Current Affair 1:

A Closer Look at The Model Code of Conduct (MCC)

We do have a set of guidelines in the form of the Model Code of Conduct to level the field between different political parties but since it originated in the 1960s in Kerala, by the will of political parties themselves, it does not have statutory or constitutional backing.

Not to say that the MCC is not a comprehensive code but it does not have the teeth to take any punitive action for its own violations.

However, there is a legislative enactment punishing certain violations of the Model Code of Conduct in the form of Representation of People's Act, 1951, under provisions like Section 123, 126, 126A, 133 etc. where prohibition and punishments for violation of code of conduct guidelines have been laid down.

As soon as the election schedule is announced by the ECI, the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect and the Election Commission makes elaborate arrangements that these guidelines are followed effectively.

Admittedly, there is a natural assumption that because the Model Code of Conduct has been evolved with the consensus of political parties, it will be followed strictly, however, every year in every election the Model Code of Conduct is violated, vociferously by some and subtly by others.

 

Election Commission has maintained its viewpoint that the Model Code of Conduct should remain a set of guidelines instead of becoming the law.

Moreover, there are already several provisions of the IPC and Representation of the People Act, 1951 that make violation of some of these guidelines punishable.

 

For State Legislative Assembly elections and General Election to Lok Sabha, MCC stays in operation till completion of the election process, for the former, throughout the state and for the latter, throughout the country.

MCC is even applicable to Legislative council elections from Local Bodies Graduates and Teacher's constituencies.

But in the case of bye-elections, MCC's application is limited to the specific assembly constituency segment (when it is a part of state capital/metropolitan city/municipal corporation) and in other cases, Model Code is applicable to the entire district, encompassing the constituency going for bye-election.

Current Affair 2:

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

In the Union Budget for 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as India's official digital rupee in 2022. In a major boost to crypto players, a 30 percent tax rate has been imposed on income from transfer of virtual digital assets.

While the Government is yet to regulate the investment, transaction and use of private cryptocurrencies in India, the Government's decision to launch an official digital currency or a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a step towards a big institutional makeover that might change the nature of money entirely.

What Is a Central Bank Digital Currency (Or CBDC)?

A CBDC is a digital representation of a country's fiat currency, backed by its central bank. Unlike private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum that are volatile, unregulated and oftentimes function as assets brought with money, a CBDC has value equal to its paper counterpart, is a claim on the Central Bank and is money in every sense of the term.

Unlike traditional reserves and settlement accounts of a central bank which are also digitally stored but are available only to a select few institutions like banks, CBDCs are intended for wider access or use making them a better potential for retail transactions.

RBI has indicated its intention to launch a general purpose CBDC but is still in the process of exploring the design aspects and scope of it.

The key questions on design of CBDC pertain to:

1. whether its scope would be limited to wholesale or retail payments or extend to both.
2. The validation mechanism for CBDC can be either account-based or token based. An account based CBDC would digitalize balances in cash current accounts in the books of the central bank whereas CBDC in the form of a digital token shall not be connected to the account holders.
3. The underlying technology for storing CBDC can be centralized (similar to RTGS payments) or decentralized by way of a decentralized ledger technology (DLT). An additional variable to a DLT based CBDC is whether the DLT will operate in a permissioned or permission-less basis.
4. The distribution architecture of a CBDC can be either a direct issuance by RBI or indirect issuance through banks, both of which have a potential for different systemic risks.

 

Current Affair 3:

State of the Forest Report 2021: Forest Fires

We have covered various topics of Forest Survey Report 2021. Look into previous daily current affairs section.

Current Affair 4:

Earth has a second ‘Trojan’ asteroid

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a second Earth Trojan, an asteroid that shares the same orbit as our planet, going around the Sun. The trojan was detected in 2020 and is named 2020 XL5. It is a near-earth asteroid (NEO) that is expected to stay in orbit for the next 4,000 years before deviating away.

 

The asteroid was discovered by the Pan-STARRS S1 telescope survey on 12 December 2020 and is estimated to be about 1.18 km wide. The first known Earth Trojan asteroid was 2010 TK7, just about 0.3 km wide, and discovered in 2010.

Trojan co-orbiters

Trojans are asteroids that share orbit with a planet.

They can do so because they tend to be present at one of the stable Lagrange Points in the Earth-Sun system. Lagrange points are five different points in a two-body system where the gravitational forces from the two bodies and the centrifugal forces balance each other, enabling another smaller body or a satellite to orbit stably here. Both earth trojans have been discovered in the L4 point, which is located 60 degrees in orbit ahead of Earth.

No trojans have been discovered in the L5 point, which trails earth.

Trojans have been discovered orbiting along with other planets too. There are four Mars trojans, one Venus trojan, two Uranus trojans, 28 Neptune trojans, and over 500,000 Jupiter trojans. The largest Jupiter trojan, 624 Hector, is over 200 km wide.

Detecting trojans

Detecting Earth trojans is difficult because they are located on the same plane as the Earth and the Sun. The L4 and L5 points are located 60 degrees from Earth, making them appear very close to the Sun. Thus, they are observable only during a short window at twilight, and are better visible from space.

Current Affair 5:

Term of the day: Call/Notice Money

The money market is a market for short-term financial assets that are close substitutes for money. The most important feature of a money market instrument is that it is liquid and can be turned over (bought/sold) quickly at a low cost and provides an avenue for equilibrating the short-term surplus funds of lenders and the requirements of borrowers.

 

The call/notice money market forms an important segment of the Indian money market. Under call money market, funds are transacted on an overnight basis, and under notice money market, funds are transacted for the period between 2 days and 14 days. These are unsecured instruments.

Participants in call/notice money market currently include Commercial and Cooperative Banks, Primary Dealers (PDs), development finance institutions, insurance companies, and select mutual funds. The call/notice money market forms an important segment of the Indian money market. Under call money market, funds are transacted on an overnight basis, and under notice money market, funds are transacted for the period between 2 days and 14 days. These are unsecured instruments.

 

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