Fortnightly October 16-31.Pdf
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1. ECONOMY 1. CPI-IW Base Year Revised to 2016 04 2. Interest-on-interest waiver to cost Exchequer ` 7,500 Crore 06 1.1. ECONOMY SNIPPETS 1. MACS 6478 08 2. Comparison of India and Bangladesh’s GDP 09 3. Heeng Cultivation Project 11 2. ENVIRONMENT 1. Microbes to Fight Oil Spillage in Oceans 13 2. Emission of N2O 14 3. Seagrass in Gulf of Mannar 16 2.1. ENVIRONMENT SNIPPETS 1. Madhuca Diplostemon Tree 18 2. Bioremediation Mechanism 18 3. Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin 19 4. Skinks 20 5. National Authority for Recycling of Ships 21 6. Flash Flood Warning System for South Asian Countries 22 7. Habitat decline for Himalayan brown bear by 2050 23 8. Active Zone of Himalayas 25 9. Typhoon Molave 26 3. POLITY & GOVERNANCE 1. Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act 27 2. Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna 28 3. MSP, Government procurement key to India’s food security, says PM 31 4. EC to Kaleshwaram Given in Violation of law, Says NGT 32 5. Government increases Poll Spend Ceiling by 10% 34 6. Demand for Repeal of UAPA 36 7. Parliament Panel Mulls action against Amazon 37 8. Outsiders can buy Land in Jammu and Kashmir 39 9. CPCB flags Pollution Control at Railway Stations 40 www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 1 | P a g e 10.NAFED to Import Onions 41 3.1. POLITY & GOVERNANCE SNIPPETS 1. Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) 43 2. Digital Media Regulation 44 3. Assam-Mizoram 45 4. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 46 5. Ayushman Sahakar Scheme 48 6. Adopt an Animal Scheme 49 7. DRDO Procurement Manual 2020 50 8. Affordability of Nutritious Diets in Rural India 51 9. Productive-Linked Incentive Scheme 52 10. Assam-Mizoram, and the other boundary issues in the Northeast 53 11. Integrated Theatre Commands 56 12. Indira Rasoi Yojana 57 13. Kisan Suryodaya Yojana 57 14. Seaplane service in Gujarat 59 15. Child Care Leave 60 16. Model Code of Conduct in Elections 60 17. Kumhar Sahatikaran Yojana 62 18. Annual State of Education Report (ASER) Survey 63 4. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1. Road to Zero Hunger 65 2. PLACID Trials 67 4.1. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SNIPPETS 1. Holographic Imaging Method 68 2. Anti-ulcer drug shows promise in suppressing coronavirus 69 3. Anti-Tank Guided Missiles 70 4. SLINEX-20 71 5. OSIRIS-REx Mission 72 6. INS Kavaratti 73 www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 2 | P a g e 7. Monoclonal Antibodies 73 8. World Polio Day 2020 74 9. Earth Observation Satellite EOS-01 76 5. ART AND CULTURE & MISCELLANEOUS 1. Non-Aligned Movement 78 5.1. ART AND CULTURE & MISCELLANEOUS 1. Nazca Line 79 2. Kochi-Muziris Biennale 80 6. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. International Solar Alliance 82 2. India fares poorly in Global Hunger Index 84 3. China passes new law Restricting Sensitive Exports 86 4. New START Treaty 87 5. Pakistan to Remain on ‘FATF Greylist’ till 2021 88 6.1. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SNIPPETS 1. Geneva Convention 90 2. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 91 3. Yellow dust from China could spread COVID: North Korea 92 4. Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) 93 www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 3 | P a g e 1. ECONOMY 1. CPI-IW Base Year Revised to 2016 Why in News? • Recently, the Ministry of Labour and Employment released the new series of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Worker (CPI-IW) with base year 2016. About CPI-IW: • The CPI-IW is mainly used for determining dearness allowance (DA) paid to central/state government employees and workers in the industrial sectors besides measuring inflation in retail prices, fixation and revision of minimum wages in scheduled employments. • CPI-IW is compiled and maintained by the Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment. • The new series of CPI-IW with base 2016 has replaced the existing series with base 2001. • Earlier, the series were also revised from 1944 to 1949; 1949 to 1960; 1960 to 1982 and 1982 to 2001. Key Facts Regarding the New Series: • The new series with base year 2016 covers the latest consumption pattern of the target population. • It gives more weightage to spending on health, education, recreation and other miscellaneous expenses, while reducing the weight of food and beverages. • The weight of spending on housing and clothing increased from 15.2% to 17%. • The weight of miscellaneous items, like education and health rose to 30.31% from 23.26%. • The weight of food and beverage was reduced from 46.2% to 39% and indicates an increase in Disposable Income. • The number of markets and the sample size for working class family income and Expenditure surveys were Increased. • The sample size was increased from 41,040 families to 48,384; also the number of selected markets for collecting retail price data was increased from 289 to 317. • The number of items in the index basket has increased to 463 items as against 392 items in the 2001 series. • The Labour Bureau is also working towards revising the index Every Five Years. www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 4 | P a g e What are its Effects? • The new series would not have an immediate impact on the dearness allowance (DA) as the government has freezed biannual hike in dearness allowances since January 2020 to offset the financial implications on the exchequer during the coronavirus pandemic. • The DA, a component of salary, is revised every six months to keep pace with the inflation rate. • For private sector workers, the central government and most states increase the variable DA component of minimum wages twice a year based on the CPI-IW inflation numbers. • However, the change in base year will certainly have an effect on DA calculation by June 2021, when the freezing on DA will come to end. About Consumer Price Index (CPI): • It measures price changes from the perspective of a retail buyer. It is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). • The CPI calculates the difference in the price of commodities and services such as food, medical care, education, electronics etc, which Indian consumers buy for use. • The CPI has several sub-groups including food and beverages, fuel and light, housing and clothing, bedding and footwear. • At present, India has five consumer price indexes (CPIs), three of which are working-class specific. These are: ✓ CPI for Industrial Workers (IW). ✓ CPI for Agricultural Labourer (AL). www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 5 | P a g e ✓ CPI for Rural Labourer (RL). • These three indexes are compiled by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. • CPIs AL and RL are used to fix minimum wages of agricultural labourers and rural unskilled employees. • The Labour Bureau is also expected to bring out the new series of the CPI- AL/RL, which currently has the base year of 1986-87 by August 2021. • The other two are CPI-Urban and CPI Rural. These two indexes are compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. • The combined rise in retail prices is captured by CPI Combined. • A committee set up by the National Statistical Commission (NSC) in 2005 under the recommendation of Dr C Rangarajan Commission, has suggested that CPI-Rural and CPI- Urban could be a substitute for CPI-AL/RL and CPI-IW, respectively. Way Forward: • The new series will serve as a useful reference book for researchers, academicians, scholars and all other stakeholders of CPI-IW. • The improvements made in the new series will make it more comparable at international level. It will help in measurements of macroeconomic indicators of the Indian economy. • As per the recommendations of International Labour Organisation (ILO), Index Review Committee (IRC) and National Statistical Commission (NSC); the base year of price index numbers should be revised at frequent intervals generally not exceeding 10 years to reflect the changes that take place in the Consumption Pattern of Consumers. 2. Interest-on-interest waiver to cost Exchequer ` 7,500 Crore Why in News? • An analysis by CRISIL Ratings showed that more than 40% of system credit and 75% of borrowers stand to benefit from interest-on-interest Concession Announced by the Government. About the News: • Recently, the Government of India has announced the scheme for the waiver of compound interest that was payable by the borrower who had opted for loan moratorium between 1st March 2020, and 31st August 2020. www.iasgatewayy.comwww. Vetriiias.com / www.iasgatewayy.com Daily044 Current-26265326/9884421666/9884472636 Affairs | Monthly Magazines | Online Tests 6 | P a g e • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in March 2020 offered a three-month moratorium on loans, enabling borrowers to defer repayments on EMIs and other loans. This was later extended by another three months, till 31st August 2020. • The loan moratorium, and waiver of compound interest, was aimed at providing borrowers relief amid the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. • It indicated that the ex-gratia payment of interest-on-interest by banks and non-banking financial companies for the moratorium period (between March 1 and August 31) would amount to ` 7,500 crore of benefit for eligible borrowers.