Current Affairs 14th March 2019

Current Affairs 14th March 2019 - Important Points

• UK Parliament rejects Brexit pact for a second time on - 12th March 2019
• Madras HC reserved decision on plea against BCCI representing India on - 12th March 2019
• Corporate Affairs Ministry releases national guidelines on - Responsible business conduct
• Facebook Hubs to Support  - Start-Ups
• European Union Adds 10 Nations to  - Tax Blacklist
• Exclusion from draft Assam NRC will not affect -  Voting rights

Current Affairs 14th March 2019 - Details

UK Parliament rejects Brexit pact for a second time on - 12th March 2019

The United Kingdom, Parliament on March 12th, 2019 yet again overwhelmingly refused PM Theresa May’s Brexit pact, passing a massive blow to her efforts to witness the withdrawal pact through before the planned withdrawal of Britain from the European on March 29th.
With just 17 days to go, the British lawmakers refused the pact 391-242, overlooking May’s pleas to back the pact and finish the political chaos and economic uncertainty that Brexit has unleashed.
Important fresh changes

• The fresh documents supplemented to the pact provided legally binding changes to the part concerning to the Irish border. The legal 585 pages withdrawal pact itself though was left unbroken.
• The freshly introduced changes were supposed to overcome legislators’ doubts about a process in the pact outlined to keep an open border between Britain’s Northern Ireland and European Union member Ireland. 
• The process, called as the backstop, is a protection that would retain the United Kingdom in a customs union with the European Union until an everlasting fresh trading association is in place.
• As per to Brexit-supporters, the backstop could be utilised to bind the nation to European Union
  regulations indefinitely. Hence, they are asking for a unilateral British exit mechanism from the backstop.
• However, Theresa May explained that the fresh changes guarantee that European Union cannot act with the intent of applying the backstop indefinitely.

Madras HC reserved decision on plea against BCCI representing India on - 12th March 2019

The Madras High Court on March 12th, 2019 reserved its decision on a public interest litigation plea filed by a Delhi-based female pursuing a direction to the Centre to de-recognise Board of Control for Cricket in India and its associated bodies and connotations as the official representative of India.
The plea pursues to restrain the BCCI and its associated bodies from claiming to be official representatives of the nation during international cricket matches. The plea was listened by a division bench of the court encompassing Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, which reserved its direction post hearing arguments from both the sides.
Important Highlights

• In the plea, the petitioner from Delhi- Geeta Rani, pursued a direction to the central government to form a body of its own and register it under the International Cricket Council, to be the formal representative of the country.
• The petitioner explained that only such a body should be sanctioned to select cricket players for
  representing the Indian team in international matches.
• The petitioner also looked forward a direction to the central government to take legal step against the members of Board of Control for Cricket in India to represent the country at the national as well as international level without any authorization, sanction from the government.
• The petitioner also pursued a direction to the central government to take appropriate action for violation of section 3 of the Emblem and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act against the Board of Control for Cricket in India and its associated bodies and associations.

Corporate Affairs Ministry releases national guidelines on - Responsible business conduct

The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has published the National Guidelines on responsible business
conduct and reviewed the National Voluntary Guidelines on social, environmental and economic
responsibilities of business, 2011.
Guiding Principles in Letter and Spirit
1. Trades should conduct and govern themselves with integrity in such a manner that is decent, transparent and accountable.
2. Trades should deliver goods and services in such a manner that is supportable and safe.
3. Trades should admire and promote the well-being of all workers, including those in their value chains.
4. Trades should admire the interests of and be approachable to all their shareholders.
5. Trades should admire and promote human rights.
6. Trades should admire and make efforts to safeguard and restore the environment.
7. Trades, when engaging in influencing public and regulatory policy, should do so in such a manner that is accountable and transparent.
8. Trades should promote inclusive growth and reasonable development.
9. Trades should engage with and deliver value to their customers in a responsible manner.

Facebook Hubs to Support  - Start-Ups

Social media giant platform Facebook has released Facebook Hubs to foster innovation and offer support for nascent entrepreneurs.
Facebook Hubs goals to be part of a global network for training and mentoring amenities for not just
nascents, but also developers, small and medium trades, creators, and job hunters.
Facebook Hubs

• Facebook Hubs will deliver support for nascent community by hosting mentor hours and directing
  trainings, workshops, discussions across 20 locations in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Navi Mumbai and Goa.
• Facebook has work in partnership with an office space rental firm, 91springboard for a year-long program to assist nascent and tycoons scale their trades.
• Facebook Hubs also encompasses co-working community accommodating, planning and organising organized activities including learning and skill development programs for start-up entrepreneurs.

European Union Adds 10 Nations to  - Tax Blacklist

The European Union has extended its tax haven blacklist by adding Ten nations. The list now has 15
nations. The list was 1st drawn up by European Union in 2017 in the wake of numerous scandals,
including the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks, that forced the European Union into doing extra to fight tax
evasion by multinationals and the rich.
Expansion of the List

• 7 nations including Aruba, Belize, Bermuda, Fiji, Oman, Vanuatu and Dominica were moved from grey list to blacklist due to their incapability towards reform commitments.
• 3 other nations added into the list are Barbados, the UAE and the Marshall Islands.
  EU list of Tax Blacklist or Tax Havens
• Tax Havens deliver taxpayers with options for tax avoidance, while their confidentiality and opacity also serve to hide the origin of the takings of illegal and criminal activities. Features of these Tax Havens comprise low/zero taxation, fictitious residences (with no bearing on reality) and tax secrecy.
• European Union started the naming and shaming strategies via Tax havens as a tool for safeguarding a level playing field and as an exterior strategy for effective taxation by evaluating, screening and listing 3rd-nation tax jurisdictions which are non-accommodating in tax matters.

Exclusion from draft Assam NRC will not affect -  Voting rights

The Election Commission of India has specified before the Supreme Court that elimination of names of
individuals from draft National Registry of Citizens in Assam will not disturb their voting rights in the
forthcoming  Lok Sabha  elections provided their names feature in the electoral rolls.
Plea before the Supreme Court
Plea filed by Gopal Seth and Susanta Sen, inhabitants of Assam feared that individuals would lose their
voting rights due to the continuing exercise of National Registry of Citizens. The plea lime lighted 5
categories of individuals:
1. Individuals whose names were deleted from the voter list which includes names of those
appeared in the draft National Registry of Citizens printed on July 30th, 2018.
2. Individuals whose names were not included in the complete draft National Registry of Citizens,
but they afterward filed claims for addition of their names in it.
3. Individuals who have been acknowledged as foreigners by the foreigners’ tribunal and the
Guwahati High Court. The order which has been hang around by the supreme court.
4. Individuals who had already been announced foreigners by the foreigners’ tribunal and such
announcements were set aside by the supreme court.
5. Individuals whose names have not been encompassed in the draft National Registry of Citizens,
but other members of their families, including parents, have been encompassed in the National
Registry of Citizens and they have filed their claims for the addition of their names.