9 PM Current Affairs Brief – June 19, 2019

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RBI panel on MSMEs suggests Rs 20 lakh collateral-free loan under Mudra

1. A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expert committee tasked with reviewing the current framework for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has submitted its report.
2. The panel has recommended doubling the cap on collateral-free loans to Rs 20 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh. This will be extended to borrowers falling under the Mudra scheme, self-help groups and MSMEs.
3. A collateral free loan means that borrowers do not have to offer any asset or pledge collateral to borrow against.
4. The panel’s recommendations have come at a time when the government is contemplating changing the definition of MSMEs.
5. According to the 2006 definition (a)manufacturing units with investment below Rs 25 lakh were termed micro (b)those between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 5 crore termed small and (c)from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore medium.
6. For service units, the corresponding amounts were up to Rs 10 lakh for micro, Rs 10 lakh-2 crore for small and Rs 2 crore-5 crore for medium enterprises.
7. However, the proposed change under a new draft which was approved by the Cabinet but not yet accepted is that annual turnover rather than investment size should be the criterion for such units.
8. Under the draft, there would be no difference between a manufacturing and service unit. Micro can be up to Rs 5 crore of turnover, small up to Rs 75 crore and medium up to Rs 250 crore of turnover should be considered.
9. The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was launched on April 8, 2015.It provides loans up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises
10. These loans are given by commercial banks, RRBs, small finance banks, cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs. As of now, Mudra offers three types of loans (a) Shishu (loans up to ₹50,000) (b) Kishor (loans above ₹50,000 and up to ₹5 lakh) and (c) Tarun (loans above ₹5 lakh and up to ₹10 lakh).

Countries reducing n-warheads but modernising arsenals: report

1. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2019.The report assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security.
2. The report has found that the worldwide total of nuclear warheads has decreased since 2018 but countries are modernising their nuclear arsenals.
3. The report says that at the start of 2019,countries such as the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea had a total of some 13,865 nuclear weapons with a decrease of 600 from previous year.
4. The decrease in the overall number of nuclear weapons is due to mainly Russia and the USA which together still account for over 90% of all nuclear weapons.
5. This reduction was partly a result of the New START treaty that was signed between the United States and the Russian Federation in 2010 which puts a cap on the number of deployed warheads as well as getting rid of obsolete warheads from the Cold War era.
6. However, there is a concern on the future of treaty as it will expire in 2021 and there is no serious discussion on its extension.
7. Further, the report says that China, India and Pakistan are increasing the size of their nuclear arsenals. For India, it gives a figure of 130-140 other warheads in 2019, the same as in 2018.
8. SIPRI is an international institute based in Sweden dedicated to research into (a)conflict (b)armaments (c)arms control and (d) disarmament. It provides data analysis and recommendations based on open source to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.

Virtual biopsy device can non-invasively detect skin tumours

1. Recently, researchers from the United States have developed a ‘virtual biopsy’ device.
2. The virtual biopsy device can quickly and non-invasively determine whether a skin tumour is cancerous and needs to be removed surgically.
3. Currently, doctors who perform surgical biopsies often do not know the extent of a tumour and whether it will be necessary to refer the patient to a specialist for extensive tissue removal or plastic surgery until surgery has already begun.
4. The virtual biopsy uses a procedure called vibrational optical coherence tomography(VOCT) which creates a 3D map of the legion’s width and depth under the skin with a tiny laser diode without using a scalpel.
5. The procedure also makes use of sound waves to test the lesion’s density and stiffness since cancer cells are stiffer than healthy cells.
6. This ability to analyse a skin tumour non-invasively could make biopsies much less risky and distressing to patients.

E-com firms take up data localisation issues with Goyal

1. Recently, Commerce minister has met industry stakeholders on e-Commerce and data localisation issue.
2. During the meeting, the industry raised concerns around data localisation rules which requires storing of customer data exclusively in India without creating mirror sites overseas.
3. In April 2018, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) had asked payment firms to ensure their data are stored exclusively on local servers. RBI had also set a deadline of six months for compliance which some foreign firms such as Mastercard and Visa had missed.
4. The main intent behind data localisation is to protect the personal and financial information of the country’s citizens and residents from foreign surveillance and give local governments and regulators the jurisdiction to call for the data when required.
5. Besides, some of the companies also raised concerns about the draft e-commerce policy released by the government especially provisions related to treatment of data.
6. They raised the issue of government’s demand for data from companies where the companies argued that the data should be shared only for law and order and investigation situations.
7. Further, they also raised the issue of companies cannot share their data with their group companies. They argued that if a start-up cannot share its data with the parent company then nobody will want to acquire Indian start-ups at all.

India emerges as fifth largest market for flexi-staffing: ISF

1. According to a report by the India Staffing Federation (ISF),India has emerged as the fifth largest country in flexi-staffing globally.
2. Flexible staffing is an alternative to hiring permanent employees. The employer hires part-time workers, temporary employees to fill staff vacancies from flexi staffing firms.
3. The report said that the workforce under flexi-staffing grew at an annual growth rate of 16.3% to 3.3 million in 2018 as compared with 2.1 million in 2015.
4. The rise in the number of flexi-staffing workers indicates formalisation of workforce. They get provident fund, group insurance, health insurance and other social security benefits available to formal sector workers.
5. Besides, the employers have virtually no need to comply with as many as 44 labour laws.The contractors or flexi-staffing firms take care of all such legal obligation.
6. Further, the report stated that logistics, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and IT/ITeS, retail and the government would be the top-five sectors employing over 55% of total flexi-workforce by 2021.

US lawmakers move legislation to give India NATO ally status

1. The US lawmakers have moved a legislation seeking key amendment in the country’s Arms Control Export Act.
2. The amendment seeks to bring India at par with the US NATO allies which are Israel, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea when it comes to the sale of high-tech military items.
3. The proposed legislation follows the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),2017.The NDAA had designated India as a major defence partner which brings India at par with closest US partners in terms of defence trade and technology transfer.
4. The significance of the legislation is that it would send a powerful signal that defence sales to India should be prioritised according to US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which had worked on this legislation.
5. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. It constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

15 more Finance Ministry officials get marching orders over graft charges

1. The Central Government has compulsorily retired 15 senior customs and central excise officials.
2. These officers either had corruption cases registered against them by the CBI or were involved in bribery, extortion and disproportionate assets cases.
3. The orders issued by the Finance Ministry have invoked rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules. Based on this rule, the President has retired these officials with immediate effect.
4. Rule 56 covers Group ‘A & B’ officers who entered service before 35 years of age and have attained 50 years of age.
5. Rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules allows the appropriate authority to retire any government servant in public interest by giving notice of three months.
6. This decision comes after the government had earlier sacked 12 Income Tax officers on charges of corruption, forgery and professional misconduct.

U.S. deploys more troops to West Asia

1. The United States has approved the deployment of additional troops to the West Asia against the backdrop of increasing tensions with Iran.
2. This decision came amid allegations of Iranian attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
3. The US has said that it does not seek conflict with Iran but the action had been taken to ensure the safety and welfare of US military personnel working throughout the region and to protect national interests.
4. Tensions were further fuelled after Iran had announced that it will breach the limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium that was set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
5. Iran has stepped up production in response to the US tightening sanctions. The 2015 nuclear deal from which the US has withdrawn had curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

Rise of populist forces poses a challenge to judiciary: CJI Gogoi

1. Chief Justice of India (CJI) has said that the rise of populism presents a challenge to the independence of courts and asked the judiciary to stand up to the populist forces and protect constitutional ethos.
2. These comments were made at the two-day conference in Sochi, Russia that has participation at the level of Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court from the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO).
3. CJI also emphasised that every nation must aspire for an independent Judicial System and independence is the very soul of a functional Judiciary.
4. CJI also listed out the key indices for building an independent judiciary which are (a)Non-political appointments (b)security of tenure (c)rigorous procedure for removal (d)securing reputation of and remuneration and immunities for judges (e)in-house accountability procedures and (f)implementation of code of judges conduct.
5. CJI also pointed out that the executive and judiciary in India have enjoyed a healthy relationship of mutual respect.
6. Further, he said that countries which support and invest in a strong judicial infrastructure are more likely to become nations with stable governments and administrations.

Explained: Why employers fear Brazil’s slavery ‘dirty list’

1. Brazil’s dirty list is under scrutiny as major firms have been found to have used legal means to avoid being put on it.
2. Dirty list is a registry of employers that have been found by the Brazil Government to have engaged in slave labour. It gives transparency to a decision already reached by the Brazilian state.
3. It was created in 2004.It has been hailed by the United Nations as a key tool in Brazil’s anti-slavery drive.
4. A company gets added to the list If a labour inspector fines someone for employing slave labour, it starts an internal government procedure where the employer can defend himself.
5. After all possibility of appeal is exhausted, if the employer is found guilty, his name or the name of his firm is added to the list.
6. It will stay on the list for two years. During that time, labour inspectors will monitor the employer to see if labour conditions have improved.
7. Beyond having their brand or names associated with slave labour, employers on the list have their access to credit lines by state banks restricted.
8. Further, Private banks also use it to gauge credit risk. International buyers concerned with their supply chain will also look up names on the list.

‘Ex-CEA’s paper does not consider key indicators

1. According to former planning commission member, former Chief Economic Advisor(CEA) analysis of economic growth is incorrect.
2. He said that the analysis ignores the indicators related to the bulk of economic activity such as those measuring the agriculture, services and informal sectors.
3. Recently, former CEA had said that India’s GDP growth in the period 2011-12 to 2016-17 is likely to have been overestimated. He said that the growth during that period was actually 4.5% rather than the 7%.
4. He said this because India had changed its data sources and methodology for estimating real gross domestic product (GDP) for the period since 2011-12.
5. The problems with the new methodology was that the growth numbers no longer correlated with other indicators of economic growth such as (a)electricity consumption (b)two-wheeler sales (c)airline passenger traffic (d)index of industrial production and (e)export figures.
6. However, the former planning commission member questioned the former CEA and has said that the indicators used by former CEA had nothing to do with agriculture, services or informal sectors.
7. He went on to explain that the trends for each of the three major sectors which are agriculture, manufacturing and services show that the growth dropped off about seven years ago and that there is no indication of an overestimation in any of the sectoral growth numbers.