The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against ABG Shipyard Limited in its biggest ever bank fraud case.

CBI has also registered a case against its then Chairman and Managing Director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal among others.

He has been booked for defrauding a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India to the tune of over Rs 22,842 crore.

He has been charged with the alleged offenses of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and abuse of official position and cheating under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

SBI complaint

SBI had first filed the complaint on November 8, 2019. On this, the CBI had sought some clarification on March 12, 2020. The bank had filed a fresh complaint in August 2020 after scrutinizing for nearly one and a half years. The CBI acted on the complaint which registered the FIR on February 7, 2022.

What is the matter?

Loan facility was sanctioned to ABG Shipyard Limited from 28 banks and financial institutions. SBI had an exposure of Rs 2468.51 crore in this. According to the forensic audit, between 2012-17, the accused colluded together and committed illegal activities such as misappropriation, diversion of funds and criminal breach of trust. These funds were used for other purposes. This is the biggest bank fraud case registered by the CBI.

ABG Shipyard Limited

ABG is a Mumbai based shipbuilding company. This company was established in 1985, headquartered in Mumbai. Its shipbuilding work is done in Dahej and Surat in Gujarat. After the acquisition of Western India Shipyard Limited in October 2010, it has been operating a ship repair unit in Goa. ABG is one of the largest private shipbuilding companies with a capacity to build ships weighing up to 20 tonnes.

On February 13, 2022, a special parliamentary assembly re-elected German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a second term of five years.

Steinmeier's run for the presidency was supported by most mainstream political parties, prior to the elections.

He was elected by a large majority of members of the lower house of parliament and a special assembly of representatives from the 16 states of Germany.

He became president in 2017. Prior to this, he had served two terms as Foreign Minister to Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chief of Staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

president of germany

The President of Germany has little executive power. However, it is considered an important moral right. He is the head of the country. The President has formal obligations, but also has the authority and duty to act politically. They can provide direction to general social and political debate. The President also has the privilege of granting pardons on behalf of the federation.

German Presidents' Term

The German President can be elected for two consecutive five-year terms.

parliamentary system in germany

According to the 1949 Constitution (Basic Law), Germany has a parliamentary system of government, where the Chancellor is the head of government.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), holding a doctorate in law. He was earlier a civil servant. He has been criticized for his liberal policies towards Russia and China and for prioritizing German business interests over human rights.

The Economic Intelligence Unit recently released the Democracy Index Report, 2021 (Democracy Index Report, 2021). This report describes the state of democracy in 165 countries.

This report was prepared on the basis of five parameters. They were the functioning of government, the electoral process and pluralism, political participation, civil liberties and political culture.

Norway tops this index. Norway has secured a score of 9.75. New Zealand is in second place after Norway. Finland, Sweden and Iceland finished third, fourth and fifth respectively. Afghanistan scored the lowest with 0.32. Before this, North Korea was at the bottom.

countries that showed improvement

Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Guyana, Montenegro, Republic of the Congo, India, Moldova, Qatar, Indonesia, Zambia.

report on democracy

One third of the world's population is living under authoritarian rule. 6.4% have full democracy. The current global democracy score is 5.28 out of 10.

report about india

India ranks 46th in this index. India's overall score was 6.91. India scores are as follows:

• Political Culture: 5

• Electoral Process and Pluralism: 8.67

• Civil liberties: 6.18

• Political participation: 7.22

• Functioning of Government: 7.5

India's Neighboring Countries Ranking

China is ranked 148. Myanmar: 166, Nepal: 1010, Pakistan: 104, Bhutan: 81, Bangladesh: 75, Sri Lanka: 67

Region Wise Ranking

North America ranks first. North America was followed by Western Europe and Latin America in second and third place respectively. Asia was ranked fourth.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its first mission of 2022 on February 14, 2022. Significantly, this mission was launched on February 14 at 5:59 am.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) was launched on February 14 from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

It carried an Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04).

PSLV-C52

PSLV-C52 weighs 1710 kg. It will orbit around EOS-04 in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 km. This mission will carry two small satellites as co-passengers, namely,

Student Satellite (INSPIREsat-1) – This satellite is developed by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in collaboration with the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Technology Demonstrator Satellite (INS-2TD) – This satellite has been developed by ISRO. It is the precursor to the India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B).

operation time

This satellite will be in operation for only six months.

How will the satellite assess?

This satellite includes a thermal imaging camera. This camera will help in estimating surface temperature of water, land, thermal inertia and delimitation of vegetation.

mission objective

The purpose of this satellite is to improve the understanding of ionosphere dynamics as well as the coronal heating process of the Sun. Its operational life has been fixed for one year.

What is EOS-04?

EOS-04 is a Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), designed to provide high quality images in all weather. It will provide images for applications such as forestry and plantation, agriculture, flood mapping and soil moisture and hydrology. It will collect observational data in the C-band complementing the observations made by CARTOSAT, RESOURCESAT and RISAT-2B series.