Gallantry Awards | Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) | Police Commemoration Day | Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025 | Iran Ratifies UN Convention Against Terror Financing

Gallantry Awards

Syllabus: GS3/Defence

Context

• President Droupadi Murmu approved 127 Gallantry awards and 40 Distinguished Service awards to the Armed Forces.

Gallantry Awards

• Honoured by – Government of India
• It is given to honour acts of bravery, sacrifice, and exceptional courage by members of the armed forces, paramilitary forces, and civilians.
• They are classified as wartime (gallantry in the face of enemy) and peacetime awards.
• Administered by: Ministry of Defence (for armed forces) and Ministry of Home Affairs (for police and civilians).
• Awarded by: President of India.
• These gallantry awards are announced twice in a year – first on the occasion of the Republic Day and then on the occasion of the Independence Day.
• Wartime Gallantry Awards: Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Mahavir Chakra (MVC) and Vir Chakra.
• Peacetime Gallantry Awards: Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra.

Gallantry Awards

• Order of Precedence: Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Ashoka Chakra (AC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), Kirti Chakra (KC), Vir Chakra (VrC), Shaurya Chakra (SC).
• All six awards can be conferred posthumously.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Syllabus: GS3/Security Forces

In News

• The Supreme Court transferred the investigation into the Karur stampede from the Tamil Nadu Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Central Bureau of Investigation

• Set up in – It was set up in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Established under – It comes under the administrative control of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• Recommended by – It was established on the recommendation of the Santhanam Committee.
• Legal status – The CBI is not a statutory body. It derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.

Functions 

1. The CBI is the main investigating agency of the Central Government.
2. It also provides assistance to the Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.
3. It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigations on behalf of Interpol Member countries.

Police Commemoration Day

Syllabus: GS3/Internal Security

Context

• Police Commemoration Day was observed on 21st October at the National Police Memorial to honour the valour and sacrifice of police personnel.

About

• On October 21, 1959, Indian policemen were martyred in an ambush by Chinese troops at Hot Springs, Ladakh.
• The day commemorates their supreme sacrifice and all police personnel who have laid down their lives in the line of duty.
• A memorial was erected at Hot Springs and members of Police Forces from different parts of the country trek to Hot Springs to pay homage to the martyrs.
• Since the year 2012, the Police Commemoration Day Parade has been held at the National level at the Police Memorial.

National Police Memorial (NPM)

• Dedicated by: Prime Minister on Police Commemoration Day, 2018.
• Location: Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
• The Memorial gives police Forces a sense of national identity, pride, unity of purpose, common history and destiny.
• It comprises a Central Sculpture, a Wall of Valour and a museum.
• The Wall of Valour: 30 feet tall granite sculpture stands at the police memorial with the names of over 35,000 martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

Additional Information

• ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India
• SMART Policing: The SMART Policing Initiative was introduced by the Prime Minister of India in 2014 to modernize and transform Indian policing.
• Assistance to State & UTs for Modernization of Police (ASUMP) Scheme – to strengthen police infrastructure with the latest technology, weaponry, communication equipment, etc
• ‘CyTrain’ portal: It is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, developed for capacity building of police officers/judicial officers. It provides online courses on critical aspects of cybercrime investigation, forensics, prosecution, etc.

Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025

Syllabus: GS3/ Environment

Context

• India has moved up to the 9th position in terms of total forest area globally, as per the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Bali.

Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025

• It is published once in 5 years
• Total Global forests cover – 4.14 billion hectares (32% of total land area).
• Countries with largest forest cover – Russia has the largest forest cover followed by Brazil, Canada, the USA, China, Congo, Australia, Indonesia, India and Peru.
• Note- the world continues to lose 10.9 million hectares of forest every year (2015–2025), a rate still considered alarmingly high.

India’s Forest Cover Status:

• India’s forest cover – 7 million hectares (2% of global forest area.
• India has maintained its third position worldwide after China and Russia In terms of annual forest gain.
• India Moves up to 9th Position Globally in Forest Area

Government Initiatives toward forest conservation

• ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign – It encourages citizens to plant trees and enhance environmental consciousness.
• National Mission for a Green India (GIM): A mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) that aims to increase forest cover and improve existing forest quality to combat climate change.
• Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (2016): An act that ensures funds for afforestation and related activities by requiring users of forest land for non-forest purposes to pay compensatory levies.
• Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs): Areas designated around Protected Areas (National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries) to act as a buffer and minimize the negative impact of certain human activities on fragile ecosystems.
• Joint Forest Management (JFM): A program that fosters partnerships between state forest departments and local communities to protect, and regenerate forest resources.

Iran Ratifies UN Convention Against Terror Financing

Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations, GS3/ Security

Context

• Iran has ratified a law to join the United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in a bid to align with global financial norms.
• FATF status: As of October 2025, Iran remains on the FATF blacklist for its failure to adopt sufficient anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) standards.
• The ratification is seen as a first step toward potential re-evaluation by the FATF.

Convention Against Terror Financing

• Adoption – It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1999 (Resolution 54/109).
• Objective: To criminalize the financing of terrorism and establish international cooperation mechanisms to prevent, investigate, and prosecute such offences.
• International Legal Framework: Complements other UN instruments such as the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).

India has ratified the CFT and has incorporated its provisions through:

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967
• Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Additional Information – Financial Action Task Force

• Established – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris.
• Objective – To set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• Secretariat – It is located at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris.
• Member Countries – 37 member countries where India is also a member.

FATF has two lists

• Grey List – Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
• Black List – Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities. The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.