PIB & HINDU Daily Current Affairs including static notes - 12 MAY
💥INDIA TO HELP SETTLE ROHINGYA BACK IN RAKHINE💥 (IR)
India has asked Myanmar to ensure the “safe, speedy and sustainable” return of Rohingya refugees who had fled Rakhine state following a security crackdown where hundreds were killed and thousands displaced.
In India, there are nearly 40,000 Rohingya refugees, with 16,500 registered with the office of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner.
India’s stance was conveyed by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who took up the issue during her two-day visit to the country on May.
She also reiterated India’s readiness and commitment to helping the government of Myanmar in addressing issues related to the Rakhine State. Under the aegis of the bilateral Rakhine State Development Programme, India is already in the implementing various projects that would respond to the needs of different sections of the Rakhine State population.
India has had to walk a fine balance between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue, as the two neighbours have continued to be at loggerheads over the fate of thousands of refugees.
👉What is the Rohingyan Issue?
The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim group residing predominantly in Rakhine state and speak a Bengali dialect, in a Buddhist majority Myanmar.
They are not recognised by the Myanmar government as an official ethnic group and are therefore denied citizenship.
In the past ten months alone, nearly 100,000 more Rohingyas have been displaced, with three-fourths of them seeking refuge in Bangladesh and India. “mass atrocities” perpetrated by security forces in the northern part of Rakhine state is the fundamental reasons for the Rohingyan exodus.
💥RBI BARS DENA BANK FROM FRESH LENDING💥 (BANKING)
Reserve Bank has initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) against public sector lender Dena Bank restricting the bank from giving fresh credit and new hiring.
Reserve Bank of India has initiated Prompt Corrective Action for Dena Bank and imposed certain restrictions, in view of high Net NPA and negative RoA ( return on assets).
The public sector lender has reported widening of its net loss to Rs 1,225.42 crore in the March quarter on mounting bad loans and higher provisioning to cover them.
Though several banks are under the PCA framework currently, Dena Bank is the first lender to face curbs on lending. Withdrawal of PCA is contingent up on the performance of the bank regarding improving profitability and reducing the ratio of bad loans.
👉Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework
PCA is process or mechanism to ensure that banks don’t go bust. Under it, RBI has put in place some trigger points to assess, monitor, control and take corrective actions on banks which are weak and troubled.
According to latest PCA framework, banks to be placed under it are assessed on three parameters viz. Capital ratios, Asset Quality and Profitability. Indicators to be tracked for these three parameters are CRAR (Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio)/Common Equity Tier I ratio, Net NPA (non-performing assets) ratio and Return on Assets (Road) respectively. If banks breach of any risk threshold mentioned above, it results in invocation of PCA against them.
RBI enforces these guidelines to ensure banks do not go bust and follow prompt measures to put their house in order. It had tightened its PCA framework in April 2017 to turn around lenders with weak operational and financial metrics,
Depending on the risk thresholds set in PCA rules, banks placed under it are restricted from expanding number of branches, staff recruitment and increasing size of their loan book. Other restrictions include higher provisions for bad loans and disbursal only to those companies whose borrowing is above investment grades.
💥U.S. CANCELS CARBON MONITORING PROJECT 💥(ENVIRONMENT)
A U.S. space agency spokesman said NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) that cost $10 million per year to track carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, has been cancelled.
NASA declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond, budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget.”
It is rumored that President Donald Trump’s administration has quietly killed the CMS, on line with the Presidents opposition to the existence of global warming and climate change.
👉Implications of the move
In recent years, though, satellite and aircraft instruments have begun monitoring carbon dioxide and methane remotely, and NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a $10-million-a-year research line, has helped stitch together observations of sources and sinks into high-resolution models of the planet’s flows of carbon.
The current move could well jeopardize all plans to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate accords. Because if you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement.
💥MINISTRY MOOTS SPECIAL TOURISM PACKAGE FOR NE 💥(GOVT SCHEMES)
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has recommended to the Finance Ministry higher allocation of funds and special package for development of tourism in the northeastern region, after meetings with the tourism ministry
During the meeting, which is part of continuing inter-Ministerial discussions for development of the region, the two ministers discussed proposals for identifying new projects on priority for development of tourism in the northeastern states, an official release said.
The DoNER Ministry is already providing financial assistance under the North East Special Infrastructure Scheme (NESIDS), for projects of physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, and connectivity for promoting tourism in the region, over and above the existing schemes of the central and state governments of the region
👉About the scheme
The North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) is a central Sector Scheme instated from 2017-18. It will be 100% funded by Central Government to fill up gaps in creation of infrastructure in specified sectors in North east till March, 2020.
The scheme will broadly cover creation of infrastructure under following sectors (i) Physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, connectivity and specially the projects promoting tourism. (ii) Infrastructure of social sectors of education and health.
The assets to be created under NESIDS will not only strengthen education and health care facilities in northeast region but will also encourage tourism thereby employment opportunities for local youth. The scheme will act as catalyst in overall development of north east region in the years to come.
💥‘RAMAYAN CIRCUIT’ GETS A NEW BUS SERVICE💥 (GOVT SCHEMES)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’s on a state visit to Nepal with his Nepalese counterpart, K.P. Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, the two sacred cities for Hindus, as part of a “Ramayan Circuit” to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India.
The Ramayan circuit is sub-scheme under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism to promote domestic tourism in the country. Under it the government has identified 15 destinations in India for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme — Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh), Nashik and Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu).
👉About the Swadesh Darshan Scheme
The Ministry of Tourism had launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an aim to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergising efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities.
Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, 13 thematic circuits have been identified for development namely North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.
To Download this editorial in PDF version CLICK HERE
Tq
ReplyDelete