Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 02 August 2013

Snowden granted Russian asylum

• U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted asylum in Russia and
  left the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for an undisclosed
  “safe location”.
• Mr. Snowden (30), a former CIA employee and NSA contractor had been
  stuck at Sheremetyevo Airport since June 23, when he arrived in Moscow on
  the way from Hong Kong. However, he could

Cheer as tiger population in Nepal’s Terai rises

• The tiger is faring better in Nepal compared to four
  years ago, the tiger survey, whose findings were presented in Lalitpur
  earlier this week to mark the International Tiger Day, shows. The findings
  of the survey — conducted jointly with India to avoid double counting in the
  protected areas that overlap the national boundaries — revealed that the
  estimated number of tigers in Nepal has risen from 121 in 2008 to 198 in
  2012, a growth of 63 per cent that has elated the conservationists.

• Though conducted simultaneously in the border areas of
  both countries, the survey’s India results are still being tallied and a
  joint status report is expected in December.

• The International Tiger Day was created in 2010, at the
  St. Petersburg Tigers Summit of 13 tiger range countries. It resulted in a
  pledge to heighten national efforts to double the number of tigers in each
  country by 2022, the “year of the tiger” in the Chinese calendar.

• The Terai Arc Landscape is the conservation area to the west of River
  Bhagmati and east of River Yamuna.It includes four important national parks
  — in terms of tiger population — two in Nepal Chitwan and Bardiya; and two
  in India, the Dudhwa and Valmiki.
• It has the world’s highest density of Bengal tiger population

A ‘gecko’ with a taste for corruption

• In the 15 years since the downfall of military dictator
  Suharto, Indonesia has emerged as a boisterous democracy. It’s been a
  laborious, often fraught, process attempting to establish institutions that
  guarantee a nation run in accordance with the law, rather than the whims of
  powerful individuals. But the most popular of these institutions today, is
  not the democratically elected Parliament, nor the executive office of the
  President; not the once-dominant military, nor the police or judiciary.

• It is rather, the country’s anti-corruption agency known as the Komisi
  Pemberantasan Korupsi or KPK, a lithe, sharp-fanged outfit, with the kinds
  of powers that would have Anna Hazare and his supporters swooning in
  delight.
• As in many developing countries, corruption in the public sector and
  politics is among the most pressing popular concerns in Indonesia.
• The country ranked 118 out of 176 in Transparency International’s 2012,
  Corruption Perceptions Index, well behind India’s 94th position.

Competition Commission of India

• Competition has become a driving force in the global economy.
• May 19, 2009 changed the paradigm of doing business in India.
• That is the day the enforcement of the Competition Act was started by
  the Competition Commission of India.
• During its brief existence of about 4 years, CCI has come a long way.

Evolution of Competition Law in India

• India was among the first developing countries to have a competition law
  in the form of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act,
  1969.
• The MRTP Act was designed to check concentration of economic power,
  prohibit restrictive or unfair trade practices and control of monopolies.
  Then came 1991, which has proved to be a watershed in the history of India’s
  economic development.
• The new India required new rules.Hence, the need for a new competition
  law.
• Accordingly, the Competition Act was passed in 2002 and amended in 2007.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established on March 1,
  2009 as an autonomous body comprising of a Chairperson and six members. An
  appellate body Competition Appellate Tribunal was also set up in May 2009
  with final appeal lying to the Supreme Court of India.
• Subsequently, the MRTP Act was repealed, MRTP Commission established
  under that act was abolished and its pending cases were transferred to the
  CCI. Sections 5 & 6 relating to Merger & Acquisition were notified in June,
  2011.

Modus operandi of cci

• The CCI not only hears and investigates cases based on the information
  received by it, but it also takes suo moto action wherever it finds that a
  prima facie violation of Competition Act has been committed.
• Competition law treats the activities of trade associations much like
  any other form of cooperation between competitors. For competition law
  purposes, decisions or recommendations of trade associations are treated as
  agreements between its members and law may be breached even when they are
  not binding on the members.

Sources: Various News Papers