Daily Current Capsules - 31st August 2020
Financial Inclusion
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Completes 6 Years
 
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PMJDY ) + Mains ( GS III financial inclusion + GS II government policies and interventions)
What's the NEWS

• PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister, on 15th August 2014 and the programme launched on 28th August

Know! the major aspects and achievements of this Scheme so far.

• PMJDY is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

Objectives

• Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
• Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach

Basic tenets of the scheme

• Banking the unbanked - Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
• Securing the unsecured - Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh
• Funding the unfunded - Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit

The scheme was launched based upon the following 6 pillars:

• Universal access to banking services - Branch and BC
• Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every household
• Financial Literacy Program- Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking
• Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund - To provide banks some guarantee against defaults
• Insurance - Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of Rs. 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015

• Pension scheme for Unorganized sector

Extension of PMJDY

• Focus shift from ‘Every Household' to Every Unbanked Adult'
• RuPay Card Insurance - Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.
• Enhancement in overdraft facilities -
• OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs 10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions).
• Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years

PMJDY Accounts

• Total PMJDY Accounts: 40.35 Crore
• Rural PMJDY accounts: 63.6%
• Women PMJDY accounts: 55.2%

Know! some statics achieved by PMJDY

• PMJDY account is treated as inoperative if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years
• Out of total 40.35 crore PMJDY accounts, 34.81 crore (86.3%) are operative
• Deposits have increased about 5.7 times with increase in accounts 2.3 times
• Avg. Deposit per account has increased over 2.5 times over Aug'15
• Number of RuPay cards & their usage has increased over time

Jan Dhan Darshak App

• A mobile application, was launched to provide a citizen centric platform for locating banking touch points such as bank branches, ATMs, Bank Mitras, Post Offices, etc. in the country.
• Over 8 lakh banking touchpoints have been mapped on the GIS App.
• This app is also being used for identifying villages which are not served by banking touchpoints within 5 km.
• International Relations

Exercise Kavkaz 2020
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Exercise Kavkaz 2020 + past exercises + SCO + RATS) + GS II (Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests
What's the NEWS

• India turned down Russia's invitation to participate in next month's multilateral defence exercise, which is scheduled to be held in southern Russia between September 15 and 27.
• In the response communicated to Russia, New Delhi cited Covid-19 as the official reason to skip ‘Exercise Kavkaz 2020'.

Know! more about the recent developments

• The move comes in the backdrop of a border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, which has been going on since the last three-and-half months.
• China has confirmed its participation, Pakistan is also likely to send its troops for the exercise.
• India had earlier planned to send a company-level strength of approximately 180 troops from an infantry battalion, 40 personnel of the Air Force, and two Navy officers as observers.

Past Exercises

• In 2018, Exercise Vostok saw the participation of China and Mongolia.
• Exercise Tsentr last year had the participation of India, Pakistan and all Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member-nations.
• India had participated in SCO peace mission exercise in 2018, and in 2019, for the first time, was involved in a strategic command and staff exercise as part of Exercise Tsentr.

Know! about Exercise KavKaz

• The aim of the exercise is to "provide real-time training to counter international terrorism in the Northern and Caucasus region", and the setting "will involve both offensive and defensive operations against international terror

About SCO and India's participation in these drills

• SCO is a eight-member economic and security bloc and India and Pakistan were admitted as full members back in 2017.
• It is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation founded in 2001 with its secretariat based in Beijing, China.
• The founding members of this grouping include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• • The grouping has been having multilateral drills and has developed Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

About RATS

• It is a permanent organ of the SCO and regarded as very important in the counterterrorism operations by the member countries and has its headquarters based in Tashkent.
• Security officials of all the eight countries sit at the RATS Headquarters in Tashkent.
• In fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism, RATS plays a very critical role, as it gives a chance to all to test their intelligence gathering and exchange; technology complement mechanisms between the members states of SCO.

International Relations
17TH ASEAN-India Economic Ministers' Consultations

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about AITIGA and its role + about the FTA between India and ASEAN) + GS II (Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests
What's the NEWS

• Commerce and Industry Ministry of India and Industry and Trade Ministry of Vietnam co-chaired the 17th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations
• The meeting was attended by the Trade Ministers of all the 10 ASEAN countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Know! the Highlights of the meeting

• The Ministers' discussion centred on the review of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
• The report of the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) was placed before the Ministers.
• The AIBC Report has recommended that the AITIGA be reviewed for mutual benefit.

Know! about AITIGA

• In 2003, India and ASEAN signed a Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation to establish an ASEAN -India Regional Trade and Investment Area, which would provide a basis for subsequent FTAs covering goods, services and investment.
• The ASEAN -India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was signed in 2009 and it is this that both sides have agreed to review.

ASEAN-Indian Free Trade Area (AIFTA)

• The Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and India was signed in October 2003 and served as legal basis to conclude further agreements, including Trade in Goods Agreement, Trade in Services Agreement, and Investment Agreement that form the ASEAN-Indian Free Trade Area (AIFTA)
• The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement was signed and entered into force on 1 January 2010.
• Under the Agreement, ASEAN Member States and India have agreed to open their respective markets by progressively reducing and eliminating duties on 76.4% coverage of good.
• The ASEAN-India Trade in Services Agreement was signed in November 2014.
• It contains provisions on transparency, domestic regulations, recognition, market access, national treatment and dispute settlement.
• The ASEAN-India Investment Agreement was also signed in November 2014.

Why review of FTA is needed

• India has its concerns, given that its FTA with ASEAN is stacking up trade deficits with several ASEAN partners.
  

Prelims Factoids
National Sports Day 2020
 
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about National Sports Day and Major Dhyan Chandra)
What's the NEWS

• National Sports Day is celebrated on August 29 every year to honour the hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand.
• The Government of India has decided to celebrate his birthday as the National Sports Day since 2012.

Know! about Major Dhyan Chand

• Major Dhyan Chand, the greatest hockey player of India won three Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936, respectivelyHe was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in the year 1956 by Government of India.
• Major Dhyan Chand Singh came to be known as 'Wizard of Hockey', worldwide.

Prelims Factoids
Onam
 
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Onam festival and terms related with the festival - Pookolam+ Kaikottikali +Vallam Kali +Pulikali +Sadya)
What's the NEWS

• It is the major harvest festival in Kerala which falls on the 22nd Nakshatra Thiruvonam in the Malayalam calendar month of Chingam.
• According to the ancient legends, the Malayalam festival marks the annual trip of King Mahabali to the state he once ruled.

Know! all about Onam

• The festival is celebrated in the month of Chingam according to the Malayalam calendar
• The festival is spread over 10 days and culminates with Thiruvonam, the most important day.
• This year, celebrations began on August 22 and will culminate on September 2.
• Onam signifies the annual homecoming of King Mahabali from Patala Loka, where he was sent by Lord Vishnu's Vamana avatar.
• Women participate in Pookolam (rangoli made of flowers) and perform Kaikottikali, a dance form.
• People get together to participate in a number of cultural activities to celebrate the festival in unison.
• Boat race (Vallam Kali), Pulikali (folk dance in the disguise of a tiger) and other dance and art forms specific to Kerala.
• Sadya, an elaborate meal with 26 food preparations adds more fervour to the festivities.

Prelims Factoids

India's First Toy Manufacturing Cluster - Koppala
 
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India's First Toy Manufacturing Cluster - Koppala)
What's the NEWS

• India's "First Toy Manufacturing Cluster" To Come Up At Koppal, Karnataka

Know! more about it

• • "In Line With The Vision Of Vocalforlocal And Boosting Toy Manufacturing, Koppala Will Have India's First Toy Manufacturing Cluster.
• With The Eco-System To Support Toy Cluster In Place, This 400 Acres SEZ Will Have Top-Class Infra And Generate 40,000 Jobs In 5 Years
• The Karnataka Government Is Inviting Global Toy Makers To The "First Of Its Kind" Toy Manufacturing Cluster In India At Koppala And Had Recently Held A Webinar Cum Panel Discussion With A Panel Of Leading Toys Manufacturers.

Steps taken by Karnataka to achieve the tag of leading toy making state

• Karnataka is poised to emerge as a leading toy-making cluster in the country due to the robust ecosystem the state has created to support toy making industries

The state has supported and nurtured the setting up of

• Tool Manufacturing & precision engineering (TMTP)
• polymers manufacturing clusters
• robust design capacity and testing certification agencies
• GTTC (Government Tool Room and Training Centre).

• The state has also amended industrial, land and labour laws to make it easier for industries to consider Karnataka for its investments.
• The proposed park in Koppala is an attempt to bring in some employment to a region that is one of the most backward in the country.
• Karnataka is the third-largest market for toys in India with around $159 million, or 9.1%, of the national market
• The state's toy industry has grown at an average of 18% from 2010-17, and is expected to reach $310 million by 2023.

Defence
Govt to clear $2 billion deal for Israeli-made PHALCON  AWACS.
 
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PHALCON airborne warning and control systems (AWACS)
What's the NEWS

• The government is all set to clear acquisition of two PHALCON airborne warning and control systems (AWACS)

Know! about PHALCON AWACS

• India has three PHALCON AWACS with a 360 degree rotodome mounted on top of the aircraft and two DRDO-built AWACS with 240 degree rotodome. (China has 28 AWACS and Pakistan has seven)
• The Indian Air Force already has three Phalcon AWACS and addition of two more is expected to significantly boost the country's air defence mechanism.
• The Phalcon AWACS is capable of tracking enemy aircraft, hostile missiles, movement of troops across the border without crossing territorial limits.
• The PHALCON radar is going to cost about $1 billion with another $1 billion going towards the purchase of the platform, in this case Russian A-50 aircraft.
• The AWACS is mounted on Russian-origin Illyushin-76 transport aircraft and it is called an "eye in the sky" because of its superior surveillance capabilities.
• The radar and the platform will be integrated in Israel. It will take about two to three years for the delivery of the complete system.

Know! about Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS)

• It is a mobile, long-range radar surveillance and control centre for air defense.
• It is mounted in a specially modified aircraft.
• The radar system can detect, track, and identify low-flying aircraft and high-level targets at much greater distances.
• It also can track maritime traffic, and it operates in any weather over any terrain.
• An airborne computer can assess enemy action and keep track of the location and availability of any aircraft within range.

India's NETEA

• The DRDO Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) is a project of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop an airborne early warning and control system for the Indian Air Force.
• It is also referred to as 'NETRA' Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS).

Efforts taken by India to boost its air defence mechanism.

• In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems
• India is also integrating the Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles into over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets under a closely-guarded project.
• State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and the BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL), an Indo-Russia joint venture, are implementing the project.

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