Daily Current Affairs - 15 April

👉 Govt launches e-FRRO scheme to provide hassle-free travel for foreigners

• The government has launched the web-based application ‘e-FRRO’ (e-Foreigners Regional Registration Office) which aims to provide efficient visa related services online to foreigners visiting India.

=> About ‘e-FRRO’ scheme

• The e-FRRO scheme is aimed at building a centralized, transparent online platform for the foreigners to avail visa related services and to provide Faceless, Cashless and Paperless services to the foreigners with user friendly experience.

• Under the scheme, foreigners would be able to get as many as 27 Visa and Immigration related services in India from the comfort of their place of stay.

• Using the e-FRRO application, foreigners can apply online on the portal and obtain the service(s) through email/post without appearing in person at the FRO/FRRO office.

• Advantages of e-FRRO include facilitation of legitimate foreigners through “Digital India” vision of the Government, foreigners need not visit FRRO/FRO office – “Services from the comfort of home”, convenient and Time saving, exclusive dashboard for User friendly experience and Uniform & Standardized Services across the Country.

=> Significance of the scheme

• In 2017, more than one crore foreigners visited India and out of them approximately 3.6 lakhs had to visit FRRO offices spread across the country for various visa-related services. With the launch of the online e-FRRO scheme, their physical visit to the FRRO offices thus been obviated.

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👉 NASA to study how tiny sea creatures affect Earth’s climate

• NASA is conducting a study of the world’s largest phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic, named the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) mission

• The mission to see how the tiny sea critters influence the climate in every season.

• It is the first research mission to conduct an integrated study of all four distinct phases of the world’s largest phytoplankton bloom.

=> About NAAMES Mission

• The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is an interdisciplinary investigation resolving key processes controlling marine ecosystems and aerosols that are essential to our understanding of Earth system function and future change.

• NAAMES is funded by the NASA Earth Venture Suborbital Program and is the first EV-S mission focused on studying the coupled ocean ecosystem and atmosphere.

• NAAMES consists of four, combined ship and aircraft field campaigns that are each aligned to a specific event in the annual plankton lifecycle.

=> Scientific objectives

• The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) studies the world’s largest plankton bloom and how it gives rise to small organic particles that leave the ocean and end up in the atmosphere, ultimately influencing clouds and climate.

=> Significance of the mission

• NAAMES is a five year investigation to resolve key processes controlling ocean system function, their influences on atmospheric aerosols and clouds and their implications for climate.

• Observations obtained during four, targeted ship and aircraft measurement campaigns, combined with the continuous satellite and in situ ocean sensor records, will enable improved predictive capabilities of Earth system processes and will inform ocean management and assessment of ecosystem change.

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👉 Child rights body warns media against identification of a minor victim

• FOLLOWING GROSS violations by media outlets of rules that prohibit identification of a minor victim, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a notice on Thursday warning media houses that the offence is punishable with imprisonment of up to six months and/or a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh under the JJ Act 2015.

• The notice adds that publication of photographs of rape victims or sexually-abused children is prohibited under section 74 (1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

=> Background

• It has come to the notice of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) that a section of the media, including some TV channels, has shown/is showing the pictures of the eight-year-old minor girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua district.

=> National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

• It is an Indian governmental commission, established by an Act of Parliament, the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act in December 2005.

• The commission works under the aegis of Mininstry of Women and Child development, GOI.

• The Commission considers that its Mandate is "to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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(4) Inflation targeting has zero impact on price situation

• Making a case for doing away with inflation targeting by the RBI, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Surjit Bhalla recently said it has made zero impact on prices.

• Under the new policy framework, the RBI aims to contain inflation at 4% with a band of (+/-) 2%.

• Average inflation in 2017-18 was 3.5%. India’s real interest rate is higher by 2.5%, which is 3rd highest in the world.

=> What is inflation targeting?

• Inflation targeting is a monetary policy in which a central bank has an explicit target inflation rate for the medium term and announces this inflation target to the public. It will have price stability as the main goal of monetary policy.

• Many central banks adopted inflation targeting as a pragmatic response to the failure of other monetary policy regimes, such as those that targeted the money supply or the value of the currency in relation to another, presumably stable, currency.

=> Why it is good?

• It will lead to increased transparency and accountability.

• Policy will be linked to medium/long term goals, but with some short term flexibility.

• With inflation targeting in place, people will tend to have low inflation expectations. If there was no inflation target, people could have higher inflation expectations, encouraging workers to demand higher wages and firms to put up prices.

• It also helps in avoiding boom and bust cycles.

• If inflation creeps up, then it can cause various economic costs such as uncertainty leading to lower investment, loss of international competitiveness and reduced value of savings. This can also be avoided with targeting.

=> Associated concerns

• Inflation targeting puts too much weight on inflation relative to other goals. Central Banks Start to Ignore More Pressing Problems. Inflation target reduces “flexibility”. It has the potential to constrain policy in some circumstances in which it would not be desirable to do so.

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