60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019 – Economics and Current Affairs (Day 9)

Both statements 2 and 3 are not included in the calculation of GDP.

When a used car or house is sold, no new goods are produced. But the real estate or auto agent makes money through commission which adds to the service economy. Hence Statement 1 is correct.

Components used in the manufacture such as tyres are intermediate goods. Hence they are not included in the calculation. Only final goods are included.

All the given statements are correct.

About NCDC

• It is the sole statutory organisation (under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare) functioning as an apex financial and developmental institution exclusively devoted to cooperative sector.
• It strengthens and promotes programmes across sectors relating to agriculture and allied fields like dairy, poultry, livestock, fisheries, cotton ginning and spinning, sugar and notified services like hospitality, transport, rural housing, hospitals/health core etc.

It recently launched ‘Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme’.

About Yuva Sahakar

• Purpose: To cater to the needs and aspirations of the youth, NCDC has come up with this youth-friendly scheme for attracting them to cooperative business ventures. It would encourage cooperatives to venture into new and innovative areas.
• CSIF fund: The scheme will be linked to a ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC with an annual outlay of Rs 100 crore and it has special incentive for cooperatives of North Eastern region, Aspirational Districts and cooperatives with women/SC/ST/PwD members.
• Funding: The funding for the project will be up to 80% of the project cost for the special categories as against 70% for others. The scheme envisages 2% less than the applicable rate of interest on term loan for the project cost up to Rs 3 crore including 2 years moratorium on payment of principal.
• Eligibility: All types of cooperatives in operation for at least one year and having positive net-worth are eligible.

Statement 2 is wrong:

The Doing Business report ranks countries on the basis of distance to frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice not the global average.

India’s ranks:

2014- 142

2015 – 130

2016- 130

2017 – 100

2018 – 77

Recently, first Human Capital Index (HCI) was released by World Bank.

The HCI measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18. It conveys the productivity of the next generation of workers compared to a benchmark of complete education and full health.

• HCI is part of the World Development Report (WDR). As part of this report, the World Bank has launched a Human Capital Project (HCP).

• Singapore topped the list while, India was placed at 115th position out of 157 countries, lower than neighboring Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

All the given statements are correct.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 empower SEBI to regulate CRAs operating in India.

All the credit agencies need to be registered with SEBI in order to operate in India.

SEBI has tightened disclosure norms for credit rating agencies (CRAs) after they failed to warn investors on time about the deteriorating credit profile of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) which underwent a crisis recently.

The rating agencies will now need to disclose the liquidity position of the company being rated and also check for asset-liability mismatch. This would lead to timely availability of information about the company. This would include parameters such as: Liquid investments or cash balances, Liquidity coverage ratio, Access to unutilized credit lines and adequacy of cash flows for servicing debt obligation.

• CRAs would also need to disclose the source and rationale if the company is expecting additional funds to deal with its debt.
• In order to promote transparency and to enable the market to best judge the performance of the ratings, the CRA should publish information about the historical average rating transition rates across various rating categories, so that investors can understand the historical performance of the ratings assigned by the CRAs. The transition rate indicates the number of instances when credit ratings have changed over a specified period.

External Commercial Borrowings:

It refers to commercial loans raised by eligible Indian resident entities from non-resident lenders with a minimum average maturity of 3 years.

• It can be in the form of bank loans, buyers’ credit, suppliers’ credit or securitized instruments. If the foreign money is used to finance the Equity Capital, it is termed as Foreign Direct Investment

Statement 1 is wrong: Cost of raising ECBs is lower than domestic borrowings if borrowed from economies with a lower rate of interest. It also improves profitability of company.

MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan

Public Procurement Portal for MSEs – MSME Sambandh

Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)  – related to Infrastructure of MSMEs.

SHAKTI (Scheme for harnessing & allocating koyla transparently in India) – step to tackle stress in the power sector and not related to MSME.

The Baba Kalyani committee constituted by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to study the existing SEZ (Special Economic Zone) policy of India submitted its report to the government recently.

The Inclusive Wealth Report is a biennial report that seeks to evaluate and report on a country’s wealth and wellbeing through the Inclusive Wealth index (IWI). IWI is intended as a replacement to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI) which assesses a nation’s ability to look after its wealth in a way that is sustainable and safeguards its future generations.

Inclusive Wealth Report 2018 is presented by UN Environment.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP)

• IDSP is a disease surveillance scheme under National Health Mission, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India, assisted by the World Bank.
• The scheme seeks to set up a Central Disease Surveillance Unit and a State Surveillance Unit in each State where data is collected and analyzed.
• The IDSP portal is a one stop portal which has facilities for data entry, view reports, outbreak reporting, data analysis, training modules and resources related to disease surveillance

About Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

• It has been launched by the Government of India to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme.
• The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018.
• It targets to immunize all children against seven vaccine preventable diseases namely Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Childhood Tuberculosis, Polio, Hepatitis B and Measles. In addition to this, vaccines for Japanese Encephalitis, Haemophilus influenza type B, inactivated polio vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine and Measles Rubella vaccine are also being provided in selected states.

Recently Ministry of Housing launched a web portal named PAiSA- Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access.

• The portal is designed and developed by Allahabad Bank and is expected to be joined by all states, commercial banks, RRBs and Cooperative Banks.
• It acts as a centralized electronic platform for processing interest subvention on bank loans to beneficiaries under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).
• It will directly link government with the beneficiaries to ensure greater transparency and efficiency in delivery of services.

Both the statements are correct with reference to Demographic dividend.

Demographic dividend occurs when the proportion of working people in the total population is high because this indicates that more people have the potential to be productive and contribute to growth of the economy. Working population refers to population between 15-64 years of age.

Universal basic income (UBI) is a model for providing all citizens of a country or other geographic area with a given sum of money, regardless of their income, resources or employment status. The purpose of the UBI is to prevent or reduce poverty and increase equality among citizens.

BIEN lists the following five defining characteristics of basic income:

• Periodic: Distributed in regular payments,
• Cash payment: Distributed as funds rather than, for example, vouchers for goods or services.
• Individual: Each citizen (or adult citizen) receives the payment, rather than each household.
• Universal: All citizens receive the payment.
• Unconditional: Recipients are not required to demonstrate need or willingness to work.

There would be drastic changes in the way government spends its revenue generated from taxation and other sources.  Currently, Government spends its revenue on various services as well as on subsidies. UBI would mean that government may move away from service delivery and empower its citizens to access services through cash transfer.

Statement A is correct.

Statement B is wrong: Rangarajan committee estimated the number of poor were 19 per cent higher in rural areas and 41 per cent more in urban areas than what was estimated using Tendulkar committee formula. 

Statement C is wrong: The poverty line (PPP$ 3.2) suggested by World Bank is some 68 per cent higher than the Tendulkar line.

All the given statements are correct.

Pranab Sen Committee for Slums was constituted by Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation in 2010.

Both the statements are correct.

Census is conducted by Census Commissioner in Home Ministry while SECC 2011 was by Ministry of Rural Development.

Census has a statutory backing, census of India act 1948 while SECC 2011 doesn’t.

Note: Progressive taxation and decentralisation are direct mechanism for poverty eradication.

Saubhagya scheme aims at rural household electrification .

Scope of the Scheme:

• Providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas.
• Providing Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) based standalone system for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible villages/habitations, where grid extension is not feasible or cost-effective.
• Providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining economically poor un-electrified households in urban areas. Non-poor urban households are excluded from this scheme.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the Government of India. It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System. Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements. The Midday Meal Scheme and the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (or, PDS) are entitled to 5 kilograms (11 lb) per person per month of cereals at the following prices:

• Rice at ₹3 (4.2¢ US) per kg
• Wheat at ₹2 (2.8¢ US) per kg
• Coarse grains (millet) at ₹1 (1.4¢ US) per kg.

Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

It is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.

In parts of India, the pink bollworm is now resistant to first generation transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard cotton) that expresses a single Bt gene (Cry1Ac). Monsanto has admitted that this variety is ineffective against the pink bollworm pest in parts of Gujarat.

Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), under the guidance and leadership of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and NITI Aayog, has developed the State Energy Efficiency (EE) Preparedness Index for 29 Indian states and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The State EE Index comprises 63 qualitative, quantitative, outcome-based indicators to assess energy efficiency initiatives, programmes and outcomes in 5 sectors, i.e. Buildings, Industry, Municipalities, Transport, Agriculture, and Distribution Companies (DISCOMs). Based on their efforts and achievements, states have been classified as Front runners, Achievers, Contenders and Aspirants.

The survey, with reference year of 2016-17, covered 40,327 rural households. It highlighted that the average annual income of an agricultural household is Rs 1,07,172 compared to Rs 87,228 for families engaged only in non-agricultural activities.

Within “agricultural households”, the share of average income from cultivation and livestock rearing was just over 43 per cent. The balance 57 per cent income in their case, too, was from non-agricultural sources.

Source:

• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/88-per-cent-rural-households-have-savings-account-nabard-survey/articleshow/65428862.cms

• https://indianexpress.com/article/india/farming-agriculture-income-farm-distress-nabard-survey-nsso-5313772/

As per the new classification, enterprises with annual turnover less than or equal to Rs 5 crore fall under the ‘micro’ category, those between Rs 5 crore to Rs 75 crore as small enterprises, and those with turnover between Rs 75 crore and Rs 250 crore will be classified as medium enterprises. Further, there is no distinction between manufacturing and service units.

Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR)

• It is a programme of partnership among BRICS nation that will focus on Maximising the opportunities arising from the fourth industrial revolution/New Industrial Revolution.
• It was formed at the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg

The mutually beneficial relationship between algae and modern corals which provides algae with shelter, gives coral reefs their colors and supplies both organisms with nutrients began more than 210 million years ago as per a research.

This symbiotic relationship arose during a time of massive worldwide coral-reef expansion suggests that the interconnection of algae and coral is crucial for the health of coral reefs, which provide habitat for roughly one-fourth of all marine life. Reefs are threatened by a trend in ocean warming that has caused corals to expel algae and turn white, a process called coral bleaching.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/corals-reefs-could-survive-global-warming-says-study/article24681835.ece

A kilonova (also called a macronova or r-process supernova) is a transient astronomical event that occurs in a compact binary system when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole merge into each other.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-deep-and-far-of-science/article24497089.ece

“Superbugs” is a term used to describe strains of bacteria that are resistant to the majority of antibiotics commonly used today. Resistant bacteria that cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections and skin infections are just a few of the dangers we now face.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/antibiotics-you-throw-away-may-be-breeding-superbugs/articleshow/65585501.cms

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWOqeyPIVRo

Honeybees and ants are both insects and both belong to the order hymenoptera, but after that they separate into different families. Bees are in the family apidae, while ants are in the family formicidae.

Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.

Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 140 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants.