21st November 2019 : Prelims Sure Shot ( UPSC Current Affairs Notes)

50th edition of the International Film Festival of India

The 50th Indian International Film Festival began in Goa.
The 50th Indian International Film Festival is inaugurating in Goa with a screening of the Italian film “Despite the Fog”.
Renowned actor Ranjikant was honored with the Icon of Jubilee Award on the occasion. Famous French actress “Isabel Huppert” was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.
A commemorative postage stamp was also released to commemorate the 50th edition of EFFI.
To mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019, separate exhibition depicting the life of the Father of the Nation will be also held.

About IFFI

IFFI is being organised in Goa since 2004 under the leadership of then chief minister of Goa Late Manohar Parrikar. Before 2004 festival was organised in some other states as well.

Concept of InSAR

InSAR refers to the interferometric synthetic aperture radar and is a radar technique used to generate maps of how a place would look after an earthquake, or a detonation.

Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Why in News

Features

The bill seeks to amend the Chit Funds Act, 1982, which regulates chit funds and prohibits a fund from being created without the prior sanction of a State Government.
The amendments have been made to facilitate the orderly growth of the chit fund sector to remove bottlenecks and enable greater financial access to people.
Under the legislation, the prescribed ceiling of aggregate chit fund amount for individuals has been raised from one lakh rupees to three lakh rupees and in case of firms, the limit has been raised from 6 lakh to 18 lakh rupees.
Besides, words chit amount, dividend and prize amount have been substituted with terms gross chit amount, the share of discount and net chit amount. The legislation also increases the maximum commission of a foreman from five per cent to seven per cent and also allows the foreman a right to lien against the credit balance from subscribers.

Cities to get connected by flights under UDAN 4.0 scheme

Context

The Ministry of Civil Aviation will soon start the bidding process for UDAN 4.0
Bilaspur is identified as a priority airport and prescriptive routes involving Bilaspur have already been included in the ensuing round of bidding under UDAN

About UDAN 4.0

UDAN/Regional Connectivity Scheme‘s objective is to facilitate affordable regional air connectivity.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the implementing agency.
It offers concessions to the airlines to encourage them to fly on regional routes.
Concession includes operating subsidies like levies or charges imposed by the airport operators, excise duty at 2% and VAT at 1% on aviation turbine fuel, parking charges at airports and exempting these operations from the GST net.
The maximum airfare has been capped at Rs 2500 for a one-hour journey of approximately 500 kilometres on an aircraft or for a 30-minute journey on a helicopter.
The selected airlines will have to commit 50% of the seats on RCS flights (3-7 operational flights/week) and all seats up to 13 passenger seats on helicopters as RCS seats.
A Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) and Viability Gap Funding is set up to subside operation and to meet the losses incurred.
Under UDAN 4.0, Ministry of Civil Aviation identified Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh as a priority airport and focus on routes connecting these airports.
These prescribed routes would be offered for bidding.
The region is also recognized for its distinct characteristics such as unique rice quality, Doobraj and the contribution of the Kosa silk industry to the handloom sector.

Strategic Disinvestment of 28 Central Public Sector Enterprises

Why in news?

The Government has given ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 28 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) including subsidiaries, Units and Joint Ventures with sale of majority stake of Government of India and transfer of management control.

Strategic Disinvestment:

Disinvestment means the dilution of stake of the Government in a public enterprise.
Strategic disinvestment isis transferring the ownership and control of a public sector entity to some other entity (mostly to a private sector entity).
If the government is selling minority shares in a PSE (less than 50%), it will continue to be the owner of the PSE. This is normal disinvestment
Strategic disinvestment is the sale of a substantial portion of the Government shareholding of a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) of 50% or more along with transfer of management control.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM)under the Ministry of Finance has been made the nodal department for the strategic stake sale in the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
DIPAM and NITI Ayog will jointly identifying PSUs for strategic sale.
Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) is mandated to approve strategic disinvestment of CPSEs.