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  • Positive Pay System for high-value cheques

    Banks have been informing customers about making mandatory, the positive pay system, a process of reconfirming the key details of high-value cheques.

    What is the Positive Pay System?

    • The Positive Pay System, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, is a process of reconfirming the key details of large value cheques.
    • Under this system, a person issuing the high-value cheque submits certain essential details of that cheque like date, name of the beneficiary/payee amount etc. to the drawee bank.
    • The details can be submitted through electronic means such as SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM etc.
    • The details are cross-checked while issuing the cheque and any discrepancy is flagged.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following links all the ATMs in India? (CSP 2018)

    (a) Indian Banks’ Association

    (b) National Securities Depository Limited

    (c) National Payments Corporation of India

    (d) Reserve Bank of India

    (Note: You need to sign-in to answer this PYQ)

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    What is the limit on the amount for the system?

    • RBI has told banks to enable the facility for all account holders issuing cheques for amounts of ₹50,000 and above.
    • It has also been said that while availing of the facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheque values of ₹5 lakh and above.

    Why is this system important for customers?

    • Some banks have been telling customers that if the details of large-value cheques are not pre-registered, the cheque will be returned.
    • On issuance of a high-value cheque, customers should ensure that details are provided within the timeframe prescribed by the banks for hassle-free clearance.
    • RBI has said only cheques that are registered in the Positive Pay System will be accepted under the dispute resolution mechanism.
    • Customers would get an SMS on whether the cheque is accepted or rejected for any reason.

    What are the details of the cheque that must be submitted?

    • Account number, cheque number, date of the cheque, amount, transaction code, beneficiary name, MICR CODE.

    How can these details be submitted?

    • These details can be submitted through the respective bank’s website, internet banking, or mobile banking.
    • In case a customer does not use electronic banking services, they can submit the details by visiting bank branches.

  • [pib] Revamped National Gene Bank

    The Union Agriculture Minister has inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished gene bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources.

    National Gene Bank

    • The National Gene Bank was established in the year 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations.
    • It has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.
    • Presently it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germplasm and the rest have been imported from other countries.
    • National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources is meeting the need of in-situ and ex-situ germplasm conservation through Delhi Headquarters and 10 regional stations in the country.

    Key facilities provided

    • The NGB has four kinds of facilities to cater to long-term as well as medium-term conservation namely:
    1. Seed Gene bank (- 18°C),
    2. Cryo gene bank (-170°C to -196°C),
    3. In-vitro Gene bank (25°C), and
    4. Field Gene bank
    • It stores different crop groups such as cereals, millets, medicinal and aromatic plants, and narcotics, etc.

    What is the latest update?

    • This is the world’s second-largest gene bank located in the national capital.
    • It has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.
    • Presently, it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germplasm and the rest have been imported from other countries.

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    Also read:

    Svalbard Global Seed Vault

  • Species in news: Slender Loris

    The Kadavur hills in central Tamil Nadu’s Karur district are home to the Kadavur Reserve Forest. These forests are home to the shy and reclusive slender loris, a species of primate.

    Slender Loris

    • Slender loris (Loris tardigradus) is secretive and has nocturnal habits. It usually travels from the canopy of one tree to another. But, at times, it also comes down to bushes at the ground level to feed.
    • It is also found in the adjoining forest areas on the eastern, southern and western slopes of the Kadavur hills.
    • It sleeps by day in the foliage or in a hole or crevice. It comes out at dusk in search of prey.
    • They are fond of lantana berries and also eat insects, lizards, small birds, tree frogs, tender leaves and buds.
    • They are usually solitary but sometimes found in pairs.

    Conservation

    • The slender loris has been listed as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
    • It has been brought under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in order to provide the highest level of legal protection.

    Threats

    • As it is believed that these animals have some medicinal properties, they are captured and sold.
    • Since there is great demand for keeping these animals as pets, they are illegally smuggled.
    • Habitat loss, electrocution of live wires, and road accidents are other threats that have caused its populations to dwindle.

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  • Issue of the oath of an elected representative

    Context

    Some Cabinet Ministers in Karnataka who took oath recently stood out from the rest.  All these oaths run against the spirit of the Constitution.

    Background of agnostic Constitution

    • The public officials who took office under the Government of India Act, 1935 had to take oath which had no mention of God.
    • During the Constituent Assembly debate, B.R. Ambedkar proposed the Preamble, “We, the people of India…”.
    •  H.V. Kamath moved an amendment to the Preamble, “In the name of God, we, the people of India…”.
    • To this proposal, another member, A. Thanu Pillai said that if this amendment is accepted it would affect the fundamental right of freedom of faith.
    • He said that a man has a right to believe in God or not, according to the Constitution.
    • H.N. Kunzru opposed Kamath’s amendment stating that in a matter that vitally concerns every man individually, the collective view should not be forced on anybody.
    • The amendment was defeated, thereby excluding ‘God’ from the Preamble.
    • Thus, our founding fathers gave us an agnostic Constitution.

    What are provisions in Consitution

    • The public officials who took office under the Government of India Act, 1935 had to take oath which had no mention of God.
    • However, the framers of the Indian Constitution rejected this conception of secularism.
    • Constitution gives office-holders an option to swear in God’s name if they so wished.
    • The Supreme Court of India observed in 2012 that the oath by an elected representative should be taken “in the name of God” if the person is a believer or should be “solemnly affirmed” if the person is a non-believer.
    • The Supreme Court said that the oath of an elected representative should be in strict compliance with the wordings of the Constitution. 

    Way forward

    • As the Republic belongs to all the citizenry, irrespective of whether he is a theist, atheist or agnostic, and irrespective of his caste or religion, a person occupying a constitutional post should take oath in the format of ‘“solemnly affirm”.
    • The Constitution should be amended accordingly.

    Conclusion

    If a person takes the oath in the name of a God affiliated to a particular religion or caste, the citizenry cannot expect the absence of affection or ill-will from him. The allegiance of a person holding a constitutional post should only be to the Constitution.

  • Learning from China

    Context

    As we look back on our own journey after independence and feel proud of our achievements, wisdom lies in also looking around to evaluate how other nations have performed, especially those which started with a similar base or even worse conditions than us.

    How India’s neighbouring countries have performed?

    • Independent India has done better than Pakistan if measured on a per capita income basis:
    • Comparison with Pakistan: India’s per capita income stood at $1,960 (in current PPP terms, it was $6,460) in 2020, as per the IMF estimates, while Pakistan’s per capita income was just $1,260 (in PPP terms $5,150).
    • Comparison with Bangladesh: Bangladesh, whose journey as an independent nation began in 1971, had a per capita income of $2,000 (though $5,310 in PPP terms), marginally higher than India, and certainly much higher than Pakistan in 2020.
    • Comparison with China: The real comparison of India should be with China, given the size of the population of the two countries and the fact that both countries started their journey in the late 1940s.
    • By 2020, China’s overall GDP was $14.7 trillion ($24.1 trillion in current PPP terms), competing with the USA at $20.9 trillion.
    • India, however, lags way behind with its overall GDP at $2.7 trillion ($8.9 trillion in PPP terms).
    • The quality of life, however, depends on per capita income in PPP terms, with the USA at $63,420, China at $17,190 and India at $6,460.

    What made the difference between India and China?

    • India adopted a socialist strategy while China took to communism to provide people food, good health, education, and prosperity.
    • China, having performed dismally on the economic front from 1949 to 1977, started changing track to more market-oriented policies, beginning with agriculture.
    • Agriculture reforms: Economic reforms that included the Household Responsibility System and liberation of agri-markets led to an annual average agri-GDP growth of 7.1 percent during 1978-1984.
    • Reform in the non-Agri sector: Success in agriculture reforms gave political legitimacy to carry out reforms in the non-agriculture sector.
    • Manufacturing revolution: The success of reforms in agriculture created a huge demand for manufactured products, triggering a manufacturing revolution in China’s town and village enterprises.
    • Population control measures: China adopted the one-child norm from 1979-2015.
    • As a result, its per capita income grew much faster.
    • India’s attempts to control its population succeeded only partially and very slowly.
    • India’s sluggish performance when compared to China raises doubts about its flawed democratic structure that makes economic reforms and implementation of policy changes more challenging, unlike China.

    Way forward for India

    • Liberating agri-markets is part of the reform package that China followed. That’s the first lesson.
    • Increase purchasing power of rural areas: Even for manufacturing to grow on a sustainable basis, we have to increase the purchasing power of people in rural areas.
    • This has to be done by raising their productivity and not by distributing freebies.
    • Investment in various areas: Increasing productivity requires investments in education, skills, health and physical infrastructure, besides much higher R&D in agriculture, both by the government as well as by the private sector.
    • Create institutional setup: This requires a different institutional setup than the one we currently have.

    Conclusion

    India’s sluggish performance when compared to China raises doubts about its flawed democratic structure that makes economic reforms and implementation of policy changes more challenging, unlike China. But India has lessons to learn from China.

  • PM announces Rice Fortification Plan

    PM in his I-day speech has announced the fortification of rice distributed under various government schemes, including the Public Distribution System (PDS) and mid-day meals in schools, by 2024.

    What is Fortification?

    • FSSAI defines fortification as “deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health”.

    What is Fortified Rice?

    • Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying the surface of ordinary rice grains with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating.
    • Rice can also be extruded and shaped into partially precooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice.
    • Rice kernels can be fortified with several micronutrients, such as iron, folic acid, and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.
    • These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.

    Note: Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology. It differs from conventional fortification in that Biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during the processing of the crops.

    What is the plan announced by the PM?

    • Malnutrition and lack of essential nutrients in poor women and poor children pose major obstacles in their development.
    • In view of this, it has been decided that the government will fortify the rice given to the poor under its various schemes.
    • Be it the rice available at ration shops or the rice provided to children in their mid-day meals, the rice available through every scheme will be fortified by the year 2024.

    Why such a move?

    • The announcement is significant as the country has high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
    • According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anemic and every third child is stunted.
    • India ranks 94 out of 107 countries and is in the ‘serious hunger’ category on the Global Hunger Index (GHI).
    • Fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.
    • According to the Food Ministry, seven countries have mandated rice fortification – the USA, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and the Solomon Islands.

    Advantages offered

    • Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
    • Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
    • Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
    • Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
    • Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger

    Issues with fortified food

    • Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
    • Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
    • Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
    • Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.

    Adhering to FSSAI standard

    The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) sets standards for food items in the country.

    • According to FSSAI norms, 1 kg fortified rice will contain iron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram), and Vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
    • In addition, rice may also be fortified with micronutrients, singly or in combination, with zinc(10 mg-15 mg), Vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), Vitamin B1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), Vitamin B2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), Vitamin B3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and Vitamin B6 (1.5 mg-2.5 mg) per kg.

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    Back2Basics: Public Distribution System (PDS)

    • The PDS is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
    • PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through the distribution of food grains at affordable prices.
    • PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments.
    • The Central Government, through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains to the State Governments.
    • The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of eligible families, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of FPSs etc., rest with the State Governments.
    • Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene are being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution.
    •  Some states/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.

    Mid-Day Meal Scheme

    • The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
    • It is a wholesome freshly-cooked lunch served to children in government and government-aided schools in India.
    • It supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government-aided, local body, and alternate innovative education centers, Madarsa and Maqtabs.
    • The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.

    The scheme aims to:

    1. avoid classroom hunger
    2. increase school enrolment
    3. increase school attendance
    4. improve socialization among castes
    5. address malnutrition
    6. empower women through employment

  • National Hydrogen Mission

    During his I-Day speech, the PM has announced a National Hydrogen Mission and said India will become the world’s largest exporter of green hydrogen in the years to come.

    National Hydrogen Mission

    • The PM’s announcement takes forward the proposal, made in the 2021 Budget, for the launch of NHM that would enable the generation of hydrogen “from green power sources”.
    • The added advantage of hydrogen is that, apart from transportation, it can be a “decarbonizing agent” for industries like chemicals, iron, steel, fertilizer and refining, transport, heat and power.
    • While the details of the NHM are yet to emerge, India has taken several exploratory steps.
    • India has been working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen CNG (H-CNG), and Green Hydrogen.
    • Several programs are focusing to blend hydrogen with compressed natural gas for use as a transportation fuel as well as an industrial input to refineries.

    Hydrogen as a fuel

    • Hydrogen is the fuel of stars and packs awesome energy. It is also the most abundant element in the universe.
    • But on Earth, it is found in complex molecules such as water or hydrocarbons.
    • Hydrogen is not a source of energy, like fossil fuels or renewable sources like sunlight and air, but an energy carrier, which means it has to be produced, or extracted, and stored before it can be used.
    • But no matter how it is used, the by-product the burning of hydrogen produces is water.

    How is Hydrogen produced?

    • There are several ways of extracting hydrogen and, depending on the method, the hydrogen produced is classified as ‘grey’, ‘blue’, or ‘green’ hydrogen.
    • According to WEC, as of 2019, 96 percent of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels via carbon-intensive processes.
    • Hydrogen thus obtained is called ‘grey’ hydrogen as the process, though not as expensive as the other methods, releases a lot of carbon dioxide.

    What Is Grey, Blue, Green Of Hydrogen?

    • ‘Grey’ hydrogen becomes ‘blue’ hydrogen when the CO2 given out during its production is locked up through carbon capture and storage (CCS) processes.
    • But while the CO2 output is lowered, this process is quite expensive.
    • ‘Grey’ and ‘blue’ hydrogen, thus, are both produced by the same processes, the only difference for ‘blue’ hydrogen being that the CO2 produced is sequestered.
    • But it is ‘green’ hydrogen that governments are aiming at. This is any hydrogen that is produced from clean energy sources like renewables.
    • ‘Green’ hydrogen is released via the electrolysis of energy from renewable sources. This process, though it gives rise to no CO2 emissions, is expensive and not commercially viable yet.

    Key challenges

    • Lack of infrastructure:  India does not have enough storage capacity for the current state of domestic consumption.
    • Safety concerns: Hydrogen is highly inflammable.

    Way ahead

    • Developing technologies to produce ‘green’ hydrogen is cost-intensive.
    • However, falling renewable energy and fuel cell prices and stringent climate change requirements have provided an impetus for investments in this area.
    • In India, the IITs, IISc, Benaras Hindu University, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research laboratories etc. are exploring different aspects of hydrogen production.

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    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] India’s push for a Gas-based Economy

  • Arunachal Pradesh ST List

    The Parliament has passed a bill that seeks to amend the nomenclature of certain tribes from Arunachal Pradesh mentioned in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

    What does the Bill amend?

    • The Bill seeks to modify Part-XVIII of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
    • Part-XVIII lists 16 tribes of Arunachal, in order: Abor, Aka, Apatani, Nyishi, Galong, Khampti, Khowa, Mishmi [Idu, Taroon], Momba, Any Naga tribes, Sherdukpen, Singpho, Hrusso, Tagin, Khamba, and Adi.
    • The Bill corrects the names of tribes spelled incorrectly and adds names of a few tribes that were either named ambiguously or had their parent group named only.

    Why is it significant?

    • Self-identification: It is an essence for much-needed respect for small indigenous communities in the Northeast.
    • Indigenous nomenclature of tribes: This has been a long-standing demand in Arunachal Pradesh for two reasons: for the recognition of individual identity and to do away with the ambiguity as a result of errors in their names.
    • Identity assertion: For long, communities — whether civil society members or student leaders — have demanded that they must be known by their respective names.

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  • Karez System of Irrigation

    The Taliban are set to seize Kabul, but some expert believes they will spare the age-old Karez system of underground aqueducts in the country given its importance.

    What is a Qanat / Karez?

    • This system of underground vertical shafts in a gently sloping tunnel that is built from an upland aquifer to ground level.
    • Some historians and archaeologists have attributed people in the southeast Arabian Peninsula as the first developers. Others, however, ascribe it to the ancient Persians.
    • The Qanat / Karez system, wherever it was developed, soon spread to many Persian, Arab and Turkic lands.
    • It even came to the Indian Subcontinent during the 800-year-old Islamic Period.

    Karez in India

    • The system was brought in the Indian Subcontinent during the Bahamani Sultanate, founded by Alaudin Bahman Shah.
    • It later broke into five other Sultantates: Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar and Berar.
    • The Bahamani Sultanate was Persianate in nature and encouraged many things Persian, among them, the Karez.
    • They was built in the city of Bidar during the reign of Bahamani Sultan Ahmad Shah Wali (1422-1436), who shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar.
    • By the 15th century, Bijapur city had a network of pipelines. Everyone got 24×7 supply of water.
    • It also worked as confidence-building measure between the Sultan and his subjects since the Karez was built the state.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term Araghatta’ refers to:

    (CSP 2016)

    (a) bonded labour

    (b) land grants made to military officers

    (c) waterwheel used in the irrigation of land

    (d) wastel and converted to cultivated land

     

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  • Species in news: Greater Adjutant Storks

    In a first, Bihar has decided to tag endangered greater adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as ‘Garuda’, with GPS trackers to monitor their movement as a part of their conservation.

    Greater Adjutant Storks

    • Bhagalpur’s Kadwa Diara floodplains area is the third-most-popular breeding centre for the greater adjutant stork in the world after Assam and Cambodia.
    • Historically the range of the Greater Adjutant covered India and Southeast Asia, but today the endangered storks are mostly found in the Indian state of Assam and in Cambodia.
    • In India, the Greater Adjutant is now confined to the northeastern state of Assam, their last stronghold.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q.If you walk through the countryside, you are likely to see some birds stalking alongside the cattle to seize the insects, disturbed by their movement through grasses. Which of the following is/are such bird/ birds?

    1. Painted Stork
    2. Common Myna
    3. Black-necked Crane

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

     

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    Their conservation

    • The greater adjutant is one of the most threatened stork species of the world and is widely considered to be a rare bird.
    • However, the global population of the Greater Adjutant Stork is estimated to be roughly not more than 1,500 now.
    • Hence it is classified as ‘endangered ‘on the IUCN’s Red List 2004 of threatened species and listed under Schedule IV of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
    • The Bombay Natural History Society will help and work along with the state forest, environment, and climate change department to start the process of tagging greater adjutant storks with GPS tracker.

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