Daily News Analysis 28/08/2020

POSOCO, the National power grid operator and a PSU under Ministry of Power today released a video Nari Shakti to celebrate and acknowledge the extraordinary role played by women employees at POSOCO.The video was released by Meenakshi Davar, Director HR, from Corporate Centre Office during a webinar in which POSOCO Chairman & Managing Director, KVS Baba; Director System Operation, S R Narasimhan; Director Market Operation, S S Barpanda; Director Finance, R K Srivastava; S K Sonee, Advisor, POSOCO; all RLDC heads and trainees were present.

Meenakshi Davar said, “Today women face the challenge of figuring out how to have more tangible influence on mixed gender teams. POSOCO offers women the best opportunities to achieve these goals. They are encouraged to challenge the conventional assumptions, to inspire teams; they are encouraged to translate their ideas into actionable goals and results.”

“Women in POSOCO have consistently demonstrated through their work and their leadership that they can make huge impact to the organization. I congratulate all women in POSOCO for their commitment and contribution to the organization,” she added.

Meenakshi Davar is the recipient of multiple awards including Woman Achiever Award, Women persona – InWENA of the decade, The Achiever Award, Amity Leadership Award, Seasonal HR professional Award, Woman super achievers award for excellence in HR, Women in energy sector excellence in HR, Pride of PR Professional-Public sector profession, and Top rankers excellence .

T. Kalanithy, Senior General Manager, SRLDC:“POSOCO is a knowledge-based company. I am grateful to the management who has enabled me to lead this team of passionate engineers and take up different roles and face various challenges. I have the freedom to work in my ideal space creatively and independently. On both personal and professional fronts, POSOCO has ensured overall development for women.”

Women are a vital part of the workforce throughout the organizational hierarchy at POSOCO. The Management at POSOCO provides adequate opportunities and avenues to women employees for professional growth, work-life balance, knowledge sharing and a forum to learn from each other’s experiences. Initiatives for woman employees are an intrinsic part of POSOCO.

C. Rethi Nair, Senior Deputy General Manager, SRLDC: “I feel proud to be part of POSOCO. It is responsible for integrated operation of Indian power system. Our management is very supportive and ensures all type of measures to deliver our duties. I have very cooperative and talented team of colleagues we work together to keep the grid secure.”

Power System Operation Corporation is a wholly owned Government of India Schedule – A enterprise under the Union Ministry of Power. It was formed in March 2009 to handle the power management functions of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited but made a separate company in January 2017. It is responsible to ensure the integrated operation of the Grid in a secure manner. It consists of five Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs) under Section 27 of The Electricity Act 2003 and the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) under Section 26 of The Electricity Act, 2003.

AREAS’ Website and Telephone Directory launched

Shri R K Singh calls upon AREAS to spread awareness about benefits of RE RE storage prices will come down with increasing demand & more manufacturing facilities: Shri Singh

Propose to have RPO for round the clock RE which will encourage storage : Shri R K Singh Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 3:15PM by PIB Delhi

Shri R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy and the ex-officio Patron of Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS) graced the ceremony of 6th Foundation Day of AREAS on 27th August 2020 through online platform. He launched AREAS websitewww.areas.org.inand also Telephone Directory of AREAS.

While talking about the future of Renewable Energy, Shri Singh said, “Renewable energy is economically viable today. The only rider is storage. Prices of storage will come down over time. We should bring down storage prices by increasing demand and putting up more manufacturing facilities. Once that happens the transition to renewables will be faster. More and more future projects will have storage with them. I propose to have RPO for round the clock renewable energy which will encourage storage.” He added that AREAS as a mission should take activities like launching communication plan including hoardings, radio/tv spots encouraging the consumption of electricity through renewables. We will have to make people aware that this will bring down their expenses on electricity and it is good for environment. For this Ministry can provide additional corpus fund to AREAS. AREAS should organize brainstorming sessions at least once in a quarter to discuss issues of renewable energy sector and come out with possible innovative solutions.

Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of the States (AREAS) has been formed on MNRE initiative to interact and learn from each other’s experiences and also share their best practices and knowledge regarding technologies and schemes/programmes. The AREAS got registered under Society Registration Act 1860 on 27 August 2014. Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy is the Patron of the Association and Secretary, MNRE is the ex-officio President of the Association. All SNAs( State Nodal Agencies) are the member of the Association.

Considering the importance of mutual interaction and sharing of experience & knowledge between the SNAs, steps have been taken to re-invigorate the AREAS. During last two months four meetings/workshops have been organized through online platform. For proper functioning of AREAS Vice President and Executive Committee have been selected by General Body of AREAS in the meeting held on 30th July 2020.

One stop solution for information sharing and monitoring of scheme Over 7.15 lakh applications received under the scheme; more than 1.7 lakh sanctioned Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 4:02PM by PIB Delhi

Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs launched the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) online dashboard today, through video conferencing.

The online dashboard is dynamic, interactive and would provide a one stop solution to all stakeholders looking for information and tracking monitoring of progress of PM SVANidhi up to city level.

Since the commencement of online submission of applications on PM SVANidhi portal on 2nd July 2020, more than 7.15 lakh applications have been received and over 1.70 lakh have been sanctioned in different States and UTs.

PM SVANidhi was launched by the Ministry on June 01, 2020, for providing affordable working capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown. This scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh Street Vendors who had been vending on or before 24 March, 2020, in urban areas including those from surrounding peri-urban/rural areas. Under the Scheme, the vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on quarterly basis. There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan. The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash-back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month. The vendors can achieve their ambition of going up the economic ladder by availing the facility of enhancement of the credit limit on timely/ early repayment of loan.

PMJDY has been the foundation stone for the Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives –Finance Minister

More than 40.35 crore beneficiaries banked under PMJDY since inception, amounting to Rs. 1.31 lakh crore

63.6% Rural PMJDY accounts; 55.2%Women PMJDY accounts Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, a total of Rs. 30,705 crore have been credited in accounts of women PMJDY account holders during April-June, 2020

About 8 crore PMJDY accountholders receive Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) from the Government under various schemes Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 7:27AM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Finance is committed to provide financial inclusiveness and support to the marginalized and hitherto socio-economically neglected classes. Financial Inclusion is a national priority of the Government as it is an enabler for inclusive growth. It is important as it provides an avenue to the poor for bringing their savings into the formal financial system, an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders. A key initiative towards this commitment is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world.

PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2014. While launching the programme on 28th August, the Prime Minister had described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a vicious cycle.

On the 6th Anniversary of PMJDY, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs , Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the importance of this Scheme “The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has been the foundation stone for the Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives. Whether it is direct benefit transfers, COVID-19 financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed.” she said

Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag thakur also expressed his thoughts for PMJDY on this occasion. He said “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMJDY has brought the unbanked into the banking system, expanded the financial architecture of India and brought financial inclusion to over 40 crore account holders. A majority of the beneficiaries are women and most of the accounts are from rural India. In today’s COVID19 times, we have witnessed the remarkable swiftness and seamlessness with which DBTs have empowered and provided financial security to the vulnerable sections of society. An important aspect is that DBTs via PM Jan Dhan accounts have ensured every rupee reaches its intended beneficiary and prevented systemic leakage.”

As we complete 6 years of successful implementation of this Scheme, we take a look at the major aspects and achievements of this Scheme so far.

Background Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

1. Objectives: Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach

2. Basic tenets of the scheme Banking the unbanked - Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges Securing the unsecured - Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh Funding the unfunded - Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit

3. Initial Features The scheme was launched based upon the following 6 pillars: Universal access to banking services – Branch and BC Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every household Financial Literacy Program– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking

Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee against defaults Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of Rs. 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015 Pension scheme for Unorganized sector

4. Important approach adopted in PMJDY based on past experience: Accounts opened are online accounts in core banking system of banks, in place of earlier method of offline accounts opening with technology lock-in with the vendor Inter-operability through RuPay debit card or Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) Fixed-point Business Correspondents Simplified KYC / e-KYC in place of cumbersome KYC formalities

5. Extension of PMJDY with New features – The Government decided to extend the comprehensive PMJDY program beyond 28.8.2018 with some modifications Focus shift from ‘Every Household’ to Every Unbanked Adult’ RuPay Card Insurance - Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.

Enhancement in overdraft facilities - OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs 10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions). Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years 6. Achievements under PMJDY- As on 19th Aug’2020:

a) PMJDY Accounts Ø As on 19th Aug’20 Number of Total PMJDY Accounts: 40.35 Crore; Rural PMJDY accounts: 63.6%, Women PMJDY accounts: 55.2% Ø During first year of scheme 17.90 crore PMJDY accounts were opened Ø Continuous increase in no of accounts under PMJDY

b) Operative PMJDY Accounts – Ø As per extant RBI guidelines, a PMJDY account is treated as inoperative if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years Ø In Aug’20, out of total 40.35 crore PMJDY accounts, 34.81 crore (86.3%) are operative Ø Continuous increase in % of operative accounts is an indication that more an more of these accounts are being used by customers on a regular basis

c) Deposits under PMJDY accounts - Ø Total deposit balances under PMJDY Accounts stand at Rs. 1.31 lakh crore Ø Deposits have increased about 5.7 times with increase in accounts 2.3 times (Aug’20 / Aug’15)

d) Average Deposit per PMJDY account - Ø Average deposit per account is Rs. 3239 Ø Avg. Deposit per account has increased over 2.5 times over Aug’15 Ø Increase in average deposit is another indication of increased usage of accounts and inculcation of saving habit among account holders

e) Rupay Card issued to PMJDY account holders Ø Total RuPay cards issued to PMJDY accountholders: 29.75 Crore Ø Number of RuPay cards & their usage has increased over time

7. Jan Dhan Darshak App A mobile application, was launched to provide a citizen centric platform for locating banking touch points such as bank branches, ATMs, Bank Mitras, Post Offices, etc. in the country. Over 8 lakh banking touchpoints have been mapped on the GIS App. The facilities under Jan Dhan Darshak App could be availed as per the need and convenience of common people. The web version of this application could be accessed at the link http://findmybank.gov.in.

This app is also being used for identifying villages which are not served by banking touchpoints within 5 km. these identified villages are then allocated to various banks by concerned SLBCs for opening of banking outlets. The efforts have resulted in significant decrease in number of such villages.

8. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) for PMJDY women beneficieries As per announcement made by the Hon’ble Finance Minister on 26.3.2020, under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, an amount of Rs. 500/- per month for three months (April’20 to June’20), was credited to the accounts of women account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). A total of Rs. 30,705 crore have been credited in accounts of women PMJDY account holders during April-June, 2020.

9. Towards ensuring smooth DBT transactions: As informed by banks, about 8 crore PMJDY accountholders receive direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the Government under various schemes. To ensure that the eligible beneficiaries receive their DBT in time, the Department takes active role in identification of avoidable reasons for DBT failures in consultation with DBT Mission, NPCI, banks and various other Ministries. With close monitoring in this regard through regular VCs with banks and NPCI, the number of DBT failure due to avaoidable reasons has observed significant decline from 5.23 lakh (0.20%) in Apr’19 to 1.1 lakh (0.04%) in Jun’20.

10. The road ahead i. Endeavour to ensure coverage of PMJDY account holders under micro insurance schemes. Eligible PMJDY accountholders will be sought to be covered under PMJJBY and PMSBY. Banks have already been communicated about the same.

ii. Promotion of digital payments including RuPay debit card usage amongst PMJDY accountholders through creation of acceptance infrastructure across India iii. Improving access of PMJDY account holders to Micro-credit and micro investment such as flexi-recurring deposit etc.

The programme aims to identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh and other facilities Lays Foundation of IT Capacity Building Center of NIELIT in Muzaffarpur in Bihar

Shri Prasad urged the young, talented innovators of India to come forward and avail benefits of Chunauti challenge and create new software products and apps Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 4:18PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad today launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest to further boost startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of India. The government has earmarked a budget of Rs. 95.03 Crore over a period of three years for this programme. It aims to identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh and other facilities

Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the following areas of work: Edu-Tech, Agri-Tech & Fin-Tech Solutions for masses Supply Chain, Logistics & Transportation Management Infrastructure & Remote monitoring Medical Healthcare, Diagnostic, Preventive & Psychological Care Jobs & Skilling, Linguistic tools & technologies

The startups selected through Chunauti will be provided various support from the Government through Software Technology Parks of India centers across India. They will get incubation facilities, mentorship, security testing facilities, access to venture capitalist funding, industry connect as well as advisories in legal, Human Resource (HR), IPR and Patent matters. Besides seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh, the startups will also be provided cloud credits from leading cloud service providers. Start-ups who are in the ideation stage may be selected under the pre-incubation programme & mentored for up-to six months to evolve their business plan & solution around the proposed idea. Each intern (start-up under pre-incubation) will be paid Rs. 10,000/- per month upto a period of 6 months.

Startups can apply by visiting the website of STPI or by clicking at the link https://innovate.stpinext.in/

Union Minister also laid foundation stone of the digital training and skilling center of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. This center will be developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India at a cost of Rs. 9.17 Crore. The government of Bihar has allocated one acre of land for this institution. This center will be equipped with the state of the art training facility with a digital laboratory. Different courses such as O level, CCC, BCC, Programming and multimedia training will be offered from this center.

Speaking at a virtual event in presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I urge the young, talented innovators of India to come forward and avail benefits of Chunauti challenge of Government and create new software products and app. This launch is a bold initiative under the clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Series of Discounts offered The initiatives taken in Tariff field includes discount on loaded containers, Pond ash/ Moisturised ash (Open wagon), Withdrawal of surcharge of two point/mini rakes (for Cement, Iron and steel, Food grains, Fertilizers), Round trip Traffic (RTT) policy, Long lead concession & Short lead concession

Discounts range from 5% to 50% Inspite of Covid related restrictive challenges, Freight loading in the month of August 2020 (till 27th August 2020) is 4.3% higher, compare to last year for the same month

On mission mode, Indian Railways has taken a number of initiatives to boost Freight Operations Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 5:59PM by PIB Delhi

On mission mode, Indian Railways has taken a number of initiatives to boost Freight Operations inspite of COVID 19 related challenges. Because of these initiatives, the freight loading in the month of August 2020(till 27th August 2020) is 4.3% higher, compare to last year for the same month. In the month of August 2020 (till 27th August 2020) the total freight loading was 81.33 million tonnes which is higher than last year for the same month (77.97 million tonnes).

Indian Railways has taken a series of initiatives in Tariff and Non-Tariff field. Utilizing Covid period as an opportunity Indian Railways substantially increase the speed of Freight Trains. 72 % increase in average speed of Freight Trains in the year 2020-21 as compared to last year. 94 % increase took place in speed of Freight Trains in August 2020 compared to August 2019.

Following are the latest Tariff Rationalisation initiatives (measures) taken by Indian Railways to boost Freight Operations: 1. 5% discount on loaded containers ( addition to 25% on empty ) for Containers from 03.08.2020. 2. Discount for Pond ash/ Moisturised ash – Open wagon – 40% for Power plants, Cement from 03.08.2020. 3. Revision in classification of Industrial salt from 120 to 100A for Chemical Industry from 03.08.2020.

4. Stabling charges for private Container and Automobile trains waived off till 31st October 2020 for Containers and Automobile from 03.08.2020. Following are some other Tariff Rationalisation initiatives (measures) taken by Indian Railways to boost Freight Operations:

1. Withdrawal of Busy Season charge - 15% for All sectors Except Coal, Iron ore and containers from 1.10.2019. 2. Withdrawal of 5 % surcharge of two point/mini rakes for Cement, Iron and steel, Food grains, Fertilizers, Bulk BOG from 1.10.2019. 3. Discount for Fly ash – Bagged in open wagon - 40% for Power plants, Cement from 10.05.2020.

4. Alternate terminal scheme – Rs 56,000 to Rs 80,000 per rake for All sector from 27.06.2020. 5. Round trip Traffic (RTT) policy – charging of lower class for All sectors from 01.07.2020.

6. Long lead concession – 15 to 20% for Coal, Iron ore and Iron and steel from 01.07.2020. 7. Short lead concession – 10 to 50 % for All sector (except coal and iron ore ) from 01.07.2020. Following are latest Non-Tariff initiatives (measures) taken by Indian Railways to boost Freight Operations:

1. Two point unloading permitted for Automobile traffic for Automobiles sector from 05.08.2020. 2. Limit on number of Co-users in Private siding removed for All sectors from 18.08.2020.

3. All private sidings / Good sheds / Private freight terminals opened up for Parcel traffic for Parcels from 18.08.2020. 4. Reduced composition for Indented parcels extended till 31.03.202 for Parcels from 18.08.2020. 5. Extension of time tabled parcel express till 31.12.2020 for Parcels from 19.06.2020.

6. Application fee for Greenfield PFT reduced from Rs 10 Lakh to Rs 20,000 and completely waived off for conversion of siding to Brownfield PFT for All Sectors from 24.08.2020. 7. 23 more two point combinations opened for steel traffic for Steel sector from 25.08.2020.

8. Freight and parcel helpline through 13 for All sectors from 26.08.2020. 9. Distance restriction on Mini rakes of 1500 km removed with a small surcharge for Cement, Iron and steel , Food grains , Fertilizers, Bulk BOG from 27.08.2020.

Other Measures taken by Indian Railways to boost Freight Operations are as follows: 1. Business Development Units (BDUs) set up – Divisions, Zones and Board level. 2. Restrictions on co-use of private sidings removed - 1,079 private sidings allowed to become private freight terminals effectively.

3. 405 Major Good sheds being improved – Concrete surface, bright LED lighting, better roads & labour facilities – To enable 3 shift operations. 4. Time tabled parcel trains.

5. Opening up of export traffic to Bangladesh for Parcels, Containers & Automobile. 6. Kisan rail introduced from Devlali (Nashik) to Danapur (Patna) on 07.08.2020– Multiple stoppages, Multiple commodities, Multiple parties – Now extended to Muzaffarpur. Link train from Kolhapur to Manmad also added. Now Bi-weekly from 24.08.2020. Total 04 trips have been completed till Now.

Utilizing Covid period as an opportunity Indian Railways substantially increase the speed of Freight Trains. 72 % increase in average speed of Freight Trains in the year 2020-21 as compared to last year. 94 % increase took place in speed of Freight Trains in August 2020 compared to August 2019.

Context: The Civil Aviation Ministry has approved 78 new routes under the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN. So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme.

About Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN: UDAN, which stands for ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, aims to make air travel affordable and widespread.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in October 10 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses.

The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments. The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

Viability Gap Funding (VGF): The scheme entails making the routes financially viable, without insisting on the financial viability of the regional airports, by lowering the cost of flight operations and through financial support in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF). VGF will be available to flight operators on specific routes for the first 3 years of operation.

UDAN 4.0: The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.

The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme. Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

Context: A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court has held that States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest out of the weak”.

Background: The judgment is based on a reference to the Constitution Bench the question of law involving Section 4(5) of the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006.

The legal provision allows 50% of the reserved Scheduled Castes seats in the State to be allotted to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs.

Need for sub-classification- Observations made by the Supreme Court: Reservation has created inequalities within the reserved castes itself. There is a “caste struggle” within the reserved class as benefit of reservation are being usurped by a few.

It is clear that caste, occupation, and poverty are interwoven. The State cannot be deprived of the power to take care of the qualitative and quantitative difference between different classes to take ameliorative measures.

What does the Constitution of India state? According to the Constitution of India, under article 341(1), the President of India, after consultation with the Governor, may specify, “the castes, races, tribes or parts of groups within castes or races, which shall be deemed to be Scheduled Castes”.

Accordingly, the President has notified the Scheduled Castes in the order called ‘Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order-1950’ and the ‘Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes List (Modification) Order-1956. However, under article 341(2), the Parliament of India by law can include or exclude the above-mentioned groups from the list of the Scheduled Castes.

Does the latest judgment amount to tinkering of the Central list? No, said the Supreme Court bench. Sub-classifications within the Presidential/Central List does not amount to “tinkering” with it. No caste is excluded from the list. The States only give preference to weakest of the lot in a pragmatic manner based on statistical data.

Besides, Preferential treatment to ensure even distribution of reservation benefits to the more backward is a facet of the right to equality.

Why this judgment is significant? It fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The judgment records that “Citizens cannot be treated to be socially and educationally backward till perpetuity; those who have come up must be excluded like the creamy layer”. The entire basket of fruits cannot be given to the mighty at the cost of others under the guise of forming a homogenous class.

Implications of the judgment: With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case.

In this case, the court had held that allowing States to unilaterally “make a class within a class of members of the Scheduled Castes” would amount to tinkering with the Presidential list. Now with two numerically equal Benches of judges holding contrary viewpoints, the issue has been referred to a seven-judge Bench of the court.

Context: A recent study suggests that the “Wolbachia method” could be used to significantly reduce the incidence of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in populations where the illness is endemic.

Where was this method tested? Scientists from the World Mosquito Program (WMP) of Monash University in Australia and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia tested this method in a 27-month trial in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They found that using the Wolbachia method reduced the occurrence of dengue in the treated population by 77%.

How it works? This method involves introducing Wolbachia, a type of bacteria, into populations of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading dengue.

When the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes breed with their wild counterparts, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium grows. It is not fully understood why the Wolbachia bacterium interferes with the transmission of dengue. One theory is that the bacterium prevents dengue viruses from replicating in mosquito cells.

Background: Dengue is a viral disease that is endemic in many countries, including India. Although it usually results in mild illness, severe dengue infections can sometimes prove fatal.

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates suggest an annual incidence of 100-400 million dengue infections every year, with its global incidence growing dramatically “in recent decades”.

Context: The Centre has presented two options before the states to bridge their goods and services tax (GST) revenue shortfall. They are:

States borrow Rs 97,000 crore, which is the estimated shortfall, only “on account of GST” under a special window to be facilitated in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at a ‘reasonable G Sec-linked interest rate’. They borrow the entire Rs 2.35 lakh crore. There also, arrangement could be made with the RBI and certain facilities could be provided.

The loans will be serviced via the proceeds of the relevant compensation cess, which will apply on the specified demerit goods for a year or more beyond the current end date of FY22.

What’s the issue? The GST Compensation Act, 2017 guaranteed States that they would be compensated for any loss of revenue in the first five years of GST implementation, until 2022, using a cess levied on sin and luxury goods.

However, the economic slowdown has pushed both GST and cess collections down over the last year, resulting in a 40% gap last year between the compensation paid and cess collected.

States are likely to face a GST revenue gap of ₹3 lakh crore this year, as the economy may contract due to COVID-19, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed an unforeseen “act of God”.

What is compensation cess? The modalities of the compensation cess were specified by the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017. This Act assumed that the GST revenue of each State would grow at 14% every year, from the amount collected in 2015-16, through all taxes subsumed by the GST.

A State that had collected tax less than this amount in any year would be compensated for the shortfall. The amount would be paid every two months based on provisional accounts, and adjusted every year after the State’s accounts were audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

This scheme is valid for five years, i.e., till June 2022. Compensation cess fund: A compensation cess fund was created from which States would be paid for any shortfall. An additional cess would be imposed on certain items and this cess would be used to pay compensation.

The items are pan masala, cigarettes and tobacco products, aerated water, caffeinated beverages, coal and certain passenger motor vehicles. The GST Act states that the cess collected and “such other amounts as may be recommended by the [GST] Council” would be credited to the fund.

Challenges ahead: Most economists expect negative real GDP growth this year, and nominal GDP to be close to last year’s level. As indirect taxes are levied on the nominal value of transactions, this is likely to result in significant shortfall for States from the assured tax collection.

A key source of the problem is that the 2017 Act guaranteed a tax growth rate of 14%, which is unachievable this year. Whereas no one could have foreseen the pandemic and its impact on the economy, the 14% target was too ambitious to start with.

What needs to be done? The Central government is constitutionally bound to compensate States for loss of revenue for five years.

There are several possible solutions to this issue: The Constitution could be amended to reduce the period of guarantee to three years (thus ending June 2020). This would be difficult to do as most States would be reluctant to agree to this proposal. It could also be seen as going back on the promise made to States when they agreed to subsume their taxes into the GST.

The Central government could fund this shortfall from its own revenue. States would be happy with this proposal. However, the Centre’s finances are stretched due to shortfall in its own tax collection combined with extra expenditure to manage the health and economic crisis. It may not be in a position to give further support to States.

The Centre could borrow on behalf of the cess fund. The tenure of the cess could be extended beyond five years until the cess collected is sufficient to pay off this debt and interest on it.

The Centre could convince States that the 14% growth target was always unrealistic. The target should have been linked to nominal GDP growth. If the Centre can negotiate with States through the GST Council to reset the assured tax level, it could then bring in a Bill in Parliament to amend the 2017 Act.

Context: Experts have slammed a recent move of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) giving its greenlight for biosafety research-level-II (BRL-II) field trials for Event 142, a new variety of genetically modified brinjal (Bt brinjal).

Why this is a matter of concern? This new variety of genetically modified brinjal was quietly given approval without any data in the public domain. This variety got approved even before the second season BRL-II and the biosafety report was out.

This paved the way for crop developers and applicants to seek permission for commercial cultivation. There was no transparencyin the manner when it came to reports regarding the biosafety of this variety of brinjal.

What is a GM crop? A GM or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

For example, a GM crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination. The resulting plant is said to be “genetically modified” although in reality all crops have been “genetically modified” from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and controlled breeding over long periods of time.

What is the legal position of genetically modified crops in India? In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body that allows for commercial release of GM crops. Penalty: Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act ,1986.

Why are farmers rooting for GM crops? Reduced costs: Cost of weeding goes down considerably if farmers grow Ht Bt cotton and use glyphosate against weeds. In case of Bt brinjal, the cost reduces as the cost of production is reduced by cutting down on the use of pesticides.

Concerns: Environmentalists argue that the long-lasting effect of GM crops is yet to be studied and thus they should not be released commercially. Genetic modification, they say, brings about changes that can be harmful to humans in the long run.

World Urdu Conference was recently organised by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) in New Delhi.

NCPUL is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) (The Ministry was renamed as Ministry of Education), Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Government of India.

It was setup in 1996 as the National Nodal Agency for the promotion of the Urdu language.

It is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). They are one of five PVTGs that reside in Andamans archipelago.

They speak Jeru dialect among themselves and their number stands at 51. The five PVTGS residing in Andamans are Great Andamanese, Jarwas, Onges, Shompens and North Sentinelese.

Togo: Togo has become the first country in Africa to eliminate human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, a disease caused by parasites transmitted through infected tsetse flies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) August 27, 2020 certified so, after the country applied for it in 2018.