CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. PERSONAL GUARANTORS LIABLE FOR CORPORATE DEBT: SC

The Supreme Court upheld a government move to allow lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors, who are usually promoters of big business houses, along with the stressed corporate entities for whom they gave guarantee.

About:

• It held that the November 15, 2019, government notification allowing creditors, usually financial institutions and banks, to move against personal guarantors under the Indian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code (IBC) was “legal and valid”.
• The court said there was an “intrinsic connection” between personal guarantors and their corporate debtors. It was this “intimate” connection that made the government recognise personal guarantors as a “separate species” under the IBC.
• It was again this intimacy that made the government decide that corporate debtors and their personal guarantors should be dealt with by a common forum — National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) — through the same adjudicatory process.
• Section 60(2) of the Code had required the bankruptcy proceedings of corporate debtors and their personal guarantors to be held before a common forum — the NCLT.

Source : The Hindu

2. SUNDERLAL BAHUGUNA

Well-known environmentalist and Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna passed away at the age of 94 due to COVID-related complications.

About:

• Sunderlal Bahuguna (1927 – 2021) was an Indian noted Garhwali environmentalist. He was one of the early environmentalists of India.
• He was one of the founders of the Chipko, or hug the tree movement, in the 1970s to save Himalayan forests from cutting down by forest contractors.
• He later spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement starting 1980s, to early 2004.
• He also fought against untouchability and later started organising hill women in his anti-liquor drive from 1965 to 1970.
• He adopted Gandhian principles in his life.
• In 2009, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan Award by government of India for environment conservation.

Source : The Hindu

3. INSURANCE SECTOR

Indian promoters of insurance joint ventures with foreign partners will no longer be able to nominate a majority of the board members, as per the new rules notified under the Insurance Act.

About:

• This follows the recent amendments to enhance the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the sector to 74% from 49%.
• However, a majority of board members, key management persons (KMP) need to be resident Indian citizens, as should at least one of the three top positions — the chairperson of the board, the MD and CEO.
• This new norm will apply to all insurers, irrespective of the stake held by the foreign partner.
• The Finance Ministry has also specified further conditions on the composition of the board for firms where foreign investors’ stake exceeds 49%. 

Source : The Hindu

4. KALAKSHETRA FOUNDATION

The Central government nominated 12 eminent artistes and musicians as members of the governing board of the Kalakshetra Foundation.

About:

• Kalakshetra Foundation is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music.
• It is based in Chennai.
• It was founded in 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale.
• In 1994, an Act of the Parliament of India recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an "Institute of National Importance."
• The Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam developed by Rukmini Devi Arundale is noted for its angular, straight, ballet-like kinesthetics, and its avoidance of Recakas and of the uninhibited throw (Ksepa) of the limbs.

Source : The Hindu

5. MOBILE MONITORING SOFTWARE (NMMS) APP; AREA OFFICER MONITORING APP

Union Minister of Rural Development launched National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app and Area officer monitoring App.

About:

• The NMMS App permits taking real time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGS worksites along with geotagged photograph, which will increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially enabling processing payments faster.
• Area Officer Monitoring App facilitates them to record their findings online along with time stamped and go-coordinate tagged photograph for all the schemes of Deptt of Rural Development- Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, PMAYG, PMGSY.
• This would also enable not only better record keeping of inspections by field and supervisory officials but also facilitate analysis of the findings for better programme implementation.

Source : PIB

6. SURPLUS TRANSFER TO THE GOVERNMENT BY RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a surplus transfer of ₹99,122 crore for the 9-month period from July 2020 to March 2021.

About:

• The higher-than-expected dividend or surplus transfer to the government comes as the government is expecting a sharp sequential fall in tax collections due to the severe second wave of COVID-19 which has forced lockdowns in several States.
• This surplus likely reflects the central bank’s higher income from their open market operations as well as receipts from FX sales.
• The government had budgeted to receive a surplus of about ₹50,000 crore from the RBI to be accounted for in the budget estimates for 2021/22, while in the previous full accounting year, the RBI had transferred ₹57,128 crore as surplus.
• Barring 2018/19, this is the highest ever transfer by the RBI in an accounting period. In FY19, ₹1.76 lakh crore was transferred to the government which included a one-time transfer of extra reserves.
• The government is likely to find it challenging to meet its privatisation and disinvestment target of $24 billion while goods and services tax (GST) revenues are also likely to fall.
• The RBI also decided to maintain a Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50% in line with recommendations of the Bimal Jalan Committee report.
• RBI will move to an April to March accounting year from 2021/22, from a July to June year.

Source : LiveMint

7. PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY NATIONAL WELFARE FUND FOR THE SPORTSPERSONS (PDUNWFS)

The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) has approved an amount of Rs 2 Lakh for Karnataka's V Tejaswini Bai, who won the Arjuna Award in 2011 and was a member of the Women’s Kabaddi team that won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games respectively.

About:

• The financial assistance has been approved from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for the Sportspersons (PDUNWFS), under the ongoing jointly collaborated initiative from the Sports Authority of India, Indian Olympic Association and the MYAS to support ex-international athletes and coaches amid ongoing Covid-19.
• PDUNWFS was set up in 1982 with a view to assisting outstanding Sportspersons of yesteryear, living in indigent circumstances who had brought glory to the Country in sports.
• The scheme as revised in May, 2016 to provide for lump sum ex-gratia assistance to outstanding Sportspersons of yesteryears. Provision of pension has been done away with as there is already a Scheme of Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons.

Source : PIB

8. GST ON IMPORTED OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS

The Delhi High Court held the government’s imposition of GST on oxygen concentrators imported for personal use as “unconstitutional”.

About:

• It said that oxygen concentrators constitute a life-saving device during the COVID-19 pandemic and during a pandemic, a different approach needs to be adopted.
• The petitioner had challenged a May 1 notification that levied 12% GST on such imports from 28% earlier. He invoked Article 21 of the Constitution which enshrines the fundamental right to life.
• The court had asked the government to consider temporarily dropping the 12% GST levied on such imports altogether, citing the shortage of oxygen in the second wave of the pandemic.

Source : The Hindu

9. DIPCOVAN

Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed an antibody detection-based kit 'DIPCOVAN', the DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance.

About:

• The DIPCOVAN kit can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent.
• The kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi.
• DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.

Source : The Hindu

10. AYUSH COVID -19 COUNSELLING HELPLINE

A dedicated community support helpline has been operationalised by the Union Ministry of Ayush to provide AYUSH-based approaches and solutions for the challenges raised by Covid-19.

About:

• The toll-free number is 14443. The helpline is operational pan-India from 6 am to 12 midnight-all seven days of a week.
• Through the helpline 14443, experts from different streams of Ayush, namely Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani & Siddha would be available to address queries of the general masses.

Source : PIB