National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 31st March 2020

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management rules

Topic: Economy

In News:  Kerala government announced a package of ₹20,000 crores and urged the centre to provide flexibility under the FRBM Act.

More on the Topic:

• The FRBM is an act of the parliament that set targets for the Government of India to establish financial discipline, improve the management of public funds, strengthen fiscal prudence and reduce its fiscal deficits.
• It was first introduced in the parliament of India in the year 2000 by Vajpayee Government for providing legal backing to the fiscal discipline to be institutionalized in the country.
• Subsequently, the FRBM Act was passed in the year 2003.

It was mandated by the act that the following must be placed along with the Budget documents annually in the Parliament:

• Macroeconomic Framework Statement
• Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement and
• Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement

Fiscal Indicators:

• It was proposed that the four fiscal indicators be projected in the medium-term fiscal policy statement viz.
• Revenue deficit as a percentage of GDP,
• Fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP,
• Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP and
• Total outstanding liabilities as a percentage of GDP
• Among other targets, the act mandated the reduction of the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP Initial goal was March 31, 2009 but it has been postponed since 2008 to the most recent target of 3.1% for March 2023.

FRBM Act and State government:

• To ensure that the States too are financially prudent, the 12th Finance Commission’s recommendations in 2004 linked debt relief to States with their enactment of similar laws.
• The States have since enacted their own respective Financial Responsibility Legislation, which sets the same 3% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) cap on their annual budget deficits.

Why is Kerala seeking flexibility under the FRBM?

• Kerala’s current fiscal position means that it can borrow about ₹25,000 crore during the financial year 2020-21.
• Now, given that it proposes to raise half that amount of debt in the very first month of the new financial year, the State government is understandably concerned that the stringent borrowing cap under the fiscal responsibility laws should not constrain its borrowing and spending ability over the remaining 11 months.
• The relaxation is important for COVID-19 mitigation measures and to meet other expenditure for routine affairs related to the running of the State’s socio-economic programmes as well as the post pandemic recovery.

The Escape Clause:

• The law does contain an ‘escape clause’ (section 4(2) of act) whereby the Centre can exceed the annual fiscal deficit target citing grounds that include national security, war, national calamity, structural reforms, decline in real output etc.
• The ongoing pandemic could be considered as a national calamity which is apt for suspending both the Centre’s and States’ fiscal deficit targets.
• This would allow both the Union government and States including Kerala to undertake the much-needed increases in expenditure to fight COVID pandemic.

Source: Hindu

Lockdown makes Caveri Clean

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The strict enforcement of 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has helped in reducing pollution level in Cavery and its tributaries.

More on the Topic:

• The prohibition of industrial and religious activities has helped to reduce the pollution load.
• According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the Cauvery and tributaries like Kabini, Hemavati, Shimsha, and Lakshmanathirtha are regaining their decades-old status in terms of water quality.
• Pollution Causes: While some industries were discharging untreated effluents/chemicals into the Cauvery, pilgrims were dumping tonnes of waste material, including clothes, every day.
• Untreated sewage from residential areas; pollutants from industries; religious waste material from pilgrims, and construction debris had been polluting the rivers.
• Rivers were flowing with hazardous elements such as lead, fluoride, faecal coliform, and some suspended solids in highly dangerous quantity.

Kaveri: ·         Kaveri is a sacred river of southern India. It rises in the Brahmagiri range of the Western Ghats and falls in the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, in Tamil Nadu. ·         It forms the sacred islands of Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudra and Shivanasamudra falls and also a wide delta. ·         Its main tributaries are Amravati, Bhavani, Hemavati, Kabini, Shimsha, and Lakshmana Tirtha. ·         It’s basin drains parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

 Source: Hindu

Earth Hour

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The Earth Hour was observed on 28th March, 2020.

More on the topic:

• Earth Hour is the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment where citizens around the world unite to take a stand against climate change by turning off non-essential lights for one hour.
• Earth Hour is a global initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF), with a record participation of 178 countries and territories around the world.

Source: Indian Express

Technology to Reduce Pathogen Load

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: JClean Weather Technologies, an incubatee company in Pune’s has developed a new technology to disinfect closed spaces and rooms.

More on the Topic:

• The technology, named Scitech Airon, was developed under the Nidhi Prayas program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). It reduces the viral load of a closed space by 99.7 per cent within an hour, depending on the room size.
• The machine can be used to disinfect spaces which have been occupied by coronavirus patients ensuring that the doctors, nurses and other care staff in quarantine facilities do not catch the virus. The technology also increases the body’s resistance to external factors for 20-30 days.
• The Airon has been tested by several international labs in closed spaces like houses, hospitals, schools, farms, industries etc.
• It is capable of killing a range of viruses, bacteria and fungal infections and can disinfect a room from several allergens.
• It also decomposes pollutants like Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and volatile gaseous organic compounds.

How It Functions?

• The Scitech Airon ioniser machine generates negatively charged ions that chemically react with the proteins on the outer walls of these microorganisms and other allergens leaving them ineffective and harmless.

Source: PIB

Nidhi Programme

Topic: Government Programme

In News: NIDHI, an umbrella program was pioneered by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups.

More on the Topic:

There are 8 components of NIDHI that support each stage of a budding startup from idea to market.They are as follows:

• NIDHI GCC – Grand Challenges and Competitions for scouting innovations
• NIDHI – Promoting and and accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups (NIDHI-PRAYAS) – Support from Idea to Prototype
• NIDHI-Entrepreneur In Residence (NIDHI-EIR)-Support system to reduce risk and To encourage graduating student to take to entrepreneurship by providing support as a fellowship.
• Startup-NIDHI: Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDCs) in academic institutions; encouraging Students to promote start-ups
• NIDHI-Technology Business Incubator(TBI)-Converting Innovations to start-ups
• NIDHI-Accelerator-Fast tracking a start-up through focused intervention
• NIDHI-Seed Support System (NIDHI-SSS)-Providing early stage investment
• NIDHI Centres of Excellence (NIDHI-CoE)-A World class facility to help startups go global

Source: PIB

Government bonds for NRIs

Topic: Economy

In News: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue certain series of government securities (G-secs) under the “fully accessible route”.

More on the Topic:

• These special securities will attract no foreign portfolio investor (FPI) limits.These are first step towards Indian G-Secs being listed on global bond indices.
• These shall also attract access cheap liquidity in the overseas markets. This would facilitate the inflow of stable foreign investment in Indian bonds.
• All new issuances of G-secs of 5-year, 10-year, and 30-year tenors from FY21 will be eligible for investment as specified securities.
• The RBI also raised upwards the FPI limits for corporate bonds to 15%, from 9%, for 2020-21.
• This scheme shall operate along with the two existing routes – the Medium Term Framework (MTF) and the Voluntary Retention Route (VRR).

FPI: ·         Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets held by investors in another country. ·         It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of a company’s assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market. ·         Along with foreign direct investment (FDI), FPI is one of the common ways to invest in an overseas economy. ·         In a developing economy, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are perceived to be more uncertain than domestic institutional investors. ·         Thus, foreign investment flows tend to be less stable as these are influenced by global liquidity drivers.

 Source: Business Standard

Sodium Hypochlorite

Topic: Health

 In News: Migrant workers travelling to their home states, were sprayed with a disinfectant Sodium Hypochlorite to disinfect them.

More on the Topic:

• Hypochlorite solution is commonly used as a bleaching agent, and also to sanitise swimming pools. It releases chlorine, which is a disinfectant.
• The World Health Organization, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends homemade bleach solutions of about 2-10% concentration to clean hard surfaces to clear them of any presence of the novel coronavirus.
• Sodium hypochlorite is corrosive.
• A 1% solution can cause damage to the skin of anyone who comes in contact with it. If it gets inside the body, it can cause serious harm to lungs.

Source: Hindu