6. Issues in Indian drug regulation:

• Spurious and substandard drugs: The country has an inadequate regulatory framework and enforcement regime, reflected in occurrences such as the production of spurious or low-quality drugs. Last year, Indian drug manufacturers received at least 20 letters of warning from the US FDA over the quality of their products.
• Lack of safeguard mechanisms: Lack of adequate mechanisms to safeguard illiterate and vulnerable patients, prevent informed consent violations, and ensure the proper functioning of institutional ethics committees.
• Deficiency in CDSCO: A report commissioned by an Indian parliamentary committee found Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) struggled with staffing shortages, infrastructure issues, and its responsibilities to ensure public safety. Besides, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation does not have the capacity to enforce an actual ban.
• Inadequate drug inspectors: Central and state governments have inadequate numbers of drug inspectors and an overall lack of capacity that leaves them incapable of enforcing recalls and unevenly punishing violators.
• Coordination: Poor communication between state and central drug regulatory bodies compounds the problem. The little-to-no information-sharing between the Centre and the states, and among the states, leads to information asymmetry.
• Poor law implementation: India has among the toughest legislation that allows for life imprisonment if a drug is found to be spurious. But there is weak enforcement of the law, so the number of prosecutions against offenders was low. 

7. What are the measures taken for law on drug recall?

SAMANTHA RAMDAS

1. About Ramadas

• Ramdas was born of Suryaji Panth and Renuka Bai in Jamb, Maharashtra, in 1608 A.D. His original name was Narain. He was a great devotee of Hanuman and Lord Rama.
• He was a contemporary of Sant Tukaram and an inspirer of Sivaji.
• He had Darshan of Lord Rama even when he was a boy. Lord Rama Himself initiated him.
• As a boy, Ramdas acquired some knowledge of Hindu sculptures and developed a liking for meditation and religious study.
• He left Takli in Maharashtra in 1632 to begin his spiritual quest. He crisscrossed India for the next 12 years, meticulously observing people's conditions.
• He published two books based on his experiences, "Asmani Sultani" and "Para Chakra niroopan"
• He erected a statue of Lord Ram and began commemorating Ram's festival, Janmotsav (Birth of Lord Ram).
• He built Hanuman temples in towns and villages to teach youth the value of exercise and to rally them to battle the enemy.
• He emphasized the warrior's position in society and built numerous study centres throughout the country.
• His teachings on patience and trust in the face of adversity aided others in dealing with adversity.
• He recognized the significance of women's roles in a harmonious society. He promoted women into positions of power and encouraged them to participate in religious work.
• He has 18 devoted female followers, Among them, Wennabai was in charge of the Miraj Study Centre, while Akkabai was in charge of Chafal and Sajjangad.
• Ramdas founded the Samarth sect to reintroduce spirituality into society. He established several mathas.
• Ramdas died in 1681 at Sajjangad. For five days previously, he had ceased drinking food and water. This practice of fasting unto death is known as Prayopavesa.

Image Source: Hindu Blog

• Ramdas did purascharana of the Rama Mantra of thirteen letters Sri Ram Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Ram thirteen lakhs of times at Tafali, near Nasik, on the banks of the Godavari.
• Ramdas was a devotee of Madhvacharya and his Dvaita Vedanta Philosophy.
• He was a follower of Bhakti Yoga, also known as the path of devotion
• Total dedication to Rama, he claims, leads to spiritual progress and highlighted the significance of physical strength and knowledge in personal development.
• He voiced his appreciation for warriors and emphasized their importance in protecting society.
• He believed that saints should not retire from society, but rather actively engage in social and moral development.
• He attempted to resurrect Hindu culture after it had disintegrated over several centuries as a result of constant foreign intrusion. 
• He also urged for Maratha unity to preserve and develop the indigenous culture and he repeatedly emphasised his contempt for caste and creed distinctions.
• Ramdas said that Everyone came from a woman's womb and those who did not realize the significance of this were undeserving of being called men.

3. Literary works

• His writings contain strong comments advocating nationalism as a method of countering the violent Muslim invaders. His Marathi literature is mostly in the form of poetry.
• Numerous aartis are also included in his compositions (worship rituals).
• One of his most well-known aartis honours the Hindu deity Ganesha and is known as Sukhakartha Dukhaharta.
• Dasbodh's best-known work has been translated into several other Indian languages.
• Other compositions by Ramdas are well-known, including Manache Shlok (verses addressed to the mind), Karunashtake (hymns to God) and Ramayana (which only describes Sri Rama's conquest of Lanka and Ravan's defeat).

4. Conclusion

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Keshav Hedgewar, Rajwade and Ramachandra Rande were inspired by Ramdas.
• Tilak and his followers were responsible for portraying Ramdas as a militant monk to advance the cause of the nationalist effort. Through his spiritual teachings, Nana Dharmadhikari, a spiritual guru, advocated Ramdas' beliefs.

Source: The Dishq.org

PMLA

1. Context 

2. About PMLA

• The Anti-money laundering legislation was passed by the National Democratic Alliance government in 2002 and came into force on July 1, 2005.
• The PMLA was showcased as India's commitment to the Vienna Convention on combating money, drug trafficking and countering the financing of terror (CFT).
• The law was aimed at curbing the process of converting illegally earned money into legal cash.
• The Act empowered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to control money laundering, confiscate property and punish offenders.
• ED recorded around 5,422 cases, attached proceeds to the tune of ₹ 1,04,702 crores (approx), filed Prosecution Complaints in 992 cases resulting in the confiscation of ₹ 869. 31 crores and convicted 23 accused persons under PMLA by the end of March 31, 2022.

3. Effect on crypto

• The gazette notification by the Ministry brings cryptocurrency transactions within the ambit of PMLA.
• This means that Indian crypto exchanges will have to report any suspicious activity related to buying or selling of cryptocurrency to the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND).
• This central agency is responsible for receiving, processing, analysing and disseminating information related to suspicious financial transactions to law enforcement agencies and overseas FIUs.
• In its analysis, if the FIU-IND finds wrongdoing, it will alert the ED.
• Under Sections 5 and 8 (4) of the Act, the ED has discretionary powers to search and seize suspected property without any judicial permission.

4. Reasons for tightening the digital trade

• For a little more than a decade, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and other digital assets enjoyed a regulation-free environment.
• But, in the past couple of years, as the use of digital assets has gone mainstream, regulators have turned hawkish.
• The value of all existing cryptocurrencies is about $804 billion as of January 3, 2023.
• It is about twice the GDP of Singapore in 2021.
• In India, over 10 crore Indians have invested in cryptocurrencies.
• The illegal use of cryptocurrencies hit a record $ 20.1 billion last year. 
• Transactions associated with sanctioned entities jumped over 1, 00, 000-fold, making up 44 per cent of last year's illegal activity.

5. Tools used to track money laundering via crypto transactions

• Tracking money trail in cryptocurrency transactions may require new tools and approaches as such transfers differ fundamentally from traditional banking channels.
• FIUs may be familiar with Know Your Customer (KYC) or Customer Due Diligence (CDD) norms.
• But the technological nature of VDAs presents a new challenge in gathering information.
• This requires the intelligence unit to broaden its intelligence framework.

6. Regulations in other Countries

• The Global Crypto Regulations Report 2023 a large proportion of countries are at various stages of drafting regulations around crypto.
• Most countries have already brought digital assets under anti-money laundering laws.
• Singapore, Japan, Switzerland and Malaysia have legislation on the regulatory framework.
• The U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada have initiated plans for regulation.
• So far, China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have issued a blanket ban on cryptocurrency.
• The EU is also preparing a cross-jurisdictional regulatory and supervisory framework for crypto-assets.
• The framework seeks to provide legal clarity, consumer and investor protection and market integrity while promoting innovation in digital assets.

7. The Changes imply

• The new clause in the rules for PMLA compliance defines "Politically Exposed Persons" as individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, including the heads of State or Governments, Senior politicians, Senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations and important political party officials.
• The amendment is about foreign PEPs and not domestic ones.
• The move to define politically exposed persons under PMLA is to bring uniformity with a 2008 circular of the RBI for KYC norms/Anti-money laundering standards for banks and financial institutions, which had defined PEPs in line with FATF norms.
• PEP has already been in the RBI's master circular, in line with FATF.
• The definition has now been given in the PMLA rules so that the same definition is applicable everywhere.

8. Significance of the FATF-related changes

• The amendments assume significance ahead of India's proposed FATF assessment, which is expected to be undertaken later this year.
• India's assessment is likely to come up for discussion in the plenary discussion in June, while the possible onsite assessment is slated for November.
• Due to the pandemic and the pause in the FATF's assessment process, the fourth round of mutual evaluation of India had been postponed to 2023.
• Before this, the FATF had undertaken an evaluation for India in June 2010.
• The FATF, which is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, has 40 recommendations.
• In its recommendations, the FATF states that financial institutions should be required to have appropriate risk-management systems to determine whether a customer or beneficial owner is a domestic PEP or a person who is or has been entrusted with a prominent function by an international organisation.
• The broader objective is to bring in legal uniformity and remove ambiguities before the FATF assessment.
• The 40 recommendations cover seven areas and provide a framework of measures.
• This is to help countries tackle illicit financial flows through laws, regulations and operational measures to ensure authorities can take action to detect and disrupt financial flows that fuel crime and terrorism.

1. Policies and coordination;
2. Money laundering and confiscation;
3. Terrorist financing and financing of proliferation;
4. Preventive measures;
5. Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements
6. Powers and responsibilities of competent authorities and other institutional measures and
7. International cooperation.

9. Other Changes in the PMLA rules

• The Amended rules have also lowered the threshold for identifying beneficial owners by reporting entities, where the client is acting on behalf of its beneficial owner, in line with the Companies Act and Income-tax Act.
• The term "beneficial owner" was defined to mean ownership of or entitlement to more than 25 per cent of shares or capital or profit of the company, which has now been reduced to 10 per cent, thereby bringing more indirect participants within the reporting net.
• Also, reporting entities are now required to register details of the client if it's a non-profit organisation on the DARPAN portal of NITI Aayog.
• Every Banking Company or Financial Institution or intermediary, as the case may be, shall register the details of the client, in case of the client is a non-profit organisation, on the DARPAN portal of NITI Aayog, if not already registered and maintain such registration records for five years after the business relationship between a client and a reporting entity has ended or the account has been closed, whichever is later.
• The definition of a non-profit organisation has also been amended and linked to the definition of charitable purpose provided under Section 2 (15) of the Income-tax Act 1961 to include any entity or organisation, constituted for religious or charitable purposes under I-T Act, that is registered as a trust or society under the Societies Registration Act or any similar state legislation or a company registered under the Companies Act.
• The due diligence documentation requirements, which were until now limited to obtaining the basic KYCs of clients such as registration certificates PAN copies and documents of officers holding an attorney to transact on behalf of the client have now been extended.
• It now includes the submission of details such as names of persons holding senior management positions, names of partners, names of beneficiaries, trustees, settlors and authors, as the case may be, depending upon the legal form of the organisation.
• Also, the details of the registered office address and principal place of business are now required to be submitted by clients to financial institutions, banking companies or intermediaries.

For Prelims & Mains

FOREST FIRES

 

1. Context

A forest department probe into the bushfires that impacted an area of about 4 sq km in Goa in the first half of March is learnt to have concluded that the fires were largely triggered by natural causes, confirming the central government’s submission to Parliament last month that a “prolonged dry spell, unprecedented high temperatures, and low humidity” caused “sporadic” fire incidents in the state

2. What is a forest fire?

• A forest fire is an uncontrolled fire occurring in vegetation more than 1.8 meters (6 feet) in height. These fires often reach the proportions of a major conflagration and are sometimes begun by combustion and heat from surface and ground fires.
• A big forest fire may crown that is, spread rapidly through the topmost branches of the trees before involving undergrowth or the forest floor.
• As a result, violent blowups are common in forest fires, and they may assume the characteristics of a firestorm.
• Though forest fire is often seen as harmful, several forests are specifically fire-adapted; the species of plants and animals native to those ecosystems are enhanced by or dependent on the occurrence of fire to persist and reproduce.
• Lightning strikes in a dry forest occur naturally, and fire can improve ecosystem health by reducing competition, fertilizing the soil with ash, and decreasing diseases and pests. some plant species even require fire for their seeds to germinate.
• In many regions that have historically experienced forest fires, such as forested areas of the western united states, years of fire exclusion and suppression in the 19th and 20th centuries allowed fuels to accumulate, altering the vegetation communities present and leading to more extreme conflagrations when fires do occur.
• The use of prescribed fire, in which areas are burned intentionally and under controlled conditions, can restore those ecosystems and promote the conditions that were present historically before the removal of wildfire.

3. Causes of Forest Fires

• Natural causes like lightning can set fires on trees which may be spread by wind. Sometimes, High atmospheric temperatures and dryness (low humidity) offer favorable circumstances for a fire to start.
• Man-made causes are usually the ones that become dangerous. Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette, electric spark, or any source of ignition comes into contact with inflammable material.
• Other human-led causes are land clearing and other agricultural activities, maintenance of grasslands for livestock management, extraction of non-wood forest products, industrial development, settlement, hunting, negligence, and arson.

4. Types of forest fires

• Surface fire: Spread along the surface litter (leaves, twigs, dry grasses) on the forest floor.
• Ground fire: Fires in the subsurface organic fuels, such as duff layers under forest stands, burn underneath and are often ignited by surface fires.
• Crown fire: A Crown fire is one in which the crown of trees and shrubs burn, often sustained by surface fire.

5. Forest fires in Odisha

• A sudden jump in the incidents of fires across Odisha resulted in a massive loss of flora and fauna in the state's forests.
• A prolonged dry spell since October 2022 and the accumulation of inflammable material such as dry leaves are some of the reasons that started these forest fires.
• Some of the fires may have also been caused by human-made reasons. The tribal people set fire to forests for shifting cultivation, and collection of mahua flowers and kendu leaves.
• Forests are set on fire to cultivate turmeric in the Baliguda forest division in the Kandhamal district.
• Regeneration of the forests will be affected due to wildfires. The seeds which are supposed to germinate in the monsoon rain get burnt due to ground fires in the forest areas, affecting the forest growth.
• Forest fires result in the loss of timber, fruit-bearing trees, and medicinal plants. They also pose a threat to wildlife and their habitat areas.
• The forest department did not learn from the 2021 forest fires when a record 51,968 forest fire incidents occurred in the state. Massive fires had broken out in Similipal National Park in the Mayurbhanj district, which is one of the major biospheres of Asia.

---

Share to Social

---

View All Current affairs