IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

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Pakistan, India share list of nuclear installations with each other as per protocol

News

• Under a bilateral agreement with India, Pakistan Wednesday shared a list of its nuclear installations.

Bilateral agreement

• According to the Foreign Office statement, this list was handed over to an Indian High Commission official in accordance with Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India signed on December 31, 1988
• The list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, at 1030 AM (PST).
• The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi handed over the list of Indian nuclear installations and facilities to a representative of the Pakistan High Commission at 1100 AM (IST).
• The agreement contains the provision that both countries inform each other of their nuclear installations and facilities on 1st of January every year. This is being done consecutively since January 1, 1992.

Delhi govt, Centre spar as MCDs fare poorly in Swachh survey

News

• The three municipal corporations saw dismal rankings in the Swachhta Survekhan survey released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for two quarters April 1 to June 30 and July 2 to September 30  

Swachh survey

• The East Corporation ranked 42nd in first quarter and 39 in the second quarter; North Corporation came 44th in the first quarter and 45th in the second quarter; the South Corporation came 47th in the first quarter and 40th in the second quarter.
• Among the cantonment boards, Delhi Cantt stood first, while the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area was ranked the cleanest in the national capital.

FIRs filed in 2.16% of 38,100 cases of illegal mining in Gujarat

News

• Of the 38,100 odd cases of illegal mining registered in Gujarat during the last five years, First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against suspects in only 2.16 percent of the cases.

Illegal mining

• Compared to 5,463 cases of illegal mining registered in the state between July 2014 and June 2015, the number of cases rose to 7,340 by the end of June 2019.
• This is an increase of 34.4 percent, states the data shared by the state government.
• During this five year period, a total of 38,117 cases of illegal mining were registered across different districts of Gujarat.
• Despite the high number of cases being registered in the state, FIRs were filed in only 825 cases which makes for just 2.16 percent of the total illegal mining cases registered during the five year period.
• The state government stated that it has formed “flying squads” and has set up surveillance by drones (for keeping a tab on illegal mining of river beds) to reduce the number of illegal mining cases in the state.
• The CGM in Gujarat has also set up a round-the-clock control room at Gandhinagar to keep a check on illegal mining.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Mumbai: Banks allowed to utilise Vijay Mallya’s movable assets to clear debt

News

• A special court in Mumbai has permitted a consortium of 15 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to utilise movable assets of former liquor baron Vijay Mallya towards repayment of his debt, PTI reported.

Utilise movable assets

• • The assets, comprising financial securities like shares of the United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), were attached by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in 2016 after declaring Mallya a proclaimed offender.
  • Under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, a court orders attachment of a person’s movable assets after he or she has been declared a proclaimed offender. A person against whom a warrant has been issued can be declared a proclaimed offender if the court believes that he or she has absconded or is evading execution of warrant.
  • The consortium of banks earlier filed an application before the special court, seeking release of Mallya’s movable assets to utilise them for repayment of loans given to him.
  • Mallya, who is accused of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate, fled India in March 2016 and is now based in London.
  • The lenders in their application said they want to liquidate assets to claim over Rs 6,000 crore. Mallya had fled India in March 2016 and has been living in the United Kingdom since then.

Current account deficit narrows to 0.9% in September quarter

News

• India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 0.9 per cent of GDP ($ 6.3 billion) for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019 from 2.9 per cent of GDP ($9 billion) in the same period of 2018-19 and $14.2 billion (2 per cent of GDP) in the preceding quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Current account deficit

• According to the RBI, the contraction in CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit at $38.1 billion, compared to $50 billion a year ago. Net services receipts increased by 0.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis, on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer, travel and financial services.
• Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $ 21.9 billion, increasing by 5.2 per cent from their level a year ago.
• In the financial account, net foreign direct investment was $7.4 billion, almost same level as in Q2 of 2018-19. Foreign portfolio investment recorded net inflow of $2.5 billion, as against an outflow of $1.6 billion in Q2 of 2018-19, on account of net purchases in the debt market.
• The RBI said net inflow on account of external commercial borrowings to India was $3.2 billion, compared to $2 billion in Q2 of 2018-19. There was an accretion of $5.1 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on BoP basis), as against a depletion of $1.9 billion in Q2 of 2018-19.
• The CAD narrowed to 1.5 per cent of GDP in the first half of 2019-20 from 2.6 per cent in H1 of 2018-19 on the back of a reduction in the trade deficit, which shrank to $84.3 billion in H1 of 2019-20 from $ 95.8 billion in H1 of 2018-19.

Green cover of Chandigarh up from 41 per cent to 46 per cent in 2019, says report

News

• A DAY after the release of Forest Survey of India report stating the tree cover of Chandigarh increased by 15 sq km and forest cover increased by 0.47 sq km in 2019 from 2017, the UT forest department claimed the total green cover of Chandigarh has enhanced from 41 per cent to 46 per cent in 2019.

Green cover

• The UT forest department said the total green cover of Chandigarh was 41 per cent in 2017. The forest area included the open forest (TOF), very dense forest (VDF) and moderately dense forest (MDF).
• As per the report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, there is a substantial jump in the tree cover of the UT Chandigarh from 10 sq km to 25 sq km.
• Eucalyptus is the most found tree species in Chandigarh, especially in the open forest area in rural parts of Chandigarh.

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