Daily Prelims Notes 31 October 2020

October 31, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: National Organization

Context: The central cooperative NAFED will soon begin importing onions in a bid to tame soaring prices, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister said recently.

Concept:

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED), established in 1958, is registered under the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act.
Nafed was setup with the object to promote Co-operative marketing of Agricultural Produce to benefit the farmers.
Agricultural farmers are the main members of Nafed, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of Nafed.
The objectives of the NAFED shall be to organize, promote and develop marketing, processing and storage of agricultural, horticultural and forest produce, distribution of agricultural machinery, implements and other inputs, undertake inter-state, import and export trade etc.

2. NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME

Subject: Economy

Context: National Pension Scheme (NPS) for traders, shopkeepers and self-employed has failed to make an impact, a senior Labour Ministry official has said.

Concept:

The National Pension System (NPS) is a pension scheme sponsored by the government that was started in 2004 for all government employees. The scheme was made open to all citizens in 2009.
It is a voluntary and a long-term retirement scheme. It is regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and Central Government.

Eligibility:

Any employee from public, private and even the unorganized sectors can opt for this. Personnel from the armed forces are exempted. The scheme is open to all across industries and locations.
The other eligibility criteria for opening an NPS account:

Must be an Indian citizen.

Must be between the ages of 18 and 65.

Must be KYC compliant.

Must not have a pre-existing NPS account.

Benefits:

NPS offers returns higher than traditional instruments like the PPF (Public Provident Fund).
It offers many investment options to subscribers who also have a say in where their funds are invested.
The NPS reduces the retirement liabilities of the government.
If the subscriber has been investing for at least three years, he/she can withdraw up to 25% for certain purposes before retirement (age 60). This withdrawal can be done for up to 3 times with a gap of at least 5 years between each withdrawal.
The entire amount cannot be withdrawn by the account-holder on retirement. 60% can be withdrawn which has now been made tax-free. The rest 40% has to be kept aside so that the subscriber can receive a regular pension from an insurance firm.

3. HOMI BHABHA

Subject: Important Personality

Context: Nuclear Physcist Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on this day in 1909.

Concept:

Contributions:

At the IISC, he established the Cosmic Ray Research Unit. He also played a big role in the establishment of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
Bhabha convinced the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to start a nuclear programme.
He started research on nuclear weapons in 1944. He set up the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945 and also the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. He was the first chairman of the Commission.
Bhabha represented India in IAEA and in 1955, was also the President of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva.
He was an aggressive promoter of nuclear weapons for the country’s defence.
Bhabha was instrumental in devising the strategy behind the country’s nuclear programme. He pioneered the use of thorium to extract uranium from it rather than relying on the meagre reserves of uranium in India. He formulated India’s three-stage nuclear power programme.
Various institutes have been named after this eminent physicist such as the Homi Bhabha National Institute, the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). BARC (formerly known as the Atomic Energy Establishment) is India’s leading nuclear research facility located in Bombay.

Awards

Adams Prize (1942) – University of Cambridge
Padma Bhushan (1954) – Government of India
Fellow of the Royal Society – Royal Society, London.

4. NEW WAGE CODE

Subject: Legislation

Context: New wage code bars bonus for those facing sex abuse charges.

Concept:

The Code on Wages lays down norms for annual bonus dues that accrue to employees, replacing the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. The new Code, expected to become operational once the government notifies the rules, includes ‘conviction for sexual harassment’ as a ground for denying bonus payouts to employees.

As per the extant law, bonus dues are barred only in case of employees dismissed for fraud, violent conduct and theft or sabotage.

Code on Wages Act

The new wage code removes the multiplicity of wage definitions, which can significantly reduce litigation as well as compliance cost for employers.
The new Act links minimum wage across the country to the skills of the employee and the place of employment.
It seeks to universalizes the provisions of minimum wages and timely payment of wages to all employees irrespective of the sector and wage ceiling.
It seeks to ensure “Right to Sustenance” for every worker and intends to increase the legislative protection of minimum wage.
A National Floor Level Minimum Wage will be set by the Centre and will be revised every five years, while states will fix minimum wages for their regions, which cannot be lower than the floor wage.
It subsumes the following four labour laws:

The Payment of Wages Act, 1936

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948

The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965

The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

Types of Wages

Minimum Wage: International Labour Organization defines it as “the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract”.

The minimum wage includes the bare needs of life like food, shelter, and clothing.

Living Wage: It is the wage needed to provide the minimum income necessary to pay for basic needs based on the cost of living in a specific community.

In addition to bare needs, a ‘living wage’ includes education, health, insurance, etc.

Fair Wage: A ‘fair wage’ is a mean between ‘living wage’ and ‘minimum wage’.
Starvation Wage: It refers to the wages which are insufficient to provide the ordinary necessities of life.

5. HORIZONTAL QUOTA

Subject: Polity

Context: Governor of Tamilnadu granted assent to the Bill that provides a 7.5% horizontal quota in undergraduate medical courses to students of government schools who have qualified in NEET.

Concept:

All reservations are not of the same nature. There are two types of reservations, which may, for the sake of convenience, be referred to as ‘vertical reservations’ and ‘horizontal reservations’.
The reservations in favour of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes [(under Article 16(4)] may be called vertical reservations.
Whereas reservations in favour of physically handicapped, Women , Ex-servicemen etc (under clause (1) of Article 16] can be referred to as horizontal reservations.
Horizontal reservations cut across the vertical reservations – what is called interlocking reservations.
Vertical quota is an Over and Above system. Horizontal Quota is a Minimum Guarantee system
Minimum Guarantee System : Example -> OBC are guaranteed say 30% minimum
Over and Above System : Example -> OBC are guaranteed 30% over and above whatever they get.

6. PUBLIC AFFAIRS INDEX

Subject : Governance / Report

Context: In the recently released Public Affairs Index-2020, Kerala was adjudged the best governed State in the large States category, while Uttar Pradesh ended at the bottom.

Concept:

The index is released by the Public Affairs Centre, a not-for-profit organization, headed by former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman K. Kasturirangan.
The index ranks States based on governance performance giving a composite index in the context of sustainable development.

Performance of different States:

Large State category

At the top: Four southern States – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka stood in the first four ranks in terms of governance.
At the bottom: Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar were at the bottom of the ranking.

Small State category

At the top: Goa ranked first, followed by Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh.
The worst performers with negative points: Manipur, Delhi and Uttarakhand.

Union Territories

Chandigarh emerged at the top in the category of Union Territories followed by Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Andaman, Jammu and Kashmir and Nicobar were the worst performers.

7. STAR CAMPAIGNER

Subject: Polity

Context: The Election Commission (EC) revoked the status of Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister as a star campaigner for the party in the ongoing State Assembly by-polls for “repeated violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Concept:

A recognised political party can have 40 star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20.
The list of star campaigners has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission within a week from the date of notification of an election.
The expenditure incurred on campaigning by such campaigners is exempt from being added to the election expenditure of a candidate. However, this only applies when a star campaigner limits herself to a general campaign for the political party she represents.
Candidates cannot afford to breach their expenditure limit (Rs 28 lakh in case of Delhi elections).
If a candidate or her election agent shares the stage with a star campaigner at a rally, then the entire expenditure on that rally, other than the travel expenses of the star campaigner, is added to the candidate’s expenses.
This applies even if the star campaigner mentions the candidate’s name during the event. When more than one candidate shares the stage, or there are posters with their photographs, then the expenses of such rally/meeting are equally divided between all such candidates.

Does removal from the star campaigner’s list bar them from campaigning?

No, that decision will only be taken by the EC once the barred leaders reply to the showcause notices served to them. However, the removal from the star campaigner’s list does make campaigning difficult for them.
This is because whichever constituency they hold their election meeting or rally at, irrespective of whether they limit themselves to general party propaganda or not, the entire expenditure of the event will be added to the account of the candidate contesting from that seat.

8. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

Subject: Polity

Concept:

The MCC is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission (EC) to regulate political parties and candidates prior to elections. Basically, the code spells out the do’s and don’ts for elections.
This is in keeping with Article 324 of the Constitution, which mandates EC to conduct free and fair elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures.
It is not statutory but Political Parties, Candidates and Polling Agents are expected to observe the norms, on matters ranging from the content of election manifestos, speeches and processions, to general conduct etc.
The code comes into force on the announcement of the poll schedule and remains operational till the process is concluded.
The EC has devised several mechanisms to take note of the violation of the code, which include joint task forces of enforcement agencies and flying squads.

Legal Enforcement

Though MCC does not have any statutory backing, but the Code has come to acquire teeth in the past decade because of its strict enforcement by the EC.
Certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Representation of the People Act, 1951.
In 2013, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, recommended making the model code of conduct legally binding. It recommended that the MCC be made a part of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The EC argues against making it legally binding. According to it, elections must be completed within a relatively short time or close to 45 days, and judicial proceedings typically take longer, therefore it is not feasible to make it enforceable by law.

Additional Information: cVIGIL App

The cVIGIL App provides time-stamped, evidence-based proof of the Model Code of Conduct / Expenditure Violation, having live photo/video with auto location data.
Any citizen can lodge a complaint through the Mobile App. Flying Squads will then investigate the matter and the Returning Officer takes the decision.
The status of cVIGIL can be shared with the cVIGIL complainant within a specified time limit.