IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

IASTODAY CAPSULES are available free -date wise => CLICK HERE

Centre to give property rights in Delhi colonies

News:

• Addressing a long-pending demand of residents of Delhi’s unauthorised colonies, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to grant ownership and transfer rights for properties in 1,797 colonies that had been identified in 2014.

Beyond News:

• The decision comes ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.
• Apart from the right to buy and sell these properties, people would be able to get loans on them and the government could carry out development work in these colonies.
• Puri added that a “nominal” amount would be charged — 0.5% of the circle rate for properties on government land and less than 100 square metres in size, 1% for those measuring 100-250 square metres, and 2.5% for properties of size exceeding 250 square metres.
• The Centre would also bring a Bill in the coming session of Parliament to facilitate the grant of these rights. It would allow for recognising general powers of attorney, wills, agreements to sell, purchase and possession documents and would provide for stamp duty being charged on the last transaction alone. It would also address the issue of income tax liability.

Disappointed over NRC being wrongly linked with issue of minority rights: India at UN

News:

India has voiced disappointment that the NRC in Assam is being “wrongly linked with the minority rights issue and asserted that one should not jump to conclusions based on “incomplete understanding” after a UN expert raised alarm over a potential “humanitarian crisis” due to the exercise.

Beyond News:

First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Paulomi Tripath said updating the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) is a statutory, transparent and legal process mandated and monitored by the Supreme Court of India.

India, Pakistan sign agreement to operationalise Kartarpur Corridor

News:

India and Pakistan on Thursday signed a landmark agreement to operationalise the historic Kartarpur Corridor to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, notwithstanding a chill in bilateral ties.

Beyond News:

• The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just about four km from the international border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
• Online registration of devotees began soon after the signing of the agreement.
• The agreement will allow access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Norowal district of Pakistan where the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev spent last 18 years of his life.
• Each visitor would be required to pay USD 20 as fee, though India has requested Pakistan not to charge the Indian pilgrims. The agreement was finalised after three rounds of negotiations.
• The four-lane highway connecting the Zero Point of the Kartarpur Corridor up to National Highway-354 on the Indian side is being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• The two countries signed the agreement despite bilateral relationship witnessing a chill following India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August following which Islamabad downgraded ties with New Delhi.

Govt hikes MSP for wheat by ₹85, pulses by ₹325 per quintal

News:

In a move to increase farmers’ incomes, the Union Cabinet has decided to hike the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Rabi crops for the marketing season 2020-21, the government announced on Wednesday.

Beyond News:

The increase in MSP for Rabi Crops for 2020-21 is in line with the principle of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all India weighted average cost of production [CoP], which was announced in the Union Budget 2018-19.

The highest increase has been recommended for lentils (increase of ₹325 to ₹4,800 a quintal) followed by safflower (increase of ₹270 to ₹5215 a quintal) and gram (an increase of ₹255 to ₹4875).

The MSP of rapeseed & mustard has been increased by ₹225 to ₹4,425. For both wheat and barley, it has been increased by ₹85 to ₹1925 and ₹1525 per quintal, respectively.

Kolkata, Bengaluru to be included in World Bank’s ease of doing business report

News:

The World Bank will now include Kolkata and Bengaluru, besides Delhi and Mumbai, for preparing ease of doing business report to provide a holistic picture of business environment of the country, an official has said.

Beyond News:

The report ranks 190 nations based on ten parameters, which includes ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

India’s ranking

• India improved its ranking on the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ report for the second straight year, jumping 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.
• India was ranked 100th in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 report.
• In the 2019 report, India had improved its rank on six out of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country.
• New Zealand topped the list of 190 countries in ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Hong Kong.
• The United States is placed eight and China has been ranked 46th. Neighboring Pakistan is placed at 136.
• Ranking helps in improving parameters which are essential to attract both domestic and foreign investors.

South Asia’s poor performance in enforcing contracts, registering property

• As far as India’s neighborhood is concerned, Pakistan carried out the most reforms in the South Asia, a press release from the Bank said. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Afghanistan made zero regulatory changes. South Asian region generally underperforms with regard to enforcing contracts and registering property, as per the Bank.
• For instance, it takes 108 days for a business to register a property transfer in South Asia , compared to the 24 days it takes in OECD high-income countries. Resolving a commercial dispute, the Bank said, takes three years in South Asia – twice as long as the OECD high-income country statistic.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Massive galaxy found hidden amid cosmic dust

News:

• Astronomers have found a massive galaxy, dating back to the early universe, lurking in cosmic dust clouds– an advance that may open the doors for discovering a new galaxy population type.

Beyond News:

• According to the researchers, the signal came from so far away that it took nearly 12.5 billion years to reach the Earth, when the universe was still in its infancy.
• The astronomers believe the discovery may solve a long-standing puzzle in astronomy about how some of the biggest galaxies in the early universe appear to have grown and matured very quickly against theoretical predictions.
• Additionally, smaller galaxies seen in the early universe with the Hubble space telescope are not growing fast enough, the researchers said.

Call of the wild: India plans first-ever snow leopard survey

News:

India will commission its first-ever survey to estimate the population and geographical range of the snow leopard, an elusive and endangered predator.

Beyond News:

• The snow leopard is found along the upper reaches of the Himalayan range and, in India, it is reported to have a presence in Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. However, the inhospitable terrain and the reclusive nature of the animal have so far made a scientific estimation impossible.
• The snow leopard is found in 12 countries — India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• Officials announced the survey at a meeting on Wednesday of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) programme being organised by Union Environment Ministry.
• The meeting has officials from Nepal, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and China. China, according to a representative, has nearly 2000 snow leopards.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS