14th April 2016

A.Maharashtra becomes first state to pass law against social boycott

1.The Maharashtra legislature has unanimously passed the Maharashtra Prohibition of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2016 to end the menace social boycott practiced by extra-judicial institutions like caste and community panchayats. 

2.With this Maharashtra became first state in the country to adopt a comprehensive law to root out oppression carried out by parallel justice delivery system (kangaroo court) in the name of age old traditions, caste and religion. 

Key Features of Bill 

1.The Bill terms social boycott as a crime and says anybody indulging in it would face imprisonment maximum upto three years and a fine of 1 lakh rupees or both. 

2.It disallows social boycott of any individual or groups by caste panchayats or groups of individuals or gavki or by its members or by social or economically influential persons. 

3.Persons involved in practice of social boycott for reasons like rituals of worship, inter-caste marriage, any connection to lifestyle, dress or vocation will face stringent punishment. 

4.The offence registered under the act will be congnizable and bailable. It will be tried by a judicial magistrate of the first class. 

5.The victim of social boycott or any member of the victim’s family can file a complaint either to police or directly to the magistrate. 

B.Nauru becomes 189th member of IMF, World Bank

1.The Republic of Nauru, a tiny South Pacific island nation in Pacific Ocean became the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank i.e. Bretton-Woods institutions. 

2.Nauru had applied for membership in the Washington-based IMF and World Bank in April 2014. 

3.Its initial subscription quota for IMF will be of SDR (Special Drawing rights) 2 million or about $2.81 million. 

4.It will be the second smallest member of the Fund, after Tuvalu. Benefits to Nauru By joining the World Bank: The island country gains access to financial support, technical support and special expertise to deal with Pacific area issues, such as water and sanitation and disaster risk management amid the threat of climate change and rising sea levels. 

5.By joining the IMF: Nauru can benefit from the IMF’s crisis lender’s advice on managing government finances and monetary policy. 

6.Before Nauru, the last country to join the World Bank and IMF as 188th member was South Sudan in April 2012.

C.Sushila Karki: First female Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court

1.The Constitutional Council of Nepal has selected Justice Sushila Karki (63) for the post of Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court of the country. 

2.With this selection she will become 26th chief justice of the apex court and the first female CJ in Nepal’s history. 

3.However, her nomination is expected to be confirmed by a Parliamentary Hearings Committee which endorses the recommendation. 

4.She will succeed Kalyan Shrestha who retired from the top post. She shall have tenure of 1 year and retire in June 2017 upon reaching the age limit. 

About Sushila Karki 

1.Born on June 7, 1952 in Biratnagar. She had completed a bachelor’s degree in law from Tribhuvan University in 1978. 

2.She has also done her post graduate in political science from Banaras Hindu University. 

3.Currently she is seniormost judge in the Supreme Court of Nepal. Since 2010, she is member of the International Association of Women Judges.

D.NPCI launches Unified Payments Interface

1.The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched “Unified Payments Interface (UPI)” to revolutionise mobile payment system in the country. 

2.It was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan. 29 banks have agreed to join the platform. 

3.UPI seeks to provide uniform mobile payment system by leveraging digital trends such as increasing smart phone adoption and deeper penetration of mobile data. 

Key features of UPI 

1.The UPI is for mobile based payment method that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any bank) of a participating bank. 

2.It merges several banking features, seamless fund routing and merchant payments into one hood. 

3.Thus, it will be a single app for accessing different bank accounts. It facilitates ‘virtual address’ as a single payment identifier for sending and collecting money and works on single click 2 factor authentication.