Recently, in the context of recovery of cash from a judge’s house, the Vice President opined the need to revisit K. Veeraswami vs Union of India and Others (1991) judgement.

About the judgement

• The Supreme Court held that a judge of any court is a public servant under Section 2 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
• Upholding independence of Judiciary: 
  • On a complaint filed, prior consultation of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) by the President is required before a criminal complaint (FIR) is ‘registered’ against a judge or Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court.
  • In case of a complaint against the CJI, the Government shall consult any other judge or Judges of the Supreme Court.

RBI has revised the rules for investment in Alternative Investment Funds.

About AIFs

• Any fund incorporated in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle which collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors.
• AIFs are regulated by the SEBI, as per the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.

Categories of AIFs

• Category I AIF: Invest in start-ups, early-stage ventures or sectors considered socially or economically beneficial.
  • Eg. Venture Capital Funds, Angel funds, SME Funds,Infrastructure Funds
• Category II AIF: They do not use leverage or debts other than to cover their day-to-day operational expenses.
  • Eg. Private Equity Funds, Debt Funds, Real Estate Funds.
• Category III AIF: It may use leverage including through investment in listed or unlisted derivatives.
  • Eg. Hedge Funds, Private investment in public equity(PIPE)

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has started sharing non-personal, anonymized data from the Aadhaar Dashboard on the open government data platform.

• It can be used for governance and investment purposes.

What is Non-Personal Data?

• Any data which is not personal data (Data pertaining to characteristics, traits or attributes of identity) is categorised as non-personal data.  It includes:
  • Public non-personal data: Government-collected anonymised data, e.g., vehicle registration.
  • Community non-personal data: Raw data from communities, e.g., municipal datasets.
  • Private non-personal data: Data from private entities, e.g., logistics data of private firms.

Operation Olivia has shielded over 8-lakh olive Ridley turtles on Odisha’s Gahirmatha coast.

About Operation Olivia

• Initiated: In 1980s, by the Indian Coast Guard & It is conducted every year from November to May.
• The operation focuses on: Gahirmatha Beach, Rushikulya River Mouth, and Devi River Mouth. 
• These coastal zones witness the arrival of over 800,000 Olive Ridley turtles annually for mass nesting called arribada.

About Olive Ridley

• It has a circumtropical distribution, with nesting occurring through-out tropical waters (except the Gulf of Mexico).
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable; CITES: Appendix I.

A recent study has revealed that funds under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) are not reaching indigenous people who protect nature.

About GEF

• GEF is a major international financial mechanism established in 1992 during the Rio Earth Summit to help developing countries address complex challenges and work towards meeting international environmental goals.
• It is a financial mechanism for 5 major international environmental conventions: 
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
  • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 
  • Minamata Convention on Mercury
  • Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

A youtuber has been charged for spying for Pakistan under Sections 3 (Spying) and 5 (Communications with foreign agents) of Official Secrets Act, 1923; and Section 152 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita(BNS).

• Section 152 of BNS: Acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India shall be punished with imprisonment.

About OSA, 1923

• Objective: To counter espionage and safeguard sensitive information related to national security.
• Scope: Applies to all Indian citizens, including government servants, both within and outside the country.
• Offences: Criminalises spying, unauthorised sharing of confidential government information, and withholding of sensitive data that could potentially threaten safety or interests of state etc.

MHA's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has introduced the new e-Zero FIR initiative.

About e-Zero FIR

• Launched as a pilot project for Delhi.
• It intends to ease reporting and prompt action on complaints related to cyber financial crimes.
• Complaints related to financial losses above the threshold limit of ₹10 lakh made to NCRP and 1930 will automatically lead to registration of a Zero FIR with the e-Crime Police Station of Delhi. 
• This will be immediately routed to the territorial Cyber Crime Police Stations. 
• Complainants can visit the cybercrime Police Station within 3 days and get the Zero FIR converted into a regular FIR.

A new butterfly species (Euthalia Malaccana) has been found for the first time in India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

About Euthalia Malaccana

• It is found in the Indo-Australian region, primarily in Southeast Asia, with records from northern Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and the Sunda Islands.
• The species is characterised by a blue apical spot on the forewings, which is prominent in males, while females display larger apical spots. 
  • The hindwings are adorned with reduced red spots. 
• Its presence serves as an important indicator of ecosystem health.