Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 2nd August 2021

DEEMED FOREST IN KARNATAKA

What is in news : Forest minister of Karnataka recently announced in the Assembly that the government will reduce the original extent of deemed forests from 10 lakh hectares to 3.3 lakh hectares.

DEEMED FOREST

• Deemed Forests - Land Tracts that appear to be a “forest”, but have not been notified so by the government or in historical records
• No law including  the Forest Conservation Act 1980 does not properly define Deemed forest.
• In the T N Godavarman Thirumalpad case 1996, the Supreme Court (SC) accepted a wide definition of forests under the Act and held that the word ‘forest’ must be understood according to its dictionary meaning.
• The freedom to define which tracts of forest qualify as forest has been the prerogative of States since 1996.

Deemed forest in Karnataka :

• An expert committee constituted by the state government identified ‘deemed forests’ as:
  • Land having the characteristic of forests irrespective of the ownership.
  • Thickly wooded areas of the Revenue Department, not handed over to the Forest Department.
  • Thickly wooded areas recommended to be handed over to the Forest Department.
  • Thickly wooded land distributed to grantees but not cultivated.
  • Thickly wooded plantations of the Forest Department.
  • Land Coverage: The expert committee reports in 1997 and 2002 identified 43.18 lakh hectares of forest land for conservation in Karnataka, which included 33.23 lakh hectares notified forest area as per forest records and 9.94 lakh hectares ‘deemed forests’.

What is in news : The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has promised in its manifesto that maternity as well as paternity leave in Tamil Nadu would be extended to 12 months.

What does it signifance : The inclusion of husbands in this conversation is incumbent. Both the mother and newborn are vulnerable for the first 12 weeks. Getting used to breastfeeding takes at least 14 days. Therefore, assistance from the partner is indispensable during this time.

Breastfeeding :

UNICEF states that “breastfeeding is among the most effective ways to protect maternal and child health and promote healthy growth and optimal development in early childhood.”

Benefits -

• Greater immunity for children against infection, allergies, cancers and obesity
• Improves brain maturation
• Promotes faster weight loss after birth, reduces postpartum bleeding, and protects her against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis

Facts :

• The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) was established in 1991 to create awareness about the importance of breastfeeding.
• In 1992, WABA in coordination with UNICEF introduced World Breastfeeding Week during the first week of August every year.
• India enacted the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods Act in 1992 with stringent regulations.
• The Lancet show that more investment in breastfeeding could add $300 billion to the global economy and prevent about 8,20,000 child deaths every year.

What is in news : This Union cabinet has recently approved a Reforms-based and Results-linked, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.

Details :

• Subsumes -
  • Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)
  • Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)
  • Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY)
  • Prime Minister's Development Package (PMDP) 2015 for the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh.
• DISCOMs (Power Distribution Companies) submit detailed project reports (DPRs) on how they plan to reduce their operational losses to avail of funding by 31 December 2021
• Providing conditional financial assistance to DISCOMs for strengthening of supply infrastructure
• Improving electricity supply for the farmers and for providing daytime electricity to them through solarization of agricultural feeders
• Enable consumer empowerment by way of prepaid Smart metering to be implemented in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode
• Artificial Intelligence would be leveraged to prepare system generated energy accounting reports

What :

• Nation-wide adaptive scuba diving programme for people with disabilities as well as the able-bodied.
• Initiative in which a group of armed forces veterans train sports enthusiasts in survival training and self-defence.

What is in news : Government of India has accorded sanction to Team CLAW to lead a team of people with disabilities to scale Siachen Glacier and create a new world record for the largest team of people with disabilities.This is the land world record expedition part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom Triple World Records’ being undertaken.

Team CLAW:

• Team CLAW (Conquer Land Air Water) is a team of ex-Indian Special Forces commandos.
• Generally, all are either from Indian Army Para Commandos or the Naval Marine Commandos, also known as the MARCOS.
• These veterans have multiple specialisations - not just in combat but also in other elite skills such as skydiving, scuba diving, mountaineering, emergency medical response and all-terrain survival amongst others.
• The initiative was taken by Major Vivek Jacob, a Para (Special Forces) officer.

ECONOMY

What : Electronic voucher based digital payment system

Developed by : National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

What is in news : Was launched by PM recently

How does it work :

• Connect the sponsors of the services with the beneficiaries and service providers in a digital manner without any physical interface
• Cashless and contactless digital payments medium, which will be delivered to mobile phones of beneficiaries in form of an SMS-string or a QR code
• Essentially be like a prepaid gift-voucher that will be redeemable at specific accepting centres without any credit or debit card, a mobile app or internet banking
• How will these vouchers be issued: NPCI on its UPI platform has onboarded banks that will be the issuing entities

Process :

• Any corporate or government agency will have to approach the partner banks, which are both private and public-sector lenders, with the details of specific persons and the purpose for which payments have to be made.
• The beneficiaries will be identified using their mobile number and a voucher allocated by a bank to the service provider in the name of a given person would only be delivered to that person.

Significance of e-RUPI

• Leak-proof delivery of welfare services
• Can also be used for delivering services under schemes meant for providing drugs and nutritional support
• Private sector can leverage these digital vouchers as part of their employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programmes
• Potentially highlight the gaps in digital payments infrastructure that will be necessary for the success of the future digital currency.

What is Inflation - Inflation is the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over time.

Post pandemic inflation causes in India :

• High commodity prices and high asset price inflation caused by ultra-loose monetary policy followed across the globe
• Low market capitalisation compared to a developed capital market such as that of the U.S
• Less access to financial assets by middle and lower-middle-class
• Essential goods have increased in cost due to scarce supply because of  supply chain bottlenecks especially petrol. It should be noted that increase in fuel prices will also lead to a rise in wages demanded as the monthly expense of the general public increases. This leads to the dangerous cycle of inflation and depleting growth.
• Rising non-performing assets

Way forward :

• Policy those focus on removing policy bottlenecks
• Strengthening the framework to deal with bankruptcies
• Improve public infrastructure investment
• Support the marginalized

What is in news : A call for Restructuring National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) as Autonomous Body has been done

About NMET :

• Set up under The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
• Aim - Realize the mineral potential of the country in terms of mining activity and contribute commensurately to the growth of national economy.

NMET FUND: holders of Mining Lease and Prospecting Licence-cum-Mining Lease make payments equivalent to 2% of royalty, for minerals under second schedule of the Act, as NMET contribution simultaneously with payments of the royalty. It is being put to various use

What is in news : The Ministry of Ayush has collaborated with the U.K.’s London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to conduct a study on ‘Ashwagandha’ for promoting recovery from COVID-19.

About Ashwagandha :

• Commonly known as ‘Indian winter cherry’
• Traditional Indian herb that boosts energy, reduces stress and makes the immune system stronger
• An easily accessible, over-the-counter nutritional supplement in the U.K. and has a proven safety profile
• Positive effects of ‘Ashwagandha’ have been observed in long COVID-19.
• First time the Ministry of Ayush has collaborated with a foreign institution to investigate its efficacy on COVID-19 patients

• The Samadhi (tomb) of the 16th-century poet-philosopher Sarvajna, and the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple and stone inscriptions at Masuru in Haveri district have remained submerged in Kumudwati river following sharp showers
• Acoustics designer of Vidhan Soudha Mukundan recently passed away
• Indian shuttler PV Sindhu  defeated He Bing Jiao of China to win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
• Pakistani authorities have finalised a law to award provisional provincial status to strategically located Gilgit-Baltistan,
•  “Muslim Women Rights Day” was observed by different organisations across the country on August 1. It highlights the passage of Triple Talaq bill
• Commercial services on the Haldibari-Chilahati railway link between India and Bangladesh, which had been defunct for over 50 years, commenced recently with a goods train travelling to Bangladesh .The restored rail link was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on December 17, 2020