Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

31.4% of Indian children will be stunted by 2022: report

News

• Almost one in three Indian children under five years will still be stunted by 2022 going by current trends, according to an analysis of the country’s food and nutrition security released.

Findings

• Over the last decade, child stunting which is a measure of chronic malnutrition has reduced at a rate of about 1% per year, the slowest decline among emerging economies.
• At this rate, 31.4% of children will still be stunted by the 2022 deadline. India must double its rate of progress to reach the target of 25% by that time, says the report.
• Foodgrain yields have risen 33% over the last two decades, but are still only half of 2030 target yields, says the report.
• The Indian farmer is producing more foodgrains than ever before, making the country self-sufficient in this regard. Unfortunately, the consumer’s access to rice, wheat and other cereals has not increased at the same rate, due to population growth, inequality, food wastage and losses, and exports. As a result, the average per capita consumption of energy among the poorest 30% of the population is 1811 kilo calories, much lower than the norm of 2155 kilo calories per day.
• The signs of unequal access are starkest among children. In States like Bihar (48%) and Uttar Pradesh (46%), almost one in two children are stunted, while it is only one in five children in Kerala and Goa (20% each). There are high rates of stunting among children in the poorest wealth quintile (51.4%), Scheduled Tribes (43.6%) and Scheduled Castes (42.5%), and children born to mothers with no education (51%).

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Govt. to start Jal Shakti Abhiyan for 255 water-stressed districts from July 1

News

• The Centre is set to initiate the Jal Shakti Abhiyan to ramp up rainwater harvesting and conservation efforts in 255 water-stressed districts from July 1, in line with the government’s promise to focus on water.

Beyond News

• Though water is a State issue, the campaign would be coordinated by 255 central IAS officers of Joint or Additional Secretary-rank, drawn from ministries as varied as Space, Petroleum and Defence, according to a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
• The campaign seems to follow the model of last year’s Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, where central officials monitored the implementation of seven flagship development schemes in 117 aspirational districts across the country.
• The campaign would run from July 1 to September 15 in States receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon, while States receiving rainfall in the retreating or north-east monsoon would be covered from October 1 to November 30.
• Overall, 313 blocks with critical groundwater levels would be covered, along with 1,186 blocks with over-exploited groundwater and 94 blocks with low groundwater availability.
• The Jal Shakti Abhiyan would aim to accelerate water harvesting, conservation and borewell recharge activities already being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the Rural Development Ministry, along with existing water body restoration and afforestation schemes being undertaken by the Jal Shakti and Environment Ministries.
• Block and district-level water conservation plans would be drafted, and Kisan Vigyan Kendras would hold melas to promote better crop choices and more efficient water use for irrigation.
• Teams led by 255 Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary-rank officers and 550 Deputy Secretary-level officers from various central ministries would fan out across the country, making at least three trips of three days each to cover their allocated districts and blocks.

Assam NRC publishes ‘additional draft exclusion list’ with 1.02 lakh names

News

• The office of the Coordinator for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam  published an “additional draft exclusion list” containing the names of 1,02,462 people.

Beyond News

• This list is different from the one containing the names of the 40.07 lakh people excluded last year from among 3.29 crore applicants.
• On this additional list are those whose names were included in the draft NRC published on July 30, 2018, but were subsequently found to be ineligible for three reasons.
• People found to be declared foreigners or doubtful (D) voters or with cases pending at Foreigners’ Tribunals discovered after publication of the draft NRC are in the additional list.
• The other categories of people in the additional list are those found to be ineligible while appearing as witnesses in hearings held for disposal of claims and objections, and during the process of verification carried out by the local registrars of citizens registration.
• The additional list was prepared under the provisions contained in Clause 5 of the Schedule of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
• The additional draft exclusion list will not contain the results of claimants and objectees appearing for hearings held for disposal of claims and objections February 15 to June 26. The results of those hearings will be published only in the final NRC to be published on July 31.
• Those excluded will also be informed individually through letters to be delivered at their residential addresses along with the reason for exclusion. Each letter will mention the venue of claim submission and hearing. Such persons will have the opportunity to file their claims to be settled through a hearing by a disposing officer.
• The submission of claim and its disposal through a hearing would take place together. All such claims would be disposed of thereafter and the results would be declared in the final NRC, the officer said.

Trump vows to veto border aid Bill

News

• The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $4.5 billion aid package to address the migrant surge along the U.S.-Mexico border, including new standards for migrants in custody following reports of poor conditions facing young children at overcrowded facilities.

Beyond News

• The Democratic-led House voted 230-195, mostly along party lines, to pass the measure, but its future is uncertain.
• The Republican-run Senate is working on its own version of the Bill, and President has vowed to veto the House legislation, with White House officials saying it would hamstring the administration’s border enforcement efforts.
• Trump on May 1 requested the aid for programmes that house, feed, transport and oversee record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum in the U.S. and straining capacity at migrant shelters in border cities.
• Democrats emphasised that while they were approving the border aid to address the humanitarian crisis, they were not ratifying the administration’s attempts to restrict and discourage immigration.

India will do what is in its national interest, Jaishankar tells Pompeo on S-400 deal

News

• India told the US that it will go by its national interest while dealing with other countries, including with sanctions-hit Russia from whom New Delhi is procuring S-400 missile defence systems.

Beyond News

• This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister to American counterpart Mike Pompeo during an extensive bilateral meeting in New Delhi.
• In a joint press interaction, Mr. Pompeo said India is an important partner of the US and that the bilateral ties were reaching new heights.
• Discussions with Mr. Pompeo were held on key issues including energy and trade as well as on the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific region.
• Pompeoalso called on Indian Prime Minister in the morning and discussed various aspects of the Indo-US relationship.
• The US Secretary of State’s meetings with the Indian leadership are the first high-level interactions between the two countries after the return of the government to power last month.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Payments data must be saved locally: RBI

News

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that payment system providers need to store entire payments data in a system only in India.

Beyond News

• Following clarifications sought by Payment System Operators (PSOs), RBI has released frequently asked questions (FAQ), in which it said data processed abroad would have to be brought back to the country within 24 hours.
• The entire payment data shall be stored in systems located only in India, RBI clarified in the FAQ.
• The data should include end-to-end transaction details and information pertaining to payment or settlement transaction that is gathered/transmitted/processed as part of a payment message/instruction, the RBI said.
• The data could be pertaining to customer data like name, mobile number, Aadhaar number, PAN; Payment-sensitive data like customer and beneficiary account details; payment credentials like OTP, PIN and, transaction data such as originating and destination system information amount, among others.
• The RBI further clarified that in case the processing is done abroad, the data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India within one business day or 24 hours from the payment processing, whichever is earlier.
• The central bank had issued a directive in April 2018 on ‘storage of payment system data’ where it advised that all system providers to ensure that within a period of six months, the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India.
• The data can be shared with the overseas regulator, if required, depending upon the nature/origin of transaction with prior approval of the RBI.

U.S.-China trade war may reduce global growth rate

News

• The ongoing S.-China trade war escalation could knock off 0.4 percentage points from world GDP growth by 2020, and possibly lead to the lowest growth since 2009.

Beyond News

• The imposition by the U.S. of 25% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of imports from China would reduce world economic output by 0.4 percentage points in 2020.
• Global GDP growth would slow to 2.7% this year and 2.4% next year, compared with our latest ‘Global Economic Outlook’ baseline forecasts of 2.8% and 2.7% respectively.
• China’s growth rate is expected to be reduced by 0.6 percentage points, and U.S. growth by 0.4 percentage points in 2020.
• The report has assumed a scenario in which the U.S. imposes import tariffs at 25% on $300 billion of goods from China and China retaliates by imposing a 25% tariff on $20 billion of U.S. imports untouched by the trade war so far, and by raising the tariff rate on $100 billion of U.S. imports already subject to new tariffs to 50%.
• The negative growth effects from lower export demand would be magnified on upstream supplier industries and from lower incomes in the export sector.
• These effects are expected to spill over to other trading partners not directly targeted by the tariffs. Global growth would fall even allowing for the monetary policy easing response.
• While falling short of a global recession, this would be the weakest global growth rate since 2009 and slightly worse than 2012, when the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis was at its peak.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS