Current Affair 1:

Modi Government creates a new Ministry of Co-operation

 

In a historic move, a separate ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been created by the Modi Government for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’.

• This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.
• It will help deepen Co-operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots.
• In our country, a Co-operative based economic development model is very relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility.
• The Ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enable development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).
• The Central Government has signalled its deep commitment to community based developmental partnership. Creation of a separate Ministry for Co-operation also fulfils the budget announcement made by the finance minister.

Something important:

The Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 are made by the President of India under Article 77 of the Constitution for the allocation of business of the Government of India.

The Ministries/Departments of the Government are created by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister under these Rules.

The business of the Government is transacted in the Ministries/Departments, Secretariats and offices (referred to as 'Department') as per the distribution of subjects specified in these Rules.

Each of the Ministries is assigned to a Minister by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Each department is generally under the charge of a secretary to assist the Minister on policy matters and general administration.

 

Current Affair 2:

EIB is helping in green transformation of the Indian economy

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Role of the EIB in Climate and Environmental Sustainability

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the largest global investors in climate action. It currently operates in over 150 countries with a mandate to set up shop in any developing country. Its main objective is to provide funding and expertise for robust and sustainable private and public-sector investment projects in developing countries. Under its Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-25, the EIB is committed to increase lending to climate action and green activities to >50% of its total financing activities by 2025.

India and the EIB

In India, the EIB has been operating since 1993 and provides financing and expertise for sound and sustainable investment projects. It supports projects focused on climate action, sustainable economic development, COVID-19 recovery, digitisation of the economy, development of key infrastructure as well as small and midsized enterprises (SMEs).

Support for Climate Action

The EIB supports India's commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement by establishing a partnership on climate action for the benefit of India, the EU and the world.

The EIB also supports the country's international initiatives, particularly those of the International Solar Alliance.

Recent investments:

1. The EIB and its Indian partners—the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Ministry of Finance—signed US$ 358 million investments in urban metro systems in Kanpur and Pune
2. and a US$ 30 million investment in ‘Neev II’, an equity fund that will unlock US$ 120 million of sustainable commercial investments by SMEs across India.
3. The EIB also announced a US$ 298,625 emergency grant to help India recover from COVID-19.

A small explanation about Neev Fund:

Neev Fund was conceptualized and launched in 2015 by Hon. Prime Ministers of India (Mr. Narendra Modi) and UK (Mr. David Cameron) to catalyse investment in Indian states which have traditionally not received private investments. This is one of EIB’s first private equity investments in India.

It will provide equity to small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) focusing on mitigating climate risks, promoting social development, creating jobs, and gender equality at scale.

Current Affair 3:

Real estate sector to cross us $1 trillion by 2030

Introduction:

1. In India, the real estate sector is the second-highest employment generator after the agriculture sector.
2. In 2021, the sector was responsible for employing >5.5 crore people, garnering a total of 11% of all employment opportunities in the country.
3. The sector is also a substantial contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP).
4. As of 2021, the sector’s contribution to the total GDP was valued at Rs. 1,483,745 crore (US $200 billion), which was equivalent to a 7% contribution share in the country’s overall GDP.

While there are several parameters and trends boosting the real estate sector, the current growth is due to a sharp increase in public and private investments, along with introduction of favourable policy framework.

Policy Framework

1. To boost urbanisation and investments, the government has allowed FDIs of up to 100% for all townships & settlement development projects and relaxed the minimum capitalisation requirements for FDI investments from Rs. 7.4 crore (US $10 million) to Rs. 3.7 crore (US $5 million). Both these measures are expected to stimulate FDI investments.
2. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the ‘Housing for All’ initiative to build 20 million houses by 2022.
3. In addition, this initiative also marked the relaxation of the goods and service tax rate to 5% for the residential sector. This move is expected to boost residential developments in the country, especially in the Tier-I and Tier-II cities; therefore, is likely to spur the demand for commercial developments and retail office spaces.
4. Moreover, the government is evaluating proposals to create/develop ‘Special Residential Zones’ along the lines of ‘Special Economic Zones’ due to a significant push from lobbyists, realtors, property consultants and other industry players.
5. Prior to the PMAY scheme, the Real Estate Regulation and Development (RERA) Act, which was implemented in 2016, helped transform this sector and introduced to provide relief to property buyers from malpractices of unfair builders. The act further aided to improve the overall transparency in transactions within the real estate economy.
6. In 2019, India's ranking improved by one point to rank #34 in the Global Real Estate Transparency Index. This upward movement was a product of the RERA act, other regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives; also caused the government to focus on strengthening information channels and increasing transparency in the real estate sector.

In conclusion, the real estate sector has shown flexibility amid the covid-induced recession with a strong K-shaped recovery in 2021. It is on a strong growth trajectory towards harnessing its potential of Rs. 7,418,728 crore (US $1 trillion) by 2030.

Current Affair 4:

Smart Contract on Blockchains

 

A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized blockchain network. The code controls the execution, and transactions are trackable and irreversible.

Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism.

To understand the concept of "what is a smart contract?" consider the purchase of a chocolate bar from a vending machine. The buyer deposits change then presses the button corresponding to the selection. That button, mapped against that particular slot, activates a lever in the machine to push out the candy. The transaction occurred without the need for a cashier or clerk. A smart contract is similar to a vending machine in that it eliminates the need for an intermediary. In this case, the vending machine is replacing a direct seller and allowing the consumer to make a purchase without a middleman.

Smart contracts can be used in a variety of fields, from healthcare to supply chain to financial services. Some examples are as follows:

Government voting system

Smart contracts provide a secure environment making the voting system less susceptible to manipulation. Votes using smart contracts would be ledger-protected, which is extremely difficult to decode.

Healthcare

Blockchain can store the encoded health records of patients with a private key. Only specific individuals would be granted access to the records for privacy concerns. Similarly, research can be conducted confidentially and securely using smart contracts.

Supply chain

Traditionally, supply chains suffer due to paper-based systems where forms pass through multiple channels to get approvals. The laborious process increases the risk of fraud and loss. Blockchain can nullify such risks by delivering an accessible and secure digital version to parties involved in the chain. Smart contracts can be used for inventory management and the automation of payments and tasks.

Financial services

Smart contracts help in transforming traditional financial services in multiple ways. In the case of insurance claims, they perform error checking, routing, and transfer payments to the user if everything is found appropriate.

Climate Change

For example, the Green World Campaign, in collaboration with Cornell University’s Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3), is building smart contracts that use satellite data to automatically dispense rewards to people who successfully regenerate bodies of land by increasing tree cover, improving soil, and more.

Smart contracts can also give environmentally conscious consumers more options in terms of their energy consumption.

Current Affair 5:

Bryum bharatiensis

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A team of scientists from Punjab has discovered a new moss species in eastern Antarctica and named it Bryum bharatiensis as a tribute to goddess Saraswati, also known as Bharati. One of India’s Antarctic stations is also called Bharati.

The Indian Antarctic Mission was begun in 1981.This is the first and the only plant species that the mission has discovered in 40 years. The first Antarctic station, Dakshin Gangotri, was set up in 1984. An unmanned station, it had to be decommissioned in 1990 as it got submerged in ice.

Maitri was commissioned in 1989 while the Bharati station was established in 2012.

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