CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR ALL COMPETITION EXAMS

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Current Affairs
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)
Reference News-
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) Chairperson has pitched for ‘standalone
legislation’ for the regulator in the interests of autonomy.
• He also demanded that all necessary penal provisions relating to financial reporting should
be consolidated and vested with it.
Why this is necessary?
Currently, the NFRA may take action against auditors for professional misconduct but when it
came to other functionaries of a company who have the responsibility for financial reporting;
penal powers continue to be vested with the Centre. Standalone legislation will allow for
integrated regulation of all participants in the financial reporting system.
About NFRA:
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) was constituted on 1st October, 2018 under section
132 (1) of the Companies Act, 2013.
Why was it needed?
In the wake of accounting scams, a need was felt to establish an independent regulator for
enforcement of auditing standards and ensuring the quality of audits so as to enhance investor
and public confidence in financial disclosures of companies.
Composition:
The Companies Act requires the NFRA to have a chairperson who will be appointed by the Central
Government and a maximum of 15 members.
Functions and Duties:
1. Recommend accounting and auditing policies and standards to be adopted by companies
for approval by the Central Government;
2. Monitor and enforce compliance with accounting standards and auditing standards;
3. Oversee the quality of service of the professions associated with ensuring compliance with
such standards and suggest measures for improvement in the quality of service;
4. Perform such other functions and duties as may be necessary or incidental to the aforesaid
functions and duties.
Powers:
1. It can probe listed companies and those unlisted public companies having paid-up capital of
no less than Rs 500 crore or annual turnover of no less than Rs 1,000 crore.
2. It can investigate professional misconduct committed by members of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for prescribed class of body corporate or persons.

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World Bank discontinues doing Business rankings:
Reference News:
The World Bank Group has decided to discontinue publication of its ‘Doing Business’ rankings of
country business climates after a review of data irregularities in the 2018 and 2020 reports.
What’s the issue?
• In August 2020, World Bank paused the publication of Doing Business reports following a
number of irregularities were reported regarding changes to the data.
• The irregularities in Doing Business reports had affected four countries: China; Saudi Arabia;
United Arab Emirates; and Azerbaijan.
• A probe of data irregularities cited “undue pressure” by top bank officials, including then-
Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva, to boost China’s ranking in 2017.
• This raised ethical matters involving former bank staff and board officials.
Why the report matters?
• World Bank’s annual report matters to several nations, especially developing ones, since it
greatly influenced investor decisions by releasing a ranking of economies based on how
easy it is to open up, and operate, a business. But while the report was hugely popular
among investors, it was heavily criticized by many governments for its methodology that,
leaders said, inaccurately captured the realities on the ground.
About Doing Business project:
• It provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190
economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.
• Launched in 2003, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the
regulations applying to them through their life cycle.
• It ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF) score that highlights the gap of
an economy with respect to the global best practice.

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Collective Security Treaty Organization:
Reference news-
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is planning to hold large military drills in
Tajikistan next month, amid what it described as a deteriorating situation in neighbouring
Afghanistan.
Implications and rationale behind this:
Tajikistan is the only country out of the six-member bloc led by Russia that shares a border with
Afghanistan.
• Moscow has moved to cement its position as a key player in the region after the United
States’ hasty retreat from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
• The group also said it has taken “collective measures” to ensure Tajikistan’s security in case
of an “aggravation” on its border with Afghanistan.
About Collective Security Treaty Organization:
• It is an intergovernmental military alliance (six countries) that came into effect in 2002.
• Its’ origin can be traced to the Collective Security Treaty, 1992 (Tashkent Treaty).
• The headquarter is located in the Russian capital of Moscow.
• The objectives of the CSTO is to strengthen peace, international and regional security
including cybersecurity and stability, the protection on a collective basis of the
independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the member states.
Composition:
Current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and
Tajikistan.
Afghanistan and Serbia hold observer status in the CSTO.
What the membership entails?
1. CSTO membership means that member states are barred from joining other military
alliances, limiting, for example, their relationship with NATO.
2. Most importantly, membership presumes certain key security assurances – the most
significant of which is deterring military aggression by third countries.
3. In the CSTO, aggression against one signatory is perceived as aggression against all.
4. It however remains unclear whether this feature works in practice.

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AUKUS Alliance:
Reference News-
The UK, US and Australia have announced a historic security pact in the Asia-Pacific, in what’s seen
as an effort to counter China. It is called the AUKUS pact and AUKUS alliance.
About the AUKUS Pact:
• Under the AUKUS alliance, the three nations have agreed to enhance the development of
joint capabilities and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security and defence-
related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains.
• Under the first major initiative of AUKUS, Australia would build a fleet of nuclear-powered
submarines with the help of the US and the UK, a capability aimed at promoting stability in
the Indo-Pacific region.
China’s response:
China has condemned the agreement as “extremely irresponsible”.
Concerns raised by China:
• The Alliance undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race.
• It shall reinvent a “Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice”.
Rationale behind the formation of this alliance:
The new partnership was announced in a joint virtual press conference. And while China was not
mentioned directly, the three leaders referred repeatedly to regional security concerns which they
said had “grown significantly”.
• In recent years, Beijing has been accused of raising tensions in disputed territories such
as the South China Sea.
• Western nations have been wary of China’s infrastructure investment on Pacific islands, and
have also criticized China’s trade sanctions against countries like Australia.
Why nuclear-powered submarines?
These submarines are much faster and harder to detect than conventionally powered fleets. They
can stay submerged for months; shoot missiles longer distances and also carry more.
• Having them stationed in Australia is critical to US influence in the region, analysts say.
• The US is sharing its submarine technology for the first time in 50 years. It had previously
only shared technology with the UK.
• Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered
submarines, after the US, UK, France, China, India and Russia.
• Australia has reaffirmed it has no intention of obtaining nuclear weapons.

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Daily Topic
Need For Caste Census
The caste system is India’s nemesis and has severely restricted the country’s ability to realise its
immense potential and become a great nation in science, technology, knowledge, art, sport and
economic prosperity.
Studies suggest that 94% of marriages are endogamous; 90% of menial jobs are performed
by the deprived castes, whereas this figure is reversed in white-collar jobs. This abysmal lack of
caste diversity, especially at the decision-making levels in various sectors — the media, the
judiciary, higher education, bureaucracy or the corporate sector — is weakening these institutions
and their performance.
It is indeed strange that while caste plays such a dominant role in our social, economic and
political life, no credible and comprehensive caste data exists for more than half the population of
our country.
Need For Caste Census
• Benefit in Policy Making: The purpose of a caste census is not merely geared to the
reservation issue; a caste census would actually bring to the fore the large number of issues
that any democratic country needs to attend to, particularly the number of people who are at
the margins, or who are deprived, or the kind of occupations they pursue.
o A caste census, which will generate exhaustive data will allow policymakers to develop
better policies, implementation strategies, and will also enable a more rational debate
on sensitive issues.
• Also Reveal Privileged Section of Society: Caste is not only a source of disadvantage; it is also
a very important source of privilege and advantage in our society.
o We have to stop thinking of caste as being applicable to only disadvantaged people,
poor people, people who are somehow lacking.
o The opposite is even more true: caste has produced advantages for certain
communities, and these also need to be recorded.
• Caste Has Important Position in Indian Society: While census data has been captured
for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religions and linguistic profiles, there has been no
profiling of all castes in India since 1931.
o Since then, caste has assumed an increasingly important position in our lives, and our
reliance on inadequate data has also increased.
• To Address Prevalent Inequalities: Unequal distribution of wealth, resources and education
has meant an acute shortage of purchasing power among the majority of Indians.
o As a democratic nation, we cannot forcibly overthrow the system, but we need to
address it in a democratic, scientific and objective manner.
• Constitutional Mandate: Our Constitution too favours conducting a caste census. Article
340 mandates the appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and

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educationally backward classes and make recommendations as to the steps that should be
taken by governments.
• To Burst the Myths: There are a lot of myths which actually deprive a large number of people,
particularly on the margins.
o Let’s take the case of Karnataka. For a long time, there were claims that among the castes,
the Lingayats are the most numerous.
o But a lot of other studies have brought out that this may not be true, and these kinds of
myths lead to the argument that given that this is a caste which is numerous, it has to be
constantly placated. These myths can be debunked through a caste census.
• Reduce Inclusion and Exclusion Errors: With accurate data of castes, most backward castes
can be identified.
o Some have benefited so much across the years, while there are people in this country who
have not benefited at all.
• The Supreme Court has time and again asked governments to provide the data related to
castes; however, this has not been possible due to the non-availability of such data.
o As a result, our national life suffers from mutual mistrust and misconceptions among
different castes.
o All such commissions have had to rely on data from the last caste census (1931).
Associated Challenges with Caste Census
• Repercussions of a Caste Census: Caste has an emotive element and thus there exist the
political and social repercussions of a caste census.
o There have been concerns that counting caste may help solidify or harden identities.
o Due to these repercussions, nearly a decade after the SECC, a sizable amount of its data
remains unreleased or released only in parts.
• Caste Is Context-specific: Caste has never been a proxy for class or deprivation in India; it
constitutes a distinct kind of embedded discrimination that often transcends class. For
example:
o People with Dalit last names are less likely to be called for job interviews even when their
qualifications are better than that of an upper-caste candidate.
o They are also less likely to be accepted as tenants by landlords. Thus difficult to measure.
o Marriage to a well- educated, well-off Dalit man still sparks violent reprisals among the
families of upper-caste women every day across the country.
Way Forward
o India needs to be bold and decisive in tackling caste questions through data and statistics
in the way the United States (US) does to tackle race issues, by collecting data around
race, class, language, inter-race marriages, among other metrics.
o This data provides a mirror to the State and society of the US in which they can see
themselves and take decisions to do course corrections.

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o Creation of National Data Bank: The Sachar Committee Report recommended setting up a
national data bank.
• The Justice Rohini committee was appointed in 2017 to look into the sub-categorization of
the OBC communities; however, in the absence of data, there can be no data-bank or any
proper sub-categorization.
Conclusion
• With every passing day and increasing social awareness, the urgency to do away with the caste
system is being sharply felt. Dr. BR Ambedkar stated that if India had to attain a place of pride
among the comity of nations, caste would have to be annihilated first.
• The 21st
century is the right time to solve India’s caste question, which would otherwise
extract a heavy price, not just sociologically, but also politically and economically, and make us
fall behind in the development index.
Questions of the day
1. Which organization has launched the
Planetarium Innovation Challenge?
(a) MyGov India
(b) ISRO
(c) NITI Aayog
(d) Birla Planetarium
2. Recently, which country has applied to
join the Asia-Pacific Free Trade grouping?
(a) India
(b) Japan
(c) China
(d) Singapore
3. Where was Swachhata Pakhwada 2021
launched?
(a) Mormugao Port Trust
(b) Cochin Port Trust
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
(d) Nhava Sheva International Container
Terminal
4. Recently, RBI has given its nod to which
bank to form a special committee of
directors in order to oversee the
operations?
(a) Equitas Small Finance Bank
(b) IDFC First Bank
(c) Yes Bank
(d) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
5. Which organization is working on
technologies in order to develop reusable
GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle?
(a) Space X
(b) ISRO
(c) Virgin Galactic
(d) ROSCOSMOS