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Comprehensive News Analysis - 15 April 2017

Table of Contents:

A. GS1 Related:
B. GS2 Related:

POLITY

1. Keep out non-serious parties: MPs’ panel

C. GS3 Related:

ECONOMICS

1. Small factories raise concerns over draft social security code

2. PM launches BHIM-Aadhaar application

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. A Saturn moon may host life

D. GS4 Related:
E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn
F. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS
G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
H. Archives

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Useful News Articles for UPSC Current Affairs


A. GS1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!

 
 
B. GS2 Related
 Category: POLITY

1. Keep out non-serious parties: MPs’ panel

What’s in news?

  • Election Commission Of India has delisted around 255 political parties which have not contested any polls since 2005.
  • Election Commission wrote to the Income-Tax department asking it to look into the finances of 255 political parties it has ‘delisted’ for not contesting elections.

Why it has delisted?

  • Election commission is of the opinion that most of parties exist on paper to help people convert their back money into white by accepting donations.

Parliamentary Panel take on this issue

  • There is a need to keep non-serious parties out of the political system, and to ensure they do not misuse facilities like tax exemption.
  • Their registration should be regulated by law.

No power to de-register

  • While the poll watchdog has the mandate to register a political party, it lacks power under electoral laws to deregister one.Section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, empowers EC to register associations and bodies as political parties. However, there is no constitutional or statutory provision that empowers the EC to de-register political parties.



C. GS3 Related
 Category: ECONOMICS

1. Small factories raise concerns over draft social security code

What’s in news?

  • Small entrepreneurs have raised some concerns over the government’s proposal to provide social security coverage to its entire workforce

Apprehension

  • They may have to bear a little bit of financial burden due to contribution towards social security schemes

Background

  • The Union government had last month proposed a labour code on social security which will provide social security cover to the entire workforce in the country, including self-employed and agricultural workers
  • Factories employing even a single worker will have to contribute towards social security benefits, as per the proposed social security code
  • Small factories are largely kept out of social security schemes
  • For instance, the provident fund and pension contribution, administered by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), is mandatory only for factories employing at least 20 workers

Need of the code

  • Social security should be treated as a right and every citizen should be entitled to some basic social security but unfortunately, in India we have been covering a small portion of the population, in the organised sectors and there also some portions are not covered by the ESIC and EPFO

No problem for small businesses

  • Although there will be some financial burden on small entrepreneurs, however, that should not come in the way of providing social security benefits to the poor workers.

The biggest challenge is how we get to the approval stage where we have the political will and some consensus from employers and employees

2. PM launches BHIM-Aadhaar application

What’s in news?

  • On the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the BHIM-Aadhaar in Nagpur
  • BHIM(Bharat Interface for Money)-Aadhar would be an “economic giant” like the Constitution, through which Dr. Ambedkar empowered the common man.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched two new offers to reward BHIM users. These two schemes are:

       a. BHIM Referral Bonus Scheme (For Individuals)

    • The Referral Bonus scheme will incentivize existing BHIM users for bringing new users on the BHIM platform and encouraging the new users to do transactions with others using BHIM or by referring new users on BHIM. Hence, the bonus will be paid to both the referrer and the new user of BHIM (referee).
    • The referral will be considered successful only after 3 unique successful financial transactions have been completed by the new user.
    • On completion of minimum 3 unique successful transactions totaling only Rs 50 to any 3 unique users (either to customers or to merchants), the referrer and the referee will be notified about the bonus amount via notification in BHIM app. The referrer will get Rs 10 per successful referral, while the new users will get Rs 25 for downloading and transacting from BHIM App.

        b. BHIM Merchant Cashback Scheme

    • The scheme incentivizes not just one-time adoption of BHIM by merchants, but will also encourage transactions via BHIM mode (either QR code or VPA or Mobile number or ‘Pay to Aadhaar’).
    • The cashback to the merchant can be up to Rs 300 per month, with each merchant eligible to win up to Rs 1800 in 6 months.
BASIC INFORMATION

What is BHIM Aadhar app?

  • BHIM Aadhar is a new Aadhar Payment App
  • A new Android smartphone application to encourage the use of digital payments.
  • BHIM Aadhar Pay smartphone payment app would also eliminate the fee currently being charged by the private card companies such as ‘MasterCard’ and ‘Visa’

Who should install Aadhar Pay app?

  • Aadhar Pay App is need to be installed by merchants only i.e. only the shopkeepers, showrooms need to install aadhar pay app and the users who wants to pay using aadhar pay only need to link their aadhar number with their bank accounts.
  • Shopkeepers/ Merchant can download aadhar pay to take payments from customers from their aadhar linked bank accounts using their biometric scan. 

How it works?

  • Merchants would be required to download the BHIM Aadhar Pay payment app on their android smartphone connected to a biometric reader.
  • The biometric reader is currently available for just Rs 2000. If a customer wants to make payment, then he/she just need to enter his Aadhar Number in the app and select the bank from which the payment is to be made and use the biometric scan as the password for the transaction.
  • Upon entering the Aadhar Number, the app would automatically fetch the bank accounts linked with your Aadhar number, then the customer can make the selection of bank for payment as per his/her choice

How will it help?

  • The Aadhar Pay App for merchants would help eliminate the long waiting period and hassle of getting a new POS (Point of Sale) machine.
  • BHIM Aadhaar Pay app is made available on a merchant’s smartphone. Customers can pay the merchant by selecting the Bank’s name and filling only one field on the merchant’s phone – the Aadhaar number. The customer’s fingerprint is the password used to authenticate the transaction.
  • Customers need not use debit or credit cards, download mobile applications or even carry a mobile to make cashless transactions. The solution eliminates the hassles of remembering passwords, account numbers, or setting up of virtual payment addresses and using USSD codes to transfer money.
  • The acceptability of digital payments has also been very poor among the merchants in the country. One of the biggest reasons behind this is India being a cash dominated country and 2%-3% charges taken by the card companies such as Visa and MasterCard.
  • The lack of connectivity has also made it difficult for the merchants in the country to adopt digital payment systems. There are about 5 Crore merchants in the country at present and only 15 lakh POS machines for a population of more than 125 crore.
  • Not only for the merchants, the BHIM Aadhar Payment would also be helpful for customers to get rid of their stacks of plastic money, confusing sets of passwords and their digital payment accounts passwords being stolen. Also, the customers need not to download a digital payment wallet or even a smartphone.

Customer benefits

  • Customers don’t need to have an android phone or any other technology to make payments.
  • No service tax or any other extra charge on the payments using Aadhaar payments app.
  • There is no need to carry debit card or credit card.
  • No need to remember PINs, MPINs and passwords.
  • Instant Payments through aadhaar bridge system this is similar to Aadhaar Enabled Payment system (AEPS).  
  • Affordable payment solution for merchants as well as customers.
1. A Saturn moon may host life

What’s in news?

  • Data collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggest the possibility of microbes in Could icy moons like Saturn’s Enceladus in the outer solar system.A Saturn moon may host life

Facts suggesting the possibility of life

  • Plumes of gas erupting out of Enceladus — a small moon with an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust — contain hydrogen.
  • Scientists infer a lot from that: that there are hydrothermal chemical reactions similar to those that occur at hot fissures at the ocean bottoms on the earth.
  • Habitable conditions:On the earth at least, hydrothermal vents thrive with microbial life, offering up the potential that icy moons far away from Earth could be habitable.
  • Cassini’s findings also show that levels of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane measured in the Enceladus plume were out of equilibrium, an imbalance that could provide an energy source that organisms could tap into for food
  • The tidal forces of Saturn pulling and squeezing Enceladus appear to generate enough heat to melt the ice. From additional Cassini observations, scientists concluded that not only is there a pool of water near the south pole of Enceladus to generate the plumes, but a global ocean that lies beneath the moon’s ice.
  • Surprising find: One of the Cassini’s instruments collected and identified particles in the plume spray. It was mostly water molecules, but scientists also found hydrogen molecules.

             Why only Hydrogen?

    • Each water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Geophysical models indicated that as hot water flows past the rocks, minerals in the rocks were grabbing the oxygen atoms and releasing hydrogen

Life elsewhere

  • A team of researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope spotted what appears to be a similar plume rising from Europa, one of Jupiter’s big moons that also possesses an ocean beneath an icy exterior.

 


D. GS4 Related
Nothing here for Today

 

PIB Articles    Editorials Roundup
 

E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn 

Prelims worthy Factual Information
1. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): formerly known as electroshock therapy, and often referred to as shock treatment, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in patients to provide relief from mental disorders.

2. Mother of all bombs
Mother of all bombs
 3. Anchor Investor:
  • An Anchor Investor is the first investor in any round, that provides subsequent investors a degree of confidence. Until you have the first investor, nobody wants to be the first one to take a bite. Once you have the first investors, others feel assurance that others are willing to invest. So typically an anchor investor will know you and have a high degree of confidence in your project. The concept of anchor investors was introduced by Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with the intention to improve the price discovery during Initial Public Offers (IPOs).
  • The process was aimed at improving the investment opportunity for retail investors with the company. Since, anchor investors belong to the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) category they would be in a better position to gauge the fundamentals and the future prospects of the company.
  • QIB category include mutual funds, venture capital funds, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), domestic as well as international provident and pension funds along with banks.
  • All IPOs are split into sections such retail, non-institutional, and so on. QIBs are one of the investor group. A company can only hold 30% of QIB allotment and provide it to anchor investors.
  • The minimum application size for each anchor investor should be Rs 10 crore. Anchor investors will put up with margin amount of 25% of their application and the balance within two days from the close of the issue. These investors (i.e. anchor investors) are supposed to apply for the shares like regular investors at the price they seem best fit for it.

F. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS
BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGANISATIONS IN NEWS About the Article
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY)

Mission

  1. To reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots level.
  2. The mission would also aim to providing the shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner
  3. . The scheme also address the livelihood concern of the urban street vendors by facilitating with suitable space, institutional credit, and social security and skills to the urban street vendor for accessing emerging market opportunities.

Implementing Ministry

  • Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana was launched under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA).
  • The scheme is integration of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
  • National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is renamed as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-(DAY-NULM) .Under the scheme urban areas extends the coverage to all the 4041 statutory cities and towns, there by covering almost the entire urban population.

COMPONENT OF DAY-NULM: The scheme has two component one for urban India and other for rural India.

  • The Urban component named as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana will be implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
  • The rural component named as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development.

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SCHEME

  • Employment through Skill Training and Placement – An expenditure of Rs.15, 000 per person is allowed on training of urban poor which is Rs.18, 000 in North-East and J&K. Moreover, Training urban poor to meet the enormous demand from urban citizens by imparting market-oriented skills through City Livelihood Centers.
  • Social Mobilization and Institution Development – It will be done through formation of Self-Help Groups (SHG) for training members and hand holding, an initial support of 10, 000 is given for each group. Assistance of Rs.50, 000 is provided to Registered Area Level Federations.
  • Subsidy to urban poor – An interest subsidy of 5% – 7% for setting up individual micro-enterprises with a loan of up to 2 lakh and for group enterprises with a loan limit of up to Rs.10 lakhs.
  • Shelters for urban homeless – Cost of construction of shelters for urban homeless is fully funded under the Scheme.
  • Other means – Development of vendor markets and also the promotion of skills for the vendors through setting up infrastructure and special projects for the rag picker and differently abled etc.


G. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam:)
 

Question 1: Subject- “Water”, is in which part of the constitution _____.
  1. Union List
  2. State List
  3. Concurrent List
  4. None of the above
See
Answer


(b)

Type: Current Affairs
Level: moderate

Explanation:

 

Type: Polity
Level: Easy

Explanation:

The State List of the Seventh Schedule has the following as Entry 17 : Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power

Question 2: Deen dayal Antyodaya Yojana is implemented by which ministry?
  1. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
  2. Ministry of Rural Development
  3. Ministry of Panchayath Raj Insitution
  4. None of the above
See
Answer


(a)

Type: Schemes
Level: Moderate

Explanation:

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana will be implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Question 3: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is implemented 
by ____________.
  1. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
  2. Ministry of Rural Development
  3. Ministry of Panchayath Raj Insitution
  4. None of the above
See
Answer


(b)

Type: Schemes
Level: Moderate

Explanation:

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Question 4: Who has the power to de-register a political party?
  1. Election Commission of India
  2. Parliament
  3. State Legislative Assembly
  4. None of the above
See
Answer


(d) 

Type: Polity
Level: Moderate

Explanation:

As of now, the issue is unsettled.

Recently, the EC delisted 255 political parties, which existed only on paper and had not contested any local or national elections since 2005. This is just the first such list from the EC; more parties could be added.

According to the EC, it has delisted parties using using special powers, and the same could be subject to litigation. Section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, empowers EC to register associations and bodies as political parties. However, there is no constitutional or statutory provision that empowers the EC to de-register political parties.

  • The EC has been seeking powers to de-register. This has also been proposed in the suggestions made for electoral reforms. The Law Commission has endorsed the proposal. It would only be logical that the EC, which has the power to register, is also empowered to de-register. More so now, when the government is taking steps to check black money. Such entities, if not de-registered, will continue to enjoy exemptions under Section 13A of the Income-tax Act. This section allows tax-exemption to political parties for income from house property, voluntary contributions, capital gains and other sources.
  • Political parties may be formed merely for availing tax exemption. To ensure that delisted political parties do not enjoy tax benefits, the Commission had written to the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
 

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