Bharat Bandh

Except telangana government  many states may support bharat bandh

Religious minority status to Jews in Gujarat

Gujarat Govt. granted religious minority to Jews living in the state.

• It shall become 3rd state in India to do that after West Bengal and Maharashtra

Key Facts:

• As religious minority members professing faith of Judaism, Jews in the states will get religious minority rights envisaged in the Constitution of India and Various acts and rules of the state government.
• They will also get benefits of welfare schemes formulated for religious minority communities within the jurisdiction of Gujarat.

BACKGROUND:

• Gujarat has small Jewish Community with no more than 170 members and majority of them are located in Ahmedabad
• Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, during his official visit to Israel has announced that this govt. was in process of granting religious minority status to the community.
• Gujarat also had hosted Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu during his 6-day India visit in January 2018

JUDAISM:

• One of the oldest religions in the world, evolved in Egypt about 3,700 years ago.
• It believes the unity and oneness of universal creator. 
• Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people. 
• Jews have been living in India for over 2000 years ever since they first landed on West Coast of India.
• Indian Jews are known as a peace-loving community
• They follow Hebrew calendar.
• They have special thanks giving ceremony known as Eliyahoo-ha-Naboir i.e. Gratitude to Elijah the Prophet, on the festive occasions .

Indian Jews fell into 5 categories

Bene Israel -  Meaning, Children of Israel. Marathi speaking. Arrived in Maharashtra 2,100 years ago.

Cochin Jews -  Arrived in India 2,500 years ago and settled down in Kerala as Traders.

 Baghdadi Jews -  Jews who come to India as traders from West Asia, mainly from Baghdad. They are settled in mainly Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.

Bene Menashe -  Manipur Jews Constitute  a community which sees itself as decendents of Manasseh (Menashe) tribe (Which is one of the 10 lost tribes of Jews.)

Bene Ephraim -  Also called "Telugu Jews." They are a small group who speak Telugu. Their observance of Judaism dates to 1981.

IoE is granted to 3 public and 3 private institutes

Abbreviations:

IoE - Institute of Eminence

CEC - Chief Election Commissioner

HRD - Human Resource Development

IISc - Indian Institute of Science

IIT - Indian Institute of Technology

UGC - University Grants Commission

MEA - Ministry of External Affairs

MHA - Ministry of Home Affairs

NIRF - National Institutional Ranking Framework

BITS - Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences

Union HRD Ministry granted IoE to 6 educational institutions

• 3 are private and 3 are public
• Selected by Empowered Expert committee headed by Former CEC N. Gopalaswami.

Selected Institutions:

Public Sector: 

1. IISC, Bangaluru
2. IIT Bombay
3. IIT Delhi

Private Sector:

1. BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan
2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipa, Karnataka
3. Proposed Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation in Pune (Maharashtra) under green field Project

IoE:

• The scheme of IoE was rolled out by UGC
• Aims to help 20 higher education (10 Public and 10 Private) Institutions from Country break into top 500 global rankings in 10 years and then eventually break into top 100 over time.

Benefits:

• These selected institutions have greater autonomy compared to other higher educational institutions.
• They will be free to decide their fee for domestic and foreign students and have flexible course duration and structure.
• They will be exempted from approvals of Government or UGC for academic collaborations with foreign institutions , except institutions in MEA and MHA's list of negative countries.
• 10 Government institutions selected will also get Rs. 1000 crore each from HRD Ministry to achieve world class status.
• There will be no financial assistance to the private institutions.

Performance:

• Once identified, IoE are targeted must target break into top 100 bracket in one internationally reputed ranking framework in 10 years.

Eligibility:

• Only Higher education institutions, currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50 of NIRF, are eligible to apply for eminence tag.
• The private IoE can also come up as green field ventures provided sponsoring organization submits convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

Bamboo straws

In Andaman and Nicobar Island, Botanical Survey of India at Portblair scientists propose to use Bamboo straws.

• Reusable straws cost only 50 paise each, cheaper than plastic straws.
• Bamboo species "Schizoslabhyum Andnamanicum", endemic to these islands look ideal for this purpose.This bamboo is characterized by the large hollow erect culm (stem) with long internodes
• Solid nodes are removed and the stem part between modes is made straw.

Fish samples in Chennai Tested positive for FORMALIN

11 out of 30 fish samples in Chennai were tested positive Formalin

• Formaldehyde is either sprayed or injected or the fish is immersed in the solution
• In Kerala, the problem was there initially
• Generally a fish is tested whether it is fresh or not by checking the gills, if the gills are red, the fish is considered as fresh.
• Formaldehyde keeps that red color. Some fishermen use Kumkum to keep that red.

FCRA Amendments - Supreme Court intervention

Supreme Court Sought response from Government on amendments made in Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), receiving BJP and Congress Foreign funds from Vedanta, UK Based company in 2014.

• The petition was filed by an NGO
• Amendment was passed as money bill with retrospective effect from 1976.
• Representation of People's Act bars political parties from receiving foreign funds.
• Petitioners claim was that the amendment opened doors to unlimited political donations from foreign companies, thereby legalizing financial contribution received from foreign sources.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao - Hyderabad City

Hyderabad became first city to make additional nutritional Support under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme.

• Girls shall be intramuscular injections and weekly Iron-folic acid supplements to improve their Hemoglobin count faster.
• 7 Lakh iron-folic acid tablets are being redieid for distribution 
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Mumbai Victorian and Art Deco buildings - World Heritage tag

Effort of architect, Abha Narain Lambah for 14 years

• Elephanta caves, Chhatrapati sivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai are now in UNESCO world Heritage site list.
• City's Victorian and Art Deco ensembles were also given green light by International Council for Monuments and sites
• India is 37th World Heritage site and Maharashtra is its fifth.
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Prosopis Juliflora : Invasive tree, A friend rather than a foe

Thoothukudi farmers use Prosopis Juliflora, a thorny invasive tree in various ways which support their livelihoods.

• Prosopis Juliflora in local Tamil language : 'Seemai Karuvelam' 
• The wood of the tree provides the people their sustenance during non-monsoon days.
• Court recently ordered that they can be cut down because of their invasive nature.
• The farmers are preparing charcoal out of it.
• Most of the farmers use traditional method, while two entrepreneurs have set up burners with modern technology.
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Rohingya Issue

World's largest refugee settlement.

• Located in Southeast Bangladesh.
• Mahji - Camp leader for Hindu Rohingya Families

Board of Management for Urban Cooperative Banks

Abbreviations:
BoM - Board of Management
UCB - Urban Cooperative Banks
BoD - Board of Directors

RBI proposed to set up BoM in all UCBs having deposits of over Rs. 100 Crore within 1 year to strengthen governance and promote professional management in these banks

• BoM will be in addition to the BoD
• BoD will continue to be apex policy setting body and constitute various committees of board including BoM to assist it to carry out its functions

Key Facts:

Functions:

• BoM looks after all administrative functions of UCBs as spelt out in respective cooperatives Act.
• It is responsible for Credit, risk and liquidity management of UCBs.
• It considers loan proposals, recommend action for recovery of bad loans, implement sound internal controls and oversee compliances among others.

Composition:

• BoM is constituted by BoD
• BoM will have minimum of 3 members in UCB having deposit size up to Rs.100 Crore and 5 members in UCBs having deposit size above Rs.100Crore.
• Maximum number of members in BoM will not exceed 12.
• Not more than 50% of BoM members should be from BoD.
• Under all circumstances, BoM Should have atleast 2 members outside from BoD

Criteria:

• 50% of members of BoM will consist persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of one or more of following matters such as
• Accountancy, agriculture and rural economy, banking, cooperation, economics, finance, law, small scale industry, information technology and other matter the special knowledge useful to UCB.

Implementation:

Existing UCBs have deposit size exceeding Rs.100 crore will set up BoM within period of 1 year and banks less than it may constitute BoM within 2 years.

BACKGROUND:

• Expert committee on licensing new urban cooperative banks (2010) constituted under chairmanship of YH Malegam had recommended that BoM should be constituted in every UCB, in addition to BoDs.
• This was reiterated by High powered committee on UCBs headed by R.Gandhi constituted in January 2015 by RBI.
• Under the present legal framework, BoD of UCB performs both executive and supervisory roles and has responsibility to oversee functioning of UCB as cooperative society and as a bank.

India-Seychelles - 6 MoUs

Abbreviations:
CERT-in - Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
FSI - Foreign Service Institute
IOR - Indian Ocean Region


India and Seychelles signed 6 MoUS

• India announced US $100 million credit to Seychelles for augmenting its defense capabilities
• Also announced to hand over second Dornier aircraft to Seychelles as promised by PM NaMo during his visit in 2015
• Aircraft will reach Seychelles before its National day on 29th June 2018.

Signed Agreements:

1. Regarding Indian grant assistance for implementation of Small Development projects through local bodies, educational and vocational institutions
2. Twinning agreement on establishment of Friendship and cooperation between Panaji (Municipal Corporation), Goa and Victoria City of Seychelles.
3. MoU in the area of Cyber security, It was signed between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) and Seychelles Department of Information Communications Technology
4. Cultural Exchange program between India and Seychelles for the years 2018-2022
5. Technical agreement on sharing white shipping information between Indian Navy and National Information sharing and coordination center of Seychelles: It enables both countries to exchange data regarding identity and movement of non-military commercial vessels
6. MoU between FSI of India and Department of Foreign Affairs of Seychelles

Key Takeaways from Bilateral Talks

Assumption Island:

• Both countries agreed to work together on project to develop naval base at Assumption Island keeping each other's concerns in mind
• Both countries are key strategic partners for each other and they respect the core values of democracy
• They share geo-strategic vision of maintaining peace, security and stability in IOR

Defense and Security Cooperation:

• Both countries share robust defense and security cooperation
• US $100 million from India to enable Seychelles to buy defense equipment to boost its maritime capacity
• Both countries have strategic convergence in dealing with maritime challenges.
• Both Countries are straddled between one of important Sea lanes of communication and vulnerable to piracy.
• They face dangers of international crimes such as Piracy, drugs, human trafficking and illegal exploitation of oceanic resources
• India is committed to augment Seychelles defense capabilities, maritime infrastructure and increase capabilities of its defense personnel

Bharat-22 ETF

Abbreviations:
ETF - Exchange Traded Fund
SBI - State Bank of India
FFO - Follow-on Fund offer
BoB - Bank of Baroda
ONGC - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
IOC - Indian Oil Corporation
BP - Bharat Petroleum

The 2nd Tranche of Bharat-22 ETF comprising shares of 22 companies received a bid worth 15,436 crore, much higher than Govt's Fund rising target.

• 2nd Tranche was targeted to achieve fund mop up of Rs.6000 Cr with green-shoe option for another Rs. 2400Cr.
• At the end of bidding of 2nd Tranche, The ETF was over-subscrived by 2.57 times base issue size of Rs.6000 Cr.
• Total of 1.2 lakh bids were made for FFO, attracting wide participation across all investor segments
• Govt. is likely to exercise green-shoe option to retain additional Rs. 2400 Crore worth bids received

Bharat-22 ETF

• Bharat 22 is well-diversified ETF spanning 6 sectors- basic materials, energy finance, industrials, FMCG and utilities
• It was launched by Union Govt. to meet some part of its disinvestment target of Rs. 80,000 crore in current fiscal
• Banking segment includes stocks from SBI, Axis bank, Bank of Baroda, India Bank, Rural Electrification corporation and Power finance corporation
• Energy segment includes ONGC, IOC, BP and Coal India.

ETF:

• Exchange Trade funds are essentially index funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks
• They are basically basket of stocks with assigned weights that reflects the composition of index.
• They are similar to mutual funds in a certain manner but are more liquied as they can be sold quickly on stock exchanges like shares.
• The ETFs trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that is represents
• Their price changes daily as they are traded throughout the day
• ETF route is considered as safer mode of disinvestment as it shields investors against stock market volatility