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Time: 45 min Date: 10-09-2021

Polity and Governance

Swachh Survekshan Grameen, 2021

Syllabus: GS 2/Government Policies & Interventions

In News

● Recently, the Minister of State, Jal Shakti Ministry presided over the e-launch of

Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)

Phase -II.

About Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021

● Background: Commissioned by the Department of Drinking Water and

Sanitation (DDWS) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

● Aim: To support the acceleration of ODF Plus interventions and increase

momentum for improving ODF Sustainability across the villages in the country.

○ ODF-plus is aimed at ensuring solid and liquid waste management.

■ This includes ensuring all households, schools, panchayat

buildings and Anganwadi centres in a village have access to toilets

and that all public places and at least 80 per cent of households

effectively manage their solid and liquid waste with minimal litter

and minimal stagnant water.

● Coverage: 17,475 villages in 698 districts of the country will be covered by the

cleanliness survey.

○ Around 87,250 public places, such as schools, Anganwadi centres, public

health centres, markets, religious places will be visited for the survey.

● Weightage: 30 percent weightage for direct observation of sanitation at public

places

○ 35 per cent for citizen's feedback and

○ 35 per cent for service level progress on sanitation-related parameters.

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● Detailed protocol: A detailed protocol has been developed to guide the ranking

of districts based on their performance on key quality and quantitative

parameters.

● Mobile App: The SSG 2021 mobile App will also be made available in major local

Indian languages. The survey will be well monitored and complemented with

frequent field visits.

About Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)

● It was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Oct 2014 to make the

country garbage and open defecation free by behavioural change.

● According to the government, since the launch of the scheme

○ 62.09 lakh individual have household toilets,

○ 5.94 lakh community toilets have been constructed

○ 99% of the cities have been declared open defecation free (ODF).

● SBM (Gramin) comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

● SBM (Urban) Comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Source: PIB

Indian Economy

Centre hikes MSP for Rabi Crops

Syllabus: GS3/ Agriculture

In News

● The Centre has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat for the

upcoming rabi season to ₹ 2,015 per quintal, a 2% hike from last year.

○ Oilseeds and pulses such as mustard, safflower and masoor dal saw higher

MSP increases of up to 8% in a bid to encourage crop diversification.

About Minimum Support Price (MSP)

● The MSP is the rate at which the government purchases crops from farmers.

● It is a “minimum price” for any crop that the government considers as

remunerative for farmers and hence deserving of “support”.

● It is a mechanism to protect farmers from fall in market prices and hence is

announced before the start of sowing season.

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● Crops Under the MSP

○ Currently, rates are fixed for 22 crops excluding Sugarcane (Total 23).

■ Please note that for Sugarcane, fair and remunerative price (FRP)

are declared not MSP.

○ The mandated crops include

■ 14 crops of the kharif season,

■ 6 rabi crops and

■ 2 other commercial crops.

○ In addition, the MSPs of toria and de-husked coconut are fixed on the

basis of the MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively.

● It is based on the calculation of at least 1.5 times the cost of production incurred

by the farmers.

○ The government is currently using A2+FL price whereas the

Swaminathan Committee suggested C2 price as production cost.

Declaration of MSP:

● The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs

for all crops based on different factors.

○ These factors include crop related factors, supply related factors and other

factors as listed below in table. NEXT IA

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● CACP considers both A2+FL and C2 costs while recommending MSP.

○ It reckons only A2+FL cost for return.

○ However, C2 costs are used primarily as benchmark reference costs (opportunity costs) to see if the MSPs at least in some of the major producing States.

● The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) takes a final decision on the level of MSPs and other recommendations made by CACP.

What are A2, A2+FL and C2 costs?

● ‘A2’ Cost

○ It covers all paid-out costs directly incurred by the farmer in cash and kind on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, hired labour, leased-in land, fuel, irrigation, etc.

● ‘A2+FL’ Cost

○ It Includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family labour.

● ‘C2’ Cost

○ It is a more comprehensive cost that factors in rentals and interest for owned land and fixed capital assets, on top of A2+FL.

About Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP)

● It is an advisory body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers

Welfare.

● It was established in 1965 as the Agricultural Prices Commission, and was given its present name in 1985.

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Benefits of Increasing MSP

● Attempt to diversify:

○ The Government has increased the prices of Oilseeds and Pulses more than

wheat.

○ It will promote farmers to diversify the farm produce and encourage pulses

and oilseeds like masoor and sarson (mustard) rather than mere wheat and

rice.

● Confidence to Farmers about fair prices:

○ The increased MSPs would ensure remunerative prices to farmers and also

encourage them for sowing operations.

● Reduced Farm Distress and Rural Indebtedness:

○ The assured prices guarantee farmers a fair price for their crops.

○ This augmented and assured income can be used to reduce the debt and

increase the investment.

○ It will also reduce Farmer’s Suicide.

● Food Security for India:

○ As the growing Food Crop remains profitable due to MSP, farmers tend to

grow them.

○ It ensures food safety in India.

● Employment and Poverty alleviation:

○ To some extent, agriculture is a fall back option for many Indians as evident

from COVID pandemic.

○ During strict lockdown due to the pandemic, agriculture showed a positive

growth unlike the manufacturing and service sector.

Demerits of MSP

● Not available to all Farmers:

○ Most farmers would not get the benefits as they were still unable to sell

their crops at that rate.

○ Procurement by Food Corporation of India (FCI) is highly skewed in favour

of big farmers and states of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.

● Inflation higher than increase in MSP:

○ As pointed out by various farmer associations, the inflation is around 4%

whereas the MSP hike on wheat is merely 2%.

● Swaminathan Committee recommended C2 Price but not accepted:

○ The government provides 1.5 times A2+FL price which is relatively less

remunerative.

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● Against the International Norms e.g. Amber Box Subsidy:

○ The MSP is considered to be a practice that distorts the market.

○ It has been included in the Amber Box Subsidy at WTO framework.

Relation of MSP with Farm Laws

● Recently, 3 farm laws were passed by Parliament and they were tagged as anti-

MSP and anti-farmers.

● The names of 3 farm laws are

○ The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act.

○ The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act

○ The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

● As per the farmer associations, allowing private sector in procurement business will slowly sideline the state-sponsored mandis- APMCs.

○ The government also intends to slowly remove the MSP as per these protesting organizations.

● The arguments put forth by the Government are

○ It will widen the options in front of farmers to sell their produce and may even help them get prices better than MSP.

○ More efficient and even procurement unlike the present skewed nature.

○ It will not hamper the MSP regime in any way.

■ The FCI will continue to function in the same way as earlier.

○ It will promote competition and boost agricultural infrastructure like cold storage chains, etc.

Conclusion and Way Ahead

● Inclusion of MSP guarantee in Fam laws:

○ Both parties, Government and Farmers need to come to a middle ground by sitting and negotiating

● Implementation of Swaminathan Report:

○ The C2 Price can help farmers to reduce their indebtedness.

● Promotion of OilSeeds, Pulses and Coarse Cereals:

○ For this, the processed food related to the millets and pulses can be given rebate in GST.

○ Training farmers to run cooperatives related to Food Processing can be a game changer.

● Direct Benefit transfer Schemes like KISAN:

○ The schemes like KISAN augment the farmers income without violating the international norms.

Source: TH

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International Relations

Agreement of Indian Citizens to Work in Portugal

Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations

In News

● Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the signing of an agreement between India

and Portugal on the recruitment of Indian citizens to work in that European

country.

About

● The present agreement would set an institutional mechanism for partnership and

cooperation between India and Portugal on sending and accepting Indian

workers.

● Implementation Strategy:

○ Under this agreement, a Joint Committee will be set up to follow up the

implementation of the same.

● Benefits:

○ This agreement will add a new destination for Indian migrant workers in

an EU member nation, especially in the context of many Indian workers

who have returned to India following the Covid-19 pandemic.

○ Indian workers would have enhanced job opportunities to work in

Portugal. T

○ The Government-to-Government mechanism proposed in the agreement

will ensure that the movement of workers happens smoothly with

maximum support from both sides.

○ It will provide new opportunities for skilled Indian workers and

professionals.

India and Portugal Relations

● Historical :

○ Relations between India and Portugal date back to over 500 years when the

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama led a seafaring expedition to Calicut

(Kozhikode) in Kerala in May 1498, making him the first to discover a direct

sea route between Europe and South Asia, across the Atlantic Ocean and

the African continent.

■ The Portuguese colonial era in India began in 1502 AD when the

Portuguese established their first European trading centre at

Kollam (formerly Quilon) in Kerala.

■ This enabled Portugal to directly access the highly profitable Indian

spice market and emerge as a dominant colonial trading power.

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● Diplomatic Relations

■ India’s relations with Portugal remain close and friendly. Relations

began amicably in 1947 after India’s independence and diplomatic

relations were established in 1949.

■ In 1974, India and Portugal signed a treaty recognising India’s

sovereignty over Goa, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and

related matters. With the signing of this treaty in New Delhi on

December 31, 1974, diplomatic relations were re-established and an

era of friendly bilateral relations began.

● Multilateral Fora: The two countries share warm and friendly ties. Portugal and

India cooperate actively in multilateral fora

○ India and Portugal have actively supported each other for various

candidatures at the United Nations and other multilateral forums,

including for UNSC non-permanent seats (India in 2021-22 and Portugal for

2027-28).

○ On October 9, 2015, Portugal became the first European and western

country, and only the fourth outside the East Asia Summit, to sign a

Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Nalanda

University in India.

● Political Relations: Political relations between India and Portugal are warm and

friendly. The election of Indian origin Antonio Costa as the Prime Minister of

Portugal in November 2015 has energised bilateral relations.

○ Portugal has a cross-party ‘India- Portugal Parliamentary Friendship

Group’ which was reconstituted after the Parliamentary election in October

2015.

● Bilateral Trade: In 2019-20, bilateral trade amounted to US$886.60 million. Indian

exports stood at US$744.79 million and Portuguese exports at US$141.82 million.

The trade balance has consistently been in India’s favour.

○ Major exports from India are textiles and apparel including readymade

garments, agriculture products; metals; chemicals; plastic and rubber;

footwear; machinery and appliances; leather and its articles; vehicles and

other transport materials.

○ Major exports from Portugal are Machinery and appliances; metals;

minerals; plastic and rubber; chemicals; textiles and apparel; leather; paper

and pulp; wood and cork; optical and precision instruments.

● Portuguese Investments in India: Portugal has initiated a Golden Visa scheme to

attract non-European investors to Portugal.

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○ Portugal ranks 51st in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India, with

total FDI inflows amounting to US$ 103.36 million as of December 2020,

having more than doubled from around US$ 49 million in 2017.

● Culture & Education: An MOU in Cultural cooperation was signed on June 24,

2017, during PM Modi’s visit to Portugal.

○ A series of events showcasing Indian art and culture was organized in 2018,

including commemoration of the 4th International Day of Yoga in June 2018

in association with the Portuguese Yoga Confederation and Jiya Festival of

Dance at Orient Foundation with Nakshatra Productions (10 November

2018).

● Tourism & Sports: The Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism Ana Godinho

visited Mumbai and Goa from 23-26 February 2017 to participate in the India

International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) 2017 in Mumbai.

● Defence cooperation: India and Portugal signed the first-ever MoU in defence

cooperation during Portuguese PM Costa’s visit to India in January 2017.

○ There are over 370 Portuguese defence companies under the Portuguese

defence industry organisation idD with niche technologies in sectors like

AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles), ammunition destruction

through gas, shipbuilding, naval communication systems/equipment,

navigational systems, robotics and automation, aeronautics, military

clothing, etc.

○ A Portuguese defence delegation anchored by IdD participated in the

DEFEXPO in Lucknow in February 2020.

● Science and Technology Cooperation: An Agreement for Cooperation in Science

and Technology was signed in December 1998, establishing the Indo-Portuguese

Joint Science & Technology Committee (JSTC).

○ Every two years, the JSTC calls for research proposals and selects about 15

joint research projects in areas of mutual interest like Ocean Science,

Biotechnology, Materials Science, IT, Nanotechnology, Chemical Sciences,

and Engineering Sciences.

○ India was the first country to be invited by Portugal as ‘Guest Country’ at

Portugal’s national science festival Ciência 2017 in July 2017.

● Indian Community: Portugal has a large Indian origin diaspora with the

community in Portugal estimated at around 70,000 individuals.

○ The Indian diaspora youth from Portugal has been participating in the

‘Know India’ Programme (two persons attended in 2016 and one in 2017).

Source: ET

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Polity and Governance

NIRF Rankings 2021

Syllabus: GS2/ Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social

Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

In News

● Six IITs have ranked among the 20 best institutions for management study in the

latest edition of the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings.

Key Points

● Expansion of footprints of engineering institutes:

○ In 2017, there were four IITs in the top 20 for management study.

○ Over the last five years, India’s premier engineering schools have expanded

their footprint in the management category of NIRF.

○ Of the country’s 23 IITs, only seven offer a Master’s in management.

○ Among the IITs, IIT-Delhi has been ranked the best for management study.

○ Eight IITs and two national Institutes of Technology (NITs) figured in the

top ten engineering institutions in the country.

● Management Schools:

○ IIT-Delhi is fifth in the management category in this year’s NIRF rankings,

higher than reputed business schools such as IIM-Indore (rank 6), IIM-

Lucknow (rank 7), and XLRI (rank 8).

● Top four:

○ The top four places in this category are occupied by the country’s premier

business schools, IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta, and IIM-

Kozhikode, in that order.

● Research Institution:

○ The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru ranked the best research

institution in the country.

○ IIT Madras has ranked second and IIT Bombay at third spot in category. NEXT IAS

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(Image Courtesy: IE )

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)

● It was launched by the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD)

[now Ministry of Education (MoE)] in September 2015.

● This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.

● The methodology draws from the overall recommendations, broad

understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD, to identify the

broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions.

● Parameters:

○ Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)

■ Student Strength including Doctoral Students (SS)

■ Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR)

■ Combined metric for Faculty with PhD (or equivalent) and

Experience (FQE)

■ Financial Resources and their Utilisation (FRU)

○ Research and Professional Practice (RP)

■ Combined metric for Publications (PU)

■ Combined metric for Quality of Publications (QP)

■ IPR and Patents: Published and Granted (IPR)

■ Footprint of Projects and Professional Practice (FPPP)

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○ Graduation Outcomes (GO)

■ Metric for University Examinations (GUE)

■ Metric for Number of Ph.D. Students Graduated (GPHD)

○ Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)

■ Percentage of Students from Other States/Countries (Region Diversity RD)

■ Percentage of Women (Women Diversity WD)

■ Economically and Socially Challenged Students (ESCS)

■ Facilities for Physically Challenged Students (PCS)

■ Perception (PR) Ranking

○ Peer Perception

■ Academic Peers and Employers (PR)

Issues with Higher Education

● Low Enrolment:

○ The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of India in higher education is only 26.3% which is quite low as compared to the developed as well as, other developing countries.

○ With the increase of enrolments at school level, the supply of higher education institutes is insufficient to meet the growing demand in the country.

● Less Equity:

○ There is no equity in GER among different sects of the society.

○ According to previous studies the GER in higher education in India among male and females varies to a greater extent.

○ There are regional variations too; some states have high GER while some are quite behind the national GER which reflect significant imbalances within the higher education system.

● Poor Quality:

○ Ensuring quality in higher education is amongst the foremost challenges being faced in India today.

○ A large number of colleges and universities in India are unable to meet the minimum requirements laid down by the UGC and our universities are not in a position to mark their place among the top universities of the world.

● Insufficient Infrastructure:

○ Poor infrastructure is another challenge to the higher education system of India particularly the institutes run by the public sector suffer from poor physical facilities and infrastructure.

○ There are a large number of colleges which are functioning on the second or third floor of the building. On the ground or first floor there exists readymade hosieries or photocopy shops.

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● Political interference:

○ Most of the educational Institutions are owned by the political leaders, who

are playing key roles in governing bodies of the Universities.

○ They are using innocent students for their selfish means.

○ Students organise campaigns, forget their own objectives and begin to

develop their careers in politics.

● Inadequate Student-Faculty Ratio:

○ In most of the state and central universities more than 30% of faculty

positions are lying vacant. While the student enrolment in higher education

is growing at a faster rate in the last few years.

○ Large numbers of NET / PhD candidates are unemployed even though

there are a lot of vacancies in higher education, these deserving candidates

are then applying in other departments which is a big blow to the higher

education system.

● Accreditation:

○ Most of the higher education institutions in the country are not accredited.

And among those accredited, few universities and colleges have the quality

to be ranked.

● Research and Innovation:

○ There are very nominal scholars in our country whose writing is cited by

famous western authors.

○ There is inadequate focus on research in higher education institutes.

○ There are insufficient resources and facilities, as well as, limited numbers

of quality faculty to advise students.

○ Most of the research scholars are without fellowships or not getting their

fellowships on time which directly or indirectly affects their research.

○ Moreover, Indian Higher education institutions are poorly connected to

research centers.

● Structure of higher education:

○ Management of Indian education faces challenges of over centralization,

bureaucratic structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and

professionalism.

○ As a result of increase in number of affiliated colleges and students, the

burden of administrative functions of universities has significantly

increased and the core focus on academics and research is diluted

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● Outdated Curriculum:

○ Indian higher education is facing the problem of poor quality of curriculum.

○ In most of the higher educational institutes curriculum is out-dated and irrelevant.

● Low employability:

○ Only a small proportion of Indian graduates are considered employable. Placement outcomes also drop significantly as we move away from the top institutes.

○ Presently there is very little collaboration of higher educational institutes with industries.

Suggestions

● Requires transformational approach: There is a need to implement an innovative and transformational approach from primary to higher education level to make the Indian educational system globally more relevant and competitive.

● Greater industrial co-operation: In higher educational institutes (HEIs), Industrial co-operation must be there for the development of curriculum, organizing expert lectures, internships, live projects, career counseling and placements.

● Improve Quality & Credibility: Higher educational institutes (HEIs) need to improve quality, reputation and establish credibility through student exchange, faculty exchange programs, and other collaborations with high- quality national and international higher educational institutes.

● Foreign Collaboration: Government must promote collaboration between Indian higher education institutes and top International institutes and also generate linkage between national research laboratories and research centers of top institutions for better quality and collaborative research.

● Placement for under-Graduates: There is a need to focus on the graduate students by providing them such courses in which they can achieve excellence, gain deeper knowledge of the subject so that they will get jobs after recruitment in the companies which would reduce unnecessary rush to higher education.

Way Ahead

● For India to emerge as a global innovation hub, the youth of our country, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs) need to play a crucial role to create a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

● The Prime Minister of India has declared the decade 2010-20 as the ‘Decade of

Innovation’, to unleash the creative potential of every Indian.

● Thus, ideally all HEIs should have a comprehensive and functional mechanism to convert research into innovations.

● To improve the higher education system, there is a need to improve teaching

pedagogy, build synergies between research and teaching, facilitate alliance of higher institutions among themselves, research centers and industries.

Source: IE

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International Relations

13th BRICS Summit Syllabus: GS2/ International Institutions/ Foreign Affairs

In News

● Recently, the BRICS summit was held via virtual mode with the Prime Minister of India as the host.

About

● It was the 13th BRICS Summit.

● The New Delhi Declaration was the first statement by the grouping since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

● Leaders stressed the need for an “inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue”.

Key Points

● The summit emphasised the importance of the principle of “non-interference” in

international affairs and said disputes and conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means.

● The Leaders adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.

○ Priority to fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organisations to use Afghan territory as terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against other countries, as well as drug trade within Afghanistan.

○ Need to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in Afghanistan.

○ For India, this is a warning to anti-India terrorist groups like the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

○ For Beijing, it’s a message for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which has been active in the restive Xinjiang region.

● The document also called for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

● The BRICS leaders also took up the conflicts in Myanmar, Syria, the tension in the Korean peninsula, Israel-Palestine violence and other territorial disputes.

● Highlighting the leading role that BRICS countries can play in the post-COVID global recovery, Prime Minister of India called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto of 'Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and

Sustainably'.

● Achievements:

○ The first BRICS Digital Health Summit;

○ the first BRICS Ministerial Joint Statement on multilateral reforms;

○ a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan;

○ an Agreement on cooperation in field of remote-sensing satellites;

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○ a virtual BRICS vaccine Research & Development Centre;

○ BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism, etc.

(Image Courtesy: ET )

Way Ahead

● There is a need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in Afghanistan.

● It is for good reason that BRICS countries must pay special attention to the Afghan crisis.

● There are four Cs for the fundamental principles of BRICS partnership:

○ strengthen public health cooperation in the spirit of solidarity;

○ strengthen international cooperation on vaccines in the spirit of equitable access for all;

○ economic cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit;

○ political and security cooperation in the spirit of fairness and justice; and

● There is an urgent need to strengthen people-to-people exchanges in the spirit of mutual learning.

BRICS

● The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in July 2006.

● Shortly afterwards, in September 2006, the group was formalised as BRIC during the 1st BRIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which met on the sidelines of the General Debate of the UN Assembly in New York City.

● After a series of high level meetings, the 1st BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 June 2009.

● The BRIC group was renamed as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010.

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● Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China on 14 April 2011.

● BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging

economies from the world, comprising:

○ 41% of the world population,

○ 24% of the world GDP

○ over 16% share in world trade.

○ Total combined area of 29.3% of the total land surface of the world

● BRICS countries have been the main engines of global economic growth over the years.

● Over a period of time, BRICS countries have come together to deliberate on important issues under the three pillars of:

○ political and security,

○ economic and financial and

○ cultural and people to people exchanges.

● During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (Brazil) in 2014, the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB -

Shanghai, China). They also signed the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement to provide short-term liquidity support to the members.

Source: TH

Indian Economy

Account Aggregator Network: Financial Data-sharing System Syllabus: GS3/Indian Economy & related issues

In Context

● Recently, eight of India’s major banks joined the Account Aggregator (AA)

network.

About

● AA framework was created through an inter-regulatory decision by RBI and other regulators.

● Based on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) framework

○ It allows users to securely access their data and share the same with third parties

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What is an Account Aggregator?

● It is a non-banking financial company engaged in the business of providing, under a contract, the service of retrieving or collecting financial information of its customers.

● Engaged in consolidating, organising and presenting such information to the customer or any other financial information user as specified by the bank.

● Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual.

● The licence for AAs is issued by the RBI.

Working of AA

● It has a three-tier structure: Account Aggregator (AA), FIP (Financial Information Provider) and FIU (Financial Information User).

● A FIP is the data fiduciary, which holds customers’ data. It can be a bank, NBFC, mutual fund, insurance repository or pension fund repository.

● An FIU consumes the data from a FIP to provide various services to the consumer. An FIU is a lending bank that wants access to the borrower’s data to determine if the borrower qualifies for a loan.

● Banks play a dual role – as a FIP and as an FIU.

Image Courtesy: Moneycontrol

Benefits

● Hasslefree & prompt Services: Replaces hassles (physical & scanned copies), with a simple, mobile-based, and safe digital data access & sharing process.

● Cost Reduction: Allow banks to access consented data flow & create new services.

● Fraud Reduction: ↓ frauds and compliance with upcoming privacy laws.

● Less Physical interaction & Corporate Governance: No tampering of records.

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Challenges

● Issue of data ethics: Do not enforce any standards on the acquisition of data by FIU.

● Possibility of abuse and data mining: Data Privacy issue

● Problems with the Consent Collection: Poor understanding of individuals regarding consent.

● Technical glitches

Way Forward

● The PDP Bill, 2019 provides a lens to understand how data privacy and security can be applicable to the users of the NBFC–AA system.

● Robust SOP should be there.

Source: IE

Facts In News

Defence

Air defence missile (MRSAM) System Syllabus: GS 3/Defence

In News

● The first deliverable Firing Unit (FU) of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile

(MRSAM) System handed over to Indian Air Force (IAF) to boost India’s defence capabilities.

About

● The MRSAM (IAF) is an advanced network-centric combat Air Defence System

developed jointly by the Defence Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in collaboration with the Indian industry comprising private and public sectors including MSMEs.

● It provides point and area air defence for ground assets against a wide range of threats including fighter aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, guided and unguided munitions, subsonic & supersonic cruise missiles etc.

● Features:

○ It is capable of engaging multiple targets at ranges up to 70 km in severe saturation scenarios.

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○ The missile is powered by an indigenously developed rocket motor and control system for achieving high manoeuvrability during the terminal phase.

○ The firing unit comprises of :

■ Missiles, Combat Management System (CMS), Mobile Launcher Systems (MLS), Advanced Long Range Radar, Mobile Power System (MPS), Radar Power System (RPS), Reloader Vehicle (RV) and Field Service Vehicle (FSV).

● Significance:

○ It will be helpful in producing quality products for both countries in the future.

Source: PIB

Biodiversity and Environment

Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary Syllabus: GS 3/Biodiversity and Environment

In Context

● A leopard at the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary has been caught on a camera trap.

About Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

● Location:

○ Southern Ridge, the northern terminal of Aravalli Hills, one of the oldest mountain systems in the world.

○ It is located in South Delhi Distt. All along with Delhi, Haryana, Faridabad & Gurgaon.

● Attractions:

○ Nature trail for studying the floral & faunal diversity, the topography of the area.

○ Good patches of Anogeissus, Balanites etc representative of Aravali.

○ Reclamation of largely abandoned mine pits of the Bhatti area.

○ Historical places around sanctuary such as Surajkund(Haryana), Tughlakabad & Adilabad Forests (N.Delhi), Chattarpur Temple.

About Leopard

● Scientific Name- Panthera pardus.

● Conservation Status:

○ “Vulnerable” in IUCN’s Red List Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 Appendix I of CITES.

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● Habitats:

○ Found in all forest types, from tropical rainforests to temperate deciduous and alpine coniferous forests.

○ It is also found in dry scrubs and grasslands, the only exception being desert and the mangroves of Sundarbans.

○ They are distributed from Trans-Himalayas to Gangetic plains in around 17 states.

Source: IE

Indian Economy

T+1 Settlement Cycle Syllabus: GS3/Indian Economy & related issues In Context

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has introduced an optional T+1

(Trade day plus 1 day) settlement for completion of share transactions "to enhance

market liquidity."

T+1 Rule

● Under the T+1 rule, stock transactions will be settled on the very next day and not

after two days as is the current norm.

● In this, the shares will be credited into the demat account a day after the trade

day. In case of sale transactions, the money will be credited into the account on the

very next day.

● Under the aegis of the T+2 settlement cycle, which is currently in vogue, the

shares or the money are credited after two days.

Source: LM

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Welfare and Scheme

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharata Abhiyan

(PMGDISHA)

Syllabus: GS2/ Welfare Schemes

In Context

● Government e-services delivery arm CSC SPV pushed for covering all members

of a digital village under digital literacy programme PMGDISHA.

What is Digital Literacy?

● It is the ability of individuals and communities to understand and use digital

technologies for meaningful actions within life situations.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)

● It is being initiated under the Digital India Programme which would cover 6 crore

households in rural areas to make them digitally literate.

● Recently, a campaign for 100 percent digital literacy in Digital Villages launched.

● Under the campaign, a three day certification drive for rural citizens, especially

women and disadvantaged communities, will be conducted for a few days.

Significance

● The knowledge of digital technology helps in achieving digital inclusion.

● This would help in bridging the gap between government and citizens.

● This envisages the use of technology to deliver services pertaining to health

services - tele-health and tele-veterinary consultation, education Services, financial

Services, skill development and solar panel powered street lights and various

Government to Citizens Services (G2C) and other citizen Services.

Source: ET

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