Prelims Oriented
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
About FATF
- Independent intergovernmental body developing and promoting policies to protect global financial system against money laundering/terrorist financing.
- FATF Recommendations recognized as global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) standard worldwide.
Origin and Mandate
- Established 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris responding to growing concern about money laundering globally.
- 2001: mandate expanded to include terrorism financing broadening scope of financial crime prevention comprehensively.
- Headquarters: Paris, France serving as central coordination hub for global financial crime prevention efforts.
Membership
- FATF members include 39 countries: United States, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, France, EU as such.
- India became member in 2010 joining global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing effectively.
- Over 180 countries worldwide affiliated with FATF through network of FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) expanding reach.
Functions
- Researches how money laundered and terrorism funded; promotes global standards to mitigate risks effectively.
- Assesses whether countries taking effective action against financial crimes through peer evaluation process comprehensively.
- Publishes reports regularly raising awareness about latest money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing techniques emerging globally.
- Members must endorse and support most recent FATF recommendations; commit to being evaluated by (and evaluating) other members.
Enforcement
- FATF holds countries accountable that do not comply with FATF Standards ensuring global compliance effectively.
- Repeated failure to implement FATF Standards can result in placement under grey and black lists as sanctions.
Grey and Black Lists
- Black List
- Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) put on blacklist supporting terror funding/money laundering.
- FATF revises blacklist regularly adding or deleting entries based on compliance and actions taken.
- Currently three countries: North Korea, Iran, Myanmar on FATF’s blacklist facing international sanctions comprehensively.
- Grey List
- Countries considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering put on FATF grey list.
- Inclusion serves as warning that country may enter blacklist if compliance not improved requiring corrective actions.
Consequences of Blacklisting
- No financial aid given by IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU restricting access to international financial support.
- Face international economic and financial restrictions and sanctions limiting trade and investment opportunities significantly.
QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026
About QS
- Quacquarelli Symonds (QS): London-based global higher education analyst best known for widely recognized QS World University Rankings.
Key Findings
- India’s Representation
- QS Asia Rankings 2026: no Indian university in top 50 but India added 137 universities showing expansion.
- 1,125% increase in representation since 2016; India now has 294 universities in QS Asia Rankings.
- Second highest after China: which added 261 universities bringing its total to 395 institutions comprehensively.
- Performance Areas
- Indian institutions perform strongly in academic reputation, research productivity, employer reputation showing quality education.
- Lag behind in internationalization and research visibility requiring improvement in global collaboration and outreach.
- Top Asian Universities
- University of Hong Kong: 1st; Peking University: 2nd; NUS and NTU: 3rd (tied) leading rankings.
- Top Indian Institutions
- IIT Delhi: 59th (down from 44th); IIT Bombay: 71st (down from 48th); IISc Bengaluru: 64th (down from 62nd).
- IIT Madras: 70th (down from 56th); IIT Kanpur: 77th (down from 67th); Delhi University: 95th (down from 81st).
- Private Institutions Growth
- Chandigarh University: 109th (from 120th); BITS Pilani, Shoolini University, O.P. Jindal Global University achieved highest-ever rankings.
Vande Mataram: 150 Years Celebration
About Vande Mataram
- India’s national song meaning “I bow to thee, Mother” symbolizing reverence to motherland evoking patriotism/unity.
- Composed in Sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1870s; first published in novel Anandamath (1882).
Historical Significance
- First public rendition by Rabindranath Tagore at 1896 Congress Session marking official introduction nationally.
- Became anthem of India’s freedom struggle; sung in protests and revolutionary gatherings despite British ban.
- Indian National Congress (1937) adopted the first two stanzas as National Song balancing inclusivity and secular appeal.
- January 24, 1950: Constituent Assembly accorded Vande Mataram equal honour to National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana”.
Features
- Spiritual Patriotism: depicts nation as nurturing mother embodying emotional and divine strength comprehensively.
- Secular Adaptation: only first two stanzas (devoid of religious imagery) used officially ensuring inclusivity for all communities.
- Cultural Symbolism: serves as unifying call cutting across linguistic and regional divides uniting diverse India.
- Historical Legacy: association with Swadeshi (1905), Quit India (1942) made it lyrical soul of resistance against colonialism.
Current Status
- Recognized by Government as equal in stature to National Anthem ensuring constitutional importance comprehensively.
- Instrumental version played at closing of every Parliament session maintaining official recognition and respect.
- Citizens encouraged to show equal respect to both Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana per Delhi HC affidavit (2022).
Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI)
About FPI
- Investments made by foreign entities in financial assets like stocks, bonds, other securities of a country.
- Distinct from FDI: does not involve acquiring control over business limiting ownership and management involvement.
Key Characteristics
- Passive investment: investors do not participate in management of company maintaining distance from operations.
- Short-term focus: aims for capital appreciation rather than long-term strategic interests ensuring quick returns.
- Enhances market liquidity: provides capital flow into financial markets increasing efficiency and investment potential significantly.
- Sensitive to market sentiments: highly volatile; investors can quickly withdraw funds during economic/political instability.
FPI Policy in India
- Foreign investor can hold up to 10% of total paid-up capital without being classified as FDI.
- If holding exceeds 10%: reclassified as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) changing regulatory requirements and oversight.
- Regulated by SEBI ensuring compliance with financial laws maintaining market integrity and investor protection comprehensively.
FIIs vs FPIs
- Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) are subset of FPIs including large investment entities like mutual funds, pension funds.
- Also include insurance companies, hedge funds with structured investment approaches ensuring professional management of funds.
- All FIIs considered FPIs but not all FPIs are FIIs showing hierarchical classification and differentiation.
Gravitational Waves
About Gravitational Waves
- Space-time ripples created by massive accelerating objects causing waves of undulating space-time propagating in all directions.
- Predicted by Einstein in General Theory (1915); first observed experimentally in 2015 confirming theoretical predictions.
- Cosmic ripples travel at speed of light carrying information about origins and clues to nature of gravity.
- Observable GWs created by incredibly massive objects with rapid accelerations like pairs of neutron stars or black holes orbiting.
Sources and Types
- Continuous Gravitational Waves
- Produced by single spinning massive object like neutron star due to bumps or imperfections in spherical shape.
- If star’s spin rate remains constant, so do frequency and amplitude resulting in continuous gravitational waves.
- Compact Binary Inspiral
- Created by orbiting pairs of massive dense objects: neutron stars, white dwarf stars, black holes comprehensively.
- Three subclasses: Binary Neutron Star (BNS), Binary Black Hole (BBH), Neutron Star-Black Hole Binary (NSBH).
- Stochastic Gravitational Waves
- Gravitational waves from early stages of universe’s evolution known as stochastic gravitational waves historically significant.
- Produced by large number of random, independent events forming cosmic gravitational wave background like Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).
- Burst Gravitational Waves
- Short-duration waves generated from unknown or unanticipated sources requiring further investigation and study.
- Detecting these waves has potential to reveal revolutionary information about universe providing new insights comprehensively.
Need for Detection
- Vital source of information about universe alongside electromagnetic waves, neutrinos for comprehensive cosmic understanding.
- Detect vibrations (ripples) from events occurring very far from detectors advancing beyond electromagnetic astronomy limitations.
- Weakly interact with matter (unlike EM radiation); travel through universe unhindered carrying information without distortion.
- Arise from cosmic catastrophes (black hole colliding, neutron star merging, universe creation) enabling unprecedented observations of universe.