Insights Daily Current Affairs, 03 June 2017
Paper 2 Topic: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
New CEO of Prasar Bharati
Shri Shashi Shekar Vempati has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharati for a period of five years from the date of assumption of office.
Appointment: The appointment was made on the recommendation of the three member committee headed by the Hon’ble Vice President, and consisting of Chairman, Press Council of India and the President’s nominee i.e. Secretary, Information and Broadcasting.
What you need to know about Prasar Bharati?
Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act and came into existence on 23.11.1997. It is the Public Service Broadcaster of the country. The objectives of public service broadcasting are achieved in terms of Prasar Bharati Act through All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2 Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
SMARTGRAM Initiative
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee recently laid the foundation stone of a Driver’s Training Institute and a Secondary School under the SMARTGRAM Initiative at village Dhaula, Gurugram (Haryana).
What you need to know about SMARTGRAM initiative?
It is an initiative of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Under the project the selected villages will see new ventures in agriculture, skill development, energy, education, heath, employment generation, and entrepreneurship.
- The model is based on the convergence of resources and effort by the central government, state government, district administration, panchayati raj institutions, public sector, private sector and enlightened villagers to enhance the environment, connectivity and wellbeing of each village.
- A ‘smart gram’, according to the project, would have the required basic physical and social infrastructure with a layer of smart information and communication embedded to improve governance and delivery of services, livelihood and economic opportunities.
Sources: pib.
Paper 3 Topic: 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.
Prithvi-II missile successfully test-fired
Prithvi-II missile was recently successfully test-fired in Odisha by the Army.
About the Missile:
- Prithvi-II is indigenously developed and is nuclear-capable surface-to-surface
- The missile is capable of carrying warheads weighing 500 kg to 1,000 kg.
- With a strike range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is powered by twin-engines which use liquid propulsion.
- It also uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target.
- Notably, Prithvi is India’s first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2 Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
US exit from Paris climate deal
The United States will be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, President Donald Trump announced recently. He said this move was aimed at protecting American and its citizens. The US is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, right behind China.
- The withdrawal process takes four years. But when it’s complete, the United States will join a lonely club. Just two other countries — Syria and Nicaragua — have rejected the nonbinding agreement.
Know about the Paris agreement:
The Paris agreement, signed in 2015 by 195 countries, does four simple things.
- It sets a global goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising 2°C (compared to temperatures pre-Industrial Revolution) by the end of the century.
- It sets a nonbinding agreement for countries to reach peak greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible.”
- It adds a framework for countries to become more aggressive in reaching those goals over time. In 2020, delegates are supposed to reconvene and provide updates about their emission pledges, and report on how they’re becoming more aggressive on accomplishing the 2 degree goal.
- It asks richer countries to help out poorer countries: to give them capital to invest in green technologies, but also to help them brace for a changing world.
Why Trump is against this deal?
Trump says the Paris deal unfairly puts constraints on the United States coal industry, and unfairly allows some countries to continuing to pollute at a greater rate than others.
Implications of this move:
In diplomatic and moral terms, the withdrawal represents a wilful abdication of America’s leadership role in the world. And as a business mistake, the decision means the U.S. will miss out on some the $1.4 trillion global business opportunity that the global low-carbon economy represents.
Is climate change real?
The temperature of Earth’s air and the quantity of heat trapped in its oceans continue to grow, with 2016 declared the hottest year on record.
- Climate change could lead to political instability, increased societal tensions and could place new burdens on economies and governments. Large numbers of people will likely be displaced due to famine and drought.
- A NASA-funded study said that global industrial civilisation is headed for a collapse in the coming decades, blaming unsustainable resource use and increasing wealth inequality.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3 Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
State Bank may opt for QIP
The State Bank of India is planning to complete a planned share sale by year-end, probably through a qualified institutional placement (QIP).
What is a QIP?
A QIP is a capital raising tool wherein a listed company can issue equity shares, fully and partly convertible debentures, or any security (other than warrants) that is convertible to equity shares. Apart from preferential allotment, this is the only other speedy method of private placement whereby a listed company can issue shares or convertible securities to a select group of investors. But unlike in an IPO or an FPO (further public offer), only institutions or qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) can participate in a QIP issuance. QIBs include mutual funds, domestic financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, venture capital funds, foreign institutional investors, and others.
There are a few rules to follow. The market regulator has stated that there should be at least two QIBs if the issue size is less than Rs.250 crore, and at least five investors if the size is more than Rs.250 crore. A single investor cannot be allotted more than 50% of the issue.
How is the price decided?
The QIP will be priced not less than the average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the equity shares during the two weeks preceding the “relevant” date. The “relevant” date will be the opening date of the issue, as decided by the company’s board. In a rising market, such as now, the QIP price is set at an attractive rate.
Why QIP?
For the issuing company, QIPs are less cumbersome than IPOs and FPOs. It doesn’t have to file a pre-issue document with the capital markets regulator, and only a placement document with the stock exchanges, which only has details of the issue.
- QIP is also a less expensive mode of raising capital than, say, an IPO, FPO or rights issue.
- For the QIBs, unlike in an IPO where an anchor investor has to stay invested for a month, there are no such restrictions with QIPs.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 2 Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
India has 31% of world’s poor kids: report
About 31% of the world’s “multidimensionally poor” children live in India, according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University and the study is based on a survey conducted among 103 countries.
What makes a child multidimensionally poor?
A “multidimensionally poor” child is one who lacks at least one-third of ten indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living. The health dimension comprises indicators such as nutrition, child mortality, and education. Under standard of living are indicators such as access to cooking fuel, improved sanitation, safe drinking water, electricity, flooring, and asset ownership.
Performance of India:
- In terms of countries, fully 31% of the 689 million poor children live in India, followed by Nigeria (8%), Ethiopia (7%) and Pakistan (6%).
- In terms of the number of multidimensionally poor children as a proportion of the total population, India stood 37th among 103 countries. Out of India’s 217 million (21.7 crore) children, 49.9% were multidimensionally poor.
- In terms of absolute numbers, India accounts for both the highest and a staggering number of multi-dimensionally poor people. More than 528 million (52.8 crore) Indians are poor, which is more people than all the poor people living in Sub-Saharan Africa combined.
Global scenario:
- Nearly 50% of the children in 103 countries were multidimensionally poor. Of the 1.45 billion (145 crore) people (from the 103 countries) who are multidimensionally poor; 48% are children. That is a total of 689 million (68.9 crore) children who live in multidimensional poverty.
- 87% of the multidimensionally poor children lived in South Asia (44%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (43%). In Ethiopia, Niger, and South Sudan, over 90 % of the children are MPI poor.
- As for the intensity of poverty, the average percentage of deprivation in terms of the 10 MPI categories was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where multidimensionally poor children were “simultaneously deprived” in 58% of the indicators. Sub-Saharan Africa was followed by the region described as the Arab States (53%). South Asia occupied the third spot, with children deprived in 49% of the MPI indicators.
Way ahead:
This is a wake-up call to the international community which has adopted the global Sustainable Development Goals and takes seriously Goal 1, the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions.
Sources: the hindu.
