UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 02-01-2021

IFSCA

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has become an associate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
The IOSCO membership will provide the IFSCA a platform to exchange information at the global level on areas of common interests.
IOSCO platform will enable the IFSCA to learn from the experiences and best practices of the regulators of other well established financial centres.
The first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India has been set up at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).
To regulate such institutions, the government established IFSCA with its head office in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

IOSCO

It is the international body established in 1983 that brings together the world's securities regulators.
It develops, implements and promotes adherence to internationally recognized standards for securities regulation.
It works intensively with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on the global regulatory reform agenda.
It works closely with the G20 nations and the FSB, in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets.
The IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation have been endorsed by FSB as one of the key standards for sound financial systems.

Report on Lightning Strikes

Lightning strikes have caused 1,771 deaths between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020, according to a report on lightning incidents in India.
This report has been prepared by Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC).
[CROPC is a non-profit organisation that works to disseminate early lightning forecasts.]
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand together accounted for more than 60% of the deaths.
A large number of deaths occur as not much awareness has been undertaken.
As per the report, the Government of India and most states have not notified lightning as a disaster.

Lightning

Lightning is the process of occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud.
This would be accompanied by a bright flash and sound, and sometimes thunderstorms.
Inter cloud or intra cloud (IC) lightning are visible and harmless.
Cloud to ground (CG) lightning is harmful as the ‘high electric voltage and electric current’ leads to electrocution.

Source: AIR, The Indian Express, Business Standard