U.S. imposes CAATSA sanctions on Turkey over S-400 purchase
Paper:
Mains: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system.
What is CAATSA?
- The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia.
- It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
Key Details:
- A ban on granting specific U.S. export licences and authorisations for any goods or technology.
- A ban on loans or credits by U.S. financial institutions totalling more than $10 million in any 12-month period.
- A ban on U.S. Export-Import Bank assistance for exports and mandated U.S. opposition to loans by international financial organisations to SSB (Turkey’s main defence procurement agency).
- Sanctions will include full blocking sanctions and visa restrictions on SSB president and other officials.
- The U.S. Secretary of State asserted that this action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement CAATSA Section 231 and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors.
Significance:
The issue of sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of Russian arms is of particular interest to India, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow.
SC collegium moots transfer of HC judges
Paper:
Mains: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the transfer of judges of several High Courts. The top court’s recommendations are yet to be sent to the Law Ministry.
Collegium System:
- The Collegium System is a system under which appointments/elevation of judges/lawyers to Supreme Court and transfers of judges of High Courts and the apex court are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
- Note that there is no mention of the Collegium System in the Constitution of India.
- The recommendations of the names of lawyers or judges are sent by the Collegium to the Central Government. The Central Government does the fact-checking and investigates the names and resends the file to the Collegium.
- The Collegium considers the names or suggestions made by the Central Government and resends the file to the government for final approval.
- If the Collegium resends the same name again then the government has to give its assent to the names.
- However, there is no time limit to reply
Govt. must unveil stimulus to spur demand: MPs’ panel
Paper:
Mains: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry has submitted its report ‘Downturn in Automobile Sector – Its Impact and Measures for Revival’.
Key Details:
- The committee has asked the government to announce a stimulus package focused on generating demand.
- The committee stressed that the government’s responses were so far short of addressing the auto industry’s concerns as the measures were aimed at boosting only the supply side of the economy.
Suggestions:
- The panel has asked for GST rates levied on automobiles to be rationalised from the present 28% tax rate with an additional compensation cess ranging from 1-22% to 18%.
- This is intended to spur demand for new vehicles.
- The committee pointed out that the cost of BS-VI vehicles was expected to be 10-15% higher due to upgraded technology, and this could be mitigated by reducing the GST rate.
- The panel also suggested that the government request the Supreme Court to allow sales of BS-IV vehicles that couldn’t be sold due to the pandemic and lockdown.
British PM to be chief guest at Republic Day celebration
Paper:
Mains: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News?
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be the chief guest of India’s Republic Day celebrations.
- K. Foreign Secretary highlighted that the Indo-Pacific region was one of the highest focus areas of the U.K.’s foreign policy.
- He stated that the U.K. and India were working on an “Enhanced Trade Partnership” that would be a stepping stone for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two sides.
- The future FTA with India was expected to be a part of the post-Brexit British economic plans.
Spike in return of people to Bangladesh
Paper:
Mains: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News?
In the past four years, nearly twice the number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants were caught leaving the country compared to those coming in illegally, according to data available with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).
- The number of persons leaving the country could be more as there are instructions to avoid paperwork and documentation for out-migrants.
- It is also due to the lack of work following the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
In 2017, former BSF Director General K.K. Sharma had made it clear that they had instructions to push back the Rohingya to Bangladesh as they become a liability once they are arrested.