Comprehensive Current affairs 14 November 2020

 Health certificate be mandatory for milk and milk product exports.

Ministry of Commerce and industry notified Export of Milk and Milk Products (Quality Control, Inspectionand Monitoring) Rules, 2020.

The order takes place of the Export of Milk Products (Quality Control, Inspection and Monitoring) Rules, 2000.

According to new rules, the exporters of milk and milk products would have to obtain a certificate of export worthiness from agovernment agency for the shipments.

Milk and milk products shall be subjected to quality control or inspection or both prior to export.

Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa

Bahrain’s Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world’s longest-serving Prime Minister who had held the post since Independence in 1971, died on Wednesday at the age of 84.

 • Prince Khalifa was a controversial figure during his five decades in office — and deeply unpopular with the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s Shia population.

• When Shia-led protesters occupied Manama’s Pearl Square for a month in 2011, before being driven out by Saudi-backed security forces, their main demand was for the prince to step down.

• Bahrain Island also known as al-Awal Island and formerly as Bahrein, is the largest island within the archipelago of Bahrain, and forms the bulk of the country's land mass while hosting the majority of its population.

IFSC Authority approves the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Banking) Regulations, 2020

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) approved draft banking regulations for banking operations at IFSCs.

Salient features:

• Laying down the requirements for setting up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs)

• Permitting persons resident outside India (having net worth not less than USD 1 Million) to open foreign currency accounts in any freely convertible currency at IFSC Banking Units (IBUs)

• Permitting persons resident in India (having net worth not less than USD 1 Million) to open foreign currency accounts in any freely convertible currency at IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) to undertake any permissible current account or capital account transaction or any combination thereof under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank of India.

• Laying down the permissible activities of IBUs including credit enhancement, credit insurance, and sale, purchase of portfolios, engage in factoring and forfaiting of export receivables and undertake equipment leasing, including aircraft leasing.  Permitting the Authority to determine business that a Banking Unit may be permitted to conduct in INR with persons resident in India and persons resident outside India, subject to settlement of the financial transaction in relation to such business in freely convertible foreign currency

 Viability gap funding scheme

The government approved the revamped viability gap funding (VGF) scheme.

• It envisaging a total outlay of ₹8,100 crore for encouraging investment in social as well as economic infrastructure projects.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved continuation and revamping of the scheme for financial support to public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure VGF scheme till 2024-25.

• The revamped scheme will provide financial support to PPP projects in the infrastructure sector spread over a period of five years ending 2024-25.

• Of the total amount of ₹8,100 crore, ₹6,000 crore has been earmarked for PPP projects in the economic infrastructure segment and remaining ₹2,100 crore for social infrastructure projects.

• The earlier VGF scheme was limited to projects concerning economic infrastructure.

• The revamped VGF scheme will attract more PPP projects and facilitate private investment in the social sectors (health, education, waste water, solid waste management and water supply, among others).

• Creation of new hospitals and schools will create many opportunities to boost employment generation.

• The new scheme will have two components.

Sub-scheme-1:

• The sub-scheme-1 would cater to social sectors such as waste water treatment, water supply, solid waste management, health and education sectors, which often face bankability issues on account of poor revenue streams.

• The projects eligible under the sub-scheme-1 should have at least 100 per cent operational cost recovery.

 • The central government will provide a maximum of 30% of the total project cost (TPC) of the project as VGF. State government, sponsoring central ministry or statutory entity may provide an additional support up to 30% of TPC.

Sub scheme-2:

• The sub scheme-2 will support demonstration or pilot social sectors projects. The projects may be from health and education sectors where there is at least 50% operational cost recovery.

• In such projects, central and state governments together will provide up to 80 per cent of capital expenditure and up to 50 per cent of operation and maintenance (O&M) costs for the first five years.

• The Centre will provide a maximum of 40% of the TPC of the project.

Tata Medical launches Feluda covid-19 test

• It is a low-cost, paper-based test strip for detecting COVID-19.

• It is developed byCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and Tata Group.

• It is world’s first viral diagnostic kit based on FELUDA CRISPR Cas-9 platform.

• Feluda test uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

• CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is used in correcting genetic defects and treating and preventing the spread of diseases.

Amendment Related to Land in Jammu and Kashmir

• Recently, the Centre notified ‘Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020', which states that any Indian citizen can now buy land in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) without being a domicile.

 About the News:

• The introduction of the UT of J&K Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020 has resulted in the repeal of at least 11 land laws in J&K, including the J&K

Big Landed Estates Abolition Act that had resulted in famous ‘Land to tiller’ rights.Features of Latest Order:

• No domicile or permanent resident certificate is required to purchase non-agricultural land in the territory.

✓ People as well as investors outside J&K can now purchase land in the UT, ending the exclusive rights of locals over the land granted under Article 370 (now abrogated).

✓ The Centre has been arguing that Article 370 hampered development in the U.T. as investors were unable to purchase land prior to 5th August 2019.

• Amended the Jammu & Kashmir Land Revenue Act, 1996, under which only agriculturists of J&K can purchase agricultural land.

✓ However, it doesn’t bar the agricultural land to be used for non-agricultural purposes.

A District Collector can allow the agricultural land to be used for non-agricultural Purposes.

• The Centre also notified the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which Paves the way for the acquisition of land in J&K by all Indian citizens.

✓ Previously, Article 35-A of J&K Constitution placed prohibitions on the sale of land to Those who were not state subjects.

• Abolished the Big Land Estate Abolition Act, 1950 – this provided for redistribution of Land which paved the way for rural prosperity and ended landlordism in J&K.

• Empowers the Centre to declare any area in J&K as ‘strategic’ and intended for the direct Operational and training requirement of the Armed Forces.

 ✓ However, this can be only done by an army officer of or above the rank of a corps Commander.

• Spouses of a J&K domicile shall also be deemed as a domicile.

✓ Earlier, spouses of domiciles were not considered domiciles.

✓ Children of central government officials posted for over ten years in J&K will also Continue to be considered domiciles.

Issues Involved:

• For more than two years now, J&K has been without an elected government. All the Changes being introduced in the UT have been steamrolled by the Centre rather than being legislated by elected representatives of the people.

• This has created suspicions in the J&K that the Centre is gradually disempowering the Local population and consolidating control through Executive Power.

Land Reforms in Kashmir:

• The Kashmir Valley had a History of Cruel exploitation of tillers through the periods of Afghan, Sikh and Dogra rule.

• The Sheikh Abdullah’s government brought the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, in 1950, through a slogan land to the tiller.

• The Act placed a ceiling on land ownership at 186 kanals (about 22 acres).

• The rest of the land of a landlord was redistributed among share-croppers and landless Labourers, without any compensation to the landlord.

• This led to most radical land reform anywhere in the world outside the Communist bloc. It brought a social transformation that has few parallels. It ended landlordism in J&K and paved the way for rural prosperity. This land reform was so popular in Kashmir that it continued to be pushed for the next quarter-century. The ceiling was gradually decreased until the last of the reform Acts in 1975.

Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

Recently, the data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has the total number of transactions conducted on the Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI), known more simply as the UPI, crossed the 2 billion transactions count in a month in October 2020.

Highlights:

• UPI is currently the biggest among the NPCI operated systems including National Automated Clearing House (NACH), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS), Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), RuPay etc.

• The Digital transactions were already on the rise but the lockdown imposed during the pandemic provided a thrust and the value of UPI transactions crossed the 200 crore-mark.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised to resort to digital payment due to the threat of coronavirus spreading through physical exchange of currency. This resulted in businesses accepting mostly prepaid orders and in turn rise in digital transactions.

• After being able to conveniently pay utility bills and even receive cashback at times, people might now be preferring to transact digitally. So, their habit may have played an important role in this thrust.

• India’s digital payments industry is likely to grow from Rs. 2,153 trillion at 27% Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) to Rs. 7,092 trillion by 2025.

• The growth is likely to come on the back of strong use cases of merchant payments, government policies including Jan Dhan Yojana, personal data protection bill along with the growth of MSMEs, growth of millennials and high smartphone penetration.

 Challenges in UPI:

• The threat of cybercrime on the global banking and financial services industry has increased amid the coronavirus pandemic. For example Malicious Software Cerberus.

• The Fraudulent claims, chargebacks, fake buyer accounts, promotion/coupon abuse, account takeover, identity theft, card detail theft and triangulation frauds are emerging as challenges.

About National Payments Corporation of India:

• It is an an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

• It is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

• It is a “Not for Profit” Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013).

• It is to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.

• Other Various NPCI Operated Systems are Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI), Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS), National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC), National Automated Clearing House (NACH), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), RuPay

• About Bharat Interface for Money- Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI):

• It is an initiative to enable fast, secure, reliable cashless payments through the mobile phone. BHIM is based on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to facilitate e-payments directly through banks. It is an app.

• It is an advanced version of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) - round–the-clock funds transfer service to make cashless payments faster, easier and smoother.

 • It is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.

• It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.

About Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS):

• It allows people to carry out financial transactions on a Micro-ATM by furnishing just their Aadhaar number and verifying it with the help of their fingerprint/iris scan.

• It adds another layer of security to financial transactions as bank details would no longer be required to be furnished while carrying out these Transactions.

About National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC):

• It helps in electronic toll collection at toll plazas using FASTag. FASTag is a device that employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion.

• FASTag (RFID Tag) is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables a customer to make the toll payments directly from the account which is linked to FASTag.

• RFID tagging is a system that uses small radio frequency detection devices for identification and tracking purposes.

About National Automated Clearing House (NACH):

• It is a service offered by NPCI to banks which aims at facilitating interbank high volume, low value debit/credit transactions, which are repetitive and electronic in nature.

About Immediate Payment Service (IMPS):

• It offers an instant 24X7 interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones.

 • It is an emphatic tool to transfer money instantly within banks across India through mobile, internet and ATM.

About Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS):

• It is a tiered structure for operating a unified bill payment system.

• NPCI functions as the authorised Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU), which is responsible for setting business standards, rules and procedures for technical and business requirements for all the participants.

• The Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) function as entities facilitating collection of repetitive payments for everyday utility services, such as, electricity, water, gas, telephone and Direct-to-Home (DTH).

About RuPay:

• It is the first-of-its-kind domestic card payment network of India, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites across India. It is a highly secure network that protects against anti-phishing.

• The name, derived from the words ‘Rupee and ‘Payment’, emphasizes that it is India’s very own initiative for Card payments.

Way Ahead:

• There is a need for the convergence of anti-money laundering, fraud and cybersecurity processes in Financial Institutions (FIs).

• It includes more information sharing, tightening due diligence requirements and investing in maintaining systems to strengthen their defences.

• To further penetrate digital transactions, the government's constant push to digitisation through necessary education, digital rewards and incentives along with intelligent innovations in financial transactions focussed on improving customer experience is Necessary.