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Daily Current Capsules - 10th September 2019

Environment Conservation
Prepare plan for protection of the Great Indian Bustard: National Green Tribunal

Relevance IN - Prelims (about great Indian bustard and about NGT directions ) + Mains ( GS III environment conservation)
What's the NEWS
  • Noting the high mortality rate of the Great Indian Bustard, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Centre to prepare a time-bound action plan within two months for protection of the birds.
Know! more about the NGT direction
  • A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also constituted a joint committee comprising officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
  • The committee was asked to prepare an action plan for the implementation of suggestions put forth by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Know! about the plea presented by the Centre for Wildlife and Environment Litigation and suggestions given WII
  • The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by the Centre for Wildlife and Environment Litigation, through advocate Gaurav Bansal, seeking directions to the ministry to make bio-diversity impact assessment mandatory for every wind-power project, irrespective of its size or capacity.
  • The plea said according to the 30th Forest Advisory Committee meeting, power lines, especially high-voltage transmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the major threat to the critically endangered species as they have poor frontal vision.
  • It said 75 per cent of the birds have died due to collision with power lines in the past 30 years.
  • The WII in its report also said steps should be taken to reduce poaching of the specie and other wildlife in the Thar landscape.
  • WII has suggested a slew of measures, including mitigation of all power transmission lines passing through priority bustard habitats, disallowing new wind turbines, solar farms among others.
  • The Union Environment Ministry has acknowledged that adult mortality among Great Indian Bustard is still very high due to collisions with power-lines that crisscross their flying paths.
  • Reduce poaching of Great Indian Bustard and other wildlife in the Thar landscape by improving protection enforcement through training of forest department frontline staff in smart patrolling tools with the help of conservation organisations
Know! about Great Indian bustard
  • The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) or Indian bustard is a bustard found on the Indian subcontinent.
  • A large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of the flying birds.
  • Once common on the dry plains of the Indian subcontinent, as few as 150 individuals were estimated to survive in 2018 (reduced from an estimated 250 individuals in 2011) and the species is critically endangered by hunting and loss of its habitat, which consists of large expanses of dry grassland and scrub.
  • These birds are often found associated in the same habitat as blackbuck. It is protected under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 of India.
Know! about WII
  • The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of India. established in May 1982.
  • WII carries out wildlife research in areas of study like Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Wildlife Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Forensics, Spatial Modeling, Ecodevelopment, Habitat Ecology and Climate Change.
  • WII has a research facility which includes Forensics, Remote Sensing and GIS, Laboratory, Herbarium, and an Electronic Library.
  • The institute is based in Dehradun, India. It is located in Chandrabani, which is close to the southern forests of Dehradun. The campus is 180 acre's, from which 100 acre's is wilderness and 80 acre's is of institution
Know! about NGT
  • The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
  • It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
  • The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
  • The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
  • The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
  • Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible.
  • New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.
International Relations
First conference on military medicine for SCO member states in Delhi soon
Relevance IN - Prelims (about SCO and the conference on military medicine) + Mains (GS II bilateral relations + international organisations)
What's the NEWS
  • Military medicine experts from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries will meet for a two-day conference starting September 12, aiming to share best practices in the field and build capacities
Know! more about the conference
  • This will be the first military cooperation event hosted by India under the SCO Defence Co-operation Plan 2019-2020 after it became a SCO member country in 2017.
  • The first conference on military medicine for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States will be held here on September 12-13," according to a statement issued by the defence ministry.
  • The conference will be conducted by the Indian Armed Forces under the aegis of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) with an aim to share best practices in the field of military medicine, build capacities and overcome common challenges.
  • The SCO Member States will be represented by senior military medical practitioners. Dialogue Partners Nepal and Sri Lanka will also be sending their delegations to participate in the conference.
  • During the conference, the Indian Armed Forces will also demonstrate the Rapid Action Medical Team and organise a visit for the delegates to the Army Research and Referral Hospital
  • Deliberations will take place between military medicine experts of SCO Member States on rendering of combat medical support, humanitarian assistance during disasters and measures to improve patient safety
  • The conference will be preceded by a meeting of the heads of delegations to discuss areas of cooperation in the field of military medicine between SCO member countries
Know! about SCO
  • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
  • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter, formally establishing the organisation, was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
  • The original five nations, with the exclusion of Uzbekistan, were previously members of the Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996.
  • Since then, the organisation has expanded its membership to eight countries when India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO, it meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.
  • Military exercises are also regularly conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to
Economic Development
RBI Mandates External Benchmarking for Loans from October
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about external bench mark ) + Mains ( GS III Economic developments)
Highlights - Banks must link interest rates for retail and MSME loans to the RBI's benchmark repo rate, the 3-month or 6-month treasury yield, or any other benchmark published by FIBIL.

What's the NEWS
  • The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has made it mandatory for banks to link all new floating rate retail and MSME loans to external interest rate benchmarks, effective from 1 October.
  • Banks will have to migrate from the existing MCLR (Marginal Cost of Lending Rate) regime to external benchmarking, though they will have the freedom to choose which benchmarks to use and how much of a premium to charge borrowers based on their credit profiles.
  • Banks can link their interest rates to the RBI's benchmark repo rate, the three-month or six-month treasury yield published by FIBIL (Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd), or any other benchmark published by FIBIL.
  • The interest rate under external benchmark shall be reset at least once in three months
Benefits of external benchmarking
  • In order to ensure transparency, standardisation, and ease of understanding of loan products by borrowers, a bank must adopt uniform external benchmark within a loan category; in other words, the adoption of multiple benchmarks by the same bank is not allowed within a loan category
  • This is the latest effort by the RBI to ensure its interest rate decisions get transmitted to borrowers. Mandatory linking to external benchmarks was supposed to become operational in April, but the central bank postponed the effective date, citing the difficulties the change presented to banks' interest rate risk management function. The 1 October deadline has been decided amid concerns about high costs for borrowers.
To Ensure Proper monetary transmission
  • RBI aims to ensure faster transmission of Policy rate cuts to loan borrowers. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently in its bi-monthly policy review reduced the policy Repo Rate to 5.40 per cent. This was the fourth rate cut in a row by the RBI.
  • In 2019 itself, the RBI has reduced the Repo Rate by 110 basis points but the banks only passed the policy rate cut of 40 basis points to the borrowers.
  • Due to this very reason RBI decided to link certain categories of loan to the external benchmark based lending rate system.
  • RBI had previously asked the banks to adopt this lending rate system for all new retail loans and small business loans from April 2019 itself.
  • State Bank of India (SBI) was the first to link certain loans to the repo rate. Later, few other banks also began linking their loan products to external benchmarks.
Recommended by the Internal Study Group (ISG)
  • This move of linking certain loans to External Benchmark was suggested by the Internal Study Group (ISG) of the apex bank.
  • The ISG was constituted in August 2017 by the RBI to examine the working of the Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) system. The ISG had recommended the External Benchmark based Lending rate system in its Report.
Know! about the process of deciding the interest rate by banks
  • Banks or financial institutions cannot lend money below a particular Interest Rate.
  • The interest on a loan is decided on the basis of the benchmark rate. This benchmark rate is often in sync with the external rates (External Benchmark) and cost of bank's funds (Internal Benchmark).
  • Till now, banks used internal benchmarks to fix the interest rate on loans.
  • However, from October 1, 2019, onwards banks will be required to link their lending rates with the external benchmarks.
RBI has listed three external benchmarks for banks to choose from while sanctioning floating rate personal, retail loans (housing, auto, etc.) and loans to Micro and Small Enterprises.
These benchmarks are:
  • RBI's Repo Rate
  • 3-Months Treasury Bill yield published by Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd (FBIL)
  • 6-Months Treasury Bill yield published by FBIL
  • Any other benchmark market interest rate published by the FBIL
Other instructions by RBI regarding External Benchmark based Lending rate system
  • The banks are free to choose from these benchmarks
  • Banks need to reset interest rate under external benchmark once in three months.
  • Banks cannot adopt multiple benchmarks within a loan category.
  • There should be a uniform external benchmark based lending rate within a loan category.
  • Banks can alter the operating cost once in three years.
  • All the existing loans linked to the MCLR/Base Rate/ Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) will continue till the repayment or renewal.
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