Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – December 5

Both the statements are correct:

State Bank of India (SBI), the largest commercial bank in India will soon launch country’s first integrated lifestyle and banking digital service platform named YONO (acronym for ‘You Only Need One’). YONO is first digital banking platform that will allow customers to meet their lifestyle needs across 14 categories including booking and renting cabs, entertainment, dining experience, travel and stay etc.

YONO is path-breaking comprehensive digital product of SBI, developed using world’s latest digital technologies such as Artificial IntelligencePredictive Analytics and Machine Learning. The integrated omni-channel digital platform will offer an array of banking and financial services which which can be accessed through mobile phones, both android and iOS and web portal through a browser. It will allow customers with smart phones to conduct basic banking like opening an instant account (with limited facilities) with as well as make investments. It will also enable it users to shop.

The Chairman of the FSDC is the Finance Minister of India and other members include the heads of the financial sector regulatory authorities (i.e, SEBI, IRDA, RBI, PFRDA and FMC) , Finance Secretary and/or Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (Ministry of Finance), Secretary, (Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance) and the Chief Economic Adviser.

The Union Finance Ministry has granted Infrastructure Status to Logistics sector. Logistics Infrastructure was included by insertion of new item in renamed category of ‘Transport and Logistics’. The inclusion of “Logistics Sector” in the Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure Sub-sectors was considered in the 14th Institutional Mechanism (IM) Meeting chaired by Finance Minister. The proposal was mooted by the Commerce Ministry and was approved by finance ministry.

Significance:

Coming under infrastructure category will help logistics sector to get credit at competitive rates and on long-term basis with limits. It will also give access to larger amounts of funds as external commercial borrowings (ECB), longer tenor funds from insurance companies and pension funds. Besides, logistics sector will be also eligible to borrow from India Infrastructure Financing Company (IIFC). It can also put logistics sector on steady growth path and its benefits could spill over to other sectors such as food processing that use logistics services in a big way.

Reports/Indices published by World Bank:

• Ease of Doing Business
• World Development Report
• Global Economic Prospect (GEP) report
• Remittance Report
• Ease of Living Index
• India Development Update
• Universal Health Coverage Index
• The Service Trade Restriction Index

Global Information Technology Report and Global Competitiveness Report is published by World Economic Forum (WEF)

National Agriculture Market (NAM)

The motivation for a unified market platform can be traced to the RashtriyaeMarket Services (ReMS), an initiative of Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board with National e-Markets Limited (NeML), erstwhile National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Spot Exchange.

NAM, announced in Union Budget 2014-15, is a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to connect existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

Features of NAM:

• NAM is a “virtual” market but it has a physical market (mandi) at the back end
• NAM creates a unified market through online trading platform both, at State and National level and promotes uniformity.
• The NAM Portal provides a single window service for all APMC related information and services.
• While the material flow of agriculture produce continues to happen through mandis, an online market reduces transaction costs and information asymmetry.

The Government of India collects the cess on petrol and diesel. The funds so collected are put aside in a Central Road Fund (CRF) for exclusive utilization for the development of a modern road network. The developmental work that it could be tapped to fund, the agencies to whom it was available are clearly defined as :

1. Construction and Maintenance of State Highways by State Governments.
2. Development of Rural Roads by State Governments
3. Construction of Rail over- bridges by Indian Railways
4. Construction and Maintenance of National Highways by NHDP and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

Today, The Cess contributes between Rs 5 to 6 Thousands crores per annum towards NHDP.

Major Inland Waterways by Inland waterways authority of India (IWAI):

1. Inland Waterway 1 Allahabad-Haldia stretch of Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system
2. Inland Waterway 2 Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra River (Assam)
3. Inland Waterway 3 Kottapuram-Kollam stretch of the West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal (Kerala)
4. Inland Waterway 4 Kakinada-Pondicherry along Godavari and Krishna River system
5. Inland Waterway 5 Talcher – Paradip (Odisha)
6. Inland Waterway 6- Lakhipur to Bhanga on the River Barak (Assam – Proposed)