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Type: Prelims Only

  • Police Reforms ā€“ SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    What is National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)?

    11 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Governance
    Mains GS2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NATGRID

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has curtailed the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and moved him to the Border Security Force (BSF).

    What is NATGRID?

    • NATGRID is an intelligence-sharing network that collates data from the standalone databases of the various agencies and ministries of the Indian government.
    • It is a counter terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including tax and bank account details, credit/debit card transactions, visa and immigration records and itineraries of rail and air travel.
    • It will also have access to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a database that links crime information, including First Information Reports, across 14,000 police stations in India.
    • As of 2019, NATGRID is headed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ashish Gupta.

    Its establishment

    • The 26/11 terrorist siege in Mumbai back in 2008 exposed the deficiency that security agencies had no mechanism to look for vital information on a real-time basis.

    Access to NATGRID

    • Prominent federal agencies of the country have been authorized to access the NATGRID database.
    • They are the:
    1. Central Bureau of Investigation
    2. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,
    3. Enforcement Directorate
    4. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
    5. Central Board of Direct Taxes (for the Income Tax Department)
    6. Cabinet Secretariat
    7. Intelligence Bureau
    8. Directorate General of GST Intelligence
    9. Narcotics Control Bureau
    10. Financial Intelligence Unit, and
    11. National Investigation Agency

    Future prospects

    • According to the first phase plan, 10 user agencies and 21 service providers will be connected with the NATGRID, while in later phases, about 950 additional organizations will be brought on board.
    • In the following years, more than 1,000 organizations will be further integrated into the NATGRID.
    • These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions, and telecommunications.

     

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Presidential polls scheduled for July 18

    10 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Polity
    Mains GS2: GS2-01. Indian Constitution-Historical underpinnings & evolution; Features, amendments, significant provisions, basic structure of Constitution

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Election of the President

    Mains level: Read the attached story

    The presidential polls are expected to be held in July to decide on the successor of President Ram Nath Kovind, who will complete his term on July 24, 2022.

    The President of India

    • The President of India is recognised as the first citizen of the country and the head of the state.
    • The elected President of India is a part of the Union Executive along with several other members of the parliament including the Prime Minister, Attorney-General of India and the Vice – president.

    Electing the President

    • The provisions of the election of the President are laid down in Article 54 of the Constitution of India.
    • The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952 led to the establishment of this Constitutional provision.

    Qualifications to become the President of India

    The qualification of be the President of India are given below:

    • He/ She must be an Indian citizen
    • A person must have completed the age of 35.
    • A person must be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People.
    • Must not hold a government (central or state) office of profit
    • A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of President or Vice-President.

    Actual course of election

    • The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College following the system of proportional representation utilizing a single transferable vote system and secret ballots.
    • MPs and MLAs vote based on parity and uniformity values.

    Electoral College composition-

    (1) Legislative Assemblies of the States:

    • According to the provision of Article 333, every stateā€™s Legislative Assembly must consist of not less than 60 members but not more than 500 members.

    (2) Council of States:

    • 12 members are nominated by the President of India based on skills or knowledge in literature, arts, science, and social service to act as the members of the Council of States.
    • In total, 238 represent act as representatives from both the States and Union Territories.

    (2) House of the People:

    • The composition of the House of People consists of 530 members (no exceeding) from the state territorial constituencies.
    • They are elected through direct election.
    • The President further elects 20 more members (no exceeding) from the Union Territories.

    Uniformity in the scale of representation of states

    To maintain the proportionality between the values of the votes, the following formula is used:

    Value of vote of an MLA= total no. of the population of the particular state/ number of elected MLAs of that state divided by 1000.

    Single vote system-

    • During the presidential election, one voter can cast only one vote.
    • While the MLAs vote may vary state to state, the MPs vote always remain constant.

    MPs and MLAs vote balance-

    • The number of the total value of the MPs votes must equal the total value of the MLAs to maintain the State and the Union balance.

    Quotas:

    • The candidate reaching the winning quota or exceeding it is the winner.
    • The formula sued is ā€˜Winning quota total number of poll/ no.of seats + 1ā€™.

    Voters’ preference:

    • During the presidential election, the voter casts his vote in favor of his first preferred candidate.
    • However, in case the first preference candidate does not touch the winning quota, the vote automatically goes to the second preference.
    • The first preferred candidate with the lowest vote is eliminated and the votes in his/her favor are transferred to the remaining candidates.

    Why need Proportional representation?

    • The President of India is elected through proportional representation using the means of the single transferable vote (Article 55(3)).
    • It allows the independent candidates and minority parties to have the chance of representation.
    • It allows the practice of coalition with many voters under one government.
    • This system ensures that candidates who are elected donā€™t represent the majority of the electorateā€™s opinion.

    Why is President indirectly elected?

    If Presidents were to be elected directly, it would become very complicated.

    • It would, in fact, be a disaster because the public doesnā€™t have the absolute clarity of how the president-ship runs or if the candidate fits the profile of a president.
    • Another reason why the direct election system isnā€™t favorable is that the candidate running for the presidentā€™s profile will have to campaign around the country with the aid of a political party.
    • And, this will result in a massive political instability.
    • Moreover, it would be difficult and impossible for the government to hand out election machinery (given the vast population of India).
    • This will cost the government financially, and may end up affecting the economy as well.
    • The indirect election system is a respectable system for the First Man of India (rightly deserving).
    • The system/method of indirect electing of the president also allows the states to maintain neutrality and minimize hostility.

     

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  • International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

    What are Fast Radio Bursts (FRB)?

    10 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Science and Technology
    Mains GS3: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Fast Radio Burst (FRB)

    Mains level: Not Much

    In a paper published in Nature, astronomers have reported a fast radio burst (FRB) whose characteristics are different from almost all other FRBs previously detected.

    Such news makes us think about alien and extraterrestrial life at the first. Do not get carried away with such thoughts. Its simply a space based phenomena.

    Fast Radio Burst (FRB)

    • FRBs are super intense, millisecond-long bursts of radio waves produced by unidentified sources in the distant cosmos.
    • They were first discovered in 2007 when scientists combed through archival pulsar data.
    • Pulsars refer to spherical, compact objects in the universe, which are about the size of a large city but contain more mass than the sun.
    • They often look like flickering stars but are not stars.

    Why in news?

    • The new study in Nature describes FRB 20190520B, first discovered in 2019.
    • What makes it different is that unlike many other FRBs, it emits frequent, repeating bursts of radio waves.
    • And between bursts, it constantly emits weaker radio waves.
    • FRB 190520B is co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a dwarf host galaxy of high specific star formation.

     

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Rhino reintroduction a hit in Assam Reserves

    10 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Environment
    Mains GS3: GS3-18.Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Indian Rhino

    Mains level: Not Much

    The one-horned rhinos of western Assamā€™s Manas National Park, bordering Bhutan, are expected to have high life expectancy and significant growth in population, the 14th Assam rhino estimation census has revealed.

    Indian Rhino

    • The Indian rhinoceros also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent.
    • It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and Schedule I animal in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
    • It once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Myanmar border.
    • Poaching for rhinoceros horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhino.

    Why in news?

    • The 14th Rhino Population Estimation / Census in Kaziranga National Park counted at least 2613 rhinos including calves, a jump of exactly 200 rhinos since the last census conducted in 2018.
    • Then at least 2413 Rhinos were counted in the national park.

    Threats to Rhinos

    • Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac.
    • In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.
    • Due to demand in these countries, poaching pressure on rhinos is ever persistent against which one cannot let the guard down.

    Various protection moves

    • A rhino reintroduction programme under the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was started in 2006.
    • This entailed the translocation of rhinos from Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary besides orphans hand-reared at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at Kaziranga.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following statements:

    1. Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only.
    2. Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only.
    3. One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”n97ipqb1qb” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    (Note: Comment feature is not available on the app.)

     

     

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  • Indian Navy Updates

    Next-Generation Corvettes for Indian Navy

    9 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Internal Security
    Mains GS3: GS3-24. Various Security Forces and Agencies and their Mandate.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Corvettes

    Mains level: Indian navy modernization

    The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the procurement of next-generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy at an approximate cost of Rs 36,000 crore.

    What is a Corvette?

    • A Corvette is the smallest class of naval ships and it falls below the warship class of a frigate.
    • These are highly agile ships and are categorised as missile boats, anti-submarine ships, coastal patrol crafts and fast attack naval vessels.
    • The word corvette itself is derived from French and Dutch origin.
    • During World War II, the term Corvette was used to describe vessels which had anti-submarine roles assigned to them.
    • Modern Corvettes can go up to 2,000 tons in displacement which helps in keeping them agile.

    What kind of Corvettes does the Indian Navy possess?

    • The Indian Navy at present has the Kamorta Class Corvettes, which are also known as Project 28.
    • These ships have an anti-submarine role and are manufactured at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.
    • The four Kamorta Class Corvettes that the Indian Navy possesses are named INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti.
    • The first of these was commissioned in 2014 and the last one in 2020.

    What new capabilities will the new generation Corvettes have?

    • The next-generation Corvettes will be manufactured for various roles like surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search and attack and coastal defence.
    • It is worth noting that these roles will be in addition to the anti-submarine roles being already performed by the existing Corvettes in the Navy.
    • Corvettes will be constructed based on new in-house design of the Indian Navy using latest technology of ship buildings.
    • They would contribute to further the governmentā€™s initiative of Security and Growth for all in the region (SAGAR).

     

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    Dostarlimab: The New Wonder Cancer Drug

    9 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Science and Technology
    Mains GS3: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Dostarlimab

    Mains level: NA

    A trial on 18 colorectal cancer patients in the US found that cancer could be treated without chemotherapy or surgery. The world is sitting up and taking note of Dostarlimab, which has been called a wonder drug.

    What is Dostarlimab?

    • Dostarlimab is an experimental drug. It contains laboratory-produced molecules.
    • It acts as substitute antibodies. It is sold under the brand name Jemperli.
    • It was approved for medical use in the United States and the European Union in 2021.
    • Its side-effects include vomiting, joint pain, itching, rash, fever etc.

    What are the findings?

    • The trial showed that immunotherapy alone ā€“ without any chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery that have been staples of cancer treatment.
    • It could completely cure the patients with a particular kind of rectal cancer called ā€˜mismatch repair deficientā€™ cancerā€.
    • All 12 patients had completed the treatment and were followed for six to 25 months after.
    • No cases of progression or recurrence had been reported during the follow-up.
    • The response too was rapid, with symptoms resolving in 81% of the patients within nine weeks of starting the therapy.

    Is Dostarlimab actually very effective?

    • Dostarlimab is not a new drug but a combination of drugs that are already approved for use in immunotherapy.
    • There is a possibility that Dostarlimab may improve the outcome and survival rate in rectal cancer patients but to say it as a magic drug for cancer is completely going overboard.

    How does this drug cure?

    • PD1 is a protein that regulates immune function and can sometimes keep T cells from killing cancer cells.
    • The therapy in the trial used PD1 blockades, allowing T cells to kill cancer cells.
    • ā€˜Mismatch repair deficientā€™ cancer is most common among colorectal, gastrointestinal, and endometrial cancers.
    • Patients suffering from this condition lack the genes to correct typos in the DNA that occur naturally while cells make copies.
    • Immunotherapy belongs to a category called PD1 blockades that are now recommended for the treatment of such cancers rather than chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

    Will Indian patients get access to the drug?

    • At present, Indian doctors seem to be generally wary of prescribing Dostarlimab for their patients.
    • Experts have termed as optimistic the findings of an ongoing trialā€”a group of rectal cancer patients showed no signs of a tumour after taking the drug for six months.
    • None of the participants reported any severe side-effects either.
    • Yet, doctors say they want to assess the duration of the response.

    What do we know about the clinical trial?

    • Cancer was treated in all the patients and could not be detected by physical examination, endoscopy, positron emission tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging.
    • Thus, there is a thought that cancer can be treated without chemotherapy or surgery.

    Is it too early to celebrate?

    • Cancer specialists said initial signals show how precision medicine is building the future but they need to test more patients from different areas and other types of cancers.
    • The combination of drugs was administered to a small number of patients and for a specific type of cancer.

     

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    RBI plans to link Credit Cards with UPI

    9 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Economics
    Mains GS3: Indian Economy

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Features of UPI

    Mains level: Not Much

    The RBI has proposed to allow the linking of credit cards with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

    Integrating Credit Cards to UPI

    • The integration will first begin with the indigenous RuPay credit cards.
    • Both the RuPay network and UPI are managed by the same organisation ā€“ the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

    What is UPI?

    • UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) facilitating inter-bank transactions.
    • The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.

    Why such move?

    • The linkage of UPI and credit cards could possibly result in credit card usage zooming up in India given UPIā€™s widespread adoption.
    • The integration also opens up avenues to build credit on UPI through credit cards in India, where in the last few years, a number of startups like Slice, Uni, One etc. have emerged.
    • The move could also be a push to increase adoption by banking on UPIā€™s large user base.
    • So far, UPI could only be linked to debit cards and bank accounts.
    • This will provide additional convenience to the users and enhance the scope of digital payments.

    What could be the hurdles?

    • There are some regulatory areas that would have to be addressed before the linkage happens.
    • For instance, it is not clear how the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will be applied to UPI transactions done through credit cards.
    • UPI and RuPay attract zero-MDR, meaning that no charges are applied to these transactions, which is a key reason behind the prolific adoption of UPI both by users and merchants.
    • The norm has faced pushback from the payments industry.
    • It has argued that it limits the aggregatorsā€™ ability to invest in and maintain the financial infrastructure of the payment ecosystem that they have built.
    • Applicability of zero-MDR on UPI could also be a reason why other card networks such as Visa and Mastercard may not have been onboarded to UPI for credit cards yet.

    Note: MDR is a fee that a merchant is charged by their issuing bank for accepting payments from their customers via credit and debit cards.

    What is the big picture?

    • UPI has become the most inclusive mode of payment in India with over 26 crore unique users and five crore merchants on the platform.
    • The progress of UPI in recent years has been unparalleled.
    • Many other countries are engaged with us in adopting similar methods in their countries.
    • In May, UPI processed 5.95 billion transactions worth over Rs 10 trillion, a record high since its launch in 2016.
    • NPCI is looking to soon process a billion transactions a day.

     

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2017:

    Q.Which one of the following best describes the term ā€œMerchant Discount Rateā€ sometimes seen in news?

     

    (a) The incentive given by a bank to a merchant for accepting payments through debit cards pertaining to that bank

    (b) The amount paid back by banks to their customers when they use debit cards for financial transactions for purchasing goods or services

    (c) The charge to a merchant by a bank for accepting payments from his customers through the bankā€™s debit cards

    (d) The incentive is given by the Government to merchants for promoting digital payments by their customers through Point of Sale (PoS) machines and debit cards

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”jap9mp9zh2″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • Child Rights ā€“ POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

    [pib] Children in Street Situations (CiSS) Application

    9 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Governance
    Mains GS2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: CiSS Application

    Mains level: Child rights issue

    The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has launched a ā€œCiSS applicationā€ under the Baal Swaraj portal to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations (CiSS).

    CiSS Application

    • The CiSS application is used for receiving data of children in street situations from all the states and union territories, tracking their rescue and rehabilitation process.
    • The initiative is taken under the direction of the Supreme Court of India.
    • The program embodies Article 51 (A) of the Constitution of India, as it provides a platform to the public and organizations catering to the welfare of the children to report any child in need of assistance.
    • The platform serves to collect data and report to the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) for them to take necessary action.
    • It also provides a platform for professionals and organizations to provide any help that they can to children in need.
    • Help can be provided in the form of open shelters, counselling services, medical services, sponsorships, de-addiction services, education services, legal/paralegal services, volunteering etc.

    Its working framework

    • It categorizes any child under ā€˜Children in Street Situationā€™ if the child is living on the streets alone, living on the streets during the day, or living on the streets with the family.
    • The root cause of this phenomenon is the migration of families from rural to urban areas in search of a better standard of living.

    How does it work?

    It follows six stages framework for the rehabilitation of children.

    1. Collection of the childā€™s details, which is accomplished through the portal.
    2. Social Investigating Report (SIR)e. investigating the childā€™s background. This is done under the supervision of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) by the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) by conversing and counselling the child.
    3. Formulating an Individual Care Plan (ICP) for the child.
    4. Child Welfare Committee (CWC) based on the SIR submitted to the CWC.
    5. Allocating the schemes and benefits that the beneficiary can avail of.
    6. A checklist is made for the evaluation of the progress i.e. (Follow Ups).

     

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Environmental Performance Index (EPI), 2022

    9 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Environment
    Mains GS1: GS1-14.Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Environmental Performance Index

    Mains level: Western anti-India lobby

    India has objected to a report, called the EPI, 2022, that places the country last (along with Nigeria) on a list of 180 countries on managing climate change, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.

    Environmental Performance Index

    • The report is prepared by researchers at the Yale and Columbia universities.
    • It provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
    • Using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
    • These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets.
    • The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.

    Why the report is inherently biased?

    • The US placed itself at the 20th spot of the 22 wealthy democracies in the global west and 43rd overall.
    • The relatively low ranking has put all blame on the rollback policies during the Trump administration.
    • It goes on to preach that developing countries do not have to sacrifice sustainability for economic security.

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  • Capital Markets: Challenges and Developments

    Understanding SEBI Rules on Passive Funds

    8 June 2022 | Prelims Only | Economics
    Mains GS3: GS3-14.Investment models

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Passive Funds

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently issued a circular on passive funds covering matters related to transparency, liquidity and operational aspects of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds.

    What are Passive Funds?

    • A passive fund is an investment vehicle that tracks a market index, or a specific market segment, to determine what to invest in.
    • Unlike with an active fund, the fund manager does not decide what securities the fund takes on.
    • This normally makes passive funds cheaper to invest in than active funds, which require the fund manager to spend time researching and analysing opportunities to invest in.
    • Tracker funds, such as ETFs (exchange traded funds) and index funds fall under the banner of passive funds.

    What is a passive ELSS scheme?

    • Passive funds mimic an underlying index. By contrast active funds are actively managed by fund managers.
    • The SEBI has now introduced a passive equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) category, which will give taxpayers another investment option to avail of tax benefits.
    • According to the circular, the passive ELSS scheme will be based on any index comprising equity shares from the top 250 companies in terms of market capitalization.
    • Beginning 1 July, a fund house will be able to either have an active ELSS scheme or a passive ELSS scheme, but not both.

    What are the norms for debt ETFs?

    • Passive debt funds are now divided into three categories:
    1. Corporate debt funds with exposure to corporate bonds
    2. G-Sec funds investing in government securities, and
    3. Hybrid funds where allocation is a combination of corporate bonds and government securities
    • Currently, debt funds in the passive category invest only in AAA-rated instruments.
    • The Sebi circular introduces norms for each debt fund category, including portfolio exposure limits to each sector, the issuer (based on rating) and group.
    • Application of these provisions should help mitigate concentration risk in debt ETFs/ index funds.

    What about tracking error?

    • As per Sebiā€™s circular, passive funds must disclose ā€˜tracking errorā€™ and ā€˜tracking differenceā€™ in their monthly fact sheets.
    • These metrics indicate how different the performance of the fund is compared to its underlying indexā€”an effort to keep investors better informed.
    • The circular specifies limits for tracking error and tracking difference, which passive funds must follow.

    What is the mandate on disclosing NAVs?

    • Because of poor liquidity for ETFs in the secondary market in India, ETF prices could differ widely from the net asset value (NAV) of the fund.
    • The NAV of the fund represents the value of the underlying asset of the ETF.
    • The Sebi circular mandates disclosure of NAV (indicative) on a continuous basis throughout the day on the stock exchange.
    • While the practice is already in existence, Sebi rules institutionalize it.
    • Checking the NAV can help one avoid making a transaction at a significant premium or discount.

    Can one execute ETF transactions directly?

    • Investors can buy or sell units of ETFs only on stock exchanges.
    • But, large buy or sell transactions can also be directly placed with the fund house.
    • Sebi now says orders greater than ā‚¹25 crore alone can be placed for redemption or subscription directly with the asset management company (AMC).

     

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