29 March 2024

• International: The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages after five and a half months of conflict. The US abstained rather than vetoing, a significant shift.
• Economy: The BSE and NSE launched T+0 settlement for 25 select stocks in a beta phase, allowing same-day completion of equity trades.
• Polity: The Supreme Court warned against misusing injunctions to suppress free speech in defamation cases, flagging the risk of SLAPP suits.
• Environment: Amrabad Tiger Reserve and Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary in Telangana faced active forest fires.

GS area: International Relations, Polity (international institutions)

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 2728 on 25 March 2024 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and beyond, and demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Key facts about this resolution:

• US abstention: the United States abstained for the first time in this conflict rather than vetoing. All 14 other members voted in favour. The abstention allowed the resolution to pass.
• Israel's response: Israel rejected the resolution, arguing that any ceasefire would give Hamas time to regroup. Previous UNSC ceasefire calls in December 2023 were vetoed by the US.
• UNSC vote mechanics: a resolution requires 9 affirmative votes from 15 members and no veto from any of the five permanent members (P5: China, France, Russia, UK, US). A P5 abstention is not a veto.
• UNSC history: as of March 2024, 2,728 resolutions have been adopted since the Council's first meeting in 1946.

India's position: India supported a two-state solution and called for immediate humanitarian access. India abstained on a related UNGA resolution in October 2023 and voted for other resolutions.

Static linkage: International relations (UNSC, Middle East, India's foreign policy).

GS area: Economy (financial markets)

The Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange launched a T+0 (same day settlement) mechanism in beta phase for approximately 25 stocks and selected brokers.

Settlement cycle history:

Benefits:

• Faster access to funds after selling shares.
• Reduced counterparty risk (the shorter the settlement window, the lower the risk that one party defaults before delivery).
• Higher market efficiency.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) are both regulated by SEBI. Settlement is handled by clearing corporations: ICCL (for BSE) and NSCCL (for NSE).

Static linkage: Economy (financial markets, SEBI).

GS area: Polity (fundamental rights, judiciary)

SLAPP stands for Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation. These are lawsuits filed not to win a case on the merits but to intimidate critics, activists and journalists with the cost and burden of prolonged litigation.

The Supreme Court's warning:

• Courts should not grant injunctions in defamation cases that effectively silence the defendant before trial.
• Ex-parte injunctions (issued without hearing the defendant) are particularly liable to misuse in SLAPP cases.

Example: Tata Group filed suit against environmental activist Dr. Claude Alvares in 2000 for publishing critical materials. The case became a reference point for SLAPP litigation in India.

• Right at stake: Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.
• Limitation: Article 19(2) allows defamation as a ground for restricting free speech. Misuse of defamation law to silence inconvenient criticism is the SLAPP concern.

Static linkage: Polity (fundamental rights, Article 19, judiciary).

GS area: Economy (insurance, financial stability)

IRDAI identified three companies as Domestically Systemically Important Insurance Companies for FY2023-24:

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
• General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC)
• New India Assurance Co. Ltd.

D-SII designation means:

• These companies are "too important to fail": their failure would have systemic financial consequences.
• They are expected to receive government support in a distress scenario.
• They must maintain enhanced corporate governance and robust risk management frameworks.

The equivalent concept in banking is Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), where SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank carry the designation.

Static linkage: Economy (insurance, financial stability).

• Forest fires in Amrabad Tiger Reserve and Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary: active fires in Tadvai region, Telangana. Amrabad is a 2,800 sq km reserve in the Nallamala Hills, with Bengal tigers, leopards and Indian gaurs. Eturnagaram borders Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and is traversed by the Godavari River.
• Mushk Budiji rice: a nearly extinct aromatic rice variety from the Kashmir Himalaya, being revived since 2007 after being nearly wiped out by rice blast disease and low yield. Grown at 5,000-7,000 feet altitude in Kashmir; contains 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP), the aromatic compound found in basmati.
• Luna crater (Kutch, Gujarat): a 1.8-km diameter impact crater in the Banni Plains of the Rann of Kutch, aged approximately 6,905 years. The Banni Grassland is Asia's largest at 2,618 sq km (45 per cent of Gujarat's pastureland).