New govt. to decide on extension of RTE Act                                                           

Pakistani fishing vessel caught after hot pursuit, 200 kg heroin seized                

West Nile fever cases in Kozhikode go unnoticed?                                                 

UN lowers India’s FY20 GDP growth forecast                                                           

RBI to create regulatory cadre                                                                                    

Govt plans introducing artificial intelligence system in MCA 21 portal                  

New govt. to decide on extension of RTE Act

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes.

Context :

• The Central Government has told the Delhi high court that the extension of the Right to Education Act(RTE) to secondary education is a policy decision which could be decided only once the new government comes.

• The central government made the submission in an affidavit filed in response to a pending PIL seeking free education for students from the economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups (DG) up to class 12 in private unaided schools.

Background :

• The NGO, in its petition, has sought an amendment to the RTE Act, 2009 to provide free education to poor and disadvantaged kids up to Class 12 in private unaided schools.

• The Petitioner also said, The Delhi government, under its Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, had ensured that the EWS and DG students studying in private unaided schools situated on public land were allowed to continue up to class 12.

• The court had sought replies of the HRD ministry and the Delhi government on the plea filed by NGO Social Jurist which has claimed that the students admitted in private unaided schools under the EWS and DG categories are being asked to pay fee or leave after they complete class 8.

Centre and state govts share responsibility for RTE Act funds :

• The HRD ministry, in its response, said it was clear that the prayer to extend the section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act to ensure free and compulsory education to disadvantageous and weaker groups of students beyond elementary level in private unaided schools from all perspectives and the final decision will be a "policy decision".

• Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the extension of the RTE Act beyond elementary level is a major policy issue which could only be decided once the new government is formed after the general elections.

• Further, Section 7(1) of the RTE Act prescribes that "The Central government and the state governments shall have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act", and this emphasises that the involvement of all states and UT governments will be necessary.

• In case of an amendment to the Constitution, consultations with all State and Union Territories (UT) governments will be required.

                                                                                                                                                           Source :- The Hindu

Pakistani fishing vessel caught after hot pursuit, 200 kg heroin seized

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

Context :

• The Indian Coast Guard seized a Pakistani fishing vessel carrying 200 kg heroin.

More about the news:

• Despite evasive maneuvers carried out by the crew of Al Madina and rough sea conditions, it was intercepted within Indian waters.

• During hot pursuit, the crew threw bags containing suspicious material into the sea.

• The Coast Guard team upon boarding the vessel took six crew members into custody and retrieved the material from the sea.

• The Pakistani vessel crew are being interrogated and the boat is being searched by various agencies.

• 13 Indian fishermen hailing from Veraval and Okha in Gujarat were also arrested. These fishermen on an Indian vessel were supposed to receive the consignment.

                                                                                                                                                            Source :- The Hindu

West Nile fever cases in Kozhikode go unnoticed?

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• A month after a boy from Malappuram died of West Nile fever in March, four cases of the infection have been reported from within the Kozhikode Corporation limits in Kerala.

West Nile fever :

• West Nile fever is a zoonotic disease.

•  It is caused by the West Nile Virus.

• West Nile Virus was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937. An epidemic of WNV was reported in humans in Israel in 1951.

• West Nile virus can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans.

• However, approximately 80% of people who are infected will not show any symptoms.

•  West Nile virus is mainly transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

• The virus can cause severe disease and death in horses.

• Vaccines are available for use in horses but not yet available for people.

• Birds are the natural hosts of West Nile virus.

• West Nile virus is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia.

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO) West Nile virus is transmitted to humans through bites from infected Culex mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds.

• It may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues. However, according to the WHO, no human-to—human transmission from casual contact has not been documented.

• Symptoms of the virus infection include cold, fever, fatigue and nausea. It can cause fatal neurological disease in humans.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

UN lowers India’s FY20 GDP growth forecast

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Growth, development and employment.

Context :

• United Nations(UN) in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report has lowered India’s GDP growth in 2019-20 to 7.1% from its estimate of 7.5%.It was due to overall slowdown in global growth.

Key highlights :

India Specific :

• The Indian economy, which generates two-thirds of the regional output in South Asia, expanded by 7.2 per cent in 2018.

• Strong domestic consumption and investment will continue to support growth, which is projected at 7.0 per cent in 2019 and 7.1 per cent in 2020

Reason for Global Slowdown :

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

RBI to create regulatory cadre

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The Reserve Bank of India’s Central Board has decided to create a specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre.

specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre :

• In order to strengthen the supervision and regulation of commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), the Board decided to create a specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre within the RBI.

• The decision for creating an additional oversight mechanism was taken in the wake of recent NBFC crisis such as large-scale defaults by IL&FS in 2018 (which caused on-going liquidity crunch in the banking system), failures by credit rating agencies to flag risks, alleged lapses by auditors and divergence in asset quality by big banks.

• Thus the supervision cadre would supplement RBI to be better equipped in picking up early warning signs.

  • This may involve consolidating the different supervisory activities under a separate division or head, creating a pool of officials for better analysis of the continuous flow of data from banks and finance companies, and involving specialists.

                                                                                                                      Source :- Economic Times

Govt plans introducing artificial intelligence system in MCA 21 portal

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential

Context :

• The Union Corporate Affairs Ministry plans to introduce artificial intelligence system in the MCA 21 portal in order to make the compliance process easier as well as to ensure routine enforcement activities are done regularly on autopilot basis.

Key Highlights :

• The Ministry plans to introduce Artificial Intelligence in the MCA 21 portal when its version 3 is rolled out within a year.

• The main focus of the Ministry will be to rationalise all the forms and follow the principle of a single source of truth so that one is not required to fill in the known details again, as it will get filled automatically.

• The Ministry will also aim to interlink databases so that routine enforcement is done 24x7 on autopilot basis.

• MCA 21 allows electronic filings of various documents under the Companies Act, 2013 and has fully automated all processes related to enforcement and compliance monitoring under the Act.

MCA 21 :

• MCA21 is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), Government of India that enables an easy and secure access of the MCA services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.

• This is first Mission Mode Project to be launched under NeGP and is e-governance initiative from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to meet stakeholder needs in the 21st Century .

Objective :

• The MCA21 application is designed to fully automate all processes related to the proactive enforcement and compliance of the legal requirements under the Companies Act, 1956, New Companies Act, 2013 and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. This will help the business community to meet their statutory obligations.

Benefits :

• Enables the business community to register a company and file statutory documents quickly and easily.

• Provides easy access of public documents

• Helps faster and effective resolution of public grievances

• Helps registration and verification of charges easily

• Ensures proactive and effective compliance with relevant laws and corporate governance

• Enables the MCA employees to deliver best of breed services

                                                                                                                                               Source :- Economic Times

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------