Comprehensive Current affairs 29 August 2020

 Supreme Court says states can sub classify SC/ST’s for providing preferential treatment.

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest of the weak”.The Constitution Bench, led by Justice Arun Mishra, said reservation has created inequalities within the reserved castes itself.

➡With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case. The Chinnaiah judgment had held that allowing the States to unilaterally “make a class within a class of members of the Scheduled Castes” would amount to tinkering with the Presidential list.

➡Justice Mishra’s judgment is significant as it fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The judgment records that “once a

mortgage always a mortgage” cannot be pressed into service for submitting that once a backward class of citizens, always such a backward class.

➡“Citizens cannot be treated to be socially and educationally backward till perpetuity; those who have come up must be excluded like the creamy layer,” the judgment said.

➡The Central List of Scheduled Castes and Tribes is notified by the President under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution. The consent of the Parliament is required to exclude or include castes in the List. In short, States cannot unilaterally add or pull out castes from the List.

Mock session was organised in Rajya Sabha.

In preparation of an unprecedented monsoon session of Parliament where members of both Houses will be sitting in multiple locations to adhere to the physical distancing norms, RajyaSabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu held a 45-minute mock session on Thursday to check the facilities.

➡To comply with the physical distancing norms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, RajyaSabha members will be seated in the main hall and four galleries of the Upper House along with the LokSabha hall. This requires Mr. Naidu to keep an eye on six locations from where the members will be participating in the proceedings.

➡Officials of the RajyaSabha were made to sit in the chambers of both the Houses and the galleries for the mock proceedings.

ASEAN-India Business Council virtual meeting held.

Commerce and Industry Minister PiyushGoyal has said, Cooperation, Collaboration and Commitment, will guide the strategic partnership between India and ASEAN countries.

➡Addressing the ASEAN-India Business Council virtual meet yesterday, Mr Goyal said the COVID-19 pandemic period provided a unique opportunity to India to demonstrate itself as the trusted partner to the world, particularly in times of stress. The Minister also extended a hand of

friendship to the ASEAN region, which he described as deep and valuable partners and partners in the progress.

➡Mr Goyal said that Aatamnirbhar Bharat connotes a self-reliant country which is ready to engage with the world from the position of strength and confidence, and on equal and fair terms. He said India and ASEAN have not been able to harness the full trade potential, for various reasons, but now is the time to open matrix to expand trade, address concerns of all nations and businesses, and resolve the differences.

➡He extended India’s friendship and partnership to ASEAN through businesses, so that both the partners are able to succeed and achieve a target of 300 billion dollar trade.

NITI Aayog releases Export Preparedness Index.

NITI Aayog today released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020. EPI intends to identify challenges and opportunities; enhance the effectiveness of government policies and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework.

The structure of the EPI includes four pillars which are Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance.

It also includes 11 sub-pillars like Export Promotion Policy, Institutional Framework, Business Environment, Infrastructure and Transport Connectivity.

On the occasion, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar said that the Indian economy holds immense potential to become a strong exporter on the world stage.He said, to realize this vision, the Export Preparedness Index evaluates states’ potentials and capacities.

NITI Aayog, Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said that the Export Preparedness Index is a data-driven effort to identify the core areas which are crucial for export promotion at the sub-national level.

He said, all the states and Union Territories have been assessed on crucial parameters that are critical for any typical economic unit to achieve sustainable export growth.

This edition of EPI has shown that most Indian states performed well on average across the sub-pillars of Exports Diversification, Transport Connectivity and Infrastructure.

Government brings in speedier disposal of goods imported by PSU’s.

Government has announced a major initiative to allow the Public Sector Undertakings to first clear the goods imported by them through Customs and then pay Customs duty later, within 14 days.

In a statement, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, CBIC said, this measure is expected to result in speedier clearance of the goods imported by the PSUs.

It said, the scheme of deferred payment of Customs duties was first introduced in November, 2016 for importers recognized by the CBIC as Authorized Economic Operators.

GIS enabled land bank system launched.

Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry launched National GIS enabled Land Bank System.

➡The platform is to provide database of industrial clusters all over India. It will serve as one-stop solution to free and easy accessibility of industrial information. The platform is to be supported by National Centre of Geo-Informatics, Invest India, National E-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-Informatics.

➡This will help India in achieving its target of 5 trillion USD economy in five years. In order to achieve the target, the manufacturing sector has to play a major role as it has the potential to provide value addition and employment.

➡During the launch of the system, the states were called upon to adopt Public Procurement Policy. Also, the states were suggested to adopt local manufacturing to boost AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

➡The platform has mapped 3,300 industrial parks covering 4,75,000 hectares of land. It holds information related to forest, raw material heat maps, drainage and multiple layers of connectivity.

INS Viraat will be scrapped at a ship breaking yard at Alang Gujarat  

The decision to scrap INS Viraat was actually taken in 2019.

INS Viraat holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest serving warship of the world.

• A Centaur class aircraft carrier weighing 27,800 tonnes, served in the British Navy as HMS Hermes for 25 years from November 1959 to April 1984. It was commissioned into the Indian Navy in May 1987 after refurbishment.

• It was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II (1939-45).

• It played a major role in Operation Jupiter in 1989 during the Sri Lankan Peacekeeping operation. It also saw action during Op Parakram in 2001-2002, post the terrorist attack on Parliament.

• The indigenous Advance Light Helicopters ‘Dhruv’ and the Russian twin rotor Kamov-31have also operated from the ship.

• It was decommissioned in March 2017, and the Navy had been incurring expenditure since then on its upkeep, such as the provision of electricity and water, and repairs. It was also taking up space in the crowded Naval dockyard.

• There had been demands from various quarters to not let Viraat go the way of Vikrant,India’s first carrier that was eventually scrapped.

• It also played a role in the 1971 war with Pakistan was broken down in Mumbai.

• It could not be handed over to any state government because of lack of “self-sustaining financially complete” proposal to preserve it. The state governments of Maharashtra and

Andhra Pradesh had planned to preserve the aircraft carrier (in the form of a museum).

• India is currently doing with only the 44,500-tonne INS Vikramaditya, the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov inducted from Russia in November 2013.

• The trials of the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-I, to be named as INSVikrant) being built at the Cochin Shipyard have been derailed by the pandemic.

• The Government’s approvals for a third carrier, the65,000-tonneIAC-II (tentatively christened INS Vishal) has been pending since May 2015.

India needs aircraft carriers to secure the seas of the Indo-Pacific, to maintain peace, secure trade routes, and provide security to the region.

Natiional clean Air Programme

• Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to modify the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024.

NCAP:

• It was launched by the MoEFCC in 2019. It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.

• It seeks to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less, or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less, or PM2.5) by at least 20% in the next five years, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.

• It includes 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 states and Union territories, which were identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the basis of their ambient air quality data between 2011 and 2015.

• The Non-attainment cities are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for over five years.

Highlights:

• The enforcement of the ‘Sustainable Development’ principle and ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ require stern measures to be adopted to give effect to the mandate of international obligations related to environmental quality, for which the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 was enacted.

• The Public Trust Doctrine states that the sovereign, or state, holds the trust of people to manage the designated resources for the benefit of the people.

• The Right to Clean Air stood recognized as part of Right to Life and failure to address air pollution is a denial of Right to Life under Article 21.

• Source Apportionment is the practice of Deriving Information about Pollution Sources and the amount they contribute to ambient air Pollution Levels.

• The concept of “carrying capacity” addresses the question as to how many people can be permitted into any area without the risk of Degrading the Environment there.

Special focus on mains.

Govt.of TN Notified rules for Protected Agri Zones in the state.

The State government has notified the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone

Development Rules, 2020, which prescribed four new functions for the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Authority.

About the News:

• On February 21 2020, the State government enacted the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020, with objectives to use the available agricultural lands for sustainable

development of agriculture and ensure that the agricultural activities were not unduly constrained by non-agricultural use or other development and several

other objectives.

• The rules were recently notified that provided for constituting a seven- member technical committee that would assist the authority.

• The committee would be headed by the Agricultural Production Commissioner and the Secretary to the Government in the Agriculture Department, who would be the ex-officio chairperson.

What are the Functions of the Committee?

• The seven-member technical committee that would assist the authority to recommend to the government whether to omit or include industries under the Second Schedule provided in the Act within the zone.

• The other functions of the authority, headed by the Chief Minister, would be “to suggest measures to safeguard the natural surface, soil and water, suggest measures to safeguard the livelihood of farmers in the protected agricultural zone, and recommend the area for inclusion in the protected agricultural zone.”

• One of the newly-included functions of the Authority is to “suggest and recommend the agro-based and allied industries that may be established in the protected agricultural zone”

• The Director of Agriculture (Member Secretary), the Director of Horticulture and Plantation Crops, the Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the Director of Industries and Commerce, the Director of Animal Husbandry and the Director (Research) in the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University are the ex-officio members of the Technical Committee.

What is a Protected Agriculture Zone?

• Declaring as the Protected Special Agriculture Zone ensures that particular region will not be granted permission for any new projects like those related to hydrocarbons.

• Only Agro based Industries would be Given Permission to be Built.

About Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ):

• Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ) lies in the eastern part of Tamil Nadu. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Palk Strait on the south. In this zone, rice is the principal crop.

• The Cauvery delta region is the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu that comprises eight districts. This region produces 33 lakh tonnes of grains in 28 lakh acres.

• To guard the delta areas and end farmers’ ordeals, the special protection will be bestowed on Cauvery Delta districts such as Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattinam, Pudukottai, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Karur and Tiruchirappalli districts.

Why such Protection is Essential?

• The Cauvery Delta Region is an important agricultural region in Tamil Nadu and farmers continue to do agriculture, despite climate changes.

• It is just and reasonable that projects like hydrocarbon exploration have raised concerns among farmers and other agriculture-based labourers.

• Since the delta region is close to the sea, there is a need to Safeguard the region.

What would be the Benefits of this Declaration?

• The benefits that have accrued for farmers are manifold.

• Drilling for extraction of oil and gas in these regions that hampers agriculture and posing much environmental impact or health hazards will be stopped immediately.

• Whatever the project introduced by the centre, it cannot be implemented without the NOC from that state.

Significance of the Declaration:

• The delta districts contribute a substantial portion of Tamil Nadu’s food grain requirement and any threat to the cropping pattern would destabilize the food security.

• Legal obligation: The government has to maintain adequate reserves to provide five kilograms of wheat, rice or millet per month to nearly three-fourths of our population, a legal obligation under the National Food Security Act. In the coming years, food grains will not be easily available in the international market and price volatility will be high.

• Saving farmlands: In the interest of food security, there is a need to create SAZs where land will be only utilized for farming.

• Fighting climate change: A lot remains to be done to face the challenges arising from a sub-normal monsoon. One major drought can exhaust the food stocks.

SC hits out at Centre on Loan Moratorium Scheme

The Supreme Court criticised the Centre for “hiding behind the Reserve Bank of India” without making its stand clear on the loan moratorium scheme introduced during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

About :

The court wanted to know whether the deferment of loan interest to prop up borrowers through their financial crisis during the national lockdown would lead to accrual of further interest once the freeze was lifted on August 31.

• Noting that the issue had been pending indecisively for some months now, the court advised the government against adopting a blinkered vision, focussing only on matters of business of banks and not looking to the plight of people financially dented by the “problems created by lockdown”.

• The court said the government was empowered to take an independent stand under the Disaster Management Act.

What is Loan Moratorium?

It refers to a particular period of a loan tenure during which the borrower does not have to repay anything.

• It can be described as a waiting period before the borrower will have to start paying the equated monthly instalments (EMIs) for his or her loan.

• It doesn’t mean that the borrower is completely waived off his Loans.

What was the Court’s Concern?

• The court has been consistently questioning the RBI and the government whether the deferment of loan interest would lead to charging of interest on interest once the freeze was lifted after August 31.

• The court said its proceedings were focussed one question: whether the moratorium would eventually lead to payment of interest on interest deferred for six months. “Will the banks be able to bear the burden if there is no interest on interest charged”.

What was the Government’s Earlier Reply?

A complete waiver of deferred loan interests would have a “serious cascading effect” on the financial interests of the depositors.

• When no interest is charged during this [moratorium] period, it will hit the banks hard.

• Today, nobody can say when the banks will get their revenue back. Since, some companies are running on 70%, revenue for the hospitality sector is zero; the airline sector is zero there is no signs of revenue generation to take the absolute decision regarding this matter.

• So, we have to wait and check the situation persisting and according to the situations decisions will be made further.

Different Terminologies in Banking Sector:

• REPO rate (now 4%) denotes Re Purchase Option – the rate by which RBI gives loans to other banks. In other words, it is the rate at which banks buy back the securities they keep with the RBI at a later period.

• Bank gives loan to the public at a higher rate, often 1% higher than REPO rate, at a rate known as Bank Rate.

• RBI at times borrows from banks at a rate lower than REPO rate, and that rate is known as Reverse REPO rate (now 3.35%).

• CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio corresponds to the percentage of cash each bank have to keep as cash reserve with RBI (in their current accounts) corresponding to the deposits they have. For example, say if State Bank of India (SBI) got a total deposit of Rs. 1 crore with them, they need to keep 3 % of that as cash reserve with RBI (around 3 lakh rupees).

• The banks and other financial institutions in India have to keep a fraction of their total net time and demand liabilities in the form of liquid assets such as G-secs, precious metals, approved securities etc. The Ratio of these liquid assets to the total demand and time liabilities is called Statutory Liquidity Ratio (18%.

Q) Describe the major service sectors and their contribution in GDP growth during pandemic period. What are the roles of FDI in the Services Sector?

Context:

• The service sector has been a key driver of both the global and Indian economy over the last three decades.

• The economic reforms since the early Nineties unleashed the potential of the services sector by utilising available skilled manpower due to state-supported higher education.

• India is probably the only big economy that didn’t follow linear growth theories by jumping from a predominantly agricultural economy to a services-led growth economy without much improvement in manufacturing.

• The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP has remained stagnant around 16 per cent for nearly three decades and we are nowhere near the 2022 target of 25 per cent.

• As a result, India’s growth story has been driven by services, which has a 55 per cent share in the economy.

• Services exports have outperformed goods exports in the recent years.

• India’s share in the world’s commercial services exports has risen steadily over the past decade to reach 3.5 per cent in 2018— twice the sector’s share in the world’s merchandise exports,1.7 per cent.

Service provider:

• India is fast becoming a major quality service provider. Even before the COVID pandemic set in and just before the nationwide lockdown was announced at the end of March, the sector was booming.

• The widely-tracked Nikkei India PMI Index stood at 57.5 in February, up from 55.5 in January.

• However, IHS Markit India Services Index reports that the services sector has been contracting for five consecutive months since March, with an index of 34.2.

• In PMI jargon, the 50-mark level separates expansion from contraction.

• Given the uncertainty in the world market and the projected slowdown of developed economies by 8 per cent this year, India’s services-led growth has to depend mostly on the domestic economy.

• Have we done enough to revive the services sector?

• The Centre rolled out a whopping Rs 20.9 lakh crore stimulus package to pull the economy out from the ravages of the pandemic.

• The package had a strong focus on the MSME sector, employee provident fund, power distribution companies and taxation, among other affected areas.

• Most of the stimulus package is in the form of funding and loan opportunities and, injecting liquidity to the market.

Plight of service sector:

• While the package is a beam of hope for some, it has overlooked the plightof the services sector.

• The sector finds little mention or attention in the government’s Atmanirbhar Reform Package.

• The sector’s significance in the economy continues to grow with its share amounting to two-thirds of total FDI inflows into India and about 38 per cent of total exports.

• As the post-pandemic world is taking shape, the sector is struggling hard to keep its head above water.

• The tourism industry, which contributed nearly 10 per cent of GDP, is now witnessing a large-scale reduction in jobs and operating returns have plummeted to 10 per cent of previous revenues for most.

• If the CAPA Centre for Aviation is to be believed, the aviation sector is expected to have lost $3.6 billion in the three months leading up to June.

• The number of potential job losses in the sector gives an even harder jolt to an already dwindling economy.

• After holding rounds of meetings with industry representatives and making several references to its condition in speeches, the government is not aloof from the catastrophic consequences suffered by the sector. But its by-stander position would only worsen the situation.

Neglect of service sector:

• From tourism, aviation, shipping, space to call centres and delivery services, the standstill in activities is bound to have a knock-out effect on employment, production and the economy as a whole. 

• The big picture suggests that the current relief provisions for the primary and secondary sectors would also be nullified as a consequence of neglecting the tertiary sector.

• An immunity-building exercise through capital infusion and appropriate relaxation in relevant sectors will help the economy to survive the pandemic.

• Most of the services sectors are the worst affected and unfortunately, we don’t see any specific fiscal and monetary stimulus for them.

• In fact, some sectors would find it difficult to survive if the pandemic continues.

• In the short run, the government needs to make cuts in VAT, which ranges from 0-30 per cent on aviation fuel, make provisions for GST holidays, compensate for wages of workers under distress and draft flexible terms for working capital credit.

• Since no great incentives were given to this sector in the reform package, it contracted for the fifth successive month in July (34.2 PMI).

• The government is also in the process of scrapping or rationalising most of the export-incentive schemes affecting both goods and services exports — these including the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), schemes related to export-oriented units and the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme — due to certain issues raised by the department of revenue and also to make some of these schemes WTO-compliant.

• This is expected to further hurt exporters.

Conclusion:

• The government must focus on the sector in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) by announcing schemes-based export incentives and provides interim relief by continuing with the existing schemes in the short run, the sector will take a long time to revive.

 

Comprehensive Current affairs 28 August 2020

La Niña may develop between Sept and Nov; likely to hamper post-monsoon season in India.

➡There is a 60% chance of a weak La Niña event between September and November, according to the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) update, and could result in lesser rainfall in the post-monsoon season in India.

➡El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a periodic fluctuation in sea surface temperature and the air pressure of the overlying atmosphere across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

➡ENSO has a major influence on weather and climate patterns such as heavy rains, floods and drought. El Niño has a warming influence on global temperatures, while La Niña has the opposite impact. In India, for example, El Nino is associated with drought or weak monsoon. La Nina is associated with strong monsoon and above-average rains. Last year was a weak El Nino year and June had recorded extremely arid conditions in different parts of the country and the month ended with a 33% rain deficiency.

➡WMO said below-average sea surface temperatures forecasted in the eastern tropical Pacific are leading to La Niña conditions. Global models and expert opinion indicate a 60% chance of La

Niña development during September-November. The probability of ENSO-neutral conditions is 40% and El Niño near 0%.

➡The last La Niña event was in 2017-18. It was short-lived; a weak-to-moderate event that started developing in November 2017 and decayed in April 2018, according to WMO. Tropical Pacific has been in ENSO neutral condition since July and since May sea surface temperatures in the region have been slightly below average, it added.

➡But WMO underlined the warming influence of climate change will not be negated by La Nina. “Even if a La Niña event does develop, its cooling signal will not be enough to counterbalance the impact of human-induced climate change,” said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.

➡“2020 remains on track to be one of the warmest years on record, with much extreme weather ranging from scorching temperatures and wildfires to devastating floods and marine heatwaves which is largely the result of greenhouse gases rather than naturally occurring climate drivers,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

➡WMO’s Global Seasonal Climate Update indicates that sea surface temperatures for September to November overall are expected to be above average for much of the globe and this will also influence land surface temperatures.

DOPPW integrates e-pension payment order with digilocker

The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, DoPPW has decided to integrate the electronic Pension Payment Order, e-PPO generated through PFMS application of Controller General of Accounts, with Digi Locker, to enhance Ease of Living of Central Government Civil Pensioners.

•This system will enable any Pensioner to obtain an instant print-out of the latest copy of their PPO, from their Digi Locker account.

•This initiative will create a permanent record of their PPO in their Digi Locker and at the same time eliminate delays in reaching the PPO to new Pensioners, as well as the necessity of handing over a physical copy.

•This was a target set to be accomplished for Civil Ministries by 2021-22, which the Department completed ahead of time in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

•Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said, it has come to the notice of the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare that several Pensioners, over a period of time, misplace the original copies of their PPO which is a very important original document.

•In the absence of their PPO, these pensioners have to face innumerable hardship at various stages of their retired life.For newly retiring officials, in view of the widespread Covid-19 pandemic, it was a dilemma to physically receive hard copies of the PPO.

Directions to Include Disabled Persons Under NFSA 2013.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution under Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution has sent letters to States Governments/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013.

• Section 38 of the NFSA Act, 2013 mandates that the Central Government may from time to time give directions to the State Governments for effective implementation if the provisions of the Act.

• The Department advised all States/UTs to ensure that all disabled persons, who are eligible as per identification criteria of beneficiaries under NFSA, are covered under the National Food Security Act 2013.

National Food Security Act 2013:

• The National Food Security Act, 2013 aimed to provide for food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices.

• The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of food grains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/Coarse Grains.

Salient Features of NFSA:

1. Coverage and entitlement under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS):

✓ Up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population covered under TPDS, with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per month.

✓ The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of food grains per household per month.

2. State-wise coverage:

✓ State-wise coverage will be determined by the Central Government.

✓ Planning Commission has determined the State-wise coverage by using the NSS Household Consumption Survey data for 2011-12 and also provided the State-wise Inclusion Ratios.

3. Subsidised Prices under TPDS and their Revision:

✓ Food grains made available at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains for a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act

(2013).

✓ Thereafter prices will be suitably linked to Minimum Support Price (MSP).

✓ Existing prices for APL households i.e. Rs. 6.10 per kg for wheat and Rs 8.30 per kg for rice has been determined.

4. Identification of Households:

✓ For coverage under TPDS determined for each State, the work of identification of eligible households is to be done by States/UTs.

5. Nutritional Support to Women and Children:

✓ Pregnant women and lactating mothers and children in age group of 6 months to 14 years will be entitled to meals as per prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) schemes.

✓ Higher nutritional norms have been prescribed for malnourished children up to 6 years of Age.

6. Maternity Benefit:

✓ Pregnant women and lactating mothers will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.

7. Women Empowerment:

✓ The eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above to be the head of the Household for the Purpose of Issuing of ration cards.

8. Grievance Redressal Mechanism:

✓ Grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.

✓ States will have the flexibility to use the existing machinery or set up separate mechanism.

9. Cost of intra-State transportation & handling of food grains and FPS Dealers’ Margin:

✓ Central Govt will provide assistance to States in meeting the expenditure incurred by them on transportation of food grains within the State, its handling and FPS dealers’ margin as per norms to be devised for this purpose.

10. Transparency and Accountability:

✓ Provisions made for disclosure of records relating to PDS, social audits and setting up of Vigilance Committees to ensure Transparency and Accountability.

11. Food Security Allowance:

✓ Provision for food security allowance to entitled beneficiaries in case of non-supply of Entitled Food Grains or Meals.

12. Penalty:

✓ Provision for penalty on public servant or authority, to be imposed by the State Food Commission, in case of failure to comply with the relief recommended by the District Grievance Redressal Officer.

U.S blacklists Chinese firms related to construction in South China sea.

The United States on Wednesday blacklisted 24 Chinese companies and targeted a number of individuals it said were part of construction and military actions related to disputed islands in the South China Sea.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the two dozen companies played a “role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarise the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea.”

The United States accuses China of militarising the South China Sea and trying to intimidate Asian neighbours who might want to exploit its extensive oil and gas reserves.

The U.S. has conducted multiple freedom of navigation operations by sending its warships through the area to assert the freedom of access to international waterways.

SC seeks clarification from centre on interest waiver during moratorium

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took note of the Centre's alleged inaction and asked it to clarify its stand within a week on the waiver of interest on interest for deferred payments of instalments for loans during the moratorium period announced due to the coronavirus lockdown.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the Centre had not made its stand clear on the issue despite the fact that ample powers were available with it under the Disaster Management Act and was "hiding behind the RBI".

The top court had earlier said there was "no merit in charging interest on interest" for deferred loan payment installments during the moratorium period announced in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 4, the top court had sought the Finance Ministry's reply on the waiver of interest on loans during the moratorium period after the RBI said it would not be prudent to go for a forced waiver of interest risking financial viability of the banks.

The top court had said there were two aspects under consideration in this matter - no interest payment on loans during the moratorium period and no interest to be charged on interest.

RBI projects reduced growth rate for 2020-21.

The Reserve Bank has projected India's growth rate at (-) 4.5 percent for 2020-21. In its annual report released today, RBI projected global growth rate between (-) 6.0 per cent and (-) 7.6 per cent. The report says that expected headline inflation will remain elevated in the current quarter, but likely to ease in the second half of the fiscal.

Stating that it is difficult to accurately assess the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic as the dynamics are still evolving, RBI said it looks like the decline in economic activity reaches its trough in April-June quarter of 2020-21 and recovers thereafter, albeit at a gradual pace. It adds that the growth is likely to turn positive from January-March quarter 2020-21.

In its report, RBI has asked for wide-ranging reforms to regain losses due to COVID-19 crisis adding that it will take quite some time to mend and regain the pre-COVID-19 momentum. Noting that meeting the fiscal targets budgeted in 2020-21 has become even more challenging due to COVID-19, RBI has said that the government must have a clear exit strategy with credible consolidation milestones and timelines in reworking the path towards fiscal rectitude in the coming years.

The report also notes that government consumption spending has provided a measure of relief, with the central government's revenue expenditure, having risen by 33.7 per cent in the first quarter.

NBFC-MFIs

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has recently introduced Partial Credit Guarantee Programme for Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) - Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). It aims to ensure unhindered flow of credit in rural areas hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlights:

• NABARD will provide partial guarantee on pooled loans extended to small and mid-sized MFIs.

• It has come in the backdrop of most MFIs being excluded from the moratorium benefits from banks, creating a dip in collections, resulting in widening asset-liability mismatch, credit downgrades and spike in cost of fresh funding.

• It will facilitate Rs. 2,500 crore funding in the initial phase and will further increase the funding. It is expected to cover over 1 million households across 28 states and 650 districts.

• It has signed agreements with Vivriti Capital and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank to roll out the initiative. Vivriti Capital is a non-banking financial corporation.

• The partially guaranteed loan facility will catalyse much-needed financing to millions of households, agricultural and business markets to sustain in the post Covid-19 environment.

• MFIs operate in rural hinterlands and serve farmers, traders, rural businesses and households.

About Pooled Loan Issuance (PLI):

• Under a PLI structure, a bank or an NBFC (Principal Lender), provides loans to identified Microfinance Institutions/other NBFCs/corporates (Borrowers).

• Its structure provides the lending bank adequate comfort through the guarantor's partial credit protection, it also reduces cost of capital as the rating of the loans get increased and helps lenders meet priority sector goals.

• Each of these loans is made as per terms agreed upon between the Principal Lender and the Borrowers in keeping with the Principal Lenders underwriting and credit evaluation practices.

• The loans offered are pooled together and credit enhanced by way of a common partial guarantee offered by identified guarantors to the structure.

Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institution:

• It is a non-deposit taking financial company.

• The conditions to qualify as NBFC-MFI are

✓ Minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs. 5 crore.

✓ At least 85% of its Net Assets in the nature of Qualifying Assets.

• The Qualifying Assets are those assets which have a substantial period of time to be ready for its intended use or sale.

• The difference between an NBFC-MFI and other NBFC is that while other NBFCs can operate at a very high level but MFIs cater to only the smaller level of social strata, with need of smaller amounts as loans.

NASA confirms on dent in Earth’s magnetic field.

The NASA Scientists have discovered a small but an evolving dent in the earth’s magnetic field. The dent has been found over South America and South Atlantic Ocean. It is an unusually weak spot and is called South Atlantic Anomaly.

•The South Atlantic Anomaly allows the charged particles to dip closer to the earth’s surface than normal. This knocks out onboard computers and is capable of interfering with data collection from satellites. Thus, it is important to learn about the magnetic dent and find solutions.

•The South Atlantic Anomaly arises due to two features of the Earth’s core. They are tilt of magnetic axis and the flow of molten metals within the outer core.

•The Sun expels constant particles known as solar wind. When this solar material is streamed across space and strikes the Earth’s magnetosphere, the space occupied by the magnetic field of the earth can become trapped. This is held in two donut shaped belts around the planet called Van Allen Belts.

Special focus on mains.

Polity and Governance and Geography.

Rotation of Panchayat Seats Between Men and Women.

The Haryana government is planning to bring a Bill to provide 50:50 reservations in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for men and women candidates, and rotate the seats between male and Female Representatives after Each Term.

About:

• Men and women will be able to contest panchayat polls under the odd-even formula. This will be implemented for sarpanches and members of village wards, block samitis and zilla parishads.

• Benefit: This will ensure equal opportunities for men and women, and women from all constituencies will have fair share in terms of reservation.

• Limitations: Policy of reservation for only one term and rotation of reserved seats and posts of chairperson can hinder the consolidation of leadership qualities among women representatives as it takes time for them to learn the skills of handling and negotiating various conflicting interests within the panchayat.

• To deal with this issue, some states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka have made provisions for two term reservation of seats at PRIs.

• Haryana previously enacted Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 laying down eligibility criteria to be able to contest Panchayat elections in the state.

• It included disqualification in case of non-completion of minimum educational criteria (like class X pass for general category and Class 8th for SC), non -payment of arrears and debts to co-operative banks or electricity bills, and not having functional toilets at home.

• The Supreme Court upheld this decision arguing that prescription of an educational qualification is not irrelevant for better administration. Also, the criteria of insolvency and toilets will encourage good practices among legislators.

Constitutional Provisions for Women Representation in PRIs:

• The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 mandates 33.3% reservation for women in PRIs across the country.

• The 73rd Amendment envisages the Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayat Raj System to perform functions and powers entrusted to it by the State Legislatures.

• This has been increased to 50% reservation in several states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar etc.

• Out of the 30.41 lakh elected representatives of PRIs, 13.74 lakh (45.2%) are women.

• Article 15 (3) to the Constitution of India empowers the State to make special provisions for women.

• Article 243D provides that one-third of the total number of seats and offices of the Chairpersons in PRIs at each level shall be reserved for women to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.

• Such reservations of seats and offices of the chairpersons for women are also within the reservations for SCs and STs in all three tiers of PRIs.

• In order to bring about 50% reservation for women in Panchayats in all States, the 110th Constitution Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2009, but it was not passed despite being tabled several times.

What are the Challenges before Women in PRIs?

• Patriarchy: Many women are not allowed to contest elections and many continue to work as proxies for their male family members. Their male co-workers show insensitivity and may refuse to cooperate. Burden of household responsibilities, purdah (veil) system and domestic violence negatively affect their functioning.

• Inadequate Capacities: Majority of women representatives enter into public life for the first time and do not have enough knowledge and skills to handle affairs of panchayats.

Training programmes conducted by government training agencies are unable to cover all elected representatives in time.

• Violent Opposition: Women often face more resistance from the community if they want to take bold steps. They are also subjected to violence from powerful elements of the society.

• Two Child Norm: A few States like Odisha and Rajasthan have the two child norm for contesting panchayat elections. In rural areas women hardly have any say in the number of children in the family and such laws restrict their entry into panchayats.

• Caste System: Hierarchical caste system in rural India makes it difficult for women from SC and ST communities to work independently and effectively.

• Lack of Women at Other Levels: Lack of women co-workers and at higher administrative level also hinders the free functioning of women representatives.

• Efforts by Government to Promote Women in PRIs: The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has been making continuous efforts by launching and implementing various schemes for capacity building of women representatives in PRIs, like

✓ Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA):

1. RGSA was launched in 2018 for developing and strengthening the capacities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for rural local governance to become more responsive towards local development needs, preparing the participatory plans that leverage technology, efficient and optimum utilization of available resources for realizing sustainable solutions to local problems linked to Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs).

2. It included rewards for ensuring women participation in PRIs

✓ Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP):

1. Some of the key aspects of GPDP guidelines that are relevant to Women Empowerment include proactive participation of women in budgeting, planning, implementation and monitoring of GPDP and convening Mahila Sabhas prior to the general Gram Sabhas and their inclusion in Gram Sabhas and GPDP.

✓ Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shakti Abhiyan (PMEYSA):

1. It was implemented from the year 2007-08 till 2012-13 with the broad objective of empowerment of Elected Women & Youth Representatives of Panchayats.

✓ Recently, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has directed all the States and Union Territories to organise Special Gram Sabhas and Mahila Sabhas (Women’s Assemblies) in all Gram Panchayats.

Way Forward:

• The current proposal is a welcome step. However, the government must bear in mind that equality in representation is not enough to ensure socio-political equity among genders, as the relatively Disadvantaged position of women must be taken into Account.

• Increasing women in PRIs will increase the probability of their better representation in parliament, which as of now is only 14%. To further promote women participation in PRIs, emphasis must be made for gender sensitization of male elected representatives and functionaries of PRIs.

• In capacity building of women representatives, governments must also invite and involve civil society organizations, women’s groups,academic institutions, corporate social responsibility foundations and also international organizations like UNWomen. A multi-stakeholder, collaborative, multi-pronged, systematic effort to enhance the capacities of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) is required.

Q. Why Kerala is prone to floods? What mitigation strategies Kerala need to be opted and know about various reports on the Kerala’s ecosystem conservation like Gadgil report?

Context:

Natural disasters have by now come to be accepted as a feature of the annual monsoon season in Kerala.

In the past two years there has been flooding on an unprecedentedscale along with landslides.

Last year, 59 people lost their lives in a landslide at Kavalappara in Malappuram district.

This year we have seen one at Pettimudi in Idukki district where a hill collapsed, submerging the houses of estate workers while they slept.

The estimated death toll had reached 65 some days ago, with persons still missing.

On top of the landslides, we have had to bear witness to a spectacular plane crash at Kozhikode airport, again accompanied with a loss of lives.

The crash serves as a reminder that further hardship awaits us if we do not jettison development model that has come to characterise the State.

It’s plunder everywhere:

The fact that Kerala has received wide acclaim for having achieved social indicators associated with high human development has meant that a crucial underlying dynamic has been ignored.

 

This dynamic is one of an unrelentingattack on the foundation of human survival, natural capital.

Everywhere in Kerala the earthhas been violated.

The rivers are polluted when they are not dry, the valleys are filled with garbage and the hills gougedout to accommodate residences and religious houses when they have not been dynamited for quarrying.

It is quite extraordinary that this has all taken place in a State that has been hailed by a section of the intelligentsia as representing the gold standard of development.

For anyone willing to read the signs, such a decimationof natural capital, with its attendant consequences of flooding and landslides, bodes ill for the future of a whole people.

The natural disasters recurring year after year and the recent plane crash both represent the outcome of the hubristhat we can consume as if the earth does not matter.

As natural capital, such as year-round water availability and the nutrient content of the soil, has diminished.

It has impacted sectors of the economy such as agriculture. We have also now seen that the way we treat the earth matters also for our very security.

At the core is politics:

Kerala’s future is inextricably linked to how it conserves its natural capital.

With consumption defined broadly to include land use, it is apparent that the conservation of the State’s natural resources is crucially dependent upon a restrainton consumption.

Politics is central to this issue, not in the sense of what political parties do in the normal course but whether citizens decide to alterthe course of development by their action.

This response cannot end with minimising one’s own consumption but must extend to calling out instances of the depletion of natural capital by vested interests.

Kerala’s vested interests are not only economic, which are visible, but also cultural, which are less so.

It is difficult to imagine that politics as usual, as defined by the two political fronts that have ruled Kerala for decades by now, will lead the State to a place where conservation of nature will guide our actions.

Actually, the state of natural capital in the State reflects an absence of governance.

Political parties everywhere are reluctant to dampenthe aspiration for greater consumption for fear that it affects their electoral prospects.

Though the plane crash at Kozhikode cannot so easily be construed as resulting in the destruction of natural capital, it can be seen as trying to extend the limits it imposes, with consequences for our security.

While tabletop runways are by no means peculiar to Kerala, airports on India’s southwest coast have to face the challenge of the monsoon which produces hazardous conditions for landing.

Also, Kozhikode sees much greater traffic than say Kathmandu or Shimla, thus increasing the possibility of a mishap.

Ever since the crash of a flight in Mangaluru, an airport with similar characteristics, in 2010, it has been apparent that flights to Kozhikode are vulnerable.

The answer would not have been to end flights but to avoid the height of the monsoon and to take wide-bodied aircraft off the menu.

Experts on air safety have spoken publicly of how they had raised concerns about Kozhikode soon after Mangaluru.

While this appears to have been over-ruled by a political process, we the people are no less culpable by nurturing consumption aspirations unmindful of the contours of the earth.

Past and Present:

It is useful to recall the belief that Kerala was named for its geography. For centuries, its people demonstrated a genius for conserving natural resources by restraining their consumption.

This was soon lost as its economy globalised and domestic consumption came to be fuelled by wealth generated offshore.

Building local infrastructure to support this consumption has become a threat to life.

Conclusion:

For the State to have a future, consumption has to be limited so that the State’s natural capital is not irretrievablylost.

In the 1990s, as mobile telephony was spreading, someone had triumphantly coined the slogan “Geography is history”.

We now see that at least some of our history will be shaped by geography.