CIVILSMAG

JAN 8 2021

A
Weekly
Current Affair
Magazine Initiative
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 India Inc Infograph
for the week

Courtesy : StudyIQ

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GENERAL
STUDIES
II
 1. UP Religious Conversion Ordinance Constitution

[Ref: The Hindu Editorial titled an ill-conceived, overboard and vague ordinance (Pg.6)
Dated 01-01-2021]
Syllabus : Constitiution
Polity Background:
Ordinance making power : Article 123 of Constitution – President
: Article 213 of Constitution – Governor
Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance:
To prevent conversion in unlawful means such as fraud, abet, in pretext of marriage,
etc
Concerns:
It empowers Police to arrest without warrant in order to prevent such conversion
from happening
The person accused must prove the conversion is wilful
Criticised as a violation of right to privacy

2. Pratan Mandri Awas Yojna Governance, Government Policies

[Ref: News – PM unveils 1000 houses across six cities - The Hindu (Pg.1) dated 02-01-
2021]
Syllabus : Under Government policies, Governance

Pratan Mandri Awas Yojna (Urban) [PMAY-U]:

Ministry : Ministry Of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Objective : ‘Housing For All’ by 2022 (75th year of Independence)
To provide financial assistance to Urban local bodies, Central nodal agencies and
State/UT implementing agencies in building house for poor/slum people in cities
Beneficiaries : People of economically weaker sections, Low income group, Middle
income group – I ad Middle income group – II
Female head of the house is made (mandatorily) owner/co-owner of the built house
Loan of 1 Lakh can be availed by all eligible beneficiaries
Additional loan of 1.5 lakh for poor in urban cities to renovate homes and also to
build toilet for homes [Beneficiary Led individual House
Construction/Enhancements (BLC)]
An interest subsidy of 6.5% in housing loans can also be availed by eligible
beneficiaries [Credit Liked Subsidy Scheme (CLS) under PMAY-U]

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 3. Iran Nuclear enrichment International Relations

[Ref: News – Iran plans to enrich Uranium up to 20% purity, says IAEA – The Hindu
dated 02-01-2021]
Syllabus : International Relations
International Atomic Energy Agency
Objective: To ensure peaceful use of Nuclear science and technology and inhibit military
usage
Motto: “Atoms for Peace”
HQ Location: Vienna, Austria (established on 29 July 1957)
IAEA standards for Nuclear usage released periodically
India is a founding member
IAEA safety standards are not legally binding on member states
Iran’s target of 20% is way higher than IAEA allowed limit

4. Polar Silk Road Governance, Government Policies

[Ref: News –When the Arctic Warms – The Indian Express (Pg.7) dated 02-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Government policies, Governance
Significance:
This route connects North Atlantic ocean with North Pacific ocean through Arctic sea
This region contains world's 25% of oil and gas reserves and 22% of rare element
minerals

5. Brexit Deal International Relations

[Ref: The Brexit Deal – The Hindu (Pg.12) dated 03-01-2021]

Syllabus : International Relations
Brexit – The United Kingdom(UK) pulling out of European union (EU)
Impacts to India:
Positive ones:
Greater freedom in trade partnership (no consensus needed from other EU nations)
Opportunity to be a close trading partner with UK outside EU
Possibility of Free Trade Agreement with UK outside EU’s Strict trading regime with
others
Negative ones:
Companies have to establish separate headquaters to handle both UK and EU
operations(so far, they are operating for EU from London)
Indian companies (like TATA owned Jaguar) may face more taxes by UK
Impact of Pound (fall in value) due to Brexit on Indian Rupee

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 6. LeT leader arrested in Pakistan International Relations
ahead of FATF meet
[Ref: News – LeT leader held ahead of FATF meet – The Hindu (Pg.1) dated 03-01-2021 ]
Syllabus : International Relations

Financial Action Task Force:

FATF : Intergovernmental body established by G7 nations in the year 1989
Objectives: To curb money laundering, terror financing and other threat to interational
financial activities
FATF meetings held every year
FATF releases recommendations named as ‘40+9’: 40 recommendations and 9
special recommendations
FATF releases two lists : Black list (non-cooperative countries) and Grey list (safe
haven countries for terrorism) of countries
Pakistan is currently in Grey list and India has spoken vocal to put it in Black list
Recent News – India has criticised Pakistan’s arrest of Let Leader Zaki-Ur-Rahman-
Lakvi (just before next FATF meet) as an attempt to stay away from blacklisting.
Zaki-Ur-Rahman-Lakvi is accused of being involved in 26/11 Mumbai attack

7. Chinese Defence Reform International Relations

[Ref: News – China amends defence laws for war preparedness – The Hindu (Pg.14)
dated 04-01-2021]
Syllabus : International Relations

New Defence Law

More power to Central Military Commission headed by Chinese President
(Traditionally, Chinese state council/Cabinet wields authority for military powers)
Added provision for military mobilization in need to protect ‘Development interests’
– economic activities of China such as Belt and Road Initiative

8. New Electricity Rules Governance, Government Policies

[Ref: News – Embracing Energy Efficiency – The Hindu (Pg.7) dated 05-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Government policies, Governance

Electricity (Rights of Consumer) Rules, 2020

The new changes have brought uniform performance standards for power
distribution companies
They are liable to pay compensation for consumers in case of violations

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GENERAL
STUDIES
III
 1. Digital Payment Index Economy

[Ref: News – RBI's digital payment index unveiled – The Hindu (Pg.14) dated 02-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Economy

Digital Payment Index (DPI):

To measure the extent to which Digitization has penetrated the country
March 2018 is used as base period
It has 5 parameters :
a. Payment enablers (25% - weightage)
b. Payment Infrastructure - Demand side (10%)
c. Payment Infrastructure - Supply side (15%)
d. Payment Performance (45%)
e. Consumer centricity (5%)
March 2018 - 100 (value); March 2019 - 153.47; March 2020 - 208.74;

2. Interconnect Usage Charge Economy

[Ref: News – Jio calls to all network free from today – The Hindu (Pg.1) dated 02-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Economy

Interconnect Usage Charge:

It is the Charge paid by one mobile operator to another to let its customer's call
access to the latter one's customer
Telecommunication Authority Of India (TRAI) intended to stop it by January 2021
Jio is in favour of this decision while Airtel and Vodafone opposed this as they are net
beneficiaries of IUC from Jio customers

3. Draft Science Policy Science & Technology

[Ref: News – All should get free access to science journals– The Indian Express (Pg.1)
dated 02-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Economy
Draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy:
Government intends to make all scientific research material freely available to
public
It has proposed to buy bulk subscriptions of all important scientific journals and
make them available free to public
This is termed as 'One Nation, One Subscription' policy

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 4. Patent (Amedment) Rules, 2020 Science & Technology

[Ref: News – An anti-disclosure amendment that hits public health – The Hindu (Pg.6)
dated 04-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Sciece & Technology
Patent Rules:
Patents Act, 1970 -
i. Disclosure of technical details in application
ii. After patent expiring (20 years), the invention becomes public domain
iii. It imposes a duty on patentee to commercially work the invention so that It
benefits public
iv. If the patentee does not provide accurate information or commercially use the
invention Indian government can revoke the patent
The purpose of the patent rules is to ensure that all patents are available for the
benefit of public
The new changes - Patentees should annually submit the extent to which they have
commercially worked on the patent to the patent office.
This reduces the full disclosure format that is in existence so far
The critics say this could potentially prevent very essential and beneficial patents
such as life saving drugs from reaching the public

5. Emergency Usage of Covid Vaccines Science & Technology

[Ref: News – India approves two vaccines for use – The Hindu (Pg.1) dated 04-01-2021 ]
Syllabus: Science & Technology

Covid Vaccines Candidates:

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO - Head - Drug Controller
General of India) has approved two vaccine candidates :
a. Covishield
b. Covaxin
Covishield by Serum Institute of India (Pune)
It is based on Oxford's Astrazenca vaccine (has an efficacy of 70.4 %)
Covaxin was developed by Bharat biotech Ltd with Indian Medical Council of
Research
Both candidates' efficacy details haven't been made public yet
This has drawn criticism that government is rushing vaccine implementation

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