State Specific
Mekedatu Dam

Relevance IN - Prelims (about mekedatu dam and its location and controversy)
What's the NEWS

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Zone has appointed a joint committee to look into allegations of unauthorised construction activity taking place in Mekedatu, where the Karnataka government had proposed to construct a dam across the Cauvery River.

Know! the objective of joint committee

• If the project is to be implemented without conducting any environmental impact assessment study and without obtaining necessary clearance, if any required, then it will be an unauthorized act affecting the environment.
• The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Department of Forests, State of Karnataka will be the nodal agency for coordination and for providing necessary logistics for this purpose
• The NGT has issued a notice communicating its decision to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Department of Water Resources, Central Water Commission, Cauvery Water Management Authority, Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, among others.

Know! about the issue of Proposed Mekedatu dam

• The Tamil Nadu government stated that it will never allow the proposed project of Karnataka to construct a dam at Mekedatu across the Cauvery river
• The Minister's statement comes in the wake of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointing a joint committee to look into allegations of unauthorised construction activity taking place in Mekedatu.

Know! more about the project

• Mekedatu is a multipurpose (drinking and power) project, which involves building a balancing reservoir, near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district.

Tamil Nadu has been vehemently opposing the project, raising apprehensions that the state will be affected if the project takes shape.

• Mekedatu is a location along Kaveri in the border of Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara Districts.
• Mekedatu, meaning goat's leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and its tributary Arkavathi.
• Sangama is the place where Arkavati merges with Kaveri. From this point, about 3.5 kilometers downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep and narrow gorge.
• Ontigondlu is the proposed reservoir site, situated at Ramanagara district in Karnataka about 100 km away from Bengaluru. It is the midst of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The Rs. 9,000 crore project aims to store and supply water for drinking purposes for the Bengaluru city. Around 400 megawatts (MW) of power is also proposed to be generated through the project.

Prelims Factoids
Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ICoAI + ICSI)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, has granted ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) entered into by Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) with various Foreign Countries/Organisations.
• The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) have signed MoUs with foreign organisations namely Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), Australia, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, UK (CISI) and many others
• The signed MoU swould help in advancement of the goals on equity, public accountability and innovation among the beneficiaries countries.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and ICSI

• The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) was established by a Special Act of Parliament, namely, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 as a statutory professional body for the regulation of the profession of Cost Accountancy.
• The Institute is the only recognised statutory professional organisation and licensing body in India specialising exclusively in Cost Accountancy.
• Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of India, i.e. The Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (Act No. 56 of 1980), to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries in India.

Prelims Factoids
Ayush Minister to launch the repository portal & Ayush Sanjivani App

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ACCR portal and about Ayush Sanjivani App)
What's the NEWS

• The Ayush Ministry will launch the Ayush Clinical Case Repository (ACCR) portal and the third version of Ayush Sanjivani App

Know! about ACCR and Ayush Sanjivani App

• The Ayush Clinical Repository (ACCR) portal (https://accr.ayush.gov.in/) will serve as a platform to support both Ayush practitioners and general public.
• This portal aims to aggregate information about clinical outcomes achieved by Ayush practitioners on a large scale.
• It will facilitate not just dissemination of information but also further analysis and research.
• It is expected to document the strengths of Ayush systems for treatment of various disease conditions.
• The portal will not only benefit the practitioner community and the public but will also help widen the solid scientific base of all streams of Ayush.
• One notable feature of the ACCR portal is the dedicated section for reporting and publishing details of Covid 19 cases treated through Ayush Systems.
• The Ayush Sanjivani App (Third Version) is now published on Google Play Store and iOS.
• This version facilitates a significant study/ documentation regarding the efficacy of selected Ayush interventions, including Ayush 64 and Kabasura Kudineer medicines in the management of asymptomatic & mild to moderate Covid 19 patients.
•  It is worthwhile to note that a national distribution campaign is on through which the Ayush Ministry is providing these two very effective Ayush formulations free to Covid patients who are in home isolation.

Economy
Bangladesh clears currency swap facility to boost Sri Lanka's depleting foreign reserves
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the currency swap facility) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• Bangladesh cleared a $200 million currency swap facility for Sri Lanka, to help boost its economy, becoming the first South Asian country to extend crucial financial assistance to the island nation this year.

Know! more about the currency swap facility

• Bangladesh was extending "a lifeline of sorts to the beleaguered Sri Lankan economy," offering to top up its depleting foreign reserves.
• The board of the Bangladesh Bank has decided in principle to lend $200-250 million from Bangladesh's reserves to Sri Lanka for three months
• With Sri Lanka's main foreign exchange-earning sectors - tourism, export of garments and tea - badly hit due to the pandemic, the country has been struggling to maintain its reserves in the face of a daunting debt repayment schedule.
• So far this year, Colombo has obtained financial assistance from China, through a $ 1.5 billion currency swap arrangement, and a $500 million loan, in addition to the $500 million extended last year. Sri Lanka also inked a $500 million loan-agreement with the EXIM Bank of Korea a fortnight ago.
• India, which extended a $400 million currency swap facility from the Reserve Bank of India - it was settled in February 2021 after an extension - is yet to respond to Sri Lanka's year-old request for an additional $1.1 billion currency swap facility.

Know! about Currency Swap agreement

• A foreign currency swap is an agreement to exchange currency between two foreign parties.
• The agreement consists of swapping principal and interest payments on a loan made in one currency for principal and interest payments of a loan of equal value in another currency.
• One party borrows currency from a second party as it simultaneously lends another currency to that party.
• There are two main types of currency swaps: fixed-for-fixed currency swaps and fixed-for-floating swaps.
• The purpose of engaging in a currency swap is usually to procure loans in foreign currency at more favorable interest rates than if borrowing directly in a foreign market.

Economy
Statutory auditors
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the new norms for auditors appointment -pros and cons) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• Banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have red-flagged a ‘retrospective' central bank diktat on the appointment of statutory auditors
• The new norms require many of them to get rid of auditors already appointed for this year and replace them with new firms, posing implementation challenges

Know! the new norms for auditors appointment

• The RBI introduced new norms for auditor appointments, requiring immediate rotation of audit firms if they had completed three years at a particular entity.
• Joint auditors have been mandated in case of banks and NBFCs with assets of ₹15,000 crore or more, and the eligibility criteria for auditors have been tightened with retrospective effect.
• The circular has been made applicable for the financial year 2021-22 itself, except that the NBFCs may implement it in the second half of the financial year.

Why Bank and NBFs want to postpone the appointment

• The RBI directive may require mid-term resignation of auditors, breaking the previously contracted terms in a large number of cases and creating disruption in the sector
• Change in auditors in the middle of the year will not be looked at favourably by the investors including FPIs, OCBs, MFs and other institutions.
• This also may adversely affect the image of the country in the international market
• Identifying suitable new audit firms is neither a quick nor a mechanical process.
• The three years' tenure specified by the RBI is relatively short and inconsistent with the Companies Act, which specifies a minimum engagement term of five years

Way Forward

• The RBI may consider deferment of implementation of the circular by at least two years for the industry to assess and prepare for its implementation
• A phased operationalisation will help "avoid immediate disruption".

Economy
FDI inflow touches $82 bn in FY21
Relevance IN - Prelims ( highlights of the FDI flow)

What's the NEWS

• Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into India grew 10% in 2020-21 to touch a record $81.72 billion, with FDI equity inflows rising 19% to almost $60 billion

Know! more about the FDI flow

• Singapore emerged as the top investor with almost a third of all investments, followed by the U.S. which accounted for 23% of FDI and Mauritius from where 9% of the foreign capital flows originated.
• FDI equity flows from the U.S. more than doubled during the year compared with 2019-20, while investments from the U.K. surged 44%.
• The sharpest growth among the top 10 FDI-origin countries was recorded from Saudi Arabia.
• Investments from the oil-rich nation jumped from a mere $90 million in 2019-20 to $2.8 billion last year.
• Gujarat was the top FDI destination in the year gone by, accounting for 37% of the foreign equity inflows followed by its traditional industrial rival Maharashtra which got 27% of the equity inflows.
• Karnataka accounted for another 13% of the equity investments, indicating that the rest of the country got a disproportionately less 23% of foreign equity capital.
• Computer software and hardware has emerged as the top sector during 2020-21 with about 44% share of the total FDI equity inflow followed by construction (infrastructure) activities (13%) and services sector (8%), respectively," the Ministry said.
• In 2019-20, India had received $74.39 billion in FDI, with almost $50 billion coming in the form of equity investments.
• Construction (infrastructure) activities, computer software and hardware, rubber goods, retail trading, drugs and pharmaceuticals and electrical equipment have recorded more than 100% jump in equity during 2020-21

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS