Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 25th August 2021

What is in news : Finance Minister, unveiled a four-year National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) scheme

Details :

• Scheme was launched with a Rs 6 lakh crore unlock value in brownfield projects.
• Engages the private sector.
• They will have the rights but not the ownership in projects.
• Scheme will be using the funds for infrastructure creation across India.
• Under the scheme, roads, railways and power sector assets would be comprising of more than 66 per cent of the total estimated value of the assets to be monetised.
• Rest of the estimated value will come from sector like mining, telecom, ports, aviation, natural gas, warehouses & stadiums and petroleum product pipelines.
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) are some of structures that will be used to monetise assets in roads and power sectors.

What is in news : Reserve Bank of India had appointed committee headed by N. S. Vishwanathan to make suggestions on structure for the urban cooperative banks (UCBs)

Details :

• Set up in February 2021
• Why - To suggest structure on the basis of deposits, prescribed different capital adequacy as well as regulatory norms for them with respect to their sizes.

Recommendations

• UCBs can be split into four categories
  • Tier-1- with deposits up to Rs 100 crore;
  • Tier-2 with deposits between Rs 100-Rs 1000 crore,
  • Tier-3 with deposits between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 10000 and
  • Tier-4 with deposits more than Rs 10000 crore.
• Minimum Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) for these tiers can vary between 9 per cent to 15 per cent.While, for Tier-4 UCBs Basel III prescribed norms can be followed.
• Separate ceilings for loan against gold ornaments, home loans and unsecured loans for different categories of UCBs.
• Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) should follow a twin-indicator approach. It can consider only asset quality and capital measured through NNPA and CRAR, rather than going with triple indicators approach at present.
• Consolidation of UCBs highlights that, RBI should be largely neutral to voluntary consolidation except where supervisory action is required. RBI should use the route of mandatory merger in to resolve UCBs that are not meeting with prudential requirements. It also suggests that, under Banking Regulation (BR) Act, RBI can come up with the scheme of compulsory amalgamation or reconstruction of UCBs.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

What is in news : The government launched a new geospatial planning portal called ‘Yuktdhara’ under Bhuvan

Details

• Will help in facilitating new MGNREGA assets with the help of remote sensing as well as geographic information system-based data.
• Serve as a repository of geotags that have been created under several national rural development programmes such as MGNREGA, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Per Drop More Crop etc along with field photographs.
• Integrates several thematic layers and multi-temporal high resolution earth observation data with the analysis tools. Using these tools, planners will be able to analyse previous assets under schemes and would facilitate in identifying new works using online tools.
• Yuktdhara-based plans would be prepared by grassroot functionaries. Plans would later be verified by appropriate authorities for the purpose of relevance and resource allocation.
• The name Yuktdhara is very apt. Word ‘Yukt’ has been derived from Yojanam, the planning while ‘Dhara’ indicates the flow.
• Launch of the portal is culmination of joint efforts of ISRO and Ministry of Rural development towards realising the requirement of G2G service for rural planning in order to support the decentralized decision making.

Geoportal Bhuvan

• Rich information base of ISRO
• Provides satellite images and analytical capabilities
• Has thus become a de-facto geospatial platform for several developmental planning activities across India

DEFENCE

What is in news : The S-400 air defence systems deal, for which deliveries are scheduled to begin in a few months, was on schedule said Russia

Details :

• The S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia.It is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLR SAM) in the world, considered much ahead of the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD).

Issues associated :

• Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)‘s core objective is to counter Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures.
• Enacted in 2017.
• Includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors.

What is in news : India pitched its indigenously built fighter aircrafts at the International Military-Technical Forum ‘ARMY-2021’ in Moscow.

Details :

• DRDO from India’s pavilion will display advanced defence technologies and along with Indian Defence Industries like Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Ordnance Factories.
• Aircrafts like Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, LCA Tejas and Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK1A) were showcased at ARMY-2021.
• Other aircrafts include- 8x-gun with longest range of 48 kilometers, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C), Arjun Tank mark 1A, Surveillance Radar Rohini, Helina & Nag, Fire control radar, Akash missile and Carbine JVPC.
• Aim-making people aware that India can export such defence systems. Some business deals will also be started on the basis of past exhibitions.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

• Under the Department of Defence Research & Development in Ministry of Defence, conducts research and development for military. It is headquartered in Delhi.
• Established in 1958 by merging Technical Development Establishment, Directorate of Technical Development and Production of Indian Ordnance Factories with Defence Science Organisation.
• Is developing several advanced technologies and systems in the fields of missiles, Light Combat Aircraft, Main Battle Tanks, Radars, Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher, Missile-based Air Defence System, life sciences related products and Naval Systems.

HISTORY-ART-CULTURE

What is in news : The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Sree Narayana Guru on his Jayanti.

SHRI NARAYANA GURU

• 1856 – 1928
• Social reformer
• Credited with transforming the social fabric of kerala and changing the beliefs of keralites in ways unimaginable at that point in time.
• Born into an Ezhava family in an era when people from such communities, which were regarded as Avarna, faced much social injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala.
• Led a reform movement in Kerala, rejected casteism, and promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality.
• Stressed the need for the spiritual and social upliftment of the downtrodden by their own efforts through the establishment of temples and educational institutions.
• In the process, he denounced the superstitions that clouded the fundamental Hindu cultural convention of caste.
• Preached the ‘oneness’ of humanity, crossing the boundaries of caste and creed.
• In 1888, he installed an idol of siva at Aravippuram in Kerala in his effort to show that the consecration of god’s image was not a monopoly of the brahmins. This is popularly known as Aravippuram movement.
• In one temple he consecrated at Kalavancode, he kept mirrors instead of idols. This symbolised his message that the divine was within each individual.
• Founded an Advaita Ashram in Kalady.
• Lent his support to the Vaikkom Satyagraha which was aimed at temple entry in Travancore for the lower castes. Mahatma Gandhi met Guru during this time.

SNIPPETS

• O. Chandrasekharan, a defender in one of India’s finest football teams, passed away
• Indian naval ship (INS) Shakti reached Sri Lanka on August 22, 2021 carrying 100 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in a bid to help the island nation in combating the Covid-19 pandemic