Darfur Crisis
- UN has said that people have been eating ‘grass and peanut shells’ in Darfur due to hunger crisis in Sudan.
- Since April 2023, civil war in Sudan has ensued with clashes between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
About Darfur:
- Darfur is a region of western Sudan, bordering Libya, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
- The latest surge in violence comes as the RSF encircles North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher
- It has halted aid convoys coming from Chad’s Tine border crossing – a humanitarian corridor that passes through El Fasher.
- Tags :
- Sudan
- Darfur
- Hunger crisis
Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
- BRO celebrated its 65th Raising Day
About BRO
- Apex Ministry: Ministry of Defence
- Establishment: Founded in 1960 to build and maintain roads in India's border regions and its initial project was Project Tusker (renamed as Vartak) in the east.
- Functions
- Beyond borders, BRO has expanded road infrastructure in various Indian states including Bihar, Maharashtra, and others, and in friendly neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
- Supports the Indian Army by maintaining roads in forward zones during national emergencies and the outbreak of hostilities.
- Rehabilitating airfields for the Indian Air Force.
- Tags :
- BRO
- road infrastructure
Articles Sources
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA)
- RBI has eased FEMA norms to facilitate foreign investment in derivatives.
- Derivative is a financial instrument which derives its value/price from the underlying assets.
About FEMA
- FEMA was enacted as a successor to Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) of 1973.
- Aim: Facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange markets in India.
- Two categories of foreign exchange transactions in: capital account and current account transactions.
- Liberalized Remittances Scheme allows residents to remit for any permissible current or capital account transactions.
- Tags :
- FEMA
- Derivatives
Provisioning
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released draft guidelines regarding provisioning for lenders who undertake project finance.
- As per RBI guidelines, lenders shall maintain 5% provisions on exposures to projects under implementation at various stages.
About Provisioning
- Banks in India have to set aside funds for a percentage of their assets.
- This means that the bank sets aside a prescribed amount of money from their profit to compensate for probable loss.
- Tags :
- RBI
- Provisioning
Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR)
- Maharashtra plans to relocate tigers to the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district.
About STR:
- Located in the Sahyadri Ranges of Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
- Spread over Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Ratnagiri districts in western Maharashtra.
- Reserve was notified in 2010 amalgamating Koyana Sanctuary and Chandoli National Park.
- Habitat: Composed of woodlands, grasslands, and plateaus(Sadaa).
- Flora: Subtropical Hill Forests, Semi-evergreen Forests, Deciduous Forests.
- Fauna: Tiger, Atlas Moth, Moon Moth, and other endangered Butterflies, Blue finned Mahasheer fish, also supports Hornbills.