Mar 01-19 English

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CURRENT AFFAIRS (01-03-2019)

SC stays Feb 13 order for eviction of tribals, forest dwellers GDP growth slows again in third quarter Cabinet okays National Mineral Policy 2019 SHREYAS Scheme Govind Prasad Sharma appointed as Chairman of NBT New Railway Zone for Andhra Pradesh

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1. SC stays Feb 13 order for eviction of tribals, forest dwellers :Topic - Polity and Governance : The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed its controversial February 13 order directing the eviction of lakhs of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers whose claims for forest land rights have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006. • The Bench, led by Justice Arun Mishra, however, said "the mighty and the undeserving" who have encroached on forest lands would be shown no mercy. • The Bench acknowledged the need to further delve into whether due process was followed by gram sabhas and States' authorities under the FRA before the claims for forest rights of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFD) were finally rejected. • Over 11 lakh ST and OTFDs across 16 States faced the brunt of the apex court's order of eviction on February 13. • The apex court has now given the States four months' time to file affidavits responding to allegations that there was a high rate of rejection of claims, non-communication of rejection orders, unrealistic timelines in deciding claims, irregular holding of State Page 2

Level Monitoring Committee meetings, lack of support from the district administrations concerned in providing revenue or forest maps, rejection of claims despite incomplete or insufficient evidence, etc. In fact, the court wants to know whether tribals and OTFDs were ousted from forest lands on the basis of sketchy, incomplete information and data. • The order was passed by the Bench, also comprising Justices Navin Sinha and M.R. Shah, on the basis of an application by the Centre to modify the February 13 order. • The government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, submitted the order has affected a "large number of families". The Centre said the States should first file proper affidavits on the procedure followed in the verification of forest rights claims before any such eviction. "The eviction of the tribals may be withheld... the eviction of tribals, without such information, would cause serious prejudice to them who have been residing in forests for generations... Many are poor and illiterate

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2. GDP growth slows again in third quarter :Topic - Economy : GDP growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter in the OctoberDecember 2018 period, according to data released. Growth fell to 6.6% in the third quarter, the lowest in the last six quarters. • The slowdown was led by agriculture, which is estimated to grow at 2.7%, against the earlier estimate of 3.8%. • Data showed that the GDP growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter in the quarter ended December 2018 to 6.6% — a sixquarter low — from 7% in the second quarter and 8% in the first quarter of this financial year. • The slowdown in 2018-19 is due to a lowering in the growth estimate of the agriculture sector to 2.7% as per the latest data compared with the 3.8% estimated earlier. The manufacturing sector, too, is estimated to grow at a marginally lower 8.1% compared with the previously predicted 8.3%. • “FY19 GDP growth in second advance estimate of national income is lowered to 7% from 7.2% in first advance estimate • “The primary reason for this is the upwards revision in FY18 GDP growth rate in the first revised estimate [released on January 31, 2019] to 7.2% from 6.7% earlier.” Page 4

• The two notable divergences between the second estimate and the first are that private final consumption expenditure growth has been revised upwards to 8.3% from 6.4% and investment growth was revised lower to 10% from the earlier estimate of 12.2%. • The government revised downwards its estimate for GDP growth in the 2018-19 financial year to 7% from the 7.2% estimated in the first estimate for the year released in January.

Nominal GDP : • Economists point out that the size of the economy in terms of nominal GDP is now estimated to be Rs.190.54 lakh crore, up from the Rs.188.41 lakh crore estimated earlier. • Will go a long way in helping the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP for the year. • On a quarterly basis, the agriculture sector is estimated to have grown at 2.7% in the third quarter of this financial year, compared with a 4.6% growth in the same quarter of the previous year. • The manufacturing sector grew at 6.7% in the third quarter, down from 8.6% in the December quarter of 2017-18. • The mining sector, too, saw growth slowing in the third quarter to 1.3% compared with 4.5% in the third quarter of the previous year. • FY19 GDP growth at 7% is the lowest in last five years and the third quarter FY19 growth at 6.6% is a six-quarter low • “This indicates that the economy is losing steam. Based on the revised first three quarters and annual numbers, Ind-Ra’s calculation shows that the GDP growth in Q4 has to be 6.5% to attain overall 7.0% growth in FY19.” Page 5

• This is possible, Mr. Pant added, but will be largely dependent on whether exports can grow strongly in the fourth quarter, which looks difficult.

3. Cabinet okays National Mineral Policy 2019 :Topic - Economy : Aims at more effective regulation : The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the National Mineral Policy 2019. • The policy is aimed at bringing about more effective regulation to the sector as well as a more sustainable approach while addressing the issues of those affected by mining. • “The aim of [the] National Mineral Policy 2019 is to have a more effective, meaningful and implementable policy that brings in further transparency, better regulation and enforcement, balanced social and economic growth as well as sustainable mining practices.

Features in the policy include :

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• Some of the features in the policy include the introduction of the right of first refusal for the reconnaissance permit (RP) and prospecting license holders, encouraging the private sector to take up exploration and the auctioning of virgin areas on a revenuesharing basis. • In a separate decision, the Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval for the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and joint ventures. • The SPV, named Air India Assets Holding Ltd. (AIAHL), has been created for the purpose of warehousing the accumulated working capital loan not backed by any asset along with four subsidiaries (Air India Air Transport Services Ltd. (AIATSL), Airline Allied Services Ltd. (AASL), Air India Engineering Services Ltd. (AIESL) and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd. (HCI),

4. SHREYAS Scheme :Topic - Education : The Ministry of HRD has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities. • It is a programme conceived for students in degree courses, primarily non-technical, with a Page 7

view to introduce employable skills into their learning, promote apprenticeship and also amalgamate employment facilitating. • SHREYAS portal will enable educational institutions and industry to log in and provide their respective demand and supply of apprenticeship. • The matching of students with apprenticeship avenues will take place as per pre-specified eligibility criteria.

Objectives of the Scheme : • To improve employability of students by introducing employment relevance into the learning process of the higher education system • To forge a close functional link between education and industry/service sectors on a sustainable basis • To provide skills which are in demand, to the students in a dynamic manner • To establish an ‘earn while you learn’ system into higher education • To help business/industry in securing good quality manpower • To link student community with employment facilitating efforts of the Government

Operation of the Scheme : • The primary scheme will be operated in conjunction with National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) which provides for placing of apprentices upto 10% of the total work force in every business/industry. • The scheme will be implemented by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) , initially the Banking Finance Insurance Services (BFSI),

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Retail, Health care, Telecom, Logistics, Media, Management services, ITeS and Apparel.

Financing : • Under the NAPS scheme, Central Government shares 25% of the stipend per month subject to a maximum of Rs.1500 p.m during the period of the apprenticeship. • Apart from that, an amount upto Rs.7500 will be met towards basic training cost, where needed.

Implementation : • 1st Track: Add-on apprenticeship The students who are currently completing the degree programme would be invited to choose a job role of their choice from a selected list of apprenticeship job roles given by the Sector Skill Councils of the MoSDE. At the end of the apprenticeship period, there would be a test conducted by the Sector Skill Council concerned and successful students would get skills certificate in addition to their degree certificate. • 2nd track: Embedded Apprenticeship Under this approach, the existing B.Voc programmes would be restructured into B.A (Professional), B.Sc (Professional) or B.Com (Professional) courses – which would include a mandatory apprenticeship ranging from 6 to 10 months depending on the requirement of the skill. During the apprenticeship period, the student would get a monthly stipend of about Rs. 6,000 per month by the industry, 25% of which would be reimbursed under the NAPS programme. Page 9

• 3rd Track: Linking National Career Service with Colleges Under this, the National Career Service (NCS) portal of Ministry of Labour& Employment would be linked with the Higher Education institutions. As of now, more than 9,000 employers have posted requirement of more than 2 lakh vacancies, for which the students can get considered.

5. Govind Prasad Sharma appointed as Chairman of NBT :Educationist and Author Govind Prasad Sharma has been appointed as the Chairman of National Book Trust (NBT). Govind Prasad Sharma in his long carrier has served as the Principal of Government P.G. College in Madhya Pradesh, Additional Director of Higher Education of Gwalior Chambal Division, Director of Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Akademi and also as Vice Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education.

National Book Trust :

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National Book Trust (NBT) is an apex body established by the Government Of India in the Year 1957 under the Department Of Higher Education, Ministry Of Human Resource Development.

Objectives of NBT : To produce and encourage the production of good literature in English, Hindi And Other Indian Languages. To make such literature available at moderate prices to the public. To bring out book catalogues. Arrange Book Fairs/Exhibitions and Seminars. Take all necessary steps to make the people book-minded. The major activities of NBT include publishing non- textbooks, organizing book fairs, book exhibitions, conducting literary events, activities for children, training in publishing throughout the country, participating in international book fairs to promote Indian literature.

6. New Railway Zone for Andhra Pradesh :The Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has announced the creation of new railway zone for Andra Pradesh, Southern Coast Railway Zone to be headquartered in Visakhapatnam. • The Southern Coast Railway zone would comprise of existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions that currently fall Page 11

under the South Central Railway and the South Central Railway will then consist of the Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions. • Waltair division under the East Coast Railway Zone, covering the northern districts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha will be split into two. One part will be incorporated in the new zone and merged with the neighbouring Vijayawada division, the remaining portion will be converted into a new division, headquartered at Rayagada, under the East Coast Railway (ECoR). • Political Move? Under item 8 of Schedule 13 (Infrastructure) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 Indian Railways was required to examine establishing a new railway zone in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh. Southern Coast Railway Zone is a step forward in this direction. The establishment is largely seen as a political move since the Railway Minister has given assent to thecreation of new zone despite the internal report of the Railway Board calling it “catastrophic”. • The report had said that creation of a new zone in Andhra Pradesh would be “like putting many nails in the cofn of the Indian Railways. The South Coast Railway zone would be an 18th Railway zone in the country. Currently, India has 17 zones and a total of 73 divisions.

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