Daily Current Affairs 18th March 2020

Daily Current Affairs 18th March 2020 Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation

1. UIDAI CAN ISSUE NOTICE ON COMPLIANT.

2. ABORTIONS TILL 24 WEEKS FOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES.

3. EXPORT SECTOR STARTS FEELING PINCH OF CORONAVIRUS:FIEO.

4. FPI SALES AT A RECORD HIGH AS VIRUS SPOOKS MARKETS.

5. JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN.

UIDAI CAN ISSUE NOTICE ON COMPLIANT UIDAI: Unique Identification Authority of India is a statutory authority established on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.

The UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (Aadhaar) to all the residents of India.

The UIDAI was initially set up by the Government of India in January 2009, as an attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission.

Aadhaar

Aadhaar: Aadhaar means foundation, therefore it is the base on which any delivery system can be built.

Aadhaar can be used in any system which needs to establish the identity of a resident and/or

provide secure access for the resident to services/benefits offered by the system.

Aadhaar Seeding: ¡ This is the process of linking the Aadhaar in various beneficiary databases.

¡ Examples include linking of Aadhaar to the Bank Accounts, to Pension ID for Pensioners and to Job Card Number of NREGS Wage Seekers, etc.

Aadhaar bill 2016: The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was introduced by Minister of Finance, Mr. Arun Jaitley, in Lok Sabha on March 3, 2016.

The Bill intends to provide for targeted delivery of subsidies and services to individuals residing in India by assigning them unique identity numbers, called Aadhaar numbers.

Eligibility: Every resident shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number.

A resident is a person who has resided in India for 182 days, in the one year preceding the date of application for enrolment for Aadhaar.

Offences and penalties: A person may be punished with imprisonment upto three years and minimum fine of Rs 10 lakh for unauthorised access to the centralized data-base, including revealing any information stored in it.

If a requesting entity and an enrolling agency fail to comply with rules, they shall be punished with imprisonment upto one year or a fine upto Rs 10,000 or Rs one lakh (in case of a company), or with both.

Objectives: Aadhaar Act provides statutory backing to Aadhaar, through which the government plans for targeted delivery of subsidies and services by assigning unique identity numbers to individuals residing in the country.

The Aadhaar will help in better targeting of subsidies as leakage through impersonation and duplication of identities can be eliminated.

Salient provisions:

It has been made obligatory for a person to possess Aadhaar to receive various forms of state subsidy and assistance.

However, if a person does not have an Aadhaar number, the government will insist to apply for it, and in the meanwhile, provide alternative means of identification.

Biometric information and other biological attributes will be used only for the enrolment and authentication of Aadhaar.

It should not be shared or displayed publicly except for the purposes specified by regulations.

Two cases when the information of an individual are revealed: In the interest of national security: Directions for revealing information may be issued by a joint secretary in the central government.

In such cases, Aadhaar number, biometric information, demographic information and photograph are revealed.

Such decisions to reveal the information will be valid for six months and will be reviewed by an Oversight Committee consisting of Cabinet Secretary, Secretaries of Legal Affairs and Electronics and Information Technology.

On the order of a court: Aadhaar number, photograph, and demographic information may be revealed by a court’s order.

Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018: Supreme court verdict: It upheld Aadhaar but limited its use for only certain subsidies and schemes funded by the Consolidated Fund of India.

The court disallowed private companies from asking for Aadhaar for authentication.

The amendments now seek to work on some of the restrictions imposed by the court.

Objective: The Bill seeks to amend at least 27 sections of three existing laws. These are: The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 The most important changes are to (i) Allow children the chance to exit the Aadhaar ecosystem once they turn 18 years old Expand the scope of Aadhaar being used by entities that was restricted by the Supreme Court Create a UIDAI fund Provide legal backing for Aadhaar to be used voluntarily as proof of identity to open bank accounts and for mobile phone SIM cards Other amendments: In compliance with the SC’s order, only High Courts (not district courts) can ask for disclosure of Aadhaar-related information.

Only an officer of the rank of Secretary (not Joint Secretary, as earlier provisioned) can issue directions for such information in the “interest of national security”.

The changes have made provisions for the use of virtual IDs to conceal the actual Aadhaar number of an individual.

Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to use of Aadhaar by private entities has been omitted, as it was struck down by the SC. Why in News?

The government informed the Lok Sabha that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) might issue a show-cause notice on receipt of a complaint from “any person” or law enforcement agencies to ascertain if Aadhaar was procured through fraudulent means or by submitting false or fake documents.

In case the allegation is found to be correct, after a due inquiry, the Aadhaar number is omitted [cancelled] or deactivated [suspended].

As the case may be, in accordance with Regulations 27 and 28 of Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016.

ABORTIONS TILL 24 WEEKS FOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES: MTP ACT, 1971: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971 — a law that was considered ahead of its times — legalized abortion in India up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Based on certain conditions and when provided by a registered medical practitioner at a

registered medical facility.

Conditions under the MTP Act under which a pregnancy may be terminated are continuation of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health.

Also, substantial risk that the child, if born, would be seriously handicapped due to physical or mental abnormalities. pregnancy is caused by rape (presumed to constitute grave injury to mental health) and pregnancy is due to failure of contraceptive in a married woman or her husband (presumed to constitute grave injury to mental health).

Why is it important to amend the MTP Act 1971?

Abortion was legalised 50 years ago, yet 10 women die every year as a result of unsafe abortions – making unsafe abortions the third-leading cause of maternal deaths in the country.

Other barriers to safe abortion include the implementation of : The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).

The Pre-Conception Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT).

As result of which doctors hesitate to provide abortion services to women and young girls.

This denies the reproductive rights of women(as abortion is considered an important aspect of the reproductive health of women).

One of the criticisms of the MTP Act, 1971 was that it failed to keep pace with advances in medical technology that allow for the removal of a foetus at a relatively advanced state of pregnancy.

The original law states that, if a minor wants to terminate her pregnancy, written consent from the guardian is required. The proposed law has excluded this provision.

Note: Before 1971, abortion was criminalized under Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, describing it as intentionally ‘causing miscarriage’.

MTP ACT, 1971

MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020: Lok sabha has passed Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

Salient features of proposed amendments: Proposing requirement for opinion of one provider for termination of pregnancy, up to 20 weeks of gestation and introducing the requirement of opinion of two providers for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation.

Enhancing the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women which will be defined in the amendments to the MTP Rules and would include ‘vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, Minors) etc.

Upper gestation limit not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board. The composition, functions and other details of Medical Board to be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act. Name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorised in any law for the time being in force.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is for expanding access of women to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarianor social grounds.

The proposed amendments include substitution of certain sub-sections, insertion of certain new clauses under some sections in the existing Medical Termination.

MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020

Why in News?

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill to extend the upper limit for permitting abortions from 20 weeks to 24 under special circumstances.

The “special categories of women” include rape survivors, victims of incest, the differently abled and minors.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which seeks to amend the MTP Act, 1971.

Abortion laws around the world

EXPORT SECTOR STARTS FEELING PINCH OF CORONAVIRUS: FIEO FIEO:

Ministry: Ministry of Commerce The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), set up in 1965 under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce, as an Apex Body of Export Promotion Organisations and institutions in the country.

It is registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 with its Headquarters in Delhi and Regional Offices in Delhi.

FIEO has been serving as a platform of interaction between exporters and policy makers, and has been instrumental in promoting the efforts of Indian exporting community.

Objectives: The main objective of FIEO is to render an integrated package of services to various organizations connected with export promotion.

It functions as a primary servicing agency to provide integrated assistance to its over 20,000 members comprising professional exporting firms holding recognition status granted by the Government, consultancy firms and service providers.

Organisations like the Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, Export Development Authorities, Chambers of Commerce, Export Houses, Star Export Houses, Trading Houses, Star Trading Houses, Premier Trading Houses, Consultancy Organisations & Trade Associations constitute the membership of FIEO FIEO issues RCMC (Registration-cum-Membership-Certificate) to exporters.

It also issues Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) which is required by many countries as proof of origin of the goods.

In terms of the Foreign Trade Policy, FIEO has been designated as Registering Authority for status holder exporting firms, other exporters dealing in multi-products.

FIEO has signed over 75 MOUs with leading chambers across the globe to provide commercial information and marketing support to its members.

FIEO, the largest exporters organisation of the country has developed the Niryat Mitra App. Niryat Mitra APP: The app provides wide range of information required to undertake international trade from the policy provisions for export and import, applicable GST rate, available export incentives, tariff and market access requirements.

The app works internally to map the ITC (Indian Trade Clarification) HS (Harmonized Item Description and Coding System) code of other countries with that of India and provides all the required data without the users bothering about the HS code of any country.

The most interesting part is that all the information is available at tariff line.

It also makes available the export promotion programmes organised by FIEO and provides opportunity to the industry to participate in them, thus, helping and encouraging artisans, cottage, micro, small, medium enterprises to plan for exports.

Promoting Ease of Doing Business: The exports are showing good sign and registering increase at the rate of 20%.

The app will provide big opportunity to everybody and help promote export interests in the country.

The Human Resource tool of the app enables candidates with interest in the international trade sector to register and apply against the vacancies arising in the sector.

Companies can also search the profiles of the candidates and engage them.

Niryat Mitra APP

Why in News?

Exporters body FIEO said export sector has started feeling the pinch of the outbreak of coronavirus as international buyers are asking to hold back shipments.

Federation of Indian Export Organsations (FIEO) said they are expecting that in the coming days significant number of such requests would come which could eventually lead to cancellation of orders.

The MSMEs particularly in employment intensive sectors like carpets, handicrafts, apparels, footwear, gems and jewellery, and marine are likely to be worst affected particularly in the first

quarter of 2020-2021 as per the current trend.

FIEO

FPI SALES AT A RECORD HIGH AS VIRUS SPOOKS MARKETS FPI: · Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) is investment by non-residents in Indian securities including shares, government bonds, corporate bonds, convertible securities, infrastructure securities etc.

· The class of investors who make investment in these securities are known as Foreign Portfolio Investors.

· FPI is induced by differences in equity price scenario, bond yield, growth prospects, interest rate, dividends or rate of return on capital in India’s financial assets.

· As per SEBI regulations, FPIs are not allowed to invest in unlisted shares and investment in unlisted entities will be treated as FDI.

Who are Foreign Portfolio Investors? · Foreign Portfolio Investors includes investment groups of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) (Qualified Foreign Investors) and subaccounts etc.

· NRIs doesn’t comes under FPI.

· After the new SEBI guidelines, the RBI stipulated that Foreign Portfolio Investors include Asset Management Companies, Banks, Pension Funds, Mutual Funds, and Investment Trusts as Nominee Companies, Incorporated / Institutional Portfolio Managers or their Power of Attorney holders, University Funds, Endowment Foundations, Charitable Trusts and Charitable Societies.

· Sovereign Wealth Funds are also regulated as FIIs.

Who is a Foreign Institutional Investor? · FII is an institution like a mutual fund, insurance company, pension fund etc.

· According to SEBI, “an FII is an institution established or incorporated outside India which proposes to make investments in India in securities”.

· FII is an institution who is registered under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995.

· FIIs comprised of a pension fund, a mutual fund, investment trust, insurance company or a reinsurance company.

Who is a Qualified Foreign Investor? · QFI is an individual, group or association which is a resident in a foreign country.

· The QFI should compliant with the Financial Action Task Force standard and should be a signatory to the International Organisation of Securities Commission.

· The FIIs are big and hence they have the capacity to make large-scale investment.

· On the other hand, small investors and individuals under QFI category can’t match FIIs in terms of business volume. So, often when we hear about foreign investment in the share market.

Difference between Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): · FPI consist of securities and other financial like Bonds, Mutual Funds held by an investor in another country. It does not provide direct ownership of the asset and is relatively liquid. They are basically short term investors.

· FDI lets an investor purchase a direct business interest in a foreign country. They are long term investments.

Securities and Exchange Board of India: SEBI · Securities and Exchange Board of India is a government established in 1988 authority which controls the securities market in India.

· Indian Parliament passed SEBI Act 1992 in 1992 India which made SEBI a statutory body.

· SEBI functions to fulfill the requirements of the following three categories.

Issuers –It provides a marketplace in which the issuers can increase finance properly.

Investors –It ensure safety and supply of precise and accurate information.

Intermediaries –It enables a competitive professional market for intermediaries.

The headquarters of SEBI is situated in Mumbai.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE: Securities and Exchange Board of India is administered by its board of members. The board of SEBI consist of:

The Chairman by nominated by Government of India Two members from finance ministry One member from Reserve Bank of India Five members nominated by Union Government of India.

OBJECTIVES: To control activities of stock exchange To safeguard the rights of stockholders and also to guarantee the security of their investment

To avoid fraudulence by harmonizing its statutory regulations and self-regulating business.

To administer and develop guidelines for intermediaries.

Why in News?

Till date in March, FPIs have sold equity and debt cumulatively worth ₹67,306 crore, which is the highest ever witnessed in any single month, as per data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Further, while equity has seen the worst-ever monthly outflows of ₹36,217 crore till date in March, debt outflows at ₹31,982 crore is the highest in nearly seven years.

In June 2013, FPIs were net sellers at ₹33,135 crore in the debt segment.

Incidentally, some of the recent trading sessions have seen foreign investors sell shares or bonds close to $1 billion in a single day on the back of increasing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic that has made investors move away from riskier asset classes.

NSDL

NSDL: National Securities Depository Limited(NSDL) is an Indian central securities depository based in Mumbai.

It was established in August 1996 as the first electronic securities depository in India with national coverage.

National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) is an organisation which functions as the mediator of brokers and investors.

Axis Bank, Citibank, HDFC Bank, Dena Bank, Canara Bank are some of the authorised banks for NSDL. It was the brainchild of a national economic group that was focused on building a robust system to handle securities that are used in its dematerialized format in the Indian market.

NSDL and CDSL are the two apex depositories in India.

Just like banks take care of cash and deposits, they hold bonds, stocks etc for the shareholders in electronic form.

CDSL stands for Central Depository Services India Ltd. Difference between NSDL and CDSL:

NSDL/CDSL

BASIS FOR COMPARISON

NSDL

CDSL

Expands to

National Securities Depository Limited Central Depository Services Limited

Meaning NSDL is the first depository established in India, which ensures trading and settlement of securities in electronic form.

CDSL is the second largest depository in India, which facilitated book entry transfer of securities.

Key Promoters IDBI, UTI and NSE

BOB, BOI, SBI, HDFC and BSE

Market National Stock Exchange (NSE) Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Depository Participants 272

581

JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN The Ministry of Jal Shakti was established in May 2019 under Government of India.

Two ministries namely the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, as well as the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, were merged together to form the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

What is Jal Shakti Abhiyan?

The Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) is a time-bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign.

It will run in two Phases: Phase 1 from 1st July to 15th September 2019 for all States and Union Territories Phase 2 from 1st October to 30th November 2019 for States and UTs receiving the retreating monsoon The latter includes Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

Officers, groundwater experts and scientists from the Government will work together with state and district officials in India’s most water-stressed districts.

These are the 255 districts having critical and over-exploited groundwater levels.

The focus is on water conservation and water resource management by focusing on accelerated implementation of five target intervention.

It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS)that comes under the Jal Shakti Ministry.

The five important water conservation interventions are : 1.Water conservation and rainwater harvesting.

Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, Reuse of water and recharging of structure Watershed development and Intensive afforestation.

JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN

Why in News?

Palakkad ranked 219th in Jal Shakti Abhiyan despite more than 2,300 mm rain annually.

In water-rich Kerala — known to be a host to 44 rivers, streams and backwaters — Palakkad district bordering Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore has the most number of rivers, rivulets, ponds, dams and canals in the state.

It is also known as Kerala’s rice bowl, with beautiful sights of bright green paddy fields set against the backdrop of the Western Ghats.

The district, however, suffers an extreme water crisis, which led to it becoming a part of the Union government’s Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) initiative.

The initiative addresses the water and irrigation needs of 255 water-stressed districts across the country.

The Bharathapuzha River — once Kerala’s second-largest river — is now reduced to a trickle.

The river and its half a dozen feeders flow through Chittur and surrounding rain shadow grama

panchayats like Muthalamada, Thathamangalam, Kodumbu, Nenmara and Malampuzha.

The ground water level in the district has depleted alarmingly over the years.

Palakkad suffers more when Tamil Nadu releases less water from the Parambikulam-Aliyar project — violating provisions of the treaty.

Tamil Nadu — which gets water from the Bharathapuzha and Chalakudy river basins — is supposed to divert 7.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) to Palakkad every year, according to the agreement.

In the absence of Parambikulam-Aliyar water, people often prefer the easy way out by digging bore wells and drawing up the maximum ground water.

JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN

Dried up Bharathapuzha river basin in Chittur

Malampuzha Dam — the largest drinking water reservoir in Kerala built across Bharathapuzha — can meet needs only till April end. Only summer rains can help it meet the district’s needs after April.

WORD OF THE DAY Euthanasia: Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, act or practice of painlessly putting to deathpersons suffering from painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures.

Euthanasia

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ 1) In the context of cultural history of India, a pose in dance and dramatics called ‘Tribhanga’ has been a favourite of Indian artists from ancient times till today. Which one of the following statements best describes this pose? (a) One leg is bent and the body is slightly but oppositely curved at waist and neck (b) Facial expressions, hand gestures and make-up are combined to symbolize certain epic or historic characters

(c) Movements of body, face and hands are used to express oneself or to tell a story (d) A little smile, slightly curved waist and certain hand gestures are emphasized to express the feelings of love or eroticism 2) Annie Besant was responsible for starting the Home Rule Movement 2. the founder of the Theo-sophical Society 3. once the President of the Indian National Congress Select the correct statement/statements using the codes given below. (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 3) The Ilbert Bill controversy was related to the (a) imposition restrictions the Indians of certain to carry arms by Indians (b) imposition of restrictions on newspapers and magazines published in Indian languages (c) removal of disqualifications imposed on the Indian magistrates with regard to the trial of the Europeans (d) removal of a duty on imported cotton cloth

4)A rise in general level of prices may be caused by

an increase in the money supply a decrease in the aggregate level of output 3. an increase in the effective demand Select the correct answer using the codes given below. (a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

5)Which one of the following groups of items is included in India’s foreign-exchange reserves?

(a) Foreign-currency assets, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and loans from foreign countries (b) Foreign-currency assets, gold oldings of the RBI and SDRs (c) Foreign-currency assets, loans from the World Bank and SDRs (d) Foreign-currency assets, gold holdings of the RBI and loans from the World Ban