Daily Current Affairs 03-01-2024

No Tsunami Threat to India

Syllabus:GS1/Geography

Context

• Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) stated that there is no tsunami threat to India following the Tsunami in Japan.

What is a tsunami?

• Tsunami (a Japanese word that means “harbor wave”) is a series of giant ocean waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the ocean. 
• The formation of a tsunami can depend on a host of factors, including the shape of the ocean floor, and the earthquake’s distance and direction.
• The speed of a tsunami depends on the depth of the water it is traveling through. The deeper the water; the faster the tsunami. 

Causes of Tsunami

• Earthquake: When an earthquake takes place under the ocean, a large chunk of the ocean floor can suddenly move upward or downward, leading to a sudden displacement of a large volume of water, thereby causing tsunami waves.
• Volcano eruption: When a volcano erupts in the ocean, the lava flowing out of the volcano displaces the water around it and that water can become a large wave.

How are tsunamis detected?

• Seismic Networks: When an earthquake occurs, seismic networks provide information about an earthquake’s location, depth, magnitude, and other source characteristics.
  • The warning centers analyze this information to determine if the earthquake could have generated a tsunami and if a tsunami message is necessary.
• Water-Level Networks: If an earthquake meets certain criteria, the warning centers turn to water-level information, looking for changes in water-level height that could indicate the existence and size of a tsunami.
  • The primary sources of information about water-level change are a network of Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) systems and an extensive array of coastal water-level stations.

Consequences of Tsunami

• Loss of Life: Tsunamis can cause significant loss of life, especially in densely populated coastal regions.
  • In 2011, Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a resulting tsunami which  killed around 18,000 people
• Major Accidents: The 2011 tsunami in Japan led to a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, causing one of the most severe nuclear accidents.
• Displacement of Communities: People living in coastal areas are forced to evacuate or relocate which can lead to temporary or long-term homelessness and strain on resources.
• Infrastructure Disruption: Tsunamis can damage critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports, and utilities, disrupting transportation and communication networks. 

Why is Japan prone to earthquakes and tsunamis?

• Japan is situated along the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, which is the most active earthquake tectonic belt in the world. 
• The ‘ring’ refers to “an imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur,”
• Within the Ring of Fire, there are different tectonic belts, including the Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate, and Indo-Australian Plate, which keep meshing and colliding with each other, causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) – INCOIS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is a unit of the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO). – ESSO-INCOIS was established in 1999 under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is located in Hyderabad. – Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) is also housed in the INCOIS. – Mandate: To provide the ocean information and advisory services to society, industry, government agencies and scientific community through sustained ocean observations and systematic and focussed research.

Source:IE

Savitri Bai Phule & Rani Velu Nachiyar

Syllabus: GS1/Indian History, Personalities

Context

• The Prime Minister of India paid tributes to social reformer Savitri Bai Phule & Rani Velu Nachiyar on their Jayanti.

Savitribai Phule (3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897)

• She was a woman from the Mali Community and went on to become an educator, a challenger to caste hierarchies and barriers, and a writer.
• Married Jyotirao Phule at an early age.
• At a time when it was considered unacceptable for women to even attain education, she with her husband went on to open a school for girls in Pune, in 1848. 

• This became the country’s first girls’ school.
• They opened more such schools for girls, Shudras, and Ati-Shudras (the backward castes and Dalits, respectively) in Pune, leading to discontent among Indian nationalists like Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 
• Major Contributions:
  • Social Reformer:  Along with Jyotirao, Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (Home for the Prevention of Infanticide) for pregnant widows facing discrimination.
  • Savitribai Phule advocated inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage, and eradication of child marriage, sati, and dowry systems, among other social issues.
  • Satyashodhak Samaj: In 1873, the Phule’s set up the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-seekers’ society), a platform open to all, irrespective of their caste, religion or class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social equity.
    • Satyashodhak Marriage, as an extension, started with the aim of rejecting Brahmanical rituals where the marrying couple takes a pledge to promote education and equality.
  • Relief work during famine and Bubonic plague: Savitribai became involved in relief work during the 1896 famine in Maharashtra and the 1897 Bubonic plague. 
  • Literary Works: Savitribai Phule published her first collection of poems, called Kavya Phule (Poetry’s Blossoms), at the age of 23 in 1854.
    • She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (The Ocean of Pure Gems) in 1892.

Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796)

• She was the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India.
  • She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai.
• Early Life: She was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of Raja Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandhimuthal of the Ramnad kingdom.
• Skills Acquired: She was trained in war to match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using a stick), horse riding, and archery.
  • She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English and Urdu.
• Marriage: She married the king of Sivagangai.
• Succession: She succeeded her husband in 1780 and granted powers to the Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780. 

Source: PIB

Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS)

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance

In Context

• Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) payments are made mandatory through an Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS).

What is the Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS)?

• Under ABPS, workers’ 12-digit Aadhaar numbers are linked with their job cards as well as their bank accounts. 
• ABPS uses the worker’s Aadhaar number as their financial address. 
• Aadhaar must be mapped with the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) database; and finally, the bank’s institutional identification number must itself be mapped with the NPCI database. 
• The system was first made mandatory with effect from February 1, 2023 but, through several extensions, the Centre allowed it until December 31, 2023.
• The ABPS became mandatory from January 1, 2024.

Benefits of Payments through ABPS

• Easy and Secure Authentication: Aadhaar provides a unique identification method through biometric authentication (fingerprint or iris scans), making transactions secure and reducing the risk of fraud. 
• Convenient: Aadhaar-based payment systems eliminate the need for physical cards or documents for financial transactions.
  • Users can authenticate themselves using their Aadhaar number and biometrics, making the process more convenient.
  • It ensures the payment of beneficiaries into their bank accounts, even in case of frequent change of bank account by the beneficiary.
• Reduced Leakages in Subsidy Programs: Aadhaar is often linked to various government subsidy and welfare programs, ensuring that the benefits reach the intended beneficiaries directly. 
• Promotion of Digital Payments: Integration of Aadhaar into payment systems contributes to the government’s push for a less-cash economy by promoting digital transactions.
  • This aligns with broader initiatives to enhance the digital infrastructure of the country.

Concerns with ABPS Payments

• Over- Reliance: Over-reliance on technical tools has resulted in problematic implementation, with beneficiaries devoid of a proper recourse for corrections in the system.
• Authentication Issues: There have been instances where individuals faced difficulties with biometric authentication due to factors such as poor connectivity, technical glitches, or errors in the Aadhaar database.
  • Errors in any step of the process result in payment failures.

Conclusion

• The Ministry of Rural Development has said that it may consider an exemption from ABPS on a case-to-case basis for gram panchayats if there are technical issues.
• MGNREGS remains a vital demand-driven welfare scheme that helps the rural poor and its implementation must not be dependent upon a technological system.
• The Ministry could conduct social audits to ascertain the extent of the problem before insisting on ABPS. 

Source: TH

Expansion of BRICS

Syllabus: GS2/IR

In Context

• Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have joined BRICS as new full members.

About

• It was done as per the decision adopted by the 15th BRICS Summit in 2022.
• A proposal to admit six countries, including Argentina, into the bloc with effect from January 1.
• Argentina’s new President announced withdrawing his country from becoming a member of the BRICS.

About BRICS

• BRICS is an acronym that refers to a group of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. 
• The term was originally coined by economist Jim O’Neill in 2001.
• BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing around 41% of the global population, around 24% of the global GDP and around 16% of global trade.
• Origin: As a formal grouping, BRIC started after the meeting of the Leaders of Russia, India and China in St. Petersburg on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006. 
  • The grouping was formalized during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of UNGA in New York in 2006. 
  • The success of the meet led to the crystallisation of an annual summit under the aegis of BRIC.
  • Initially, the grouping was termed BRIC as South Africa was inducted in 2010 and from there on it has been referred to as BRICS.
• Summits:  The governments of the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits since 2009.
• Over a period of time, BRICS countries have come together to deliberate on important issues under the three pillars of:
  • political and security, 
  • economic and financial and 
  • cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
• New Development Bank: Formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
  • The Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.

Significance of Expansion

• Strengthning the Group: BRICS currently represents around 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s GDP.
  • With the additions, it will represent almost half the world’s population, and will include three of the world’s biggest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran.
• Focus on Middle East: With the inclusion of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, and Egypt, there is a discernible Middle East focus, bearing geo-economic, geostrategic, and geopolitical implications.
• Representative of Developing Countries: The addition of new members bolsters the BRICS group’s influence as a representative body of the developing world.
• Voice for Global Governance: The grouping now represents a larger share of the world’s population and economy.
  • However, this only means that the group is potentially a powerful voice for reform of the arrangements for global governance and a powerful actor in these arrangements. 

Impact on India’s Position

• Chinese Dominance: Among the newly admitted members, India regards each as a valuable partnership to cultivate.
  • Apprehensions have emerged regarding the potential for the group to become more pro-China, potentially overshadowing India’s influence and concerns.
  • Although China desires BRICS to embody an anti-western stance, India’s perspective is inclined toward maintaining the group as a “non-Western” entity. 
• Addressing the Challanges: For BRICS to maintain long-term effectiveness, India and China must address their border disputes and cooperate on complex global matters, including allocating resources for the growth of developing economies.
  • If India aims to genuinely represent the voice of the Global South, harmonizing these diverse interests into a unified stance could present a more formidable challenge than initially anticipated.

Way Ahead

• As the BRICS operates based on consensus-driven decision-making, attaining consensus among 10 countries characterized by diverse economies, geographical locations, and interests proves to be substantially more challenging than doing so among the original five members. 
• To ensure the continued effectiveness and consistency of the institution, in the long run, BRICS might opt to focus on easier-to-achieve objectives.

Source: News on Air

Role of Governor and Need for Reform 

Syllabus :GS 2/Polity and Governance 

In News

• The Kerala government has filed an amended petition with the Supreme Court seeking directions for the Governor to clear pending bills immediately.

More in News

• Kerala has also sought the intervention of the top court to interpret the phrase “as soon as possible” in the first proviso to Article 200 of the Constitution on the timeline applicable to the disposal of the Bills presented to the Governor

About Governor 

• The Governor is the Executive Head of the State within the meaning of Article 153 and 154 of the Constitution of India. 
  • Article 153. The Governor : There shall be a Governor for each State. Provided that nothing in this Article shall preventthe appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States.
  • Article 154. Executive power of State : (1) The executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
  • Article 163: There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them at his discretion.

Powers related to passage of bill

• Article 200 of the Constitution lays down that when a Bill, passed by a State Legislature, is presented to the Governor for their assent, they have four alternatives —
  • may give assent to the Bill; 
  • may withhold assent to the Bill, that is, reject the Bill in which case the Bill fails to become law; 
  • may return the Bill (if it is not a Money Bill) for reconsideration of the State Legislature; or 
  • may reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President.

Emerging Issues 

• In recent years, the bitterness between states and Governors has been largely about the selection of the party to form a government, deadline for proving majority, sitting on Bills, and passing negative remarks on the state administration.
• Ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court raise concerns about the conduct of some Governors. 
• Several States were facing the similar situation where the Governors were keeping the Bills pending for inordinate periods and without exercising the power under Article 200 of the Constitution, thus rendering the State Legislatures ineffective.
  • There is no limit set for how long a Governor can withhold assent to a Bill.
• The frictions have become especially acute in several states over the last few years.

Observations of Court 

• In judgement, Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab (1974), the Supreme Court said that President and Governor shall “exercise their formal constitutional powers only upon and in accordance with the advice of their Ministers save in a few well-known exceptional situations

• In NCT of Delhi v. Union of India (2018), a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court emphasised the need to identify the “moral values of the Constitution” based on a notion of “constitutional culture”.
  • It said that the “constitutional morality places responsibilities and duties on individuals who occupy constitutional institutions and offices”
• In Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India (2006), after finding that the Governor abused power in recommending Presidential rule in Bihar, the Supreme Court said that the motivated and whimsical conduct of the Governor is amenable to judicial review.

Commission reports

• The Sarkaria Commission Report (1988) highlighted that “some Governors have failed to display the qualities of impartiality and sagacity expected of them”.
  • It recommended that respective chief ministers should be consulted before appointing a governor.
  • In dealing with a State Bill presented to him under Article 200, the Governor should not act contrary to the advice of his Council of Ministers merely because, personally, he does not like the policy embodied in the Bill
• The Punchhi Commission (2010), had recommended that the Governor should take a decision with respect to a Bill presented for their assent within a period of six months. 

Conclusion and Way Forward 

• It is time to think about the behaviour of Governors in Opposition-ruled States.
• The Supreme Court must now come up with an authoritative decision so that uncooperative Governors do not use  grey areas to their advantage. 
• It must also be clarified whether ‘withholding assent’ is a final act of rejection of a Bill or it needs a follow-up action in the form of returning the Bill with a message for reconsideration by the House,
• However, federalism is a basic feature of the Constitution and the Governor’s office should not undermine the powers of elected governments in the States.

Do you know ? – Article 361 of the Constitution provides only a limited and conditional immunity for the Governors.  – It says that Governors shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of their office or for any act done or purported to be done by them in their official capacity.  a. This does not mean that Governors are not liable for their misbehaviour unconnected with their official duty.

Source :TH

Many-body physics

Syllabus: GS3/Developments in Science and Technology

News

• Many-body physics has emerged as a new area of research in recent years. 

About:

• Since 2019, methods of physics have been applied to traffic, crime, epidemic processes, vaccination, cooperation, climate inaction and moral behavior, to name a few.
• A recent study modeled the dynamics of how online hate communities form and develop, with mathematical equations used to describe the behaviour of shock waves in fluids.

Many-body physics:

• Many-body physics is a realm of exploration, delves into the intricacies of interacting particles and seeks to understand the emergent properties that arise from their collective behavior.
  • For example, a many-body physicist would be interested in what happens to a group of water molecules when water changes to ice, rather than studying an individual water molecule in great detail. 
• Many-body physics concerns systems composed of numerous interacting particles, ranging from simple molecules to complex materials like superconductors and biological systems. 

Importance: Understanding many-body systems holds potential for groundbreaking discoveries across various fields:

• Materials science: Developing advanced materials with tailored properties, like high-temperature superconductors and efficient solar cells.
• Nanotechnology: Manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular level to create novel devices and functionalities.
• Biology: Unveiling the secrets of protein folding, enzyme function, and cellular processes.
• Astrophysics: Simulating complex stellar behavior and the formation of galaxies.

Key Challenges:

• The sheer complexity of interactions makes it difficult to predict and analyze the behavior of many-body systems analytically.
• Computational limitations often hinder simulations of large and complex systems, requiring innovative approaches.
• Bridging the gap between microscopic interactions and macroscopic phenomena remains a fundamental hurdle.

Approaches and Tools:

• Quantum mechanics: Provides the fundamental framework for understanding the behavior of interacting particles.
• Field theory: Mathematical techniques used to describe many-body systems as interacting quantum fields.
• Computational methods: Numerical simulations utilizing powerful computers to explore the behavior of these systems.
• Approximate methods: Techniques like perturbation theory and variational approaches provide insights even when exact solutions are elusive.

Applications:

• Collective behaviours: Physicists explain collective phenomena like bird flocking, fish schooling and the spread of infectious diseases.
• Traffic: While different locations in the world have different drivers, vehicles, and rules that govern their movement on a highway, a physicist or a mathematician might come up with some kind of predictability in terms of the science.
• Study cultural evolution and social norms and beliefs: At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, social physicists and mathematicians attempt to “generalise and bring together” different theories and models of social processes. 
• Study online hate groups: Online hate communities are opposed to something and are distinct from other online communities as they grow quickly.
  • Scholars have called this volatile behaviour “online turbulence”. In physics, ‘turbulence’ is fluid movement characterised by chaotic changes in the pressure and velocity.

Source: TH

News in Shorts

2024: A Leap year

Syllabus: GS1/Geography

Context

•  2024 is a leap year as the second month of the new year will have one extra day.

What is a Leap Year?

• A leap year has 366 days in a year as opposed to the regular 365 days. 
• The leap year was introduced by scholars engaged by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and made more precise from 12 AD. 

Why was a leap year introduced?

• One year in a solar calendar reflects one round the Earth makes around the Sun. 
• The Earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to revolve around the Sun. The length of a normal year is thus rounded off to 365 days.
• To account for the extra time, rounded up to six hours, 24 hours — one full day — are added to every fourth year.
• The extra day is added to February, the shortest month of the year, as February 29.

Is every fourth year a leap year?

• The average length of a year in the Julian calendar was 365 days and 6 hours, which is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.
• In effect, the leap year formula was an overcompensation as they ended up making the average calendar year longer than the solar year.
  • The difference: a small matter of 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

Reformed calendar

• In the 16th century, it was calculated that the calendar years until then had accumulated 10 extra days.
• Eventually, the reform led to the Gregorian calendar, which we follow today. The formula:
  • A year that is a multiple of 4 is a leap year; 
  • A “00 year” in which 00 is preceded by a multiple of 4 (1600, 2000, 2400 etc) remains a leap year. That is why 1900 and 2100 are not leap years, but 2000 is one.

Source: IE

Free Movement Regime to end at Myanmar Border

Syllabus: GS2/International Relations

Context

• India plans to end the Free Movement Regime along the international border with Myanmar.
  • People living in Myanmar, who could cross over to India, will soon require visas.

About Free Movement Regime (FMR)

• Ind0-Myanmar is an open border with the Free Movement Regime (FMR)within 16kms on both sides of the border.
  • Both countries share an unfenced border, and citizens on either side have familial and ethnic ties, which prompted the arrangement in the 1970s. It was last revised in 2016.
• Every member of the hill tribes, who is either a citizen of India or a citizen of Myanmar, and who resides within 16 km on either side of the border can cross the border on production of a border pass, usually valid for a year, and can stay for up to two weeks per visit.
• Manipur has urged the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel the FMR along the India-Myanmar border and complete its fencing.

Background: Indo-Myanmar Border – India shares a 1,643 km-long border with Myanmar, which passes through the States of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km). a. Myanmar offers us an alternative access route to the Northeast. – Both countries share a heritage of religious, linguistic and ethnic ties. Myanmar has a substantial population of Indian origin. – Myanmar is our gateway to Southeast Asia and ASEAN with which we are seeking greater economic integration through India’s ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ Policy. – After a military coup in Myanmar in 2021, there was an influx of undocumented migrants, over 40,000 refugees took shelter in Mizoram, and around 4,000 refugees have entered Manipur. a. The migrants belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Zo ethnic group share ethnic ties with communities in Mizoram and Manipur. – Assam Rifles (AR) has been deployed along this border to monitor and check infiltration across the border. – Border security is in the Union List (Schedule VII 0f the Constitution of India).

Source: TH

Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)

Syllabus:GS3/Science and Technology

Context

• India has approved to join the SKA project, accompanied by a financial commitment of Rs 1,250 crore.

Square Kilometre Array Observatory

• The SKA Observatory is an intergovernmental bringing together organizations from ten countries; Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
• Headquarters: United Kingdom
• Mandate: Its aim is to build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform the understanding of the Universe.
  • It will explore the formation and evolution of galaxies, fundamental physics in extreme environments and the origins of life.
• The observatory consists of the two telescopes at radio-quiet sites in South Africa and Australia, and associated facilities to support the operations of the telescopes.

Indian Engagement in SKAO

• India, through the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) has been involved in the development of SKA since its inception in the 1990s.
• India’s main contribution is in the development, and operation, of the Telescope Manager element, the “neural network” or the software that will make the telescope work.

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)  – It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research – GMRT is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope operating within the 110-1,460 MegaHertz frequency range. – Significance: GMRT was among the six top radio telescopes used to enable the detection of the nano-hertz gravitational waves for the first time. a. Such waves are expected to originate from a large number of dancing monster black hole pairs, several million times heavier than the Sun.

Source:IE

Amendment to Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules of 2021

Syllabus :GS 2/Polity and Governance 

In News

• The Centre has amended the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules of 2021.

About the amended rules 

• Rule 50 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021 allows the grant of family pension following the death of a government servant or retired government servant.
• The amendment was formulated by The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) in consultation with the Ministry of Women and Child Development taking into consideration representations received.
• It  allows women government employees and pensioners to nominate their children for receiving family pension over their spouse, if at the time of their death, any proceedings for divorce, domestic violence, or dowry demands happen to be pending against the said spouse.
  • Till now, the rules provided for the family pension to first go to the surviving spouse and the children became eligible to receive it only after the death of the spouse. 

Purpose : 

•  Several women officials and pensioners were asking if it was possible to nominate children before the spouse in cases where divorce proceedings are under way or domestic violence cases are pending against the spouse.
• This amendment is progressive in nature and would empower women employees/pensioners significantly.”

Source:LM

Reverse Flipping

Syllabus :GS 3/Economy 

In News

• Startups  have been planning for Reverse Flipping.

About Reverse flipping

• Reverse flipping’ is used in business circles. 
• It is a term used to describe the trend of overseas start-ups shifting their domicile to India and listing on Indian stock exchanges.
  • Here, start-ups that once relocated their holding companies outside India are now considering a strategic move back to India, 
• The Economic Survey of 2022-23 acknowledged the concept of reverse flipping and has listed possible measures such as simplifying the processes for tax holidays, taxation of ESOPs, capital flows and reducing layers of tax to accelerate the reverse flipping process.

Objectives and Need 

• It has been gaining traction in the recent years, as start-ups look to capitalise on India’s large and growing economy, access to deeper pools of venture capital, favourable tax regimes, better intellectual property protection, young and educated population, and favourable government policies. 

Source:ET

RBI flags concern over credit information

Syllabus: GS3/Indian Economy and Issues related to mobilization of resources

News 

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor recently flagged the central bank’s concern on Credit Information Companies (CICs).

About:

• The Deputy Governor pointed out that, of late, there was a rise in customer complaints related to credit information and some concerns had emerged during the Reserve Bank’s supervisory assessment.
• He asked these Credit Information Companies (CICs) to focus on six key areas to improve their services, namely-
  • need to improve the data quality; 
  • timely redressal of customer complaints; 
  • strengthening of internal ombudsman framework;
  • streamlining the process for handling data correction requests; 
  • strengthening of cybersecurity and data privacy through robust information security governance framework; and
  • concerns arising out of usage of data for consulting and analytics.

Credit Information Companies (CICs):

• CICs are companies that collect public data, credit transactions and payment histories of individuals and companies regarding loans, credit cards, among others.
• Based on the collected data, CICs form a credit report and generate a score.
  • Banks, non-banking financial institutions refer to the CIC’s report and score to decide borrowers’ creditworthiness before granting a loan or issuing a credit card.
    • The credit score ranges between 350 to 850 and anything above 750 is considered as a good score. 

• Licensed by: The Reserve Bank of India
• Governed by: The Credit Information Companies Regulation Act, 2005 and various other rules and regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
• Examples: CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and High Mark Credit Information Services are the well-known CICs in India.

Source: TH

Poila Boisakh

Syllabus: Miscellaneous

In Context

• The West Bengal government has declared Poila Boisakh, as the State Day and a song Banglar Mati Banglar Jal written by Rabindranath Tagore as the State Song.

About

• Poila Boisakh is the 1st day of the month of Boisakh of Bengali calendar year commencing Bengali New Year.
• It will be observed as State Day and it will be named ‘Bangla Divas’.
• Banglar Mati Banglar Jal as the State Song, its approximate playing time is 1 minute and 59 seconds.
• The State Song shall compulsorily be played with due respect in all state government functions.
• All dignitaries shall stand in attention when the State Song and National Anthem are played and mass singing of the State Song should be encouraged.

Source: TH