Daily Current Affairs 24 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1)  Indira Rasoi Yojana

• A new kitchen scheme named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi will shortly be launched in Rajasthan for providing nutritious food to the poor and needy twice a day at concessional rates. 
• The State government will spend ₹100 crores every year on the scheme’s implementation
• Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the Indira Rasoi Yojana would fulfill the State government’s promise of “no one sleeps hungry”. 
• The local non­government organizations will be roped in for running the scheme and its effective monitoring will be done with the help of information technology.
• The previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the State had also launched a subsidized meal scheme, Annapuran Rasoi Yojana, in December 2016, offering breakfast and lunch for ₹5 and ₹8 respectively on the lines of Tamil Nadu’s Amma Unavagam (Mother’s Canteen)

Source: The Hindu

2) Prototype vehicle mounted ULV sprayer

• To overcome the limitation of importing equipment, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), under Make in India initiative, has taken up the challenge to indigenously develop a vehicle-mounted ULV sprayer for locust control. Leading the initiative, the Mechanization and Technology Division of DAC&FW got a prototype of the sprayer developed through an Indian manufacturer. The trials of the sprayer have been successfully conducted in Ajmer and Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The other approvals required for commercial launch are underway. This is a major breakthrough as this will end the dependence of importing very important equipment of locust control.
• At present, the sole supplier of vehicle-mounted sprayers is M/s Micron Sprayers, UK. Supply order for 60 nos. of sprayers was placed on the firm in February 2020. Ministry for External Affairs and Ministry for Commerce and Industry was involved in expediting the supply of these types of equipment. High Commission of India, UK is also regularly following up with the firm and monitoring the early supply of the sprayers. To date, only 15 sprayers have been received. The supply of the rest of the 45 units would be completed within a month.
• However, the ground control vehicles with sprayers used for locust control can spray up to a height of 25-30 ft only. The tractor-mounted sprayers also have a limitation in reaching inaccessible areas and tall trees. Therefore, the necessity of exploring aerial spray option was explored.
• During a review, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar directed that deployment of Drones should be explored for Locust control. As the existing policy guidelines issued by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) did not permit the use of drones with a payload of pesticides, so DAC&FW requested MoCA for permitting the same and Ministry of Civil Aviation approved a conditional exemption to Government entity i.e. Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage, Faridabad (DPPQ&S) for Drone operations for locust control on 21.05.2020. Also, on 22.05.2020, the Standard Operating Procedure of aerial spraying of insecticides by drones, airplanes, and helicopters was approved by the Central Insecticides Board for locust control.
• After the conditional exemption given by MoCA, two firms were impaneled for providing services of drones for a spray of pesticides for Locust control. These firms conducted some trials in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh). As a follow up of Review Meeting held at the level of Cabinet Secretary on 27.05.2020, a meeting was held by Secretary Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’ Welfare with Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation, representatives of NDMA and Pawan Hans on the same day. The issue of availability of helicopter/aircraft with air-spray equipment and the strategy for maximizing the deployment of drones for locust control was discussed. An Empowered Committee under the Chairmanship of the Additional Secretary, DAC&FW comprising of officers of the MoCA, Pawan Hans, DGCA, Air India, and DAC&FW as members were constituted for facilitating the procurement of goods and services for an aerial spray of pesticides through drones, aircraft, and a helicopter.
• Thereafter, on the recommendation of the Empowered Committee work order for engagement of Drones to five companies (@5 drones each) has been issued. All five drone service providers have started work at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagore, and Phalodi (Jodhpur) district of Rajasthan with the deployment of 12 drones to date in a phased manner. The experience of the use of drones has been more than satisfactory in inaccessible areas and for effective control over tall trees. The deployment of drones has added another dimension in the capabilities of Locust Circle offices to ensure effective control over desert locust. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has appreciated that India is the first country in the world that is controlling Desert Locust through Drones.

Source: PIB

3) Information about Country of Origin by the sellers made mandatory on GeM to promote Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat

• Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has made it mandatory for sellers to enter the Country of Origin while registering all new products on GeM. Further, sellers, who had already uploaded their products before the introduction of this new feature on GeM, are being reminded regularly to update the Country of Origin, with a warning that their products shall be removed from GeM if they fail to update the same. GeM has taken this significant step to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
• GeM has also enabled a provision for an indication of the percentage of local content in products. With this new feature, now, the Country of Origin as well as the local content percentage are visible in the marketplace for all items. More importantly, the ‘Make in India’ filter has now been enabled on the portal. Buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50% local content criteria. In the case of Bids, Buyers can now reserve any bid for Class I Local suppliers (Local Content > 50%). For those Bids below INR 200 crore, only Class I and Class II Local Suppliers (Local content > 50% and > 20% respectively) are eligible to bid, with Class I supplier getting purchase preference. Some Snapshots of the Local Content Features on the GeM Portal
• Since its inception, GeM is continuously working towards the promotion of ‘Make in India’ initiative.  The Marketplace has facilitated the entry of small local sellers in Public Procurement while implementing ‘Make in India’ and MSE Purchase Preference Policies of the Government in the true sense. The geM is enabling quick, efficient, transparent, and cost-effective procurement, especially in this hour of need when government organizations require products and services urgently to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.

Source: PIB

4) YUKTI 2.0

• Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, today launched an initiative ‘YUKTI 2.0’ to help systematically assimilate technologies having commercial potential and information related to incubated startups in our higher education institutions.
• Earlier, the Minister had launched the YUKTI (Young India combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation) web portal on 11 April 2020. Ministry of HRD prepared the portal given Coronavirus. The portal intends to cover the different dimensions of COVID-19 challenges in a very holistic and comprehensive way. Through this portal, the Ministry of Human Resource Development will endeavor to ensure that students, teachers, and researchers in higher educational institutions are getting appropriate support to meet the requirements needed to advance their technologies and innovations.
• Shri Pokhriyal said that this database will provide a clear picture of the state of the innovation ecosystem of our higher educational institutions. This will also help the government to identify bottlenecks and formulate appropriate policies to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the country. Ministry will provide the best possible help to support creative innovations and technologies to help the society at large. The Minister hoped that this portal will prove to be a milestone towards promoting innovations and entrepreneurship culture in our higher education system and involving youth in nation-building.

Source: PIB

5) The World Bank has released new Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs)

• The World Bank has released new Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) for the reference year 2017, under the International Comparison Program (ICP), that adjusts for differences in the cost of living across economies of the World. Globally 176 economies participated in the 2017 cycle of ICP.
• The International Comparison Program (ICP) is the largest worldwide data-collection initiative, under the guidance of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC), to produce Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) which are vital for converting measures of economic activities to be comparable across economies. Along with the PPPs, the ICP also produces Price Level Indices (PLI) and other regionally comparable aggregates of GDP expenditure.
• India has participated in almost all ICP rounds since its inception in 1970. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is the National Implementing Agency (NIA) for India, which has the responsibility of planning, coordinating, and implementing national ICP activities. India is also proud to have been a co-Chair of the ICP Governing Board along with Statistics Austria for the ICP 2017 cycle

WORLDWIDE STATUS

• The Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) of Indian Rupee per US$ at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) level is now 20.65 in 2017 from 15.55 in 2011. The Exchange Rate of US Dollar to Indian Rupee is now 65.12 from 46.67 during the same period. The Price Level Index (PLI)—the ratio of a PPP to its corresponding market exchange rate—is used to compare the price levels of economies, of India is 47.55 in 2017 from 42.99 in 2011.
• In 2017, India retained and consolidated its global position, as the third-largest economy, accounted for 6.7 percent ($8,051 billion out of World total of $119,547 billion) of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of PPPs as against China (16.4%) and United States (16.3%), respectively. India is also a third-largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in global Actual Individual Consumption and Global Gross Capital Formation

REGIONAL STATUS: ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

• In 2017, India retained its regional position, as the second-largest economy, accounted for 20.83 % (HK$ 48,395 billion out of Asia-Pacific total of HK$ 232,344 billion) of Regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of PPPs where China was at 50.76% (first) and Indonesia at 7.49% (third). India is also the second-largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in regional Actual Individual Consumption and regional Gross Capital Formation.
• Among 22 participating economies in the Asia-Pacific region, the Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) of Indian Rupee per Hong Kong Dollar (HK$) at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) level is now at 3.43 in 2017 from 2.97 in 2011. The Exchange Rate of Hong Kong Dollar to Indian Rupee is now at 8.36 from 6.00 during the same period. The Price Level Index (PLI of India has is now at 64.00 in 2017 from 71.00 in 2011.
• The ICP 2017 results are available on the ICP website and the World Bank’s Databank and Data Catalog. Revised results for 2011, the previous ICP reference year, were also released as well as estimates of annual PPPs for the period 2012-2016. The next ICP comparison will be conducted for the reference year 2021.

Source: PIB

6) Seaplane operation projects

• Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping (I/C), reviewed the seaplane projects on Indian water bodies
• Seaplane projects will provide faster and hassle-free travel options for the long, treacherous, and hilly regions of the country. Till now, 16 seaplane routes have been identified under Regional Connectivity Routes under the UDAN scheme. Sabarmati and Sardar Sarovar- Statue of Unity route are included in these 16 seaplane routes and hydrographic surveys of this route have been completed.
• Shri Mandaviya opined that Sabarmati and Narmada River-Statue of Unity seaplane route will save time and boost tourism, as it provides a birds-eye view of Narmada Valley and Statue of Unity. Shri Mandaviya instructed the officials to come up with the Indian Model of the warterdrome (terminal), after a thorough study of the Waterdrome infrastructure of the countries like the USA, Canada, Maldives, and Australia which suits the Indian rules and regulations for the operation of Seaplane.
• After detailed deliberations, he directed Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to join hands to commence the seaplane operation of the Sabarmati and Statue of Unity route by October 2020. The Bathymetric and Hydrographic surveys of the seaplane routes to be undertaken by IWAI on behalf of the Airport Authority of India will have to be done, latest by September 2020.
• IWAI will manage the Project of Seaplane in Inland Waterways and SDCL will manage the Projects of seaplane in Coastal Areas. IWAI and SDCL will coordinate with the Ministry of Shipping, flight operators, Ministry of Tourism as well as DGCA.

Source: PIB

7) 'SATAT' (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme

• The online inauguration of the CBG Plant at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu and CBG Fuel Stations at various places in the Tamil Nadu state
• The 'SATAT' (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme on CBG was launched on 1.10.2018 which envisages targeting production of 15 MMT of CBG from 5000 plants by 2023. The Government of India has taken various enabling steps to ensure the success of the SATAT scheme. Oil Marketing Companies have offered long term pricing on CBG to make projects bankable and have agreed to execute long term agreements on CBG. The Minister said that Bio-manure, an important by-product of CBG Plants, is also in the process of being included in Fertilizer Control Order 1985. This will make it easier to market and provide an opportunity for organic farming across the country as the 5000 CBG Plants are expected to produce 50 MMT Biomanure.
• Under the SATAT scheme, IOT Biogas decided to divert part/full biogas production to Compressed Biogas (CBG) generation. The Compressed Biogas procured from the IOT Biogas plant shall be sold through Retail Outlets (ROs) and Institutional Business (IB). This is the first time an alternative to natural gas is being sold by Oil Marketing Companies. The numbers are to increase manifold in the coming years. The Minister said that it is for the first time that we are inaugurating facilities that provide an environment-friendly gaseous fuel from natural sources in Tamil Nadu, as regular CNG fuel stations are not yet available in this State.
• there is immense potential in India's Oil and Gas sector and the projects that have been initiated in the recent past would go a long way in ensuring India’s energy security. Biogas production is growing steadily, as more people are setting up biogas plants to produce biogas. Biogas is a renewable, as well as a clean, source of energy. The gas generated through bio-digestion is non-polluting and it reduces greenhouse emissions.
• t the Government of India has been promoting Biofuels including CBG to increase the green-energy mix, reduce import dependence, create employment especially in semi-urban & rural areas, and reduce pollution. Usage of CBG shall assist in achieving climate change goals of India as per the Paris Agreement 2015. This shall also be in alignment with schemes of Government of India like Swachh Bharat, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Make in India.

Source: PIB

8) Increase in Economic Activity-Improvement in Economic Indicators

• The agricultural sector remains the foundation of the Indian economy and with a forecast of a normal monsoon, should support the rebooting of the Indian Economy. Though the GDP contribution of the sector may not be very large (about Industry and Services), its growth has a very positive impact on the large population dependent on agriculture. Further, the recent landmark reforms announced in the sector will go a long way in building efficient value chains and ensuring better returns for farmers.
• The resilience of the Indian manufacturing is evident from the fact that within 2 months, India has become the world’s second-largest manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) starting from scratch. Early green shoots of economic revival have also emerged in May and June with real activity indicators like electricity and fuel consumption, inter and intra-state movement of goods, retail financial transactions witnessing pick up.

Improvement in Economic Indicators

Agriculture

• Procurement of wheat from farmers by Government agencies has touched an all-time record figure of 382 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) on 16th June 2020 surpassing the earlier record of 381.48 LMT achieved during 2012-13. This has been accomplished during the trying times of the Covid-19 pandemic under the social distancing restrictions. 42 Lakh farmers have been benefitted and a total amount of about Rs. 73,500 crore has been paid to them towards Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat.
• The procurement of Minor Forest Produces (MFP) under the MSP for MFP Scheme in 16 states has hit a record-breaking high with the procurement touching Rs. 79.42 crores. This has proved to be a much-needed panacea in these distressing times of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted lives and livelihoods of tribals.
• As on 19th June, farmers have sown 13.13 million hectares of Kharif crops, 39 percent higher than the corresponding period of last year with a big jump in area coverage under Oilseeds, Coarse Cereals, Pulses, and Cotton.
• Fertilizer sales have surged by almost 98 percent year-on-year in May 2020(40.02 lakh tonnes), reflecting a robust agricultural sector.

Manufacturing

• India’s PMI Manufacturing and Services showed a lower contraction in May at 30.8 and 12.6 respectively over April (27.4 and 5.4 respectively).
• Electricity consumption saw a lower contraction in growth rates from (-) 24 percent in April too (-) 15.2 percent in May to (-)12.5 percent in June (till 21stJune). In June, electricity consumption has continuously improved from (-)19.8 percent in the first week to (-)11.2 percent in the second week to (-)6.2 percent in the third week of June.
• The total assessable value of E-Way bills picked up by a massive 130 percent in May 2020 (Rs. 8.98 lakh crore) compared to April 2020 (Rs. 3.9 lakh crore), though lower than the previous year and pre-lockdown levels. Value of E-Way bills generated between 1st and 19th June stood at Rs. 7.7 lakh crore, with 11 days left for the month to complete.
• Consumption of petroleum products, a major indicator reflecting consumption and manufacturing activity in the country increased by 47 percent from 99,37,000 metric tonnes in April to 1,46,46,000 metric tonnes in May. Consequently, year-on-year contraction in consumption growth of petroleum products was much smaller at (-)23.2 percent in May against (-)45.7 percent in April. In June, growth in consumption of petroleum products is expected to be still higher after one month of Unlock 1.0.

Services

• Railway freight traffic improved by 26 percent in May (8.26 crore tonnes) over April (6.54 crore tonnes), though still lower than previous year levels. The improvement is likely to continue in June in sync with growth in the movement of goods on National Highways.
• Average daily electronic toll collections increased from Rs. 8.25 crore in April 2020 to Rs. 36.84 crore in May, rising more than 4 times. In the first three weeks of June, it has improved further to Rs. 49.8 crore.
• Total digital Retail financial transactions via NPCI platforms increased sharply from Rs. 6.71 lakh crore in April 2020 to Rs. 9.65 lakh crore in May. The trend is expected to continue in June driven by a sustained pick-up in real activity.

Monetary Indicators

• With RBI’s efforts towards ensuring adequate liquidity, private placement of corporate bonds picked up sharply by 94.1 percent (YoY growth) in May (Rs. 0.84 lakh crore) as compared to a contraction of 22 percent in April (Rs. 0.54 lakh crore).  June is likely to see a still larger placement as excess liquidity persists in the system.
• Average assets under management (AUM) of mutual funds increased by 3.2 percent to Rs.24.2 lakh crore in May 2020 from Rs. 23.5 lakh crore in April 2020. The contraction in YoY growth in the indicator also fell from (-)6.9% in April too (-)4.5% in May.
• India’s forex reserves at USD 507.6 billion as on 12th June, continue to provide a crucial cushion to external shocks on the back of higher FDI, portfolio flows and low oil prices. FDI in India recorded an inflow of USD 73.45 billion in FY 2019-20, an increase of 18.5 percent over the previous fiscal.

Source: PIB

9) Earthquakes in Mizoram

A medium-intensity earthquake of 5.1 magnitudes rocked Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, and the other northeastern States on 21st June.

Why Mizoram and Tripura are more vulnerable?

• As per the seismic hazard map of India, both the states of Mizoram and Tripura lie entirely in Zone V. 
• Also, in Mizoram, lie the southernmost end of the Purvanchal Himalayan range. Their folded structure is a synclinorium consisting of broad synclines and tight-faulted anticlines.
• Therefore, earthquakes in this region are generally shallow, though a few quakes of intermediate-depth have occurred. Most deeper earthquakes occur along and across the international border, in Myanmar’s Chin Division. Earthquake activity in Tripura is mainly shallow. The Daiki Fault which follows the international border of India and Bangladesh in Meghalaya passes through northern sections of Tripura.
• The other major threat is from the Madhupur Fault in Bangladesh.

Source: The Hindu

10) PM CARES Funds allocations

• The PM CARES Fund Trust has allocated ₹2,000 crores for the supply of 50,000 “Made-­in-­India” ventilators to government­run COVID­19 hospitals in all States and Union Territories. Further, ₹1,000 crores have been allocated for the welfare of migrant laborers, a Union government release said
• So far 2,923 ventilators have been manufactured of which 1,340 have already been delivered to the States/UTs
• The prominent recipients include Maharashtra (275), Delhi (275), Gujarat (175), Bihar (100), Karnataka (90), and Rajasthan (75). By month­end, 14,000 more will be delivered to cover all States and Union Territories.
• Further, ₹1,000 crores have already been released to States/UTs for the welfare of the migrant laborers
• The distribution of the fund is based on the formula of 50% weightage for the population as per the 2011 Census, 40% weightage for the number of positive COVID­19 cases and 10% for equal distribution among all the States/UTs
• This assistance is to be used for arranging accommodation, food, medical treatment, and transportation of the migrants. The main recipients of the grant are Maharashtra (₹181 crores), Uttar Pradesh (₹103 cr.), Tamil Nadu (₹83 cr.), Gujarat (₹66 cr.), Delhi (₹55 cr.), West Bengal (₹53 cr.), Bihar (₹51 cr.), Madhya Pradesh (₹50 cr.), Rajasthan (₹50 cr.) and Karnataka (₹34 cr.)

PM CARES Fund

• The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) were created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The fund will be used for combat, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future. The Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund. Trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs, and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.
• The fund will also enable micro-donations. The minimum donation accepted for the PM CARES Fund is ₹10. The donations will be tax-exempt and fall under corporate social responsibility (CSR) The Prime Minister had said that the PMO had received many requests to help in the war against COVID-19. Accordingly, the fund was set up and will be used for disaster management and research.

Source: The Hindu