In continuation of the detailed instructions dated 10.10.2018 and 6.3.2020 issued by ECI in the matter of publicity of criminal antecedents by the contesting candidates as well as by the political parties nominating such candidates, it was discussed at length in the Commission’s meeting today. Commission decided to further streamline the instructions concerning publicity of criminal antecedents by candidates concerned and by the political parties, who nominate them for elections. Commission has always emphasised on this moral yardstick for overall betterment of electoral democracy.
Highlights of the modified instructions are as follows:
A. Revised Timeline for Publicity
As per the revised guideline, the candidates as well as the political parties, regarding candidates nominated by them, will publish the details of criminal antecedents, if any, in newspapers and television in following manner:
First publicity: Within first 4 days of last date of withdrawal.
Second publicity: Within 5th to 8th day of last date of withdrawal
Third publicity: From 9th day till the last day of campaign, i.e. two days prior to date of poll)
This timeline will help the voters in exercising their choices in more informed manner.
B. Regarding the publicity by uncontested winning candidates as well as the political parties who nominate them, it is clarified that uncontested winner candidates as well as the political parties who nominate them shall also publicise the criminal antecedents, if any, as prescribed for other contesting candidates and political parties.
As decided by Commission, a Compendium of all instructions and formats issued so far, in this matter, is being published for the benefit of stakeholders. This will help in creating more awareness amongst the voters and other stakeholders. All instructions, in this regard, must be complied by the contesting candidates with criminal antecedents and the political parties regarding their nominated candidates. These modified instructions shall apply with immediate effect.
The Results of the second edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems were released by Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways Shri Piyush Goyal today, through a virtual felicitation ceremonyin the presence ofMinister of State for Commerce & Industry & Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Shri Som Parkash.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) conducted the second edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Exercise, with the key objective to foster competitiveness and propel States and Union Territories to work proactively towards uplifting the startup ecosystem. It has been implemented as a capacity development exercise to encourage mutual learning among all states and to provide support in policy formulation and implementation.
The States’ Startup Ranking Framework 2019 has 7 broad reform area, consisting of 30 action points ranging from Institutional Support, Easing Compliances, Relaxation in Public Procurement norms, Incubation support, Seed Funding Support, Venture Funding Support, and Awareness & Outreach. To establish uniformity and ensure standardization in the ranking process, States and UTs have been divided into two groups.While UTs except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’.
A total of 22 States and 3 Union Territories participated in the exercise. Evaluation Committees comprising independent experts carried out a detailed assessment of responses across various parameters. Many parameters involved getting feedback from beneficiaries which was gathered through more than 60,000 calls made in 11 different languages to empathetically connect with beneficiaries to ascertain the real situation at the implementation levels.
For the purposes of Ranking, States are classified into 5 Categories: Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders and Emerging Startup Ecosystems. Within each category, entities are placed alphabetically. States are also recognised as Leaders in 7 reform areas of support to startups. Results are attached at Annexure.
The felicitation ceremony was accompanied by the release of a National Report which highlights the vision, trajectory, methodology and the future roadmap of the States Ranking Exercise. A State Specific Report for each of the 25 participating entities has also been released, containing a comprehensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and priority areas for future.
The 13th edition of Aero India-21 will be held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru, Karnataka from 3rd to 07th February 2021. Raksha Mantri, Shri Rajnath Singh launched the Aero India 2021 website https://aeroindia.gov.in at New Delhi today giving the go ahead for space-booking.
Aero India 2021 website will be a contactless online interface for Asia’s largest Aeroshow and host all online services related to the event for both the exhibitors and visitors besides hosting informative content about Ministry of Defence’s recent policies, initiatives as also product profile of indigenous aircraft and helicopters. Raksha Mantri conveyed his best wishes for the success of the event.
Exhibitors will be able to register and book space online as per their requirements on a first-come first served-basis, and make all payments online on the Aero India website. Exhibitors can avail early bird discounts by booking space on the website before 31 October 2020.
Business and other visitors will be able to buy their tickets online on the website for visiting the show from 3rd-7th Feb 2021 during both business and public days. Media intending to circulate their publications as also media persons will be able to register on the website for coverage of the event. A query redressal and feedback mechanism has been incorporated in the website wherein exhibitors and visitors will be able to send their queries/comments. The health protocols that will be implemented to ensure a safe event will also be available.
The website will be interactive and aims to provide the first of the numerous contactless experiences at the show and will help build the participants' confidence towards the event being cognizant and in conformance with prevailing pandemic related guidelines and safeguards.
It may be recalled that during his recent visit to Russia in his bilateral discussions, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh referred to the Aero India-21 show and invited participation of defence ministers and industry delegations of Russia and the central Asian Republic countries.
CSCAF to provide Roadmap for cities towards Combating Climate Change while planning / implementing their actions including investments
CSCAF initiative intends to inculcate Climate-Sensitive Approach to Urban Planning and Development
Framework with 28 indicators across five categories developed after review of Global Frameworks/ Assessment Approaches
Streets for people challenge to support cities to develop unified vision of streets in consultation with stakeholders
Aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly/ vibrant streets through quick, innovative/ low-cost measures
All participating cities to be encouraged to use ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions
Posted On: 11 SEP 2020 2:40PM by PIB Delhi
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (I/C) has launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0, along with the ‘Streets for People Challenge’ in a virtual event organized by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), here today. The objective of CSCAF is to provide a clear roadmap for cities towards combating Climate Change while planning and implementing their actions, including investments. In the last decade, an increasing frequency of cyclones, floods, heat waves, water scarcity and drought-like conditions have had adverse impacts on many of our cities. Such extreme events and risks cause loss of life as well as impact the economic growth. In this context, CSCAF initiative intends to inculcate a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India. Sh Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MOHUA, senior officials of MOHUA and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Principal Secretaries (Urban Development) of State Government and UTs, State Mission Directors of Smart Cities Mission, Municipal Commissioners/CEOs of Smart Cities, representatives of partner agencies / Bilateral / Multilateral Institutions and other key stakeholders attended the function.
This assessment framework was developed after review of existing frameworks and assessment approaches adopted throughout the world followed by series of extensive consultative process with more than 26 organizations and 60 experts from different thematic areas. The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely; (i) Energy and Green Buildings, (ii) Urban Planning, Green Cover & Biodiversity, (iii) Mobility and Air Quality, (iv) Water Management and (v) Waste Management. The Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA in implementation of CSCAF.
As the lockdowns lift, cities face many challenges in providing safe, affordable, and equitable modes of transport that enable social distancing. Limited public transport options, narrow, crowded sidewalks particularly in market places and deterioration of mental health, are key issues that must be addressed on priority. Pedestrianisation of streets for walking and creating public spaces is a crucial step towards mitigating these issues. Cities around the world, such as Bogota, Berlin, and Milan have responded by transforming streets for walking and cycling, to ensure safe mobility during COVID-19.
The Streets for People Challenge is the response to the need for making our cities more walkable and pedestrian friendly. The Challenge builds on the advisory issued by MoHUA for the holistic planning for pedestrian-friendly market spaces, earlier this year. The Challenge will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of streets for people in consultation with stakeholders and citizens. Adopting a participatory approach, cities will be guided to launch their own design competitions to gather innovative ideas from professionals for quick, innovative, and low-cost tactical solutions.
It aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures. All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions. The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and creating walking links through parks and institutional areas. Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) have partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.
The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) are released on 12th of every month (or previous working day if 12th is a holiday) with a six weeks lag and compiled with data received from source agencies, who in turn receive the data from the producing factories/ establishments.
2. In view of the preventive measures and announcement of nation-wide lockdown by the Government to contain spread of COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of the industrial sector establishments were not operating from the end of March, 2020 onwards. This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown. With the lifting of restrictions in the subsequent periods, industrial activity is resuming. The Index for the month of July 2020 stands at 118.1 as compared to 54.0, 89.5 and 108.9 for April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020.
3. For the month of July 2020, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP)with base 2011-12 stands at 118.1. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of July 2020 stand at 87.2, 118.8 and 166.3 respectively (Statement I).The Quick Estimates will undergo revision in subsequent releases as per the revision policy of IIP.
5. As per Use-based classification, the indices stand at 114.1 for Primary Goods, 70.9 for Capital Goods, 122.9 for Intermediate Goods and 125.2 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods (Statement III) for the month of July 2020. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stand at 99.5 and 156.4 respectively for the month of July 2020.
6. Statements giving Quick Estimates of the Index of Industrial Production for the month of July 2020 at Sectoral, 2-digit level of National Industrial Classification (NIC-2008) and byUse-based classification are given at Statements I, II and III respectively. A Statement IV giving month-wise indices since April 2020, by industry groups (as per 2-digit level of National Industrial Classification-2008) and sectors, is also given for users to appreciate the changes in the industrial sector.
7. Along with the Quick Estimates of IIP for the month of July 2020, the indices for June 2020 have undergone the first revision and those for April 2020 have undergone the final revision in the light of the updated data received from the source agencies. The Quick Estimates for July 2020 have been compiled at a weighted response rate of 87 percent, the first revision for June 2020 at a weighted response rate of 93 percent and the final revision for April 2020 at a weighted response rate of 94 percent.
8. Release of the Index for August 2020 will be on Monday, 12thOctober 2020
Context:
A report to the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has suggested dropping the Communist martyrs of Punnapra-Vayalar, Karivelloor and Kavumbayi agitations from the list of martyrs of India’s Independence struggle.
The reason:
ICHR says, these Communist agitations cannot be counted as the part of the Independence movement as they took place after the interim government led by Jawaharlal Nehru assumed office. These riots were basically against the interim government.
About Punnapara-Vayalar revolt:
It was an organized working class uprising in the Princely State of Travancore, British India against the Prime Minister, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and the state.
The objectives of the revolt were:
To overthrow the exploitative diwan of Travancore.
To liberate the working class from unjust taxation and exploitation of the establishment.
The significances of this revolt were:
(a) It was an unique agitation where the working class rose against government.
(b) It saw the people of all classes up in arms against a common tyrant hence it dissolved class and religion distinction and induced unity among people.
(c) It resulted in establishing democracy in the region and also gave a decisive turn to the politics of the state.
Implications of the revolt:
Historianss maintain this was a proper struggle against the declaration of ‘Independent Travancore’ by the then Travancore.
T K Varghese Vaidyan, a leader of the struggle, had gone on record saying it was a rehearsal for a larger revolution with the ultimate objective of establishing a “Communist India”.
Context;
127th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s in Chicago.
Details:
The Parliament of World’s Religions, held for the first time in 1893, from September 11 to September 27, saw eminent personalities from around the world at the same forum.
Swami Vivekananda addressed the audience first on September 11 followed by the closing speech on September 27.
He stressed upon world harmony, and how religions, while co-existing with one another, must preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
Things you need to know about the Parliament of World’s Religions:
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World’s Religions, the first being the World’s Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths.
The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993.
So far, six international modern Parliaments have been hosted.
An organization was incorporated in 1988 to carry out the tradition of the Parliament of the World’s Religions by marking the centennial of the first Parliament.
The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions is headquartered in Chicago. Its board of trustees are elected from various faith communities.
Participants in the first conference:
Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi.
Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala.
Soyen Shaku, the “First American Ancestor” of Zen.
Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism.
Christianity was represented by G. Bonet Maury.
Islam was represented by Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb.
Theism or the Brahmo Samaj was represented by Pratap Chandra Majumdar.
The Theosophical Society was represented by the Vice-President of the society, William Quan Judge and by activist Annie Besant.
Why in News?
This week, the Houses in Maharashtra moved motions of breach of privilege against Arnab Goswami and Kangana Ranaut.
What are privileges?
Parliamentary privilege refers to the right and immunity enjoyed by legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties.
Which provisions of the Constitution protect the privileges of the legislature?
The powers, privileges and immunities of either House of the Indian Parliament and of its Members and committees are laid down in Article 105 of the Constitution.
Article 194 deals with the powers, privileges and immunities of the State Legislatures, their Members and their committees.
What constitutes a breach of this privilege?
There are no clear, notified rules to decide what constitutes a breach of privilege, and the punishment it attracts.
Generally, any act that obstructs or impedes either House of the state legislature in performing its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any Member or officer of such House in the discharge of his duty, or has a tendency, directly or indirectly, to produce such results is treated as breach of privilege.
It is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House to make speeches or to print or publish libel reflecting on the character or proceedings of the House, or its Committees, or on any member of the House for or relating to his character or conduct as a legislator.
What is the procedure to be followed in cases of alleged breach of the legislature’s privilege?
The Legislative Assembly Speaker or Legislative Council Chairman constitutes a Privileges Committee consisting of 15 members in the Assembly and 11 members in the Council.
The members to the committee are nominated based on the party strength in the Houses.
Speaker or Chairman first decides on the motions.
If the privilege and contempt are found prima facie, then the Speaker or Chairman will forward it to the Privileges Committee by following the due procedure.
The Committee will examine whether statements made by him had insulted the state legislature and its Members, and whether their image was maligned before the public.
The Committee, which has quasi-judicial powers, will seek an explanation from all the concerned, will conduct an inquiry and will make a recommendation based on the findings to the state legislature for its consideration.
What is the punishment for an individual who is found guilty of breaching the legislature’s privilege?
If the Committee finds the offender guilty of breach of privilege and contempt, it can recommend the punishment.
The punishment can include communicating the displeasure of the state legislature to the offender, summoning the offender before the House and giving a warning, and even sending the offender to jail.
In the case of the media, press facilities of the state legislature may be withdrawn, and a public apology may be sought.
Context:
The Department of Posts has launched a scheme called Five Star Villages, to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of the country.
The scheme is being launched on pilot basis in Maharashtra.
The schemes covered under the Five Star scheme include:
Savings Bank accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC / KVP certificates.
Sukanya Samridhi Accounts/ PPF Accounts.
Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts.
Postal Life Insurance Policy/Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.
Rating of villages:
If a village attains universal coverage for four schemes from the above list, then that village gets four-star status; if a village completes three schemes, then that village get three-star status and so on.
Scheme Implementation Team:
The scheme will be implemented by a team of five Gramin Dak Sevaks who will be assigned a village for marketing of all products, savings and insurance schemes of the Department of Posts.
This team will be headed by the Branch Post Master of the concerned Branch Office.
Mail overseer will keep personal watch on progress of team on daily basis.
The teams will be led and monitored by concerned Divisional Head, Assistant Superintendents Posts and Inspector Posts.
Context:
The BJP has become the first mainstream political party from India to have named itself as a foreign principal of an organisation in the United States, after the Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP) registered under the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) under the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Foreign Agents Act
Implications:
Following the registration, the OFBJP will have to declare any meetings with U.S. legislators, organisation of events and funding from U.S. groups.
It will also not be possible for OFBJP members to use organisational help during the U.S. elections as it would then be seen as foreign interference.
About FARA:
The law came into force in 1938 to combat the spread of fascist propaganda into the United States.
It requires foreign agents to register with the Justice Department and disclose their activities to the public.
The also requires “agents representing the interests of foreign powers in a political or quasi political capacity [to]disclose their relationship with the foreign government and information about related finances.”
Why is it used?
FARA is an important tool to identify foreign influence in the United States and address threats to national security.
The central purpose of FARA is to promote transparency with respect to foreign influence within the United States by ensuring that the US government and the public know the source of certain information from foreign agents intended to influence American public opinion, policy and laws, thereby facilitating informed evaluation of that information.
Violation of the law:
“Willful violation” of the law is punishable with up to five years in jail and or a maximum fine of $250,000, or both. The punishment for certain lesser violations is a jail term of no more than six months or a fine of $5,000, or both.
Context:
Recently, the EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) 2.0 Banking Reforms Index on performance of Public Sector Banks (PSB) from March 2018-2020 was released and best performing banks on EASE were felicitated.
What is EASE Reforms Agenda?
It was launched in January 2018 jointly by the government and PSBs.
It was commissioned through Indian Banks’ Association and authored by Boston Consulting Group.
EASE Agenda is aimed at institutionalizing CLEAN and SMART banking.
The Index measures performance of each PSB on 120+ objective metrics.
What is EASE 2.0?
EASE 2.0 builds on the foundation of EASE 1.0 and introduces new reform Action Points across six themes to make reforms journey irreversible, strengthen processes and systems, and drive outcomes.
The six themes of EASE are:
Responsible Banking.
Customer Responsiveness.
Credit Off-take.
PSBs as UdyamiMitra (SIDBI portal for credit management of MSMEs).
Financial Inclusion & Digitalisation.
Governance and HR.
banks
Performance of PSB on EASE 2.0 Index:
The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have shown a healthy trajectory as their overall score increased by 37% between March-2019 and March-2020.
The PSBs have adopted tech-enabled, smart banking in all areas, setting up retail and MSME Loan Management Systems for reduced loan turn-around time and PSBloansin59minutes.com and TReDS for digital lending.
The Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce were felicitated for being the top three in the ‘Top Performing Banks’ category
The Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India & erstwhile Corporation Bank were awarded in the ‘Top Improvers’ category.
Context:
The government has allowed Sudarshan News, a Hindi channel, to air a controversial programme that seeks to “expose” a “conspiracy to infiltrate Muslims” into the Indian civil services.
What has the government said?
Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has said it cannot pre-censor a programme, or stop it from being telecast.
It is because Indian broadcast rules do not permit pre-censorship of TV programmes and advertisements — that is banning them before they are aired — and only films and film trailers are pre-certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
What’s the issue?
The Sudarshan News episode came to light after the channel released a promotional trailer, terming the alleged conspiracy “bureaucracy jihad” and “UPSC jihad”. The trailer at once elicited widespread criticism, with many alleging the content amounted to hate speech.
The episode was also challenged in the Delhi High Court, which stayed its telecast. When Sudarshan News approached the court to vacate the stay, the latter asked the I&B Ministry to take a call.
What the rules say?
Section 20 of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, states that the government can regulate or prohibit the transmission or retransmission of any programme that it feels is not in conformity with the Programme and Advertising Code, which oversees television content in India.
However, since there is no body to pre-certify content for TV, potentially problematic programmes only come to notice once they have been aired.
The Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), under the I&B Ministry, monitors the content telecast on private TV channels to check if they adhere to the Programme and Advertising Code.
Specific complaints on code violations are looked into by an inter-ministerial committee (IMC).
Rule 6 of the Cable TV Network Rules:
It is also the responsibility of the channel to ensure its programmes are not violative of the programme code, laid down in Rule 6 of the Cable TV Network Rules.
Sub-section ‘c’ of Rule 6 specifically mentions that programmes that contain attacks on religions or communities or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups or which promote communal attitudes should not be carried in the cable service.
It is a letter of introduction or recommendation, especially of an ambassador.
Why in News?
President Ram Nath Kovind accepts letter of credence from Singapore’s High Commissioner to India.
With which country India recently signed an agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services?
India and Japan sign agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between Forces of both countries.
This agreement establishes the enabling framework for closer cooperation between the two Forces in reciprocal provision of supplies and services while engaged in bilateral training activities, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Humanitarian International Relief and other mutually agreed activities.
Doorstep Banking Services by PSBs launched:
As part of the EASE Reforms, Doorstep Banking Services is envisaged to provide convenience of banking services to the customers at their door step through the universal touch points of Call Centre, Web Portal or Mobile App.
Customers canalso track their service request through these channels.
The services shall be rendered by the Doorstep Banking Agents deployed by the selected Service Providers at 100 centres across the country.
What is The 1619 Project?
The Project is a special initiative of The New York Times Magazine, launched in 2019 to mark the completion of 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in colonial Virginia’s Jamestown in August 1619.
The edition examines how social structures that developed in the US as a consequence of slavery affect present-day laws, policies, systems and culture, and the contributions of Black people in America’s nation-building.
Why in News?
Paresh Rawal, actor and former BJP MP, has been appointed Chairperson of the National School of Drama Society by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Key facts:
Set up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as one of its constituent units in 1959.
In 1975, it became an independent entity and was registered as an autonomous organization under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, fully financed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.National School of Drama:
Bharat Rang Mahotsav, or the ‘National Theatre Festival’, established in 1999, is the annual theatre festival of National School of Drama (NSD), held in New Delhi, today it is acknowledged as the largest theatre festival of Asia, dedicated solely to theatre.