CURRENT AFFAIRS 15-08-2020

ALLOCATION OF SURPLUS FUNDS BY RBI

What is in news?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved a dividend payment of Rs 57,128 crore to the government.

About:

• The RBI board approved the transfer of Rs 57,128 crore as surplus to the central government for the accounting year 2019-20, while deciding to maintain the contingency risk buffer at 5.5%.

• The decision was taken at the 584th meeting of the Central Board of the RBI chaired by governor Shaktikanta Das.

• Earlier in the Union Budget, the government had budgeted Rs 60,000 crore as dividend from the central bank as well as state-run financial institutions.

• This push from the Reserve Bank comes at a time when the government is staring at a record high fiscal deficit of Rs 6.62 lakh crore in the April-June period as the coronavirus affected the Centre's revenue targets.

Facts to remember :

• According to the RBI Act of 1934, section “Allocation of Surplus funds” mandates for any profits made by the Reserve Bank from its operations to be sent to the Centre.

• The RBI primarily earns its profits from the interest it gets from the purchase and sale of government securities (G-secs), the interest earned from lending to banks and interest earned on bond holdings earned on open market principles.

• From this, the net profit is calculated by subtracting the operation expenditures, and other expenses as per the RBI Act.

RULES FOR RESIGNATION OF AN IAS OFFICER

What is in news?

A year and a half after he resigned from the IAS, Shah Faesal stepped down as president of the JKPM party and also quit politics altogether. That his resignation was never accepted by the government means “the door is open for him” to re-join the IAS.

About:

• The resignation from service of an officer of any of the three All India Services (Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service) is governed by Rules 5(1) and 5(1)(a) of the All India Services (Death-cum-retirement benefits) Rules, 1958.

To whom must an officer submit his/her resignation?

• An officer serving in cadre (state) should submit his/her resignation to the chief secretary of the state.

• An officer who is on central deputation is required to submit his/her resignation to the secretary of the concerned Ministry/Department. The Ministry/Department then sends the officer’s resignation to the concerned state cadre, with its comments/recommendations.

What is the process after the resignation is submitted?

• While dealing with the resignation, the state sees if there are any dues outstanding against the officer, and the vigilance status of the officer.

• Before forwarding the resignation to the central government, the concerned state is supposed to send information on these two issues, along with its recommendation.

• The resignation of the officer is considered by the competent authority, i.e., the central government, only after the recommendation of the concerned cadre has been received.

• The competent authorities are: Minister of State at the Department of Personnel & Training in respect of IAS, Minister of Home Affairs in respect of IPS, and Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change in respect of the Forest Service.

• Can a resignation be withdrawn? The rule was amended in 2013 to allow a resignation to be withdrawn within 90 days of its acceptance. Rule 5(1A)(i) says the central government may permit an officer to withdraw his/her resignation “in the public interest”.

MAURITIUS OIL SPILL

What is in news?

A week after Mauritius declared a national emergency over an oil spill near its coast, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced it had been cleaned up.

About:

• A Japanese ship named M V Wakashio, which is owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef resulting in an oil spill of over 1,000 tonnes into the Indian Ocean. The ship was carrying an estimated 4,000 tonnes of oil.

• Rather than the size of the oil spill, it was the area where it happened which was a cause for concern. The accident had taken place near two environmentally protected marine ecosystems and the Blue Bay Marine Park Reserve, which is a wetland of international importance.

• Some of the world’s largest oil spills include the Persian Gulf War oil spill of 1991 and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

How dangerous are oil spills?

• Oil spills affect marine life by exposing them to harsh elements and destroying their sources of food and habitat.

• Further, both birds and mammals can die from hypothermia as a result oil spills.

• Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters. It also decreases the water repellency of birds’ feathers, without which they lose their ability to repel cold water.

How are oil spills cleaned?

• There are a few ways to clean up oil spills including skimming, in situ burning and by releasing chemical dispersants.

• Skimming involves removing oil from the sea surface before it is able to reach the sensitive areas along the coastline.

• In situ burning means burning a particular patch of oil after it has concentrated in one area.

• Releasing chemical dispersants helps break down oil into smaller droplets, making it easier for microbes to consume, and further break it down into less harmful compounds.

• Natural actions in aquatic environments such as weathering, evaporation, emulsification, biodegradation and oxidation can also help reduce the severity of an oil spill and accelerate the recovery of an affected area.

SPACE BRICKS

What is in news?

In a significant step towards space exploration, a team of researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has developed a sustainable process to make space bricks on the lunar surface.

About:

• Named as space bricks, it could be used to assemble structures for habitation on the moon surface in future.

• The process enables making load bearing bricks by using lunar soil, bacteria and guar beans.

• The process developed now uses urea sourced from human urine, which could be mixed with lunar soil to build structures on the moon.

• This decreases the overall expenditure considerably. Sending bricks from Earth is not viable as it takes 7.5 lakh rupees to transport one pound of construction material.

• Since guar gum is used instead of cement, there will be a lower carbon footprint. The bacteria is added to further crystallize the brick in any shape needed.

SALMONELLA

What is in news?

Health agencies in United States and Canada have put out alerts asking its citizens to discard onions supplied by California-based Thomson International Inc, linking a salmonella bacteria infection with the bulb.

About:

• The salmonella bacteria resides in animals.

• When it enters a human body it causes salmonellosis, an infection that attacks the intestine, and can cause diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, bleeding in stool and nausea.

• The symptoms of the infection last anywhere between 2 and 7 days. However, bowel function could sometimes take months before returning to normalcy. In some cases, it spreads the infection from the intestine to the blood stream.

• The infection hits children, below the age of five, and senior citizens the worst.

• Salmonella can transmit to humans through contaminated water or food.

ORGANIC FARMING

What is in news?

Union Ministry of Agriculture informed about its initiatives and achievements in the field of organic farming.

About:

• India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming.

• Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets.

• With the aim of assisting farmers to adopt organic farming, two dedicated programs namely Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) were launched in 2015 to encourage chemical free farming.

• The organic e-commerce platform www.jaivikkheti.in is being strengthened for directly linking farmers with retail as well as bulk buyers.

SRIJAN PORTAL

What is in news?

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has launched ‘SRIJAN’ portal which is a one stop shop online portal that provides access to the vendors to take up items that can be taken up for indigenization.

About:

• Pursuant to Atmanirbhar Bharat announcement, Department of Defence Production has developed an indigenization portal, srijandefence.gov.in, as 'opportunities for Make in India' in Defence, which will give information on items that can be taken up for indigenization by the private sector.

• On this portal, DPSUs/OFB/SHQs can display their items which they have been importing or are going to import which the Indian Industry can design, develop and manufacture as per their capability or through joint venture with OEMs.

• The Indian Industry will be able to show their interest. The concerned DPSUs/OFB/SHQs, based on their requirement of the items and their guidelines & procedures will interact with the Indian industry for indigenization.

84 AWARDS TO THE ARMED FORES PERSONNEL :

What is in news?

“President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, has approved 84 awards and decorations to the armed forces personnel and members of the paramilitary forces.

About:

• The awards comprise one Kirti Chakra, nine Shaurya Chakras and 65 Sena, four Nao Sena and five Vayu Sena medals (gallantry).

• The President approved 19 mention in despatches to Army personnel, eight of them posthumous for Operation Meghdoot and Operation Rakshak.

• The Shaurya Chakra winners are Lt.Col. K.S. Rawat from the Para Special Forces, Major Anil Urs from the Maratha Light Infantry and havildar Alok Kumar Dubey from the Rajput Regiment and with 44 Rashtriya Rifles and Wing Commander Vishak

• Nair. Lt.Col. Rawat and Major Urs were awarded for their actions in foiling infiltration on the Line of Control.

• Havildar Dubey was awarded for his actions during counterinsurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley on June 22, 2019.

• A cordon and search operation was launched in an orchard near a village when with tactical proficiency  Captain Mrigank Sheokand, a MiG29K pilot, was awarded the Nao Sena Medal(gallantry) for saving numerous civilian lives on the ground by steering his aircraft that suffered a bird hit to a barren land before ejecting with the trainee pilot.