sub-family of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo race.
• Habitat - They inhabit in areas of India, Myanmar and the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh.
• In northeastern India, they are present in Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam.
• Status - Zou are officially recognized as one of the 33 indigenous peoples within the state of Manipur, and are one of the Scheduled tribes.
• The sub-tribes and clans such as the Chin, Kuki, Mizo, Lushei, Zomi, Paitei, Hmar, Ralte, Pawi, Lai, Mara, Gangte, Thadou, etc. aslo included in the zo umbrella.
• Language - The tribes are believed to have migrated from China through Tibet to settle in Myanmar, and speak a group of Tibeto-Burman languages.
• Religion - Zo peoples follow Predominantly Christianity, minority Animism and Buddhism.

The Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO) is a Mizoram-based association fighting for the re-unification of Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Reference

The Indian Express | Zo peoples of Manipur

GIFT NIFTY

The Singapore Stock Exchange or SGX Nifty, traditionally used to gauge the opening cues for Indian markets has been rebranded as GIFT Nifty.

• GIFT NIFTY (formerly SGX NIFTY) is a futures contract based on the Nifty 50 Index of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).
• It is traded on NSE International Exchange located at Gujarat, earlier it was traded on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
• Recently trading on SGX NIFTY ceased in Singapore and the entire trading volume and liquidity fully switched to GIFT IFSC and rechristened as GIFT Nifty.
• Currently, 4 products are being offered under the umbrella brand of GIFT Nifty
  • GIFT Nifty 50,
  • GIFT Nifty Bank,
  • GIFT Nifty Financial Services
  • GIFT Nifty IT derivatives contract.
• This is the first cross-border initiative in connecting India and Singapore’s capital markets.
• Gift Nifty is a new derivatives index that will be launched on July 2023, by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in its International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City, Gujarat.
• Gift Nifty will be a dollar-denominated futures contract based on the Nifty 50 index, and will be traded on the NSE IFSC exchange.
• Regulator - GIFT Nifty will be regulated by International Financial Services Center Authority (IFSCA).
• Eligibility - The launch of GIFT Nifty is expected to make it easier for foreign investors to trade in the Indian stock market.
• Currently, foreign investors can only trade in the Indian stock market through the NSE or the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
• However, the NSE and the BSE are located in India, which can make it difficult for foreign investors to trade during Indian business hours.
• Trading Hours – As GIFT Nifty will be traded for 21 hours, overlapping major trading hours in Europe, Asia and the U.S., retail investors will be able to easily hedge their positions now.
• Investors will have the same level of protection as they do when trading in Nifty futures contracts on the NSE.
• Indian retail investors will not be eligible to trade in Gift Nifty under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

NIFTY 50

• It is a benchmark Indian stock market index that represents the weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange.
• It is owned and managed by NSE Indices, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Limited.

International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)

• It is a statutory authority that was established in 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019.
• It is an authority to develop and regulate financial services, financial products and financial institutions in the IFSC in India.
• Currently, there is only one IFSC being developed in India, Gift City, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Reference

The Indian Express | GIFT NIFTY

Shangri La Dialogue

The Shangri-La Dialogue took place in Singapore which attracts senior military officers, diplomats, weapons makers and security analysts from around the globe.

• The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is Asia's premier defence summit.
• It is a "Track One" inter-governmental security forum based on the Munich conference on security policy.
• Agency – It held annually by an independent think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
• Venue, 2023 – Singapore.
• The Shangri-La dialogue first convened in 1971 in Shangri la hotel,  Singapore.
• Aim - To debate the region's most pressing security challenges, engage in important bilateral talks and come up with fresh approaches together. 
• Focus areas of 2023 - The implications of the Ukraine war, a possible escalation in the Taiwan Straits and the overall security in the Indo-Pacific.
• Attendees - It is attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific states as well as Europe and North America.
• India has participated in the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Reference

The Print | 3-day Shangri-La Dialogue

Scheme on minor rape survivors

Recently, the Centre has approved a scheme that will provide support to minor rape survivors who have been abandoned by their families due, often due to pregnancy.

• About - The scheme will provide shelter, food, safe transportation for court hearings, and legal aid for rape/gang rape survivors or minor girls who get pregnant.
• Ministry – Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD).
• Under the scheme, immediate, emergency and non-emergency access to a range of services including access to education, police assistance, maternity, neonatal and infant care, psychological and mental counselling, legal support and insurance cover will be provided.
• The benefits will be provided to girl child victim and her newborn under one roof.
• It will not be mandatory for the girl child victim to have a copy of a first information report (FIR) to avail benefits under the scheme.
• A case worker will be immediately designated or appointed for taking care of the girl child and separate funds shall be provided to the Home for the care and protection of the girl.
• In case a survivor does not want the child at any stage, the child will stay at Child Care Institutions and will be made available for adoption.
• The scheme aims to support minor victims under aegis of the Nirbhaya scheme.
• It additionally leveraged the administrative structure of Mission Vatsalya in collaboration with state governments and child care institutions (CCIs) to actualise this support to minor victims on the ground.
• This additional support will be available at child care institutions for those up to the age of 18 and thereafter up in aftercare facilities up to the age of 23.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 51,863 cases were reported under the POCSO Act in 2021, and of them, 33,348 or 64% cases were of sexual assault.

Nirbhaya Scheme

• Nirbhaya Fund - Aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country in response to the Nirbhaya case in 2013.
• Ministry - Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry.
• It can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women.
• It is a non-lapsable corpus fund, being administered by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Mission Vatsalya

• Aim - To achieve development and child protection priorities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It lays emphasis on child rights, advocacy and awareness along with strengthening of the juvenile justice care and protection system with the motto to 'leave no child behind'.
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provisions and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 form the basic framework for implementation of the Mission.
• Funds under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme are released according to the requirements and demands made by the States/UTs.

Reference

Hindustan Times | Govt rolls out scheme to help minor rape survivors

NASA's Parker Solar Probe

Recently the NASA's Parker Solar Probe just completed its 16th close approach to the Sun.

• Aim - To unlock the mysteries of the Sun's corona and solar wind.
• It is a part of Living with a star programme of NASA.
• It carries 4 instrument suites that are designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles and image the solar wind.
• The spacecraft travels directly through the Sun's atmosphere ultimately to a distance of about 4 million miles from the surface.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is the first-ever mission to "touch" the Sun.

• Launch Vehicle - Delta IV-Heavy with Upper Stage.
• Launch year - 2018.
• The spacecraft and its instruments are protected from the heat of the Sun by a 4.5-inch thick carbon composite shield that can withstand temperatures of around 1,777 degrees Celsius.

Reference

The Indian Express | NASA spacecraft completes 16th approach to Sun