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Current Affairs March 19, 2020

Current Affairs Headlines: March 19, 2020
1. Rooftop solar power plants in India installed at 1,922 MW
2. Armed Forces spends Rs 26.12 crore in legal expenses
3. Banihal to Katra railway link to be completed by 2022
4. Odisha’s Konark sun temple & Statue of Unity in Gujarat finds place in iconic tourism sites list:
Prahlad Singh
5. Govt sanctioned Rs 20,466.94 crore loan to women under ‘Stand up India scheme’: Anurag singh
6. Philippines shut Financial Market due to COVID 19 outbreak
7. World Cities Summit 2020 to be held in Singapore from July 5 to 9
8. RBI issued new guidelines for payment aggregators; MCR reduced for new PAs to Rs 15 crore
from Rs 100 crore
9. RBI opens dollar-swap window along with infusion of Rs 1,00,000 crore through LTRO
10. S&P slashes India’s growth rate for 2020 to 5.2% from 5.7%
11. L&T Technology Services and IIT-Kanpur Sign MoU for Research in Cybersecurity Programs
12. Barham Salih President of Iraq designates Adnan al-Zurfi as Prime Minister
13. Rajiv Bajaj got reappointed as MD & CEO of Bajaj Auto for 5 years
14. Government nominated former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha
15. SBI acquired 6.825% stake Zero Mass Private Limited
16. Scientists from INST develops starch-based ‘hemostat’ material to stop rapid blood loss during
accidents
17. Nitin Gadkari presents a copy of ‘Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar’ to the President
18. “My Encounters in Parliament” authored by Bhalchandra Mungekar released
19. Global Recycling Day 2020: March 18
20. Nirmala Sitharaman presented highest budget for J&K, Rs. 1,01,428 cr, for FY20-21
21. ‘Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance 2020’: UP cabinet

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Rooftop solar power plants in India installed at 1,922 MW
On March 17, 2020 Minister of State Independent Charge (IC) of, New & Renewable Energy, (MNRE) and Power,
Minister of State of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Raj Kumar(RK) Singh stated till March 13, 2020, the
rooftop solar plants having an aggregate capacity of 1,922 MW are installed in the country.
Key Points:
i.Out of the total capacity, 346 MW is installed in the residential sector.
ii.Central Financial Assistance (CFA)/ incentives (including residential sector) of over Rs 1874.39 crore are
released towards different implementing agencies namely- State Nodal Agencies, Solar Energy Corporation of
India (SCI) Limited, Power Distribution Companies (DISCOM), Public Sector Enterprises (PSUs), Government
Departments etc.
iii.Major measures are taken by the government to install residential solar rooftop system- incentives for
DISCOMs to achieve additional capacity & provide assistance to states to create an online portal and mobilize
requirements for rooftop solar projects.
iv.Under Phase II of the Grid Connected Roof (GCRT) Solar Project the government provides CFA of 20% of
benchmark cost or tender cost, whichever is lower, for group housing societies/resident welfare associations to
provide power for common facilities.

Armed Forces spends Rs 26.12 crore in legal expenses

On March 16, 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed that a total of Rs 26.12 (26,12,30,810) crore is
spent as legal expenses by the Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Air Force) from April 2019- February 2020.
i.The expenses include payment of fee, remuneration, professional charges to advocates, law firms, arbitrators,
conference, conveyance charges, clerkage, retainer fee & expenses incurred by government counsel on drafting
of special leave petition, counter affidavit, rejoinder.
ii.Fee bills of government counsels who appear in cases filed by or against the armed forces in the Supreme
Court, the Delhi High Court & lower courts in Delhi jurisdiction is paid by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Banihal to Katra railway link to be completed by 2022

On March17, 2020 Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that Banihal to Katra railway link to be
completed by 2022 which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.
i.It is to be completed before the 75th Independence day of India.
ii.This completion will pave the way for the creation of Indian rail from Kanyakumari to Baramulla.
iii.The Katra-Banihal railway track is a 111-km long stretch which will link Kashmir Valley with the rest of the
country by train.

Odisha’s Konark sun temple & Statue of Unity in Gujarat finds place in iconic tourism sites
list: Prahlad Singh
On March 17, 2020, According to the Union Minister of State (Independent) for tourism and culture, Prahlad
Singh Patel, the central government has included grand Konark Sun Temple, the UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site in Odisha & Statue of Unity in Gujarat in
the Iconic Tourist Sites list, taking the total number of such places from 17 to 19.
Key Points:
i.The move has been taken after the ministry got the proposals from the Odisha Chief Minister (CM)- Naveen
Patnaik, the Union Petroleum Minister – Dharmendra Pradhan and other delegations.
ii.A total of 17 iconic tourist sites were identified by the government of India in 2019. It includes- Taj Mahal and
Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh), Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra), Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar
(Delhi), Colva (Goa), Amer Fort (Rajasthan), Somnath and Dholavira (Gujarat), Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh),

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Hampi (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Kaziranga (Assam), Kumarakom (Kerala) and Mahabodhi
Temple (Bihar).
About Ministry of Tourism:
Headquarters– New Delhi

Govt sanctioned Rs 20,466.94 crore loan to women under ‘Stand up India scheme’: Anurag
Singh
On March 17, 2020, According to the Minister of State (MoS) for Finance & Corporate Affairs,Shri Anurag Singh
Thakur, the central government has sanctioned a loan of Rs 20,466.94 crores to over 91,000 accounts up to
March 10,2020 since inception of the Stand-Up India scheme, as it counted the work being done for the
empowerment of women.
About Stand Up India scheme:
It was launched on April 5, 2016, to promote entrepreneurship for economic empowerment and job creation.
To set up a new venture, it is mandatory for every branch of the scheduled commercial bank to give a loan of Rs
10 lakh to Rs 1 crore to a person belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) and at least one
woman.
As on February 17, 2020, more than 81% account holders under this scheme are women.
About Ministry of Finance:
Headquarters– New Delhi
Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Philippines shut Financial Market due to COVID 19 outbreak
On March 17, 2020, the Philippines becomes the first country to close its financial markets due to the COVID 19
(Coronavirus) outbreak. It resumed its trading on March 19, 2020. This measure was taken to ensure the safety
of their employees and the people they interact with. Now the speculations are if other countries may take
similar measures then there is a fear of a global recession.
Point to be noted:
Shutting markets is an extremely rare case during times of crisis. Earlier cases were, A week-long closing of
America’s stock after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, while Hong Kong shuts trading due to Black Monday
crash in 1987. Greece halted its stock market for about five weeks in 2015.
About Philippines:
Capital– Manila
Currency– Philippine peso
President– Rodrigo Duterte

World Cities Summit 2020 to be held in Singapore from July 5 to 9

The 7th World Cities Summit (WCS) is to be held from July 5 to 9, 2020 at Sands Expo & Convention Centre,
Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore. It is organized by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban
Redevelopment Authority. The theme for WCS 2020 is ”Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a
Disrupted World”.
i.The WCS 2020 is held in conjunction with the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and the
CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESG).
ii.Singapore Government invited Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the WCS-2020.
World Cities Summit:
i.The WCS was inaugurated in the year 2008 and conducted once in 2 years.
ii.This platform brings Government leaders, Industrial experts to forge new partnerships and address liveable
and sustainable city challenges, sharing integrated urban solutions and there will be discussions about how
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cities can cope with climate change, social shifts and technological disruptions with confidence.
About Singapore:
President– Halimah Yacob
Capital– Singapore
Currency-Singapore dollar

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI issued new guidelines for payment aggregators; MCR reduced for new PAs to Rs 15 crore
from Rs 100 crore
On March 17, 2020, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new guidelines for the payment aggregators (PAs)
to provide an ease for payments industry players with effect from April 1, 2020. The guidelines are issued
under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Before heading
further, let’s get a brief about PAs.

PAs are intermediaries which integrate with e-commerce companies and connect them with banks. They
receive payments on behalf of these companies and transfer the money to their accounts. For
example Billdesk, CCAvenue, Firstdata, Techprocess Razorpay, Cashfree, Paytm Payment Gateway.
PA is a company incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956 / 2013. There are two kinds of PAs-
Bank and Non-Bank. Banks provide PA services as part of their normal banking relationship and do not,
therefore, require a separate authorisation from RBI while Non-bank PAs shall require authorisation from RBI
under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSSA). The new rules are for non-bank PAs. Now, will
go through them.
New guidelines for PAs:
-RBI has reduced the minimum capital requirements (MCR) for PAs at the time of application for the licence
to Rs 15 crore from Rs 100 crore. However, the net worth needs to be increased to Rs 25 crore within three
years of operations. Means the PAs who apply for authorisation on 01/04/2020 they need to achieve Rs 25 cr
net-worth by March 31, 2023, and thereafter.
-On the other hand, existing PAs shall achieve a net-worth of Rs 15 crore by March 31, 2021, and a net-worth
of ₹25 crores by the end of the third financial year, i.e., on or before March 31, 2023, and thereafter.
-They also need to adhere to strict security guidelines, all KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money
Laundering) rules.
-PAs need to check that their merchant customers are not involved in the selling of prohibited or fake items.
-PAs are mandated to set up designated nodal offices to deal with customer grievance.
-PAs are prohibited from allowing online transactions to be done with ATM pin as the second factor of
authentication.
-PAs having foreign direct investment (FDI) will be guided by the consolidated FDI policy of the government
and the relevant foreign exchange management regulations.

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– Apart from above, Indicative baseline technology-related recommendations were also provided that have
to be adopted by the PAs (mandatory) and Payment Gateways-PGs (recommended). PGs provide technology
infrastructure to route and facilitate the processing of an online payment transaction without any involvement
in the handling of funds.
Static Point:
Net-worth: It consists of paid-up equity capital, preference shares that are compulsorily convertible to equity,
free reserves, balance in share premium account and capital reserves, the book value of intangible assets and
deferred revenue expenditure.
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Formation– 1 April 1935
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governors– 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan (will retire on March 31, 2020), Mahesh
Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra).

RBI opens dollar-swap window along with infusion of Rs 1,00,000 crore through LTRO
There is global instability in financial markets due to the spread of COVID 19 (Coronavirus), which may lead to
a slowdown in growth. Every economy is making efforts to stabilize the financial market condition, among
them, the Central Bank of India i.e. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened a six-month dollar sell-buy swap
window, and will also inject Rs 1,00,000 crore additional Long Term Repo Operations (LTROs) at the policy
repo rate. These measures taken by RBI are to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market of India and will
serve the requirement of U.S. dollars in the market.

About RBI 6 month dollar-swap window; 1 swap auction undertook worth $2 billion; other queued on
Mar 23, 2020
RBI is trying to restore dollars in the market, as there has been a huge outflow of the dollar from banks due to
the selling of shares by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Since February 24, 2020, $4.7 billion worth of
such share is sold. In order to tackle this situation, RBI will undertake second 6-month dollar/rupee sell/buy
swap auction on 23 March 2020.
Under this, RBI will provide $2 billion to the banks that need it through a swap. Simply, RBI will give dollars and
the buyer bank will give rupees and the transaction will be reversed on September 25, 2020. This is the second
time RBI has come out with the dollar-swap window in this month.
Earlier, on March 16, 2020, RBI conducted U.S. dollar-rupee sell-buy swaps worth $2 billion.
About RBI’s LTRO of Rs 1 lakh crore
Apart from the dollar swap window, RBI also conducting long-term repo operations (LTRO) of Rs 1,00,000
crore in multiple tranches at the policy rate. Accordingly, RBI conducted the fifth tranche of the 3-year LTRO
for Rs 25,000 crore on 18 March 2020 to secure adequate liquidity to the troubled financial markets. The
central bank has already conducted four such operations of Rs 25,000 crore each since February 14, 2020.
Read about LTRO initiation by RBI in February 2020 here: RBI conducts 3- year Long Term Repo
Operations(LTRO)’s for ₹25,000 crore
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Based on further review of evolving liquidity conditions, RBI will decide on additional tranches of the LTROs
separately.

S&P slashes India’s growth rate for 2020 to 5.2% from 5.7%
On March 18, 2020, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings, the world’s leading provider of independent
credit ratings, has slashed India’s global economic growth forecast to 5.2 % in 2020 from 5.7 % predicted
earlier, saying the global economy is entering a recession due to the spread of infection of the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
Key Points:
i.As a result, the growth rate in the Asia Pacific may be reduced by half to around 3%. It lowered China’s growth
rate to 2.9%, Japan’s growth rate to -1.2 % (from 4.8 %, and -0.4% predicted earlier) respectively.
ii.To boost economic activity, the US Fed has raised interest rates to near zero, while the Bank of Japan has
increased asset purchases.
iii.Earlier the Moody’s Investors Service has lowered India’s growth projection to 5.3% for 2020 from 5.4% as
a result of Coronavirus.
About S&P Global Ratings:
Headquarters– New York, United States
President & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Douglas L. Peterson

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

L&T Technology Services and IIT-Kanpur Sign MoU for Research in Cybersecurity Programs
On 18th March 2020, L&T Technology Services(LTTS) signed a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT) to collaborate on research industrial and
infrastructure cybersecurity.
Key Points:
i.The MoU is signed between Dr Keshab Panda, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of LTTS and
Professor Manindra Agarwal, Padma Shri Awardee, Deputy Director at IIT-Kanpur.
ii.The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will be set up by LTTS and IIT in the IIT-Kanpur campus to conduct research
in Honeypot, intrusion detection systems, malware analysis, block chain, vulnerability assessment and
penetration testing and provide cybersecurity awareness and training programs. The CoE will be a part of C3i
research centre.
C3i (Cyber Security and Cyber Defense of Critical Infrastructures):
C3i is a Central government-funded cybersecurity research centre. Its aim is to do research, education and
generate start-ups to create technological safeguards and to protect critical infrastructure.
About LTTS:
Headquarters– Vadodara, Gujarat
CEO– Dr. Keshab Panda

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Barham Salih President of Iraq designates Adnan al-Zurfi as Prime Minister
On March 17, 2020, Barham Salih, President of Iraq appoints 54- year- old Adnan al-Zurfi as Prime
Minister(PM) of Iraq who has 30 days to form his cabinet in an attempt to resolve a months-long political crisis.
He will succeed Mohammed Allawi, the 1st politician named by the president as PM-designate who withdrew
his candidacy for the post.
i.Adel Abdul Mahdi was an interim PM who withdrew his candidature in December 2019 after heavy protest
where 40 people were killed by security forces.

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ii.Adnan al-Zurfi’s difficult task is to gain the confidence of parliament.

iii.He was a former governor of the holy Shia city of Najaf & heads the Nasr parliamentary group of former
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
About Iraq:
Capital– Baghdad
Currency– Iraqi dinar

Rajiv Bajaj got reappointed as MD & CEO of Bajaj Auto for 5 years
On March 18, 2020, Bajaj Auto Limited, an Indian global two-wheeler & three-wheeler manufacturing
company, has approved the re-appointment of Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj as its Managing Director (MD)
and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) for a further period of 5- years with effect from April 1, 2020. His tenure is
going to expire on March 31, 2020.

Key Points:
i.In addition, Gita Piramal has also re-appointed as an Independent Director of the Company, whose five-year
term expires on 31 March 2020.
ii.Rajiv Bajaj served as a Managing Director of Bajaj Auto since the year April 2005 & got his credit in the areas
of Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Research and development (R&D), Engineering ,Marketing and Sales. He
also received a number of awards and recognitions from various organizations for his Business leadership,
entrepreneurship and innovation.
About Bajaj Auto Limited:
Headquarters– Pune,Maharashtra
Chairman– Rahul Bajaj

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Government nominated former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha
On March 16, 2020, The government nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, 65 years
old, to Rajya Sabha. He was nominated by President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind, under the exercise of the
powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3)
of that article to the Council of States and to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the
nominated members. Ranjan Gogoi will be the successor of K.T.S Tulsi.

Key Points:
i.The notification of this effect was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
ii.About Ranjan Gogoi: Gogoi headed a 5-judge bench, who gave the judgement on the sensitive Ayodhya land
dispute on November 9, 2019.
iii.He also headed the benches that ruled on matters like the entry of women in Sabarimala temple and Rafale
fighter jet deal. He retired on November 17, 2019.
iv.Fact: Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. It consists of
250 members in total, of which 238 are elected by the legislatures of the States & Union Territories (UT) using
single transferable votes through Open Ballot while the President can appoint 12 members for their
contributions to science, art, literature and social services.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

SBI acquired 6.825% stake of Zero Mass Private Limited
On March 17, 2020 State Bank of India entered into an agreement to acquire 6.825%(6,825 equity shares)
stake of Zero Mass Private Limited (Pvt Ltd)

i.The deal is to be completed by March 31, 2020.

ii.As part of the deal, the Bank sold its entire stake in A Little World Pvt Ltd to target the Zero Mass Pvt Ltd
iii.Zero Mass Pvt Ltd was founded by Anurag Gupta on March 20, 2007, which is the 1st ever Business
Correspondent in the country & is formerly known as Zero Microfinance and Savings Support.
About SBI: Headquarters– Mumbai, India
Chairman– Rajnish Kumar

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Scientists from INST develops starch-based ‘hemostat’ material to stop rapid blood loss during
accidents
On March 17, 2020, Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), an autonomous
institute under the Department of Science & Technology, developed a starch-based ‘hemostat’
material which absorbs excess fluid by concentrating the natural clotting factors in the blood that stops the
rapid blood loss.
Key Points:
i.The features of the product comprises- increased absorption capacity, improved absorption, inexpensive,
biocompatible & biodegradable.
ii.The microparticles of the product are called ‘calcium-modified carboxymethyl-starch,’ which form a cohesive
& sticky gel within 30 seconds of contact with blood.
iii.In animal studies with real injuries, moderate to heavy blood flow stopped within a minute, which indicates
that the substance is non-toxic & confirmed its biodegradability.
iv.Dr Ghosh’s team developed this product as a realistic solution for lower-income economies worldwide.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Nitin Gadkari presents a copy of ‘Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar’ to the President
On March 17,2020 Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, presented the book
‘Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar‘ to President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on
the first death anniversary of Manohar Parrikar.

i.The “Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar” was authored by Tarun Vijay and released by defence
minister Rajnath Singh on 16th March 2020.
ii.Manohar Parrikar is a former Chief Minister of Goa and also as a Defence Minister of India who passed away
on 17th March 2019.

“My Encounters in Parliament” authored by Bhalchandra Mungekar released

On March 17, 2020, the book titled “My Encounters in Parliament” authored by Bhalchandra Mungekar an
Indian economist, former member of Rajya Sabha, was released in the presence of former Vice President-
Hamid Ansari, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, Communist Party of India (CPI) General
Secretary D Raja and CPI (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury.

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IMPORTANT DAYS
Global Recycling Day 2020: March 18
March 18, 2020, is observed as a third annual Global Recycling Day. This day was first observed on March 18,
2018, by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) and celebrated globally every year to raise awareness
of the importance of recycling.

Key Points:
i.The Global Recycling Foundation announces “Recycling Heroes” as the theme for third Global Recycling Day.
ii.The main aim of the day is to turn ‘waste’ into a valuable resource.
iii.Competitions are conducted globally for the Recycling Heroes and 10 winners from various continents will
be selected and awarded with $1,000.
Global Recycling Foundation:
The Global Recycling Foundation is supported by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). This Foundation
supports the promotion of recycling, and the recycling industry, across the world. It promotes Global Recycling
Day, Educational programmes and awareness projects for the development of recycling.
About Bureau of International Recycling (BIR):
BIR was the first federation to support the interests of the recycling industry on an international scale. BIR
represents over 760 member companies from the private sector and 37 national associations, in more than 70
countries.
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
President– Ranjit Singh Baxi

STATE NEWS
Nirmala Sitharaman presented highest budget for J&K, Rs. 1,01,428 cr, for FY20-21
On March 17, 2020, the Centre has proposed Rs. 1,01,428 crore budget, the highest ever budget anticipation, for
the Union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for 2020-21 fiscal. The budget was laid by Minister of
State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur and presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The proposed budget is premised on the commitment to make the J&K “a model of development”. The expected
revenue receipts are Rs. 91,100 crore whereas revenue expenditure is expected to be Rs. 62,664 crore.
Capital receipts are projected at Rs. 10,329 crore and capital expenditure is expected Rs. 38,764 crore, 27%
higher than previous years’ budget.
Key Allocations:
Tourism Budget: It has been proposed at Rs. 706 crore, which includes three new religious circuits for
pilgrimage tourism. The three circuits are:
Shiv Khori-Uttar Bani-Purmandal-Mata Sukhrala Deviji
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Shankaracharya-Mata Khir Bhawani-Martand (Mattan)

Makhdoom Sahib-Khanqah-e-Moula-Watlab-Babareshi-Pakharpora-Aishmuqam – This will be the first
government-backed Sufi pilgrimage in J&K.

Preservation of cultural sites: Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for the preservation of cultural heritage
sites in J&K.
Rural development: An allocation of Rs 5,284 crore has been made for the year 2020-21,which is Rs 1,951
crore more than the previous years’ budget allocation.
Industrial infrastructure: An allocation of about Rs 494 crore has been made for FY20-21 to improve
industrial infrastructure.
School and Higher Education Sector: The government has made an allocation of Rs 2,392 crore, which is Rs
1,000 crore more than the previous year’s budget allocation.
Health and medical education: An allocation of Rs 1,268 crore has been made for the same.
Filling up of Vacant posts: For filling up of 50,000 vacant posts there is an allocation of Rs 2,000 crore for
2020-21.
Apart from above, the government also presented a separate expenditure plan of Rs 55,317.81 crore for the
last five months of the current fiscal.
About J&K
Capital– Srinagar (Summers), Jammu (Winters)
Lieutenant Governor– Girish Chandra Murmu

‘Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance 2020’: UP cabinet

‘Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance 2020‘ for recovery of losses due to damage to public
property during violent protests was passed by the Uttar Pradesh cabinet headed by Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath.
The ordinance will aim at dealing with violent acts at public places, controlling its tenacity and upsurge and
providing for recovery of damage to public or private property during hartal, bandh etc.
Provide effective prevention of loss of public property.
The damages in the violence shall be recovered from the rioters, as per the ordinance.
Create “claims tribunal” to investigate damages according to the official documentation by the Government.
This is a resultant of several violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last year. It
is an attempt to perform a recovery exercise to collect damages to public property during anti-CAA riots is
underway in the state. In Lucknow 57 such accused have been sent notices to recover a total of rupees 1.5
crores.
Another step was taken by the state government that highlights its relentless stand against “rioters” is the
ordinance. After anti-CAA protests in Lucknow and other districts of the state turned violent, the government
has been running a recovery exercise to collect and recover the damaged property.

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About the UP cabinet:

Head of State: Governor Anandiben Patel
Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
Deputy Chief Minister: Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dr Dinesh Sharma

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