National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams – 6th November 2018

Operation Greens

Topic: Government schemes

IN NEWS: Ministry of Food Processing Industries(MoFPI) has approved the operationalisation strategy for Operation Greens.

About the Scheme:

• Operation Greens was announced in the Budget speech of 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs 500 crores to stabilize the supply of Tomato, Onion and Potato(TOP) crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country round the year without price volatility.

Objectives:

• Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market.
• Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties.
• Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.
• Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters.
• Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.

Significance:

• Operation Green (OG) wants to replicate the success story of Operation Flood, in fruits and vegetables, starting with three basic vegetables—tomatoes, onions and potatoes (TOP). The main objective of OG is to reduce price volatility in these commodities, and thereby helping farmers augment incomes on a sustainable basis, as also provide these basic vegetables to consumers at affordable prices.

Source: PIB

Shakti- India’s first indigenous microprocessor

Topic: Science and Technology

IN NEWS:Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) researchers have designed India’s first indigenous microprocessor called ‘Shakti’.

About Shakti:

• It is aimed at developing industrial-grade microprocessors and other components of the microprocessor ecosystem.
• It was designed, developed and booted by IIT Madras with microchip fabricated in ISRO’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory at Chandigarh.
• It has been developed under project partly funded by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), as part of two-decade-old efforts to develop indigenous microprocessors.

Significance:

• The microprocessor will reduce dependency on imported microchips especially in communication and defence sectors and thus eliminate risk of cyber-attacks. It can be used in mobile computing, wireless and networking systems. It may also provide power to mobile phones, smart meters and surveillance cameras.

Source:The Hindu

Van der Waals Material

Topic: Science and Technology

In news: Until six years ago, such materials did not exist but today, researchers believe that they hold the key to a ‘post-silicon’ electronics.

More on the Topic:

• VdW materials are made of piles of ultra-thin layers that are held together by van der Waals bonds.
• Van der Waals bonds are weak forces exist between molecules of same substance and arise when atoms are in close proximity.
• VdW materials have the potential to replace the current hard drive assemblies in computers and become the key to quantum computing.
• Controlling magnetism is typical of VdW materials.
• The layers in the material can be changed, added or removed in order to introduce magnetism and other new physical properties in the material.

Source: The Hindu

Private member bill in parliament

Topic: Polity and Governance

In news: Demands for a private legislation to construct Ram temple in Ayodhya lead to the analysis of private member bill’s usage in parliament so far.

What is a private member bill ?

• Any MP who is not a Minister is referred to as a private member.
• The key role of the parliament is to debate and make laws and both Ministers and private members contribute to the law making process.
• Bills introduced by Ministers are referred to as government bills.
• They are backed by the government, and reflect its legislative agenda.
• However, Private member’s bills are piloted by non-Minister MPs.
• Their purpose is to draw the government’s attention to what individual MPs see as issues and gaps in the existing legal framework, which require legislative intervention.

What is its mode of introduction in the House?

• The admissibility of a private member’s Bill is decided by the Rajya Sabha Chairman in the case of Rajya sabha.
• In the case of Lok Sabha, it is the Speaker, while the procedure is roughly the same for both Houses.
• The Member must give at least a month’s notice before the Bill can be listed for introduction.
• The House secretariat examines it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation before listing.
• Up to 1997, private members could introduce up to three Bills in a week.
• This led to a piling up of Bills that were introduced but never discussed.
• Therefore, the number of private member’s Bills was later capped to three per session.
• While government Bills can be introduced and discussed on any day, private member’s Bills can be introduced and discussed only on Fridays.
• Private member’s Bills have been introduced and discussed in Rajya Sabha on 20 days in the last three years.

What is the procedure for its introduction?

• On the scheduled Friday, the private member moves a motion for introduction of the Bill, which is usually not opposed.
• Two recent exceptions to this convention were in 2004, when a bill seeking to amend the Preamble of the Constitution was opposed.
• Also in 2015, a Bill to decriminalise homosexuality was not introduced in Lok Sabha after the motion being defeated.
• However, the Supreme Court struck down IPC Section 377 recently.
• Only a fraction of private member’s bills that are introduced, are taken up for discussion.
• Rajya Sabha draws a ballot to decide the sequence of discussion of Bills.
• If a Bill is successful in the ballot, it has to wait for the discussion to conclude on a Bill currently being debated by the House.
• For example, a Bill related to sittings of Parliament introduced in March 2017 was taken up for discussion only in August 2018.
• The discussion of this bill will resume when private member business is taken up in the upcoming Winter Session, and other private member’s bills will have to wait for the debate to conclude.
• Over the last three years, Rajya Sabha saw the introduction of 165 private member’s Bills and the discussion was concluded on only 18.
• A private member’s Bill that is introduced but not discussed in Rajya Sabha, lapses when Member retires.

What happens after the discussion?

• Upon conclusion of the discussion, the Member piloting the Bill can either withdraw it on the request of the Minister concerned, or he may choose to press ahead with its passage.
• In the latter case, the Bill is put to vote and, if the private member gets the support of the House, it is passed.
• In 1977, Rajya Sabha passed a private member’s Bill to amend the Aligarh Muslim University Act.
• The Bill then went to the sixth Lok Sabha, where it lapsed with the dissolution of the House in 1979.
• A bill pending in the lok sabha lapses, whether it originates in the lok sabha or transmitted to it by the rajya sabha.
• In 2015, Rajya Sabha passed The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 as a private member’s Bill.
• The Bill is now pending before Lok Sabha.
• The last time a private member’s Bill was passed by both Houses was in 1970, which was the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968.
• Fourteen private member’s Bills, five of which were introduced in Rajya Sabha, have become law so far.
• Some of the important legislations among them include 26th amendment, which related to abolition of privy purses and 61st amendment, which reduced the voting age from 21 to 18.

Source: The Hindu

Notice on Willful defaulters

Topic:Indian Economy

In news: The Central Information Commission has issued a show cause notice to the Reserve Bank of India recently with regards to bad loan.

Background:

• Bad loans at the country’s commercial banks surged to 11.6% of all advances in 2018 from 10.2% in 2017, according to RBI.
• RBI has repeatedly acknowledged the gravity of the problem it faces, including in ensuring more accountability from the public sector banks over which it wants greater control.
• However, it has consistently invoked both the risk to the country’s economic interest and its fiduciary relationship with lenders to avoid sharing information on the largest defaulters with RTI applicants.
• But the Supreme Court, in its 2015 order, mandates disclosure of names of the willful defaulters.
• The judges had directed the central bank to comply with the provisions of the RTI Act.
• It observed that the RBI has no legal duty to maximise the benefit of any public sector or private sector bank, and thus there is no relationship of ‘trust’ between them.
• Despite this, the RBI has recently denied information on people who have taken bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above to the CIC.
• Hence, the Central Information Commission (CIC) asked the RBI Governor to explain why a maximum penalty be not imposed on him for “dishonouring” the verdict.
• CIC has also accused RBI of hiding names of high-profile loan defaulters.

Way Forward:

• The commission considers the governor as deemed PIO responsible for non-disclosure and defiance of SC orders and CIC orders.
• Thus, it directs him to show cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for these reasons.
• The CIC also sent notices to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Finance seeking information regarding another RTI application.
• The RTI application claimed that former RBI governor made in his note to a parliamentary committee that he had handed over “a list of high profile fraud cases of non-performing assets to the PMO for a coordinated investigation.”
• Hence, the CIC asks the details of action taken on the letter on loan defaulters forwarded by the then RBI Governor.
• However, the RBI had reasoned that any disclosure of information might jeopardise probe against defaulters while the PMO had sought refuge under technicalities to block the RTI query.
• Though all large unpaid loans are by-products of mala fide borrowing, the onus is on the RBI and the government to initiate steps retaining public trust.
• The RBI has started it through setting up a digital Public Credit Registry (PCR) to capture details of all borrowers, including wilful defaulters and also the pending legal suits in order to check financial delinquencies.
• Thus it is the duty of the banking regulator to meet the CIC’s November 16 deadline for furnishing the information sought about those owing Rs. 1,000 crore or more, to start with.

Source:The Hindu