Daily Current Affairs 7 February 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided at a meeting to keep the interest rates unchanged in the wake of a rise in inflation but emphasized that there would be space for a rate reduction
• This is the second straight policy review meeting where the rates have been kept unchanged. The RBI reduced the rates by 135 bps between February and October 2019 before pressing the pause button in the December policy review. 
• The central bank took two measures that could ease lending rates further. One, it opened a window to extend ₹1 lakh crore to the commercial banks at the repo rate, which is 5.15%. Second, banks have been exempted from maintaining the cash reserve ratio which is 4% of the net demand and time liabilities now — for home, auto and MSME loans that are extended from January 31 to July 31.
• The GDP growth for the next financial year is projected at 6%, in the range of 5.5­6% in the first half of the FY-21 and 6.2% in Q3. The growth projection for the current financial year was 5%. 
• The outlook for the consumer price index­based inflation has been revised upward to 6.5% for the fourth quarter of the current financial year and 5.4­5.0% for the first half of 2020­21. It’s projected at 3.2% for the third quarter of the next financial year.
• Markets reacted positively to the tone, with the yield on the 10­year benchmark government paper dropping 6 bps to close the day at 6.45%. Economists said that with RBI worried about growth recovery, the next rate cut could be as early as in April ­ the next policy review meeting.

About MPC

• The Monetary Policy Committee of India is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India. The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year and it publishes its decisions after each such meeting.
• The committee comprises six members - three officials of the Reserve Bank of India and three external members nominated by the Government of India. They need to observe a "silent period" seven days before and after the rate decision for "utmost confidentiality". The Governor of Reserve Bank of India is the chairperson ex officio of the committee. Decisions are taken by a majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie. The current mandate of the committee is to maintain 4% annual inflation until 31 March 2021 with an upper tolerance of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended by Finance Act (India), 2016 to constitute MPC which will bring more transparency and accountability in fixing India's Monetary Policy. The monetary policy is published after every meeting with each member explaining his opinions. The committee is answerable to the Government of India if the inflation exceeds the range prescribed for three consecutive months

Establishment and purpose

• Key decisions about benchmark interest rates used to be taken by the Governor of Reserve Bank of India alone before the establishment of the committee. The Governor of RBI is appointed and can be disqualified by the Government anytime. This led to uncertainty and resulted in friction between the Government and the RBI, especially during times of low growth and high inflation. Before the constitution of the MPC, a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on monetary policy with experts from monetary economics, central banking, financial markets, and public finance advised the Reserve Bank on the stance of monetary policy. However, its role was only advisory in nature.
• The setting up of a committee to decide on Monetary Policy was first proposed by the Urjit Patel Committee. The Committee suggested a five-member MPC - three members from the RBI and two nominated by the Government. The Government initially proposed a seven-member committee- three from the RBI and four nominated by it. Subsequent negotiations led to the current composition of the committee, with the external members having a four-year term.
• The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Department (MPD) assists the MPC in formulating the monetary policy. Views of key stakeholders in the economy and analytical work of the Reserve Bank contribute to the process for arriving at the decision on the policy repo rate. The Financial Markets Operations Department (FMOD) operationalizes the monetary policy, mainly through day-to-day liquidity management operations. The Financial Markets Committee (FMC) meets daily to review the liquidity conditions to ensure that the operating target of monetary policy (weighted average lending rate) is kept close to the policy repo rate. Monetary Policy Committee came into force on 27 June 2016.
• Suggestions for setting up a Monetary policy committee are not new and go back to 2002 when the YV Reddy committee proposed to establish an MPC, then Tarapore committee in 2006, Percy Mistry committee in 2007, Raghuram Rajan committee in 2009 and then Urjit Patel Committee in 2013.

Source: The Hindu

2) 5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC)

• Issues concerning the production localization of Ka-­226T light utility helicopters are in the process of being resolved, N.M. Srikanth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indo­-Russian Helicopters Limited (IRHL) said
• The final deal for manufacturing the helicopters in India has been held up for a while
• At the ongoing Defexpo 2020, Russian Helicopters (RH) signed a road map with IRHL for localization of Ka­226T helicopter production in India.
• The IRHL is a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian Helicopters (RH), which will assemble the Ka­-226T helicopters in India
• The localization plan would be spread over four phases. 
• The 5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) was conducted on 6th February 2020 on the sidelines of Defexpo-2020 at Lucknow.
• During the conference, a total of 14 MoUs were exchanged between the Russian OEMs and the Indian companies. The first ‘Request for Proposal’ for the manufacturing of parts in India under the provision of IGA was also handed over by the Indian Navy to the identified Indian industry. The sides acknowledged that this would pave way for more cases and contracts for joint manufacturing of spares parts, in the days ahead. 
• A large number of delegates from Indian and Russian defense sector companies participated in the conference and discussed the way forward to achieve the objectives of the Inter-Governmental Agreement under the Make in India initiative.

Source: The Hindu

3) Constitution of teams to Study pollution of Rivers

• Since the inception of the Namami Gange Programme, the Government has carried out detailed studies of 97 Ganga towns for their condition assessment and feasibility as regards their existing/future pollution load and sewage treatment capacity.  The quantity of sewage gap along with the characteristic and pollution load was also assessed.  Based on the Condition Assessment & Feasibility Study and similar study reports, 138 sewerage projects located in 89 towns on Ganga main stem, Yamuna and Ramganga have been sanctioned and are at various stages of implementation. 
• Similarly, under Namami Gange Programme, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is operating a scheme “Pollution Inventorisation Assessment and Surveillance on river Ganga (PIAS)” for incentivization, monitoring and surveillance of pollution load discharging into river Ganga and its tributaries and also for annual inspection of all Grossly Polluting Industries(GPIs).  Teams in association with third party technical institutions of repute like Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), National Institute of Technologies (NITs),
• Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute (CPPRI), Pollution Control Research Institute (PCRI), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), State Mission for Clean Ganga (SMCG) and District Ganga Committees (DGCs) have been carrying out annual inspections to assess the compliance status of GPIs for enforcing regulatory framework on the polluting industries.
• Based on these studies and on annual inspections, GPIs in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal have been inventoried and actions are taken through the issue of directions under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 against the industrial units not complying to the consent conditions prescribed for the discharge of effluents.  In 2017, out of 1109 GPIs inspected in association with 11 third party technical institutions and CPCB, 350 were found complying, 538 non-complying and 221 self-closed. Show cause notices were issued to 180 non-complying units and closure directions were issued to 358 non-complying industries under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Similarly, in 2018, 961 GPIs were inspected by associating 12 third party technical institutions.  Out of 961, GPIs inspected, 472 were found complying, 211 non-complying and 278 self-closed.  Show cause notices were issued to 98 non-complying units and closure directions were issued to 113 non-complying industries under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Source: PIB

4) Measures adopted to Eradicate Malnutrition

• The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programs of different Ministries/Departments through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. This Ministry is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition among children and women in the country.
• The government has set up POSHAN Abhiyaan on 18.12.2017. The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to achieve improvement in the nutritional status of children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women, and Lactating Mothers in a time-bound manner with fixed targets as under:

Objective

The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country in a phased manner, through a lifecycle approach, by adopting a synergized and result oriented approach. The Abhiyaan has mechanisms for timely service delivery and robust monitoring as well as intervention infrastructure. The major activities undertaken under this Abhiyaan are ensuring convergence with various other programs; Information Technology enabled Common Application Software for strengthening service delivery and interventions; Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate the people on nutritional aspects; Capacity Building of Frontline Functionaries and incentivizing States/ UTs for achieving goals.

National Health Mission (NHM)

• Further steps taken under the National Health Mission (NHM), a flagship program of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to address malnutrition inter alia include promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Iron, and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, de-worming, promotion of iodized salt, Vitamin-A supplementation, Mission Indradhanush to ensure high coverage of vaccination in children, conducting intensified diarrhea control fortnights to control childhood diarrhea, management of sick severely malnourished children at Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers, monthly Village Health and Nutrition Days, Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Young Child Care (HBYC) programs and Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram. Under POSHAN Abhiyaan, a well-researched, designed and tested communication plan & IEC materials have been developed and intensive Mass Media Campaign is conducted through various mass media channels like radio, television, and social media. Also, during the home visits conducted by AWWs, through the use of ICDS-Common Application Software (ICDS-CAS), the beneficiaries are counseled on nutrition-related issues like breastfeeding, complementary feeding, infant and young child care. ICDS-CAS has embedded videos related to Infant and Young Child care and nutrition for educating the beneficiaries.
• Further, Food and Nutrition Board under this Ministry, through its regional field units, conducts training programs on nutrition and nutrition education programs on the importance of healthy balanced diets especially through the use of locally available foods. Mass awareness campaigns through the use of electronic and print media are also organized.

Source: PIB

5) District Youth Convention Programmes

• District Youth Convention Programme is one of the core programs organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS). It is a one day program in which 100 youth leaders from Youth Clubs participate. Issues of social and national importance are highlighted. Resource Persons provide orientation to youth leaders in addressing local and contemporary issues. Youth leaders also share experience/best practices. Youth Leaders, in turn, disseminate the acquired inputs among members of their respective youth clubs.
• Rs. 30,000/- per convention per district per year is allocated to each of the districts Nehru Yuva Kendras for the conduct of the District Youth Convention Programme.

About Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan

• Nehru Yuva Kendras were established in the year 1972 to provide rural youth avenues to take part in the process of nation-building as well as provide opportunities for the development of their personality and skills.
• In the year 1987-88, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) was set up as an autonomous organization under the Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, to oversee the working of these Kendras. NYKS is the largest grassroots level youth organization; one of its kind in the world. It channelizes the power of youth on the principles of voluntarism, self-help and community participation.
• At present, there are Nehru Yuva Kendras functions in as many as 623 districts of the country. Further, to manage, administer and run the 623 district-based Nehru Yuva Kendras, Zonal Offices in 29 States of India have been established by NYKS. The NYKS has its head office in New Delhi.

Objectives

Objectives of NYKS are two-fold:-

• To involve the rural youth in nation-building activities.
• To develop such skills and values in them with which they become responsible and productive citizens of a modern, secular and technological nation.

Programs and schemes of NYKS

Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan has been working on various fronts of youth development with a variety of youth programs of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and certain special programs in coordination and cooperation of other ministries. The main focus has been on developing values of good citizenship, thinking and behaving in secular ways, skill development and helping youth to adopt a productive and organized behavior

Source: PIB

6) Senate acquits President Donald Trump

• U.S. President Donald Trump, impeached by the House of Representatives, was acquitted by the Senate bringing to a close a bitter process that lasted close to five months. 
• Senators voted 52 to 48 to acquit Mr. Trump of the abuse of office charge, with Republican Mitt Romney voting alongside all 47 Democrats.  They voted 53­47 as per party lines to acquit the President of the charge of obstruction of Congress.
• Mr. Trump was impeached by the House for conditioning $391 million in military assistance to Ukraine and a crucial White House meeting with its President Volodymyr Zelensky on the Ukrainians publicly announcing investigations into Mr. Trump’s rival and former Vice­President Joseph Biden and his son Hunter

7) Contribution of Renewable Energy in India

• As per Central Electricity Authority’s National Electricity Plan, the contribution of renewable energy sources is estimated to be around 21% of the total electricity demand of the country in the year 2021-22 and 24% by 2026-27.
• The major efforts being taken by the Government to meet the targets of renewable energy in the country, inter-alia, include Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route, strengthening of Power Purchase Agreements(PPAs), mandating requirement of Letter of Credit(LC) as payment security mechanism by distribution licensees for ensuring timely payments to RE generators, setting of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission on plug and play basis to investors, waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges and losses for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 31st December 2022, notification of standard bidding guidelines to enable distribution licensee to procure solar and wind power at competitive rates in cost effective manner, declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2022, laying of transmission lines under Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of Power in Renewable rich states, launching of new schemes, such as PM-KUSUM, Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc.
•  As part of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Accord on Climate Change, India has made a pledge that by 2030, 40% of its installed power generation capacity shall be from non-fossil fuel sources and will reduce its carbon emission intensity of GDP by 33-35 % considering 2005 level. The Government has set a target to install 175 GW of renewable energy capacity in the country by the year 2022. This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from biomass and 5 GW from small hydropower.

Source: PIB

8) Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)

• 154 Clusters when approved during 2018-20 against a target of 100 under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) to promote traditional Industries and Artisan. In the year 2018-19, 70 proposals and in 2019-20 (till 31.01.2020), 84 proposals have been approved, which is a substantial jump over the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18, when against a target of 71 clusters to be set up during 12th Five Year Plan period, 72 clusters were approved till 2017-18. 
• Clusters have been set up across the country including in NER and Andaman & Nicobar.  As many as 54 clusters have become functional so far, out of which 51 clusters were made operational during 2019-20 (till 31.01.2020). The sectors covered under SFURTI include Khadi products, Honey & related products, Coir & related products, Handloom, Traditional dressmaking, Handicraft, Traditional arts like – Kalamkari, Dokra art, Aipan art, Food processing, Bamboo products, etc.
• the main objective of the SFURTI scheme is to organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive, provide support for their long term sustainability, to provide sustained employment for traditional industry artisans & rural entrepreneurs, to enhance the marketability of products, etc. The scheme provides support in the form of two interventions viz. Hard Interventions and Soft Interventions.  Hard Interventions include the creation of Common Facility Centres (CFCs), Raw material banks (RMBs), Up-gradation of production infrastructure, Tools and technological up-gradation, etc. Soft Interventions include counseling, trust-building, skill development, and capacity building, etc. 
• The scheme was revamped in 2014-15 and further revised in 2017-18. Under the revised scheme, two types of clusters are set up. The maximum financial assistance provided is Rs. 2.50 crore for a Regular Cluster (up to 500 artisans) and Rs. 5.00 crore for a Major Cluster (more than 500 artisans). To expand the reach of the scheme, 20 more Nodal Agencies have been appointed under the scheme during 2019-20 besides the existing 8 Nodal Agencies. KVIC has also been asked to develop Honey clusters as per SFURTI Guidelines.

Source: PIB 

9) Lucknow Declaration Adopted at the 1st India-Africa Defence Ministers Conclave, 2020

The first India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave held in Lucknow on February 06, coinciding with DefExpo-2020, adopted the Lucknow Declaration. Following is the full text of the declaration: 

1. We, the Defence Ministers and Heads of Delegation from African countries and the Defence Minister of the Republic of India held the first-ever India Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave during the 11th edition of the biennial defense exhibition DEFEXPO INDIA 2020 at Lucknow, India on 6th February 2020. 
2. We recall the Declarations adopted during the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi (8-9 April 2008); India-Africa Forum Summit-II held in Addis Ababa (24-25 May 2011) and the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (26-30 October 2015) in which the Delhi Declaration 2015 and the India-Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation further cemented our multi-faceted partnership. We welcome the organization of this first IADMC in the run-up to India-Africa Forum Summit-IV. 
3. We vividly recall India’s contribution to defense and security in the African continent through setting up of Defence Academies and Colleges in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania; deployment of training teams in several African countries including Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Lesotho, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania; goodwill ship visits; provision of defense equipment and ammunitions and various other measures, including Defence Training Programmes. We also acknowledge the contribution of Indian defense forces in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations such as during cyclone IDAI in Mozambique in 2019 and evacuation of stranded persons of 41 countries through Djibouti in 2018 and various other such operations over the years, including in Madagascar. 
4. We appreciate the initiation of Africa India Field Training Exercises with the first-ever AFINDEX in March 2019 and agree that it will further strengthen cooperation in defense preparedness and security. 
5. We recognize that peace and security are a key priority for both India and African countries. More so, "Silence The Guns: Creating conducive conditions for African Development” is the African Union’s theme of the year. This vision is to achieve ‘a conflict-free Africa, prevent genocide, make peace a reality for all and rid the continent of wars, violent conflicts, human rights violations, and humanitarian disasters. During the deliberations between Indian and the AU delegations at the recent mid-term review of IAFS-III in September 2019, both sides agreed to explore possibilities of further cooperation in Peace and Security including support for initiatives such as Silence the guns by 2020, the African Standby Force, Maritime Security among other areas. 
6. India has participated in almost all the peacekeeping operations in Africa, along with many other African countries. We recall joint efforts of India and Africa in peacekeeping and anti-piracy operations. We agree to further strengthen our cooperation in enhancing peacekeeping capacity and peacebuilding efforts including support to the African Standby Force (ASF) and through courses, such as those at the center for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi and by other Peacekeeping Training Centres in Africa. We take this opportunity to underline the need for greater involvement of the Troop Contributing Countries, members of the UN, not only in the above- mentioned areas but in the decision-making process as well.
7. We commit to continue our collaboration in the fields of peace and security including conflict prevention, resolution, management, and peacebuilding through the exchange of expertise and training, strengthening regional and continental early warning capacities and mechanisms, enhancing the role of women in peacekeeping and propagating the culture of peace. We agree to continue to collaborate in peace and security through the exchange of experts and expertise, training programs and capacity building, enhance support towards peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction in Africa. We welcome the establishment of the African Union's International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in Cairo as a major contribution to peace and security in Africa. 
8. We call for deeper cooperation in the domain of defense industry including through investment, joint ventures in defense equipment software, digital defense, research & development, provisioning of defense equipment, spares and their maintenance on sustainable and mutually beneficial terms. 
9. We recognize the common security challenges such as terrorism and extremism, piracy, organized crime including human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, and others and we agree to collaborate to tackle them together. 
10. We condemn, in the strongest terms, the growing threat of terrorism and acknowledge that it constitutes a major threat to peace and security in the region. We urge all countries to take resolute action in rooting out terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and eliminating financing channels and halting cross-border movement of terrorists. We understand the need for all countries to ensure that all territory under their control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries in any manner. We emphasize the need for stronger international partnerships in countering terrorism and violent extremism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence. 
11. We call for strengthening the UN Counter-Terrorism mechanisms and to ensure strict compliance with the UN Security Council sanctions regime on terrorism. We urge the international community to envisage the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UNGA. We agree to further enhance cooperation and coordination between Africa and India to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and to combat transnational crime. 
12. We recognize the importance of the oceans and seas to the livelihoods of our peoples and that Maritime security is a pre-requisite for the development of Blue or Ocean economy. We seek to increase our cooperation in securing sea lines of communication, preventing maritime crimes, disaster, piracy, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing through the sharing of information and surveillance.
13. We seek to significantly increase maritime security through mutual cooperation. Such cooperation will include, but will not be limited to, increased cooperation in securing sea lines of communication, preventing transnational crimes of piracy, trafficking of drugs, arms, and humans through surveillance. 
14. We encourage enhanced cooperation between India and Africa on the evolving concept of Indo-Pacific and welcome the AU vision for peace and security in Africa that coincides with India's vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region). 
15. We support the great strides in reducing the number of violent conflicts in the African continent. We intend to continue to support the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and other Africa led efforts to enhance peace and security.
16. We support initiatives such as African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), Silence The Guns in Africa and Agenda 2063. 
17.  We, the Defence Ministers and Heads of Delegation from African countries thank the Government of India for taking the initiative of organizing the first-ever India-Africa Defence Ministers Conclave and convey our gratitude for the hospitality extended to us. The Defence Minister of India (The Raksha Mantri) takes this opportunity to thank the Defence Ministers and Heads of Delegation from African countries for their participation in the first-ever India-Africa Defence Ministers Conclave. 
18. We propose that Defence Ministers from African countries and India meet regularly in the future at a mutually convenient time and venue.

Source: PIB