Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 4th August 2021

What : Project to maintain the prioritised  rural black-topped roads in motorable condition in Karnataka

By : Ministry of Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Karnataka

Details :

• There is 56,325 km of rural black-topped roads in the State
• 24,246 km have been identified as priority village roads
• Selection is based on connectivity to agricultural markets, public health centres, educational institutions, and gram panchayats
• Prioritisation of roads for reconstruction would be done based on the Road Condition Index (RCI), which will be taken up using technologies such as drones or by running trucks fitted with equipment on the roads
• This will  ensure improvement of rural living conditions, investment in rural areas, and overall social economic development of rural Karnataka

What is in news : The project languishes due to poor allocation of funds

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

About :

• Article 161 deals with the Pardoning Power of the Governor.
• The Governor-

• Can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishments or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
• Cannot Pardon a Death Sentence. (The President has the power of Pardon a death Sentence).
• Cannot grant pardon, reprieve, respite, suspension, remission or commutation in respect to punishment or sentence by a court-martial. However, the President can do so.

What is in news :  The Supreme Court recently held that the Governor of a State can pardon prisoners, including those on death row, even before they have served a minimum 14 years of prison sentence

Concern : Article 161 overrides provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure — Section 433A — which mandates that a prisoner’s sentence can be remitted only after 14 years of jail

What did court say :  Section 433A of the Code cannot and does not in any way affect the constitutional power conferred on the President/Governor to grant pardon under Articles 72 or 161 of the Constitution. Such power is in exercise of the power of the sovereign, though the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the State Government

SOCIAL ISSUES

What is in news : New Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) is likely to be conducted in 2021-22

Background : The Government has decided not to release the results of the all-India household Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), conducted during 2017-18, due to data quality issues.

What is the present status of poverty in India:

Consumer Expenditure Survey

• Time Interval: Traditionally, a quinquennial (recurring every five years) survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office - NSSO (comes under the National Statistical Office), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• Scope:
  • Collects information on the consumption spending patterns of households across the country, both urban and rural.
  • Information Generated
  • Reveals the average expenditure on goods (food and non-food) and services.
  • Helps generate estimates of household Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) as well as the distribution of households and persons over the MPCE classes.
• Significance in General
  • Helps in calculating the demand dynamics of the economy.
  • Helps in understanding the shifting priorities in terms of baskets of goods and services, thus provides pointers to the producers of goods and providers of services.
  • To assess living standards and growth trends across multiple strata.
• Significance for Policymakers
  • Analytical as well as a forecasting tool which helps the Government in planning required interventions and policies.
  • Spot and address possible structural anomalies that may cause demand to shift in a particular manner in a specific socio-economic or regional division of the population.
  • Rebase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other macro-economic indicators.

What is in news : The success of Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas scheme was recently discussed in Parliament.

Details :

• Government launched ‘Sabki Yojna Sabka Vikas’ campaign for inclusive and holistic preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP)
• Under Article 243 G of Constitution, Panchayats have been mandated for preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice. Thus, Panchayats have a significant role to play in the effective and efficient implementation of flagship schemes/programmes on subjects of national importance for transforming rural India.
• The approval of GPDP for the year 2021-22, well in advance, will provide GPs full year for implementation and effective monitoring of works. The States will, thus, be in full readiness for effectively utilising the resources available with them and other schematic interventions under GPDP during 2021-22.
• It will provide an effective strategy for ensuring the preparation of GPDP in a campaign mode by endeavouring to converge all resources available at Panchayat level related to 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

ECONOMY

What is in news : Central government has set loans disbursement target under PM Mudra Yojana (PMMY) at Rs 3 trillion for financial year 2021-2022.

About PM MUDRA

• Launched in April, 2015. The scheme’s objective is to refinance collateral-free loans given by the lenders to small borrowers.
• Banks and MFIs can draw refinance under the MUDRA Scheme after becoming member-lending institutions of MUDRA.
• Mudra Loans are available for non-agricultural activities upto Rs. 10 lakh and activities allied to agriculture such as Dairy, Poultry, Bee Keeping etc, are also covered.
• Mudra’s unique features include a Mudra Card which permits access to Working Capital through ATMs and Card Machines.

Location : Kargil

What is in news : Power Grid Corporation of India has commissioned a 40-kilometre transmission line successfully in Aryan Valley (Kargil district) of Ladakh

About National Grid :

• High-voltage electric power transmission network in mainland India, connecting power stations and major substations
• Owned, operated, and maintained by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India
• One of the largest operational synchronous grids in the world with 307.8 GW of installed power generation capacity.
• The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are not connected to the National Grid

HISTORY – ART - CULTURE

About :

• Indian freedom fighter
• Architect behind the design of Indian national flag
• Born : 1876
• Native : Andra Pradesh
• Also known as ‘Jhanda Venkaiah’
• Worked as lecturer in the Andhra National College in Machilipatnam.

What is in news : Birth Anniversary of Pingali Venkaiah celebrated

Evolution of National Flag :

• LALA HANS RAJ SONDHI suggested adding a spinning wheel — showing the independent Indian’s who can spin their own clothing from local fibres.

Venkayya raised the issue of having an own flag in every session of the Congress

• Met the Mahatma once again in Vijayawada and showed him his publication with the various designs of the flag.
• Acknowledging the need for a national flag, Gandhi then asked Venkayya to design a fresh one at the national congress meeting in 1921.
• Initially, Venkayya came up with saffron and green colours, but it later evolved with a spinning wheel at the centre and a third colour-white
• The flag was officially adopted by the Indian National Congress in 1931.

What is in news : Member nations of the International Monetary Fund have approved the injection of $650 billion SDR to help countries in dealing with mounting debt and economic fallout because of Covid-19 pandemic.

How reserves are allocated by IMF:

• Reserves are allocated to all the 190 members of IMF in proportion to their quota.
• 70 percent of the reserves is allocated to Group of 20 largest economies while 3 percent to low-income countries.
• 58 percent go to advanced economies out of which 42% is allocated to emerging and developing economies.
• Thus, out of $650 billion, $21 billion will go to low-income countries while $212 billion to other emerging market and developing countries.

Special drawing rights (SDRs)

• SDR, created in 1969, are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets which are maintained and defined by the IMF. SDRs are units of account for IMF but not a currency. They represent claim to currency held by IMF member countries.
• Who allocate SDRs: SDRs are allocated by IMF to countries. It cannot be held or used by private parties.

ABOUT IMF

• The IMF was formed after the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 in USA. The main function of IMF is to help members overcome balance of payments crisis.
• Structure:
  • Board of Directors - Annual meeting. 188 members. Country represented by its Finance minister or Central Bank governor.
  • Executive board -Daily work of executing decisions of Board of directors. 24 members [all elected], 19 elected by all and 5 "appointed" by Largest quota holders are USA, UK, Japan, Germany, France.
  • Managing director - 5 year term and reappointment possible. HQ - Washington.

• Delhi Cabinet has approved its policy to promote medical oxygen production and provide incentives to private sector to invest in production plants, tankers and storage facilities for medical oxygen.
• Researchers from the University of Delhi have named a newly discovered frog species after the former Vice-Chancellor and renowned plant geneticist Deepak Pental.The new species was discovered from the globally recognised Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot that extends along the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula.
• The Indian Econometric Society (TIES) Trust has selected two renowned economic scholars for the Prof. C.R. Rao Centenary Gold Medal award. The awardees are Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor of Economics, Law, and International Relations at Columbia University and Director of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies, and C. Rangarajan, former chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and former Reserve Bank Governor. The award consists of a gold medal and citation. The medal is presented once in two years to an Indian or Indian-origin scholar for lifetime contributions to the fields of theoretical and applied aspects of quantitative economics and official statistics.
• AICTE has come up with a unique AI tool which translates English language online courses into eleven different languages namely, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Assamese, Punjabi and Odia.
• UN General Assembly (UNGA) has approved a resolution on August 2, 2021 to establish a Permanent Forum of People of African Descent.