Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

NEWS : A recent study has found that though Karnataka was the first state to pass its EV policy (2017), it has fallen behind in adoption rates and consumer purchase incentives whereas New Delhi has shown a strong willingness to increase the share of EV two-wheelers, delivery services and taxis

WHAT DID THE REPORT SAY

• Researchers from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) looked into the readiness and capacity needs for EV adoption in four cities, including Bengaluru, and spoke to stakeholders to come up with a report which was released recently
• A team of researchers selected two big cities - New Delhi and Bengaluru - and two smaller ones - Guwahati and Panaji - to understand the factors that influence EV adoption and deployment at the city level
• While the Union government’s FAME [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India] scheme has increased EV market penetration to an extent, the additional incentives provided by the state governments in the four capital cities have acted as motivators.
• Since transport-related initiatives are not the city’s concern but are handled by the state instead, cities are unable to tap into localised decision-making potential and flexibility for EV encouragement
• Assessed the stage of the EV transition, physical/environmental attributes, economic characteristics, governance/policy interventions and innovation characteristics of the cities
• Against the overall score of 100, New Delhi came first with 72.3, followed by Bengaluru (57.1), Guwahati (30.5) and Panaji (30)
• Interestingly, Bengaluru scored 50% more than Delhi when it comes to readiness of the society to accept EV and was on a par with Delhi in innovation readiness. However, it fell short in categories like environmental readiness, which looks at the strategies to integrate the EV transition comprehensively in the city’s climate action plans.
• Bengaluru’s large geographical area, young population and need for last-mile linkages are factors to be considered for development of a unique transportation landscape that will impact strategies for transport electrification.

NEWS : NATGRID campus was inaugurated in Bengaluru recently

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE GRID(NATGRID)

• Integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India
• Intending to set up an Entity Extraction, Visualization, and Analytics (EVA) system
• First proposed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008
• Counter-terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including:
  • Tax and Bank account details
  • Credit card transactions
  • Visa and Immigration records
  • Itineraries of Rail and Air travel
• The combined data from will be made available to 11 Central Intelligence Agencies
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 5 February 2020 announced in Parliament that Project NATGRID with all its required physical infrastructures be completed by the end of March 2020

NEWS : Chief Minister of Karnataka has instructed officials to initiate measures to launch the Yeshasvini health insurance scheme on October 2

YESHASVINI SCHEME

• Launched in 2003
• Cooperative Health Care Scheme launched for farmers who are members of the Cooperative Societies
• MISSION : To bring health care of International Standards within the reach of every cooperative farmer of Karnataka. We are committed to the achievement &maintenance of excellence in health care for the benefit of farmer cooperator.
• From the year 2014-15 Yeshasvini Scheme has been extended to urban co-operatives.
• Implemented for the members of Rural and Urban Cooperative Societies and their families
• Annual contribution per person for Rural Societies for general category members and their family is Rs. 250/- & for SC/ST members is Rs. 50/- only and remaining amount of Rs. 200/- is subsidized by the Govt
• Whereas in Urban Yeshasvini Scheme general category members have to pay annual contribution of Rs. 710/- and SC/ST members have to pay Rs. 110/- the remaining amount of Rs.600/- will be subsidized by the Govt

SPECIAL FEATURES

• From a new born baby & to a person in his lifetime can become a member subject to the eligibility norms.
• Suffering from any kind of disease is no bar to avail the benefits of the scheme.
• Farmers have to be a member of a cooperative society for atleast 3 months to avail the benefits of the scheme.
• In Rural Yeshasvini Members can avail free surgery costing upto Rs.1.25 lakh and Rs.2.00 lakhs for multiple surgeries and In Urban Yeshasvini maximum limit of treatment per person for single admission is Rs. 1.75 lakhs & for multiple admission is Rs. 2.50 lakhs in the same year.
• 823 types of surgeries have been included in the Yeshasvini Scheme.

SPECIFIED MEDICAL EMERGENCY

• Drowning, dog bite, snake bite, bull gore injury, burns, electric shock accident from agricultural implements.
• Normal delivery.
• Neonatal Care.
• Angioplasty procedure.

NEWS : Governor of Tamilnadu has forwarded the NEET exemption Bill to the Union Home Ministry to be sent to the President of India for his assent

WHAT IS NEET

• Stands for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
• Single-level national exam carried out for medical aspirants enabling them to seek admissions to medical courses across different medical institutes of the country
• Carried out by NTA (National Testing Agency) every year under the guidance of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

WHAT IS THE BILL

• Exempts medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu from taking NEET examination for admission to UG degree courses in Indian medicine, dentistry and homeopathy
• Seeks to provide admission to such courses on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, through “Normalization methods”
• Aims to ensure social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated”

WHY IS TN OPPOSING NEET

• NEET undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS
• Favored mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society
• Not a fair or equitable method of admission
• Rural and urban poor may not be able to pursue medical courses

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

• Admissions to medical courses are traceable to entry 25 of Concurrent List, Schedule VII of the Constitution. Hence state is proposing the bill
• However if centre overrides the bill, it comes to end
• The question is whether the State government can exempt Section 10D of the IMC Act, which is a parliamentary law that falls under the Central List (Entry 66). Presidential assent is on his discretion

OPTIONS FOR PRESIDENT ON BILLS RESERVED BY GOVERNOR

• Give his assent to the bill, or
• Withhold his assent to the bill, or
• Direct the governor to return the bill (if it is not a money bill) for reconsideration of the state legislature.
• It should be noted here that it is not obligatory for the President to give his assent even if the bill is again passed by the state legislature and sent again to him for his consideration.

NEWS : Central Government reduced the wheat allocation to some states and UTs under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till September. However, the reduced wheat quota will be replenished with rice to keep the overall figure intact.

WHAT HAS GOVERNMENT SAID

• Decision follows record low wheat procurement expected this Rabi season
• Bihar, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh — will not receive any wheat for free distribution
• Wheat quota of eight other states — Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and West Bengal — has been reduced

PMGKAY

• World’s largest food security scheme
• Part of Atmanirbhar Bharat
• Supply free food grains to migrants and poor
• Announced as part of the first relief package during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Provided to all the beneficiaries under public distribution system (TPDS) for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and priority household (PHH) ration cardholders.
• Eligible beneficiaries will receive 5kg of foodgrains and 1 kg Gram per month.

NEWS : Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked lending (repo) rate by 40 basis points to 4.4% at an off-cycle meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

WHAT DID RBI-MPC SAY

• The move was to curb rising inflation
• Retained  ‘accommodative’ policy stance
• Raised the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.5% with effect from May 21 so as to drain surplus liquidity
• Decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4% within a band of +/- 2%

RBI MONETARY POLICY

RBI Monetary policy is a set of actions taken by a country’s central bank to manage the overall money supply and ensure long-term economic growth.

INSTRUMENTS OF MONETARY POLICY

Repo Rate	Rate at which Reserve Bank of India lends money to its customers in exchange for government assets
Reverse Repo Rate	Interest rate at which the RBI borrows funds from commercial banks
Liquidity Adjustment Facility	Interest rate set for unseen circumstances
Bank Rate	Price at which the Reserve Bank will buy or sell bills of exchange or other commercial papers
Cash Reserve Ratio	Minimum amount of public deposits held by commercial banks that must be maintained as determined by the Central BanK

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

• Established under section 45ZB of The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
• Met for the 29th time from June 2 to 4, 2021
• Committee chaired by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
• Established with the goal of setting the benchmark policy interest rate
• Consists of an internal team and a technical advisory group
• Central government-appointed
• Six-person committee (Section 45ZB of the amended RBI Act, 1934)
• Meets at-least 4 times a year
• A quorum of four members is required for the MPC meeting
• Each Monetary policy committee member has one vote, with the Governor having a second or casting a vote in the event of a tie.

NEWS : Char Dham Yatra commenced recently

DETAILS

• Holy tour in Uttarakhand
• Religous circuit covering Holy hindu pilgrimage centres of Badarinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
• All four temple shrines are located in Garhwal Himalayas range of Uttarakhand.
• Begins on Akshaya Tritiya,  and closes 2 days after Diwali

THE CHAR DHAM TEMPLES

Yamunotri	Temple is dedicated to River Yamuna (Hindu Goddess,Daughter of Sun God)
Gangotri	Devoted to Goddess Ganges (Most sacred River in India)
Kedarnath	Devoted to God Shiva One of the main jyotirling
Badrinath	dedicated to God Vishnu

NEWS : India has been ranked 150 in the recently released Press Freedom Index

DETAILS

• Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) or Reporters Without Borders.
• Based in Paris
• The Index ranks countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.

The parameters include 

• Pluralism
• Media independence
• Media environment and self-censorship
• Legislative framework
• Transparency
• The quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

NEWS : Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 was released recently

WHAT IS THERE IN THE REPORT

• Recorded deaths of 8.12 million Indians, 6.2% more than 2019.
• Normally, an unusual increase in deaths would be linked to the pandemic. However, in India, not all deaths are registered.
• Thus, a rise could simply be because of more families getting deaths registered.
• The CRS for 2021, which saw more Covid deaths, may not be out until next year.
• Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) based on registered events has been reported by Ladakh (1,104) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,011), A&N Islands (984), Tripura (974), and Kerala (969).
• The lowest sex ratio was reported by Manipur (880), followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (898), Gujarat (909), Haryana (916) and Madhya Pradesh (921).

NEWS : Cynthia Rosenzweig, NASA agronomist and climatologist, was awarded World Food prize

WORLD FOOD PRIZE

• International honour recognizing the achievements of individuals who have achieved human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world
• Presented by World Food Prize Foundation
• Recognizes contributions in any field involved in the world food supply. This includes plant, animal and soil science; food science and technology; nutrition, rural development among others
• Open to every individual without regard to race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs
• The award was conceived in 1987 by Dr Norman E. Borlaug. He was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in global agriculture. He is also known as the Father of the Green Revolution

INDIANS WHO WON WORLD FOOD PRIZE

• M.S. Swaminathan, the father of India’s green revolution was the first recipient of this award in 1987
• Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh, a global nutrition expert of Indian descent has won the prestigious 2021 World Food Prize

• Railway Protection Force has recently started “Operation Satark” with an objective of taking action against illicit liquor/FICN/illegal tobacco products/unaccounted gold/cash/precious items/ any other items being transported through railway network for the purpose of tax evasion/smuggling/commission of crime/acts of terror
• Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) is all set to propose a joint "Artificial Intelligence" ('AI') initiative on healthcare and sustainability