WBCS Current Affairs 02 June 2018 To 08 June 2018

The Importance of Current Affairs in W.B.C.S examinations is immense.Success inW.B.C.S  Prelims and W.B.C.S Mains Exam is mainly subjected to how well an aspirant is aware of the important current affairs. Preparation of current affairs for W.B.C.S is the key to unlock the exam.Continue Reading WBCS Current Affairs 02 June 2018 To 08 June 2018.

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will set up a Public Credit Registry (PCR) as a repository of information regarding loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers. This decision has been taken as per recommendations of Y.M. Deosthalee committee set up by the central bank. Y.M. Deosthalee Committee Recommendations- The Y.M. Deosthalee committee was set up by RBI and had submitted its report in April, 2018. The major recommendations of this committee report are as follows: RBI should set up a Public Credit Registry in due course and this should be backed by a legal framework. The central bank may also consider moving such registry to a separate non-profit entity. PCR will work as a repository of all loan contracts, duly verified by reporting institutions for all / any lending in India, regardless of the amount of the loan. PCR should also capture data such as external commercial borrowings, market borrowings, and all contingent liabilities; and should provide an holistic picture about the borrower’s indebtedness. The registry should capture both positive and negative information about all loans. The borrowers should also be able to access their own history. The PCR data should be available to all stakeholders such as banks on a need-to-know basis. There should be adequate safeguards on privacy protection. Onus of data quality should be on reporting agencies and institutions and action should be taken against the institutions in case of any violations in rules. The database should also be linked to defaulter databases such as those maintained by Export Credit Guarantee Corp. of India, GST network etc. RBI Action: On 6 June,2018, RBI has disclosed the plans to establish the PCR in modular and phased manner. This registry will distinguish between bad borrowers and good borrowers and will offer interest rates accordingly. It will help in improving access to credit, strengthen the credit culture and strengthen the banking system because at present, the corporate borrowers lend from multiple banks without disclosing their existing debt.

2) The registrar general of India has released new data showing significant decline in maternal mortality ratio of the country. The relevant facts and data are as follows: Maternal Mortality and MMR- According to WHO, Maternal Mortality is death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes. Maternal Mortality Rate is death of such women per 100,000 live births. Maternal and child mortality and morbidity are taken as important health indicators because they reflect the state of female healthcare. Global Maternal Mortality Rate: The global MMR for year 1990 was 385. In 2015, this number stood at 216, showing a drop of 44% in 25 years. Most of the global maternal deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa (66%), followed by South Asia (22%). Maternal Mortality Rate in India and its states: In the 2011-13 period, India’s MMR was 167. As per the recently released data, the MMR during 2014-16 period stands at 130. Among states, the three best and worst states and their respective MMR are shown below: Significant decline (246 to 188) was seen in the so called Empowered Action Group (EAG) states and Assam. EAG states are are those states where economic and development indicators are a particular concern. Such states include Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Maternal Mortality Ratio is one of the important measures of the quality of safe deliveries and maternal care and India has lagged behind China, Maldives and Sri Lanka in its neighborhood.

3) President Ram Nath Kovind has assented to the promulgation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 on June 6, 2018. This ordinance makes some fine-tuning mechanisms in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Key Points: This ordinance brings some specific changes affecting mainly real estate and financial sectors. The notable changes are as follows: Homebuyers Recognized as Financial Creditors- After this amendment, the IBC law will recognize the homebuyers as financial creditors, giving them due representation in the Committee of Creditors (CoC). Thus, now home buyers will be an integral part of the decision making process. The CoC will also have representation from security holders, deposit holders and all other financial creditors. Special Provisions for MSME: The amendment ordinance gives some special benefits to the Micro, Small and Medium Sector Enterprises. Now, the promoters of MSMEs are allowed to bid for their companies as long as they are not wilful defaultersand don’t attract any other related disqualification. This has corrected the anomaly in the section 29A of the existing act which had barred promoters of defaulting assets from bidding for their assets. Withdrawal of Insolvency Application- The ordinance permits the withdrawal of the insolvency applications only if it is approved by 90% vote share of the CoC. Further, the CoC voting threshold has been brought down to 66 percent from 75 percent for all major decisions such as approval of resolution plan, extension of insolvency period etc. This is to encourage resolution versus liquidation. Other provisions- Other notable provisions are as follows: It brings more clarity by laying down mandatory timelines, processes and procedures for corporate insolvency resolution process. Addresses some issues such as non-entertainment of late bids, no negotiation with the late bidders and a well laid down procedure for maximizing value of assets. Exempts pure play financial entities from being disqualified on account of NPA and NPA acquired under Insolvency Code shall not disqualify an entity for the next three years. Successful resolution applicants will get a minimum one-year grace period to fulfill various statutory obligations. It also addresses the much litigated issue of enforcement of guarantees. This part, the corporate debtors who want to themselves trigger insolvency will need shareholders approval via special resolution. Significance for Real Estate: This ordinance provides relief to home buyers by recognizing their status as financial creditors. Due representation in the Committee of Creditors (CoC) makes them integral part of the decision-making process. Section 7 of the law will allow financial creditors to file application seeking insolvency resolution process. This is important because many home buyers are facing hardships on account of delayed and incomplete real estate projects.

4) On June 6, 2018, the six members Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI has decided to hike Repo (short term lending rate) to 6.25% from 6.00%. As per the second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, the current policy rates of RBI would be as follows: Repo Rate: 6.25%. Reverse Repo Rate: 6.00%. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate: 6.50%. The recent rise of 25 basis points in key policy rates is for the first time in four and half years since NDA government was formed in May, 2014. Repo Rate: Repo rate, or repurchase rate, is the rate at which RBI lends to banks for short periods. This is done by RBI buying government bonds from banks with an agreement to sell them back at a fixed rate. When RBI increases Repo Rate, the banks can borrow less at a lower cost and thus need to lend at higher rates. This contributes to hike of the interest rates in markets. When RBI increases the repo rate, the move is generally called a tight monetary policy stance. Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse repo rate is the rate of interest at which the RBI borrows funds from other banks in the short term. This is done by RBI selling government bonds / securities to banks with the commitment to buy them back at a future date. The banks use the reverse repo facility to deposit their short-term excess funds with the RBI and earn interest on it. RBI can reduce liquidity in the banking system by increasing the rate at which it borrows from banks. Hiking the repo and reverse repo rate ends up reducing the liquidity and pushes up interest rates. When the RBI increases the Reverse Repo, it means that now the RBI will provide extra interest on the money which it borrows from the banks. An increase in reverse repo rate means that banks earn higher returns by lending to RBI. This indicates a hike in the deposit rates. Marginal Standing Facility: Marginal Standing Facility is a new Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) window created by Reserve Bank of India in 2011. MSF is the rate at which the banks are able to borrow overnight funds from RBI against the approved government securities. The rate of interest on MSF is above 100 bps above the Repo Rate. The banks can borrow up to 1 percent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) from this facility.

5) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister has approved a Rs. 8500 Crore bailout package for the distressed sugar industry in the country. Background: India is world’s second largest sugar producer after Brazil with production of around 20-25 million tonnes of sugar every year. The sugar production was 25.13 million tonnes in 2015-16 sugar season (sugar season ~ October to September); 20.2 million tonnes in 2016-17, 25 million tonnes in 2017-18 and is expected to be around 30 million tonnes in 2018-19. Currently, UP is India’s foremost sugar producing state and it is likely to maintain this position for the next two years. Maharashtra is on number 2 in production of both sugarcane as well as sugar. The bumper harvest of sugarcane has created problem of plenty for already troubled cane farmers, sugar mills as well as governments at centre and state. The sugar mills need to buy cane from farmers at state advised price (SAP) but have to sell their produce at either marginal cost above production or in loss. Thus, higher price purchase of sugarcane but low price sale of sugar in open market creates stress on sugar mills and they are unable to make payments to farmers. This leads to accumulation of arrears. Government Efforts: Though government decontrolled sugar industry partially in 2013 and allowed them to sell their produce in open market, the sugar industry faces a bizarre problem that price of its raw material (cane) is fixed by state and central governments as State Advised Price (SAP) and Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) respectively. The government supported cane prices are attractive to farmers, but loss due to any fall in the prices of sugar in open market has to be borne by the sugar industry. Further, absence of infrastructure for ethanol production makes sure that the surplus production of sugarcane is not optimally absorbed. Current Package: This package announced on June 6, 2018 includes Rs. 4500 crore soft loan for building ethanol production capacity and Rs. 1540-crore production-linked direct payments to cane farmers by sugar mills. Further, government has also hiked import duty on sugar to curb the problem of plenty. Government has also decided to create some kind of stock of sugar.

6) A meeting between external affairs ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa was organized in Pretoria, South Africa. This ministerial summit chaired by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was attended by South African Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu and the Brazilian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcos Bezerra Abbott Galvao. The outcome of this meeting was a document titled IBSA Declaration on South-South Cooperation. This document calls for contribtion of each of the member of IBSA forum to contribute to greater understanding of development cooperation as a common endeavour of the global South. About IBSA: IBSA Dialogue Forum, comprising India, Brazil, South Africa, is a tripartite group which supports promotion of cooperation in various fields between these three important poles of South-South cooperation. Main objective of IBSA include: To promote South-South cooperation by making an important axis between three important countries of three continents viz. India, Africa and South America. To build consensus on issues of international importance such as UN and UNSC reforms and reforms in Brettonwoods Organizations. To increase trade / exchange of information opportunities between the three countries and their efforts in international poverty alleviation and social development. IBSA was established in 2003 via Brasilia Declaration by external affairs ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa.

7) The Supreme Court has allowed Centre to go ahead with reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees as per the law. From the centre’s behalf, the Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh had pleased SC to allow promotions, which were on standstill, as per mandate of the constitution. This plea was accepted by SC bench hearing the case. Background: With respect to the reservation in promotions in government jobs, the Supreme Court verdict in M Nagaraj Case (2006) that concept of creamy layer is not applicable to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Two earlier cases viz. Indra Sawhney Case (1992) and E V Chinnaiah versus State of Andhra Pradesh (2005) had dealt with the issue of creamy layer for Other Backward Classes. On this basis, the centre had issued an order in 2017 extending reservation in promotions to SC and ST employees beyond five years from November 16,1992. This government order was challenged in Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court quashed the Central Government order and thus, the promotions came to at standstill. Central Government later approached Supreme Court for relief and the current SC order provides that much needed relief to Centre. What next? The case is still sub judice in Supreme Court. A constitutional bench will examine the issue as to whether the M Nagaraj judgement, which dealt with the issue of application of the ‘creamy layer’ for reservation to SC and ST categories in promotion in government jobs, should be re-examined or not. Reservation in Promotions: Reservations in promotions are mandated by Article 16 (4A) of the constitution. This article is an enabling provision and enables the state to provide for reservation in matters of promotion to SC/ST which in its opinion were not adequately represented in the services.Continue Reading WBCS Current Affairs 02 June 2018 To 08 June 2018.

8) On June 4, 2018, India received first shipment of its so far cheapest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Russian supplier Gazprom. The LNG has been delivered at a price close to USD 7 per million British Thermal Unit (mmBtu). This price is around 1.5 USD cheaper from the LNG imported from Qatar, which is India’s oldest and largest supplier of LNG. This price is also 1-1.5 USD per mmBtu cheaper than the LNG sourced from Australia and United States. India’s Natural Gas Production and Import: According to official data, India’s total natural gas production in 2017-18 was 32.64 billion cubic meter of which 22.01 BCM is offshore production while 10.63% is onshore production. The natural gas production in India has fallen in recent years as shown in below graphics: However, at present, close to half of Natural Gas demand is fulfilled by imports. India’s natural gas import dependence in 2016-17 was close to 45%. At present, India is fourth largest importer of LNG. Natural Gas is one of the key inputs for generation of power and manufacturing products in fertilizer and steel industries. The current government policy also pushes towards a gas-based economy by raising the share of environment friendly fuel in the energy basket to 15 per cent from current 6.2 per cent. India’s Gas Deals: At present, Qatar is biggest supplier of Natural Gas to India. The recent shipment from Russia has come under a 20 year deal between India’s State-owned gas company GAIL India Ltd and Russian supplier Gazprom. A few weeks before India had also imported its first ever LNG cargo from US under a long-term import deal. The government policy is to expand the LNG import basket to meet any contingency due to geopolitical or economic reasons.

9) A recent ASSOCHAM-NEC study on “Electricals & Electronics Manufacturing in India” has revealed that India recycles only 5% of its e-waste and the country is one of the biggest contributors of e-waste in the world. E-waste of electronic waste refers to the electronic equipment being thrown away. It includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT), Printed Circuit Board (PCB), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, white goods such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)/ Plasma televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and so on. Key Points from ASSOCHAM-NEC study- According to the recent ASSOCHAM-NEC study: India generates around 2 million tonnes per annum (TPA) of E-waste of which 12% constituted of telecom equipment alone. Apart from India, the top e-waste generator countries are China, US, Japan and Germany. Among Indian states, largest quantity of E-waste is generated by Maharashtra (19.8% ), followed by Tamil Nadu (13%), Uttar Pradesh (10.1%), Karnataka (8.9%), Gujarat (8.8%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.6%). Out of the 2 million TPA e-waste generated, only 4.38 Lakh TPA is recycled in India. The low quantum of recycling of e-waste in India is due to lack of infrastructure, absence of strong legislative framework etc. The chemicals and pollutants generated by E-waste lead to environment and public health issues. Prolonged exposure to chemicals released by e-waste causes damage of nervous systems, blood systems, kidneys and brain development, respiratory disorders, skin disorders, bronchitis, lung cancer, heart, liver, and spleen damage. E-waste is one of the major global concerns of the 21st century. As per Moore’s law, the transistor numbers to be accommodated in same size chip double every two years, and due to this most electronic systems get outdated in about three years. People upgrade their mobiles, laptops, cameras, televisions etc. creating a large amount of useless e-waste.

10) June 4, 2018 marked the 29th anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests / massacre of China. On this day in 1989, the Chinese troops had violently retook the Tiananmen Square in Beijing from the pro-democracy protesters. On this occasion, the Chinese people worldwide also remember a lone man, better known as “Tank Man” who armed with nothing more than two shopping bags stepped in front of the row of tanks moving down the streets of Beijing. The image of Tank Man is considered to be most enduring image of China’s violent crackdown on democracy supporters. Tiananmen Square Massacre: Tiananmen Square in Beijing is known for three major protests viz. 1919, 1976 and 1989 in recent Chinese history. The 1989 prodemocracy protests started in April that year and were suppressed on June 4 after the military crackdown. This event is also known as June Fourth Incident in modern Chinese history. These protests were started by a groups of students, intellectuals and labour activists of Beijing. Though there was neither a common cause nor a common leader, the broad demand was political reforms as the protesters did not like the way country’s economy was run by Communist Party of China. These people were not happy with the rule of Deng Xiaoping, the successor of Mao Zedong, who had launched several reforms, apparently biased against urban dwellers, while favouring rural. On June 4, 1989, the Communist government in China used force to end the protests. The exact number of causalities never came in public because of suppression of media.

11) Reserve Bank of India is conducting Financial Literacy Week from June 4 on the theme ‘Customer Protection’. The week-long event is to focus on creating awareness among customers of banks. According to RBI, the event will emphasise on awareness about different financial products, services, digital applications and good financial practices. About Financial Literacy Week: RBI had introduced financial literacy week in 2016 to create a large scale awareness on key topics. Non-Governmental Organisations collaborate with banks and made this initiative successful in the past two years. Last year’s theme of the week was, ‘Know Your Customer’. The focus of this year is consumer protection messages like, Know your liability. The customers will be educated upon the safe digital banking practices. RBI underlines that, in cases of unauthorised electronic banking transactions when informed in 3 days, the liability of account holder is zero. RBI says that resolution of such transactions will be the responsibility of the concerned bank. The bank should resolve the issue as soon as possible within 90 days from the day of receipt of the complaint. Other focus point of financial Literacy week includes, creating awareness about Banking Ombudsman Scheme of RBI. Bankers, Financial Literacy Counsellors and other stake holders will be the major participants in the event.

12) With an aim to make 500-meter area around Taj Mahal litter free and phase out single use plastic, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma administered a pledge to Agra Residents. The pledge called “Taj Declaration to Beat Plastic Pollution” was made in the presence of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Erik Solheim and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Diya Mirza. The declaration came ahead to the World Environment day, June 5. Well before the declaration was undertaken, workshops were conducted to deal with problem. The major focus of the workshop is to curb littering around the 17th century monument. Short term and Long term plans are worked up on. Minister Mahesh Sharma highlighted that India and the whole world is facing a huge problem of pollution caused by the use of plastic. He said that the message of ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ is meant not just for Agra residents but to the whole country. The UNEP representatives and Goodwill Ambassador expressed their happiness that all the agencies came together for a noble cause of beating plastic pollution. The Environment day to be celebrated on June 5 has a slogan of ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.

13) Union Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal flagged off a new Humsafar Jodhpur Bandra Express. The train started its journey towards Bandra from Bhagat Ki Kothi Railway station in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur on 2nd June 2018.
Humsafar Express are a completely 3-tier AC sleeper trains which started their operation from December 2016. Special features to be implemented in the train are, LED screen displays, Vending machines, bio- toilets, smoke alarms and CCTVs. Each coach is also planned to have heating chambers and refrigerating boxes to keep the homemade food of the passengers fresh. Adequate arrangements have been made in the trains, including mobile charging points, CCTVs and Bio Toilets. Railway Minister also highlighted that the current government has successfully doubled the ‘road under-bridges’. He also spoke about the increased investment for Railways from Rs. 682 crores earlier to Rs. 2,911 crores on average.

14) India successfully test fired its indigenously developed Agni- 5 missile on 3rd June. The missile was launched from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. Agni missile is a surface to surface missile and is launched with the help of mobile launcher of the Integrated Test Range at Dr Abdul Kalam Island formerly known as Wheeler Island. This is the 6th test fire of the state-of-the-art Agni 5 missile. The trial was a great success. The missile hit its target with great accuracy after covering its full distance. The entire flight was monitored by radars, tracking instruments and observation stations. Key Facts: Agni-5 Missile: Agni 5 ballistic missile is the brainchild of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is the most advanced in the series. Agni-5 is a nuclear capable long range missile with new technologies in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine. The three stage, 17- meter tall, two-meter wide Agni-5 missile has a range of Agni-5 missile is 5000 km. It can carry a nuclear warhead weighing up to 1.5 tonnes. Agni-5 uses Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System RINS. It is the most modern and gives very high accuracy. The Micro Navigation System or MINS helped the missile reach its target with precision. Other features of Agni- 5 missile include, a high speed on- board computer, fault tolerant software and a robust reliable bus. The advanced computer and the inertial navigation system are the highlights of the missile as they aid in precision of the path. The missile is highly reliable, has longer shelf life and enhanced mobility compared to the other versions. Agni-1 has a range of 700 km, Agni-2 with a 2000 km range, Agni-3 and 4 have a range of 2500 km to 3500km.Continue Reading WBCS Current Affairs 02 June 2018 To 08 June 2018.

15) Gopabandhu Sambadika Swasthya Bima Yojana is a new Health Insurance Scheme for the journalists launched by the state government in Odisha. This scheme provides Rs. 2 Lakh per annum health insurance cover to all working journalists of the state. Key Facts: Gopabandhu Sambadika Swasthya Bima Yojana has come into effect from June 1, 2018 and will initially cover around 3200 journalists and their family members from various media groups. The insurance coverage will be applicable for cashless treatment in government and private hospitals. The scheme will also cover the injuries and illness faced by journalists while performing their duties. Name of Scheme: The scheme has been named after Gopalbandhu Das (1877-1928) a prominent social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist of Odisha. His contribution to art, culture and society to Odisha earned him the epithet of Utkalmani (jewel of Odisha). His contribution to journalism in the state was short but remarkable. In the decade of 1910, he had launched a monthly literary magazine called Satyabadi through which he tried to educate the masses.

16) The Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) has launched a new system to generate more accurate and area specific forecast of extreme weather events including rains, heat wave and cold wave. The new Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) has been touted as best available model after such a system available in Europe. Ensemble Prediction Systems (EPS): Key Facts The new EPS system has been developed by three bodies under Ministry of Earth Sciences viz. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. The most salient feature of new EPS is its high resolution for short-medium range weather forecasts. Under the new system, the area of spatial resolution (currently 23 km grid scale) will come down to 12 km. This would help sending out district level warning and forecast extreme weather events as before as five days. In its calculations, the system will use a newly procured 8 petaflops high-power computing system. The system was recently procured for Rs. 450 crore. Potential Advantages: The new system will generate more accurate and better area specific forecast of extreme weather events in comparison to current models by quantifying the uncertainties in the weather forecast. The probabilistic forecasts of severe weather events at 12 km grid scale would greatly help the disaster management authorities and other users in making better emergency response decisions. The accurate weather forecasts would help farmers to damage crops and also support administration to take disasters prevention steps beforehand.

17) Following directions from Supreme Court, the Central Government has constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) to address the dispute over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. In February, 2018 judgement, the Supreme Court had directed centre to form the CMA within six weeks. In the same verdict, the court had also increased Karnataka’s share in Cauvery Water marginally. Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA): The newly constituted Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) has been created as per the Cauvery Management Scheme earlier framed by Centre and approved by Supreme Court. Composition and Powers of CMA- The authority will comprise a chairman, a secretary and eight members. Out of the eight members, two will be full time, while two will be part time members from centre’s side. Rest four will be part time members from states. The main mandate of the CMA will be to secure implementation and compliance of the Supreme Court’s order in relation to “storage, apportionment, regulation and control of Cauvery waters”. CMA will also advise the states to take suitable measures to improve water use efficiency. It will do so by promoting use of micro-irrigation, change in cropping patterns, improved farm practices and development of command areas. The CMA will also prepare an annual report covering its activities during the preceding year. Role of Central Government: The central government will provide help in implementation of the modified award in case of any of the state /UT parties (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry) do not cooperate in implementing the decision or direction of the tribunal. Initially, centre will contribute Rs. 2 crore for the functioning of the authority. Cauvery Water Regulation Committee: Along with CMA, the government has also established Cauvery Water Regulation Committee that shall give effect to the decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal as modified by the Supreme Court order. This committee will meet every 10 days during months of June and October when the south-west and north-east monsoon set in and again after the monsoon has set in.

18) Foundation of Sakhi Suraksha Advanced DNA Forensic Laboratory was laid in the campus of Central Forensic Science Lab (CFSL), Chandigarh. It is India’s first advanced forensic lab dedicated for crimes related to women for timely deliver justice. Key Facts: The advanced lab in par with international standards will contribute to address gap in forensic DNA analysis of pending sexual assault cases in the country. The lab has been set up as model forensic lab and will be replicated in other parts of the country. 5 more such advanced forensic labs will come up in Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati, Pune and Bhopal in the next 3 months bringing total minimum annual handling capacity of labs to 50000 cases. The labs in Chennai and Mumbai will be set up with funds from Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) while remaining 3 labs would be set up with funds by Ministry of Home Affairs. Units of Sakhi Suraksha Advanced DNA Forensic Laboratory: There are four units viz. sexual assault and homicide unit, paternity unit, human identification unit and mitochondrial unit. Apart from Homicide and Sexual Assault and Unit, other three units are interlinked. They will work to examine cases related to crime against women. Paternity Unit: It will be help in solving cases related to criminal paternity, gender selection and child swapping in hospitals. Human Identification Unit: It will play important role to solve cases of missing person or children. Mitochondrial Unit: It will conduct mitochondrial DNA analysis in cases where regular Nuclear DNA analysis is not possible such as in case of highly degraded samples. It can also be used to better explore family relationships. Background: Forensic science plays vital role in the criminal justice delivery system by providing investigators with scientifically based evidence information through analysis of physical evidence. There has been increasing demand for better scientific analysis of physical evidence with increasing reports of crime against women such as sexual assault, foeticide, homicide etc. Even the scrutiny of difference judicial courts also demands more admissible, accurate and powerful forensic proof for human individualisation. At present there are 6 Central Forensic Science Labs (CFSLs) in Guwahati, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Bhopal and one State Forensic Science Lab in each State/UT. These labs are responsible for conducting forensic analysis of all cases in country including sexual assault, criminal paternity and homicide.

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