01 MARCH 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS
1.
Cabinet approves promulgation of Aadhaar and Other Laws
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2019
Context :
●
The Union Cabinet, has
approved the promulgation of an Ordinance to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act
2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 & Indian Telegraph Act 1885.
Key Features :
●
Provides for voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical
or electronic form by authentication or offline verification with the
consent of Aadhaar number holder;
●
Provides for use of twelve-digit Aadhaar number and its
alternative virtual identity to conceal the actual Aadhaar number of an
individual;
●
Gives an option to children who are Aadhaar number
holders to cancel their Aadhaar number on attaining the age of eighteen years;
●
Permits the entities to
perform authentication only when they are compliant with the standards of
privacy and security specified by the Authority; and the authentication is
permitted under any law made by Parliament or is prescribed to be in the
interest of State by the Central Government;
●
Allows the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on
voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document under the Telegraph Act, 1885
and the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002.
●
Proposes
deletion of section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to use of Aadhaar by private
entities;
●
Prevents denial of
services for refusing to, or being
unable to, undergo authentication;
●
Provides for
establishment of Unique Identification Authority of India Fund;
● Provides
for civil penalties, its adjudication, appeal thereof in regard to violations
of Aadhaar Act and provisions by entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem.
Impact :
●
The amendments would
enable UIDAI to have a more robust
mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhaar.
●
Subsequent to this
amendment, no individual shall be
compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number of undergo authentication
for the purpose of establishing his identity unless it is so provided by a law
made by Parliament.
Background :
●
The Supreme Court in its judgement
and other tagged petitions held
Aadhaar to be constitutionally valid.
○
However, it
read down/struck down few sections of the Aadhaar Act and Regulations and gave several other directions in the
interest of protecting the fundamental rights to privacy.
●
Consequently it was proposed to amend the Aadhaar Act,
Indian Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in line
with the Supreme Court directives and
the report of Justice B.N.Srikrishna (Retd.) committee on data protection,
in order to ensure that personal data of
Aadhaar holder remains protected against any misuse and Aadhaar scheme remains in conformity with
the Constitution.
●
Towards this, the
Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was passed by the Lok Sabha in
its sitting held on 4th January, 2019. However, before the same could be
considered and passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine
die.
2.
Cabinet
approves the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019
Context :
● The Union Cabinet has approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 that will pave the way to extend reservation in
jobs, promotions and education to people living 10 km from the International
Border (IB) in Jammu.
Impact :
●
It would pave the way
would pave the way for bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining
International Border within the ambit of Reservation at par with persons living
in areas adjoining Actual Line of Control.
Significance :
●
Earlier, The reservation
benefits are not extended to the persons residing in the areas adjoining
International Border.
○
The benefits were only
reserved for people living 10 km beyond the Line of Control (LoC) and affected
by shelling and firing from across the border.
●
Due to continuous cross
border tensions, persons living alongside International Border suffer from
socio-economic and educational backwardness.
●
Shelling from across
the border often compels these residents to move to safer places and is
adversely impacting their education as Educational Institutions remain closed
for long periods.
●
Hence, it was felt
justifiable to extend the reservation benefits to persons residing in the areas
adjoining International Border on the similar lines of the persons living in
areas adjoining Actual Line of Control (ALoC).
Background :
●
10% reservation for
economically weaker sections made applicable in J&K also. This would pave
the way for reserving State Government jobs to the youth of J&K who are
from economically weaker sections belonging to any religion or caste.
●
It may be recalled that
10% reservation to economically weaker sections was introduced in rest of the
country through the 103rd Constitution Amendment in January 2019. This will be
in addition to such reservation available in Govt. of India jobs also.
●
Benefit of promotion to
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which include Gujjars and Bakarwals
amongst others, has also been made applicable to the State of J&K.
○
After a long wait of 24
years, the 77thConstitution Amendment of
1995 has now been applied to the State of J&K.
●
People living near the
International Border have been brought at par with those living near the Line
of Control for reservation in State Government jobs by amending the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 through an
Ordinance.
● Earlier,
the provision of 3% reservation was available only for youth living within 6
kms. Of LoC in J&K. Now, this provision will be applicable for people
living near the international border also. This has been a long-pending demand
of the population living near the international border, as they have been
facing the brunt of cross border firing in J&K.
|
Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004
:
●
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act,
2004 and Rules there under namely The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules,
2005 provide for vertical reservation in direct recruitment, promotions and
admission in different professional courses to various categories viz.
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Socially and Educationally Backward
Classes (Residents of Backward Area (RBA), Residents of Areas adjoining
Actual Line of Control (ALoC) and Weak and Under Privileged Classes (Social
Castes) along with horizontal reservation to the Ex-Serviceman and Physically
Challenged Persons.
●
However, the reservation benefits are
not extended to the persons residing in the areas adjoining International
Border.
|
3.
EC allows 11
documents to prove voters’ identity
Context :
●
The Election Commission
of India (ECI) that photo voter slips will no longer be accepted as
‘stand-alone identification document’ for voting at polling stations.
More about the news:
●
In an attempt to ensure
that legitimate voters are not prevented from casting their votes for want of
identification, the Election Commission has said apart from the Electors Photo
Identity Card (EPIC),can now show any of the 11 alternative documents, including
Aadhaar card, for exercising their franchise. Henceforth, photo voter slip will
not be accepted as a standalone identification paper.
●
The documents accepted
are passport, driving licence, service identity cards of the Central and State
governments, public sector undertakings and public limited companies, bank or
post office passbooks carrying photographs of voters, PAN card, smart cards
issued under the National Population Register, MNREGA job card and health
insurance smart card.
●
Pension documents with
photograph, official identity cards issued to the legislators and Aadhaar card
have also been included.
●
The Commission, in its
order, said minor discrepancies in the voters’ identity card should be ignored,
provided the identity of the elector can be established by the card.
● If
an elector produces a card issued by the Electoral Registration Officer of
another Assembly constituency, such card will be accepted provided the name of
that elector finds place in the electoral roll pertaining to the polling station
concerned.
4.
Another push at UNSC to ban
Azhar
Context :
●
The US, the UK and
France have moved a fresh proposal in the UN Security Council to designate
Pakistan-based terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
More about the news:
●
If the proposal is
passed, Pakistan-based terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar will be tagged as a
‘UN-designated global terrorist’, which in turn would subject him to a global
travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.
Previous attempts :
●
India had started
pushing for Azhar’s listing since 2008-09, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror
attacks.
●
The most recent effort
began after India blamed JeM for the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot on
January 2, 2016, and proposed a month later to designate Azhar as a global
terrorist.
○
But China intervened at
Pakistan’s behest and placed a technical hold on India’s move in March and
again in October 2016.
○
It subsequently used its veto power to block
the proposal in December 2016, a day before the technical hold ended.
●
China, a close ally of
Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US,
the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267
Committee by putting technical holds.
5.
Cabinet okays
National Mineral Policy 2019
Context :
●
The Union Cabinet, has
approved National Mineral Policy 2019.
Background :
●
National Mineral Policy 2019 replaces the extant National Mineral Policy 2008 (“NMP 2008”) which
was announced in year 2008.
●
The impetus to review
NMP 2008 came about by way of a
direction from the Supreme Court judgment of 2017
●
In compliance of the directions of the apex Court, the Ministry of Mines constituted a committee
under the chairmanship of Dr. K Rajeswara Rao, Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Mines to review NMP 2008.
●
The Ministry of Mines
accepted the committee Report and invited the comments/ suggestions of the
stakeholders as part of the PLCP process.
● Based on the received comments/
suggestions received in PLCP process and the comments/ suggestions from the
Central Ministries/ Departments the Ministry of Mines finalized the National
Mineral Policy 2019.
Objective :
●
The aim of National
Mineral Policy 2019 is to have a more
effective, meaningful and implementable policy that brings in further transparency, better regulation and
enforcement, balanced social and economic growth as well as sustainable mining
practices.
National Mineral
Policy 2019 :
●
The National Mineral
Policy 2019 includes provisions which will give boost to mining sector such as
– encouraging the private sector to take up exploration, encouragement of
merger and acquisition of mining entities and transfer of mining leases and
creation of dedicated mineral corridors to boost private sector mining areas.
●
The policy include the
introduction of the right of first refusal for the reconnaissance permit (RP)
and prospecting license holders, encouraging the private sector to take up
exploration and the auctioning of virgin areas on a revenue- sharing basis.
●
The 2019 Policy
proposes to grant status of industry to mining activity to boost financing of
mining for private sector and for acquisitions of mineral assets in other
countries by private sector
●
It also mentions that
Long term import export policy for mineral will help private sector in better
planning and stability in business
●
The Policy also
mentions rationalize reserved areas given to PSUs which have not been used and
to put these areas to auction, which will give more opportunity to private
sector for participation
●
The Policy also
mentions to make efforts to harmonize taxes, levies & royalty with world
benchmarks to help private sector
●
Among the changes
introduced in the National Mineral Policy, 2019 include the focus on make in
India initiative and Gender sensitivity in terms of the vision.
●
In so far as the
regulation in Minerals is concerned, E-Governance, IT enabled systems,
awareness and Information campaigns have been incorporated.
●
Regarding the role of
state in mineral development online public portal with provision for generating
triggers at higher level in the event of delay of clearances has been put in
place.
●
NMP 2019 aims to
attract private investment through incentives while the efforts would be made
to maintain a database of mineral resources and tenements under mining tenement
systems.
●
The new policy focuses
on use coastal waterways and inland shipping for evacuation and transportation
of minerals and encourages dedicated mineral corridors to facilitate the
transportation of minerals.
●
NMP 2019 proposes a
long term export import policy for the mineral sector to provide stability and
as an incentive for investing in large scale commercial mining activity.
● The
2019 Policy also introduces the concept of Inter-Generational Equity that deals
with the well-being not only of the present generation but also of the
generations to come and also proposes to constitute an inter-ministerial body
to institutionalize the mechanism for ensuring sustainable development in
mining.
Benefits
:
●
The New National
Mineral Policy will ensure more effective regulation.
●
It will lead to
sustainable mining sector development in future while addressing the issues of
project affected persons especially those residing in tribal areas
6. Union Cabinet approves software product policy
Context :
●
The Union Cabinet, has
approved the National Policy on Software
Products - 2019 to develop India as a Software Product Nation.
Background :
●
The Indian IT Industry has predominantly been a service
Industry. However, a need has been felt to move up the value chain through
technology oriented products and services.
●
To create a robust software product ecosystem the Government
has approved the National Policy on Software Products – 2019, which aims to
develop India as the global software product hub, driven by innovation,
improved commercialisation, sustainable Intellectual Property (IP), promoting
technology startups and specialized skill sets.
● Further, the Policy aims to align
with other Government initiatives such as Start-up India, Make in India and
Digital India, Skill India etc so as to create Indian Software products
Industry of USD ~70-80 billion with direct & indirect employment of ~3.5
million by 2025.
To achieve the vision of NPSP-2019, the Policy has the following five
Missions:
●
To promote the creation
of a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property
(IP), leading to a ten-fold increase in India share of the Global Software
product market by 2025.
●
To nurture 10,000
technology startups in software product industry, including 1000 such
technology startups in Tier-II and Tier-III towns & cities and generating
direct and in-direct employment for 3.5 million people by 2025.
●
To create a talent pool
for software product industry through (i) up-skilling of 1,000,000 IT
professionals, (ii) motivating 100,000 school and college students and (iii)
generating 10,000 specialized professionals that can provide leadership.
●
To build a
cluster-based innovation driven ecosystem by developing 20 sectoral and
strategically located software product development clusters having integrated
ICT infrastructure, marketing, incubation, R&D/testbeds and mentoring
support.
● In
order to evolve and monitor scheme & programmes for the implementation of
this policy, National Software Products Mission will be set up with
participation from Government, Academia and Industry.
Impact
:
●
The Software product
ecosystem is characterized by innovations, Intellectual Property (IP) creation
and large value addition increase in productivity, which has the potential to
significantly boost revenues and exports in the sector, create substantive employment
and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging technologies and leverage
opportunities available under the Digital India Programme, thus, leading to a
boost in inclusive and sustainable growth.
7.
Shanti
Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for Science and Technology
Context :
● The
Prime Minister conferred the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prizes for 2016, 2017 and
2018, at an event in Vigyan Bhawan.
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize :
● Prizes
awarded annually for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental,
in the following disciplines:
(i) Biological
Sciences,
(ii) Chemical Sciences,
(iii) Earth,
Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences,
(iv) Engineering
Sciences,
(v) Mathematical
Sciences,
(vi) Medical Sciences
and
(vii) Physical
Sciences.
● Any citizen of India
engaged in research in any field of science and technology up to the age of 45
years and Overseas citizen of India
(OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) working in India are eligible.
Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar :
●
Dr Shanti Swarup
Bhatnagar was the Founder Director (and later first Director General) of
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) who is credited with
establishing twelve national laboratories in as many years.
●
Dr Bhatnagar played a
significant role in building of post-independent S & T infrastructure and
in the formulation of India’s S & T policies.
●
Dr Bhatnagar concurrently
held number of important position in the Government. He was the first Chairman
of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
● He
was Secretary, Ministry of Education and Educational Adviser of Government. He
was the first Secretary to Ministry of Natural Resource & Scientific
Research and also Secretary of Atomic Energy Commission. He played an
instrument role in the establishment of the National Research Development
Corporation (NRDC) of India.
8.
Ordinance
for Amendment to the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005
Context :
● The
Union Cabinet, has approved promulgation of an Ordinance to amend the
definition of "person", as defined in sub-section (v) of section 2 of
the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005
More about the news:
●
to include a trust,
●
to enable the setting
up of a unit in a Special Economic Zone by a trust,
●
Also to provide
flexibility to the Central Government to include in this definition of a
person, any entity that the Central Government may notify from time to time.
Impact :
●
The present provision
of the SEZs Act, 2005 do not permit 'trusts' to set up units in SEZs. The
amendment will enable a trust to be
considered for grant of permission to set up a unit in SEZs.
●
The amendment will also
provide flexibility to the Central Government to include in this definition of
a person, any entity that the Central Government may notify from time to time.
This will facilitate investments in Special Economic Zones.
|
Special Economic Zone :
● Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are geographically delineated ‘enclaves’
in which regulations and practices related to business and trade differ from
the rest of the country and therefore all the units therein enjoy special
privileges.
● The basic idea of SEZs emerges from the fact that, while it might be
very difficult to dramatically improve infrastructure and business
environment of the overall economy ‘overnight’, SEZs can be built in a much
shorter time, and they can work as efficient enclaves to solve these
problems.
|
9. Cabinet approves joining of IEA Bioenergy TCP by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as a Member
Context :
●
The Union Cabinet,
chaired by the Prime Minister was apprised about Ministry of Petroleum &
Natural Gas, Government of India joining IEA Bioenergy TCP as its 25th member.
IEA Bioenergy TCP :
●
International Energy
Agency’s Technology Collaboration Programme on Bioenergy (IEA Bioenergy TCP) is
an international platform for co-operation among countries with the aim of
improving cooperation and information exchange between countries that have national
programmes in bioenergy research, development and deployment.
●
IEA Bioenergy TCP works
under the framework of International Energy Agency (IEA) to which India has
“Association” status since 30th March, 2017.
● The
primary goal of joining IEA Bioenergy TCP by Ministry of Petroleum &
Natural Gas (MoP&NG) is to facilitate the market introduction of advanced
biofuels with an aim to bring down emissions and reduce crude imports.
Functions :
●
The R&D work in IEA
Bioenergy TCP is carried out carried out within well-defined 3-years programmes
called “Tasks”.
●
Each year the progress
of the Tasks is evaluated and scrutinized and each 3 years the content of the
Tasks is reformulated and new Tasks can be initiated.
● Technical
persons from Public sector Oil Marketing companies will also be contributor in
the Tasks participated by MoP&NG.
Benefits
:
●
Participation in IEA
Bioenergy TCP are shared costs and pooled technical resources.
●
The duplication of efforts is avoided and
national Research and Development capabilities are strengthened.
●
There is an information exchange about best practices,
network of researchers and linking research with practical implementation.
●
Engagement
with International Agencies will also apprise the
Ministry of the developments taking place Worldwide in Biofuel sector, provide
opportunity of personal interaction with innovators/ Researchers and help in
bringing suitable policy ecosystem.
●
In addition, after
becoming member, India can participate
in other related Tasks focussing on Biogas, Solid waste Management, Biorefining
etc. which could be participated by relevant Ministries/ Departments/
Organizations of the Country.
10. FAME India Phase II
Context :
●
The Union cabinet has
approved the proposal for implementation of scheme titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase
II (FAME India Phase II)’ for promotion of Electric Mobility in the
country.
●
This scheme is the
expanded version of the present scheme titled ‘FAME India1 which was launched
on 1st April 2015
FAME India Phase - 2
:
●
Emphasis is on
electrification of the public transportation that includes shared transport.
○
Demand Incentives on
operational expenditure mode! for electric buses will be delivered through
State/city transport corporation (STUs).
○
In 3W and 4W segment
incentives will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or
registered for commercial purposes.
○
In the e-2Ws segment,
the focus will be on the private vehicles.
○
Through the scheme, it
is planned to support 10 Lakhs e-2W, 5 Lakhs e-3W, 55000 4Ws and 7000 Buses.
●
To encourage advance
technologies, the benefits of incentives, will be extended to only those
vehicles which are fitted with advance battery like a Lithium Ion battery and
other new technology batteries.
●
The scheme proposes for
establishment of charging infrastructure, whereby about 2700 charging stations
will be established in metros, other million plus cities, smart cities and
cities of Hilly states across the country so that there will be availability of
at least one charging station in a grid of 3 km x 3 km.
○
Establishment of
Charging stations are also proposed on major highways connecting major city
clusters.
○ On
such highways, charging stations will be established on both sides of the road
at an interval of about 25 km each.
Benefits :
●
The main objective of
the scheme is to encourage Faster adoption of Electric and hybrid vehicle by
way of offering upfront Incentive on purchase of Electric vehicles and also by
way of establishing a necessary charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles.
●
The scheme will help in
addressing the issue of environmental
pollution and fuel security.
Comments
Post a Comment