PM IAS MARCH 28 CURRENT EVENTS – Plover Minds Institute LLP

How does the CBI take up cases?

The Calcutta High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the killings in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

Main investigating agency of the GoI.
Not a statutory body
Derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
Works under the supervision of the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) in matters pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
India’s official representative with the INTERPOL.

Economic and fiscal laws
Crimes that have national and international ramifications
Coordination with the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
Any case of public importance
Maintaining crime statistics.

CBI cannot take suo motu cognizance of a case in a state
In order to take up corruption cases involving central government staff, it either needs general consent of the state government, or specific consent on a case-to-case basis.
For all other cases, the state has to request an investigation by the CBI, and the Centre has to agree to the same.
CBI can take over a case based on the orders of the High Court concerned or the Supreme Court.

Since 2015, as many as nine states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mizoram and Meghalaya — have withdrawn general consent to the CBI.
Opposition-ruled states have alleged the CBI has been used by the ruling dispensation to unfairly target them.
Withdrawal of general consent means that to probe any case in these states, CBI would have to take prior permission from the state government.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was tabled in Lok Sabha.

What is the MCD Amendment Bill?

The Bill seeks to amend The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957
Under the 2011 Act, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was divided into separate North, South, and East Delhi Municipal Corporations.

Key features of the Bill

The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide all the matters which were previously being decided by the Delhi Government.
The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
The Bill omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.
The Bill adds that obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on anytime-anywhere basis for better, accountable, and transparent administration.
The Bill seeks to omit the provision that a sweeper employed for doing house scavenging of a building would be required to give a reasonable cause or a 14 day notice before discontinuing his service.

Issues with the Amendment Bill

New delimitation exercise: Reducing the number of seats means a new delimitation exercise will have to be conducted which would be time taking
Bureaucratization: Appointing a Special Officer means that until the elections are concluded, the Centre will likely appoint an officer to run the corporation.
Central hegemony: The other significant change is the replacement of the word “government” with “Central government” which takes away the powers of the Delhi Government.

The envoys to India of nine Eastern European countries called Bucharest Nine jointly wrote to Indian public about the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

What is Bucharest Nine?

It is a group of nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe that became part of the US-led military alliance after the end of the Cold War.
It was founded on November 4, 2015, and takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Composition

The B9 are Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Functions of B9

Deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states.
Total compliance with the principles of solidarity and indivisibility of the security of the NATO Member States.