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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 June 2022

::NATIONAL::

CALM System

The Army has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for anti-armour loiter ammunition for its mechanised forces which can be used on enemy tanks and other targets in the plains and deserts of Western India as well as on high altitude areas in the Northern borders in Ladakh.

What exactly is a CALM System?

The CALM System is a pre-loaded canister with loiter ammunition or a drone which once fired can remain aloft for a period of time over the area of operation.
When a target is sighted it can be guided down to destroy the target with the explosive payload that it carries.
Usually, loiter ammunitions carry a camera which is nose-mounted and which can be used by the operator to see the area of operation and choose targets.
These munitions also have variants which can be recovered and reused in case they are not used for any strike.

What use of the equipment has been specified in the RFI?

The RFI states that the CALM Systems will be used in the plains and deserts of the Western parts of the country as well as the Northern high altitude areas of heights up to 5,000 metres.
In the plains and deserts, the system should be able to operate between the temperature of zero degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius while in high altitude it should be able to operate between minus 15 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius.

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Can’t ban promise of freebies by parties, amount to overreach: EC told to the SC

The Election Commission (EC) told the Supreme Court that offering freebies either before or after elections is a policy decision of a political party, and it cannot regulate state policies and decisions taken by the parties.

About:

According to the EC, offering or distribution of any freebies either before or after an election is a policy decision of the party concerned and whether such policies are financially viable or have adverse effect, has to be decided by the voters of that State.
Earlier, in Subramaniam Balaji Vs State of Tamil Nadu, SC directed ECI to frame guidelines to check freebies in consultation with political parties.
In 2016, ECI included such guidelines under Part VIII of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) to ensure electoral process integrity.
The EC added that it has also made recommendations to the law ministry to enable it to exercise the power to de-register a political party.
EC said that such an action without enabling provisions in the law, would be an overreach of powers.
Also, SC in Indian National Congress Vs Institute of Social Welfare and others (2002) case outlined that ECI can deregister political parties only when
Political party obtains registration by practising fraud or forgery;
Political party ceases to have faith and allegiance to the Constitution;

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::INTERNATIONAL::

2 plus 2 Ministerial Dialogue

India and US reaffirmed their commitment to promote regional stability and rule of law at the fourth 2 plus 2 Ministerial Dialogue held in Washington.

About:

The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies on strategic and security issues.
A 2+2 ministerial dialogue enables the partners to better understand and appreciate each other’s strategic concerns and sensitivities taking into account political factors on both sides, in order to build a stronger, more integrated strategic relationship in a rapidly changing global environment.
India has 2+2 dialogues with four key strategic partners: the US, Australia, Japan, and Russia. Besides Russia, the other three countries are also India’s partners in the Quad.

Significance:

2+2 ministerial dialogue enables the partners to better understand and appreciate each other’s strategic concerns and sensitivities taking into account political factors on both sides, in order to build a stronger, more integrated strategic relationship in a rapidly changing global environment.
The dialogue enabled both sides to undertake a comprehensive review of cross-cutting issues in the India-US bilateral agenda related to Foreign Policy, Defense and Security.
As per discussion said, India’s Department of Space and the US’s Dept of Defence have finished a ‘Space Situational Awareness’ agreement.

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Learning poverty

According to World Bank’s Global Director for Education Jaime Saavedra, learning poverty has shot up from 54% to 70% in India.

About:

Learning Poverty is defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple story.
Its indicators combined the concept of schooling and learning at the end of primary education, building on indicators of reading proficiency and school enrolment generated in the Sustainable Development Goal 4 reporting process.
To support efforts to improve foundational learning, World Bank has also launched a global target: to cut the Learning Poverty rate —at least in half by 2030.

Steps to be taken:

The opening of the new school must correspond with an increase in the re-enrolment of children in the school.
Regular assessment to know the learning status of the children.
Prioritizes teaching the fundamentals.
To increase catch-up learning, teachers will require support to be able to group students based on their learning levels, rather than their age and class.

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::ECONOMY::

Concessional corporate tax rate regime

The concessional corporate tax rate announced by the Union government in September 2019 saw two out of every five new domestic manufacturing companies incorporated in 2019-20 (April-March) opting for the reduced 15 per cent tax rate.
The government data showed that, companies numbering 1,244 in 2019-20, cumulatively accounted for just Rs 35.13 crore in total income.

The tax regime numbers

The regime was introduced midway through the year and so the total income figure is for a six-month period. Data beyond 2019-20 has not been made available so far.
For 2019-20, the number of new manufacturing companies that filed corporate tax returns were 3,219 (the difference between 1,36,909 manufacturing companies that filed corporate tax returns for 2019-20 and 1,33,691 companies that filed returns for 2018-19).
The corporate tax rate for all existing companies (manufacturing and non-manufacturing) was cut to 22 per cent (without surcharge and cess) from 30 per cent. This, however, appears to be a success.

The new corporate tax regime:

Under the new regime introduced in September 2019, a tax rate of 15 per cent was announced under Section 115BAB for newly incorporated domestic companies, which make fresh investment by March 31, 2023, for manufacturing, production, research or distribution of such articles or things manufactured. This was extended by one year in this year’s Budget to March 31, 2024.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Initiatives Launched under InTranSE-II Program

An indigenous Onboard Driver Assistance and Warning System – ODAWS, Bus Signal Priority System and Common SMart iot Connectiv (CoSMiC) software have been launched under Intelligent Transportation System Endeavor for Indian Cities Phase-II initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Onboard Driver Assistance and Warning System – ODAWS:

With improved highway infrastructure and increase in number of vehicles, speed on roads has increased, further exacerbating safety concerns.
ODAWS incorporates vehicle-borne sensors for monitoring driver propensity and vehicle surroundings to deliver acoustic and visual alerts for driver assistance.

Bus Signal Priority System:

Bus signal priority System is an operational strategy that modifies normal traffic signal operations to better accommodate in-service public buses at signal-controlled intersections.
The developed system will enable to minimize person delay by providing priority to public transport buses, either through Green extension or Red truncation, considering all vehicles approaching a signalized intersection.

Common SMart iot Connectiv (CoSMiC):