Daily Prelims Notes 27 November 2021

Daily Prelims Notes

27 November 2021

Table Of Contents

1. Private bank promoters’ stake holding cap raised to 26% from 15%
2. 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya defect to TMC
3. Variant of concern
4. Govt asks Indians to not subscribe to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink
5. Constitution Day
6. Chhattisgarh pushes Adani-run coal block despite WII red flag
7. Contributions of Verghese Kurien
8. Exim Bank
9. Tibet Autonomous Region

1. Private bank promoters’ stake holding cap raised to 26% from 15%

Context:

The Reserve Bank of India has raised the stake promoters can hold in their banks to 26 per cent from 15 per cent now. The RBI has also given small finance banks (SFBs) more time to list as part of its move to align regulations to meet the requirements of a dynamic banking landscape.

Background:

These are part of 21 recommendations of an Internal Working Group (IWG) that have been accepted by the RBI, with modifications. The IWG had made 33 recommendations. The central bank said the remaining 12 are under examination. The hot button issue of allowing large corporates/industrial houses to promote banks, as proposed by the IWG, did not find mention.

Concept:

Indian Banks ( scheduled)  are grouped into four major sections, which are:

1. Commercial Banks: These banks are further categorized into four categories-

• Private Sector Banks
• Public Sector Banks
• Regional rural banks
• Foreign banks

2. Small Finance Banks
3. Payments Banks
4. Co-operative Banks

Private Banks:

These are the banks in which the maximum stake of shares or equity is maintained and owned by private individuals. Initially, the Indian bank sector was dominated by the Public Sector banks, but after the 1990s, private sector banks came into existence and have grown immensely.

In India, private sector banks are classified into two divisions

1. Old Private sector banks (these banks emerged before 1968)
2. New Private sector banks (these banks emerged after the 1990s)

Narasimham Committee advocated for more private banks during 1990s.

2. 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya defect to TMC

Context: This week 12 of INC’s 17 MLAs in the state of Meghalaya defected to the TMC. In the process INC lost its status of the principal opposition party. The Trinomial is now the largest opposition party in Meghalaya.

Concept:

What is defection?

• Political defections are one of the most ubiquitous phenomena of democratic politics in India. Political defections, which denotes a change of political loyalty of a party legislator or group of legislators who switch over to another party in the inter-election years, have formidable bearing on the nature of party system and electoral representation in a democracy.
• The proliferation of such practices resulted in the enactment of the anti-defection law in India in 198 Thereafter, the subsequent unfolding of political developments revealed that the anti-defection legislation has largely failed to stall the menace of defections and it continues to take place unabated even today.
• With the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party as the dominant political force in Indian politics since 2014,a plethora of defections from the politically weaker Congress party and other regional parties who joined the BJP at various points of times in the last six years, have continued the trend.
• Anti-Defection Law:
• The anti-defection law punishes individual MPs/MLAs for leaving one party for another. It allows a group of MP/MLAs to join (i.e. merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection.
• The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by 52nd amendment. It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House. Disqualification:
• If a member of a house belonging to a political party voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, or Votes, or does not vote in the legislature, contrary to the directions of his political party. However, if the member has taken prior permission, or is condoned by the party within 15 days from such voting or abstention, the member shall not be disqualified.
• If an independent candidate joins a political party after the election.
• If a nominated member joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the legislature.
• 91^st amendment act of 2003
• The total number of ministers including the Prime minister in the central council of ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Loksabha/State legislative assembly. (Article 75,164). However in states number of ministers shall not be less than 12.
• A member disqualified under defection is also disqualified for being a minister in house.
• The member disqualified on the grounds of defection shall also be disqualified for any remunerative political post, office wholly or partially under the government .
• The provision regarding one third was also deleted by this amendment.
• Exceptions under the law: Legislators may change their party without the risk of disqualification in certain circumstances. The law allows a party to merge with or into another party provided that at least two-thirds of its legislators are in favour of the merger. In such a scenario, neither the members who decide to merge, nor the ones who stay with the original party will face disqualification.
• The law initially stated that the decision of the Presiding Officer is not subject to judicial review. This condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan case in 1992, thereby allowing appeals against the Presiding Officer’s decision in the High Court and Supreme Court.

3. Variant of concern

Context:

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday classified the B.1.1.529 variant detected in South Africa as a SARS-CoV-2 “variant of concern”.

Concept:

4. Govt asks Indians to not subscribe to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink

Context: Elon Musk Starlink is ready to provide satellite based internet services in India.

Concept:

What is Starlink?

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access to most of the Earth.The constellation consists of over 1600 satellites in mid-2021, and will eventually consist of many thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers. While the technical possibility of satellite internet service covers most of the global population, actual service can be delivered only in countries that have licensed SpaceX to provide service within any specific national jurisdiction. As of November 2021, the beta service offering is available in 20 countries.

Concerns:

• Astronomers have raised concerns about the constellations’ effect on ground-based astronomy and how the satellites will add to an already jammed orbital environment.
• SpaceX has attempted to mitigate these concerns by implementing several upgrades to Starlink satellites aimed at reducing their brightness during operation
• The satellites are equipped with krypton-fueled Hall thrusters which allow them to de-orbit at the end of their life. Additionally, the satellites are designed to autonomously avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data

5. Constitution Day

Context:

Around 15 opposition parties, including the Congress, boycotted the Constitution Day programme organised by the Lok Sabha to celebrate the Samvidhan Samman Divas.

Concept:

Why political parties boycotted constitution day

The opposition boycotted the Constitution Day event in Parliament’s Central Hall on Friday, saying the government was disrespecting the fundamental values of the Constitution and under mining parliamentary democracy.             It has alleged that Government is functioning in an authoritarian manner.

• The Constitution Day is observed annually on November 26 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950.
• The Government of India declared 26 November as Constitution Day in 2015 by a gazette notification.
• The year of 2015 was the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who played a key role in the drafting of the constitution. Previously this day was celebrated as National Law Day.
• Article 394 of the Constitution states that Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 367, 379 and 394 came into force since the adoption of the Constitution on 26th November 1949 and the rest of the provisions on 26th January 1950.

Constitution and Constitutionalism:

• A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. It is the document or set of documents that has a set of rules and principles which as the basis of society is accepted by all. It reflects the ideals of a society shared by all and defines nature of social, legal and political system in a “STATE”.

• On the other hand, the Constitutionalism is an idea. It is an idea which is traced generally to Political philosopher John Locke and it talks of government can and should be legally limited in its powers, and that its authority or legitimacy depends on it observing these limitations
• The significant difference between the Constitution and Constitutionalism is that the limitation envisaged under the Constitutionalism is provided by the Constitution. This means the Constitution is just a document and it is the idea of Constitutionalism which enforces the true meaning, values of the Constitution.
• Even an authoritarian state generally has some sort the Constitution. However, what is missing in these states is the Constitutionalism.

Fundamental Values of the Constitution:

The values expressed in the Preamble are expressed as objectives of the Constitution. These are: sovereignty, socialism, secularism, democracy, republican character of Indian State, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, human dignity and the unity and integrity of the Nation

Parliamentary democracy:

• Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. A parliamentary system or parliamentary democracy is a system of democratic governance of a state  where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support (“confidence”) of the legislature, typically a parliament, to which it is accountable. In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a person distinct from the head of government. This is in contrast to a presidential system, where the head of state often is also the head of government and, most importantly, where the executive does not derive its democratic legitimacy from the legislature.

Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.

Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.

In an influential 1964 work, the political scientist Juan Linz defined authoritarianism as possessing four qualities:

1. Limited political pluralism, realized with constraints on the legislature, political parties and interest groups.
2. Political legitimacy based upon appeals to emotion and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat “easily recognizable societal problems, such as underdevelopment or insurgency.”
3. Minimal political mobilization, and suppression of anti-regime activities.
4. Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, which extends the power of the executive

6. Chhattisgarh pushes Adani-run coal block despite WII red flag

Context:

Despite a biodiversity report from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) warning that the forests in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Aranya Coal Field (HACF) should be declared a “nogoarea”, the state government is pushing for permission to start phase II of mining in the PEKB coal block, in the same area.

Background:

• The PEKB — Parsa (East) and Kete Basan—coal block is owned by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited and run by Adani Enterprises, which is the official Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) in this ventur
• The records from a meeting of the Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) on October28 show the committee analyzed an “instant request” for clearance filed by the state government. The FAC was discussing on diversion of forestland for PEKB coal block’s phase II spread across 1,136-hectare forests.

Concept:

Go No Go Area :

• In 2009, the Environment and Coal Ministries had jointly placed the country’s forested areas under two categories – Go and No-Go zones.
• ‘No-Go’ areas are regions that were classified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change as containing very dense forests and hence closed to coal mining.
• The exercise is aimed at prioritising forest areas under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
• ‘No Go’ areas are those having either more than 10 per cent weighted forest cover (WFC) or more than 30 per cent gross forest cover (GFC).

Forest Advisory Committee:

• The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) is a Statutory Body created under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
• The Forest Advisory Committee functions under the aegis of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• While its role is advisory, it comprises of official members, including the top bosses of the forest bureaucracy and three independent experts, who are the non-official members.
• This committee considers questions on the diversion of forest land for non-forest uses such as mining, industrial projects, townships and advises the government on the issue of granting Forest Clearances.

7. Contributions of Verghese Kurien

Context:  November 26, 2021 was the “Milk Man of India” Verghese Kurien’s 100th birth anniversary.

Concept:

• Verghese Kurien was the Founder Chairman of National Dairy Development Board from 1965 to 1998. He is the architect of India’s White Revolution, which helped India emerge as the largest milk producer in the world.
• In the late 60s Dr. Kurien drew up a project called Operation Flood. Through an investment of Rs. 1700 crores spread across 25 years, Operation Flood helped to raise India’s milk production in value terms to Rs. 55000 crores per annum an output.
• It is on that foundation that Kurien went on to design his idea of Amul as a co-operative, turned it over the years into a global brand, and under the leadership of H.M. Dalaya, a distinguished dairy engineer, Amul achieved a breakthrough in converting buffalo milk into skim milk powder and condensed milk. It was one single innovation that gave Amul a distinct competitive advantage and profoundly changed the lives of milk producers in Gujarat and beyond
• Amul continues to remain one of India’s best-known food brands and is an inspiration to other dairy cooperatives such as Nandini in Karnataka, Aavin in Tamil Nadu and Verka in Punjab
• The co-operative model was also influenced by Gandhian thinking on poverty alleviation and social transformation
• Kurien also revolutionized the edible oil business by introducing ‘Dhara’. Launched in 1979, the Oilseeds Grower’s Cooperative Project established a direct link between the producers and consumers of oil thus reducing the role of oil traders and oil exchanges, inorder to stabilize oil prices, provide an incentive to the oilseed grower to raise production and reduce India’s dependence on oil imports.
• He started the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) at Anand in 1979 to provide management training and research support to the cooperatives being established all over the country. He facilitated the restructuring the National Co-operative Dairy Federation of India, in 1988, to provide a National level body for the country’s State Co-operative dairy federations.
• He also served as Founder Chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, from 1973 to 2006.
• Verghese Kurien won many accolades and awards including the Ramon Magsasay Award for Community Leadership, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, KrishiRatna Award, Wateler Peace Prize Award of Carnegie Foundation, World Food Prize Laureate, International Person of the Year by the World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wisconsin, USA and the Padma Vibhushan.

8. Exim Bank

Context: The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will be disbursing $100 million by way of project finance to COVID-19 vaccine makers in the country this fiscal

Concept:

India Exim Bank has offered $150 million to the African Exim Bank and $100 million to Africa Finance Corporation. They can use it for any imports from India. It is a project for financing and promoting vaccine import from India.

Export-Import Bank of India

• Export-Import Bank of India is a wholly owned Govt. of India entity which was established in 1982.
• HQ : New Delhi

Aim: financing, facilitating and promoting foreign trade of India.

• The EXIM bank extends Line of Credit (loC) to overseas financial institutions, regional development banks, sovereign governments and other entities abroad.
• Thus the EXIM Banks enables buyers in those countries to import developmental and infrastructure, equipment’s, goods and services from India on deferred credit terms.
• The bank also facilitates investment by Indian companies abroad for setting up joint ventures, subsidiaries or overseas acquisitions.

Functions of the EXIM Bank

• It finances the import and export of goods and services from India and countries other than India.
• Provides refinancing services to banks and other financial institutes for their financing of foreign trade
• The bank also provides technical and other assistance to importers and exporters. Depending on the country of origin there are a lot of processes and procedures involved in the import-export of goods. The EXIM bank will provide guidance and assistance in administrative matters as well.
• Will also underwrite shares/debentures/stocks/bonds of companies engaged in foreign trade.
• Will offer short-term loans or lines of credit to foreign banks and governments.
• EXIM bank can also provide business advisory services and expert knowledge to Indian exporters in respect of multi-funded projects in foreign countries.

EXIM initiatives

• GRID Initiative (Grass Roots Initiative and Development),It is the Financial support to support grassroots initiatives / technologies , particularly those with export potential, and to assist artisans / producer groups / clusters / small businesses / NGOs in achieving a remunerative return on their goods and promoting exports from these units.
• Exim Bank currently has 233 credit lines (LOCs) in place, covering 62 countries in Africa,Asia, Latin America and the CIS, with approximately $22.86 billion in credit commitments available to fund exports from India.
• The Government of India provides interest subsidies to SAARC countries for project exports through EXIM Bank of India.
• The EXIM Bank Project Development Fund to catalyse the Indian economic presence in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
• Cooperation with the BRICS Bank, Exim Bank of India entered into an MoU on general cooperation with the New Development Bank (NDB) to create a mechanism for cooperation in accordance with national laws and regulations, in addition to the transfer of skills and the sharing of information among the signatories.
• Exim Bank of India, under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Framework, is the nominated member development bank.

9. Tibet Autonomous Region

Context:

The leadership of the Tibetan community in exile says it is concerned that China might be “pushing” more Tibetans out to the border areas while using the opportunity to settle more mainland Chinese in Tibetan cities

Concept:

India’s Tibet policy

• India makes the 3500km LAC is with the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In 1914, it was Tibetan representatives, along with the Chinese that signed the Simla convention with British India that delineated boundaries.
• China’s accessed Tibet in 1950, it repudiated the convention and the McMahon line that divided the two countries.
• India signed an agreement with China in 1954, agreeing to recognize Tibet as “Tibet region of China”.
• In 1959, following the Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama (spiritual leader of Tibetan people) and many of his followers fled to India.
• Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Lal Nehru gave him and Tibetan refugee’s shelter, and helped in setting up the Tibetan government in exile.
• The Indian policyis that the Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader, and the Tibetan community in India, with more than a lakh exiles, is not allowed to undertake any political activity.
• In the event of increasing tensions between India and China, there has been a shift in India’s Tibet Policy. This shift in the policy, earmarks the Indian government actively managing with the Dalai Lama in public forums.
• In recent times there is also a rise in the younger and more radical “Rangtsen”(freedom) groups demanding an independent Tibet.
• According to informal estimates, about 75,000 live in India and 10,000 in Nepal. The number of those leaving Tibet has steadily decreased in the past decade, PenpaTsering, the newly elected “Sikyong” of the “Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) based in Dharamshala

 Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region,

• The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over 4,572 metres (15,000 ft). Mount Everest is located on Tibet’s border with Nepal.
• China’s provincial-level areas of Xinjiang, Qinghai and Sichuan lie to the north, northeast and east, of the Tibet.
• The lake region extends from the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, Lake Rakshastal, Yamdrok Lake and Lake Manasarovar near the source of the Indus River, to the sources of the Salween, the Mekong and the Yangtze. The lake region is a wind-swept Alpine grassland. This region is called the Chang Tang (Byang sang) or ‘Northern Plateau’ by the people of Tibet.
• The river region is characterized by fertile mountain valleys and includes the Yarlung Tsangpo River(the upper courses of the Brahmaputra). The YarlungTsangpo Canyon, formed by a horseshoe bend in the river where it flows around NamchaBarwa, is the deepest and possibly longest canyon in the world.
• Among the mountains there are many narrow valleys. The valleys of Lhasa, Xigazê, Gyantse and the Brahmaputra are free from permafrost, covered with good soil and groves of trees.
• The countries to the south and southwest are Myanmar, India, Bhutan, and Nepal. China claims Arunachal Pradesh administered by India as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It also claims several areas adjoining the Chumbi Valley that are recognised as Bhutan’s territory.