Current Affairs in Short: 27 May 2022

May 27, 2022, 16:02 IST

The central government has allowed ministries and departments to utilise unused funds of the first and second quarter expenditure in the subsequent quarter in the same financial year.

The Centre has allowed ministries and departments to utilise unused funds of the first and second quarter expenditure in the subsequent quarter in the same financial year. The same would however require prior approval of the expenditure secretary.
The latest office memorandum released by the finance ministry clarified that the Ministries and departments should not though under any circumstance presume prior approval of the expenditure secretary. It would have to be formally obtained prior to utilising the unspent balances.
The memorandum clearly states that seeking post-facto approval is not an option. It also adds that the ministries cannot spend more than 33 percent of expenditure of budget estimates in the last quarter and not more than 15 percent of the expenditure in the last month of the fiscal.

The policy of major paper products import has been changed from 'free' to 'free subject to compulsory registration under Paper Import Monitoring System'. This was informed by Commerce Ministry on May 26, 2022.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had earlier on May 25th issued a notification to this effect.
The order shall be applicable on a range of paper products including handmade paper, newsprint, wallpaper base, tissue paper, coated paper, duplicating paper, uncoated paper, Litho and offset paper, carbon paper, parchment paper, wallpaper, toilet paper, envelops, cartons, account books, labels and bobbins.

The Indian men's hockey team defeated hosts Indonesia 16-0 in their final match of the Asia Cup 2022 Pool A at the GBK Sports Complex Hockey Stadium in Jakarta.
With the win, India surpassed record four-time champions Pakistan to enter the super 4s. Pakistan are now out of contention to qualify for the next year's world cup, which is scheduled to be held from January 13-29, 2023 in India.
India needed to win against Indonesia with a margin of 15 goals to surpass Pakistan and make it to the next stage of the continental tournament. This came after Pakistan suffered a narrow defeat of 2-3 against Asian Games champions Japan in their crucial pool A match.

A Supreme Court-appointed panel had recently recommended various guidelines for sex workers saying that voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful and whenever there is a raid on any brothel, the concerned sex workers should not be arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised.
However, the centre had raised reservations concerning the panel's recommendations, to which the top court responded by saying that every individual in this country has a right to a dignified life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The court observed that the basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, who, bearing the brunt of social stigma attached to their work, are removed to the fringes of the society and deprived of their right to live with dignity and opportunities to provide the same to their children.

The Ministry of Home Affairs ordered punishment transfer to the IAS Couple, Sanjeev Khirwar and Rinku Dugga, who stirred up controversy for walking their dog at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium after forcing athletes and coaches to finish practice earlier than usual.
While Sanjeev Khirwar has been transferred to Ladakh, his wife has been transferred to Arunachal Pradesh. Khirwar is a 1994-batch IAS officer who was posted in Delhi as the Principal Secretary (Revenue) and the Divisional Commissioner. He also held additional charge of the Environment Secretary in the Delhi government.
The controversy erupted after a news report stated that athletes and coaches training at Thyagraj Stadium in Delhi were asked to wrap up training earlier than usual as the IAS officer had to walk his dog there. The MHA took immediate action after Delhi Chief Secretary submitted a report to it in the evening on the factual position of the news report.