1. CREDIT INFORMATION COMPANIES
TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY
CONTEXT: Recently, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) put a total penalty of over Rs one crore on four Credit Information Companies (CICs) for their failure to update credit information of borrowers which has resulted in problems for bank customers while applying for banking services like loans and credit cards.
EXPLANATION:
Issue:
- The RBI conducted statutory inspection of four credit information companies and found financial irregularities and credit information was not accurate and complete.
- Therefore, Penalty was imposed under provisions of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005.
- If a credit card holder defaults on a credit card or loan instalment, it is immediately notified to the CICs. However, CICs have failed to reclassify them when they rectified the payments.
Credit Information Companies or Credit Bureaus:
- Credit InformationCompany (CIC) or Credit Bureau is an RBI-licensed and authorized organization that collects, maintains and analyses the consumer and business credit information of individuals and companies across the nation, as provided by the financial institutions.
- They maintain credit information of borrowers (including individuals, corporate, SMEs) which can be accessed by banks and other lending institutions.
- Banks have direct access to database of CICs while borrowers do not have access to CICs while the borrowers have to approach the CIC to their credit rating and status of loan repayments.
- CICs have details about all the creditors and borrowers in the financial system. CICs also capture the names of directors, guarantors and partners involved in the loans.
- They collect information from a variety of credit providers including banks, credit card companies and non-bank financial institutions.
- They rate the borrowers in a scale of 300-900 with 900 being the highest rating. Banks and finance companies normally take decision on the rating given by the credit bureaus.
- If the borrower has a rating of over 800, he has a good chance to get a loan or credit card easily and at a lower interest rate. If a borrower defaults, his rating will come down. When the rating declines below 500, chances of getting low interest rates and even loans or cards also decline accordingly.
- CICs and banks are supposed to keep the credit information collected/ maintained by them, updated regularly on a monthly basis or at such shorter intervals as may be mutually agreed upon between the banks and the CICs.
Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005
- The Credit Information Companies Act of 2005 was created with the primary purpose of providing a framework for the functioning of credit information companies and streamline the distribution of credit.
- The Act passed by the Parliament is designed to assist both credit information companies and their clients. The Credit Information Companies Act of 2005 can be enforced by the relevant authorities across the territorial jurisdiction of India.
2. HUL DIWAS: REMEMBERING THE SANTAL REBELLION AGAINST THE BRITISH
TAG: GS 1: ART AND CULTURE
THE CONTEXT: Recently, Prime Minister celebrated Hul Diwas and was remembering the sacrifice of Adivasis in their fight against British colonial authorities.
EXPLANATION:
- The Santal rebellion or ‘Hul’ revolution began in 1855, two years before the uprising of 1857, which is often referred to as “the first war for Indian independence”.
- It was an “organized war against colonialism” led by the Santals, standing against the economic oppression of British.
- It was led by two brothers Sidhu and Kanhu with participation of as many as 32 castes and communities rallying behind them.
- The rebellion took place in the ‘Damin-i-Koh’ meaning the ‘skirts of the hills’ and took the British by complete surprise. This region falls in present-day Jharkhand around the Rajmahal Hills of eastern Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district.
- Every year, the state of Jharkhand celebrates June 30 as ‘Hul Diwas’, marking the beginning of the rebellion, even though some historical accounts date it to the first week of July instead.
Who were the Santhals?
- They were not the original inhabitants of modern day Santhal Pargana which includes the six districts of Dumka, Pakur, Godda, Sahibganj, Deoghar and parts of Jamtara. They had migrated from the Birbhum and Manbhum regions (present-day Bengal), starting around the late 18th century.
- With the enactment of the Permanent Settlement Act of 1790, the East India. Company was desperate to bring an ever-increasing area in its control under settled agriculture and they chose the area of Damin-i-Koh in order to collect a steady stream of revenue.
- However, once settled, the Santals bore the brunt of colonial oppression. Santhal migration was “forced” by the British merely to collect more revenue. Predatory money-lenders and the police were a byproduct of this system.
- Today, the Santal community is the third largest tribal community in India, spread across Jharkhand-Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal.
Why did the Hul happen?
- Social conditions of the peasants
- Heavy interest on loans of money ranging from 50 to 500 percent
- False measures at the haut and the market
- Zamindars, the police, the revenue and court have exercised a combined system of extortions, oppressive extractions, forcible dispossession of property, abuse and personal violence and a variety of petty tyrannies upon Santhals.
Aftermath of rebellion:
- Santhal uprising did not die in 1855 and even in 1857 they participated in mutiny as the Santals in Hazaribagh and Manbhum area had also led a war against the Britishers. So the idea of ‘Hul’ rebellion did not die down with its suppression.
3. GRAVITATIONAL WAVE BACKGROUND
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: Recently, scientists have found evidence to suggest that the universe is replete with low-frequency gravitational waves ripples in the fabric of space-time. They are created by huge objects moving around, colliding, and merging with each other. This was predicted by Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity more than 100 years ago.
EXPLANATION:
- Gravitational waves were first detected in 2015 using an experiment involving Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) detectors. However, those waves were of high frequency, believed to be produced by the merger of two small black holes that took place about 1.3 billion years ago.
- These waves create a cosmic background. It is the first time that there is evidence of large-scale motion of everything in the universe.
How were low-frequency gravitational waves detected?
- It was carried out by radio astronomers representing five different international teams including Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) in a bid to discover low-frequency gravitational waves.
- The researchers used six large radio telescopes around the world, to study objects called pulsars distant rapidly-rotating neutron stars that emit pulses of radiation, observed from the Earth as bright flashes of light. These bursts take place at extremely precise intervals, and therefore scientists use pulsars as ‘cosmic clocks’.
- Scientists have proposed that the observed inconsistencies were due to deformities caused in spacetime by gravitational waves. These irregularities showed consistent effects of the presence of gravitational waves.
What are gravitational waves?
- In his theory of gravitation, Isaac Newton postulated that every celestial body exerts an attractive force on every other. This force was proportional to the masses of the two bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. So, the greater the distance between the bodies, the lower the gravitational force between them. Newton’s gravitational law described the motion of heavenly bodies with accuracy.
- Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity proposed that gravitational attraction was a result of the bending of the fabric of spacetime by the equivalent of a heavy object.
- Einstein said the Sun, the Earth and all other bodies formed similar curvatures around them, and this was the reason for smaller objects getting pulled towards them. But since the Earth, sun and everything else are also moving, the curvature around them moves too. This creates ripples in spacetime, just like a moving boat in water creates ripples. It is these ripples that Einstein called gravitational waves.
What is spacetime?
- In his Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein proposed that space and time don’t exist as independent entities.
- Space and time combine the three dimensions (height, width and depth) of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum.
- Space time was not a mere transparent, inert or fixed background to all the events in the universe, instead spacetime was flexible and malleable, interacted with matter.
4. DRUG REGULATION IN INDIA
TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES
THE CONTEXT: Since October last year, Indian pharma companies have been under constant international scrutiny for exporting allegedly contaminated drugs, which have led to deaths of children.
EXPLANATION:
- Recently, several countries as Nigeria, Cameroon and Gamibia and Sri Lanka called out for drugs manufactured in India linking them to adverse reactions in several patients with high amounts of diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol.
- The pharma company license was cancelled by the national pharma watchdog, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
- Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, manufacturers not adhering to good manufacturing practices can be subjected to a maximum punishment of imprisonment for life.
Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940:
- The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (DCA), is one such law that governs the manufacture, import, and distribution of medicines in the country.
- It was followed by the Drug and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which categorised the drugs into schedules and provided regulations for the sale, storage, and prescription of each category.
- It seeks to discuss its provisions, as set out in 1940, and how the legislation has been enhanced in the past two decades and what new rules and legal provisions have been introduced into the Act.
Objectives of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act:
- It aims to hold medical technology and pharmaceutical companies liable for negligence and sub-standard services provided by them. A major objective of enacting this legislation was to prevent adulteration in medicines.
- Regulation of the sale, import, and distribution of drugs and cosmetics by means of licensing.
- Ensuring that only qualified individuals are involved in the import, distribution, and sale of drugs and cosmetics.
- Preventing substandard drug quality, presumably in order to maintain high medical treatment standards.
- Regulation of the production and sale of Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs.
- To form a Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and Drugs Consultative Committees (DCC) for allopathic and allied drugs, as well as cosmetics.
Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB)
- It is a part of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- It functions by taking policy decisions related to the technical aspects of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.
Drugs Consultative Committees (DCC)
- It is the Advisory Body nominated by the Central Government for advising the Central and State Governments.
- It also advises DTAB on the matters pertaining to the uniform implementation of the provisions of DCA and Rules.
Diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol:
- It is an organic compound with the formula (HOCH2CH2)2O.
- It is a colorless, practically odorless, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste.
- It is a four carbon molecule of ethylene glycol. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol.
Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO):
- The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) comes under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India.
- Its headquarters is located in New Delhi and also has six zonal offices, four sub zonal offices, thirteen Port offices and seven laboratories spread across the country.
- The Drugs & Cosmetics Act,1940 and rules 1945 have entrusted various responsibilities to central & state regulators for regulation of drugs & cosmetics.
- It envisages uniform implementation of the provisions of the Act & Rules made there under for ensuring the safety, rights and well being of the patients by regulating the drugs and cosmetics.
- Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approval of New Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials and laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country.
- It coordinates with the State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a view of bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
- Further CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.
5. JAL JEEVAN MISSION
TAG: SOCIAL JUSTICE
THE CONTEXT: The government’s ambitious Har Ghar Jal initiative to provide all rural households in India with potable water connections by 2024 under its flagship Jal Jeevan Mission is likely to fall short of its target according to a newspaper report.
EXPLANATION:
Findings of the report:
- Only 75% of village homes is likely to have tap water by March, 2024.
- The delay is due to several factors, including the pandemic, which slowed operations, and the Russia-Ukraine war, which caused a shortage in raw materials for manufacturing metal pipes.
Har ghar Jal:
- The Har Ghar Jal initiative was announced by PM on August 15, 2019 and aims to provide every rural household with affordable and regular access to safe drinking water through taps by 2024.
- It is also part of India’s progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a set of global goals announced in 2015 that countries across the world have to work towards to improve peoples’ quality of life and protect the planet.
- According to the Jal shakti ministry, the Har Ghar Jal program’s components align with the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (JMP) to monitor progress on SDG 6.1 for safely managed drinking water services.
- At the village level, each local gram panchayat has to declare their village as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified through a resolution to mark all households in the village as having access to safe water in their taps.
Jal Jeevan Mission:
- Jal Jeevan Mission is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
- It is being implemented by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- The programme will implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting.
- The Jal Jeevan Mission will be based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission.
The broad objectives of the Mission are:
- To provide Functional Household Tap Connections(FHTCs) to every rural household. The priority will be in quality affected areas, villages in drought prone and desert areas, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages, etc.
- To provide functional tap connection to Schools, Anganwadi centres, GP buildings, Health centres, wellness centres and community buildings
- To promote and ensure voluntary ownership among local community by way of contribution in cash, kind and/ or labour and voluntary labour (shramdaan) and to bring awareness in water conservation.
- To assist in ensuring sustainability of water supply system, i.e. water source, water supply infrastructure, and funds for regular O&M
- To empower and develop human resource in the sector such that the demands of construction, plumbing, electrical, water quality management, water treatment, catchment protection, O&M, etc. are taken care of in short and long term
The following components are supported under JJM:
- Development of in-village piped water supply infrastructure to provide tap water connection to every rural household.
- Development of reliable drinking water sources and/ or augmentation of existing sources to provide long-term sustainability of water supply system.
- Wherever necessary, bulk water transfer, treatment plants and distribution network to cater to every rural household.
- Technological interventions for removal of contaminants where water quality is an issue.
- Greywater management
