Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Core Sector
- Financial Action Task Force (FATF) evaluation of India’s anti-money laundering
- Digital Payment Index
- Bhima Koregaon battle
- Global Housing Technology Challenge
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Core Sector
Context : Output from India’s eight core sectors hit a three-month low in November, contracting 2.6% in the festive month, with coal, fertilisers and electricity the only sectors to record positive growth on a year-on-year basis, suggesting the economy is still not out of the woods.
About the News
- Core sectors’ output shrank by just 0.9% in October compared to an earlier estimate of 2.5% contraction. The index had contracted 0.1% in September, while revised final numbers for August reflect a 6.9% contraction compared to the original estimate of a far sharper 8.5% contraction.
What is a core industry?
- Core sectors or industry can be defined as the main industry of the economy. In most countries, these industries are backbone to other industries
Eight Core Industries (Mnemonic – EF, NRS, C3)
- Electricity
- Steel
- Refinery products
- Crude oil
- Coal
- Cement
- Natural gas
- Fertilizers
Index of Eight Core Industries
- It is an index of the eight most fundamental industrial sectors of the Indian economy and it maps the volume of production in these industries.
- The Index of Eight Core Industries is a monthly production index, which is also considered as a lead indicator of the monthly industrial performance. The index gives different weights to each of these sectors to arrive at a final figure.
- Since these eight industries are the essential “basic” and/or “intermediate” ingredient in the functioning of the broader economy, mapping their health provides a fundamental understanding of the state of the economy. In other words, if these eight industries are not growing fast enough, the rest of the economy is unlikely to either.
- Office of Economic Adviser within the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade releases the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI)
2 . FATF evaluation of India’s anti-money laundering regime
Context : With the global money laundering and terror funding watchdog expected to undertake a review of India’s mechanisms to deal with suspicious transactions and financial crimes in 2021, State Bank of India’s compliance head has stressed the need for financial institutions to raise the bar on monitoring such activity.
About FATF
- The FATF is a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog that sets international standards to prevent illegal activities in the economic and financial channels of a country and its inter-connected linkages across the world.
About Peer review
- It conducts “peer reviews of each member on an ongoing basis to assess levels of implementation of the FATF recommendations and provides an in-depth description and analysis of each country’s system for preventing criminal abuse of the financial system.”
- The review of India’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regime was scheduled for this year as part of a regular review cycle after 10 years. The last such review was done in June 2010
- The FATF, post this review, had said in 2013 that “India had made significant progress in addressing deficiencies identified in its mutual evaluation report and (the FATF) decided that the country should be removed from the regular follow-up process.”
- India has set up a joint working group comprising 22 central investigation, intelligence gathering and regulatory agencies to make presentations and brief the FATF experts, drawn from various countries, this time.
3 . Digital Payment Index
Context : The RBI on Friday has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) with March 2018 as the base period
- Digital Payment Index was constructed to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country.
- The RBI-DPI comprises of five broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods.
- The parameters are payment enablers (weight 25 per cent), payment infrastructure–demand-side factors (10 per cent), payment infrastructure – supply-side factors (15 per cent), payment performance (45 per cent) and consumer centricity (5 per cent). Each of these parameters have sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators
- The RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period, meaning DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100.
- The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84, respectively, indicating (an) appreciable growth,
Objectives
- Digital payments in India have been growing rapidly. The objective of DPI is to reflect accurately the penetration and deepening of various digital payment modes.
4 . Bhima Koregaon battle
Context : The 1818 battle of Bhima-Koregaon, one of the last battles of the Third Anglo-Maratha War which culminated in the Peshwa’s defeat, should be included in the history textbooks, said Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale
About Bhima Koregaon battle
- The Battle of Koregaon took place on 1 January 1818 in the village of Koregaon, Maharashtra, between troops of Maratha ruler Baji Rao Peshwa II and 800 troops of the British East India Company.
- The British army comprised primarily of Dalit soldiers. Peshwa army had an upper caste domination.
- The soldiers of the East India Company successfully fought the Peshwa troops, preventing them from advancing into Pune. After a 12-hour-long battle, the loss of 600 men, and fearing reinforcements from Pune, Baji Rao II withdrew his troops from Koregaon and gave up his efforts to attack Pune.
Why Did The Battle Take Place?
- The Peshwas had established themselves as overlords of the Deccan till the end of the 18th century. Mohammed Tarique, in his book ‘Modern Indian History’, explains that by 1802, the British East India Company had entered into treaties with Maratha rulers of the Deccan, which included the Peshwas of Pune, the Scindias of Gwalior, the Holkars of Indore, the Gaekwads of Baroda, and the Bhonsles of Nagpur.
- Under the treaties, these former rulers ceded a large number of their rights of lordship, revenue, and other privileges.
- Tarique adds that Peshwa leader Baji Rao II – who was the last of the reluctant Maratha leaders – was defeated by the British in the Battle of Khadki in November 1817 and had escaped to Satara.
- Baji Rao, cornered after being pursued by British Colonel Smith for two months, turned his focus and his 30,000-strong army to Pune at the end of December 1817.
Who were Mahars
- Historically, Mahars were considered untouchables. But the nature of their work, often in administration or military roles, situated them with upper castes quite regularly
- Maratha King Shivaji recruited a number of Mahars into the Maratha army in the 17th century. The Mahar men often served as guards or soldiers
- Mahar community even fought alongside Peshwa forces in many battles, including the third battle of Panipat. However, relations between the Mahars and Peshwas turned sour after Baji Rao II reportedly insulted the community by rejecting their offer to join and serve in his army
5 . Global Housing Technology Challenge
Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation of six Light House Projects, as part of the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India) initiative, in Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi, Agartala and Lucknow via videoconference.
About Global Housing Technology Challenge
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India has conceptualized a Global Housing Technology Challenge – India (GHTC- India) to identify and mainstream a basket of innovative technologies from across the globe that are sustainable and disaster-resilient.
- Such technologies would be cost effective, speedier and ensure a higher quality of construction of houses, meeting diverse geo-climatic conditions and desired functional needs.
Light house Project
- As a part of GHTC- India, six Light House Projects (LHP) consisting of about 1,000 houses each with physical & social infrastructure facilities is being constructed at six places across the country namely Indore; Rajkot; Chennai; Ranchi; Agartala and; Lucknow.
- These projects showcases the use of the six distinct shortlisted innovative technologies for field level application, learning and replication.
- LHPs will demonstrate and deliver ready to live mass housing at an expedited pace as compared to conventional brick and mortar construction and will be more economical, sustainable, of high quality and durability.
- These projects shall serve as Live laboratories for all stakeholders including R & D leading to the successful transfer of technologies from the lab to the field.
6 . Facts for Prelims
Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)
- The RoDTEP scheme would refund to exporters the embedded central, state and local duties or taxes that were so far not being rebated or refunded and were, therefore, placing India’s exports at a disadvantage, according to the Finance Ministry.
- The refund would be credited in an exporter’s ledger account with Customs and used to pay Basic Customs duty on imported goods. These credits can also be transferred to other importers, according to the ministry.
Covishield
- Covishield, the vaccine candidate from Pune-based Serum Institute of India, was approved by a Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)
Operation Meghdoot
- Operation Meghdoot was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces’ operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict.
India-Pak Agreements
- Both countries exchanges lists of nuclear installation and facilities according to the 1988 Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan that went into force in 1991.
- They also exchange through diplomatic channels, lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody, as mandated by an agreement in 2008.
Jingtang Port
- Jingtang port in Hebei province of China