PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS,22-SEPTEMBER-2017
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.
Cabinet approves Revamped Khelo India Programme
The Union Cabinet has approved the revamped Khelo India programme
at a cost of Rs.1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. This marks a
watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the Programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual
development, community development, economic development and national
development.
§ The revamped Khelo India Programme would impact the entire sports
ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification,
coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy.
Some of the salient features of the Programme include:
§ An unprecedented Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would
cover 1,000 most talented young athletes each year across select sports
disciplines.
§ Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual
scholarship worth Rs. 5.00 lakh for 8 consecutive years.
§ This is the first time ever that a long-term athlete development
pathway would be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in
competitive sports and will create a pool of highly competitive athletes who
can compete to win at the world stage.
§ The Programme aims to promote 20 universities across the country
as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to
pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
§ The Programme also aims at creating an active population with
healthy life-style.
§ The Programme would cover about 200 million children in the age
group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, which will not
only measure the physical fitness of all children in the age group, but also
support their fitness related activities.
§ This programme strives to promote “Sports for All” as well as “Sports for Excellence.”
Sources: pib.
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.
Cabinet approves Extension of time period of Udaan
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the
proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for extension of time period of the
Scheme “Special Industry Initiative for J&K” (Sll J&K)- Udaan till 31st
December, 2018 without any modification and cost escalation. Initially the time
period of Udaan was upto 2016-17.
About Udaan:
Udaan provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of
corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the
State. Udaan is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream
J&K youth with rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill
enhancement and job opportunity but also connects these bright youths from the
J&K with the vibrant corporate sector of India.
Performance of the scheme:
§ So far, 109 leading Corporate have partnered with National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC) under UDAAN with a commitment to train youth
from the State covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT,
ITES, Infrastructure, Hospitality etc.
§ So far, 34,587 candidates have been selected of whom 31,903
candidates have joined, 22,237 candidates have completed the training, 7,649
are undergoing training and 14,694 have been offered jobs.
§ In spite of four months of unrest, the scheme has gained a good
momentum and pace of implementation has been the best during FY 2016-17 since
its inception. More than 12,000 candidates had joined training and nearly
10,000 candidates were offered jobs. 140 mega selection drives were held so far
covering all districts of the State.
Sources: pib.
Topic: India and its neighbourhood-
relations.
‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’
The First ‘BIMSTEC
Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) will be conducted by
the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital
Region (NCR). This Exercise will be a platform for sharing Best Practices on
all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response
and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries.
Key facts:
§ Delegates from all seven nations of the ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative
for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC) grouping, –
namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand,
representatives from Embassies/High Commissions of BIMSTEC nations in Delhi,
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and Senior Officers from the
Nodal Ministries are participating in the event.
§ The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the
region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of
inter-Governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of
regional resources for disaster response.
§ It will help create synergy and synchronize efforts to
institutionalize regional cooperation among the member countries. The exercise
will help strengthen the effective utilization of the Search & Rescue Teams
for Disaster Relief & Emergency Response, including Emergency Rapid
Assessment Teams and Management of mass casualties especially in situations
involving breakdown of infrastructure and communication.
Background:
The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people,
constituting around 22% of the global population with a combined GDP of US $2.7
trillion economy. Majority of the BIMSTEC countries are situated in the South
Asian Region (SAR), prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones,
earthquakes, avalanches and drought.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and
global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
interests.
50 nations ink UN nuclear ban treaty opposed by big powers
Fifty countries recently signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, a
pact that the world’s nuclear powers spurned but supporters hailed as a
historic agreement nonetheless.
Background:
In July 2017, the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans and makes it illegal to possess,
use, produce, transfer, acquire, stockpile or deploy nuclear weapons. This was
the culmination of 10 years of preparation by many national and international
organizations. It was signed and approved by 122 of the 123 participant
nations, representing two-thirds of the nations in the UN. Interestingly, none
of the nuclear weapons nations participated.
About the treaty:
The treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related
activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture,
acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive
devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.
§ Under its terms, non-nuclear nations agreed not to pursue nukes in
exchange for a commitment by the five original nuclear powers the U.S., Russia,
Britain, France and China to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee
other states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.
§ This is the most significant multilateral development on nuclear
arms control since the adoption of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
in 1968. It has to be ratified by 50 countries to come into force.
Why is it being opposed?
Nuclear powers argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent against a
nuclear attack and say they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT). They said a purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not
address the security concerns which continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary
cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not
enhance any country’s security, nor international peace and security.
What supporters say?
Supporters of the treaty argue that new treaty will close a “legal
gap” that exists regarding nuclear weapons, which are not expressly outlawed by
the NPT even though their use would be contrary to the rules of international
law applicable in armed conflict. They argue that the CPNW initiative
reinforces the NPT and the requirement in Article VI for nuclear disarmament
and that it can reduce the salience nuclear weapons and help prompt more urgent
action to reduce nuclear risk and promote disarmament.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: Inclusive growth and issues
arising from it.
Peer-to-peer lending platforms to be treated as NBFCs
After a year or more of due-diligence, the RBI has notified that
peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms need to be regulated and treated on par
with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). In a notification, the RBI has
pressed the need for regulation of this segment, which is fairly nascent in
India with only 10-12 small players.
§ While the final guidelines are still awaited, P2P lending
platforms such as LenDen Club, Faircent, Qbera, Lendbox, Rupaiya Exchange and
Monexo are a relieved lot. The players, had themselves, been asking the apex
bank for regulations that would help bring credibility and trust into the
business.
What is P2P lending?
P2P lending is a form of crowd-funding used to raise loans which
are paid back with interest. It can be defined as the use of an online platform
that matches lenders with borrowers in order to provide unsecured loans. The
borrower can either be an individual or a legal person requiring a loan.
The interest rate may be set by the platform or mutual agreement
between the borrower and the lender. Fees are paid to the platform by both the
lender as well as the borrower. Borrowers pay an origination fee — either a
flat rate fee or as a percentage of the loan amount raised — according to their
risk category.
Challenges ahead:
At present, the biggest challenge in the sector, which could
disrupt the urban financial inclusion space, is that most of the players are
outside the formal credit rating and reporting process — a reason why lenders
and even several investors shy away from investing.
Way ahead:
At present, there are several players catering to different sets
of consumers, from young students to farmers. While the final regulatory
framework for P2P lenders is awaited, alternative lending platforms that
provide loan comparisons, consumer loans to buy household goods or commercial
loans are also seeking some guidelines.
Although nascent in India and not significant in value yet,
potential benefits that P2P lending promises to various stakeholders (to
borrowers, lenders and agencies) and its associated risks to the financial
system are too important to be ignored.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Issues related to direct and
indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System
objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and
food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Punjab okays crop loan waiver scheme
The Punjab government has given its nod to notify the crop loan
waiver scheme announced by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh in the State
Assembly earlier in June this year. The state Cabinet in its meeting has decided
that besides taking over the entire eligible loan amount of the farmers covered
by the debt waiver scheme, the government would also take over the outstanding
interest from April 1, 2017, till the date of notification.
§ The notification envisages that in case of marginal farmer (less
than 2.5 acres) the entire eligible amount of those farmers who have total
outstanding crop loan liability up to ₹2 lakh shall be provided as debt relief and in case of eligible
amount of more than ₹2 lakh, only₹2 lakh shall be provided as debt relief.
§ In case of small farmers (from 2.5 acres to less than 5 acres),
the entire eligible amount of those farmers who have total outstanding crop
loan liability up to ₹2 lakh, shall be provided as debt relief. The scheme will
directly benefit nearly 10.25 lakh farmers across the State.
Concerns:
According to the Economic Survey 2016-17 (Volume 2), the burden of
farm loan waivers could be as much as `2.2-2.7 lakh crore if all states start
offering the relief and would stoke short-term deflationary shock in the economy.
The survey estimates that loan waivers by all states could reduce aggregate
demand by as much as 0.7% of GDP. This is because the states funding the loan
waiver would have to prune spending and possibly raise taxes to improve revenue
and stick to their fiscal deficit limits, although private demands tends to get
a boost from the loan waivers. Even as the central government makes significant
efforts toward fiscal consolidation, the higher debt burden of the states could
push up general government debt.
Way ahead:
It appears that loan waiving can provide a short-term relief to a
limited section of farmers; it has a meagre chance of bringing farmers out of
the vicious cycle of indebtedness. There is no concrete evidence on reduction
in agrarian distress following the first spell of all-India farm loan waiver in
2008. In the longer run, strengthening the repayment capacity of the farmers by
improving and stabilising their income is the only way to keep them out of
distress.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Conservation, environmental
pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
A ‘Boat Lab’ to study Brahmaputra
The Centre plans to safeguard the fast-eroding Majuli island —
Asia’s largest riverine island — using research carried out on floating ‘B4’
boat labs along the Brahmaputra river.
Key facts:
§ ‘B4’ – the ‘Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat’, work on which will commence by December, will initially cover
the region from Pasighat, Dibrigargh, Neemati, Tejpur and Guwahati in the state
of Assam, said officials at the Department of Biotechnology. The department has
set aside Rs. 50 crore as an initial investment on the project.
§ The large barge (or boat) which will be set up on the river will
be a “well-equipped laboratory” with cold storage facilities for holding
samples, along with multiple satellite boats or rafts that will venture into
shallower and narrower parts of the river to lift samples.
§ The large boat with the permanent lab will be spread over two
floors and will go up and down the river. One floor will be dedicated to
scientists, while the other floor will be accessible to residents of the area
to learn about the eco-system. The idea is to study the changes caused by dams,
climate change, human interventions and the eventual effects it has on the
river eco-system.
§ The project will “constantly monitor” the impact of various
environmental and anthropological factors that affect the river and conduct
research to mitigate the effects.
§ The interdisciplinary focus, the work plan for which is developed
with IIT Guwahati as the nodal agency, will also aim at a thorough study of
freshwater resources of North East India. The integrated approach is aimed to
combine data, science and judgement that can impact policy.
Background:
Majuli, the first island district of the country, was once 1200
square kilometres but due to excessive erosion has since shrunk to under 500
square kilometres. It is also known for being the seat of Assam’s Vaishnava
monasteries. Despite supporting considerable biodiversity, the Brahmaputra has
not been studied as extensively as the Amazon.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Science and Technology-
developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievements
of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and
developing new technology.
India joins quantum computing race
Keen to tap into the next big advance in computing technology, the
Department of Science and Technology (DST) is planning to fund a project to
develop quantum computers.
What is quantum computing?
First proposed in the 1970s, quantum computing relies on quantum
physics by taking advantage of certain quantum physics properties of atoms or
nuclei that allow them to work together as quantum bits, or qubits, to be the
computer’s processor and memory. By interacting with each other while being
isolated from the external environment, qubits can perform certain calculations
exponentially faster than conventional computers.
How it works?
A quantum computer, still largely a theoretical entity, employs
the principles of quantum mechanics to store information in ‘qubits’ instead of
the typical ‘bits’ of 1 and 0. Qubits work faster because of the way such
circuits are designed, and their promise is that they can do intensive
number-crunching tasks much more efficiently than the fastest comparable
computers.
Way ahead:
Commercial production of quantum computers that would process
information faster than today’s supercomputers is still some time away. The
industry first has to solve hardware issues in quantum technology, according to
an expert. Quantum theory represents the smallest scales and shapes of matter,
describing the behaviour of subatomic particles like electrons, protons,
neutrons and photons.
Sources: the hindu.
Comments
Post a Comment