ARCHIVES

GS-2

eNPS-Online Subscriber Registration and Contribution Facility under NPS developed 

(Topic: E-governance- Application, Models, Successes, Limitations and Potential; Citizens Charters, Transparency and Accountability and Institutional and other measures)

• Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) has been pursuing the development and operationalization of online transaction facilities for the prospective as well as existing subscribers of NPS
• Online platform for registration of subscribers and receipt of contribution under National Pension System (eNPS) through NPS Trust at www.npstrust.org.in has been developed
• Through this platform, a prospective subscriber can register for NPS; contribute to his/her Permanent Retirement Account
• Subscribers who already have an NPS account can make contributions through eNPS directly

Functioning–

• Subscriber while registering, will provide his/her name & Permanent Account Number (PAN) details which will be validated online with the Income Tax Department
• Then will select the Bank (through which KYC verification to be done), fill up the personal details and upload photograph & signature
• After this, the Subscriber will make contribution through net banking from the account of the selected Bank
• Once payment made, PRAN will be provided online to the Subscriber
• Details submitted by the subscriber will be sent through CRA system to the selected Bank for KYC verification
• After verification of KYC by the Bank, the PRAN will become active and operational
• Subscriber will be required to print the form, paste photograph, affix signature and submit the physical form to CRA within a specified period while continuing contributing online

Banks with online KYC verification–

• Allahabad Bank,
• Bank of India,
• Bank of Maharashtra,
• Oriental Bank of Commerce,
• South Indian Bank,
• State Bank of Travancore,
• State Bank of Hyderabad,
• State Bank of Patiala,
• Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank
• United Bank of India

PFRDA has advised all other Bank POPs to join the eNPS platform and provide online verification of KYC for the customers of their Banks willing to open NPS account online

Advantages-

• Seamless on boarding experience where need not visit a Point of Presence and can register from anywhere through an internet connection, contribution with minimum cost of transaction and reduction in errors resulting from various manual activities

Subscriber can make subsequent contribution online through net banking /debit card/credit card at any time and the same will be credited in the subscriber’s PRAN account on T+2 basis

Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry launches an online initiative to engage LPG consumers and citizens 

(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their Design and Implementation)

 Launched by- Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG)

About Online Initiative–

• To engage the LPG Consumers and Citizens of India in providing efficient and citizen friendly services in LPG distribution
• Two online discussion forums have been launched and are available on myGov.in and mylpg.in for
• Citizen-Friendly Services
• Increasing LPG Coverage in the Country
• LPG Consumers/ Citizens requested to participate and share their thoughts on the respective forums online
• Valuable suggestions/ comments are welcome and will be considered for improving the customer oriented services related to LPG Coverage & Delivery
• Initiative is one of the many initiatives for observing 2016 as the“Year of LPG Consumers”

Enemy Property Ordinance, 2016 Promulgated 

(Topic: Constitutional Amendments)

President of India has promulgated the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016 on January 07, 2016 to make amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968

About Amendment–

• Ordinance include that once an enemy property is vested in the Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy due to reasons such as death etc
• Law of succession does not apply to enemy property; that there cannot be transfer of any property vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm and that the Custodian shall preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act

Help–

• Amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968 will plug the loopholes in the Act to ensure that the enemy properties that have been vested in the Custodian remain so and they do not revert back to the enemy subject or enemy firm

History-

• Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year 1968 by the Government of India, which provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian
• Central Government through the Custodian of Enemy Property for India is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country
• Movable properties also categorized as enemy properties
• To ensure that the enemy property continues to vest in the Custodian, appropriate amendments were brought in by way of an Ordinance in the Enemy Property Act, 1968 by the then Government in 2010
• This Ordinance lapsed on 6th September, 2010 and a bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 22, 2010
• Bill was withdrawn and another bill with modified provisions was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15th November, 2010.
• Bill was thereafter referred to the Standing Committee. However, the said bill could not be passed during the 15th term of the Lok Sabha and it lapsed
• In the wake of the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan.
• Under the Defence of India Rules framed under the Defence of India Act, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of such persons who had taken Pakistani nationality
• These enemy properties were vested by the Central Government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India
• After the 1965 war, India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent Declaration on 10.01.1966
• Tashkent Declaration inter alia included a clause, which said that the two countries would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict
• Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself

Cabinet approves Stand Up India Scheme 

(Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes, mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections)

Approved by– Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

Promote    

• Entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women entrepreneurs
• To facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneurs

Scheme provides for–

• Refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
• Creation of a credit guarantees mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC)
• Handholding support for borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during operations
• Include increasing their familiarity with-
• Factoring services,
• Registration with online platforms and e-market places as well as sessions on best practices and problem solving

Details of the scheme–

• Focus is on handholding support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers.
• The overall intent of the approval is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to these under-served sectors of the population by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 100 lakh for greenfield enterprises in the non farm sector set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers
• The loan under the scheme would be appropriately secured and backed by a credit guarantee through a credit guarantee scheme for which Department of Financial Services would be the settler and National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC) would be the operating agency
• Margin money of the composite loan would be up to 25%. Convergence with state schemes is expected to reduce the actual requirement of margin money for a number of borrowers
• Over a period of time, it is proposed that a credit history of the borrower be built up through Credit Bureaus

‘Anubhav’ – showcasing outstanding work done during service 

(Topic: Public Grievance and Pensions)

Launched by– Department of Pension & Pensioner’s Welfare (launched on the directions of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi)

Launched for–

• Showcasing outstanding work by retiring employee and sharing experience of working with the Government
• Over a period of time, this will create a wealth of institutional memory with replicable ideas and suggestions
• Gives opportunity to the retiring employee to invest his experience, skill and time for growth of social capital of the country

Steps Taken-

• Workshops on ‘Anubhav’ have been organized during early last year for the Head of Offices/ Head of Departments of Ministries/ Departments and retiring employees to introduce the concept and the software application as well as to facilitate submission of write-ups by retiring employees
• Ministries/ Department have been requested to conduct workshops on ‘Anubhav’ for their retiring employees to facilitate them to upload their write-ups

Anubhav- 

• A format comprising of few questions that can be used to build up write-ups for ‘Anubhav’ has been circulated to all Ministries/ Departments for use by their retiring employees
• Feature of uploading audio file has been added to the ‘Anubhav’ software
• Provides facility to upload recorded voice message of 3 to 4 minutes (3MB) duration by the retiring employee

Signing of MoU between India and Singapore in the field of Civil Aviation

(Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests)

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between: Airports Authority of India (On behalf of Government of India) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (On behalf of Government of Singapore) in Civil Aviation

Objective of MoU: Establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation,to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad, cooperation will be extended to other airports with mutual consent

Features of the MoU include collaboration in Civil Aviation Sector in the areas of –

• Master-planning and design
• Traffic development
• Commercial development ,
• Service quality improvement
• Training and development
• Cargo handling and Management
• Maintenance, repair and overhaul
• Operation and management and
• Other areas with mutual consent

Government of Singapore owns one of the best managed airports in the world, which has consistently maintained its ranking for last many years

Help–

• Ensure high standards of service at Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports, Airport Authority of India (AAI) may enter into operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts, either with or without the responsibility of maximization of non-aeronautical revenue in the terminal building (excluding land on city side and air side)
• City side and airside will continue to be managed directly by AAI

Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to India-Bahrain Agreement on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Trafficking in Illicit Drugs, Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances and Precursors Chemicals, and ratification of the same

(Topic: India and its Relations, Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interests)

Agreement between India and Bahrain on Cooperation in-

• Combating International Terrorism,
• Transnational Organized Crime and Trafficking in Illicit Drugs,
• Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances and
• Precursors Chemicals and its ratification

 Agreement aims –

• Improve the effectiveness of both countries in the prevention,
• Investigation,
• Prosecution and
• Suppression of crimes including crime relating to terrorism,
• Transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.
• Help establish framework for enhancing cooperation between the officials of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies of the two countries

GS-3

Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurates the first River Information System of India 

(Topic: Science and Technology- Developments and their applications and effects in everyday life)

Inaugurated by: Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari

Implemented by: Inland Waterway Authority of India (a statutory body administered by the Ministry of Shipping)

Aims: To streamline the exchange of information between waterway operators and users

River Information Services (RIS)

• First of its kind in India, the new system will facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway – 1 on the Ganges River
• Combination of modern tracking equipment related hardware and software designed to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation.
• Enhances swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations) through advance and real-time exchange of information
• Trained operators would monitor the activities round the clock and provide the necessary instructions and guidance to the vessel for safe navigation

Facilitate:-

• Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports and rivers.
• Better use of the inland waterways
• Environmental protection

RIS enables achievement of safe and efficient inland water transport by avoiding the following risks:-

• Ship- to – Ship collisions
• Ship – Bridge collisions
• Groundings

Covers-

• RIS system is subsequently being extended upto Varanasi in two more phases
• Phase-II stretch from Farakka to Patna (410 Km.) will be covered by establishment of six base and one control stations
• Phase-III cover from Patna to Varanasi (356 Km.) with 4 base and one control stations

Cloud Computing Would be a Solution for BIG Data Problem Opines Experts at the Indian Science Congress Being Held at Mysore

(Topic: Science and Technology)

“Big Data and Cloud Computing in Agri-Bioinformatics” in the plenary talk session of 103rd Indian Science Congress at the University of Mysore

• Cloud computing can be the solution to Big data problem
• Cloud computing very important in BIG data analytics due to its application sharing and cost effective properties
• Help in current genomic data storage and analysis
• To head towards sustainable livelihood and development, such analyses with respect to agriculture including plants and animals are crucial
• 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alon

An increasingly valuable tool for processing large datasets

Application in-

• Hundreds of Agricultural institutions across the country should be connected and for this CLOUD is a good option
• Development of user friendly crop computational algorithms and tools
• Used by the US federal government, pharmaceutical companies, internet companies, scientific labs and bioinformatics services

MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank to undertake refinance operations and provide support services with focus on portal management and also data analysis

(Topic: Government Policies and Interventions, Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability)

Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF)

Created by – Union Cabinet (6^th January, 2016)

Created For– Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) loans and for converting MUDRA Ltd. into MUDRA Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Bank as a wholly owned subsidiary of SIDBI

What’s next?                                              

• MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank will undertake refinance operations
• Provide support services with focus on portal management and also data analysis etc
• MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank can take -up any other role as may be assigned to it by Government
• MFIs can now become Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) with MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank for refinance and with NCGTC for credit guarantee
• Cost of guarantee(on ongoing basis) is linked to rating and recovery performance, to incentivize all MFIs, who join up as MLIs to continue good performance
• Membership is predicated on the fulfilment of certain criteria such as-
• Size,
• Experience,
• An assessment of internal systems,
• Processes and procedures,
• CRAR and other norms,
• Capacity assessment rating, etc.

Test Firing of New Tank Ammunition for Arjun MBT 

(Topic: Challenges to Internal Security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges etc)

Test firing conducted by– Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

New tank ammunition– Penetration-Cum Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition, specially designed for Arjun Tank at Chandipur, Odisha on 6th Jan 2016

Developed by– Pune based DRDO laboratories Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL)

• Trials found to be very effective and the damage was devastating with the firing of ammunition successfully destroying the target tank and severely damaging its turret, barrel, tracks, ammunition bin, various sights, antennas etc.
• An innovative chemical composition has been developed by HEMRL after extensive research for the TB ammunition
• During the development phase, these ammunitions were extensively evaluated against different simulated targets viz.,
• Armour plates,
• Concrete structures and
• Fortifications
• Trials conducted jointly with Army and aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ammunitions on derelict tank fitted with instrumentation to measure the shocks, blast pressure and temperature at various locations and on advanced imaging systems
• Trials were unique as for the first time such evaluation is carried out in India which will give a quantum jump in the fire-power of Arjun tanks
• Technical trials witnessed by Directors of HEMRL & PXE, Director DQRS, Army representatives and other senior officials from DRDO

Indian economy has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with its GDP growth accelerated at 7.3 percent in 2014-15

(Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment)

• Indian economy has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with its GDP growth accelerated at 7.3 percent in 2014-15 compared to 6.9 per cent growth in 2013-14 and 5.1 per cent in 2012-13, indicating that the economy is firmly on the path of economic revival
• Information Technology sector is a key pillar in various flagship initiatives like digital India, Make in India, Skill India as well as Start-up India among others

Suggestions received during the Pre-Budget Consultative Meeting-

• Facilitate the exports,
• Facilitating ease of doing business,
• Measures for simplifying and
• Rationalizing tax procedures
• Scope of POEM(Place of Effective Management) need to be rationalized and made applicable to overseas shell companies
• GST be implemented at the earliest
• On the proposal of sunset clause in case of SEZ companies, the tax relief to the eligible development activities and the sales activities by a SEZ unit may be extended till March 2019, as it will be unfair to deny the tax benefits to such SEZ developers who have planned large investments in setting-up SEZ infrastructure
• Reduction of corporate tax, specific time bound policy to revive the mobile industry, incentive to pollution free industries and vehicles, TRIPS Plus (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights )
• Need to create duty differential benefits for Indian (IT hardware) manufacturers especially in case of mobile and tablets