Economy
Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, others now NPCI shareholders
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NPCI and UPI and other NPCI platforms ) + Mains ( GS III economic development + financial inclusion)
What's the NEWS

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has completed private placement of 4.63 per cent of its equity shares worth Rs 81.64 crore.
• At the end of its latest broad-basing exercise, the organisation has on-boarded Amazon Pay, PhonePe and Paytm Payments Bank and PhonePe as the new shareholders.

Know! more about the expansion of NPCI

• With this, the umbrella organisation for retail payments has now expanded its total shareholder base to 67.
• This broad basing exercise was done to further diversify and distribute the NPCI shareholding to a larger set of the RBI regulated entities and categories of payment industry participants.
• NPCI made an offer for the private placement to 131 RBI regulated entities, out of which 19 evinced interest and were allotted shares in NPCI, the not-for-profit initiative, which runs and manages the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
• With this shareholding expansion, NPCI gets on-board some of the leading banks, new categories of banks and the RBI authorised non-bank entities
• Though traditional banks such as the State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank remain the bigger players for now, other older players such as Standard Chartered Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, and IDFC First Bank have found seats at the expanded table.
• New entrants to the banking system such as Suryoday Small Finance Bank and Capital Small Finance Bank are also in the expanded list of NPCI, which now has 67 shareholders.
• The entry of non-banking and parent companies of digital payment companies such as Paytm Payments Bank, One Mobikwik Systems Private, Amazon Pay Indian Private, PhonePe Private and Pine Labs may give these players a shot at deciding the future shape of UPI and digital payments in India.
• Earlier this month, Facebook-owned WhatsApp got the nod to roll out its UPI payments service to its 400-million strong user base, the NPCI issued a directive asking third party UPI providers to cap the total number of transactions on their platform to 30 per cent of the total volume of transactions.

Know! about National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

• It is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks' Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
• It has been incorporated as a "Not for Profit" Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013), with an intention to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.
• The ten core promoter banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank N. A. and HSBC.
• In 2016 the shareholding was broad-based to 56 member banks to include more banks representing all sectors.

Additional info
RuPay

• RuPay is an Indigenously developed Payment System - designed to meet the expectation and needs of the Indian consumer, banks and merchant eco-system.
• RuPay supports the issuance of debit, credit and prepaid cards by banks in India and thereby supporting the growth of retail electronic payments in India.
• RuPay is well poised to explore innovative payment opportunities such as Contactless - offline and online to drive adoption of low value payments.
• All RuPay Cards will now have the functionality of NCMC which can enable low value contactless payments (like transit, toll, parking, retail) using Offline technology.
• The alliances with international network partners (Discover Financial Services, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay) provides valuable access to global acceptance footprint and offer world class payment solutions to RuPay cardholders.

IMPS

• With Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), India has become the leading country in the world in real time payments in retail sector.

NACH

• National Automated Clearing House (NACH), an offline web based system for bulk push and pull transactions.
• NACH provides electronic mandate platform to register mandates facilitating paper less collection process for the corporates and banks.
• It provides for both account based and Aadhaar based transactions.

ABPS

• Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System is helping the Government and Government agencies in making the Direct Benefit Transfers for various Central as well as State sponsored schemes.

AePS

• To access these funds at door step & drive the financial inclusion in India, Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) has been introduced.

NFS

• National Financial Switch (NFS) is the largest network of shared Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in India facilitating interoperable cash withdrawal, card to card funds transfer and interoperable cash deposit transactions among other value added services in the country.

UPI

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been termed as the revolutionary product in the payment system.

Bharat Bill Payment System

• Bharat Bill Payment System is offering one-stop bill payment solution for all recurring payments with 200+ Billers in the categories Viz. Electricity, Gas, Water, Telecom, DTH, Loan Repayments, Insurance, FASTag Recharge, Cable etc. across India.

NETC

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market.
• It provides an electronic payment facility to customer to make the payments at national, state and city toll plazas by identifying the vehicle uniquely through a FASTag.
• FASTag are Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) stickers which are affixed on the vehicle windshield and enable the driver to make toll payments electronically while the vehicle is in motion without stopping at the Toll plazas by saving Fuel and Time.

Know! more about Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.
• It also caters to the "Peer to Peer" collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.
• NPCI conducted a pilot launch with 21 member banks. The pilot launch was on 11th April 2016 by Dr. Raghuram G Rajan, Governor, RBI at Mumbai.
• Banks have started to upload their UPI enabled Apps on Google Play store from 25th August, 2016 onwards.

How is it unique?

• Immediate money transfer through mobile device round the clock 24*7 and 365 days.
• Single mobile application for accessing different bank accounts.
• Single Click 2 Factor Authentication - Aligned with the Regulatory guidelines, yet provides for a very strong feature of seamless single click payment.
• Virtual address of the customer for Pull & Push provides for incremental security with the customer not required to enter the details such as Card no, Account number; IFSC etc.
• Merchant Payment with Single Application or In-App Payments.
• Utility Bill Payments, Over the Counter Payments, Barcode (Scan and Pay) based payments.

Participants in UPI

• Payer PSP
• Payee PSP
• Remitter Bank
• Beneficiary Bank
• NPCI
• Bank Account holders
• Merchants

Environment
India Climate Change Knowledge Portal" launched

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India Climate Change Knowledge Portal) + Mains ( GS III Environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched the "India Climate Change Knowledge Portal".

India Climate Change Knowledge Portal

• The portal will be a "single point Information resource" which provides information on the different climate initiatives taken by various Line Ministries enabling users to access updated status on these initiatives.
• The portal captures sector-wise adaptation and mitigation actions that are being taken by the various line Ministries in one place including updated information on their implementation.
• The knowledge portal will help in disseminating knowledge among citizens about all the major steps Government is taking at both national and international levels to address climate change issues.

The eight major components included in the knowledge portal are:

1. India's Climate Profile
2. National Policy Framework
3. India's NDC goals
4. Adaptation Actions
5. Mitigation Actions
6. Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation
7. International Climate Negotiations
8. Reports & Publications

Environment Conservation
India only G20 nation on track to meet Paris pact's 2°C goal
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 2°C target under the Paris Agreement) + Mains ( GS III Environment conservation - steps taken by the government)
What's the NEWS

• India is the only country among G20 nations which is on track to meet what it had promised in 2015 under the Paris Agreement on climate change unlike the top three emitters - China, the US and the EU.
• India's track record of being the only "2°C compatible" country was flagged in a report released by a coalition of 14 global thinktanks, including TERI, which showed that the other 19 leading and emerging economies were far from achieving their goals.

Know! the report highlights

• Though China has declared that it will be carbon neutral by 2060, it is in the 'highly insufficient' category according to the climate action tracker while India is 'compatible' with the 2-degree warming goal.
• India is not on track for a 1.5-degree Celsius pathway - a target which gained momentum only in 2018 when the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with a report showing how the 2-degree Celsius goal (keeping the global average temperature rise within 2 degree Celsius by 2100 from the pre-industrial level) would be devastating for the globe.
• It was assessed that drought and heavy rainfall risks would be much higher at the 2-degree Celsius mark than at 1.5 degree Celsius.
• In fact, no country has 1.5-degree Celsius aligned renewable energy targets.

The 2-degree Celsius target

• India is the only G20 country that is on track to meet the 2015 Paris agreement.
• The 2C target is to keep the Global average temperature increase within two degree Celsius as compared to that of Pre industrial level till 2100.
• Earlier it was set as 1.5 degree Celsius under the Paris agreement signed in 2015. However, India is not on track to achieve the 1.5-degree pathway.

Nationally determined contributions of India
The following are the three national determined contributions of India

• To reduce emission intensity of GDP by about one-third by 2030
• To achieve 40% of installed capacity of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources
• To achieve additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent forest cover for tree cover by 2030.

Governance
PM Modi chairs 33rd PRAGATI meeting
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PRAGATI) + Mains (GS II good governance)
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister chaired the PRAGATI meeting . It marked Prime Minister's thirty-third interaction through PRAGATI - the ICT based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Central and State governments.

Meeting highlights

• In PRAGATI meeting, multiple projects, grievances and programmes were reviewed.
• The projects taken up were of the Ministry of Railways, MORTH, DPIIT and Power Ministry. These projects, with a total cost of Rs 1.41 lakh crore, were related to ten states and union territories,
• In the previous 32 such meetings, a total of 275 projects worth Rs 12.5 lakh crore have been reviewed, along with 47 programmes/schemes and grievances across 17 sectors have been taken up.

PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation)

• It is aimed at starting a culture of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
• It is also a robust system for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders. The platform was launched on March 25, 2015.
• It is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform that is aimed at addressing common man's grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
• It also offers a unique combination in the direction of cooperative federalism since it brings on one stage the Secretaries of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the States.
• It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States)
• Prime Minister will hold a monthly programme where he will interact with the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through Video-conferencing enabled by data and geo-informatics visuals;
• Issues to be flagged before the PM are picked up from the available database regarding Public Grievances, on-going Programmes and pending Projects.
• The design is such, that when PM reviews the issue he should have on his screen the issue as well as the latest updates and visuals regarding the same.

Science & Technology
IISF-2020

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 6thIndia International Science Festival)
What's the NEWS

• Several curtain raiser events are being organized for generating awareness about the 6thIndia International Science Festival (IISF-2020) to be held virtually this year.
• CSIR-IITR, CSIO and IMD organize IISF-2020 Curtain Raiser events to generate awareness
• The theme of IISF 2020: "Science for Self Reliant India and Global Welfare is expected to deliberate on the role of Science, Technology and Innovation to build an Atmanirbhar Bharat and also provide solutions to global problems

India International Science Festival

• India International Science Festival is a unique combination of seminars, workshops, exhibitions, discussions and debates with several interactive forms of engagement including hands on demonstrations, dialogues with experts and scientific theatre, music and Poetry.
• This year the festival begins on December 22, 2020 and culminates on December 25, 2020, the birthdays of world renowned Indian Mathematician Srinivas Ramanujan and former Prime Minister of the country Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, respectively.

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