News Analysis

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News – 1

Context: Pitching India’s resilience during the COVID­19 pandemic as a signal of its inherent strengths, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on said India’s economy has been stable and all sectors are now looking up, as he invited global money managers looking for “returns with reliability” to invest in the country.

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – Schemes

[Let us discuss some terms and schemes mentioned by PM in his speech]

National Infrastructure Pipeline:

• The government has released its outline to invest ₹102 lakh crore on infrastructure projects by 2024-25 as part of its National Infrastructure Pipeline.
• These projects are on top of Rs 51 lakh crore spent by the Centre and the states during the last six years and the new pipeline consists of 39 per cent projects each by the Centre and states and the balance by 22 per cent by private sector.
• A Task Force has been constituted to draw up the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for each of the years from FY 2019-20 to FY 2024-25.

Gift City:

• Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City located on the banks of the Sabarmati River.
• It is India‘s first operational smart city and international financial services centre (An IFSC enables bringing back to India the financial services and transactions that are currently carried out in offshore financial centres by Indian corporate entities and overseas branches/subsidiaries of financial institutions – It is done by offering business and regulatory environment)
• It was promoted by the Government of Gujarat as a greenfield project. The city is designed for walk to work concept and includes commercial and residential complexes.

News – 2

Context: India’s experience of holding elections during the COVID­19 pandemic showed that other countries could go on with scheduled polls and not defer them Mr. Arora told members of the Association of World
Election Bodies (A­WEB).

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – International organisation

Association of World Election Bodies (A­WEB):

• The Association of World Election Bodies is the largest association of Election Management Bodies worldwide.
• It was established on October 14, 2013.
• Permanent secretariat of A-WEB is in Seoul, South Korea.
• A-WEB also undertakes Election Visitor and Observation Programmes in various countries to study various election management practices and share knowledge with other Member of EMBs.
• India heading A-WEB’s Chair for the 2019-21 term.

News – 3

Context: SC order on NPAs causing problems: RBI – On September 3, the top court, as an interim measure considering the hardships of the pandemic and moratorium, directed that “accounts which were not declared NPA till August 31, 2020, shall not be declared NPA till further orders.”

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – International organisation

About NPAs:

• A non-performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a specified period of time.
• It is any asset of a bank which is not producing any income.

Categories of NPA:

News – 4

Context: All insults or intimidations to persons belonging to Dalit or tribal communities will not be an offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Supreme Court said in a judgment.

Topic in syllabus: Prelims & mains – Polity

About Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act:

• The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
• The Act is popularly known as the SC/ST Act or the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
• The objectives of the Act clearly emphasised the intention of the government to deliver justice to these communities through proactive efforts to enable them to live in society with dignity and self-esteem and without fear or violence or suppression from the dominant castes.
• The practice of untouchability, in its overt and covert form was made a cognizable and non-compoundable offence, and strict punishment is provided for any such offence in this act.

News – 5

Context: India called as “highly condemnable” Pakistan’s decision to transfer the management of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara from a Sikh body to a separate trust, saying it runs against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – Geography, International relations

About Kartarpur Corridor: 

• It is link road which connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province.
• The corridor was built to commemorate 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.
• It is located on the bank of river Ravi in Pakistan.
• There are concerns with the possibility that the initiative is part of Pakistan’s longstanding interest in fueling Sikh separatism.
• Pakistan’s encouragement of Khalistani separatist groups to use Kartarpur as a platform has been a constant cause for suspicion for India.
• The corridor is a remarkable exception to the current dynamic between India and Pakistan.

News – 6

Context: Organisation for Security and co­operation in Europe (OSCE) observers has described U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud as “baseless allegations”.

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – International organisations

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe:

• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization.
• Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.
• It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna, Austria, and its institutions.
• It has its origins in the 1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland.
• The OSCE is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation.
• India is not a member of this organisation.

News – 7

Context: NPCI allows WhatsAppto offer payment service.

Topic in syllabus: Prelims – Economy

What is NPCI?

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company
• Its intention is to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.
• The Company is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology for achieving greater efficiency in operations and widening the reach of payment systems.

What is UPI?

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions.
• The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.

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