New Political Map of Nepal | All you need to Know
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | The Hindu
GS Paper II: India and its neighborhood- relations.
Context: Nepal will publish a new political map asserting its claim over the Kalapani region that has been at the centre of a simmering territorial dispute with India.
What is the issue of this New Political Map of Nepal?
- As part of its Budget session, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari announced the decision before the Nepali Parliament.
- The announcement of a new map is being viewed as a response to India’s publication of a new political map in 2019, which depicted the newly formed Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
- The same map had triggered the border row with Nepal as it showed the tri-junction territory of Kalapani as part of the state of Uttarakhand.
- Nepal on Thursday set up an armed border outpost in the westernmost part of the country, saying the outpost will be used for observation of Indian activities and will be strengthened over time.
PRELIMS Background Bites
About Kalapani Disputed Region
- The Kalapani region is an area under the administration of Indian as part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state, but is also claimed by Nepal.
- According to Nepal’s claim, it lies in Darchula district, Sudurpashchim Pradesh.
- It is marked by the Kalapani river, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the Himalayas at an altitude of 3600–5200 meters.
- The valley of Kalapani, with the Lipulekh Pass at the top, forms the Indian route to Kailash–Manasarovar, an ancient pilgrimage site. It is also the traditional trading route to Tibet for the Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand.
- Today, Nepal claims all the area up to the Kalapani river.
- The Nepalese maps show this area, measuring 35 square kilometres, as part of Nepal’s Darchula District.
- A joint technical committee of Indian and Nepalese officials have been discussing the issue since 1998, along with other border issues. But the matter has not yet been resolved.
Current Outbreak
- In May 2020, India inaugurated a new link road to the Kailas-Manasarovar.
- Nepal objected to the exercise and said that it was violative of the prior understanding that boundary issues would be resolved through negotiation.
- India reaffirmed its commitment to negotiation but stated that the road follows the pre-existing route.
MoodOfIndia Portal Developed by IIT-Tirupati
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | The Hindu
GS Paper III: Science and Technology – developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Context: The Indian Institute of Technology-Tirupati (IIT-T) has developed an interactive web portal that can gauge the prevailing mood of any region in the country based on real-time analysis of Twitter data.
What you need to know MoodOfIndia Portal?
- The portal — https://moodofindia.herokuapp.com — has been built by the Research and Intelligent Software and Human Analytics (RISHA) Lab of IIT-Tirupati.
- Users can log on to the portal and select a location and particular date and see the prevailing mood in that region, based on tweets made using a set of hashtags.
- Based on the tweets, results are classified into seven categories — six basic emotions and one ‘neutral’ category.
- As per the professors of IIT-T, “across India, 4,64,933 tweets were posted during March 14 to May 9 under the hashtags #Indiafightscorona, #Covid19, #coronavirus and #lockdown, of which 29% sounded positive, 20% were sad, 11% expressed surprise, 5% anger, 2% fear and 1% disgust, while 35% remained neutral.”
- A list of ‘trigger events’ such as the announcement of the Janata Curfew in March, extension of the lockdown, Prime Minister’s call for lighting lamps, and lifting of the ban on the export on hydroxychloroquine, among others, has been specified, which allows users to view the country’s reaction to specific events during the COVID-19 situation.
- The portal will continue to gauge the public mood as long as the fight against COVID-19 is on.
Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) | RBI fines UCO Bank
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | The Hindu
GS Paper III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
Context: Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty on UCO Bank for bouncing of Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) forms.
What is this issue?
- Public sector lender UCO Bank said the Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh for violating norms on government bond holding.
- The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh on UCO Bank for bouncing of Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) forms..
What you need to know about Subsidiary General Ledger account?
- SGL account denotes Subsidiary General Ledger which is maintained with Reserve Bank of India for holding Government Securities and T-Bills in paperless form (or what in retail is called the demat account for G-secs!). The account is used for facilitating delivery and payment trades.
- UCO Bank shares were trading 1.26% down at ₹11.78 a piece on the BSE.
- In exercise of powers conferred by Section 4 of Government Securities Act 2006, Reserve Bank of India had notified the conditions applicable for opening and maintaining of Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) Accounts and Constituents’ Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL).
PRELIMS Background Bites
About UCO Bank
- UCO Bank, formerly United Commercial Bank, established in 1943 in Kolkata, is a major government-owned commercial bank of India.
- G. D. Birla, an eminent Indian industrialist, during the Quit India movement of 1942, conceived the idea of organising a commercial bank with Indian capital and management, and the United Commercial Bank Limited was incorporated to give shape to that idea.
- The bank was started with Kolkata as its head office with an issued capital of Rs 2 crores and a paid-up capital of Rs 1 crore.
- During FY 2013–14, its total business was Rs 4.55 lakh crore.
- UCO Bank was ranked 294th among India’s most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014.
- It also has two overseas branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.
- UCO Bank’s headquarters is on BTM Sarani, Kolkata.
- The motto UCO Bank is “Honours your Trust”.
- The Government of India nationalized United Commercial Bank on 19 July 1969.
Defence and Mining Sectors | COVID-19 Stimulus Package
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | The Hindu
GS Paper III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
Context: Recently, fourth tranche of COVID-19 stimulus economic package announced by PM focuses on reforms across industry, aviation and space.
Key details about fourth portion of COVID-19 Stimulus Package
- The Highlights of the fourth trench of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package includes steps to indigenise defence production by banning the import of some weapons and platforms while hiking foreign direct investment into the sector
- This portion seemed to focus more on industry reforms than any sort of economic stimulus.
- FM Nirmala Sitaraman also announced measures to introduce commercial mining in the coal sector, liberalise the mineral sector, ease airspace restrictions and encourage private involvement in space and atomic energy projects.
Package as a boost for growth
- The COVID-19 Stimulus package was welcomed by most industry groups, although some in the space sector said the measures to boost private participation had to go beyond mere intent.
- However, labour unions across the ideological spectrum, including the RSS-based Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, slammed the reform measures.
- The only direct budgetary cost in this tranche was the ₹8,100 crore to be provided as a hiked 30% viability gap funding to boost private investment in social sector infrastructure.
- In a bid to enhance self-reliance in defence production, the Centre would notify a list of weapons and platforms that could not be imported, and widen it every year as domestic capacities grew.
DEFENCE SECTOR AND COMMERCIAL MINING
- A separate budget provision for domestic capital procurement would help reduce the defence import bill.
- The indigenisation of imported spare parts would also be given priority.
- The FDI limit in defence manufacturing under automatic route will be raised from 49% to 74%.
- In another major policy change, the Minister announced that Ordnance Factory Boards would be corporatised and eventually listed on the stock market to improve autonomy, efficiency and accountability, emphasising, however, that they would not be privatised.
- The government monopoly on coal would be removed with the introduction of commercial mining.
- This will allow any private player to bid for a coal block and sell it in the open market.
- Earlier, only captive consumers with end-use ownership could bid for coal blocks.
- Almost 50 blocks will be offered immediately, with no eligibility conditions for bidding, apart from upfront payment with a ceiling.
- A revenue sharing mechanism instead of the earlier fixed price per tonne will introduce competition, transparency and private sector participation in the market.
- Also, the private sector would also be allowed to participate in exploration.
- Coal gasification will be incentivised through rebate in revenue share.
- Infrastructure development worth ₹50,000 crore was promised.
- The Centre also plans to introduce a seamless, composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime for the mineral sector, with 500 mining blocks to be offered through an open and transparent auction process, including a joint auction of bauxite and coal blocks to enhance the competitiveness of the aluminium industry.
- The distinction between captive and non-captive mines will be removed to allow transfer of mining leases and sale of surplus unused mineral blocks.
- Power distribution companies in union territories will be privatised.
AVIATION SECTOR
- With regard to civil aviation, six more airports are up for auction on private public partnership mode, while additional private investment will be invited at 12 airports in a move expected to net ₹13,000 crore for the Airports Authority of India.
- Steps will be taken to ease restrictions on Indian airspace, of which only 60% is currently available.
- This will save flying time and aviation fuel, leading to a ₹1,000 crore per year benefit for the sector.
- The tax regime is being rationalised to help make India a global hub for aircraft maintenance, report and overhaul.
- Also a level playing field is to be created for private players in the space sector, allowing them to use ISRO facilities and participate in future projects on space travel and planetary exploration.
- Public-private partnerships will also be introduced in the atomic energy sector, to set up a research reactor for production of medical isotopes and irradiation facilities for food preservation.
Species Named after Twitter | Troglomyces twitteri
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source: Indian Express
GS Paper III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Context: A new species, a type of parasitic fungus, has been discovered on Twitter and is named Troglomyces twitteri.
How did it come about?
- Ana Sofia Reboleira, biologist and associate professor with the University of Copenhagen’s Natural History Museum of Denmark, was scrolling though Twitter when she stumbled upon a photo of a North American millipede (Cambala annulata).
- It was as normal of a millipede photo but when looked closely she found something no one else did and it was the fungus.
Troglomyces twitteri : The new Species named after Twitter
- Troglomyces twitteri, the species named after Twitter, belongs to an order called Laboulbeniales — tiny fungal parasites that attack insects and millipedes.
- They are also known by the common and more familiar name, labouls.
- It look like tiny larvae and live on the outside of host organisms; in this case, on the reproductive organs of millipedes.
- They typically do not kill their hosts, although they may impair host fitness if the level of infestation is high.
- Laboulbeniales were first discovered in the middle of the 19th century.
- Foundational work on the Laboulbeniales was completed by the American mycologist Roland Thaxter (1858–1932).
National Migrant Information System (NMIS)
“17th May 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | Press Information Bureau
GS Paper II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Context: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed an online Dashboard – National Migrant Information System (NMIS) to capture the information regarding movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across States amid COVID-19.
What you need to know about National Migrant Information System (NMIS)?
- The online portal would maintain a central repository on migrant workers and help in speedy inter-State communication/co-ordination to facilitate their smooth movement to native places.
- It has additional advantages like contact tracing, which may be useful in overall COVID-19 response work.
- The key data pertaining to the persons migrating has been standardized for uploading such as name, age, mobile no., originating and destination district, date of travel etc., which States are already collecting.
- States will be able to visualize how many people are going out from where and how many are reaching destination States.
- The mobile numbers of people can be used for contact tracing and movement monitoring during COVID-19.
- Government of India has allowed the movement of migrant workers by buses and ‘Shramik’ special trains to enable them to travel to their native places amid the issues caused by the nationwide lockdown.
PRELIMS Background Bites
About National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
- National Disaster Management Authority is an apex Body of Government of India, with a mandate to lay down policies for disaster management.
- NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India on 23 December 2005.
- NDMA is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices for coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management.
- It is headed by the Prime Minister of India and can have up to nine other members. Since 2014, there have been four other members.
- There is a provision to have a Vice Chair-person if needed.
- It works closely with the National Institute of Disaster Management for capacity building.
- It is headquartered in New Delhi.
Sikkim Statehood Day Celebrated
“17th may 2020 Current Affairs”
Source | Press Information Bureau
GS Paper I: Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
Context: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of Sikkim on their Statehood Day.
What you need to know about Sikkim Statehood Day?
- The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century.
- It was ruled by a Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal.
- It became a princely state of British India in 1890.
- Before Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, as the Vice President of the Executive Council, pushed through a resolution in the Indian Constituent Assembly to the effect that Sikkim and Bhutan, as Himalayan states, were not ‘Indian states’ and their future should be negotiated separately.
- A standstill agreement was signed in February 1948.
- Meanwhile, Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of Sikkim State Congress (SSC).
- The party sent a plate of demands to the palace, including a demand for accession to India.
- The palace attempted to defuse the movement.
- The demand for responsible government continued and the SSC launched a civil disobedience movement.
- The Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal asked India for help in quelling the movement, which was offered in the form of a small military police force and an Indian Dewan.
Read More: 18th Webinar Series – Dekho Apna Desh
- In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian protectorate.
- Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications. In other respects, Sikkim retained administrative autonomy.
- A state council was established in 1953 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal.
- In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India.
- In April 1975, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal’s palace guards.
- Thereafter, a referendum was held in which 97.5 % of voters supported abolishing the monarchy, effectively approving union with India.
- On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.
- First, the 35th Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an “Associate State“, a special designation not used by any other state.
- A month later, the 36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the First Schedule of the Constitution.
PRELIMS Background Bites
What else you need to know about Sikkim?
- Sikkim borders China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the south.
- Sikkim is also located close to India’s Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh.
- Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states.
- Being a part of the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest on Earth.
- Sikkim’s capital and largest city is Gangtok.
- Almost 35% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park.
- Modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state.
- The official languages of the state are English, Nepali, Sikkimese and Lepcha.
- Additional official languages include Gurung, Limbu, Magar, Mukhia, Newari, Rai, Sherpa and Tamang for the purpose of preservation of culture and tradition in the state.
- Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism are its prominent religions.
- Sikkim accounts for the largest share of cardamom production in India, and is the world’s second largest producer of the spice after Guatemala.
- Sikkim achieved its ambition to convert its agriculture to fully organic over the interval 2003 to 2016, the first state in India to achieve this distinction.
- It is also among India’s most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles “in any government functions and meetings” and polystyrene products (throughout the state).
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