Current Affairs Question - 24 October 2019

Explanation :

• The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers.
• The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
• The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms.
• This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.
• It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong (‘sea cow’) and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction.
• It was included in the World Heritage Site in 1981.

Explanation :

• Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2014 enables any person (i.e. a whistleblower) to report an act of corruption, willful misuse of power or discretion, or criminal offence by a public servant.
• This includes all public servants, including Ministers, Members of Parliament, the lower judiciary, regulatory authorities, central and state government employees,
• Such disclosures are made to a specified Competent Authority who must conduct a discreet inquiry and conceal the identity of the complainant and public servant.
• The maximum time period for making a complaint is seven years.
• The act is not applicable to the Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel and officers, constituted under the Special Protection Group Act, 1988.
• The Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in LokSabha on May 11, 2015 and passed in that House on May 13, 2015. Bill amends the Act to prohibit the disclosure of 10 categories of information to a Competent Authority.