Daily Currentaffairs: 14 September 2020

Tables of contents:

 1. Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0)

 2. States’ Startup Ranking 2019

 3. K V Kamath Committee

 4. Draft Guidelines on Advertising

 5. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)

 6. Three-day Naval Exercise : Strait of Hormuz

 7. Streets for People Challenge

1. Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0)

Recently, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the 'Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0'.

About Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0)

• The objective of CSCAF is to provide a clear roadmap for cities towards combating Climate Change while planning and implementing their actions, including investments.

• The initiative intends to inculcate a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India.

• The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely; Energy and Green Buildings, Urban Planning, Green Cover & Biodiversity, Mobility and Air Quality, Water Management and Waste Management.

• The Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA in implementation of CSCAF.

• It is a first-of-its-kind assessment framework on climate relevant parameters launched in 2019 by MoHUA.

Source: PIB

2. States’ Startup Ranking 2019

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has released the second edition of States’ Startup Ranking 2019.

Key Highlights of States’ Startup Ranking 2019

• The States and UTs have been divided into two groups in order to establish uniformity and ensure standardization in the ranking process.

  • The Union Territories except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’ and all other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’.

• A total of 22 states and 3 Union Territories (Chandigarh, Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands) participated in the exercise, including four states from North East India i.e. Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram.

• Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been named the best performers in the State StartUp Rankings 2019.

• Karnataka and Kerala are the top performing states in the State StartUp Rankings for fostering innovative entrepreneurship to attract business and finance.

• Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chandigarh are the Leaders in the State StartUp Ranking.

• Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Nagaland are Aspiring Leaders under the States’ Startup Ranking 2019.

• Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh are the emerging startup ecosystems in the country.

About States’ Startup Ranking

• The second edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Exercise was conducted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

• Its key objective is to foster competitiveness and propel States and Union Territories to work proactively towards uplifting the startup ecosystem.

• It has been implemented as a capacity development exercise to encourage mutual learning among all states and to provide support in policy formulation and implementation.

• It has 7 broad reform areas, consisting of 30 action points ranging from Institutional Support, Easing Compliances, Relaxation in Public Procurement norms, Incubation support, Seed Funding Support, Venture Funding Support, and Awareness & Outreach.

• The states are classified into 5 Categories i.e. Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders and Emerging Startup Ecosystems.

Source: The Economic Times

3. K V Kamath Committee

Recently, a five-member expert committee headed by K V Kamath has come out with recommendations on the financial parameters required for a one-time loan restructuring window for corporate borrowers under stress due to the pandemic.

Background of K V Kamath Committee

• It is a committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• The committee was tasked to recommend the sector-specific benchmark ranges for financial parameters to be factored into each resolution plan for borrowers with an aggregate exposure of Rs 1,500 crore or above at the time of invocation.

• The purpose of the committee is to ensure there is no ever-greening of bad loans, and only genuine cases directly hit by Covid-19 stress are provided the facility of one-time restructuring.

• The programme is being implemented as a six-month moratorium on repayments ended on August 31 and the economy faced contraction amid a continuing lockdown in several states.

Issue of Debt Problem

• The Kamath committee noted that corporate sector debt worth Rs 15.52 lakh crore has come under stress after Covid-19 hit India.

  • Another Rs 22.20 lakh crore was already under stress before the pandemic.

• The Kamath panel has said companies in sectors such as retail trade, wholesale trade, roads and textiles are facing stress.

• The sectors that have been under stress pre-Covid include NBFCs, power, steel, real estate and construction.

Implementation of the proposals of Kamath Panel Report

• The banks will present their board-approved resolution policies taking into account the RBI final guidelines.

• The RBI has allowed banks to recast loans which were classified as standard as on March 1, 2020.

• The signing of an inter-creditor agreement (ICA) is mandatory in all cases involving multiple lending institutions for implementing resolution plans.

• The resolution framework will be invoked before December 31, 2020 and will be implemented before 180 days from the date of invocation.

• The restructuring can be done via the extension of residual tenor by a maximum of two years with or without moratorium and may include conversion of loan into equity.

• If the borrower remains in default at the end of the period, all lenders would downgrade the account as a non-performing asset (NPA).

Impact of Loan Recast on the Economy

• The restructuring announcements in the past (FY08-11 and FY13-19) had raised concerns about the efficacy of the restructuring mechanism.

• According to India Ratings, based on an account level analysis, nearly 53% of this pool is at a high probability of restructuring/slippages.

• The biggest impact will be that banks will be able to check the rise in NPAs to a great extent.

Source: The Indian Express

4. Draft Guidelines on Advertising

Recently, the government has come out with a comprehensive set of draft guidelines on advertising.

Key Highlights of the Draft Guidelines on Advertising

• The "disclaimers" in advertisements that are not easily noticeable by or legible or easily understandable to an ordinary consumer will be treated as misleading advertisements under the Consumer Protection Act.

• The violation of under the guidelines would face action by the recently established Central Consumer Protection Authority.

• The guidelines are applicable to companies whose products or services are advertised as well as to advertisement agencies and endorsers.

• The disclaimers used in advertisements should be in "same language" as the claim of the advertisement.

  • The font in the disclaimer should be in the "same font" as the claim and place disclaimers on packaging in a "prominent and visible space".

• The draft guidelines also specify that an advertisement should not describe a product or service as "free", "without charge" or other similar terms.

• The proposed guidelines touch upon imitation advertising, comparative advertising, bait advertising, surrogate advertising and puffery in advertising.

Source: The Economic Times

5. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)

In 2019, the book, Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle 1857-1947 was released which put Moplah Leaders on the list of freedom fighters.

Issue associated with Moplah Leaders on the list of freedom fighters

• The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) had submitted a report in 2016 recommended the de-listing of Wagon Tragedy victims and Malabar Rebellion leaders Ali Musliyar, Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji from a book on martyrs of India’s freedom struggle.

• The report sought the removal of names of 387 ‘Moplah rioters’ from the list of freedom fighters.

• Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was one of the first ones to describe the Moplah rebellion as an anti-Hindu genocide through his semi-fictional novel Moplah.

About Malabar/Moplah Rebellion of 1921

• It was the result of the agitation carried out by two Muslim organisations, the Khuddam-i-Kaba (servants of the Mecca Shrine) and the Central Khilafat Committee.

• The agitators preached the doctrine that India under the British Government was Dar-ul-Harab and that the Muslims must fight against it.

• It was a remarkable event that saw people in southern Malabar, predominantly Muslims, wage an armed struggle against the British.

• The Mappila Rebellion was part of the non-violent Khilafat Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Ali Brothers in 1921-22.

  • Mahatma Gandhi distanced himself from the rebels stating that the rebellion was just "an outburst of fanatics".

• The turning point was the visit of Maulana Shaukat Ali and Mahatma Gandhi to Malabar in August 1920, which attracted Muslims in large numbers to join the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements.

• The Mappila warriors, under the leadership of cleric Ali Musliyar and Variyam Kunnath Kunjahammed Haji (V K Haji), captured the taluks of Eranadu and Valluvanadu from the British and established their own rule.

Source: The Hindu

6. Three-day Naval Exercise : Strait of Hormuz

 Recently, Iran’s army began an annual three-day naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

About Strait of Hormuz

• It is a channel linking the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast).

• It separates Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south).

• It contains the islands of Qeshm (Qishm), Hormuz, and Hengām (Henjām) and is of great strategic and economic importance.

• It is the world's busiest shipping lane because there are limited alternatives to bypass the strait.

Source: The Hindu

7. Streets for People Challenge

Recently, the Minister State for Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the 'Streets for People Challenge'.

About Streets for People Challenge

• It is an initiative of the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

• It is the response to the need for making our cities more walkable and pedestrian friendly.

• The Challenge will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of streets for people in consultation with stakeholders and citizens.

• The cities will be guided to launch their own design competitions to gather innovative ideas from professionals for quick, innovative, and low-cost tactical solutions.

• The India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) will be the knowledge partner.

• Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) have partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.

Source: PIB