Weekly Current Affairs (15th to 21st July 2022) - 2 - UPSC PDF Download

CAATSA

Context: The US House of Representatives has voted in favor of granting India a waiver from Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). 

Key Highlights

• The amendment was authored and introduced by Indian-American Ro Khanna, who is the Vice-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus and member of the House Armed Services Committee.
• The amendment received an astounding majority of 330 to 99 and now awaits passage in the Senate. If the waiver is indeed granted, it will allow India to freely purchase Russia’s S-400 missile system without the fear of American sanctions.
• The decision comes amid escalating tensions between the US and Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 

About CAATSA

• CAATSA or Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act is a US legislation that imposes punitive measures, by way of sanctions, for defense and strategic engagement with “American adversaries” like Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
• It was passed in 2017.
• The idea behind CAATSA was to punish Russia for the Crimean annexation in 2014 and its alleged role in the 2016 US presidential election.
• The sanctions are intended to economically hurt Russia over its international actions. CAATSA primarily allows the US government to punish any country that engages in transactions with Russian defense and intelligence sectors. 

Lok Adalat

Context: National Legal Services Authority Chairman Uday Umesh Lalit, recently launched the country’s first AI-powered digital Lok Adalat during the 18th All India Legal Services Authorities’ meet held in Rajasthan. 

Key Highlights

• The digital Lok Adalat by Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority (RSLSA) is designed and developed by its technology partner Jupitice Justice Technologies.
• The Digital Lok Adalat will be used to dispose of pending disputes or disputes that are at the prelitigation stage.
• The platform helps one perform end-to-end dispute resolution with easy drafting and filing of applications, one-click generation of e-notices, smart templates to draft settlement agreements, digital hearings powered by tailor-made video conferencing tools, etc.
• It offers an AI-powered voice-based interactive chatbot and advanced data analytics tools to help gain deeper insights into the functioning of Lok Adalat through custom reports and BI Dashboards for data-driven decision making.
• The vision of of digital lok adalat is to speed up justice delivery.

NITI Aayog’s Digitals Banks Report

Context: NITI Aayog, in its recently released report titled 'Digital Banks: A Proposal for Licensing & Regulatory Regime for India', made a case and offered a template and roadmap for a digital bank licensing and regulatory framework. 

Key Suggestions

• A digital bank would be a bank defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and shall have its own balance sheet and legal existence. Such a bank would be different from the 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) announced in Union Budget 2022-23.
• The report said that existing partnership-based neo-bank models face several challenges, such as revenue generation and viability. They have limited revenue potential, high cost of capital, and offer products of only partner banks.
• The report said that initially “restricted” licenses should be issued for such banks to applicants. The restricted nature of the license would limit the volumes and value of customers serviced. The applicant would then be required to commence operations as a digital business bank/digital consumer bank in a regulatory sandbox. A fullscale license would be issued based on satisfactory performance in the sandbox.
• The report states that the applicant for a license may require one or more controlling persons to have an established track record in e-commerce, payments, or technology space. Applicants may have the option to apply in the form of a consortium. Existing neobanks seeking to upgrade or small finance banks that see the opportunity in digital business bank license are potential eligible candidates. Fintech businesses may also be allowed to procure such a license. 

Banthia Commission Report

Context: The Supreme Court has accepted the report of the Banthia Commission and directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to hold elections as per this report. 

Key Highlights

• The report of Jayant Kumar Banthia-led commission which collated empirical data on Other Backward Class (OBC) communities, submitted its report recommending up to 27% political reservation in every local self-government body depending on population in state of Maharashtra.
• A dedicated commission under former Chief Secretary Jayant Banthia was appointed by the then Maharashtra Government in March 2022.
• The terms of reference set for the Banthia commission were to conduct empirical inquiry on the backwardness of the community, specify the representation of OBCs using village-level data and to ensure that total reservation does not cross the 50 per cent mark.
• The commission used the data from the state’s Rural Development department and Urban Development department to reach the figure of OBCs.
• Data from the education department was also used to calculate the number of scholarships extended to OBC students. Besides, information from various other departments as well as welfare schemes was also included in the report to stress on the backwardness of the community. The commission also traveled across the state to meet various organizations, institutions and individuals in different parts of Maharashtra to include their inputs.
• Previously too, an interim report of the State Backward Class Commission (SBCC) was prepared which lacked empirical study and research.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)- Exim Bank Conclave

Context: “Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership” was recently held in Delhi for strengthening and expanding India-Africa ties.

Key highlights

• At the conclave, Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal emphasized that both countries can work together to bring cost-effective solutions in several areas like drinking water, logistics, healthcare, education, fintech, and solar power, among others.
•  The Union Minister mentioned four areas that can help fulfill the aspirations of both India and Africa. These comprise solar power to bring clean energy, energy security, jobs to Africa, defence trade, physical and digital infrastructure, and co-creating a startup ecosystem.
• India is among the top 5 investors in Africa. Africa is also India's fourth largest trading partner.
• Indian exports to Africa stood at $40.3 billion, while imports from Africa stood at $49.3 billion in 2021- 22. 

Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTS)

Context: Himachal Pradesh becomes first state in the country to connect all registered commercial vehicles equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTS) with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS). 

Key Highlights

• Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur formally inaugurated the initiative at a program organized at Peterhof, in Shimla. 
• With this, the registered commercial vehicles can be tracked anywhere in the country through VLTD.
• More than 9,423 vehicles have been registered, equipped with VLTS and linked with ERSS which will be monitored by both the police and the transport department.
• A facility of panic buttons for the safety of women and children in public vehicles was also introduced. 

The Basic Road Statistics of India, 2018- 19

Context: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently released the third edition of “The Basic Road Statistics”. 

Key Highlights

• As per the report, the total road constructed increased to 63,31,757 km in 2019 from 62,15,797 km in 2018 and registered a growth of 1.9 per cent.
• According to the report, Maharashtra has the largest network of national highways with 17,757 km (13.4 per cent), followed by Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan with 11,737 km (8.9 per cent) and 10,342km (7.8 per cent), respectively, as of March 31, 2019.
• State highways constituted 2.8 per cent of the total road network in the country and the total length of state highways as of March 31, 2019, was 1,79,535 km.
• Maharashtra also has the largest state highways network of 32,005 km, followed by Karnataka at 19,473 km, Gujarat at 16,746 km, Rajasthan at 15,061 km and Andhra Pradesh at 13,500 km.
• The report pointed out that rural roads constitute 71.4 per cent of the total road network in the country and its length rose to 45,22,228 km on March 31, 2019, registering a growth of 2.5 per cent over the previous year.  

About “The Basic Road Statistics of India”

• The Basic Road Statistics of India is an annual publication on the road sector, brought out by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
• It has eight sections and covers information relating to road length, surfaced road length, major initiatives of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Henley Passport Index

Context: Henley & Partners recently released the Henley Passport Index which lists the World’s Most Powerful Passports for the year 2022. 

Key Highlights

• Three Asian nations Japan, Singapore and South Korea bagged the top three positions on the list, reversing pre-pandemic rankings that were dominated by European nations.
• Japan, with the world's most powerful passport, provides hassle-free entry to 193 countries.
• India's passport ranked 87th among 199 countries, offering visa-free access to 60 countries.
• Countries to which Indians have 'visa-on-arrival' access include Asian destinations like Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka. There are also 21 countries in Africa that provide visa-on-arrival services to Indian citizens. There are only two European countries that do the same. 
• China placed 69th with access to 80 countries, and Afghanistan’s passport is the least useful, getting the holder into only 27 countries.
• As for Bangladesh, it occupies the 104th position - five spots higher than Pakistan.
• According to latest government data, as many as 1,63,370 Indians renounced their citizenship to become citizens of other countries in 2021. Most Indians transferred their citizenship to the United States (78,284), followed by Australia (23,533), Canada (21,597) and the UK (14,637). 
• The Henley Passport Index uses 17 years of data and helps the government, as well as the global authorities, assess the value of citizenships of different countries. The index also ranks countries on the basis of which passports offer the most prolific visa-free, or visa-on-arrival access.
• The ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest database of travel information, and it is enhanced by extensive, ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.

Draupdi Murmu

Context: Draupadi Murmu has won the election to become the next president of India, defeating opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha by a wide margin.

Key Highlights

• Draupdi Murmu won by a wide margin, garnering over 64 per cent valid votes. She will succeed Ram Nath Kovid to become the country's 15th president.
• She is the first person from a tribal background to take the office.
• With each MP having a vote value of 700 in this presidential election, Draupdi Murmu had a total vote value of 5,23,600 which is 72.19 per cent of the total valid vote count of MPs polled.
• MLA vote value is calculated by dividing the population of a state or UT by the number of assembly seats multiplies by 1000. While for MP, the formula is total value votes of MLAs of a state/UT divided by total number of MPs in both houses of parliament. About Draupdi Murmu
• Draupdi Murmu belongs to Odisha. She was born in a Santal Tribal family on June 20, 1958, in village Uparbeda of district Mayurbhanj.
• She got Bachelor of Arts degree from Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar and then worked as a Junior Assistant in Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983 in the Odisha government.
• She was elected as a councilor in 1997 and became the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC. She also became the MLA from the same constituency.
• In the year 2000, she became Minister of State (Independent Charge) at the Transport and Commerce Department in the Odisha government. During the same period, she also handled the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries as Minister of State.
• From the year 2015 to 2021, she served as Honorable Governor of Jharkhand.
• She was the first woman Governor for the state and the first female tribal leader to serve as a Governor in any Indian state.
• In 2007, Murmu was awarded the ‘Neelkanth Award’ for Best MLA by Odisha Legislative Assembly.