• India on March 4  abstained in a vote in the UN Human Rights Council that has decided to urgently establish an independent international commission of inquiry as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

• The 47-member Council voted on a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. The resolution was adopted with 32 votes in favour, two against (Russia and Eritrea) and 13 abstentions, including India, China, Pakistan, Sudan and Venezuela.

• The countries voting in favour included France, Germany, Japan, Nepal, UAE, UK and the US.

• India has abstained on two resolutions on Ukraine in the 15-nation Security Council and one in the 193-member General Assembly in the last one week.

• The UN General Assembly this week overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanded that Moscow "completely and unconditionally" withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine.

• India abstained on the resolution, which received 141 votes in favour, five against and a total of 35 abstentions.

• Cambodia's foreign minister later this month will make his first trip to Myanmar in his capacity as the special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

• The regional grouping, usually referred to as ASEAN, is seeking to contribute to the peacemaking process in Myanmar, which has been wracked by violent unrest since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year.

• Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn's visit is scheduled for March 20-23 but details of the meetings have yet to be finalised. ASEAN is seeking to implement a five-point consensus on Myanmar it reached last year stressing dialogue, humanitarian assistance and an end to violence.

• But the ruling military council of Myanmar, which is also a member of ASEAN, has delayed implementation of the plan, even as the country has slipped into a situation that some UN experts have described as civil war.

• A particular sticking point has been the military's refusal to allow an ASEAN envoy to meet with Suu Kyi, who has been detained since last year's takeover. Myanmar's lack of cooperation led ASEAN last year to bar its leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, from attending its annual summit meeting, an unprecedented step for the body.

• According to Cambodian officials, Myanmar's military has recently given permission for ASEAN's envoy to meet with other members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. However, virtually all its major leaders are jailed, like Suu Kyi, or in hiding to escape arrest.

• Prak Sokhonn became the ASEAN special envoy after Cambodia assumed this year's chair for the regional grouping.

• Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has expressed interest in engaging more closely with Myanmar's generals and in January he became the first head of government to pay an official visit to Myanmar since the army seized power.

• In recent weeks, he has voiced pessimism that the crisis there can be resolved anytime soon.

• A high court  in Islamabad on march 3 has  asked India to appoint a lawyer for death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13 to argue his case for a review of his conviction and sentencing by a Pakistani military court.

• Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.

• After hearing both sides, the Hague-based ICJ issued a verdict in July, 2019, asking Pakistan to give India consular access to Jadhav and also ensure review of his conviction.

• The Islamabad High Court formed a three-member larger bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb in August 2020 which has repeatedly asked India to nominate a lawyer from Pakistan for Jadhav but New Delhi so far refused by insisting that it should be given a chance to appoint an Indian lawyer.

• After hearing arguments by Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan, the court on march 3 asked India to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav by April 13.

• Khan told the court that India was consciously delaying the case so that it could get a chance to knock at the doors of the ICJ with the complaint that Pakistan was in violation of its judgement to provide an opportunity of review to Jadhav.

• In November 2021, Pakistan's Parliament enacted a law to give Jadhav the right to file a review appeal against his conviction by the military court.

• The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Act of 2021 of Pakistan allowed Jadhav to challenge his conviction in the high court through a review process which was a requirement of the ICJ verdict.

• India has said the the law "simply codifies" the "shortcomings" of a previous ordinance and that Islamabad has "failed" to create an atmosphere to ensure a fair trial in the case. When the Pakistan government promulgated the ordinance to let Jadhav file a review, he refused.

• Later, the Pakistan government through its defence secretary filed a case in the IHC in 2020 to appoint a defence counsel for Jadhav. Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi in November said that Pakistan continues to deny unimpeded and unhindered consular access to Jadhav as mandated by the ICJ.

• India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to abide by the letter and spirit of the ICJ judgement.

• US President Joe Biden will decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India, one of America's key partners, under the CAATSA law for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.

• The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to impose sanctions on any country that has significant transactions with Iran, North Korea or Russia.

• CAATSA is a tough US law which authorises the administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

• Responding to a question on possible CAATSA sanctions on India, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism that it was for the President Biden to decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India.

Lu said that the Biden administration is yet to decide on applying sanctions on India under CAATSA.

• Lu's remarks came as India faced flak from US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats for choosing to abstain from a UN vote to rebuke Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• A total of 141 nations voted in favour of the move condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and five nations were against it, with 35 countries, including India, abstaining.

• The UNGA resolution was similar to the one circulated in the 15-nation Security Council, feb 25 on which also India had abstained.

• The UNSC resolution, which received 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, was blocked after permanent member Russia exercised its veto.

• In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the then Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

• The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.

• Following the US sanctions on Turkey over the procurement of S-400 missile systems, there were apprehensions that Washington may impose similar punitive measures on India.

• Russia has been one of India's key major suppliers of arms and ammunition.

• After being at the helm of India’s largest battery and flashlight company for over two decades, the Khaitans are exiting Eveready to make room for the Burmans of FMCG giant Dabur India. 

• Just two days after the Burmans came up with an open offer for acquiring an additional 26% stake in Eveready Industries for Rs 605 crore, the chairman and managing director of the company tendered their resignations from the board.

• Aditya Khaitan and Amritanshu Khaitan have tendered their resignations as Non- Executive Director and Chairman and as Managing Director of the Company, respectively, with effect from March 3, 2022. 

• Eveready had been under the control of the Khaitan group for decades after it acquired Union Carbide India (renamed Eveready Industries India) in 1993. However, in recent years, the Kolkata based Group faced multiple headwinds. Its shareholding plunged to just 4.8% from 44.1% over the past two years as the promoter group defaulted on repayments and lenders sold shares of Eveready pledged with them against borrowings.

• German luxury carmaker BMW has  said its Chennai-based manufacturing plant has crossed one lakh cumulative production milestone.

• The company's Chennai plant has rolled out the 1,00,000th locally produced unit in the country. A BMW Individual 740Li M Sport Edition has received this special badge.

• BMW Group Plant Chennai started operations on March 29, 2007 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The company has continuously increased the number of its locally produced car models.

• Jalan Kalrock Consortium, promoters of Jet Airways, have appointed the president of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, Sanjiv Kapoor as their Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

• A Wharton MBA, he will join the group exactly a month from now. His experience in the aviation and hospitality sector is expected to give a boost to Jet Airways, which is launching sometime this year.

• Sanjiv has worked with Vistara Airlines (2016-19) and during his tenure, the airline grew from having 9 aircraft and 40 flights a day to 38 aircraft and over 200 flights. He is credited with upping their services and converting it into a credible brand.

• He has also worked with Spicejet. He began his career with Northwest Airlines (now merged with Delta) in the US in 1997 and has also worked in Temasek Holdings.

• Jet Airways, from being one of the most successful private airlines in India, underwent the corporate insolvency resolution process under the Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code from 20 June 2019 until 22 June 2021 and as per orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench.

• The resolution plan for Jet Airways submitted by the Jalan Kalrock Consortium was approved and they are the new promoters of Jet Airways.

• Keen to keep government deficit within stated targets, the finance ministry will from March 15 start daily monitoring of the revenue receipts, including tax collections, as well as expenditure.

• The move comes against the backdrop of a possible deferment of the initial public offering (IPO) of LIC, which was expected to fetch over Rs 60,000 crore, to the next financial year in view of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its implication on Indian markets.

• On the other hand, the government's decision to bring back thousands of Indian students stranded in Ukraine will impose an additional burden on the exchequer.

• The daily monitoring of tax and non-tax revenue collections will help the government in taking timely corrective actions, wherever needed.

• The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) has been asked to provide daily revenue collection and expenditure figures of various ministries between March 15 and March 31 to the expenditure secretary.

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) are the apex bodies responsible for collecting direct and indirect taxes, respectively.

• Likely deferment of LIC IPO along with additional burden on bringing back Indians stranded in Ukraine will put pressure on the fiscal deficit, which has already been raised in the Revised Estimates (RE) to 6.9 per cent of GDP, from 6.8 per cent estimated earlier.

• The government has collected Rs 15.47 lakh crore in net tax revenue, which is 87.7 per cent of the full-fiscal target of Rs 17.65 lakh crore.

• Similarly, non-tax revenue collections stood at Rs 2.91 lakh crore till January, or 92.9 per cent of the RE target of Rs 3.13 lakh crore.However, the government has raised only Rs 12,423 crore from disinvestments sofar this fiscal, against the revised target of Rs 78,000 crore.

• It has been banking on LIC IPO to meet the target. The government's total expenditure till January-end worked out to be Rs 28.09 lakh crore, as against the RE of Rs 37.70 lakh crore for the entire fiscal.