IAS Current Affairs

Introduction India’s land area is about  2.5 per cent of the global land area , and it supports  more than 16 per cent  of the total human population along with  around 20 per cent of the global livestock population. Clearly, the pressures of constantly increasing production have in turn resulted in a  persistent decline in soil fertility , a major challenge that Indian agriculture is currently facing. With rising population, limited availability of agricultural land, small land holdings and declining soil fertility, India is under  serious threat of losing  its food surplus status in the near future. According to estimates, the  demand for food grain is expected to increase from 192 million tonnes in 2000 to 355 million tonnes in 2030. Need for ensuring soil fertility Los of soil fertility led to rise in cultivation cost. Sustainability of food production is directly affected by soil sterility. Ensuring livelihood sustainability of poor. Protection of ecology and envi

Advantages of MPI The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has been published by the HDRO in the annual Human Development Report since 2010. The MPI has been an interesting and important effort to provide a household-level multidimensional poverty measure that can compete in depth and coverage with the widely used (and problematic) $1.25 a day income poverty indicator. Income based poverty measures are incomplete as compared to MPI. Measuring and comparing multidimensional poverty over time has become increasingly important and frequent in effective implementation of welfare schemes and policies. The MPI is a measure of “acute” poverty because it reflects overlapping deprivation in basic needs. If a person is deprived in 20-33.3% of the weighted indicators they are considered ‘Vulnerable to Poverty’, and if they are deprived in 50% or more, they are identified as being in ‘Severe Poverty. MPI is more of a qualitative and quantitative approach towards the poverty issues. The M

Recent developments The Fourth BIMSTEC Summit concluded with an 18-point Kathmandu Declaration. The declaration is expected to enhance the effectiveness of BIMSTEC Secretariat by engaging it in various technical and economic activities in the region. The Kathmandu Declaration has underlined the importance of multidimensional connectivity as a key enabler to economic integration for shared prosperity of the region. The declaration also highlighted the importance of trade and investment as one of the major contributing factors for fostering economic and social development in the region. The declaration said the “fight against terrorism should target not only terrorists, terror organisations and networks but also identify and hold accountable States and non-State entities that encourage, support or finance terrorism, provide sanctuaries to terrorists and terror groups.” It asked all nations to devise a comprehensive approach which should include preventing financing of terrorists

Need for legal framework MoSPI report showed that in February 2018, funds allotted to MPLADS but unspent stood at a total backlog of Rs.12,073.13 crore. Conspicuous incidents of nepotism in allocating funds for projects. Wastage of money in non- prioritised areas for electoral and monetary gains. Lack of transparency in spending public money via these funds. Discrimination is evident with the allocation of MPLAD funds within the constituency. Use of MPLAD funds as a political plank for amassing votes. Inadequate provisions for allocation of funds and absence of proper accountability mechanism. Structure of the framework The framework should make transparency a legal obligation, with all MPs and parties required to present the public and Parliament with a comprehensive report on the number of applications received for their constituency, works recommended, works rejected with reasons, progress of works and details of beneficiaries. Liabilities for any breach of duties

Background The merger of these three state-owned banks is a part of the government’s agenda of consolidation of public sector banks. The consolidation was proposed by the Alternative Mechanism. The Union Cabinet in August 2017 approved amalgamation of Public Sector Banks through Alternative Mechanism (AM) with an aim to facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks. Issues in Indian banking sector Most of the rural branches are running at a loss because of high overheads and prevalence of the barter system in most parts of rural India. Due to a high proportion of non-performing assets or outstanding due to banks from borrowers they are incurring huge losses. Most of the PSBs are also unable to maintain capital adequacy ratio. Poor and unsatisfactory loan recovery rates from the agricultural and small sectors. Commercial banks have been facing stiff challenges from non-banking financial intermediaries such as mutual funds, h

Acknowledging the potential for disruptions in the macro-economy that could affect overall market sentiments and global growth, the EAS-EMM forum expressed the hope that the economic linkages among the EAS members will enable them to address these challenges. The Ministers agreed to the importance of keeping markets open and fair as well as improving transparency and predictability of the business environment. The meeting recognized the importance of ongoing work to maximize the opportunities of, and address the challenges presented by, the digital economy and the rise of regional and global value chains, as part of their efforts to promote economic growth and integration in the region. In addition to the Chairman’s Statement : (i) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Chemical Weapons ; (ii) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation in Poverty Alleviation ; (iii) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Countering Ideological Challenges of Terrorism and Terrorist Narrativ