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National Energy Conservation Week

 National Energy Conservation Week is celebrated all over India from December 14 to December 20. Various Government enterprises and Public Sector Undertakings celebrate the week by organizing energy conservation message-oriented activities.
  • December 14: Energy Conservation Day
The Energy Conservation Day is celebrated every year on December 14 since 1991. Energy Conservation Day is an initiative of Bureau o Energy Efficiency. The objective of the day is to demonstrate achievements of government in saving energy and conservation. On the day, National Energy Conservation awards is distributed to industries that play major role in conserving energy.
  • Energy Conservation Organization in India
The Petroleum Conservation Research Association is an inter-governmental body that was created in 1978 to promote energy conservation. It creates public awareness in saving fossil fuels. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) created in 2001 is also responsible for promoting energy efficiency and conservation. The BEE was established under Energy Conservation Act, 2001. The aim of the organization is to reduce energy demands.
Catgeory: National

NTPC signs pact for Rs. 5,000 crores with SBI

  National Thermal Power Corporation Limited has signed a term loan agreement for Rs. 5,000 crore with State Bank of India. The loan facility has been extended at an interest rate linked to 3 Months MCLR of the bank and has a door to door tenure of 15 years. The loan will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC.
Source- The Hindu Business Line
Catgeory: Agreements

Human Library event held in Mysuru

   Human Library, a concept which seeks to replace books with humans, was held in the City of Palaces, Mysuru, Karnataka. It was organized by international non-profit organization- Human Library for first time in Mysuru. The objective of this event was to break past long-standing prejudices and stereotypes by creating a safe framework for conservation by using a library analogy of lending people rather than books. It also intended to generate greater human cohesion across various social, religious and ethnic diversities. This event provides readers of human library opportunity to borrow Human Books and to engage in conversation with the books. It also helps them to acknowledge the need for a change in societal attitudes and encourage social reforms.
  • About Human Library
It is also known as The Human Library Organization. It is a registered international not for profit organization headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.  It aims at ensuring a global implementation of the Human Library as a learning platform. It was initially launched in the year 2000 and currently exists in more than 85 countries.  In India, it is spread across various metropolitan cities including Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru.
Catgeory: Miscellaneous

7 December: GST Stakeholder Feedback Diwas

 The central and state authorities organised GST (Goods and Services Tax) Stakeholder Feedback Diwas on 7 December 2019. The aim of organizing this event was to get an on-the-spot response and suggestion to the new system for filing GST Returns to be introduced from next fiscal year. The new return form will be made mandatory from 1 April 2020. The programme was organised on the new system for filing returns across 125 cities to get on-the-spot response and suggestion.
  • About GST Stakeholder Feedback Diwas
As per Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) about 7,500 trade associations/stakeholders participated in the programme. Besides them a large number of taxpayers, all prominent chambers of commerce and industry, compliance managers and tax practitioners also participated. The participants were encouraged to upload GST returns (ANX-1 and 2) and give feedback in regard to ease of compliance, deficiencies, improvements and uploading. There was overwhelming response from GST stakeholders and several useful suggestions were received. The focus was on assessing ease of compliance and uploading of these new returns so that taxpayers as well as traders do not face any difficulty when returns are made legally mandatory.
  • Background
On November 2019 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman directed CGST (Centre Goods and Services Tax) and SGST (State Goods and Services Tax) authorities to organise a nationwide interaction with stakeholders in order to get a first-hand feedback on new GST returns that are proposed to be rolled out from next fiscal year (April 2020). The finance minister then on November 16, held a meet with select taxpayers, Chartered Accountants and tax practitioners on the same subject. Later, during first National Conference on GST (held on 25 November), Revenue Secretary had also urged states GST authorities to hold similar stakeholder consultations in their jurisdictions as well as to all GST stakeholders to actively participated in these feedback sessions in their nearest CGST or SGST Office cross the country.
Catgeory: Miscellaneous

Law Ministry to set up fast track courts after data on POCSO from HCs

 The data from the High Courts across the country say that more than 96% of 1,66,882 rape trials registered under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) are pending. After receiving the data, law ministry has drawn comprehensive plans to fast track disposal of pending rape cases within a year. The plan is to set up fast track courts to hasten the process. 
  • Highlights
The aim of the fast track courts is to dispose the cases within 1 year. So far there are 1,66,882 cases that are registered as rape cases and 1,60,989 cases registered under Pocso Act. The government of India is also planning to propose similar fast track courts under the 15th Finance Commission (2020-25). The law ministry will set up 1,023 fast track court to complete the pending cases. The data from the HC says that there are around 389 districts all over the country where the number of cases under POCSO act exceeded 100. The Ministry had earlier directed state governments and union territories to set up fast track courts for POCSO cases. Under the order around 218 such courts were set up in UP. The information was given in the Lok Sabha on December 6, 2019.
  • Issue
POCSO act mandates that the investigation of cases registered under the act has to be completed within a time span of 2 months. In spite of such strict law and policy framework, the number of rape and POCSO cases have increased.
Catgeory: Miscellaneous

Santhali used in Rajya Sabha for the first time

  On December 6, 2019, MP Sarojni Hembram from Odisha for the first time spoke in a tribal language called Santhali. She raised the matter of public importance during the zero hour. Also, Srimati Sarojini demanded Bharat Ratna for Pundit Raghunath Murmu, the Santhali scholar who introduced Ol Chiki script for the language in 1925.
  • Santhali Language
The language is predominantly spoken by the North Mundari Group of the Austroasiatic-Munda family. The language is spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and also in Nepal and Bangladesh. The Ol Chiki script for the language was created by Raghunath Murmu in 1925.
  • Schedule 8 of the Constitution
Santhali language was included in the Schedule 8 of the constitution through the 92nd Constitutional Amendment act, 2003. Along with the language, 3 other languages were included namely Maithili, Bodo, Dori. In 2017, Shika Mandi became the first Indian to host a show in Santhali language.
  • Santal Tribes
The Santals are the third largest tribal group in India. They are called Horhopon ko (Sons of Man), Hor Ko or Manjhi. They are classified as Scheduled Tribes in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal but not in Assam. In 1855, they protested widely for their mistreatment by the landlords, traders and money lenders. It was called the Santal Rebellion.
Catgeory: National

Funding for India-Palestine Techno Park released

 Recently the Indian Representative to Palestine, Sunil Kumar released the third tranche of funding for the construction of India-Palestine techno park in Palestine. India had committed to invest 12 million USD as a part of capacity building in Palestine. India currently pays 3 million USD on half yearly basis 
  • The Techno Park
The park will create knowledge-based technology clusters and creative enterprises to operate locally, globally and regionally. The main objective of the park is to create an environment that supports process of industrialization and commercialization. The park also aims at bridging the gap between the academia and private sector.
  • India-Palestine relations
India is the first non-Arab country to recognize Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians in 1974. In 1988, India again was the first country to recognize an independent Palestine. The trade between the countries is roughly 40 million USD and spans medical tourism, spare parts, textiles, pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals.
Catgeory: International

South Asian Games: India leads with 214 medals

  India has won 110 gold, 69 silver and 35 bronze at the South Asian Games, 2019. On the whole India won 214 medals. The event was held in Nepal.
  • Highlights
In athletics, India won 49 medals that comprised of 23 gold, 20 silver and 6 bronze. India also won two gold and five silver medals in table tennis category. Different cities of Nepal are hosting the event namely Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur. This year Cricket has also been included after a gap of 8 years. Around 2,715 athletes participated in the event.
  • South Asian Games
The official mascot of the South Asian Games is a pair of Black bucks. Blackbucks is an endangered species that is found in the southern region of Nepal.
  • Black Bucks
The Black bucks are also known as Indian Antelope. It is extinct in Bangladesh. It is mainly found in India. The population of Blackbucks declined in 20th century due to excessive hunting, habitat degradation and deforestation. It has been introduced in Argentina and United States recently. In India, hunting of Blackbucks is prohibited under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Catgeory: Sports

GoI launched National Clean Air Programme

  The Central Government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner. The government is targeting to achieve 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in Particulate Matter PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. Under NCAP, 102 non-attainment cities have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 – 2015 and WHO report 2014 – 2018.
Source: The News on AIR
Catgeory: National

NEFT transactions to be made 24×7 from December 16

  The Reserve Bank of India announced round-the-clock transactions will be allowed 24×7 facility under the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system on all days including weekends and holidays from December 16. These transactions after the usual banking hours are set to be automated initiated using ‘Straight Through Processing (STP)’ modes by the banks. The existing discipline for crediting the beneficiary’s account or returning the transaction within 2 hours of settlement to the originating bank will also continue. Member banks are also advised to initiate necessary action and ensure availability of all necessary infrastructural requirements at their end for providing seamless NEFT 24×7 facility to their customers.
Source: The News on AIR
Catgeory: Economy & Banking

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