Current affairs 25-06-2020

Suo Motu

What is in news?

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court initiated suo motu proceedings in connection with the custodial deaths of two traders, at Sattankulam in Thoothukudi district.

About :

• Suo Motu is a Latin phrase which means “on its own”. This means that the court has taken the matter into cognisance on its own and without any plaintiff.A plaintiff is a person or entity which files a case or petition in the court. Normal court cases need a plaintiff and a defendant, while in suo moto,there is no plaintiff.
• Suo Moto’s power of supreme court has been provided under Article 131 of the Indian Constitution.
• The apex court takes Suo Moto Cognizance of a matter when it receives information about the violation of rights or breach of duty in the concerned matter through media or a third party’s notification.

KUSHINAGAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

What is in news?

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport.

About:

• Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar Pradesh about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and is one of the important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.
• Kushinagar Airport is also located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu and Lumbini.

Animal husbandry infrastructure development fund (AHIDF)

What is in news?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs. 15000 crore.

About:

• AHIDF would facilitate much-needed incentivisation of investments in the establishment of infrastructure for dairy and meat processing and value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plant in the private sector.
• The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies and individual entrepreneur with a minimum 10% margin money contribution by them.
• The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks.
• Government of India will provide 3% interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for the principal loan amount and 6 years repayment period thereafter.
• Government of India would also set up a Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs. 750 crore to be managed by NABARD.
• Credit guarantee would be provided to those sanctioned projects which are covered under MSME defined ceilings.
• Guarantee Coverage would be up to 25% of Credit facility of the borrower.

Space sector reforms

What is in news?

Union Cabinet approved far reaching reforms in the Space sector aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities.

About:

• The newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
• The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of our space assets.
• These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme.
• Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism.

Shishu Loan

What is in news?

Union Cabinet approved a scheme for interest subvention of 2% for a period of 12 months, to all Shishu loan accounts under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to eligible borrowers.

About:

• The scheme will be extended to loans which meet the following criteria - outstanding as on 31st March, 2020; and not in Non-Performing Asset (NPA) category, as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, on 31st March 2020 and during the period of operation of the Scheme.
• The interest subvention would be payable for the months in which the accounts are not in NPA category including for the months that the account becomes a performing asset again, after turning NPA. The scheme will incentivize people who will make regular repayments of loans.
• The estimated cost of the Scheme would be approximately Rs. 1,542 crore which would be provided by the Government of India.
• The Scheme will be implemented through the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and will be in operation for 12 months.
• PMMY loans are extended by Member Lending Institutions viz. Scheduled Commercial Banks, Non-Banking Finance Companies and Micro Financial Institutions, registered with Mudra Ltd.

Commission on sub-categorization of OBCs

What is in news?

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the term of the Commission constituted under Article 340 of the constitution to examine the issue of Sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes in the Central List, by 6 months i.e. upto 31.1.2021.

About:

• The Commission was constituted under article 340 of the Constitution with the approval of President in 2017. The Commission is headed by Justice (Retd.) Smt. G. Rohini.
• The expenditure related to the administration costs of the Commission would be borne by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
•  The Communities in the existing list of OBCs which have not been able to get any major benefit of the scheme of reservation for OBCs for appointment in Central Government posts and for admission in Central Government Educational Institutions are expected to be benefitted upon implementation of the recommendations of the Commission.

Devika and puneja bridges

What is in news?

Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated two important Bridges Devika and Puneja in Udhampur and Doda districts respectively in Jammu and Kashmir.

About:

• Devika Bridge: Apart from taking care of traffic congestion and developmental needs of the Udhampur town area, Devika Bridge will also help in smooth passage of Army convoys and vehicles.

• Puneja Bridge: The 50-meter-long Puneja Bridge was constructed by BRO at Bhaderwah in Doda District. Basoli-Bani-Bhaderwah road is a vital alternate link to the Doda, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and Kashmir valley from Pathankot (Punjab) region without passing Jammu and Udhampur.

Annual TB Report 2020

What is in news?

Union Minister for Health released the annual TB Report 2020. He also released a Joint Monitoring Mission (JMM) report, a manual on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to TB patients under NIKSHAY system, a Training Module, and the quarterly newsletter NIKSHAY Patrika.

The key points :

• Around 24.04 Lakh TB patients have been notified in 2019. This amounts to a 14% increase in TB notification as compared to the year 2018.
• Achieving near-complete on-line notification of TB patients through the NIKSHAY system.
• Private sector notifications increased by 35% with 6.78 lakh TB patients notified.
• Due to easy availability of molecular diagnostics, the proportion of children diagnosed with TB increased to 8% in 2019 compared to 6% in 2018.
• Provision of HIV testing for all notified TB patients increased from 67% in 2018 to 81% in 2019.
• Expansion of treatment services has resulted in a 12% improvement in the treatment success rate of notified patients. For 2019 it is 81% compared to 69% in 2018.
• NIKSHAY also expanded the provision of four Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) schemes of the programme including of Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) to TB patients.

Ranking of states

•  For the first time Central TB Division (CTD) introduced a quarterly ranking on TB elimination efforts by all the states and UTs.
• In the categories of larger states with more than 50 lakh population, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were awarded as best performing States.
• In the category of smaller states with less than 50 lakh population, Tripura and Nagaland were awarded.
• In the category of Union Territory, Dadara and Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu were chosen as the best performers.