The Central government has sought more time in the Supreme Court to gather the views of six States and Union Territories for identifying minorities against its 1993 notification identifying Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis as minority communities needing reconsideration.
Background:
Who are considered minorities in India?
The three judges Bench of the Supreme Court in the Bal Patil case had categorically refused to grant minority status to Jains. |
The National Commission on Minorities Act 1992:
Constitutional and Legal Provisions related to Minorities:
National Commission for Minority Education Institution (NCMEI) Act, 2004:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) proposed its new Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM), which would allow domestic migrants to vote in national and regional elections but has seen concerns about the logistical and administrative challenges to remote voting.
There have been demands from various political parties that the EC should ensure that migrant workers, NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) who miss out on voting, as they cannot afford to go home during elections to exercise their franchise, should be allowed to vote for their constituency from the city they are working in. |
Why is there a Need for Remote Voting?
Features of Remote voting machines:
How does the current system of Electronic voting take place?
EVMs started being used on a larger scale in 1992 and since 2000, have been used in all Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections. |
What are the concerns over Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)?
What are the existing technical safeguards for EVMs?
According to the National Hydropower Corporation (NHPC) report, China’s proposed 60,000 MW hydropower project in Tibet is influencing the design of a proposed hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district which is still in its planning stage.
The Brahmaputra River:
Proposed projects of India:
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Geographical Aspects:
What are the concerns?
The Chinese decision to build more and more dams on Yarlung/Brahmaputra has been an issue of major concern for India.
In 2008, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River gave way under the stress of an earthquake (7.9 on the Richter scale) in the eastern rim of Tibet, resulting in the loss of many lives. This raises serious concerns about the risks posed by big dams built in such seismically sensitive areas. |
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published a discussion paper on ‘loan loss provision’, proposing a framework for adopting an expected loss (EL)-based approach for provisioning by banks in case of loan defaults.
About the loan loss provisions:
The incurred loss approach requires banks to provide for losses that have already occurred or have been incurred. |
The delay in recognising expected losses under an “incurred loss” approach was found to exacerbate the downswing during the financial crisis of 2007-09. |
How the loan loss provision will work?
Benefits |
Concerns |
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Polity and Governance (GS-II) Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed Deputy NSA |
Retired director general of the Border Security Force (BSF) Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA). About:
His field Experience:
Contributions:
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Economy (GS-III) ‘B20’ programmes to provide platform for business opportunities
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The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has organised a series of ‘B20’ programmes in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim in partnership with the ministry of external affairs and North-eastern state governments. About B20:
Event organised:
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Environment (GS-III) India registers 10 new livestock breeds |
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has registered 10 new breeds of livestock species, including cattle, buffalo, goat and pig in last one year. About:
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Context:
The statistics showing positive trends:
Verifying, please be patient.