Prelims current affairs

 1- Measles and Rubella

Why in news

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that measles and rubella have been eradicated from Sri Lanka and the Maldives after decades of immunisation programme
• This makes Sri Lanka and the Maldives the first two countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve measles and rubella elimination ahead of the 2023 target.  Bhutan, DPR Korea and Timor-Leste are other countries in the Region that have eliminated measles.  Under the Global Vaccine Action Plan, measles and rubella are targeted for elimination in five WHO Regions by 2020.

Measles and Rubella:

• Both Measles and Rubella are caused by an RNA virus and are generally spread through respiratory droplets of sick people. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease and is a cause of death among young children globally.
• It is caused by a virus which causes rashes all over the body. A person can be vaccinated against both the disease with a Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

 

2. Samadhan se Vikas: Haryana

Why in News

• Recently, the Haryana government has introduced a one-time settlement scheme called ‘Samadhan se Vikas’ for the recovery of long-pending dues on account of External Development Charges (EDC) and Infrastructural Development Charges (IDC).
• The scheme is modeled on the central scheme of ‘Vivad se Vishwas-2020’.

 

Key points

• External Development Charges: charges paid by the real estate developer to civic authorities for maintenance of civic amenities within the periphery of the developed project including construction of roads, water and electricity supply, landscaping, maintenance of drainage and sewage systems, waste management etc. The EDC is decided by the civic authorities.
• Infrastructure Development Charges: charges paid by the real estate developer to the state government for development of major infrastructure projects across the state, which include construction of transportation networks including highways, bridges etc.
• Legal Provision in Haryana: As per terms and conditions of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Rules, 1976, a licensee (developer) has to pay the EDC as per schedule of payment. If the developer does not deposit the EDC/IDC nor avail the EDC Reschedulement Policy, then a show cause notice is issued by the Town and Country Planning Department warning such defaulters of revocating bank guarantee on account of non-payment of EDC/IDC.

 

3. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Why in News

Recently, the Union Cabinet has given approval to a pan India central sector scheme i.e. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, to inject formal credit into farm and farmprocessing based activities. It is a part of the over Rs. 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The Union Cabinet has also approved amendment to the Essential Commodities Act (ESA), 1955.

Key Points

• Aim: To provide medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets.
• The funds will be provided for setting up of cold stores and chains, warehousing, silos, assaying, grading and packaging units, e-marketing points linked to e-trading platforms and ripening chambers, besides PPP projects for crop aggregation sponsored by central/state/local bodies

Duration: Financial Year 2020 to 2029.

 

Features:

• Financial Support: 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs and Central/State agencies or Local Bodies sponsored by Public Private Partnership Projects.

• Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with sanction of Rs. 10,000 crore in the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in next three financial years.
• Interest Subvention: Loans will have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crore. This subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years.
• CGTMSE Scheme: A credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers from the scheme under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to Rs. 2 crore.

•  Farmer Producer Organizations: In case of FPOs the credit guarantee may be availed from the facility created under FPO promotion scheme.
•  Management: The fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for loan under the Fund. The National, State and District level monitoring committees will be set up to ensure real-time monitoring and effective feed-back.

 

 

4. Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018

Why in News

Recently, assets worth Rs. 329.66 crore of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud mastermind Nirav Modi have been confiscated under Section 12(2) and (8) of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.

• In this money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has so far attached properties valued at Rs. 2,348 crore. The properties were earlier attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA) 2002.
• To proactively detect such frauds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in the process of putting together an exclusive wing for banking fraud oversight. This wing will have teams for meta-data processing and analysis, artificial intelligence analysis units, as well as proactive risk assessment cells.

Key Points

• Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018: It seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution or refuse to return to the country to face prosecution.
• Fugitive economic offender: A person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for committing an offence listed in the Act and the value of the offence is at least Rs. 100 crore.
• Some of the offences listed in the act are: Counterfeiting government stamps or currency, Cheque dishonor,  Money laundering, Transactions defrauding creditors.
• Declaration of a Fugitive Economic Offender: After hearing the application, a special court (designated under the PMLA, 2002) may declare an individual as a fugitive economic offender. It may confiscate properties which are proceeds of crime, Benami properties and any other property, in India or abroad. Upon confiscation, all rights and titles of the property will vest in the central government, free from encumbrances (such as any charges on the property).

• The central government may appoint an administrator to manage and dispose of these properties.