60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019- Economics and Current Affairs (Day 34)

All the above come under External Debt. Both Government and Commercial borrowings along with NRI deposits come under External Debt.

A currency is said to be international currency when other countries banks and other financial institutions, citizens can hold it for financial security.

It has three prerequisites:

• Issuing country should have sufficient scale: There must be so much currency which should be available for international transactions.
• It should be hard currency: i.e its value should not be volatile.
• It should be liquid: Significant quantities of assets should be bought and sold without noticeably affecting its price.

Current account balance: Balance of trade (Exports of goods and services – Imports of goods and services) + Net income abroad (income going out – income coming in the form of portfolio investments, salaries) + Net current Transfers (Unilateral transfers like remittances with nothing received in return).

Both public and private payments are included in the calculation

Full Capital account convertibility can have the following advantages:

• Indians will have a wide range of choice for investment and borrowing
• FDI and FIIs flows into India will increase
• Hence liquidity increases in the market
• Creates competition for domestic players
• Macroeconomic discipline

Disadvantages:

• Adoption of fuller capital account convertibility can be destabilising as shown by the global financial crisis.
• Domestic retailers might be hurt creating unemployment
• Rupee is still not a hard currency (currency that is not likely to depreciate suddenly or to fluctuate greatly in value), hence is subject to volatility.

Arvind Mayaram committee is related to FDI liberalisation. Constituted in 2013, it recommended to increase the FDI limits in 12 sectors.

Capital account convertibility – Tarapore committee

Inflation Targeting – Urijit Patel committee

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) review – N K Singh committee

Current account includes: Exports, imports, payments due as interests on loans, remittances, travel, education, etc.

Capital account includes: Indians opening bank accounts in foreign countries, holding assets abroad and investments by Indians abroad.

Invisibles in international trade is synonym to services which can be divided into three parts

• Services
• Income earned (profits, dividends, interests) from ownership of overseas assets by Indian companies
• Transfers (remittances from Indians working abroad)

Statement B is wrong as Gilt edged securities are issued by Central Bank (RBI) on behalf of the Government of India for raising money.

Financial Action Task force (FATF) is not based in India. Its an international organisation headquartered in Paris, of which India is a member

Devaluation occurs in pegged exchange rate system while Depreciation occurs in a floating exchange rate system.

Both Depreciation and devaluation favour exports as the value of domestic currency is lowered against foreign currency and exports become competitive

All companies cannot issue Commercial papers. Only listed company with a working capital of not less than Rs. 5 crore can issue Commercial papers.

Statement A is wrong as Through Indian Depository Receipts,

Investors in India to invest in listed foreign companies, including
multinational companies, in Indian rupees.

Statement B is correct as Participatory Notes (PNs) are issued by SEBI registered FIIs in foreign jurisdictions against Indian securities.

Explanation: In monetary policy Quantitative tools are Repo, Reverse repo, Open market operations and Reserve ratios. Qualitative tools are Margin requirements, Moral suasion, Consumer credit regulation, Selective credit control.

Explanation: An asset, including a leased asset, becomes non-performing when it ceases to generate income for the bank.  A period of more than 90 days, the interest or instalment amount is overdue then that loan account can be termed as a Non-Performing Asset.

Explanation: Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), which came into force with effect from June 1, 2000, all transactions involving foreign exchange have been classified either as capital or current account transactions. Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, all resident individuals, including minors, are allowed to freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March) for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both

Explanation: A trade deficit is an economic measure of international trade in which a country’s imports exceeds its exports. A trade deficit typically occurs when a country does not produce enough goods for its residents. A country’s consumers are wealthy enough to purchase more goods than the country produces.

Explanation: RBI releases Financial stability report in India for every 6 months.

Explanation: NABARD is fully owned by the Government of India. e-Shakti is a pilot project of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for digitisation of Self Help Groups (SHGs). It provides refinance support to building rural infrastructure; prepares district level credit plans to guiding and motivating the banking industry in achieving these targets; supervises Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

Explanation: NHB is the fully owned subsidiary of RBI and it release RESIDEX for every 3 months which covers 50 cities across India.

Explanation: A helicopter drop, or helicopter money, is a hypothetical, unconventional tool of monetary policy that involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public in order to stimulate the economy. Helicopter drop is largely a metaphor for unconventional measures to jumpstart the economy during deflationary periods.

Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum building technology

News: IIT Madras is carrying significant research on the uses of Gypsum in order to introduce affordable mass housing construction in India.

About

• The technology recycles gypsum — a major waste product of the fertilizer industry and coal fired power plants — to produce low-cost, environment-friendly housing which is also resistant to earthquake damage.
• Formed as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite, gypsum is a crucial eco-friendly component used in the construction. Its industrial wastes are conventionally called ‘green materials’.

GFRG

• Manufacture of GFRG (Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum) panels from the raw material gypsum, viz., natural gypsum, mineral gypsum, phospho-gypsum or chemical gypsum, with purity more than 90 per cent, entails less energy in comparison to energy-intensive conventional building materials like, brick, concrete, etc
• GFRG panels have been approved as a green material by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
• The manufacture of GFRG panels from phospho-gypsum (fertilizer industry waste) is another green material. It eliminates the use of bricks.
• Increased thermal resistance of gypsum, reduces the air conditioning load on the buildings, thus reducing the operational energy need in GFRG buildings
• Although gypsum is not water resistant, advancement of the mineral as GFRG panels have made it load bearing, water-resistant property, enabling it to be used as structural part (internal and external walls) in building assemblies.

Benefits

• Substantial reduction in the structural weight of the building (panels weigh only 44 kg/m2) contributing to savings in foundation and reduction in earthquake design forces, particularly in multi-storeyed construction
• No plastering requirement for walls and ceiling
• Increased speed of construction with lesser manpower
• Save fertile agricultural land and energy intensive burnt clay bricks
• Saving of 8-10 per cent built-up area for the same carpet area
• It is expected that GFRG buildings are more durable than similar conventional buildings, as the concrete and steel are encased by the GFRG shell.

DO YOU KNOW?

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Government of India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently approved standards for the structural design of GFRG buildings

Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)

About

• It was introduced through the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20.
• It seeks to promote export of notified goods manufactured/ produced in India.
• The government provides duty benefits depending on product and country.
• MEIS is a major export promotion scheme of GOI implemented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Incentives

• Rewards under MEIS are payable as a percentage (2, 3 or 5%) of realized FOB value of covered exports, by way of the MEIS duty credit scrip.
• The scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties/taxes including the customs / excise duty / service tax.
• Scrips and inputs imported under the scrips are fully transferable.
• All scrips issued under MEIS and the goods imported against these scrips fully transferable.
• Incentives under MEIS are available to units located in SEZs also.

Ujung Kulon National Park is at the westernmost tip of Java, in Banten province of Indonesia. It includes the volcanic island group of Krakatoa in Lampung province, and other islands including Panaitan, as well as smaller offshore islets such as Handeuleum and Peucang in the Sunda Strait

Bahuda River

• Bahuda originates from the Ramgiri hills in Gajapati District (Odisha). It then passes through Ganjam District and enters Srikakulam District in Andhra Pradesh, where it drains into the Bay of Bengal.

Stockholm peace agreement

• The delegations from the two parties, the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah, in the ‘Stockholm Agreement’ to a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeidah.
• The parties have agreed to withdraw their troops from Hodeidah and for the port to be managed and monitored with UN support, which will enable the import of vital provisions to the country.
• The Stockholm Agreement also includes a prisoner exchange and steps towards a ceasefire in the city of Taiz.

Please go through this article (IMPORTANT) – https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/explainer-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-peace-agreement-on-yemen/article25782579.ece

Baikonur Cosmodrome:: Kazakhstan

Guiana Space Centre:: France

Woomera:: Australia

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/soyuz-spacecraft-launches-for-first-time-since-aborted-mission/article25663789.ece

All of them are bio-aerosols

Bioaerosols (short for biological aerosols) are a subcategory of particles released from terrestrial and marine ecosystems into the atmosphere. They consist of both living and non-living components including organisms, dispersal methods of organisms, and excretions.

Bioaerosols include fungi, bacteria, viruses, and pollen. Their concentrations are greatest in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and decrease with altitude. Survival rate of bioaerosols depends on a number of biotic and abiotic factors which include climatic conditions, ultraviolet (UV) light, temperature and humidity, as well as resources present within dust or clouds.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/bioaerosols-on-the-rise-in-the-city/article25814416.ece

House sparrow is listed as Least Concern in IUCN Red List.

It is not included in Schedule of Wildlife Protection Act.

• The house sparrow is widespread across the world, inhabiting every continent, except Antarctica, China and Japan.
• It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, and was introduced to South Africa, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, India and Central Asia, where its population thrived under a variety of environmental and climatic conditions.
• Within India, it is found throughout the country, up to the Assam valley and lower parts of the Assam hills. Towards the eastern Himalayas, the species is replaced by the Eurasian tree sparrow.
• It is known to stay close to human habitations, and is therefore among the most commonly found bird species in urban cities. Flocks of sparrows are a common sighting near residential colonies, gardens, farms, agricultural fields, office buildings, and even highways with fast-moving traffic.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/ganjam-takes-the-lead-in-house-sparrow-conservation/article25720676.ece

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103818789/129643357

Bioluminescence and biofluorescence are naturally occurring phenomena seen within certain animals, and generally involve the production or emission of light.

• Bioluminescence, or living light, is produced by a chemical reaction churning in the bodies of thousands of different organisms from terrestrial and marine environments around the planet.
• This remarkable “cold” reaction is highly efficient, so despite radiant results, it generates almost no heat – nearly 100% of the energy consumed in the reaction is given off as the signature “cold light” of glowing organisms.
• The illuminating phenomenon of bioluminescence is scattered across the tree of life
• Biofluorescence, on the other hand, is not a chemical reaction and biofluorescent organisms do not give off light from their own power source.
• Instead, biofluorescent organisms absorb light, transform it, and eject or “re-emit” it as a different color.
• When specialized fluorescent molecules are “excited” by high-energy light (like blue light), they lose a fragment of the light energy and release the rest at a lower-energy wavelength (like green).

It has been 200 years since the first human-to-human blood transfusion was carried out on a man suffering from carcinoma.

It was on December 22, 1818, when obstetrician James Blundell carried out the first human-to-human blood transfusion.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/blood-transfusion-200-years-on/article25867601.ece