UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 26th June 2024

·       PSL is a lending requirement administered by the RBI, requiring banks to give a minimum proportion of their loans to sectors of development importance or the sectors that have difficulty of getting loans.

·       The RBI is periodically updating the sectors that are eligible to get priority sector lending and the limits of loans.

·       Similarly, the regulations identify institutions that are obliged to provide these loans.

The categories of priority sectors are as follows:

·       Agriculture

·       Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

·       Export Credit

·       Education

·       Housing

·       Social Infrastructure

·       Renewable Energy

·       Others

The targets under PSL:

·       Domestic SCBs and foreign banks with 20 branches and above: 40 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher.

·       Foreign banks with less than 20 branches: 40 percent of ANBC or CEOBE, whichever is higher; out of which up to 32% can be in the form of lending to exports and not less than 8% can be to any other priority sector.

·       Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks: 75 percent of ANBC or CEOBE, whichever is higher.

·       Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs): 40 percent of ANBC or CEOBE, whichever is higher, which shall be increased to 75 percent of ANBC or CEOBE, whichever is higher, with effect from FY2025-26.

·       Banks can meet their PSL obligations by extending loans, providing credit facilities, and offering financial products and services to individuals, entities, and enterprises in the priority sectors.

Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs)

·       PSLCs are certificates that are issued against priority sector loans for banks.

·       They allow banks to meet their targets and sub-targets when it comes to priority sector lending by buying the instruments.

·       The banks use PSLCs to guard against shortfalls.

·       The lending certificates also incentivize, through surplus, to lend more to priority sectors.

·       It is a ground breaking initiative launched in 2014 by the World Crafts Council AISBL (WCC-International) in recognition of the pivotal role local authorities, craftspeople, and communities play in cultural, economic, and social development worldwide.

·       It establishes a dynamic network of craft cities across the globe, aligning with the principles of the creative economy.

·       Under the World Craft City Programme, Jaipur (Rajasthan), Mammalapuram (Tamil Nadu) and Mysore (Karnataka) have been added as craft cities from India.

Some of the famous crafts from Srinagar

·       Papier-Mache: It refers to the art of making an object from mashed and molded paper pulp. The object so made is traditionally painted and usually covered with a layer of lacquer or varnish.

·       Pashmina: Shawls, Kani, Sozni: The Pashmina fabric, hand spun and hand woven, emerged from the picturesque landscape of Kashmir.

·       Sozni shawls: Sozni embroidery is one of such arts that have its origin into the geography of Kashmir. The word Sozni is a Persian derived word which means needle and sozankari, the needle work. The person who performs this craft is called the sozankar.

Key facts about World Crafts Council

·       It was founded by Ms.Aileen O.Webb, Ms.Margaret M.Patch, and Smt. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in 1964, as a non-governmental and non-profit organization.

·       The main objective of the World Crafts Council is to strengthen the status of crafts in cultural and economic life.

·       Aim: The Council aims to promote fellowship among crafts persons by offering them encouragement, help, and advice.

·       It fosters and assists cultural exchange through conferences, international visits, research study, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other activities.

·       Parent Ministry: Union Ministry of Home Affairs

·       It was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, as the need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised.

·       It was established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.

·       The NIA, with its headquarters in New Delhi, has 18 branch offices across the country.

What offences does the NIA regulate

·       It investigates and prosecutes offences related to explosive substances, atomic energy, nuclear weapons, unlawful activities, terrorist activities, hijacking, etc.

·       The NIA has the power to regulate any offence given in the Schedule of the NIA Act.

·       The NIA Act was amended in 2019 to enlarge the mandate of the NIA by inclusion of offences related to human trafficking, manufacture and sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

·       The agency is empowered to deal with terror-related crimes across states without special permission from the states.

·       It works under a written proclamation from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

·       A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the offences as contained in the schedule to the NIA Act.

·       The Central government can ask the NIA to take over the investigation of any scheduled offence anywhere across the nation.

·       According to the NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019, officers of the NIA will have the power to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries.

Powers:

·       NIA officers have the power to investigate scheduled offences and arrest people who are involved in such offences.

·       In relation to this, the officers of the NIA have all the powers, duties, privileges, and liabilities which ordinary police officers have while conducting an investigation.

·       The administration of the NIA lies with its Director-General (DF), who enjoys the same powers as a Director-General of Police.

·       While investigating any offence under the Act, the NIA can request a state government to associate itself with the investigation.

·       The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, was amended in 2019 to empower DG to seize/attach the properties related to proceeds of terrorism in cases being investigated by the NIA.

·       It is a salt lake located on the border between Tanzania and Kenya, part of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley.

·       It is a Ramsar site and has a unique composition of warm waters and salt, caustic soda, and magnesite deposits that provide ideal conditions for flamingos to thrive.

·       Primarily, the lake is fed by the Ewaso Ng’iro River, which originates from the central region of Kenya.

·       One of the most striking features of this Lake is its striking red coloration. The primary reason for its hue lies in its extreme alkalinity.

·       Threats: Several factors, including agriculture, pollution, and climate change, are threatening the beauty of this unique ecosystem.

Key facts about Great Rift Valley

·       It is one of the most extensive rifts on Earth’s surface that runs along part of East Africa. It is part of a larger feature called the East African Rift System (EARS).

·       It runs from Jordan in southwestern Asia to the coast of the Indian Ocean in central Mozambique.

·       It runs across many countries: Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.

Process to rename a state in India

Article 3 authorizes the Parliament to:

–       form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state;

–       increase the area of any state;

–       diminish the area of any state;

–       alter the boundaries of any state; and

–       alter the name of any state.

However, Article 3 lays down two conditions in this regard:

–       a bill contemplating the above changes can be introduced in the Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the President;

–       and before recommending the bill, the President has to refer the same to the state legislature concerned for expressing its views within a specified period.

The President (or Parliament) is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either accept or reject them.

Moreover, the Indian Constitution (Article 4) itself declares that laws made for alteration of names of existing states (under Articles 3) are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under Article 368.

Such laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process.