Comprehensive Current affairs 3 October 2020

 Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission for scheduled castesSocial Justice and Empowerment.

Minister ThaawarchandGehlot today launched the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission under Venture Capital Fund for SCs, with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions.

Addressing the occasion, Mr Gehlot said that the Ministry had launched the Venture Capital Fund for SCs in 2014-15 with a view to developing entrepreneurship amongst the SC and Divyang youth and to enable them to become job-givers.

The objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the entities of the SC entrepreneurs. Under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures.

 The Minister said, under Ambedkar Social Innovation Incubation Mission initiative, one thousand SC youth will be identified in the next four years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators in various higher educational institutions.

They will be funded 30 lakh rupees in three years as equity funding to translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures. Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to five Crore rupees from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.

NSO report finds Indians spending half a day on self-care and maintenance.

The average Indian spends half their day on self-care and maintenance, and around 11% of the time daily in employment and related activities. These are the findings of the Time Use Survey that was conducted in the country from January-December 2019 to measure the participation rate and time spent on paid activities, care activities and unpaid activities.

As per survey findings released Tuesday, Indians spent 50.4% or 726 minutes of their time daily on self-care and maintenance. Rural males spent an average 51.2% of their total time on these activities.
Both rural and urban males spent around 7% of their time on learning that includes self-study for distance education course work (video, audio, online) while rural females allocated 5.7% and urban females spent 6.1% of their average daily time on learning.

India-China agree on five point agreement for disengagement at LAC

India and China have agreed to sincerely implement the agreement between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries in order to ensure disengagement at all the friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The 19th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) which was held today in virtual mode and was attended by delegation from both the sides reviewed the current situation along the LAC in the India-China border areas.

During the meeting both India and China positively evaluated the outcome of the 6th Senior Commanders meeting held on 21st of this month and emphasized the need to implement the steps outlined so as to avoid misunderstandings and to maintain stability on the ground.

In the same context, the need to strengthen communication, especially between the ground commanders, was also emphasized by both sides.

Both the sides agreed to continue to maintain close consultations at the diplomatic and military level. It was also agreed that the next round of the meeting of Senior Commanders will be held at an early date so that both sides can work towards early and complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC in accordance with the existing bilateral agreement and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquility.

Japanese defence ministry seeks record budget for 2021

Japan's Defence Ministry is seeking a record-high budget of nearly 5.5 trillion yen ($55 billion) for fiscal 2021. The move is to fund more purchases of costly American stealth fighters and expand its capability to counter possible threats in both cyber and outer space.

The budget request made public today is the first under new Prime Minister YoshihideSuga. It would be an eight per cent increase from the current year, signalling a continuation of his predecessor Shinzo Abe's security policy. Japan's defence spending has risen for eight consecutive years since 2013, a year after Mr Abe took office.

The rise in spending came as Mr Abe pushed for Japan's Self-Defence Force to expand its international role and capability amid threats from North Korea and China.

Japan also faced demands from US President Donald Trump that US allies increase defense spending, which Japan did in part with costly American weapons purchases that also bolster weapons compatibility with American forces.

Japanese defence ministry seeks record budget for 2021

Japan's Defence Ministry is seeking a record-high budget of nearly 5.5 trillion yen ($55 billion) for fiscal 2021. The move is to fund more purchases of costly American stealth fighters and expand its capability to counter possible threats in both cyber and outer space.

The budget request made public today is the first under new Prime Minister YoshihideSuga. It would be an eight per cent increase from the current year, signalling a continuation of his predecessor Shinzo Abe's security policy. Japan's defence spending has risen for eight consecutive years since 2013, a year after Mr Abe took office.

The rise in spending came as Mr Abe pushed for Japan's Self-Defence Force to expand its international role and capability amid threats from North Korea and China.

Japan also faced demands from US President Donald Trump that US allies increase defense spending, which Japan did in part with costly American weapons purchases that also bolster weapons compatibility with American forces.

Fiscal deficit soars to 109% of budget target

India’s fiscal deficit soared to 109% of the Budget target in just the first five months of the year, with revenues remaining muted. However, the Centre stuck to its ₹12 lakh crore borrowing plan for the year with the Finance Ministry exuding confidence that it would manage to meet its expenditure commitments within this plan.

The Centre had already enhanced its borrowing target for the year by ₹4.2 lakh crore to ₹12 lakh crore in May this year as the initial adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown became apparent

Revenue collections were largely to blame for the fiscal deficit hitting ₹8.70 lakh crore compared to the target of ₹7.96 lakh crore, as tax revenue declined across the board. Rating agencies expect the fiscal deficit slippage to be much higher by the end of the year.

 AditiNayar, principal economist at ICRA, reckoned that the deficit will rise to ₹14 lakh crore and the Centre would have to scale up its borrowings by at least ₹1.1 lakh crore, even if no further fiscal support measures were announced.

Care Ratings chief economist MadanSabnavis agreed that fiscal slippage would be quite wide. “We expect central government deficit to be in the region of 9% this year. This is notwithstanding the fact that there may be no new stimulus involving additional expenditure,” he said.

Core sectors shrink for sixth consecutive month

India’s eight core industrial sectors contracted by 8.5% in August compared to August 2019, marking the sixth month in a row of shrinking output.

The decline in August was sharper than the 8% decline in July as per revised data released by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, with coal and fertilizers being the only two sectors registering growth of 3.6% and 7.3% year-on-year, respectively.

The sharpest decline on a year-on-year basis in August was registered in refinery products (19.1%), followed by cement (14.6%) and natural gas (9.5%). For the five months from April to August, the core sectors, which account for a little over 40% of the Index of Industrial Production, shrank 17.8%.
Earlier, the sectors’ July output was estimated to have shrunk 9.6%. The government has also revised the numbers for core sector performance in May, stating that output shrank 21.4% that month instead of the 23.4% reported earlier.

DRDO test fires Brahmos supersonic missile.

India today successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with several indigenous features. The test firing of the missile was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO from Balasore in Odisha.

BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile features indigenous Booster and Airframe Section along with many other ‘Made in India’ sub-systems. 

Defence Ministry said, the BrahMos Land-Attack Cruise Missile was cruising at a top speed of Mach 2.8. It is one more major step in enhancing the indigenous content.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated all the personnel of DRDO and team BrahMos for the spectacular mission.

Mr Singh said, today’s successful launch has paved the way for the serial production of the indigenous booster and other indigenous components of the powerful BrahMos Weapon System realizing Atmanirbhar Bharat pledge.

AFI releases revised calendar.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has scheduled the first-ever National Open Throws Championships on October 26 and 27 at Patiala, marking the resumption of its calendar for 2020.
The revised calendar includes the zonal junior National championships and the junior National at Ranchi. The first major competition as part of the Olympic qualification process will be the Indian GP at Thiruvananthapuram on Feb. 12, followed by two more the same month. The Federation Cup will be held from March 10 to 14.

Comprehensive Current affairs 2 October 2020

Centre to hold talks with states in order to curb pollution as winter approaches

With winter approaching and concerns over an imminent rise in pollution across Delhi and other cities in the Gangetic plain, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that he will be convening a “virtual conference” of Environment Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and officials in the State departments as well as from city corporations.

“We had asked States to prepare short, medium and long-term plans for curbing pollution in 2016 and this meeting will be a review. It will be a free discussion,” he said at a conference on Tuesday.

So far, the Minister said, there have been several meetings this year already with the States as well one that included the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss issues around curbing pollution.

From October, teams of officials from the Central Pollution Control Board will be conducting spot checks in the Delhi -National Capital Region to catch and fine offenders who may be burning plastic waste, littering or be constructing structures without adhering to protocol.

 On Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister wrote to Mr.Javadekar, saying that alternative technologies ought to be tried to disincentivise stubble burning.

Defence ministry launches startup challenge -4.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4) during the iDEX event, featuring the initiatives aimed at expanding the horizons of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) ecosystem in New Delhi today. Mr Singh also launched the iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines during the event.

iDEX4Fauji is a first of its kind initiative, launched to support innovations identified by members of the Indian Armed Forces and will bolster frugal innovation ideas from soldiers and field formations.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh said, the iDEX initiative stands out as one of the most effective and well-executed defence Startupecosystem created in the country. He said, it would be a decisive step towards achieving self-reliance in the spirit of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat campaign.

Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and NITI Aayog will organize a Mega Virtual Summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI), RAISE 2020-‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’.

It is a first of its kind, global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India's vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI.

• It includes using AI in areas like Health, Agriculture, Education, Skilling, Mobility,

Fintech, Research, Inclusive AI, Future of Work, among others.

• The event will witness participation from global industry leaders, key opinion makers, Government representatives and academia.

• It will also feature some startups working in AI-related fields.

 • Industry analysts predict that AI could add up to 957 billion USD to India’s economy by 2035.

• India can leverage AI for inclusive development, representing the country's 'AI for All' strategy.

• India has launched National AI Strategy and National AI Portal and has also started leveraging AI across various sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc.

• Recently, India joined the 'Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)' as a founding member to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of

Artificial Intelligence (AI).

About Artificial Intelligence:

• It describes the action of machines accomplishing tasks that have historically required human intelligence.

• It includes technologies like machine learning, pattern recognition, big data, neural networks, self-algorithms etc. Example: Facebook’s list of suggested friends for its users, self-driving cars, etc.

• It Automates Processes and reduces human error but the principal limitation of AI is that it learns from the data. This means any inaccuracies in the data will be reflected in the results.

• It is important to make AI responsible as it can be misused for various purposes like Deep Fakes, Cybercrimes, Social Manipulation etc.

EU raises concern over exit of amnesty international from India.

Expressing “concerns” about the government’s investigation into Amnesty International (AI), the European Union said it hopes the global human rights agency can continue its work in India.

▶However, the government defended its actions, and said AI is in “clear contravention” of Indian law.

▶The action against AI including freezing their funds, followed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry, and is part of the government’s scrutiny of more than 20 international NGOs including Greenpeace, Compassion International, and Ford Foundation, over the past few years.

▶However, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a broad defence of actions by various agencies against AI for the past decade, calling it a “bipartisan and purely legal approach towards Amnesty”, which has now suspended its India operations, claiming a “witch-hunt” by the government.

▶“India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations,” the MHA added, in a reference to AI’s reports on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, and its reference to Delhi Police investigations into the February riots where 53 people were killed.

Afghan negotiator team suggest increased cooperation with Pakistan.

The chief of Afghanistan’s peace negotiating team said Tuesday on a visit to Pakistan that the time has come for the two neighbouring countries to shun the suspicion, “stale rhetoric” and tired conspiracy theories that have dogged past relations.

Abdullah Abdullah is in Pakistan on a bridge-building mission meant to mend deep-rooted mistrust between the two countries. It was his first visit in 12 years.

Mr. Abdullah told the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad that the two neighbours are on the threshold of a new relationship characterised by “mutual respect, sincere cooperation and shared prosperity”

Demand for credit from priority segments drop.

Despite efforts by the government to boost credit supply by offering many a scheme to MSMEs and other priority sectors, the same has plunged to a low 1.9% in the June quarter from 10.2% a year ago, according to a report.

 To help small business tide over the impact of the pandemic, the government has offered credit-driven boost to the economy.

Citing the Reserve Bank’s quarterly statistics on deposits and credit for the June quarter, Care Ratings on Tuesday said in absolute terms, overall bank deposits stood at ₹141.3 lakh crore in June 2020, up 11.5% from ₹126.7 lakh crore in June 2019.

Outstanding credit stood at ₹103.3 lakh crore, up 6.4% but lower than 11.7% in the same period in June 2019. But on a sequential basis, credit growth has seen a negative 1.1% during the reporting period, which was also a negative 1% in the March 2020 quarter.

Though overall contraction in credit demand has continued in the June quarter at minus 1.1% from minus 1% in June 2019, in absolute terms, incremental credit declined by a higher ₹1.2 lakh crore in June 2020 from ₹1 lakh crore in June 2019.

This is owing to decline in overall sectoral growth — agriculture and allied credit declined by 0.4% incrementally, industrial credit by 1%, services sector declined by 2.6% and personal loan segment declined by 2.5% growth, the report said.

 NTPC invites bid for procurement of biomass pellets.

India's largest power producer, NTPC Limited has invited bids for procurement of biomass pellets for its various thermal plants as part of its endeavour to reduce burning of crop residue on farmlands that cause air pollution.

The power producer has envisaged consumption of five million tonnes of pellets in the current year at its 17 power plants including NTPC Korba, (Chhattisgarh), NTPC Farakka, (West Bengal), NTPC Dadri (Uttar Pradesh), NTPC Kudgi (Karnataka) and NTPC Rihand (Uttar Pradesh).

In a statement, NTPC Limited said, it had first undertaken this unique initiative on pilot basis in 2017 for biomass co-firing by replacing some of the coal with pellet based fuel at NTPC Dadri, Uttar Pradesh.

Post successful implementation, NTPC now plans to replicate the model in 17 of its state of the art plants.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation releases “Health in India” report.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the “Health in India” report. The main objective of the report was to gather quantitative data on India’s health sector. The report have highlighted on the health of religious communities across country.

▶The report has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the NSS Schedule 25.0 (Household Consumption: Health). The data was collected through a sample survey of around 1.13 households that include 5.55 lakh people.

▶Report states that, women were more susceptible to suffering than men. Around 6.1% of males were suffering from ailments in rural area while percentage of women in rural area was 7.6%. On the other hand,In urban areas, 8.2% of males and 10% of females were sick of ailments.

▶The relation between health and religion is highly important in the manner that many religious practices helps to reduce the impacts of some of the diseases. The religious practices works as a guard against blood pressure. These practices also helps to strengthen the immune system.

How Remunerative is Farming in India.

The government’s push to reform India’s agriculture sector has divided opinions and Triggered a debate about the state of Indian Agriculture.In the context of this debate, two long-standing characteristics of Indian agriculture are Noteworthy:

Indian Agriculture is Highly Unremunerative:

• It has been heavily Regulated by the Government and Protected from the free play of Market Forces

 Why are the New Legislation Introduced?

• According to the government, the new Bills passed by Parliament attempt to make it easier for farmers to sell to and produce for the private sector.

• The hope is that liberalizing the sector and allowing greater play for market forces will make Indian agriculture more efficient and more remunerative for the farmers.

• In this context, it is important to understand some of the basics of Indian agriculture.

Basics of Indian Agriculture:

1. Workforce Engaged:

✓ At the time of Independence, about 70% of India’s workforce (a little less than 100 million) was employed in the agriculture sector.

✓ Even at that time, agriculture and allied activities accounted for around 54% of India’s national income.

✓ Over the years, agriculture’s contribution to national output declined sharply. As of 2019-20, it was less than 17% (in gross value added terms).

✓ And yet, the proportion of Indians engaged in agriculture has fallen from 70% to just 55% (Chart1).

✓ As the Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (2017) observes, “the dependence of the rural workforce on agriculture for employment has not declined in proportion to the falling contribution of agriculture to GDP”.

2. Land Holdings:

✓ While the number of people dependent on agriculture has been burgeoning over the years, the average size of landholdings has become reduced sharply — even to the extent of being unviable for efficient production.

 ✓ Data shows that 86% of all landholdings in India are small (between 1 and 2 hectares) and marginal (less than 1 hectare — roughly half a football field).

✓ The average size among marginal holdings is just 0.37 ha which hardly provides Enough Income to stay above the Poverty line.

3. Debts:

✓ The combined result of several such inefficiencies is that most Indian farmers are Heavily Indebted (Chart 2).

✓ The data shows that 40% of the 24 lakh households that operate on landholdings smaller than 0.01 ha are indebted. The average amount is Rs 31,000.

✓ A good reason why such a high proportion of farmers is so indebted is that Indian agriculture — for the most part — is unremunerative.

✓ Chart 3 provides the monthly income estimates for an agriculture household in four very different states as well as the all-India number.

✓ Some of the most populous states like Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have very low levels of income and Very high Proportions of Indebtedness.

4. Buying & selling:

✓ Another way of understanding the plight of the farmers relative to the rest of the economy is to look at the Terms of Trade between farmers and non-farmers.

✓ Terms of Trade is the ratio between the prices paid by the farmers for their inputs and the prices received by the farmers for their output.

✓ As such, 100 is the benchmark. If the ToT is less than 100, it means farmers are worse off. As Chart 4 shows, ToT rapidly improved between 2004-05 and 2010-11 to breach the 100-mark but since then it has worsened for Farmers.

5. MSP:

✓ A key variable in the debate is the role of minimum support prices. Many protesters fear governments will roll back the system of MSPs.

✓ MSPs provide “guaranteed prices” and an “assured market” to farmers, and save them from price fluctuations. This is crucial because most farmers are not adequately informed.

✓ But although MSPs are announced for around 23 crops, actual procurement happens for very few crops such as wheat and rice.

✓ Moreover, the percentage of procurement varies sharply across states (Chart 5). As a result, actual Market prices — what the farmers get — are often Below MSPs.

Comprehensive Current affairs 1 October 2020

India paid tribute to Bhagat singh on his birth anniversary.

India paid homage to the revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his 113th birth anniversary .

It was on this day in 1907, Bhagat Singh was born in Banga village of Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab province.He fought against British rule for the country's independence and was hanged in Lahore jail at the age of 23, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev.

PM of India Modi paid tribute to Bhagat Singh and highlighted his contributions to India's freedom Modi described him the great freedom fighter as symbol of bravery and courage.

Modi said another beautiful aspect of Shaheed Bhagat Singh's life was that he very well understood the importance of teamwork, be it dedication towards Lala Lajpat Rai, or his attachment with Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev and Rajguru and other freedom fighters.

Modi paid tributes to Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary. In a tweet,he said, his saga of valor will continue to inspire the countrymen for ages.

 Indian Home Minister also paid tributes to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary. In a tweet, he also expressed his gratitude to Bhagat Singh who gave new direction to freedom struggle through his revolutionary ideas and supreme sacrifice and awakened resolve of independence among youth of the country.

Around 20000 manual scavengers missing government aid.

In India Out of 63,246 persons identified as manual scavengers between 2013 to March 31 this year, one time cash payment of Rs 40,000, as a rehabilitation measure stipulated under law, could be paid to only 43,407 as in case of the rest details like bank accounts and addresses provided by the states have been found to be incomplete.

▶These facts find space in the response of the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment (MSJE) in the report of the parliamentary standing committee which was tabled in Parliament in the recently concluded monsoon session.

▶Based on the information shared on other rehabilitation measures the committee also notes that a “small fraction” of just 9,563 manual scavengers or their dependents have so far opted for skill development training. The MSJE has said it plans to provide training to 15,000 beneficiaries during 2020-21.

Association of World Election Bodies:

ECI to host an international webinar on ‘Issues, Challenges and Protocols for Conducting Elections during COVID-19: Sharing Country Experiences’.

▶The webinar is on the occasion of the Election Commission completing one year of chairmanship of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).

▶Over 120 delegates from 45 countries across the world will participate in the Webinar.

Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB):

▶It is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) Worldwide.

 ▶At present A-WEB has 115 EMBs as Members & 16 Regional Associations/Organisations as Associate Members.

▶ ECI is closely associated with A-WEB. The name A-WEB was suggested by the ECI of India.

▶The organisation provides training programmes to election officials of member countries upon request and also offers support during the election cycle to boost election management capacity.

▶ The India A-WEB Centre is located in New Delhi.

▶ A-WEB was established in South Korea in 2013.

▶ The current chairman of the organisation is India’s Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora.

Dumping of pharma materials from China.

Indian Govt. has initiated a probe into alleged dumping of a pharma raw material, Ceftriaxone Sodium Sterile, from China. Nectar Life Sciences and Sterile India have filed an application before the Commerce Ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) .

The domestic manufacturers sought a probe into matter. The applicants have contended that material injury is being caused to the domestic industry due to dumped imports from China. They requested imposition of anti-dumping duty on the import.

AIR correspondent reports, the directorate will determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping in respect of the product from China. If DGTR finds that there is dumping of the product which is impacting domestic manufacturers, it will recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty.

While DGTR recommends the duty, the Finance Ministry imposes it. In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Agreement to extend strategic cooperation.

Indian PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart SUGA Yoshihide have expressed mutual intention to further strengthen the Indo-Japan relationship based on principles of trust and shared values.

▶Both the leaders agreed that the bilateral Special Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries have made great advances over the last few years. Interacting over a phone call Modi congratulated Mr.Yoshihide on his appointment as the Prime Minister of Japan and wished him success in achieving his goals.

▶The two leaders concurred that the partnership between the two countries is even more relevant in today’s times given the global challenges, including that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

▶They emphasized that the economic architecture of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region must be premised on resilient supply chains, and in this context, welcomed cooperation between India, Japan and other like-minded countries.

▶Appreciating the progress made in the economic partnership between the two countries, the two leaders welcomed the finalization of the text of the agreement pertaining to specialized skilled workers.

Modi extended an invitation to Prime Minister Suga to visit India for the Annual Bilateral Summit, after improvement of the situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

 RBI decides to extend borrowing facility to banks till March 2021.

Amid the ongoing economic woes created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank has decided to extend by six months the enhanced borrowing facility provided to banks to meet the shortage of liquidity till March 31, 2021.

▶As a temporary measure, the RBI had increased the borrowing limit for scheduled banks under the marginal standing facility (MSF) scheme from 2% to 3% of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with effect from March 27, 2020.

 ▶The facility, which was initially available up to June 30, 2020 was later extended up to September 30, 2020 in view of the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

▶With a view to providing comfort to banks on their liquidity requirements as also to enable to continue to meet LCR requirements, RBI decided to continue with the MSF relaxation for a further period of six months, i.e., up to March 31, 2021.

▶This dispensation, it added, provides increased access to funds to the extent of ₹1.49 lakh crore, and also qualifies as high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) for the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR).

▶Under the MSF, banks can borrow overnight at their discretion by dipping into the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR).

Prescription of time frame for liquidation of defaulter-members’ assets.

Markets regulator SEBI directed the exchanges and clearing corporations to initiate measures for liquidating assets of defaulter members within six months of declaring the entities concerned as defaulters.

The watchdog directed that required measures be taken before the appropriate court of law to liquidate moveable and immoveable assets not in possession of stock exchanges and clearing corporations.

The recovery of assets would help in meeting the obligations of clients, stock exchanges and clearing corporations, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in a circular.

A recognised stock exchange acts as a first-level regulator in the securities market, insofar as trading on its platform by its members is concerned.

World Bank Loan to India.

The World Bank has recently clarified that the USD 1 billion loan that it has provided to India in May 2020 to deal with Covid-19 comes with a condition of Universal Eligibility in Procurements.

 ▶The World Bank would have the right to review the procurement documents, inspect all accounts, records and other files relating to the project. Compliance to these conditions has been made mandatory for the funding.

▶ The Indian Government has also asked all its production units and other major establishments to remove preferential references in tenders and ensure that contractors explicitly agreed to comply with the relevant provisions of the World Bank’s Guidelines.

▶This would mean that all Preferential Market access policies shall not be applicable on purchases made while implementing the national project.

▶The preferential market access policies include Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Policy, and certain benefits to start-ups. It will be a setback to the Make in India and Atmanirbhar initiative.

The Loan will be Funded and Operated in Two Phases:

▶The First Phase is an immediate allocation of USD 750 million for fiscal year 2020. It will be implemented countrywide through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY)

to benefit vulnerable groups, particularly migrants and informal workers.

▶The Second phase is a USD 250 million second tranche that will be made available for fiscal year 2021. It would deepen the social protection package, whereby additional cash and in-kind benefits based on local needs will be extended through state governments and portable social protection delivery systems.

About World Bank Group

▶There are 189 member countries; the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership which consists of five development institutions.

▶They are International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), The International Finance Corporation (IFC), The Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

▶ India is not a member of ICSID.

Scientists find evidence on virus feeding microorganisms.

Scientists have found the first compelling evidence that two groups of ecologically important marine microorganisms could be eating viruses -- catching their "prey" and engulfing them, an advance that may lead to a better understanding of the flow of organic matter in the oceans.

▶The scientists explained that the predominant model of the role of viruses in the marine ecosystem is that of the "viral shunt," where microbes infected with viruses lose a substantial fraction of their chemicals back to the pool of dissolved organic matter.

▶However, the current study noted that the viral shunt could be complemented by a link in the marine microbial food web which may constitute a "sink of viral particles in the ocean."

▶The tiny single-celled organisms were first discovered twenty years ago, and until now, their food sources were a puzzle, as their feeding apparatus is too small for bacteria, but ample for viruses, the researchers said.

▶In the current research, they found that every single one of the choanozoan and picozoan genomes were associated with viral sequences from bacteria-eating viruses called phages, but mostly without any bacterial DNA.

▶"Future research might consider whether protists that consume viruses accumulate DNA sequences from their viral prey within their own genomes, or consider how they might protect themselves from infection," Dr.Brown said.

 SAI approves support to Mirabhai Chanu.

Sports Authority of India’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on Monday sanctioned ₹40 lakh for weightlifter MirabaiChanu’s two-month training in Kansas, USA.

▶The decision was taken during MOC’s virtual meeting, held to discuss financial proposals of over ₹1.5 crore in six sports — shooting, badminton, boxing, para sports, weightlifting and hockey which are part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

▶The committee also approved the proposal of shooters to procure ammunition so that they can train at their home ranges. Anjum Moudgil and Mairaj Ahmad Khan’s proposals for equipment and training were also cleared.

Focus on upsc mains:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Over 2100 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) were recently filed by banks with the United

States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

▶It identify at least USD 2 trillion in transactions between 1999 and 2017 flagged as possible evidence of money laundering or other criminal activity by compliance officers of banks and financial institutions.

About FinCEN:

▶It was set up in 1990.

▶ It serves as the leading global regulator in the battle against money laundering.

▶ It collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other Financial crimes.

About Suspicious Activity Report (SAR):

▶It is a document filed by banks and financial institutions to report suspicious activity to the USA FinCEN.

▶ These are meant to red flag, within 30 days of the transaction’s occurrence: criminal funds or any form of dirty money; insider trading; potential money laundering; terror financing; any transaction that raises suspicion.

▶These are used to detect crime but cannot be used as direct evidence to prove legal cases.

▶There are details of banking transactions that give a clear indication of round-tripping, money laundering or dealings with shell-like entities.

▶It shares SARs with law-enforcement authorities including FBI, US Immigration and Customs.

Advantages:

▶ The FinCEN Files highlight the dangers correspondent banking pose.

▶ The term correspondent bank refers to a financial institution that provides services to another one—usually in another country.

▶It acts as an intermediary or agent, facilitating wire transfers, conducting business transactions, accepting deposits, and gathering documents on behalf of another bank.

▶ Individuals and companies being probed by Indian agencies in different cases are part of the SAR flagged to FinCEN.

▶ Like, transactions of Indian entities named in scams such as the 2G scam, the Agusta Westland scandal, and etc. cases have all been listed with the FinCEN.

About Indian Scenario:

▶ The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) performs the same functions as FinCEN in the USA.

▶ Under the Finance Ministry, this was set up in 2004 as the nodal agency for receiving,analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions.

▶ The agency is authorized to obtain are Cash transaction reports (CTRs), Suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and Cross border wire transfer reports

▶ These reports are obtained from private and public sector banks every month.

▶This happens under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

▶ It is mandatory for banks in India to furnish a monthly CTR to the FIU on:

▶ All transactions over Rs. 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency or a series of integrally connected transactions that add up to more than Rs. 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency.

▶The STRs and CTRs are analysed by FIU. Suspicious or doubtful transactions are shared with agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Tax Authority for the purpose of launching probes to check possible instances of money laundering, tax evasion and terror financing.

▶FIU’s 2017-2018 annual report reveals that it had received a record number of 14 lakh STRs following demonetization which was three times the number of STRs filed in the Previous Year.

Way Ahead:

▶The clear Message for Agencies in India is that their cases of financial fraud and corruption are being flagged by the FinCEN.

▶There is a need to have Regular Information exchange between financial regulators to track and nullify the efforts for money Laundering.

▶It has in many cases of Indian Entities and Individuals Mentioned their Financial History of alleged Irregularities.