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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 November 2021

::NATIONAL::

HARBINGER 2021

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be organising its first global hackathon on the theme of digital payments.

About:

HARBINGER 2021–Innovation for Transformation” with the theme ‘Smarter Digital Payments’.
The Hackathon invites participants to develop solutions that have the potential to
Make digital payments accessible to the under-served.
Enhance the ease of payments and user experience.
Strengthen security of digital payments and promoting customer protection.
The participants in the hackathon will get the opportunity to be mentored by industry experts, exhibit their innovative solutions before an eminent jury, and win prizes in each category.

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Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme

The Union Cabinet, has approved the restoration and continuation of Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) during the remaining part of Financial Year 2021-22 and up to Financial Year 2025-26 co-terminus with the period of 15th Finance Commission.

Details of the Scheme:

The MPLADS is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Government of India.
The objective of the scheme is to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in the areas of drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc. primarily in their Constituencies.
The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament (MP) constituency is Rs.5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfilment of conditions as per the MPLADS Guidelines.

Impact:

The restoration and continuation of MPLADS will restart the community developmental projects / works in the field which are halted / stopped due to lack of funds under MPLADS.
It will restart fulfilling the aspirations and developmental requirements of the local community and creation of durable assets, which is the primary objective of the MPLADS.
It will also help in reviving the local economy.

Background:

The MPLADS is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The objective of the scheme is to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in the areas of drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc. primarily in their Constituencies.
The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament (MP) constituency is Rs.5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfilment of conditions as per the MPLADS Guidelines.
The Ministry conducted a Third Party Evaluation of the MPLADS works during 2021 in 216 districts across the country. The Evaluation Report recommended for the continuation of MPLADS.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India, Israel sign pact to speed up innovation, dual-use technology

India and Israel signed a pact aimed at spurring innovation and speeding up the development of dual use technologies by small and medium sized firms in both countries.

About:

The pact was signed between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel’s Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D).
The agreement – known as the Bilateral Innovation Agreement – will “promote innovation and accelerated R&D in startups and MSMEs of both countries for the development of dual use technologies.
Under the agreement, startups and industry of both countries will work together to bring out next generation technologies and products in the areas such as drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, photonics, biosensing, brain-machine interface, energy storage, wearable devices and natural language processing. Products and technologies will be customised to meet unique requirements of both the countries.
The development efforts will be jointly funded by DRDO and DDR&D, Israel. The technologies developed under BIA will be available to both countries for their domestic applications.

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Africa, India call for $1.3 tn per year in climate finance from rich nations

A group of 24 nations that call themselves Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), demanded enhanced flow of finance (at least $1.3trillion per year from 2030) that the developed world must deliver.
India is part of the LMDC grouping along with China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and others.

Other key proposals:

At least half of this amount must be earmarked for adaptation requirements and not less than $100 billion in form of grants.
Climate finance must be clearly defined, so that it is not mixed up with other kinds of existing financial flows.

About Climate Finance:

It refers to local, national or transnational financing that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.
UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable.
Based on the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’, developed countries agreed in 2010 to mobilise US$ 100billion per year by 2020- to be sustained to 2025.
However, they are yet to mobilise the sum with concerns over methodological approaches and transparency.

::ECONOMY::

Taxman may use black money act to trace closed foreign accounts

The taxman can use the Black Money Act to go after even those secret foreign bank accounts which were closed well before the new law came into existence, according to a tax tribunal ruling last week.

Key highlights:

Under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income & Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, which came into force on July 1, 2015, the year in which the tax department gets hold of any information is the year for which income is deemed to have been earned by the person in question.
According to intelligence inputs received by the I-T department, had operated two undisclosed bank accounts which were closed in October 2008 and May 2011.
However, according to ITAT, under the black money law what is relevant is the date on which the tax assessing officer notices the acquisition by an assessee of undisclosed assets located outside India.
According to sections in the legal circle, this provision of the law again could come under legal scrutiny in future as Article 20 of the Constitution states that one cannot be punished under a law which did not exist at the time the offence was committed.
The Black Money law was passed to overcome the limitations in existing statutes like the Income tax Act, and tax undisclosed funds parked in foreign bank accounts and often held through discretionary trusts.
According to tax practitioners, in the run up to the passage of the Black Money Act and negotiations with various tax haven jurisdictions for entering into information-sharing pacts, many had closed their foreign bank accounts.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Centre for Bioresources and Sustainable Development

Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated DBT - APSCS&T Centre of Excellence for Bioresources and Sustainable Development and Rural Technology Demonstration Centre at Kimin in Papum Pare District of Arunachal Pradesh.

About:

The prestigious project for establishing “Centre for Bio-Resources and Sustainable Development as a Centre of Excellence” was sanctioned by the Department of Biotechnology.
With the setting up of the Bio-Resource Centre by the Department of Biotechnology, said Dr Jitendra Singh, the entire North Eastern Region will be able to use its fruit and organic food potential to the maximum extent.
Besides, this will also help in exploring many vast areas and to find hitherto lesser known or unknown new species including diverse habitats and diverse flora.

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